Chapter 12: 12. En Route to Amqui

"Water can't flow uphill though," I commented quietly as the three of us continued west along the trail. "There's no way the changed water from the park could get into this river, right?"

We were walking parallel to the river, though we weren't always right next to the flowing water. It was heading west, same as us, but unlike us I was positive this river didn't originate in Gaspésie National Park.

Soneya shrugged, "According to the map, no. This river starts outside the park, between some peaks south west of Mount Logan. But the map was made before things went crazy, so who knows what's changed."

"It was raining last night when we went to sleep," she added. "We know the rain in the park was different too right?"

I nodded, "In the park. Out here the rain was normal last night. Or at least it was normal when I was washing the kitchen kit."

We didn't have rain this morning which was nice. It was still overcast, but at least things were dry.

The wolfgirl shrugged again, "It's obviously spreading. Water in the park wasn't just changed, there was more of it. Every pond was overflowing its banks, every creek was like a river. That could be happening with the clouds too? More water up there means more rain spreading further away from ground zero."

That left me quiet for a bit as I thought it through. Eventually I said, "It's all going to flow straight into the Atlantic. We're on a peninsula right? All these rivers and creeks probably end up draining into the St. Lawrence, either the river or the gulf. And like I said, water can't flow uphill so the magic is just going to get flushed out to sea."

"Which is probably for the best," Soneya pointed out. "Considering we have no idea what it really does."

Lia had been walking quietly between the two of us, but she finally spoke up. "Didn't the water change all three of us?"

"I think so," I nodded. "At least, it sure seemed that way? I think it gave us magic too."

The tall wolfgirl sounded thoughtful as she said, "Probably for the best that it's all going straight out to sea. I think it'd cause pandemonium if this started happening to everyone. It'll be bad enough as it is."

I shook my head, "Dumping it in the ocean doesn't necessarily make it go away. It'd be diluted a lot, but in the meantime it might affect the sea life somehow. Unless it loses its effectiveness? Maybe the changed water becomes normal again after a while."

"We really don't have enough information either way," Soneya stated quietly. After a moment she added, "And right now we should be focused more on staying quiet and not running into any more soldiers. We can worry about magic water and the environment later."

"Right," I nodded. "Sorry."

We were already west of the hotel, and apart from the group that came through our campsite first thing in the morning we hadn't seen any more soldiers. We hadn't seen anyone else either, for that matter. Our hike was going ok too, we were still mostly going downhill. There were a few spots were the trail took us upwards again but overall we were following the river as it flowed down through a valley.

The three of us were quiet again as we continued our hike, and after another thirty or forty minutes we were almost at the end of this part of the trail. We were south of the river and on some higher ground, and through the trees we could see a road up ahead. It was probably less than a quarter kilometre away, and the trail sloped downwards towards the road and a larger river that ran parallel to it.

We'd just started down that last stretch when the three of us stopped. There were voices up ahead, and even though we couldn't see them yet I was convinced it was more soldiers.

After a minute or so of quiet listening, Soneya whispered "They aren't moving. They might be guarding the trail head? Or it could be a checkpoint."

"Should we go around?" I whispered back.

The wolfgirl pulled out her maps to take a closer look at them. After a half minute she nodded and put the maps away again. She gestured as she quietly explained, "We'll head off to the left, stick to higher ground until we're closer to the road. That'll take us south of the trail head and we should avoid whoever's there. When we come to the road we head across when it's clear then follow the river on the other side. That'll lead us to the camping area at Petit-Sault, then we just head back towards the road and find the parking lot."

Me and Lia both quietly agreed with that plan, and the three of us moved off the trail. Our little sister took the lead, scouting ahead for us since she could move easier through the woods and over the rough terrain. It got a little steep in places, there was a reason the trail was where it was rather than following the route we were taking. And ironically being barefoot but having claws and toe beans made it easier to navigate the rough uneven ground than it would have been in my hiking boots.

At one point we managed to get a look at the source of the voices, though we were about a hundred meters away and ten or twenty meters above. There was a military-green pick-up truck parked at the mouth of the trail, where it met the road. And two soldiers were sitting on the tailgate. They were both decked out in combat fatigues and had rifles with them, just like the ones we'd seen earlier. The only difference was these two weren't carrying bulky packs.

