Chapter 18

We had plenty of time and moved slowly. Making contact with other groups was of interest though we knew, from experience, to be careful. Bennie had recovered and he and Janice along two of Jam's men were our point scouts.

Our track would take us through Houston and then on I-10 to Mobile. We would cut north and not go through New Orleans as it had flooded a number of times and would make for difficult traveling for us. According to George, Houston was pretty much deserted but we took our normal precautions to prevent any unpleasant surprises. There weren't any. We found Houston as stated. There were a few families still in the area eking out a precarious living in the ruins of the city. No one offered us any challenge as we traveled through the city.

From there, our track was more east toward Beaumont which was further away from the coast. We again found only a few small family groups. One group of two brothers and their wives and children asked to join us liking the idea of starting somewhere else. Jam elected to permit them to join after talking with them and discovering skills that would be useful.

Our path took us a day and a half later through Lake Charles. Louisiana was a wetter climate than we had seen on most of our trip in a long time. The roadway was still in good shape and we made pretty good time as we got back into the rhythm of traveling.

Our next city was Lafayette and there we saw signs of scavenging and storm damage from years past. Nothing recent seemed to show and we continued on toward Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge was the capital of Louisiana before the Day and had a number of government buildings. Time had not been gentle and storm damage was everywhere causing a couple of detours. There had been little scavenging over the last ten years or so and we saw no people anywhere. I was surprised. We usually found people where there were cities and the ability to grow crops. That wasn't true here. We did find one collapsed building with many skeletons in it but really couldn't determine how long they had been there or even for sure what happened.

We continued east to Mobile. As we came to the outskirts of Mobile, we found people. There was a small farming community of five families. We stopped and talked with them asking them about Mobile. We were told that no one lived in Mobile and, though there had been incursions from the east, nothing had happened in the last three years. I wondered if the hurricane that swept us to England had crimped the invader's style.

Jam explained to the families the plans and what he expected. Jim told them about Preservation and Port Lavaca. He explained about the radios we used and how they benefited people from the technology that was kept alive. My dad was on that evening from Preservation, George from Port Lavaca, and Carlos from Guatemala. We could also faintly hear the English checking in on the net. The five families were amazed and eager to join with Jam and utilize the technology. They quickly worked out an agreement which would prove workable for them. The next morning, we would proceed into Mobile proper and chose a place on the bay.

In the morning, we rose to rain. It happens in the south. Summer time rains can be and usually are hit or miss. You can be in a downpour and two miles away, the land is dry as a bone that day. We decided to wait it out without moving in the wet. You could do it but, with the heat and humidity, it was not fun. Jen was particularly thankful as she had picked up enough weight in her pregnancy to be uncomfortable in the heat.

Jam and his people spent the day getting to know their new neighbors and getting them set with radios to maintain contact. I hoped they would eventually meld into one community.