I was tired of being cooped up indoors all the time. A trip out of town and away from the near-constant sight of feet would be a welcome reprieve. A day, or even a few days camping trip wouldn't alarm them. I packed up a few supplies in my old bookbag and got into some hiking clothes, and headed downstairs.
I made a quick breakfast. Just a couple eggs and some bacon with a glass of orange juice. It was the most baffling part of our occupation. The Sisterhood had kept true to their promise. They didn't oppress us or start rationing our food, or even start using us for labor. They just wanted control over us, largely taking control over our lives, our businesses and our government. And the worst part is that it was working. We worked less, kept our food and our autonomy, all for the cost of our subservience to their feet.
I stopped myself from traveling down that trail of thought again. Trying to discern exactly what their motives were was always fruitless. I just wanted to get a break from it, if nothing else.
I biked down the streets and out towards the outskirts of town, the rows of houses tapering off and the barren lots and encroaching treeline appearing. Soon, the streets ended, and I was at a dirt crossroads.
Down towards the south was Lake Pesca, a gorgeous freshwater spot with a lot of shoreline. I could see a bit of the crystal waters reflecting the sun from here already. The sisters had taken to occasionally swimming and sunbathing by the lake in their time here, but it was usually just a few particularly outdoorsy ones, not the crowds that roamed the city streets. The lake was a deep one, and there were rumors of strange things lurking deep within it too.
Just to the west was the Sandalwood Forest, a relatively quiet bit of woods that I had spent many weeks camping in years ago. Its dirt paths trailed off between the coniferous trees, a little bit of pinestraw on the ground. But, despite how inviting it looked, we were always warned about going too deep into the woods. There were rumors of strange people or buildings and all kinds of monsters living in there when we were kids. But in hindsight those were obviously old campfire stories meant to keep us from getting lost. Maybe today I would actually go exploring deeper than I did when I was a kid.
Finally, to the north was Mt. Ashy. This was the place I was least familiar with, its rugged terrain pretty unforgiving. But it apparently offered gorgeous views and was probably the most remote place from any Sister, at least, as far as I knew. There were biking trails, and even a campsite. There used to be some kind of industry up in those hills, but the roads leading in were closed, and the places apparently abandoned. You could see just the tips of some kind of electrical poles peeking over the craggy summit. There was even talk of big cave systems under the mountain. But I really couldn't say if they were true. It could be fun to check out, at least.
I took stock of my options before deciding to...
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