Neri occupied herself with the loose hem on her jean shorts as they were driving, knowing that it would be at least 9 hours. They hoped the jerrycans were enough to fill it, and agreed to stop at another gas station to fill up again if it was necessary. Eleni got bored within the first twenty minutes, and began to sing under her breath once again. It wasn't long before Neri joined it, singing softly as they sped down the road.

They also knew that it was getting notably cooler, with the warm breeze of Florida far behind their tailgate. From 11 a.m. that day to the early evening, they continued the trend of switching off every now and then to make sure that neither of them felt stressed or contracted a headache. It was three shifts that they got to before the sun started to set to the left of them, and Neri pulled over to the side of the road.

"We haven't gotten any sleep for the past three days," she stated. "Maybe now that we're mostly safe, we can."

Eleni nodded. "I'll go out back to push down the rear seats."

She opened the door and walked around back, like she had so often with her jade-green Jeep. Eleni sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. She still missed her Jeep, and wondered who had it now. Whomever did have it was going to have their faces bashed in when Eleni got her hands on them...and that was after Neri managed to scare them shitless. She had to admit, Neri could definitely be intimidating if she wanted to. If they did start an argument with a passing group, Eleni would leave it to Neri to make the opposing side back down.

The hatch opened, which had some dirt smears along the crimson exterior. The leather seats folded back when she pulled the lever and pushed, and by then Neri had already walked to her side. Under the seats was an emergency package, which contained a fire blanket among other supplies; such as a shovel and a first aid kit.

"Do you think that'll keep us warm?" Eleni inquired.

"Worth a shot. I think it'll keep the heat in."

Neri walked back around, shutting off the engine and lights so no Restless would be drawn to it when the sun did set. She came back around, to see Eleni bundled up in the blanket on her gym bag to make sure she didn't lose any body heat to the flooring. She was already fast asleep. Without further ado, Neri crawled in, shut the hatch, and wrapped herself up in the fire blanket next to Eleni.

That next morning, Neri woke up to Eleni munching on the dried apples from the gas station days before. She helped herself to a bag, and while neither of them said it, both felt refreshed from the one night of sleep they had gotten. Breakfast was short and sweet, but they managed to salvage the water bottles to have for later.

Neri offered to drive first, and Eleni sat in the passenger's seat, asleep once again.

"This girl can never get enough sleep," Neri whispered, and gave a glance to her sleeping friend. "Just another few hours, then we'll be in New York."

For another hour or so, only the humming of the engine filled the air as Neri drove down the highway. It seemed that the area around them was becoming more populated, because some wandering Restless were spotted near the roadside. When more and more dotted the area that Neri navigated through, she finally shook Eleni's shoulder.

"Wake up," she said. Eleni groaned. "There's more Restless than before."

With that, Eleni woke up almost immediately. She sighed as she looked out the window, and frowned. "Why is there more?"

"Because we're near New York. I bet DED hit here the hardest."

The tall skyscrapers and ruins of New York City's districts began to grow as they came closer, and the grassy parks were burnt and dead. The giant screens that were hung on buildings had fallen, others still suspended by one or two remaining cables. The billboards that used to be filled with ads were now covered in a layer of dust, and some had blood smears. Some of the stone sculptures had toppled over, leaving rubble on the roads or on the lawns. There was the everlasting touch of bodies on the ground, some mutilated, and others beyond deformed. Eleni wouldn't have been surprised if people had jumped from the windows of office buildings and call centers to take their own lives, all to avoid the apocalypse. While both of them knew very well that they shouldn't have entered New York because of how many Restless there would be, the detour around the colossal city would have cost them hours more; enough that could cause them to run out of gas.

Buses were thrown on their sides as they continued their mediocre pace down the street, and Restless pawed the side of the Honda Civic if they were close enough. Eleni bit her lip, cautiously gazing out her window to warn Neri of anything dangerous. They had to slow down at one point because two buses had almost completely sealed off the street, barely allowing for enough room to get by. Once they folded in the mirrors and navigated themselves through at only 3 mph, they made it through clear.

