The jeep bounced along the old roads as Wally drove them through Maryland. Most of the main roads had been destroyed in the previous years, overrun by foliage and abandoned cars. Taking the highway was out of the question, and Wally followed a couple of old maps as closely as possible, looking for any and all routes heading west.

Artemis slept in the passenger seat, the map gently held in her hands. Sleep took her almost four hours prior just as they left Blüdhaven, and her head shook with the motions of the car. She drooled in her sleep.

Wally glanced down at his hands on the steering wheel as he drove down the empty road. Dingy blood stained underneath his fingernails, taking his mind back to the Infected that had almost taken down Artemis. He shuddered as he looked back up at the road just in time to see them veering off. Adjusting quickly, he got them back on the road, but not without slamming Artemis's head into the side of the door.

"Oh fuck! Come on, Wally!" Wally had learned the hard way that waking Artemis was the number one way to get his ass kicked and an ear full. She rubbed her brow and swatted his arm. "Was that really necessary?"

"It wasn't on purpose; we were going off the road! And will you stop hitting me while I'm driving?" He pushed her arm away in an attempt to focus on the road before them - the empty, desolate road. Artemis looked around.

"So where are we?"

"Maryland. I think we're almost to West Virginia though." His fingered drummed on the wheel.

"Do we want to go through West Virginia?" Wally shrugged. He glanced down at the map now by Artemis's feet, and motioned for her to read it. "Ok so where exactly are we?"

"Haggardtown?"

"Hagarstown," she said after a pause. "Holy - Did I really sleep this long?"

"Yeah. And before you ask, yes, you do snore."

She rolled her eyes. "Har har." Hazel eyes danced over the map reading the names of cities she'd only dreamed of ever seeing. At the far end, Los Angeles. It was big. Bigger than Blüdhaven by far. She tried to imagine it - the desolate beaches and famous landmarks lost to The Infected and the wastes of the land. A lump rose in her throat, and Artemis quickly folded the map into something that resembled its original shape before stuffing it into the center console. She wiped the sleep from her eyes. "How far are we going tonight?"

"As far as we can, I guess. I would like to get to West Virginia, and we still have a decent amount of daylight left, so...we drive until it's dark."

"Are we really going to run into a pack of Infected all the way out here?"

"Who knows. All I know is that when the time comes, I'll be stretched out in the back sleeping. If you want to drive, be my guest."

Artemis sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. "I don't know how to dive."

"Then you can join me in what I am certain will be the beginning of many uncomfortable nights."

"How romantic." Despite her best efforts, Artemis wasn't able the hide the smile. Maybe in another life, another time, she might have tried pursuing Wally. Were it not for the Infection, it could have been nice. They'd kiss, maybe have sex once or twice, she'd die, and he'd move on. She'd deteriorate. Besides the situation didn't sound too romantic to her, just sad. There was also the fact that Artemis was almost certain that Wally actually hated her despite their years of friendship, so that made things complicated.

He kept talking - small talk, what he already missed about home. His mom's cooking came up twice, and it wasn't even that good. Just a little better that what they served in the cafeteria. After about ten minutes, Artemis stopped listening.

The hatch slammed near Artemis's head as she gazed up out of the window. They made it out of Maryland without any problems, stopping once to split a small can of soup. Outside West Virginia spread out before them. She wasn't tired, but luckily the view, though dark, was a decent one. Their bags sat up in the front giving room to put the back seats down to make room for the two of them to sleep. Her jacket and an old towel cushioned her head after discarding them in the summer heat. Up front, Wally double checked the locks.

"So." He tumbled over the center console into their makeshift bed.

"Must there always be conversation?"

"Yes." He continued without missing a beat. "So what's going on after this whole save the world gig?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well assuming we don't die on the way there, what's the plan for getting back?"

"I figured you'd drive."

"Yeah, ok. Then what?"

He settled into the back leaning on his elbow to look down on her. She returned the gaze after giving him one of her trademark eye rolls.

"You are incredibly annoying." Her eyes turned back to the sky once more. After a few minutes she turned back the boy beside her. He still held her gaze. "What has Barry even told you about the procedure?"

He shrugged. "Not much. I never really asked about it. Figured it would be like what you were doing back home...blood samples and whatever." She could see how uncomfortable it made him. Wally never liked needles, and was always suspiciously absent during that one part of her day.

"It's a little more invasive than that. Blood samples, tissue samples..." She stopped and contorted her face. "I think there was mention of a hole in my skull."

"Oh, that's gross."

"Yeah, I guess no one really knows how my body or the Infection is going to handle being," She made a vague hand gesture. "Open. They're not taking chances."

"What do you mean?"

The car felt smaller, and air seemed scarce. Artemis tried to turn back onto her back, but green eyes kept her from moving. She gathered her words and exhaled slowly.

"I mean I'm not going home." He didn't respond, and Artemis felt her stomach tighten up all the way through her throat. "Like, ever. This is it." Still Wally remained silent. "Are you really going to make me say it?"

"Say what? I don't - I don't get what you're saying!" His voice rose though he clearly understood what she was trying not to say. Deep down Artemis knew she owed him some sort of explanation, some warning that his journey home would be much different than the one out to Los Angeles. She could absolutely hit him.

