A few days turned to nearly a week, and it seemed as though the government and military still had yet to really intervene. Sure, the group of four noticed helicopters every now and again, but for every one they saw, a couple went down, causing a small explosion in the distance. Usually, these crashes were too far a distance to even think about going to see how bad it was. This told the small group that things really were going to hell.

They hadn't exactly lucked out in finding another place to find camp, so they had to make do with sleeping in the truck, taking turns to be on watch since they had no choice but to be out in the open. Nothing seemed to creep up on them, though, and with very limited light, it was kind of hard to tell what was really out here. The nights were far too quiet.

"The truck don't have a lot of gas left," Pete took note on the fourth or fifth day. It was late afternoon, around dusk, and it was his turn to drive. "Sooner or later the battery'll be dead. Think it's high time we find a place to really hold up."

"Thank God, I'm sick of driving," Helen replied. She could only stand to be in the car for so long, and being in it for days on end was driving her stir-crazy.

"Still got that map?" Nick inquired, looking to Luke and the rest of his group members. Luke only nodded and pulled it out of his back pocket. There weren't many choices if the young man was being honest with himself. Where would they go? They'd been out of the city for quite some time, and staying in the forest wasn't exactly ideal. Nick furrowed his brows as he looked over the map, or at least, what was left of it.

"Find anything?" Helen asked.

Nick shook his head, "Not yet. Any ideas?"

"Well we don't want a place too big, since it's just the four of us," Pete got out. "And somethin' that'll be easy to defend...and we'll have to find supplies too," he finally finished.

Luke sighed. "Hell, that makes it harder then, huh?"

"There's got to be some old stores around here or something..." Helen trailed off as she glanced at the many trees around her. They hadn't passed anything that was good for survivors in miles, and that worried her. Where would they go?

Pete was driving, so of course he couldn't exactly look at the map for himself. Even now, with no other cars on the roads for days, he didn't want to risk hitting anyone or anything (and even hitting a walker was bound to be dangerous). Nick turned to Luke, who was still skimming around the map.

"Any idea where we are?" he questioned.

"I think we're about to come up on Georgia," Luke pointed out, his finger on a spot on the map. He looked up. "Uh, how do y'all think Atlanta is?"

"No major cities," Pete spoke up, glancing back. "Anywhere with a large population has gotta be filled with the dead by now, and I ain't riskin' that."

"Well, we have to go somewhere!" Helen shot back.

She was right, but still nothing came up. The sign for Georgia came and went, but things were looking even bleaker here so far, if that were possible. Some of the helicopter crashes had landed here, buildings were burning, and it all quite literally looked like something out of a dystopia. It was after dark when Luke pointed out that they were nearing the city of Macon, or at the very least, the highway that led to it.

"We should stop for the night," Pete pointed out once it began to get darker. "Don't want to waste anymore gas," he continued, pulling the truck over. And just as Luke had said, they were right on the outskirts of Macon, a somewhat small town. In the morning, they'd be able to check for supplies and other survivors and whatnot. But for now? It was too dark, and the four travelers were extremely tired. It would be another night of sleeping in the truck, and they were all just about sick of that as well.

"I'll keep watch first," Nick volunteered. "You all go ahead and get some sleep."

"You sure?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. We haven't seen anyone for miles," he confirmed.

"Alright," Pete spoke up. "Everyone get some sleep, because we'll be up early looking for a place to make camp, and some damn weapons and supplies," he finished before leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Everyone else except Nick managed to do the same, and the younger man spent the majority of his watch time staring out the window, trying to come up with a plan for all of this mess.

He usually wasn't the one to make major decisions, so he didn't exactly come up with anything worthwhile. The night was once again silent, which was quite the opposite of all the things running through his mind. Checking the watch Pete had given him some years ago, he noticed that there were still hours until he was to wake Luke up for his watch. Damn.

Since the street lights in this part of the state were still on, it was a bit easier to see things tonight. They'd made sure to park in an area that kept them rather hidden, but who knew what kind of attention the light would bring?

A noise coming from the bushes that led into the forest woke a half-asleep Nick up pretty quickly. Despite his uncle's earlier orders to keep weapons put away in case of emergencies, he took his rifle and stepped out of the car, closing the door quietly to avoid waking anyone or otherwise. There were some low growls, but Nick knew it was better not to investigate. After all, the forest would only lead him into darkness, and darkness equaled danger.

Nick was sure he saw a silhouette approaching the walker that decided to show itself in front of a street light some yards away. He quickly went to the other side of the truck, wanting to make sure nothing dangerous was happening.

"Shit," he whispered.

His instincts were right. The silhouette appeared to be a youngish-looking woman with brown hair, who killed the walker with what looked like a knife. She seemed to know how to take care of these things without attracting more. A bigger figure, an older man about Pete's age, was soon behind her, grumbling something. Nick, however, couldn't make out what they were saying, but he could tell that this old guy didn't sound too pleased.

They continued to walk closer, and Nick began to panic. They were survivors, real people! Not walkers, and he knew that it was different. Since he was on the other side of the truck, he reached to open the door so he could wake up Luke. "Luke," he whispered harshly, shaking the other man. "Luke, get up!" he hissed. He didn't have much time, what with the two people coming closer by every second.

