Beyond the City

“We can’t get through to the east!”

The shout came from the entrance to the sports field. Several people squeezed through a gap in the fence, with more following behind, pushing and supporting one another as they stumbled inside. One man had lost a shoe. Bloody footprints trailed from his bare foot, but even when he reached the edge of the field, he did not stop. He seized one of the people directing traffic and pulled him westward.

“Stop sending people toward the bridge. The bridge is gone!”