Can't go back, so move forward

It was March 13, 2022, the importance of the date? Well, it was exactly two years after the first announcement. Glancing at the sun as its light shone through the trees around me, I held my fingers up to the horizon for comparison and noted it was almost two in the afternoon. In another twenty minutes, it would be exactly two years since I first heard the news. I could remember it clearly, for it still felt like yesterday to me. Two years ago. I was not accustomed to the heavy traffic that was flowing around us. In the country where I lived, you could drive for miles before you had to pass someone. It was certainly not the same in the city, heavy traffic made it difficult to drive a fifteen-passenger in. Only a doctor or dentist appointment could get my family into the city. A lively ringtone startled me out of my thoughts. "Could you grab that for me?" My mother requested from her place in the driver's seat. "Sure," I answered, wincing at the hint of a slur in my voice. A nurse in the dentist's office said this could happen, although I had hoped to avoid having to make too many adjustments. When I grabbed her phone from the charger, I saw my father's face on the screen. "Hola! Dad! How's your day at work?" "Good, can I talk to your mother?" "Sure," I said again, pressing on the speakerphone and sliding the phone into my mother's coat pocket. "Hi Honey, how's your day going so far?" "Busy, I'm on lunch break right now. Did the appointment go well?" My mom shoulder-checked and moved into the turning lane before answering. "Great! They said she had to wear retainers full-time for three months, before cutting them down to just nights. We had to go back to the office at 3: 30 this afternoon to pick them up. A muffled rattle of dishes came through the speakers of the phone. "That's good, so when are you heading home?" Arriving at the lights, my mother pulled out her phone and switched the caller screen to the map route we followed. "I already dropped the boxes of boys' clothes off at Karen's for her new baby. She got rid of her newborn boy stuff after eight girls between Adam and Mitchel." "Can you stop by Costco?" Mother glanced at the clock and calculated the time it would take in her head. "We should, it would be a wise choice to stock up on basics. I'll text Savta and ask her to check the cold room to get a good idea of what we need." Additional dampened sounds on the other side of the phone. While my mother positioned her phone back in her pocket. The light shifted to green, and we began moving again with the rest of the traffic. "We clear?" My mom questioned. Shifting in my seat, I looked behind us through the big windows of the fifteen-passenger. A truck was beside us, then it signalled and transferred over into the turning lane. "Clear." A gentle tick as the signal light started. My mother checked the rearview mirror one last time before changing lanes "I have heard reports of something significant coming down the pipe." "Oh?" Mother spoke curiously. "As of right now, I do not have any theory as to what it could be. Though if you could grab some additional stuff just in case, it would be great." " Alright." The sharp sound of an office phone broke the silence. "I got to go. Love you bye." "Bye, love you too." My mom sighed as they hung up with a click. "Well," she spoke quietly as we pulled into Costco's parking lot. "It can't hurt to be prepared." Present-day I sighed as I adjusted the canvas field pack strapped to my back. Taking a deep breath, I filled my lungs with the fresh air from the forest. All ten members of my family hiked relatively single-file behind my father. He was at the front and broke the trail with his skis. A sled was pulled behind him, widening and smoothing the trail for the rest of us. All the circumstances and decisions that led us to this moment. I like to believe they produced wiser, stronger people. We were optimistic and armed with the knowledge that this was only the beginning, not the end. Others had achieved it before, and we followed in their footsteps. Many people called us conspiracy theorists, but we preferred the term "Pureblood." The world would never be the same, now the best option was to start over. With all the changes that occurred, it was no longer safe for us and we could not conform to it for our livelihood. So my family, together with others, departed to make our own. With my successive step, I moved into the shade of the mountains.