Immediately, he opened his eyes. "What? What is it?" he whispered.

"There's people!" he got out. "Comin' this way!"

Luke jumped up. "What!?"

"Yeah, look!" Nick subtly gestured to the two figures walking down the dimly lit road. They were getting closer, and still, he hadn't devised a plan on how to deal with them. If he were lucky, they'd pass and be on their merry way. But Nick knew better, things like that never happened nowadays, especially with his luck. "What should we do?" he asked.

"Maybe they have a camp...with more people."

"You really think so?" Nick asked.

He nodded. "It'd be nice to not just be the four of us anymore, don't ya think?"

"I'm not sure," Nick replied. "I don't think Uncle Pete would like it too much."

"Well we gotta try something," Luke defended as he too, grabbed his gun and stepped quietly out of the truck.

"Hey, man, what are you doing?"

"We just gotta get their attention," he replied as he lifted his rifle at the approaching figures. "Stop right there!" he called out, causing the man and woman to freeze.

"What the fuck?!" the man protested, his face looking angrier than anyone Nick had ever seen.

"Dad, I'll handle this," the woman tried to reason. Suspiciously, she turned back to Nick and Luke. "Who are you?" It was only then that Nick noticed the knife she held in her fists, her hands caked in blood. Who knew what kind of mess these two had gotten into.

"I'm Luke, and this is Nick," Luke introduced them both. "Listen, we ain't here to hurt y'all or rob you of your things, okay? We can keep this civil." Here, Luke lowered his gun to the ground, and eyed Nick, silently telling him to do the same. The younger man reluctantly obliged.

"Why should we listen to a couple of punk kids like you?" the man questioned sharply. His voice level was high enough to risk waking Pete and Helen, but it wasn't like he cared or even knew about such a thing.

"You called us here for a reason," the woman explained, still not quite trusting them yet. She didn't look ready to let go of her knife. "You obviously want something from us. Tell us what that is."

"Hey, look, lady, we're tryin' to survive, like you," Nick told her, and Luke nudged him. "We ain't asking for anything. The world's gone to shit."

"Can we at least have your names?" Luke inquired, trying to keep things from going in a rough patch.

"Lilly. This is my dad, Larry." She seemed reluctant to give away their names, but they had probably been the first survivors they'd come across in a while, too.

"You from around here?" Luke asked.

"Oh cut the shit," Lilly got out. "You didn't threaten me with a gun to make small talk. What the hell do you want?" she asked brashly.

Luke sighed, knowing that this woman - Lilly - was smart. "We've been on the road for days and we need help," he answered honestly.

"You're the first survivors we've seen in a week," Nick added.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but we don't have jack shit to give you," Lilly shot back. "Just what kind of 'help' could you possibly need? How do we know you don't have a fuck ton of supplies in that truck of yours?"

Luke, keeping his hands where they could be seen, paused for a minute. "Look, we won't lie, we've got enough to keep us goin' for several days, but once that's through, we're fucked. We just want to know if you know a place to hold up at, and, I don't know, that has more supplies?"

"I wouldn't trust these assholes, Lilly," Larry spoke up before his daughter could. "They could be stirrin' up trouble as we speak!"

"Dad, please, just stay calm, I've got this," Lilly chided, looking up at him in near exasperation.

It was at that moment when Pete and Helen exited the truck, having been awakened from all the commotion. "What's goin' on here?" Pete asked carefully, looking from his nephew to Lilly and her father. "Nick, where'd these people come from?"

Nick looked to his uncle. "I saw 'em walking down the street, figure they might be able to help us. That's Lilly and Larry." He gestured to the others.

"I'm Pete and this is my sister Helen," Pete replied. "I hope my nephew ain't done anything too stupid. Sometimes he doesn't think," he apologized for Nick, which caused the other man to scowl at him.

"Well, we do have a camp," Lilly explained. "But we're low on supplies and it's just my dad and I there. We really lack numbers."

"Maybe we could make a deal," Pete got out. "If that's alright with you." He gestured to Lilly.

"What kind of deal?" she inquired, a brow raised.

"We'd be happy to share some of our supplies with y'all, in exchange for some shelter for at least a couple days," the older man explained. "We've been on the road for damn near a week, and we could use some good folks."

"Is that so?" Larry crossed his big arms, still looking none-too-happy.

"Want proof?" Nick asked a little bitterly, already not liking this guy. He went back to the truck and took out the heavy backpack that their supplies were being kept in. There was food, water, and a bit of medicine that they were able to scrounge up. Lilly took a look inside.

"I don't suppose you have any nitroglycerin pills," she said with a frown. "My dad has to take them regularly."

"Sorry, ma'am," Luke replied, shaking his head. "But maybe we could help y'all find some? Macon has stores, right?"

Lilly nodded. "Everett's Pharmacy. We were going to check there tomorrow, see how bad it is."

"So it's settled, right?" Nick asked, hoping to God that they'd accept. He was sick of being in the car, too. "You help us in exchange for some supplies and shelter, and, look, we can help y'all get your pills."

"Safety in numbers is important now," Helen spoke up for the first time since the conversation began.

Lilly looked down, thinking it over for what seemed like eternity. "Fine. But just for a couple days."