Just as they turned the corner, both of their jaws dropped and Neri slammed the gearshift into reverse. Thousands upon thousands of Restless stood in a giant mob, and as soon as their vehicle rounded the corner, they began to make their ways towards the women.

Neri did a shoulder check as the car swerved to the right, then forward again next to a building.

"We need to go now!" Eleni said worriedly, placing her hand on her gun just in case.

"I'm trying!" Neri gritted her teeth as she reversed again, backing right into the mob of Restless. The groans became loud and intimidating as they began surrounding the vehicle, and even ran over some bodies.

The Honda jolted as Neri hit the gas, launching them forward again. As they turned the corner, the narrow pass blocked by the buses steadily neared them.

"How're we going to get throu--" Eleni started, but was cut off by Neri.

"Hang onto something!"

She accelerated more, and the groans of the engine became audible as they sped right to the narrow space. A din of scraping paint and bending metal almost deafened Eleni like nails on chalkboard as they went through. The buses' door had managed to scrape along the side and would've flipped them over, had Neri gone any faster.

The engine revved again as they gained speed, hightailing it out of New York's suburbs.

"So does that mean we have to go around New York?" Eleni asked.

Neri nodded with pursed lips. "It could cost us a few hours, but we have no choice."

As they gradually widened the space between them and the mob of Restless, Eleni told Neri to stop. Along the side of the cracked pavement road was a convenience store with an adjoining gas station, and it appeared that no one had cleared it of supplies yet. They pulled into one of the spots for filling up, and after doing a 360-degree check, decided that it was safe.

Like before, Neri jumped out with her black gym bag, running into the convenience store to grab everything she could while Eleni filled up. There bags of chips and even plastic, shrink-wrapped boxes filled with miniature fruit salad. Neri grabbed as many of those as possible, then worked her way over to the cans of pop on the other side. As she was walking to the back, a small door caught her attention. Neri stopped, and then walked towards the unlabeled door. It didn't say "EMPLOYEES ONLY" like before, but even if it did, it wouldn't stop her. Something struck her as out of the ordinary, but she didn't stop herself as her hand slowly reached out towards the knob. Her heart thudded in her chest.

Why am I so scared of some closet? she asked herself, and closed her eyes. Her hand touched the cold metal of the doorknob, and she gave another glance to the scratched paint. It's probably just a coat closet... Calm down, calm down! She tried to settle herself, taking deep breaths, but reached the decision that her pulse wouldn't slow unless she found out what was inside. Alright, on three. One...two... Neri took a breath and opened her eyes and twisted the knob. Three!

The door flung open, and inside, was a rotted body. Neri bit back her scream and the bile that rose in her throat, and pulled out her knife instead. She jumped back, prepared to kill the Restless, but nothing happened. The body rolled to the side, then hit the ground with a thwack.

So it's already dead, Neri thought to herself. She shoved her knife into her belt, and gave herself a moment to slow her heartbeat. Behind the corpse was jackets of the employees that hadn't worked there for weeks, so Neri stepped forward and took them down from their hangers. Well, it's getting cold in Canada around this time... Why not?

One jacket was an old black windbreaker, and the other was a tan cowhide jacket lined with fleece. They were the only two left, so Neri shrugged and shoved them in her bulging bag. I don't HAVE to tell Eleni that they were in a closet with a dead body... I just hope they don't smell like rotting flesh.

Outside of the building, Eleni had been alternating pumps for the past few minutes. She thought that if there was any left then they should store it in the empty jerrycans they had, but after the first pump emptied she knew that there wouldn't be any left. While Eleni was filling up with the remainder of gas left, she spotted a Restless step out from behind a tree that bordered the abandoned park.

"Neri!" she called.

A few moments passed.

"Neri!" she called again.

