There was something horribly wonderful about sitting on top of those cold steel walls. Her legs dangling over the edge. Velma looked out at this alien world she had once inhabited. She felt the cold wind on her face and grimaced at the putrid air it brought with it.

There was a wild forest all around Sanctuary 3. It was impossible to tell if there was one zombie or a hundred waiting for her below. She reached for her gun— a revolver. As she loaded a bullet into each slot she counted how many she had. 18...19... only twenty? With six in the cylinder of the revolver that left 14 in the carton.

The gun was to be a last resort. She decided.

She sighed, carefully putting the unused bullets back into her bag, and the gun in the front pocket where she'd be able to reach it. This one last look back to civilization, Velma began her descent down to the wilderness below.

—

The darkness meant that she could only see a few feet ahead of herself. The rustling of the leaves left the hair on the back of Velma's neck standing on edge. Every step forward crunched the icy leaves under her feet, signaling her presence to anyone within earshot. Her eyes darted wildly around her, seeking any slight moment that would indicate the presence of a monster waiting to jump out and devour her. But none came, and after an hour or so, the shock of the forest began to numb, and Velma relaxed.

She found a sturdy looking tree with a wide trunk, and pressed her back into it, making sure nothing could easily sneak up behind her. Then she pulled out a massive map, and carefully considered her course. Sanctuary 3 was in what was formerly Ohio. And Crystal Cove was all they way in Southern California. Almost three thousand miles. Oh joy.

Velma traced her finger from one to the other and back again. US Route 50 was a straight shot to California, but she'd waste a lot of time hiking down to Crystal Cove from Sacramento. But then she saw it: the iconic Route 66. It was perfect! She could go southwest and hit Route 66 around the border of Illinois and Montana. And after that all she'd have to to was follow the trail. It minimized her risk of getting lost and would keep her close to human infrastructure.

She tightened her grip on the sharpie in her hand, moving to circle the route, when she heard a snap behind her. Velma jumped, her hand instinctively flying for the front pocket of her backpack. She unzipped it and had her hand on the handle of he gun. Ready to pull it out at a moment's notice as she stared into the dense thickets of shrubs before her.

There was another sound... an odd strangled wailing sound. Velma shivered, that sounded human. Whether the human was dead or alive would remain to be seen.

Velma was stock still, barley breathing, not even blinking. Her entire conscience was poured into watching and listening. There was another rustle, and another. They were getting louder. Or maybe just closer. Velma pulled the revolver out of its place and held it shakily in front of her, pointing it in the direction of the sound as it grew nearer.

Her heart pounded in her chest as a humanoid figure emerged into her view. Velma cocked the hammer of her gun and was about to reach for the trigger when—

"Velma?"

"Daphne?"

Velma blinked, sure that she was hallucinating as she uncocked the revolver and put it back in its place, "what are you doing out here?"

Daphne smiled, "isn't it great? We're coming with you!"

Another, broad-shouldered, figure emerged from the trees, "great is not among the words I would use." He grumbled.

Daphne waved her hand, "oh cheer up, Freddie, this'll be fun!"

Fred rolled his eyes.

"You certainly don't look happy to be here." Velma squinted up to Fred, who shrugged at her.

"I'm here to make sure Daph doesn't get herself killed," Fred looked up at Daphne who was enthralled with the icicles on a great maple tree, "for the record I think this whole thing is delusional."

"Duly noted," Velma nodded, miffed by his standoffish tone.

Velma straightened in her stance and went back to her map, tracing over Route 66 and searching for a smaller highway nearby that they could follow. She hummed to herself, pushing her glasses down her nose and squinting at the tiny text. She was acutely aware of Fred looming beside her. He was watching her every move as she considered the different roads.

"What's up Fred?" She asked, doing her best to mask her annoyance with a chipper tone.

"Just trying to figure out how we're getting where we're going." Fred grumbled back.

Velma took a sharp breath, and turned to face Fred. She looked at him with an annoyed glare, ready to tell him exactly what she thought of his rotten attitude. But then she stopped, and her gaze softened. In Fred's face, Velma didn't see indignation or even malice. She saw a sheepish kind of fear playing out across Fred's face, and sighed looking down at her map.

"There's an old rest stop about 20 miles away." Velma pointed at it with the capped end of her Sharpie, "if we keep a good pace we should get there a few hours before nightfall. That's where we'll stay for the night."

Velma felt Fred's posture relax considerably, "ok," he almost grinned, then stopped himself "well, lead the way then."

They walked single file, Velma cringing with each sound they made. as they trees thinned, the sky turned a wonderful pale pink. Morning had come. They could finally see.

And the view that greeted them was miraculous: a highway. A few cars stood still on the asphalt, their tires flat and their exteriors rusted. Velma darted to and from a few cars, peering into the rear windows. Then she began to scour the surface of the road.

"Help me find a big rock!" Velma waved an arm over at her friends.

"Why?" Daphne asked as she joined Velma's search, "what are you doing?"

"There's a first aid kit in the back of that minivan." Velma explained, as she found a large brandished a large chunk of cement that had fallen crumbled off a guardrail, "help me get to it."

Fred stepped foreword, peering into the rear window of the blue Honda. Velma braced the rock against herself, ready to smash the glass, when Fred put his hand up to stop her, "or we could just, open the trunk." He said as he swung the large trunk door upwards, revealing easy access to the contents of the van.

Velma tensed, her face turning red, she dropped the concrete sheepishly "I thought it was locked." She muttered.

"That's a good thing to double check before you go breaking glass," Fred said backhandedly as he grabbed the first aide kit.

"I guess so."

Daphne looked from Fred to Velma, raising an eyebrow, "well, while we're here is there anything else in there that could help us?"

Fred looked down, Velma strode up besides him, drumming her fingers against her chin. They both saw the same thing: a softball bag. It was embroidered with McColins 27 and a generic panther logo. Fred looked disappointed, "nah, just some old baseball gear."

Velma smirked, "Fred, there are two nice heavy metal bats in this bag, you don't think they'd be useful for... oh I dunno... warding off hoards of zombies?"

Freds scoffed, but as Velma hoisted the backpack out the trunk, she kept talking, "not to mention I only packed for one person, so having a backpack to carry any supplies we come across will be extremely useful."

Velma pulled out one of the two bats, swinging it around and getting a feel for it's balance, "and not to but too fine a point on it, but these are softball bats, not baseball."

Fred strode forward, snatching the softball bag from Velma, "ok, ok I get it." He snapped, "I'll carry it then, let's just keep moving."

Velma looked pleased with herself as she slid the bat she'd been holding back into its pouch on what was now Fred's bag. She pulled out her map and checked it. Then the road signs.

"That way," she pointed.

And they were on their way once more.

—

Thanks for reading! I got a few reviews on the last update hoping that Fred and Daphne would change their minds. Surprise! They did :-D . Let me know what you thought! I'm fairly excited for next week's chapter so be sure to tune in next week for chapter nine.