A land divided

Chapter 4

I saw a weird red glow in the distance. I didn't realise it at the time, but it was a fire. I continued forward slightly nervous but willing to try. The baby started crying but I quickly calmed it down. Ugh, I'm done calling him "The baby", how about Jackson? No, what about Joshua? No. I got it! Nathaniel! Perfect! I calmed Nathaniel and continued forward. I found a house that looked like our old neighbors house. It was! I ran inside and sure enough, there was my family. They all look so awful, but they were so happy to see me. My mom quickly said, "You tested positive?!" I calmed her and explained what happened."I'm so happy to see you! I worried I would never see you again!" She started crying and hugged me"I was worried too, but I have a job to do. I have to get Nathaniel back to his mom." I told her, she nodded and gave us some food. I ate and she fed the baby. As I packed up I noticed some baby food. I grabbed the food, grabbed Nathaniel , waved goodbye, promised I'd return, and headed out. I wondered what the red light was so I walked towards it. It took a few hours to get close enough to see the blaze. Even from what was probably hundreds of miles away, It was big and bright. It shined like the sun and destroyed everything in its path. I quickly turned around and continued searching. Eventually I found a woman who looked like the mother. She was shorter, but had similar facial structure.Maybe she was related? "Um, Excuse me?" I said. The woman turned to look at me and asked, "who are you?" I explained the situation and asked if she had ever seen the baby before. She took one look and the baby and said, "I know the mother. I can take you to her." I decided to go with her, afterall, what other choices do I have? As we walked she started talking. "Me and his mom go way back. Unfortunately she got sick before she had him. I saw her near the border and when I asked what she was doing she said she was 'giving him a better life'. I'm guessing she went into the healthy lands. Wait. Is that where you're from? Did she cause you to get sent over here?" "Well yes and no. They said I'm immune to the virus and sent me to give her baby back. How far is she?" "She was sent to what we call the 'Farthest Hills'. That's where most criminals are. That's also where the fire started." she pointed back towards the huge blaze. "I'm sure she's fine, most of the Farthest hills are fine but they set our area on fire out of spite. Bunch o' hooligans." I gave a small chuckle. "I love that word 'hooligans'. It always makes me laugh" "Yeah it is a funny word, it's getting dark. I know a place we can stop for the night. That is saying they were smart enough to give you a tent." I nodded and we walked until we reached a small park. I set up my tent and she set up her own. I hadn't even realised she had a backpack on. I decided it was best not to ask. I layed down on my sleeping bag. I never slept in one, always got too hot. I thought about my family. Would they be ok? Will I ever see them again? Will I be ok? I forced myself to stop thinking and drifted off to sleep.