The two soldiers looked fairly relaxed, but they had weapons with them and it seemed obvious they were there to guard the trail. Probably to keep the public out, but maybe they were also watching for anyone coming out too.

Soneya gestured for us to stay out of sight, and we followed the lower part of Mont Jean-Yves Bérubé as it curved to the south-west.

When we got a couple hundred meters south of the soldiers we finally headed down the last few dozen meters and emerged from the woods onto the side of the road. I couldn't remember what it was called, but I knew it went all the way north to the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, where it met with Highway 132. That was the highway I came in on, but that felt like a lifetime ago.

One thing I noticed that worried me, the road had lots of cracks, potholes, even gaps in the asphalt. It didn't look like an old road though, and all the damage seemed relatively fresh. I was positive it had to be from the earthquake, which meant the damage spread a lot further than we thought.

Despite that, the road still looked drivable. There wasn't any traffic at the moment though, so the three of us quickly made our way across. Then on the other side we went down a bit of a hill and came to the edge of the river. Like the road, I knew the river went north till it met the St. Lawrence. It was bigger than the one we'd been following since this morning, that river met this one near where the trail met the road. So we were about two hundred meters upstream, and we'd be following it south until we found Petit-Sault.

Soneya was ready to keep moving but I said, "Hold on a second, I want to check something."

"What is it?" she asked.

This river was larger, but it was spread out wide here and moving slowly. And despite being upriver of where the smaller one connected, I wanted to check to see if the water was normal or changed. I found a safe spot on the bank then crouched and dipped my hand in, then frowned as I stood up again.

"It won't be changed here," the wolfgirl stated. "We're upriver from Bascon, so it couldn't get here."

I shook my head as I rejoined her and Lia, "It's changed. Water flows downhill but maybe magic can flow upstream? Either that or whatever's changing the water has already spread a lot further."

We were all quiet for a few moments as that sank in. Then Soneya sighed, "Nothing we can do about it. Let's keep moving."

"Right," I nodded, and the three of us set out again.

We stayed alongside the edge of the river instead walking next to the road. It was a little slower, but I was positive it made for a nicer walk. And every so often, whenever I saw a safe spot on the bank of the river I'd dip my hand or some toes into it.

I couldn't even say for sure why. Maybe it was instinct, or curiosity. Whatever the reason, after we'd covered another couple hundred meters I announced "The water's normal here. So further up river is probably still normal."

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Soneya took a deep breath then sighed again. "If whatever's happening can move upstream... The St. Lawrence Seaway connects to half the midwest. All the way to places like Chicago and Detroit."

"And Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal," I added. "Basically most of the north-east of North America."

There was another pause as all that sank in. Then Lia finally spoke up, "What should we do?"

"Nothing we can do," our leader shook her head. "Just keep moving. We need to get ourselves somewhere safe first, then we can worry about the big picture later."

"You're right. Sorry I keep getting side-tracked by this stuff," I apologized.

We all started moving again, and Soneya shook her head "It's ok Tori. It just feels... It's too big to think about right now, if you know what I mean?"

I nodded, "I know. And you're right, we have more pressing things to worry about for now."

Over the next half hour or so we continued moving more or less south as we stayed closer to the river than the road. We seemed to be making pretty good progress regardless, and after another couple minutes we knew we were close when the three of us heard voices up ahead.

We all stopped in our tracks for a moment while our ears twitched and focused, and Lia raised her nose to test the air. One thing I noticed was I didn't feel scared this time. Both times we heard soldiers my heart raced and I was on alert, same with when we encountered the guy with the rifle.

This time I was wary, but not frightened. I had no idea if it was instinct or something else, but I had the feeling the people up ahead weren't a threat. And it seemed my companions felt the same, as all three of us started moving again after a few moments.

We rounded a bend with the river and just like that we were back on the Appalachian Trail. To our right the trail climbed back up into mountains again on its way west towards Amqui. We were more interested in what lay to our left, which was the campground of Petit-Sault and the parking lot where we hoped to find our would-be mugger's car.

