Daria wrapped her arms over her chest and sunk into the car seat as Jane drove down the access road. "Do you know where we are?" she asked. "I don't."

"No," Jane said. "We could be in Pennsylvania or Virginia for all I know."

Daria opened the glove compartment and pulled out a traffic map "New York State," she read. "Fat lot of good that does us." She threw the map behind her. "When you find a highway, get us to the next town, any town. Maybe we can get some shelter." She looked outside. "Not knowing where we're at, we could be downwind from a bombed city. Or maybe we're in a clear area. Without a Geiger counter or dosimeter, we'll never know how much fallout, if any, we've even been exposed to."

"Wouldn't we get ash or some sort of debris that could warn us?" Jane asked as she turned right on a sharp curve.

"Not necessarily." Daria took off her glasses and covered her eyes. "You can get debris like ash, but if you're close enough to an explosion, you'll still get fallout, with or without debris. That's the problem with fallout. You can't see it, smell it or taste it. But it can still kill you."

"What's wrong? Are your eyes hurting?"

"I'm getting a bad headache. It feels a little better when I cover my eyes." She paused, then added, "Who knows what that bastard put in my eye? It could have been saliva or worse."

"You just hold on, amiga, I'll get you some help." She paused, cleared her throat and said, "Daria?"

"What?"

"We probably better not tell anyone about what we did to that man. I know that we probably have no danger of trouble, but I really don't want to get arrested by a would-be Barney Fife and live out a war in a prison camp somewhere."

Daria said nothing for several seconds and finally nodded. "You're right. He may be from this area. In fact, this car may be well known to the locals."

"I don't think so," Jane said. "I saw the plates. They're from New Jersey."

Daria uncovered her eyes and looked at Jane in confusion. She grabbed the pants, dug out the man's wallet and opened it. "A New Jersey driver's license. One Larry Carter, age 42, from Cherry Hill, New Jersey." She grabbed his suit jacket and pulled out the leather card holder from the inside pocket.

"You told me he had the wrong badge," Jane pointed out.

Daria gave a short, derisive laugh. "'Special Agent'," she read. "It looks like one of those badges that rent-a-cops get. Probably bought it through mail order or something." She rummaged through his wallet and pulled out a card. "'Larry Carter, Senior Consultant, Phoenixville Consulting, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.'" She then pulled out a wallet-sized photo. "He has a...a wife...three kids and a...and a cat." She dropped the photo, looked down and covered her eyes again. "Shit."

"Daria, if this guy was such a loving husband and father, why was he trying to rape us?" Jane turned the car right onto a paved highway and picked up speed. "There couldn't have been much love in his heart for them, if any, since he wanted to rape us or anyone else."

Daria simply shook her head and kept her eyes covered up.

Jane gave her a concerned look and drove on in silence for several minutes. Finally, she looked at a green sign that read "DAWSON 2" with an arrow that pointed to their left. "Jackpot."

"What?" Daria asked, her eyes still covered.

"There's a town two miles away," Jane said and turned onto a county highway. "We'll be there in a couple of minutes and get you some help."

Jane passed a few homes, all looking silent with no signs of life, except for a couple of dogs they passed at one home. She turned into a small curve and stopped at the top of a hill. "Uh, Daria, there's another roadblock about a hundred yards ahead," she said.

Daria quickly moved her head up and looked ahead. "They're using a bullhorn. Let's see what they're saying."

They opened their windows and heard a voice yell out, "...OUT OF HERE! JUST GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! WE HAVE NO ROOM FOR YOU HERE! GO AWAY!"

Jane put the car in park and stepped outside. She cupped her hands at her mouth and yelled back, "MY FRIEND GOT BLINDED BY A BOMB FLASH! SHE NEEDS HELP!"

The man yelled back, "WE HAVE MORE THAN 50 HERE WHO ARE ALSO BLINDED! WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MEDICINE FOR THEM AND WE HAVE NONE FOR YOU! WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE! JUST GET YOUR ASSES OUT OF HERE OR WE WILL SHOOT YOU!" To emphasize that last line, several of the men aimed rifles or shotguns at them.

"Let's get out of here, Jane," Daria said quickly. "I'll be O.K. Let's just go."

Jane flipped the men two upright middle fingers at the same time, got back in the car and shifted into reverse. "Screw 'em. So much for Southern hospitality."

"I can't blame them, Jane. They're probably just as scared as we are."

"I don't think so. They have a place to be and we don't. We're in worse shape."

Daria reached out and touched Jane's right shoulder. "We'll just go to another town. Someplace will help us, take us in." She gave her a small smile. "I recommend that you do not tell anyone else that they're 'Number One'. They could have shot us for that."

Jane got the car turned around and drove back towards the highway. "Well, they ticked me off."

"Yeah, but they outgunned us, too."

Ten minutes later, the car passed a sign that said, "LEWISVILLE WELCOMES YOU".

"We'll see about that," Jane muttered as she stopped at another roadblock near an abandoned gas station, this time manned by police officers and apparent volunteers. None of them seemed angry or even frightened.

