Chương 125: Chapter 121 – Heading South

Brightwater Expedition Day 2 of Grainworks Initiative Mark woke up early to prepare for his trip south. He was assigned to go south, but even if he had not been, he would have volunteered too. He hated to admit it, but he enjoyed traveling around and finding new things. He arranged last night to have a mule brought over to the stable near his house, and the village council had arranged to load it with a number of different trade goods.

He had wheat, of course, flour, nails, and many other various items that could be found in the region. He had just arrived and was saddling his horse up when Sarah ran over. Sarah said, "Hey Mark, you're going south today, right?" Mark said, "Yes, I am, as we agreed in the meeting yesterday. I plan to find out what is there and see if we can arrange any trades and prepare for future export contracts, which was one of the requirements for the Grainworks project." Sarah said, "Can I go?"

Mark said, "Why would you want to go? we don't know what's there, and it could be dangerous." Sarah said, "Just living in this world is dangerous. I will never learn to survive or make this place my home if I don't know what is out there. I want to see how other people live and compare it to what we have here." Mark said, "What about the kids?" Sarah said, "Dale, my teacher's aide and the other parents said they would keep the kids safe while we travel." Mark said, "Well, if you're serious about it, you can come.

But we are going by horse, and I have only recently learned how to ride myself." Sarah said, "I have ridden horses before; they are fun. It's one of the things that excite me about this place. I love the outdoors and horseback riding." With that, Mark gave in and helped her saddle a second horse. He made sure the mule was set and took his reins and headed southwest toward Fishers Point and then would travel around the lake from there.

Garrick had sent two teams yesterday to start working on trails, and he said a rough trail should exist all the way to the exit river of the lake before mark could get there, but after that he would have to make his own way down following the river without trails. The two of them and the mule in tow passed through Fisher's Point without stopping. Mark noticed that the trail heading west to Netwater was no longer a trail but a full road, and he could see traffic going both directions on it.

He had not been there since he introduced those fishermen to the harbor, and he wondered if they had solved their fishing problem. He found and followed the new trail going around the lake; it was obvious that it was new and rushed, but I knew they would widen it soon, as it would one day be a major path south.

It was lunchtime by the time they got to the river coming out of the lake, and they stopped, and Mark pulled out food for the two of them and also got the animals food and water and let them have a short break. After a few minutes of silence Sarah finally looked at Mark; he could tell she wanted to talk but did not know how to start the conversation. So finally he started it. Mark said, "So, Sarah, how have you been doing?" Sarah said, "Better than I should be."

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Mark laughed, "I have thought that many times myself. It's almost like the system has taken the worry away and left us with just a desire to make a life for ourselves." Sarah said, "That is exactly my point. The kids are just fine. They should all be freaking out about not being able to get home, but they are not. They want to become adventurers, sailors, fishermen, farmers, cooks, and herdsmen. And I don't understand it."

Mark said, "I still remember clearly my first few days just trying to survive and figure out how to get back to my family. Now I have a new family, and all I want to do is help them have the best life they can. It's not like I have forgotten my wife or kids; it's just that they are not here. I don't know." Sarah said, "I was so scared, worried, and frightened that first day. Now I want to find my place here, help the kids find their passions, and level up and get skills and advance. Is that bad?"

Mark said, "No, it's not bad. Others will show up in the future. It will be our job to help them past the first few days. And to make the best life we can for each other." Sarah went quiet after that. Mark thought about all he had been through and what he was going to do now. And finally decided that not having that stress of wanting to get back was not a bad thing. But he also realized he maybe needed to do more to help those like Sarah who just got here feel like they belong and have a place.

He finally gathered up everything and got back on his horse with Sarah to his side, heading south following the river. Mark said, "I forgot to ask have you leveled since that first day when I made you kill an animal?" Sarah said, "Yes, I am almost level 5. I should level up somewhere along this trail. I even have a couple tasks that Dale gave me to find cooking ingredients. If I have 2 unique items, I will level. And there is a bonus for each unique item after that that's food-related."

Mark said, "It is great that you're leveling up. If there is ever anything I can do to help you or the kids, just let me know." After that they just continued south in silence. The going was quite slow for the next 4-5 hours as they had to backtrack a number of times to get around trees and other things blocking the path for the horses and mule to go down. The trees and bushes finally got to a point that there was a trail that they were traveling down when Mark finally pulled his horse to a stop.

Sarah said, "What's wrong?" Mark said, "Nothing is wrong, but if you see, we are on a trail now." Sarah said, "That's good, right?" Mark said, "It means we're near other people; it's getting late though, maybe we should find a good place to camp, and in the morning we can go find whoever lives here." Sarah said, "Camp? I figured we would stay at the inn." Mark laughed.

"Do you see an inn around here?" Mark found a good cleared spot off to the side of the road and set up a camp. He pulled out two tents and set them up. Sarah asked him why he had two tents, and he told her that whenever he goes on a trip, he can never get out of town before someone invites themselves along, so he comes prepared. Sarah looked a little ashamed, but Mark just told her that he was glad for the company and pulled out the food Dale had made for them and warmed it over the fire he started.

After dinner was done and the animals were taken care of, he just sat around the fire and talked to Sarah about her life as a teacher, her thoughts and ideas on how they could take care of the kids, and what she wanted to do in this new world. Sarah believed that it would be best for the kids to find homes and families for them. Maybe two to three kids per family so they did not feel alone but not so many that a single person or group would get overwhelmed with them.

Mark told Sarah about the kids he found with Clara and said he thought they looked to be adjusting well. Sarah said there were a few of the kids that really wanted to live on the farms and either take care of animals or help with the farms. Sarah finally decided the first thing she would do when she got back was to move the kids out of the inn and start finding homes for them. And then she said she planned to start a school. Mark was interested in that.

She said her school would not be like traditional schools and it would be for kids and even adults. She planned to help teach people how to survive, level up, and live in this world. She also would teach the basics like reading, writing, and arithmetic, but those were not as important as skills to survive in this world. With that done, the two of them finally went off to their separate tents to sleep. Mark wondered what new things tomorrow would bring with a new group of people to meet.