"Here."

Kurumi looked behind her, back into the book store. She'd been standing guard at the entrance, shovel at the ready, eyes sweeping the parking lot for signs of Them while the rest of the Club looked through the shop.

Miki was holding out a white paperback book with plain writing, and a shotgun and machete crossed on the front cover. "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From The Living Undead," Kurumi read aloud. "By Max Brooks. Huh." She reached out and took the book from Miki, and started to page through it. "Is this a joke, or...?"

"I haven't read all of it, but it looks real to me. I don't know how useful it'll be, but it does recommend the shovel very highly as an offensive weapon..."

"Sold!" Kurumi would have yelled it aloud in the old days; now she merely whispered it intensely. "I didn't know book stores actually had useful things like this inside."

"Of course they do," said Yuri, walking out with an arm full of reference books. "Medicine, cooking, gardening, home repair... everything we need to do after you use your shovel."

"Then load up all your treasures into... The Behemoth!" Kurumi said, gesturing exaggeratedly at the Fjord Excursion they'd liberated from a dealership a few days ago. Kurumi had dearly loved driving Megu-nee's little Tini Cooper, but after a few days on the road it became abundantly clear it couldn't carry the four of them and their gear. Kurumi had read that the ludicrously oversized American cars were inferior to Japanese cars, but for these times it was perfect - a virtual tank, with enough power to drive through swarms of Them, enough room inside for everyone to stretch out and sleep, and enough space even after that to hold a mountain of supplies.

Kurumi's only regret was that she hadn't had time to style it properly, like the cars in Fury Road.

Miki sighed, while Yuri shook her head. "We were all very impressed by the car the first ten times you pointed it out, Kurumi, but perhaps we can give that a rest now."

Kurumi shrugged as she opened up the cargo doors and helped Yuri load the books in. "I just think it deserves recognition..."

Yuki called out from the store. "Can someone help me? I think I dropped some books behind me." Yuki emerged from the entrance into the parking lot, a handful of stuffed animals balanced on an enormous load of manga volumes she was just barely holding on to. Yuri looked up from storing her books away and shook her head firmly. "I told you only a few volumes, Yuki-chan."

"But, but I read everything else in the Behemoth already," Yuki whined, while Kurumi gave a little nod of satisfaction upon hearing of The Behemoth. "And all the driving has gotten sooo boooring now that you guys won't sing songs with me anymore."

Yuri shook her head, and her finger. "It won't be too much longer, and there's no reason to make the back of the car so messy with all of your books. Let's throw out what you don't want to read, and just pick ten or so... that'll be enough to keep you busy while we get to where we're driving."

"Ok, ok," Yuki grumbled, as she dived into the back seat of The Behemoth and tossed out an improbable amount of junk, some of which hit Yuri as she climbed in after.

"Um, Kurumi," Miki stammered, walking up behind her, "I meant to ask earlier, but... where are we driving, anyway?"

"Er..." Kurumi paused, caught off guard. The book store had been their destination after the camping store, which was their destination after the grocery store, which was their destination after... after the Randall corporation and the university locations on Megu-nee's map had turned up empty of survivors. They hadn't discussed where to go next, and she hadn't given it much thought, but as the driver, Kurumi was starting to get the impression that it was her responsibility to decide.

"I..." she started, before the almost welcome distraction of one of Them starting a slow shuffle across the parking lot caught her attention. She sighed, and told Miki, "Let's talk about it on the road."

"Come on, ladies," she said more loudly, "Strap in, we're locking up and moving out."

"Yay, Rii-chan's in back with me!" Yuki chimed through a closed door. "Rii-chan, let's read together. You do the voice of the monsters in this one and I'll do the voice of the princess..."

Miki and Kurumi grinned at each other and climbed up into The Behemoth. "Oh, almost forgot," Miki said, strapping herself into the seat, "I picked up some of the entertainment magazines you mentioned. You can take a look later if you want me to drive for a while..."

"Oh," Kurumi said, blushing and looking away as they started back onto the main road. "Thank you. You didn't have to, I only meant that I used to read them..."

"It's fine," said Miki, settling in with a new book, in English again, on her lap. "We could be driving for a while, I suppose, so we better be prepared."

"Of course," Kurumi answered, sliding on a new pair of sunglasses and driving them west towards the highway, and parts unknown. "We're always prepared these days."