Chapter 4

David started walking along the road towards his destination and based on the printout he needed to walk another 35 or so miles. He didn't have a watch but he figured he had only been walking for about an hour. Reseating the pack on his back he thought about why he had come to put it together in the first place.

David's father had long ago taught him that being self reliant was the key to staying safe. He had always dismissed what his father had said before as just being paranoid, but he was starting to wonder is maybe the old man had something of value to say after all.

David smiled at the thought and began to think about the voice again. He kept trying to contact it over and over again in his head but there was no response at all. He tried getting angry to see if that weird eye would come back again but he had the same result with the voice. He simply couldn't figure it out. He muttered to himself while he walked through the town.

He passed by a couple that were arm in arm walking down the sidewalk, the 20 something girl winked at him and he turned a bit red at having been caught staring. He kept his eyes on the road and picked up the pace again.

He began wondering if he should have just waited and asked his parent to drive him but he knew that they would probably have just told him no. No, this had to be the best course of action, besides he didn't want his folks getting mixed up in whatever this voice had in store for him.

He continued walking till the moon was out and it was well into the evening. He knew he would have to make camp or risk possibly tripping over something and spraining an ankle or some other inane injury that could easily be avoided. He spotted a payphone at the edge of town and ran up to it. He put a few quarters into the machine. The phone rang twice and he heard his mother come on the line.

"Hey mom, it's me. I just wanted to let you know that I am safe and that I will hopefully be back soon."

"Where are you going son? You made me worried to death! The next time you leave a note like that at least have the sense to tell me what you are planning," she said.

"Sorry mom, but I really can't tell you or I would have. This is just something I have to do for myself. I promise I am safe and sound."

"Hold on a moment David, your father wants to speak to you," she said.

"Hey son, did you remember to bring your bug out bag with you," he asked.

He groaned inwardly knowing this would be his father's first question. He decided he needed to cut this short or he would never get to his camp.

"Yeah dad, I brought it with me and yes I am safe," David replied.

"One last thing son, I understand a man's need to do something at times, so please do what you have to do then come on home." He could see his father beaming through the telephone.

"I will dad, stay safe and make sure you stock up the house well. I have a bad feeling and I just hope it turns out I am wrong."

He wanted to tell them that a crazy voice inside his head told him the world was going to end and that he blacked out and grew a third eye and that his whole world had already collapsed in on him but instead he simply hung up the phone and continued walking.

An hour later he found himself in more open spaces. Being in Florida meant he didn't have to deal with many uphill battles but he was exhausted. He knew he hadn't eaten since morning but he wanted to stretch his food reserves as much as possible. He walked off the road into a small field. He checked the nearby ground for fire ants and other nefarious little critters and opened up his bob.

He removed his sleeping bag from it and grabbed an energy bar. He had only 3 left in the bag and knew that soon he would have to find more food.

He devoured the bar quickly and closed the pack back up. Using it for a pillow he climbed into the sleeping bag and zipped it up tight. He mused to himself at the thought of a bug out bag, his father had always called it that and so did some of the survival websites he frequented. Supposedly when you needed to get the heck out of dodge real quick it was supposed to save your life.

'Well, time will tell, ' he thought.

He entered a deep dreamless sleep.

He awoke the next morning and got out of his bag. His clothes didn't look that worse for wear even though he slept in them. He rolled the sleeping bag back up and stuck it in the backpack. He retrieved an energy bar and stuck it in his pocket. He would forego breakfast and snack on the bar slowly during his walk. Wanting to burn up some pavement he started to jog. The pack on his back wasn't incredibly heavy so he knew he could make some decent time this way.