Infinity's Reach Read Online Free PDF

shoulders.
    But the sun had come out, our clothes were drying, and we had taken the time to rid ourselves of our ponchos. And we were finally blessed with a walking path. We could see what looked like an interstate highway off to our right, but after our experience with the soldiers in the camp, we both agreed to avoid people for the time being.
    Another time we saw smoke from a campfire across the river, but again we decided to avoid contact with them.
    After following the river to the south for several miles, it again turned west, just as Infinity had predicted and I’d hoped. We’d been passing through abandoned farmland for quite a while, with gaps exposed in the dirt and clay wall that rose above the water. The rains had caused the water to rise, but I imagined that one rainstorm couldn’t compare to melting snows coming off the Smokey Mountains in the early summer. We followed the path along the dirt dike, clambering down and climbing back up when a break called for it.
    At one point in our journey, we though we heard trucks coming from the interstate to our north. But we never saw any vehicles.
    “Finn?” I said finally, as we were walking along.
    “Yeah?”
    “Are your memories coming back?”
    “Yeah. Sorta. Slowly.”
    “Yeah, me too. I’m remembering stuff, like going shopping. And boys I dated. And Christmas with my family. Where do you think they are?”
    “I don’t know, Ellie.”
    “The United States had more than 300 million people when all this happened. Where are they, Finn? They couldn’t have just disappeared, could they?”
    “Don’t know. What about those soldiers?”
    “Eww. Don’t tell me that’s all that’s left.”
    “Could be. Look, Ellie, I don’t know a lot of stuff. I’m trying to figure this out just like you are.”
    “OK,” I said. There was a long pause.
    “Finn,” I said.
    “Yes.”
    “I’m hungry. Can we find a McDonald’s?”
    Infinity didn’t answer.   Back to ToC
     

5. burgers with no fries
     
     
    ELLIE: EASTERN TENNESSEE: DAY 715
    I’d been joking when I mentioned McDonalds, but Finn knew I wasn’t kidding about being hungry. My hypoglycemia was kicking in, and I knew that if I didn’t get something to eat soon, I would either become a very cranky person or collapse on the trail we were following.
    Finn didn’t want to stop and make camp just for lunch, and I knew how hard it had been to get started again after we had stopped last time. So we kept moving west, waiting for something or someone to come feed us.
    Sure, we saw lots of signs. Burger King, McDonalds, Wendy’s. They were all over by the highway that we were avoiding, and they showed no signs of life. In fact, we hadn’t seen another person all morning.
    That soon changed, however. The wide valley with farmland we had been following narrowed into a canyon with steep walls beneath bluffs on both sides. The river started running faster. And again we saw smoke from a campfire ahead of us.
    Finn stopped and we considered our situation.
    “I don’t like going through this town,” she said.
    “Why not? Chances are, they’re just people like us.”
    “What if it’s another soldier’s camp?”
    I shrugged and looked around. “How else are we getting through?”
    I looked at the river, which had turned from a slow moving, wide body of water into a raging torrent.
    “We can’t go back. And we can’t get over that. And in any case, it’s probably just as bad on the other side.”
    Infinity looked at me and I could see that she was worried. I also realized that she was still thinking about the people we left behind.
    “Look, Finn. I’ll do whatever you want to do. If we go back, fine. If we go forward, that’s fine too.”
    Infinity looked at the rushing torrent that we were following, then at the small town with unknown people in it before us.
    “I wish Evangelist was here,” she said, not looking back. I didn’t answer.
    Finally, she sighed and turned back to the