The source of the voices also lay to our left. There were two separate groups of hikers camping there. A group of three middle-aged men were set up in the shelter, while four college-aged guys had a couple tents set on one of the other small sites.

The older guys were grumbling to each other about the Trail and Gaspésie National Park being closed unexpectedly, while the younger group was debating where to go next. From the sound of it they'd all been planning to head east, but were turned away by the soldiers.

The conversations all stopped though as the three of us walked past, and seven sets of eyes looked our way. Suddenly I felt incredibly self-conscious about my cut-off shorts and how my legs were so exposed. Though to be fair most of the eyes were on our ears and tails, rather than the rest of our bodies.

Still, at least one of the younger guys was clearly checking me out. He even raised his hand up in a half-wave as he said "Hi there."

"Hey," I replied as I gave them all a nervous wave.

Soneya glanced back and forth at both groups and gave everyone a curt nodd. Then in a protective - or maybe it was a possessive gesture, she put an arm around my shoulders as she said "Hello" to the other hikers.

Nobody even said a word about Lia who was quietly walking along next to me.

And we didn't stop to chat, we just kept moving past the camping area. It was only another fifty meters till we spotted the cars.

"Do we know which one we're looking for?" I asked as I eyed the half dozen vehicles in the small lot.

After a quiet glance around to make sure nobody was watching, Soneya pulled the would-be attacker's wallet out of her jacket pocket and took a quick look at the contents. Then she tucked it away again and said, "It's an old blue pick-up truck with New Brunswick plates."

"That's it there," she added a moment later. The vehicle she was looking at was a bit of a beater, with more than its fair share of dents and rust.

My heart-rate picked up as the three of us cautiously approached it. We were potentially only a couple hours away from civilization now, and I was already getting excited. I watched as the wolfgirl pulled the keys from her pocket, then she unlocked the drivers side door. The interior lights came on as the door opened, so we knew there was power which was a very good sign.

Soneya unlocked the passenger door as well, then finally slipped my pack off her shoulders. She was going to put it in the back of the pick-up before I stopped her. I grabbed one of the water bottles and also dug my phone out from the side pocket.

When I was done I looked up at her and asked, "Should we worry about shoes yet? Or wait till we're in town?"

"Wait till we hit town," our pack leader decided, as she picked up the backpack and put it in the back of the truck.

Then she climbed into the drivers seat and after a brief hesitation, she put the key in the ignition and gave it a try.

The old vehicle shuddered and rumbled to life, and both of us let out a quiet sigh of relief. I pulled the rolled-up blanket from my pack and tossed that in the back next to our pack, then said "Come on Lia, let's get going."

Soneya was actually still trying to get comfortable in her seat as I climbed up into the passenger seat. And I immediately figured out why my companion was having trouble, as I was stuck with the problem of what to do with my tail.

It took the both of us two or three minutes of messing around before we found the least uncomfortable way to sit. Once I was ready, Lia jumped up onto my lap then I pulled the door closed. After another brief pause Soneya put the truck in gear and backed out of the parking spot, and just like that we were on our way to Amqui.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked.

Alpine nodded as we turned right onto the road, "South to the next main road, then head west. That's the most direct route to Amqui, should only take us two or three hours to get there. Trying to get up to the highway then back down to Amqui again would actually take longer."

Despite all the cracks, the road wasn't too bad to drive on. And Soneya did her best to avoid the potholes and bigger cracks.

According to the clock on the truck radio it was half past noon, so we were pretty much following the schedule we figured out last night, which was nice. I tried the radio but couldn't get much there, apart from some staticky French music. So I turned it off and checked my phone instead.

It booted up which was a relief, and the battery was still half full. There weren't any bars, but that wasn't unexpected. We were in the middle of nowhere driving alongside some mountains, which were between us and the highway. I was confident I'd get a signal by the time we reached Amqui.

For now the three of us just enjoyed the quiet drive. Soneya was focused on the road while Lia sat on my lap. My little sister and I watched the scenery go by outside the windows, and I let myself relax and my mind wander.