Journey of a Thousand Miles

Previously

…Jacob closed the journal and sat in the lantern light, listening to the silence of the bunker. Somewhere above, the desert wind scoured the sand. Somewhere beyond that, beyond the dome he had only begun to suspect, the world had ended. But here, in this small room, someone had left him water and food and a path to follow. He did not know whether to feel grateful or trapped. He packed what he could carry—canned goods, a fresh canteen, the lantern, the journal—and climbed back up into the fading afternoon light. The desert stretched before him, vast and indifferent. The compass needle was steady. Jacob began to walk.