A/N: Late again…errr…well, here it is. There's a little Robbie/Alex action in here, but it'll get better next time lol. Um, anyone here going to the Underdogs tour to see Fall Out Boy and The All-American Rejects? If so, please tell me how it goes! I wanna see it so bad! Lol. Anyways, read, enjoy and review please! Thanks.

Chapter Ten: Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

Almost thirty minutes had passed before the mood had calmed. Robbie stared blankly out the passenger window, his cheek resting on his palm. Rachel had been sleeping for several minutes, and Alex felt her dreary eyes drooping. She felt a small hunger in the pit of her stomach, but had no appetite she could find.

Ray shifted his glance from the road to Robbie, and said, "Hey." Robbie lifted his head and looked blankly at his father. Ray wet his lips. "I've got to shut me eyes," he said calmly. "Why don't you drive a while?"

Robbie was shocked, but the idea was so incredulous he didn't even look at Ray. "I don't have a license," he pouted.

Ray smiled hopefully, "When has that stopped you?"

Alex smiled. Well, at least they're working on it. She watched quietly as Ray pulled the van over on the side of the road, and Robbie took his place at the wheel.

Before the hour was through, Ray was asleep, and Robbie and Alex were the only two awake in the van. Alex's mind was bulging with memories she didn't want to reveal even to herself. She wished she could see her dad. She missed him; and the rest of her family. She missed her classmates, her school, shopping at the mall, and playing tennis with her closest friends.

Robbie's so lucky, she found herself thinking. So is Rachel. She glanced at the sleeping girl and frowned, wanting what they had; a family that survived.

Her thoughts turned back to Robbie. "How do you like driving?"

Hesitantly, Robbie answered. "It's cool," he said, eyes on the road. "I've driven a lot," he added with a grin.

"The sun's going down," Alex determined with a quick glance through the back window.

"Yeah," Robbie agreed. Then, looking through the rear-view mirror, his eyes met with Alex's. "You look tired," he noticed. "You should get some sleep."

"I tried," Alex told him, wearily. "I just can't anymore."

Robbie fixed his eyes again on the road. "I can't either."

By nightfall, there were people around them. Alex hadn't seen any signs of where they had driven, but they were coming close to a town. There were very few stars in the sky, but those that shone sparkled like diamonds on a velvet curtain.

The weary groups and families of walkers multiplied as the van slowly neared the heart of the city. Robbie glanced through his window to see an elderly man with a shopping cart, bundled up in a rain jacket with a load of puppies whimpering and tail-wagging in the cart.

A light rain was falling, catching on the edge of the earth and clinging to the cold faces of the men and women who traveled in the autumn bitter cold. Alex could see a woman beside the van with dark blonde hair, carrying a baby at her chest and holding another child's hand as they walked into the darkness. She frowned, pitying those poor wanderers.

The crowd of people was growing; Robbie licked his lips. He glanced at Ray a little worried. "Ray," he said softly. "Ray." His dad didn't move. "Dad."

Abruptly, Ray opened his eyes and sat straight up. Immediately, he realized why his son sounded so concerned when he called his name. With lust in their eyes, people began glaring at the van and the family inside.

"Okay," Ray glanced at Robbie who without words received the message. "Keep your foot on."

Rachel, awakened, watched the crowd as they began closing in on the van. Maneuvering himself, Robbie started shifting to the passenger seat, obediently holding his foot on the gas pedal.

Ray did the same as their positions shifted. In a moment, Ray was again in the driver's seat. "Hold on, hold on; okay, let go, I got it," he chanted.

Robbie huffed as he sat back in his own seat.

"Please," Ray said, quietly. "Get away from the car. I'm sorry- I can't. Please get away from the car." Alex glanced out the window just in time to watch a man shrouded in darkness raise a large rock in his hand and cast it at the window of the van near Rachel's head.

"What do they want?" Rachel shrieked, frightened.

Ray bit his lip with anger. "A ride; they just want a ride," he told her. Rachel's bright blue eyes widened as her little heart started thumping. She looked at her dad. "Can we give him one?" Her voice was cracked with sheer fright.

Ray ignored her, focusing gall his attention on the road ahead and the people around him. Suddenly, a thunderous banging was heard all over the van as the crowd moved steadily in on them. Alex bit her lip, worriedly.

Two men started banging on the car window by Alex's head and one leapt onto the roof with a loud bang. Alex gave a short scream then tried to collect herself. Ray pushed a little harder on the gas with his right foot, causing the car's engine to rev and rumble.

Inside the car there was silence, but outside, there was only commotion. Mounds of people had closed the path of the van around all sides and Ray was wondering what to do.

Ray honked the horn, sounding a loud blast to alert the crowd. As his path begun to clear, the car jolted into a higher speed, and before Ray could know what was happening, a single woman stood in the middle of his path, carrying a baby in her arms.

As the headlights spread across her frightened face, she screamed, and immediately Ray swerved the van as far away from her as he could. It all happened too fast.

