The Wakeful Wanderer's Guide to Disillusionment

Pursuit

It was stupid to send her off on her own, Thirty/Fourteen thought. He knew Mem felt the same way he did, but they were silent about it. They had both miscalculated in their attempt to uncover the hidden phobics in order to jumpstart Helen's Merit, and they had severely messed everything up. All they could do now to fix it was to bring her back from Pittsburgh.

Thirty and Mem upgraded their bikes before leaving Pi Valley. Mem requested some portable solars to recharge a little if they had to camp away from upgraded roads. Because they would have to venture away from civilization, they also accepted the offer of supplies of hard compressed protein bars and filtering canteens. They had two tents, and it was warm, so that was working well for them. There would be some serious elevation changes, but the powered wheels would handle most of those. The mountains would slow them down but not stop them.

The caravan of drifters who called themselves Oublix had given up the destination of Helen's abductors with little coaxing. Two hundred fifty-eight members of nearby tribes had converged upon Helen's last known location and detained them easily. The Oublix were threatened with forced implantation if they didn't talk. After hearing the story of Helen's kidnapping, tempers were running high. Helen's story was well known. Luckily, force wasn't needed. That wouldn't have been in flow.

Thirty/Fourteen stopped to drink some water and eat a bar near the top of Goose Pond peak west of Jacob's Pillow tribe, when six volunteers met them biking east from Lee. Londra, Tinker, Zha-Zha, Patsi, Billie, and Timo joined their party exuberantly with long poles strapped to their backs. They called themselves "ninjas," outfitted all in black and eager to rescue Helen again.

They decided that going the long way around via the Erie Canal Heritage Trail would be faster than crossing the Catskills and Appalachians. Elevations meant more time to recharge and slower speeds. There were also more tribes and better roads to the north than to the southwest. That in mind, they headed north, following The Twenty. Mem was in love with The Twenty. They shared the dream of upgrading it all the way to Newport on the Pacific with all the other Road Techs.

The bikes flew over the level roads after Albany. They rode quickly through to Utica, stayed overnight with some of Mem's followers, continued to Buffalo where Thirty was better known for his cooking, and prepared for the last leg of the journey to Pittsburgh. The party would have to go slower as they turned south. They estimated they could make the city in three days. Once there, they would have to find Helen and figure out how to get her at least as far as Buffalo.

["Three days is optimistic,"] thexted Ishtara « Patricia « Marsha « Elizabeth « etc. over shish kebabs at an open-air cafe. ["You've had easy going so far, but up ahead, the culture becomes more Feudal. I think you'll want to go south to Lakewood first, and then to Warren, which is a new tribe. They will have the basics, but after that, you're into the land of phobics and Raiders."]

["We can take 'em!"] sent Timo, gripping his fighting staff.

["They will ride you down and shoot you if they think you're Interconnected,"] replied Ishtara. ["They call us xombies, like the monster. It's serious."]

["Can we go around?"] asked Mem.

["It's safer to go towards Cleveland, and then south, but as you get closer to Pittsburgh, it's the same problem. At some point, you are going to want to hit the woods on foot."]

["I thought there were dozens of tribes around the city,"] thexted Mem. ["I've been in touch with Road Techs near there."]

["They're mostly to the southeast,"] sent Ishtara.

["I agree with Ish,"] sent Wooly « Benjamina « Lordes « Ramona « Martha « etc. ["You could get to the Allegheny Forest okay, but the path from there is dicey. Maybe you could sneak by to Punx, which is friendly, but from there, you'd just want to continue south to the old bike trail and then go west. It'll take you the better part of a week but you'll probably not get shot at."]