At first it was just a few houses, followed by a few more, and then a few more closer together, until they were in the middle of a small town.

And there were people!

They couldn't remember the last time they saw so many people together!

It must have been the day all this started, a lifetime ago, when they fled amidst the sludge and chaos and never looked back.

She noticed it first. "There are no kids."

"What?"

"No kids. Look, all adults."

He looked. "They've all got guns too."

It was tempting to stop – actual human contact! – but much safer to keep moving. They paused only briefly to switch drivers and kept going.

"I guess not everywhere got trashed," she said as the houses started to thin out again. They'd never really thought about it, but not everywhere could have had mutants or been hit by the destruction.

"I guess not."

It was a weird thought. While they'd been out there suffering, there were people here just trying to get on with their daily lives.

They drove on in stunned silence.