A policeman, his right hand resting close to his holstered pistol, walked up to the car as Jane opened down her window. "I'm sorry, ladies," he said and he looked over the two girls from behind mirrored sunglasses. "We're only letting Lewisville residents in at the moment. I'm going to have to ask you to turn around and leave."

"I was blinded in my left eye by one of the explosions," Daria said. "Not only that, but we were attacked and beat up by some man. Can you at least have us checked out by a doctor?"

The policeman shook his head sadly. "We have at least a few hundred in the same boat as yourselves, Miss. We even have some gunshot victims. We have no doctors, nurses or even paramedics here yet. All we have are two first responders and a bunch of volunteers who don't know that much."

"How about a Geiger counter, then? We don't know if we've been contaminated or exposed to fallout."

The policeman nodded and said, "Pull your car in that old gas station lot." He pointed behind them to their right. "I'll send someone to check you and the car out. But do not come to us. Wait at the car."

Jane pulled into the gas station lot and watched in silence as a few cars were let into the town. Many more were turned away. "Do you want to wait outside?" she asked.

"Not really," Daria said. "Keep our exposure to a minimum."

After more than a half hour, a small, older man with a Geiger counter walked up to them. They stepped outside and he slowly moved the probe over Daria, starting at her head and moving down over the front of her body. He did the same with her backside and then repeated the procedure with Jane. Finally, he said, "Ladies, I'm sorry about how personal that may have seemed. But as far as I can determine, you two are clean."

"Could you check out the car, please?" Daria asked and he nodded.

"You two are quite a ways from home," he said as he saw the license plate.

"We were on our way back." Daria added. "Talk about bad timing."

The man only made a quick check of the car's exterior. "It's not hot and neither are you two," he said. "I don't know where all the bombs went off. But I do know that Washington and Philadelphia got it. If you're headed back to New Jersey, I suggest you go wide around Philadelphia."

"We have relatives in Lawndale, Maryland." Jane said. "We're headed there."

"Is that near Washington?" he asked.

"It's a suburb of Baltimore," Daria said.

The old man looked at each of them slowly, shook his head, then said, "John, the policeman over there, told me that Baltimore is being evacuated right now. They're having really heavy fallout and fires that spread from the Washington bomb. I don't think you should go there." He paused. "I don't even think you can get in there."

Daria paled and shook visibly. Jane put her left arm around her to steady her and asked, "Do you know of anyplace that's taking in refugees? We still need to see a doctor."

"I've heard that the Cumberland area has several being set up. Just get back up to the interstate and go east to get there."

"Let's go, Daria," Jane said gently. To the old man, she said, "Thank you for checking us out with that counter."

"God go with you two," he said as he waved and walked back to barricade.

As Jane pulled back out on the highway and drove away from Lewisville, Daria seemed to shrink further into the car seat. "At least these people were polite," Jane said, trying to steer the subject away from the news about Baltimore.

Daria took off her glasses and covered her face with her hands. She rocked in the seat and shook as she did so. Occasionally, a sob could be heard from her. Jane glanced at her with concern several times, but continued driving.

oooooooooo

After awhile, Jane slowed the car and said, "Daria?"

Daria said nothing and didn't move.

"There's a church about a mile off the road to the north," Jane said. "Maybe we can get shelter there."

"What about going to Cumberland like that man said?"

"I don't want to chance being out at dark," Jane added. "I'm also getting tired, Daria. It feels as if we've been out for the whole weekend instead of the day. Let's face it. We both need to get some rest." Daria lifted herself in the seat and Jane saw that she had tears on her face.

"A church isn't exactly my choice for a shelter," Daria said, wiped her eyes and shrugged. "But I don't care. Do whatever you want."

"Beggars can't be choosers," Jane replied and turned down the next county road.

They reached the church about a minute later and Jane got out of the car. No other cars were in the overgrown parking lot. She noticed that the wind was from the south and had picked up some as she moved up to the church's front door. A small marquee near the door read, "Crainstown Christian Church. Rev. Marion Summers, Pastor." That was followed by the service times through the week. Several letters and numbers in the sign were missing and Jane wondered if the church might be abandoned or just closed. Hesitantly, she knocked on the front door and tried the handle. It opened.

Jane looked back at Daria, who had scrunched herself back into the seat and covered her face again. She turned back to the church and moved inside. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

No one answered and Jane moved up to the entrance of the sanctuary. The inside of the church was dark and cool. She tried a light switch and the vestibule lit up. "They still have power," she muttered and looked for a thermostat. She found one and turned it up to 70 degrees. Somewhere in the building a furnace kicked in and a fan started up in it.

She went back outside and knocked on the car's passenger window. Daria looked up at her and Jane said, "Come on, Morgendorffer. We can get inside and get warm."

Daria got out of the car and trudged up the steps to the church's front door. She looked at Jane and asked, "We have permission to stay here?"

"Just get inside, Daria, we'll worry about it later." She pointed at the skies. "It might start raining soon. We need to be inside when it does rain."

