Chapter 3

The next morning...

“So, we’re about five miles from Kansas City, gals. The only question is ... do we head into whatever’s left of that particular metropolis or go somewhere else?” I thought aloud.

“We go wherever you lead and decide, husband. I know that you’re used to listening to us and that’s good, but you don’t need to obey us. You’re the man. I’m pretty sure that the apocalypse finished off feminism, probably for good. You can protect us and provide for us. We trust you. Lead the way. Just remember that the buck stops here, as Old Harry would say,” Sandy urged me to command, clearly seeing in me what I was still discovering about myself.

“What she said. Face it. Women can either tough it on their own, which I don’t recommend, or attach themselves to a man and embrace the natural order once more. Feminism is clearly a moot point and one could call it the god that failed. Definitely in these circumstances. We don’t have the luxury of being social justice warriors. Besides, the last President was a woman and that was a shit show,” Lauren mocked the memory of a certain California politician who stepped into the Presidency due to a stroke.

I could be liberal or progressive on some issues, but yeah, pantsuit corporate feminist types like that particular former Attorney General, Senator, and Vice President were a sick joke. While I didn’t often agree with Republicans and their culture war bullshit, they had a point that only smug, affluent, connected women benefited from that kind of thing. Then again, the far left had a similar point for different reasons. It was moot now, though. Feminism was as dead as the USA itself. Even Missouri as a state was largely gone, too, except as a point of reference on a map.

“In that case, now that I’ve been confirmed as your leader as well as your husband, a real adjustment from a teacher’s pet, I might add, we are NOT going into Kansas City. It might still have great barbeque, but it’s not worth risking the ladies that I love. We’ll go further north. Let’s head for the Great Lakes region. We have more options for a diverse diet, such as freshwater fish. I would avoid any place south of the Mason-Dixon right now. Too fucking hot,” I firmly decided, “we push our way up into Iowa, Illinois, and then either Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, or Wisconsin. It will be cold, but not as bad as it used to be, thanks to climate change.”

“Works for me. I could use some Deep Dish pizza,” Sandy remarked.

“Or a Polish sausage,” Lauren teased now.

“Babe, I think that we have that one covered,” Sandy laughed as they kissed me.

“We’ll have to be armed and trained to deal with any threat on the road. That means scavenging ammo as well as firearms, knives, etc. It also means target practice. We need long guns as well as handguns, shotguns, too. For hunting as well as self-defense. We should also practice bow hunting, just in case. And be prepared to grab a horse or two. We’ll stay off the major highways, after all. And we might run out of gas. Word of warning. Anything that we kill, we all need to know how to clean it as well as cook it. And don’t grab random berries or mushrooms. You might get food poisoning ... or worse,” I instructed them more confidently, now that I knew that they would follow my lead.