"Yeah?" came the response.

"Restless straight ahead! There may be more following it. Are you done?"

Neri ran out of the doors, commencing a tinkle from the bells above the door. "I got more food. We'll definitely be good now, as long as our car isn't stolen." She hopped into the car, taking the passenger's side this time around.

Eleni tapped the pump lightly, making sure that there was absolutely nothing left. When she decided it was good enough, she walked back around to the drivers.

"You get some sleep while I drive," Eleni said. It was the middle of the afternoon, but she'd already taken a nap and it was only fair for Neri to do the same.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Wait, first..." Neri unbuckled her seat belt, and turned around to have access to her gym bag. When she unzipped it, she pulled out the jackets she found, throwing the fleece-lined cowhide jacket to Eleni. It was about ten sizes too big, but it was what they'd have to live with. "It's cold in Canada around this time. Put it on."

Eleni pulled it up to her face, and sniffed it. "It smells like a dead body."

Neri smiled slightly. "Yeah, I don't know why."

Neri stayed awake and on guard while they were driving in New York City, just because she knew she couldn't sleep peacefully until they were safer. The windbreaker she'd grabbed was almost too small, but fit well other than that. Eleni looked like an oversized heifer when she wore the cowhide jacket, but said that it was warm and comfy. Another twenty minutes passed before they managed to reach the outskirts of New York's districts, where it was less populated but still required caution.

After Neri ruled that it was safe, she fell asleep with her head cradled in the seat belt.

Eleni didn't wake her even after two hours had passed and the sun almost disappeared, because she knew that Neri hadn't been getting as much sleep as herself. She sighed, and looked ahead, where the last of the sun was finally disappearing below the horizon.

I'll drive for a few more hours, she reasoned. There's nothing wrong with that, especially if I'm not tired.

The constant excitement of reaching safety in Ottawa buzzed in the back of her head, making her smile without realizing. A happy sound escaped her lips as she hummed under her breath, preparing herself for safety in Canada. A place where she'd never been, and according to Neri, was just about to snow. She'd never seen snow in person, but it was definitely on her bucket list. Was it really as cold as they said? Would there be lots of snow? Eleni would have to answer that with her own judgement when they arrived.

Another hour passed, and Eleni felt her eyes beginning to droop even though it was barely 8 o'clock. She let out a breath, and itched her nose. At the next turnoff, I'll pull over and move Neri to the back.

She swallowed thickly, and fought to keep her eyes from closing. It felt like weights were attached to her eyelids, steadily pulling them down...and down...down...

Eleni gasped as the car swerved, and she shook her head. Stay awake, stay awake! Just a few more minutes.

The Honda kept going on the abandoned road, but it seemed that the road was straight for as far as the eye could see--which was a few feet past her headlights.

The soft fleece of the jacket she wore beckoned her to relax, and she was fighting the urge to give into the fuzzy insulator around her. Eleni's brown eyes began to drift shut again, and her hands almost slipped from the wheel. The vehicle began to lightly turn from one side to the other, before driving over the rumble strips that lined the road. The inside of the car began to vibrate and let out a huge growling sound, causing Neri and Eleni to both abruptly wake up.

"Shit!" Eleni cursed as she grabbed the wheel, turning it sharply into the middle of the road again.

In the headlights was the silhouette of a person, standing in the road. Before Eleni could hit them, she shrieked and turned the wheel sharply to avoid a collision. Neri yelled as the Honda took a sharp left, and lost traction on the road.

The car went airborne, flipping and flying through the air, into the Restless that Eleni swerved to avoid. It flew around another few times, crunching metal accompanying the smell of burning tar. Eleni smashed her head on the wheel, and the airbags inflated and pinned Neri to her seat. The windshield shattered and issued shards of glass to fly into their faces, and the dashboard cracked as the front of the vehicle flipped and smashed into the cement. Finally, it then burst into smoke as it crashed back to the highway.