The Long Road Home: Homecoming

21

Mouth's new route proved to be as good as he told them it would be. They made fast progress though the rest of Wisconsin and Michigan. The biggest snag they hit was crossing into NY itself through Buffalo. Page shook her head starring at the city before them. The railroad bridge was an absolute mess of cars, trucks, and military vehicles. It looked like something horrible had gone down here.

Page climbed down from the wagon and walked forward with Ty at her side. The military blockades blocked off the whole stretch of International Bridge. The bridge itself was so packed full of vehicles there was no hope clearing a path for the wagon.

'Look.' Ty said drawing her attention to a sign near a tank. It was written in red on a board. 'Middle of the bridge is collapsed.' He read out loud. Ty sighed looking to her. 'If we follow Niagara boulevard south, we can try the border crossing at Peace bridge.'

'We will have to.' Page told him frowning. 'The only other option is going back around and north to 190.'

'There are no other bridges?' He asked 'I thought there was another one to the north.'

'There is nothing on the map other than the 190 bridge.' Page told him pulling the atlas out of her back pocket. It was already open to the area. The two looked it over and Ty shook his head.

'Well fuck.' He sighed and Page nodded.

'What's the hold up?' Theo asked joining them. 'Is there a clear path?'

'No, the bridge is out.' Page sighed motioning to the sign. She told him her plan and he nodded.

'You have satellite access.' Theo reminded her. 'Before we go all the way down there, let's look at it on satellite and see if we can cross. It will save us some time.'

'That's a good idea.' Page said frowning. 'I keep forgetting Mouth gave me that thing.' The three returned to the wagon and Page got into the back. She opened the hidden storage area and pulled the laptop out. After she sat on the bench, she opened it and logged in. A moment later an overhead shot of the world came into view. A small box appeared telling her it was looking for her location. Page smiled when the screen changed to the top of the wagon. She chuckled shaking her head. 'That is so cool.' Ty hopped up and looked.

'Yeah that's pretty cool.' He admitted putting his hand on her protruding belly. Page smiled. Every time he got near her for more than a minute, his hand found her growing belly. At five and a half months, Dana said she was a perfect size. Putting her mind back on the map, she scrolled out and found International Bridge. Just like the sign warned them, the center was collapsed. Scrolling south, they found Peace Bridge just as packed and impassable.

'Well shit.' Ty sighed. 'How's the 190?' Page found it and most of the bridge they needed was gone.

'We knew it was a risk coming this way.' She told him.

'Check the Rainbow Bridge.' Herbert suggested. If that is open, we won't have to go all the way around Lake Ontario.' Page looked for it and found it north of them.

'The looks bridge clear.' She told them 'It looks like it may have a big barricade on the other side. We may be able to cross.' She looked to Youngblood. 'Think you could move another barricade with some help?' The young behemoth let out a whoop.

'Wwweee hhheellpp!' Arturo called excited.

'We will have to run silent from here on out.' Page warned the group who had gathered around the wagon. 'We will be in the city and the place is packed with rippers. I don't think they will come near us thanks to Youngblood and the animals, but I am not willing to risk it.' The others nodded their agreement. 'Kidd, do you mind driving for a while? I want to go over our route.'