The Road

Chapter Ten

After breakfast Joel helped Lily pack up the Jeep as Ellie went through the house replacing the dust covers. The nosey teen noticed Lily had powered down the laptop with the video from her ex on there. She frowned unable to snoop, but guessed she probably didn't need too seeing that Joel and Lily had got over their fight. Lily locked up and made her way out the upstairs window. Joel set the ladder in the grass by the garage and then pulled the Jeep through the front gate. Lily locked up the perimeter fence as well and they left the hideout behind. They were back on the highway a little after nine.

For the first hour things were pretty quiet. Ellie flipped through a comic book, Joel and Lily sipped coffee out of travel mugs. They got into the second hour and Ellie got bored. She set the comic down and looked up at the adults in front. "So, how much longer will we be in Iowa?"

Joel groaned, but Lily smiled. "Hours," Lily teased. "I guess you better get out your-"

"Please don't make me read you the history of this crappy state," Ellie request. "Anything but more of that."

Behind the wheel Joel chuckled. "It's history."

"It's boring. More boring then sitting back here doing nothing for fifty million hours."

Lily and Joel exchanged an amused look. "Bust out your earth science book Ellie," teacher ordered.

The nature stuff wasn't as boring as history and Lily could really get into it. "Okay," Ellie complied reaching into the back for her school bag. "What's the subject?"

"Let's talk about glaciations and their effects. Vinland is one of those places that was carved out during the last ice age."

Ellie brought the textbook back to her seat. "Vinland, it sounds like were going to some Viking hang out or something."

"Vikings huh?" Joel mused. "I remember the show, just before the world went to hell. Put it on after Sara went to bed, it was some wild shit."

"You watched something on history channel?" Lily harassed. "Ragnar was a dick, but he was pretty hot."

He looked at her sidelong. "Oh he was, was he?"

Lily was all smiles. "He was cute."

Ellie chuckled. "Jealous of the Viking guy Joel?"

"No I aint jealous of the Viking guy," he looked back at the road.

"Glaciers Ellie," Lily redirected her attention.

"Will you tell us more about Vinland?"

"After some studying."

"Fine," Ellie sounded put out as she flipped to the index. She spent the next hour reading about ice ages and the mechanics of a glacier. They talked about the great lakes, Lily told her about rouge waves and the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Her teacher went on to discuss the formation of the finger lakes in the center of New York state; their destination. Vinland sat on Cayuga Lake surrounded by rolling fields, vineyards and deciduous forests. It sounded beautiful and Ellie hoped that they would still be there when the leaves changed color some weeks from now.

Lily let a little of her past out; she had grown up with a big brother and younger sister with a view of one of the lakes. They spent a lot of summer time in the water as kids. The area was apple country before the vineyards sprouted up on the lakes. Empires were her favorites. Her love of nature is what sparked her interest in the environmental sciences. When the outbreak began, Lily's sister and parents were amongst the first to head to the Albany QZ, her sister still lived there with her own family. Lily's brother was serving in Kuwait when shit went south, she never saw him again. Joel quietly remembered the way the pandemic had ripped families apart.

"Do you think we'll be around for apple picking this fall?" Ellie asked hopeful.

"Probably," Lily smiled back at Ellie. "Richard will need some time to find the cure for mankind I think."

"Can we go?"

Lily nodded. "We send out crews to harvest all kinds of things, including apples. The braincases in Vineyard turned a Morton building into a giant freezer, the place has plenty of food."

"They got barbeque?" Joel had to ask.

"Some livestock is raised outside the wall, the hunting and fishing are good too, so yes."

"Good fishing?" he perked up even more.

"You can take a boat out on the lake if you want."

Ellie piped up "You can teach me to swim!"

Joel smiled. "Might be some time before the water is too cold to get some lessons in."

The girl was getting excited. "We're going to have a new home."

He looked at Lily and she nodded. Joel smiled into the rear view and told his happy kid, "Actually we'll be staying with Lily."

"Me casa es su casa," Lily waved a hand.

Holy shit. "You guys are shacking up! I totally knew this was going to happen!" Lily laughed, Joel smiled and shook his head. "So, does this mean we're like a family now?" The adults looked at each other. Ellie loved to see that goofy smile on her pops face. She imagined little red hearts where his eyes should be and busted up laughing. "Okay guys, we'll see how it goes."

