[ IP ] Come up with the story behind this map .

Jack brushed himself off as he climbed out of the drainage ditch. He hoisted a rucksack almost as large as he was on to his back. A pair of pots clanged together, and he took out some paracord to tie them down. Silence was next to godliness these days. 
 
 `` They must have come loose during the night,'' said Isaac, Jack's traveling companion, as he dipped a spoon into a steaming can of barbecue beans. `` You shifted around so much that I was about ready to smother you in your sleep.'' 
 
 `` Sorry,'' said Jack as he stretched out his hands over the propane stove to warm them. `` I have n't slept right since we left Dallas.'' 
 
 `` There's some things a man ca n't unsee.'' Isaac handed the spoon and the can of beans to Jack. `` I'm going to take a shit. Keep an eye on the road.'' 
 
 Jack shoveled some beans into his mouth and pulled out a pair of binoculars to look down the old country road stretching into the horizon. He could make out a green sign in the distance. 
 
 `` We're about 30 miles from Little Rock,'' he yelled to Isaac. 
 
 `` Keep it down you knucklehead!'' 
 
 `` It's not like anyone is out here,'' Jack said to himself as he shifted his gaze to the southern end of the road. `` Shit,'' he said as he cut off the stove and started dragging the gear into the treeline. 
 
 `` What's going on?'' asked Isaac. 
 
 `` Convoy.'' 
 
 `` Military?'' 
 
 `` Looks like refugees.'' 
 
 `` Alright, stay quiet,'' said Isaac as he unshouldered the rifle from his back and leveled it on a branch. He stared through the scope toward the road. Jack pulled a.38 revolver out of his waistband. 
 
 An old Ford truck passed first. Two men sat in the bed with rifles pointed to either side as they scanned the pine trees for any movement. They were followed by several cars and trucks loaded with supplies and refugees. Jack and Isaac continued to watch as the row of vehicles passed. Water jugs clanked against the sides of vehicles and chickens clucked nervously in mesh cages tied to piles of sleeping bags, tents and sacks of rice. Jack glanced down at his revolver and flipped open the cylinder. Only three rounds left. When he looked back up, he saw the back of Isaac running toward the road. His rifle was laying in a pile of pine needles 20 feet behind him. 
 
 `` Isaac!'' Jack screamed as he cocked the hammer back on the revolver and took cover behind a pine tree. 
 
 Three men with shotguns jumped out of a truck that came screeching to a halt as Isaac ran towards the convoy. 
 
 `` Do n't fucking move,'' one of the men was screaming as he cocked his weapon and pointed it at Isaac's head. 
 
 Isaac continued to sprint towards a bus that was behind the truck. A young girl had jumped from the bus and was running towards Isaac. 
 
 `` Papa!'' she screamed as she leaped into Isaac's massive arms. The men with the shotguns lowered their weapons and began to walk toward the pair. By this time the entire column had come to a halt and armed men were moving up and down the line. One man broke the ring of gunmen that was forming around Isaac and his daughter and holstered his pistol as he approached. 
 
 `` My name is Andrew, and I'm in charge here. Who are you? If you have any friends hiding in ambush, you'd better speak up.'' 
 
 Isaac set his daughter down and wiped the tears from his cheeks. `` Sorry sir, I did n't mean you no trouble. My friend is in the woods. Let me go fetch him.'' 
 
 Isaac waved to Jack and gestured for him to come over. Jack put the revolver back in his pants and slowly walked over to the large group of armed men that had gathered near the road. He listened to the pine straw crunch under his feet and hoped it would n't be the last thing he heard. 
 
 `` Put your hands up,'' said a teenager who was holding a.22 rifle. Another man walked up and pulled the pistol out of Jack's pants. 
 
 `` Who are you?'' Andrew asked again to both men this time. 
 
 `` My name is Isaac and this is my friend Jack. We're refugees trying to reach Tennessee.'' Jack nodded his head in agreement. `` This is my daughter, Kendra. She was supposed to be in Memphis with her mother.'' The girl buried her moist face into Isaac's leather jacket. 
 
 `` We found the girl walking down I-30. She has n't spoken since we picked her up,'' said the convoy leader as he turned to the crowd that had gathered. `` Y'all mount up. We leave in 10.'' The men dispersed and started climbing back into the vehicles they had dismounted. `` We welcome anyone to come along with us,'' Andrew said as he kept his eyes on the men's progress. `` We're headed much farther north than Tennessee though. There's rumor that the United States of Virginia will soon be overrun by the crusaders.'' 
 
 Jack shuddered. Memories of decapitated bodies laying in suburban driveways flooded his mind. He could still see the blood draining into the sewers while dogs gnawed at the bloated corpses. `` Have you all had any run ins with Confederate troops?'' 
 
 `` Only a few patrols. We handled them easily enough, but some of the folks we've picked up were n't so lucky.'' 
 
 `` What makes you think the mountain boys wo n't hold out?'' Isaac asked as he ran his fingers along his daughter's braids. `` I had contact with some friends from my old Ranger unit before the network went down. They said the passes of the Appalachians were damn near impenetrable. They were holding off the federal boys with their tanks and drones long before the Confederacy had unified.'' 
 
 `` I was one of those federal boys,'' Andrew said straightening his posture and resting a hand on his pistol. `` I fought the Libertarian guerrillas in the mountains before they redeployed me down to the hell on earth that was Charlotte. These crusaders are something else. I've watched a whole platoon of them sprint into machine gun fire with bayonets fixed. The last surviving man had lost both his legs, but he pulled out a cavalry sword and used it to drag himself forward leaving a trail of blood and his limbs in his wake. It's like they're numb to fear or any human emotion.'' His hands began to shake, and he pulled a flask out of his jacket. 
 
 `` So what's north?'' asked Jack after a few moments of silence. 
 
 `` The northern states are officially divided into two nations at the moment although there's been talk of a unification and reestablishment of the old federal government in light of recent threats from the south. We'll try to push to Canada if it's possible, but the northern governments are just as paranoid and ruthless as the old federal government, if not more so, so it's unlikely we'll be granted passage,'' he said as he put the flask back in his jacket. His hands were calm once more. `` We've got to get moving though. You're more than welcome to join us.'' 
 
 `` Let me grab our gear,'' Jack said as he sprinted back to the woods. 
 
 Isaac picked up his daughter and kissed her forehead. `` We're going to be alright, baby,'' he said and looked one last time to the south. `` Daddy's going to keep you safe.'' 
 
 
 