Daria stared at her for several seconds, then went inside. Jane moved the car behind the church, loaded her arms with the belongings and went inside the church.

Once inside, Jane handed Daria what she brought in, and went back outside. She opened the car's trunk and looked over the late Larry Carter's possessions in curiosity. She grabbed a soft gym bag, filled it with different items and took it with the car's tire iron inside. Carefully, she then locked the church door and led Daria to a door that was labeled "OFFICE". She turned off all the lights, except the one in there and said, "You wait here and I'll look over the church. Maybe I'll find more blankets or bottled water or something else we can use."

"You brought the guns in, didn't you?" Daria asked as she sat on a couch.

"Yes, Daria, I brought in everything I could. I wasn't sure about bringing weapons in a church, but we can't leave them outside either."

Daria stared at the floor and rocked herself in small movements. "In the early history of the U.S., worshippers brought guns into church with them. They had gun ports in the walls in case they had to fight off the...previous owners of the land."

Jane stared at Daria and said, "Sometimes, I think you make this stuff up just to get me on it later."

"Damn. You found out my secret. Now, I'll have to kill you before you can warn the others."

Jane laughed and smiled at her friend. "You just stay in here and I'll be right back." She left the office and Daria opened the blanket and covered herself with it. When Jane returned to the office nearly 20 minutes later, Daria was laid out on the couch asleep.

Quietly, Jane moved up to Daria, lightly kissed the top of her young friend's head and said, "You rest. I'll keep my eyes open for you." She yawned. "But it's not going to be that easy."

oooooooooo

Daria found herself at the kitchen table with her family, eating dinner. At first she was shocked, but accepted it as Helen served lasagna to everyone.

She smiled as Jake complained about squirrels and the laws that protected them more than they did him. Quinn went on and on and on about the Fashion Club and their inane activities and that made her smile even more. Then Helen's cell phone rang and it was Eric again, of course.

A bang sounded off in the distance, but Daria was the only one to hear it. She looked around in confusion, especially as a loud roar seemed to get louder and louder.

Suddenly everything except Daria was engulfed in flames. But Jake still went on with his rant about squirrels, Quinn continued her talk about the Fashion Club and Helen still chatted with Eric on the cell phone. Daria yelled at them, but no sound came out of her mouth.

Then Daria saw that she was also engulfed in flames and waved her arms in panic. She screamed very loud and in horror.

oooooooooo

"Daria! Daria! Wake up! You're having a nightmare! Daria!"

Daria screamed and waved her arms around in a full fledged panic, as Jane came to her and shook her.

"Wake up!"

"J-Jane?"

"I'm right here, amiga. I'm right here."

Daria looked around the pastor's office and everything came back to her. The trip to West Virginia for lunch, the bombs going off, being blinded, nearly getting raped and then killing the man, being kept out of towns at gunpoint and the church.

"Bad dream, wasn't it?"

"A nightmare from hell," Daria gasped and sat up on the couch.

"About that Carter asshole?"

"No. It was about my family."

"Oh," Jane said. "You want to talk about it?"

"How long have I been out?" Daria asked and changed the subject. Then she looked at the lit candle and noticed how dark it was around the office.

"Almost five hours." Jane stretched her arms out. "I was getting ready to wake your lazy butt up. After all, I want a chance to get my 12 hours of sleep in."

"You've been awake the whole time?" Daria asked and Jane nodded. "What did you do?"

Jane shivered and said, "I read Mr. Larry Carter's secret diary, which he had in the trunk of his car. Congratulations, you're number 22. I'm number 21, if what I read in his notes was correct. Apparently, this character was a serial rapist...and murderer. Only three of his victims escaped and he tracked down and killed one of them." She swallowed. "He liked his victims to scream as he...crap, I feel dirty just having read it. The bad kind of dirty."

Daria held out her right hand. "Let me see it."

Jane shook her head. "You can't read it until you're old enough, Morgendorffer. We're talking mature subject matter here."

"Jane, I'm much more mature than you are."

"I just let you think that so that you have something to cling onto."

"You are so full of it, Lane. Don't make me come over there."

"Actually, I want you to. It's my turn to use the couch."

"Did you find anything in the church?"

Jane motioned to a pile of items on the desk. "They have a clothes pantry here. You need to try on blouses and bras and see which fits. Then they have some food in their kitchen. Crackers, bottled water, canned soda, assorted stuff that has to be cooked to be merely inedible. For the real lifesaver, there's a bathroom two doors down."

Daria stood up. "I'll be back, then." She stopped in the doorway. "Jane, I can deal with that Carter freak somewhat. I'm certain he's dead and won't come back. I pity his family, though, never knowing anymore about him. What I can't get out of my mind is my family. I feel like I've let them down, though I do know better."

Jane looked back at her. "Like you said earlier, how could we know what would happen today? We didn't and got caught away from home."

"I know. I'll be back." She left and Jane laid out onto the couch and spread the blanket out over her.