Flag them down

You hold the pistol behind your back and stand by the side of the road waving your free hand in the air.

The motorcyclist pulls to a stop several yards in front of you. A figure clad completely in black leather and wearing a helmet with a tinted visor steps off of the bike. The figure looks at you, but doesn’t come any closer. You wave your free hand and say, “Hello there. I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to see another person on this road. Where are you headed?”

The person stands silently in front of you for a while before nodding in your direction and saying in a muffled voice. “I was heading out to the city. I had heard that survivors were gathering there.”

“How did you hear that?” You ask.

“I have a short-wave radio. Somebody sent a message a few days ago. It said that people should go there. I haven’t heard anything for awhile though.” The person pulls the helmet off. Waves of brown hair flow down from a face of pure feminine beauty. “My name is Carol. What’s yours?”

“Alex Smith,” you say, “pleased to met you Carol”

Carol raised her eyebrows. “Really? I think that if you were pleased to met me, you might let go of the gun for a second.”

You bring the gun out from behind your back and point it at the ground in front of you. “Sorry, but there still might be some lunatics around. It’s not a good idea to take chances.”

Carol nodded her head. It was only then that you noticed that her hand rested on a shotgun on her bike. “You’re right, but lunatics aren’t the only thing to worry about. There are some gatherings of survivors that have formed little armies to fight over what’s left of civilization. Some have a keen interest in getting women of childbearing age. I just managed to escape from a man who styles himself ‘The Colonel’. Let’s just say he isn’t a big believer in woman’s rights.”

A shudder passes down your spine. You hadn’t thought of that. Women might become commodities now. The desire to rebuild the population could make things very difficult for the foreseeable future.

You look over Carol. She seems tough. Maybe it would be a good idea for the two of you to travel to the city to see if there are survivors gathering there. It’s going to take more then just you and her to protect yourself from roving gangs.

Still two women traveling together might draw more unwelcome attention. You might be better on your own.