"Wally..."A pause as she tried to word her sentence. "Wally there's no way of knowing if when they operate on me, I won't react the same as my mom. And luckily, even after a host dies, they can still study the actual Infection, so when we get to the S.T.A.R. Labs out there, when I go under for the surgery, I'm not going to wake back up."

She waited. Wally bit the inside of his cheek across her. He rolled over onto his back and started up out the window.

"You could try saying something," she said after a pause. "You always have something to say."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Oh, I don't know. 'Gee! That really sucks', maybe some cursing or tears or something." Artemis sat up, and picked at the upholstery on the floor.

"And there's nothing you can do."

"Like what, just not go?"

"That's a definite option."

"I can't just not go."

"Listen, I like saving the human race as much as the next guy, but I also like not dying. And I like it when you're not dying. Why does there even have to be death involved?"

"Wally-"

"No, why should I have to drive you to go die? What, we get out there and I just drop you off and leave?"

"Wally-" He was getting angry, which she was afraid would happen. Wally rarely lost his temper. When he did he had a bad habit of yelling, but luckily that was the extent of it. He sat up.

"It's just a little unfair to me, right? I'm supposed be ok with taking you out to California and just letting this happen? Where does that leave me?"

"You weren't supposed to -...Wally, it's not-"

"Is this even worth it? Is curing this really worth it?!"

A hand flew across Wally's left cheek though Artemis swore it wasn't her's. She held the now clenched fist in her other hand. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she refused to cry. Wally didn't look to surprised, but more as though he were trying to calm himself. He hand cradled his jaw.

"This thing ripped my family apart. It killed my mom, probably my dad, and took life away from just about everyone, and you're asking me if it's worth it? If it weren't for my mom I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be like this! And if I just decide not to this...She's dead for nothing. You're asking me to do that to her."

"That's not fair-"

"What's not fair? Me telling you why I have to do this? Because it's sure as hell not fair to her! And it's not fair to me that I'm stuck like this. So please, Wally, tell me where you drew the short end of the stick because I would really like to know."

He didn't respond. Artemis laid back down with her back facing Wally. She punched her makeshift pillow a few times to soften it up before settling down. If she wasn't tired before, she was wired now. Barry's wife had always told the two of them to never go to bed angry. It made for a terrible sleep, but there was no way to calm down. She tried her best to look out the side window, yet all she could see were the branches of trees.

Behind her, Wally remained still for a couple of minutes. He eventually laid down, and Artemis heard him sigh a few times. It sounded as though he wanted to say something, and she desperately wished he would at least apologize. Not to admit she was right, just proof that he was didn't actually hate her, to make her feel just a little bit human again.

She fell asleep think about her mother, and whether or not she'd be proud of her.

Artemis woke up to Wally's hand over her mouth and a finger to his lips. She struggled to get him off of her, but he didn't yield. Settling her down, he moved his finger from her mouth to the window behind them. A few seconds passed before the bloated head of an Infected stumbled by. She looked back, and Wally released her.

"On three, I'm going to jump into the driver's seat and start the car," he whispered. "I should be able to run over anything in front of us."

"And what do I do?"

"Grab a gun, and do what you did yesterday. Now, shut up!"

Wally slowly sat up as to not alert anything outside. With any luck, they just assumed their Jeep was one of the many along side the road. The seconds felt like hours as he crept into the driver's seat. Artemis waited in agony. Just as she felt the anxiety slipping away, the car horn sounded. The moment that followed was the longest of her life. Time slowed and her hands covered her face. Wally got the car started just as the first Infected hit the back window.

"Back up!" She yelled. "Back up, back up, back up, reverse-"

"Give me a second." The car flew into reverse and the Infected was gone under the car. Hitting the paved road, he threw the car into drive and sped away. Artemis forced the rear window open and took aim down the sights of her rifle. Feeling confident nothing could catch up to them, she returned to the front, not bothering to close the window.

"That was all your fault," she said as she plopped into her seat.

"How was that remotely my fault? I have no control over those things!"

"You do have control over who hits the horn, you jerk!" She reached over and hit the horn a couple of time despite his swats.

"Get off, or we're both going to wind up dead." Artemis narrowed her eyes at his response, making sure he saw. "Look, I'm sorry." He mostly kept his eyes on the road, glancing over to gage her reaction. He smiled. "I'm sorry, what do you want me to say? I was an ass!"

"You are an ass."

"I am an ass. An ass who will find a way for you to not die."

She groaned. "Wally..."

"No, listen. I was thinking about it all last night. I am all you have. We are stranded out here-"

"-In a car with a map-"

"-with no one else. You are not dying." He looked at her longer this time, lingering just enough for him to get his point across. "Now get out the map, and let's figure out where we are."

"Middle of nowhere. Why does it matter?"

"Because we are almost out of gas."

Dun DUN DUN! Aw man it's out there. It's official. Someone might die oh man. What a way to start the summer.

Also I managed to graduate so I actually have more time for this now? This is becoming such a fun thing to work on, upping the stuff more, putting their personalities into completely new settings...It's fun and I love it.

Thank you for the patience, and I hope to see you soon.

~mags