Everything looked so much worse in the dark, like they were driving through an apocalyptic film.

Except it wasn't a film.

This was real life.

Real life that had been ripped and torn apart into tiny scraps.

The trees loomed like giants from the shadows, and rusting signposts jutted out from the dark.

It took them a moment to identify what they were looking at on the side of the road, and then they stopped the truck and looked at each other, both fearing the worst.

She was the first from the truck and he followed, accompanying her to the crashed car in the ditch.

They had seen others, but most were empty.

This one…

This one wasn't.

The bodies inside had been there a while, partially skeletol, two adults and one tiny one still strapped into its seat.

"It's not them," he said, and felt terrible that he was relieved about that.

They looted the car for what was useful, which wasn't much after so long, loading it into their own truck and starting up again.

Both of them watched that crashed truck vanish into the distance and wondered what would ultimately become of the occupants' bodies with no one around to bury them.