The Culling

A new virus the looks of which we had never seen. It started in small pockets in Asia like most of the outbreaks of viruses had come before. It was starting off with just a few dead and then alerts of mass spreading as it inched across the globe. The virus is resistant to everything we throw at it. There are no inoculations, no treatments and no end to suffering.

I was born in the country and lived there all my life except for a short stint in the military so I figure the best chance for my family and I is isolation. I take to the hills. I know where a small band of caves is located in the Appalachians that is really hard to get to. My wife Gail, our kids—Katlynn, Christy and Jack—and I grab every resource we have which is mostly canned food, as many lighters and matches as we can find, hunting rifles, and fishing poles. Along with household cooking pots and camping gear we load the 4-wheelers and supplies on my trailer and hit the road. We finally reach the trail which leads to the caves at around four in the afternoon. Hot and muggy, we still grab the sup-plies in a hurry and load the 4-wheelers with all they can hold and make a beeline to the caves. When we get there the caves are totally empty and there is no evidence of anyone visiting in a while and I am so relieved. We unpack the gear and my oldest daughter, Katlynn, and I make one of several more trips back to the truck. I watch as the sun creeps over the mountains on our last trip and we settle into our new home. Tomorrow will be a busy day for sure but for now we are just making ourselves at home and getting some rest.