The morning of the expedition was very cold and the sun was hiding behind some heavy grey clouds but the whole camp was awake and standing near the main gate. My brother and Omar and three other men were ready to leave and they had their bags full of the dry food we found in the basement and the map we studied for hours. It was a very hard moment for all of us because for a long time we stayed inside the ruins where we felt safe and now we were sending our best people into the wasteland where anything could happen. I stood next to my brother and I held his hand for a minute and I didnt want to let go because he is the only family I have left in this world but he looked at me with a very strong smile and told me that he is doing this for our future. He promised me that he would follow the landmarks we drew on the map and that they would come back in three days to tell us what they found out there in the mountains.
We watched them walking away and their figures became smaller and smaller until they were just tiny dots on the horizon and the silence in the camp was very heavy after they left. Nobody wanted to go back to their work and we all stayed near the gate for a long time just looking at the empty road and hoping that they are safe from the wind and the shadows. I took out my notebook and I started writing about the faces of the people who stayed behind and how the mothers were holding their children tighter and how the old men were praying for the scouts to find the "Sanctuary". This was the biggest risk we ever took but we all knew that staying in the ruins forever is a slow death and that we need to find out if there is a real world waiting for us. I decided to spend my day helping the other women to organize the storage room in the basement because staying busy was the only way to stop the bad thoughts from coming into my head.
By the afternoon we started to hear some strange noises from the hills but we didnt know if it was just the wind or if it was something else and everyone became very quiet and ready to hide. I went to the top of the broken watchtower and I looked through the old binoculars but I couldnt see anything except the sand and the ruined buildings that looked like giants sleeping in the dust. My heart was beating so fast every time I heard a sound because I was thinking about my brother and if he is okay or if he found a place to rest for the night. We realized that our lives are connected to each other more than we thought and that the success of the scouts is the success of every single person in this camp. I wrote a long letter to my brother in my notebook even if I knew he couldnt read it now but I wanted to tell him how much I believe in him and how much the camp has changed since they left.
As the night came we lighted a small fire near the gate to show them the way back if they were lost but we knew they were far away by now and they probably have their own small fire in a cave somewhere. The basement was very full tonight because everyone wanted to be close to the radio just in case the man started talking again but the radio was silent and only the static was coming through the speakers. We sat there in the dark and we shared stories about the brave things people did during the war and it made us feel like we are part of a long line of survivors who never gave up. I looked at the names I wrote in my notebook and I felt that every word is a stone we are using to build a bridge to our new home and I felt so much peace in my heart despite the fear. We are waiting for the sun to rise and for the scouts to return and we are ready to follow them to the end of the world if that is what it takes to find our peace and our family again.