Jo POV:

Jo walked down the stairs feeling her eyes begin to water. She loved her family, but apparently they didn't love her. She was just the annoying little human that they brought along with them and put up with. She had tried to not be a brat but apparently she failed.

She walked past the old table that was stained with nail polish remover when she accidentally spilled it over a red placemat. She can still remember her sister laughing as her mom yelled at her. Then, there was the old granite countertop that her dad had installed himself. Who would've thought that it'd last longer than him.

Why had she chosen to stay here? This place held nothing but sad memories. The only remotely hilarious thing that happened was when her sister had persuaded her cousin to get in the toddler car that you would push with your feet and roll him down the hill in the backyard. He had cried and Jo had watched confused as her grandmother went to comfort the poor boy while simultaneously hiding her own chuckles.

There was no point looking in the fridge. Everything had gone bad long before she had left the first time. So she headed straight for the pantry where she pulled out some pancake mix and dug around for some oil. The water was working and the oil smelled just as greasy as normal. Jo then found a skillet in the cupboard and began to make simple pancakes.

Wes came ambling down the stairs a little while later as she was setting the pancakes on the table. Wes seemed a little surprised to find an actually warm meal on the table. Jo only smiled and pulled out a chair for him.

"Wow," Wes joked, "I guess chivalry isn't dead like I thought."

Jo simply scooted his chair into the table so far that the air was almost knocked out of him.

Wes picked up his fork and seemed to hesitate. Jo knew that pancakes were really gross when eaten dry so she simply reached over and poured a little bit of the clear liquid from the bottle with a label too faded to read. Wes looked up confused.

"Oh, just eat it," Jo said, "It's Corn Syrup. Sweet but doesn't need to be refrigerated."

Wes took a small bite and seemed shocked to find no difference in taste. "How'd you know what to replace it with?"

Jo shrugged and asked, "How much of my family did you see in those albums?"

This time it was Wes's turn to shrug. "Honestly, I lost count. There was one album where it seemed to be all about this one location along a gravel road and a string of trailers. That's where I saw the most kids your age and strangely a lot of people your parent's age too."

Jo smiled wistfully. "That was Llano. Well, our property in Llano. It's four hours away from Dallas in the middle of nowhere. The river has leeches and the average copperhead or rattlesnake might be found along the road, but it was heaven to my family.

"It was the one annual trip that we always took. Around the fourth of July, the entire side of my dad's family would come and get together for a reunion. We would laugh and play. The toddlers would have a pinata which would never break. The kids would go into the closest town which was a ways away just to watch the fireworks and you could never leave without at least one fire ant bite. But, that was my kingdom of happiness. One day of the trip would always be dedicated to pancakes which is when my cousin Jenna, would often use Corn Syrup instead of maple syrup because she thought it was healthier. Sorry, for the monologue. I got caught up in the memory."

Jo looked up from staring off into space at her pancake. Wes was just smiling at her. He seemed to hesitate then gently lay his hand on top of hers. After a few seconds, it got awkward, but he didn't take his hand away. Jo started eating and thought of something to say.

"Have you written anything yet?" she softly inquired.

Wes only shook his head and said, "That's for me to know and you to read later. So, what's the plan?"

Jo leaned over and reached into her pack by her chair. Bringing the car keys, she placed them on the table and thought aloud. "Gas is going to be scarce, I know that we can follow the highway to California, but cars might be shaky. It'll also take a little longer because we might have to navigate around cars or blockages on the highway. We'll have to be careful and quick without making noise. Any ideas on how we could improve this journey?"

Wes put down his fork and tapped his fingers on the table. "The only thing I can think of is to take residential roads when we find blockages. It will definitely be dangerous though, there will most likely be more . . . undead in those areas but we can avoid traffic."

Jo sighed before nodding. "Okay, fine, but no stopping in those areas and no stepping outside the car unless we absolutely have to. There's no reason to risk more than what's at stake."

Wes smiled, "Yes, because we have so much to lose."

Jo looked up at him with a frown, "Hey, that's some dark humor there." Wes's smile disappeared and was replaced with a confused look when Jo began to laugh. "That's my job, get your own sense of humor."

Wes's smile came back wider. "Hey, I can't help it. You're the first human I've seen in weeks."

Jo opened her mouth to retort when a loud BANG echoed through the house. She and Wes shared a glance before another loud bang sounded out like a warning bell.