I pull an arrow and crouch low to the ground. I shut my mind off. I try to not think when I'm scared shitless.

I can hear Jake behind me walking, no doubt completely upright and picking his teeth with a piece of grass. If he starts humming I decide to shoot him myself. The grass on the side of the highways is long. As I slip through it the wind plays with it, making it whisper. The birds are not the kind who warn you of prey, they're scavengers. They want you to die.

The long grass sways and plays with my hair.

My heart is beating faster when my foot touches the gravel on the side of the highway.

I look back at Will. He nods. Jake's lips curl into a smile. I can't help but want to smile with him. I see myself back at the cabin for the briefest of seconds. Images of he and I laying on the couches fill my mind. I smile remembering the way we tried not to get caught staring at each other.

My mind snaps back.

I close my eyes and listen to the wind. There is no sound. I climb out of the huge ditch and walk quickly and silently up onto the broken asphalt. It's started to crack from the weather and lack of care. Where my foot steps first it crumbles. My eyes scan every inch of the deserted highway. Burned out cars, sit staggered along the long straight road. The people caught in the traffic jams when the tidal waves were coming or the bombs were dropping to contain the sick. They fled from their vehicles. They left everything and ran. I remember running. My father had waited too long in his friend's bunker. It was the only mistake he ever made.

I shake my head back to focusing. I slip between an old burnt SUV and the skeleton of a small car. The hood of the car is lifted and the battery is gone. Not uncommon.

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