Dissertation II.

The last fortnight has been treacherous, heartbreaking and almost fatal.  I came to a small town called Albamat where I refueled, recharged and stocked up.  I obtained two packs of cigarettes, two gallons of water, some canned meats and vegatables, some dog food for Red and a bottle of whiskey.  I won't go into how or what I did to obtain them but I will say that I don't enjoy what I sometimes have to do for provisions.

I only stayed two nights and started on my trek once again.  I have no ideo what my motivation is, I could have been happy in Albamat or any of the other towns that I've been to for that matter.  If not Albamat then Harrogut or Lymon.  Something drives me into the desert though and I will not stop chasing it until I find out what it is.

Red died three days out of Albamat.  I guess the heat got to him.  I did my best to dig a grave through my tears, after all he was my best friend and my only companion.  It was not the best gravesite for such a faithful friend but with my mental state and the tools that I had at the time, it was the best I could do.  He was rightfully covered and I said a little prayer over him.

I stayed the night six feet from his grave and made sure to put some food out for him in case he felt like not being dead anymore.  In the morning I checked his grave one more time and set out on my way.  After about an hour or two (although it could have been three or four), I came upon a settlement of about ten tents and makeshift dwellings.  I yelled as a sort of self announcement.  Almost instantly I was surrounded by a score and a half of swarthy men, most of them with weapons (mainly guns) in their hands.  I tried to explain what I was doing there but they didn't understand and spoke in a crazy dialect the likes of which I had never heard.

I ended up doing odd jobs for them for a couple of days until I escaped one night while they slept.  I ran all night.  Ran as far away from that camp as I could and rested in the morning.  For the last three days, this has been my mode of operation.  It's definitely safer that way.