Before Ray could even move his foot from the gas pedal to the brakes, the van spun, colliding with a giant lurch into a nearby telephone pole. Both Rachel and Alex made small screams as flashing red sparks poured into the air from the impact point. The van had stopped completely, and gathering raids of followers were pounding their fists against the outside of the car.

One man jumped onto the hood of the van and punched a small hole through the glass. Rachel screamed as the man reached his hands into the hole and began ripping flesh and glass from the car, blood dripping like a waterfall down the window.

Alex's heart pounded as items were being thrown at her and the car. "Belts off!" she heard Ray scream. She obeyed his orders immediately, unbuckling herself from the seat and reached for the door handle.

She was reaching for Rachel's seat belt when suddenly the door opened and she felt a tight grip wrap around her slender waist. "No!" she screamed as the man behind started shoving his way into her place.

Robbie leapt out of the car. "Get off her!" he screamed, ripping the girl from the man's grip. "Rachel!"

Rachel's hands shook as she hurried to unbuckle herself. Robbie's hands gripped the man's arm and with a large tug, he pulled the man free of the car. The man swung around, hitting Robbie in the nose. Blood spurted from his nostrils.

Alex could scarcely hear. "Robbie!" she screamed in horror as he caught himself. Again, he grabbed the man's arm, and this time, Alex began pounding her fist against the man's neck. Ferociously, the man backed away from the car, swinging at Robbie again, but this time, Rachel flung her fist against the back of his neck, Robbie kicked him in the knee, and yelling, the man fell to the wet ground.

All that hung in the air were screams and tension. Ray was out of the van, fighting off others who tried to claim it. Robbie could see Ray fighting off his attackers and being pulled farther away from the van. He tried to make it closer to his father, but kept getting pulled down.

Alex stayed close to Robbie. Suddenly, she felt his cold hand take hold of hers and he drug her through the crowd towards his father. "Hold on!" his scream was muffled in the sounds of shouting and panic.

Robbie pushed passed people as they began mobbing the car, and Alex felt her hand squeezing Robbie's tighter than she thought she would. Suddenly, his cold hand didn't feel so cold, and she felt a surge of energy pass through her.

Robbie finally reached his dad when a man leapt on Ray's back. Angrily, Ray screamed, and letting go of Alex's hand, Robbie leapt on the man, hitting him with both fists. Alex joined him, kicking the man in the back of the knee hard so that he fell. Stopping to breathe, Alex felt her body weakening.

Suddenly, she felt another's arm grab her by the shoulder. Quickly, she turned around to stare in the face of another man. He seemed more confused than trying to harm her, but all the same she spat bitterly in his face. Grumbling the man wiped off the spit and raised his hand to slap her when he was abruptly torn away by the pulsing crowd.

Rachel turned around, "Robbie?" she called, though she suddenly didn't see him. "Robbie!" Her cries were lost in the heavy crowd.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang through the air, and all else fell silent. Oh God, Alex thought her heart would burst with fear. Then she relaxed, as a path cleared and she saw that it was Ray holding the gun high above his head. As the crowd pushed away from Ray Ferrier, Alex could see the grey smoke curling and rising from his revolver and she was suddenly thankful for guns.

Slowly, Ray lowered the gun to eye level and the crowd took several steps backwards as he began aiming it around the circle of desperate people. "Where's my son?" Alex heard him shout. "Where's my son?" Alex's breath quickened as she looked around for Robbie.

Oh God, she thought again. "Robbie?" he voice was shaking.

Hearing her voice, Ray turned. "Alex," he commanded, "Come here."

Swiftly, Alex ran to his side. Surprisingly, he grabbed her, shoving her into his arms. "Are you okay?" She nodded repeatedly and he let her free. "Where's Robbie?" he shouted a third time.

A small patch of people began to back away from a crumpled figure on the ground near the edge of Ray's circle. Blood streaming down his nose, Robbie started to get on his feet.

Alex rushed to his side, grabbing his arm and helping him up. His face was patched with streaks of blood, some his own, and some belonging to others, and his dark hair was wet and tangled above his head.

Ray lowered his gun as Robbie stumbled, shaken by his obvious beatings, and Ray helped Alex lift him to a stronger stance. Alex's heart continued to pound as she closed her fingers around Robbie's fist.

Adonica: Yeah lol,Alex ispretty much an "outsider so she can see in their little family circle much better than Robbie can. It's sad, lol. But maybe he'll learn.

Californiasmurf: Yeah, I try lol. I'm glad you think I'm doing well. Thanks for the review.

Kat: Lol, sorry for the wait.

-s'morewhore: Oh I know, I hate that. When you're reading someone's story and all of a sudden two words are the same. It's annoying lol. Sorry. I read your story and I think I reviewed. Lol, but I don't think you've updated in a while? Lol. Do that.

Saint Dezzie: Haha thanks. Sorry for the wait.

Rea Josette: The Robbie/ Alex action should come shortly, as there was a hint of it in this chapter. It will get better though, lol.

VagrantCandy: Errrr….sorry this is late again. It took my editor forever to read it I swear! I was finished with it like, two weeks ago. Well, thanks for your constant reviews!