Eruken

Erukan fitted the worn leather gloves over his sun beaten hands, the leather creaking as he flexed his hands. What else did he have? He dug through the backpack eagerly, it had been a few days since he had a good drink of water, and hopefully this idiot had something. Nothing. He sighed and continued to rummage through anything he might find useful out of the pack. Cigarettes, a bowl, a few water packets, and a couple of extra rounds for the shotgun he had.

He stood, kicking the pack away and giving his victim a quick glance before turning back to continue his walk. With the pump action shotgun strapped to his backpack and the beretta holstered at his hip, he trudged through the hellish oven that used to be Texas. His map put him roughly a hundred miles north of Dallas, or what was left of it after the military finished with it. He pulled the hood up over his head, hiding himself from the anger of the sun, and continued trudging north. Removing a yellowed journal from a pocket in his robe, he began the process of recording a new entry.

2052/10/27 - ?*F - 9:43am
Tried to trade today and almost ended up dead. The guy held me up for what little I had, and I ended up putting a round through his head. Found a few supplies, and that should make this trip a bit easier.

He paused, and referenced his watch. Making note of the time and ensuring the compass told him he was still bearing north, he made a few more entries, and flipped to the beginning. He found the best way to pass time was to re-read the journal. Not like there was anything else to do.

First entry
'I found this notebook in a Wal-mart, one of the few items that wasn't looted after things hit a critical point. Found a few cans of food, and that should help on this trip. I have to get the hell out of here, if I don't, I'm sure I'll end up catching whatever the hell everyone else got. Canada sounds like a good start, lots of empty woodland up there. Time is 12:32pm, 102*F, good health.

2052/10/26 - 98*F - 2:51pm

Dating the entries felt like a better idea. I found a CV radio out of an abandoned gas station, looks like the previous owner tried to keep in contact with the community, or what's left of it. It's solar powered, so batteries won't be a problem, and it looks like a custom conversion too. I wonder how long this will last, most everything has been reduced to dust, and what little I've found doesn't seem to be holding up against this blazing heat.

But America doesn't seem to be the only country affected, some are completely frozen over, while others are a roasting sauna. Reports say that a large portion of plant and animal life has bit the dust, and we've hit the point of no return for the ecosystem to recover. Guess all that ranting about carbon dioxide was right, we were just making things worse.

He looked up briefly, scanning the horizon for anything relevant and checking his compass to ensure he was still heading north. He reread the last sentence and closed the journal, returning it to it's home. So many miles to go..