We’d heard from half a dozen other ranchers that the virus had hit all over the county. Vaccines and antibiotics were getting to be in short supply ...and it was going to wreak havoc on all of us this winter.I drove the front-end loader back to the equipment barn after I finished covering in the pit where I’d dumped eighty head. It was dark and before I reached the barn I slowed the tractor to a stop and looked up the snowy mountain where we’d have cattle this summer. I felt his presence before I. " How do you know about the modified humans, Captain?" Varna asked.The Captain smiled. "Because Nora's mother was a distant cousin."Nora glanced at Varna and back to the Captain. "Then we are..." Cousins, Nora," the captain finished for her. "You and your brother are more important to us ... both human, Grojan and even Grojani than you can possibly realize. Our spies intercepted the communication between your uncle and the bounty hunters. He is a hard liner and in league with the Carask family.. My last boyfriend thru hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) a few years back on a one year break from college. So most of what I invented about the CDT is based on his AT stories. For you non-hikers the US has three of these two thousand plus mile hiking trails. The third one is the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). ---------------------- Katlin and Missy: Chapter 4 - Sunrise ---------------------- 1 Sunrise: Sunrise is my trail name. I wasn't the only solo woman hiker doing. I guess that is why women have only a "few" male lovers but every man beds a dozen different women."Squad Three, follow me," Cadet Corporal Hernandez said when we were dismissed from the assembly. We marched back to our squad bay single-file, bare feet slapping against the linoleum floor. Inside the bay we were told to take a knee—except for me. I was ordered to assume the Inspection Position, a modified Parade Rest; my hands were on top of my head instead of behind my back. "Cadet Thistle will.