Free Self Apocalypse: The Beginning by John French

problem.  I wasn’t crossing my fingers though.  The government might be riding in on its horse to save us, but I was having a hard time envisioning just how they were going to accomplish that.  I think the bottom line was that we were so far into the mud right now, that only we (that is the people ) were going to be able to stabilize the country and the economy.  It was just going to take time and a lot of it too.
     
    I took a good long glance out through the window.  The sky looked great outside, not a hint of foul weather loomed on the horizon.  I finished my second cup of coffee, and then proceeded to put on my snow gear.  I was beginning to become excited about heading out on the trail today.  I wondered how things were in town.  I hadn’t been out that way in quite some time.  Now that the winter would soon be coming to end, I thought it would be a good time to get away from camp.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Trees passed by steadily as I worked my way down the old logging road towards town.  I found that I had to take it easy with my speed due to my lack of proper gear.  I even had to stop occasionally to try and warm up a little.  I was lucky I even had a helmet to keep shield my head from the cold air passing by.  My jacket, gloves, and boots were adequate enough, but not having snow pants was a real damper.  I did find that wearing long underwear and two pairs of pants helped tremendously, but the fabric wasn’t made to play around in the snow.  More times than none my pants would eventually dampen, and after that they stayed wet.  Turned out that the snowmobile was the best thing I could have gotten my hands on.  None of the roads were plowed until you got to Main Street in town, and even then they were poorly maintained.  There just weren’t enough resources available to keep up with Mother Nature.  There were times when the people in town would actually clean the snow covered street with shovels.
     
    It wasn’t long before I started passing a few houses, the first sign of civilization.  Smoke slowly rose from their chimney stacks, and vehicles rested in the driveways under heaps of snow.  I was now following tracks from other sleds, so I wasn’t the only one traveling around in this fashion.  The country back roads soon gave way to the side streets in town.  I continued to follow the tracks in the snow that were now more prominent as I approached the main drag.  Apparently people had given up on taking care of the snow, because I found Main Street covered in snow from at least the last two storms.  Most the shops were closed and locked in by the snow.  It was obvious that the majority of businesses in town had finally folded.  I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to get any supplies at all.  That started to worry me a little bit, and I could feel my stomach tighten up from the thought of it.
     
    I kept riding until I got to the department store.  I was more than relieved to see other sleds parked there, and even some horse drawn sleds!  I thought that cool, but I wondered how the horses faired in the deep snow.  I parked my sled and carried my helmet with me as I entered the store.  The lights were off and only lanterns lying on the floor illuminated the way.  The store had been cleared out in the front, and tables were displayed with inventory on them like a flea market.  The store had been closed for some time now, and was converted into an indoor market as a warm place to trade goods during the cold winter months.  Some of the store’s actual stock remained, and was being sold to raise funds and resources for the town.  Mostly, however, the market comprised of locals selling their own property or goods they themselves had made.
     
    Luckily I found a couple who made their own candles.  They were good candles too, and I wasn’t at all unpleased to have to relinquish a heavy amount of green paper to buy them.  It was almost funny and at the same time sickening