"Sure we will." Joel reached over and gave Lily's hand a squeeze. She smiled at him amused with it all. A life on the lake with wine, fall leaves and good fishing sounded like a slice of paradise. He was sure it was going to be great, he was sure it was love.

2

A little after noon Joel pulled off the Lincoln Highway and into another gas stop with a quickie mart behind the pumps and gazebo seating on the western lawn. There were two cars parked along side the building; the Ford was in worse shape then the Saturn, they were the only cars in the lot. Slowly he circled the building watching to see if something would come running out at them. Nothing did so he parked beside the gas wells and shut the Jeep off. Everyone sat listening in the hot silence. All was quiet, Joel and Lily got out guns drawn. They went to check the market while Ellie sat sweating in the backseat. She was relieved when they came back out and got out of the Jeep immediately. It was too hot to sit in the back with no air moving.

Ellie stretched a little. "Are we safe?"

"We're alone, but lets keep our eyes open," Joel advised.

"Gazebo looks sturdy, " Lily looked across the lawn. "We can have lunch over there in the shade."

"Shade sounds good," Ellie waved a hand in front of her face.

"I'll say," Joel plucked at the front of his t-shirt. The girls were in shorts, but Joel owned only blue jeans. "Who set the thermostat to hell anyway?"

Lily smiled holstering her gun. "It will be cooler by the lake."

"Oh man I cant wait." Ellie stepped up to the back of the Jeep beside Lily. "Can I help set up for lunch?"

"Sure, you can grab the blanket and spread it out for us." Lily opened the back and she and Ellie looked inside. The girl grabbed the picnic blanket and started for the gazebo. Lily leaned in and reached into the box for the lunch foods she had prepackaged for their afternoon meal.

He was having a hard time keeping his eyes off the back pockets of Lily's shorts. "Can I carry something over there for us?"

"You can get us all a cold drink from the cooler," she peeked at him. His grin was lecherous. "Are you staring at my ass?"

"What can I say? It's a fine ass."

Lily grabbed the Tupperware. "Keep it PG until Elli's in bed there stud."

Joel laughed. "I am." He reached for their drinks. "You gonna be wearin them shorts later?"

She shook her head with a smile on her face and went to join Ellie in the shade. "Ugh, its still hot in the shade."

"Sucks the air doesn't work in the Jeep, but at least with the windows down its bearable."

Joel closed up the Jeep and brought the drinks over to his girls. They were spreading out lunch on the blanket. "Everybody rehydrate," he sat down and handed out sweet tea.

Ellie opened her drink and downed a big gulp. "Are we going to be in this crappy state much longer?"

"Two hours give or take," Lily opened her own tea for a cold drink. "We still have two more states to drive through before we get to Ohio. Which ones?"

"Illinois and Indiana," she knew her geography. "I don't want to do their history either just in case you were thinking of springing that on me."

Lily passed out sandwiches made from the berries she preserved in June. "You finished Sounder didn't you?"

"Yeah last night. That shit was depressing." Ellie picked up half a sandwich. "Can we get a puppy?"

Joel rolled his eyes. "For the tenth time no."

"Tenth?" Lily was curious.

"Ever since she read that dang White Fang I've been hearing this."

Yes, Ellie wanted a dog. "Can we get one when we go back to Jackson?"

"No," he cracked open his tea and quenched his thirst.

Lily came to Ellie's rescue. "Why not?"

"Because they chew things and piss on the floor."

"Not when they're trained."

He leaned back and looked at Lily. "Don't tell me you got puppy-itis too. No wonder you give her sad dog stories to read. You've been conspiring against me to get a puppy."

Ellie laughed. "The vote is two to one Joel."

"Aint no votin goin on here," he put the brakes on the puppy idea quick. "Now I think you outtta read somethin that don't got a dog in it and we'll discuss it when we get back to Jackson."

"I've got something good for you to read Ellie," Lily assured the girl.

"No dogs," Joel pointed the open end of his plastic bottle at Lily.

"No dogs," Lily kept the werewolf spoilers to herself.

Ellie swallowed a bite of sandwich. "It's not more sad shit is it?"

"Nope, Stephen King."

Ellie perked up, but Joel frowned. "I thought we had decided he was too mature for Ellie."

"No, we agreed that the tower series and Roland are too mature for Ellie. I'm giving her The Talisman to read."

He hadn't read it. "Is it scary?"

"Joel!" Ellie protest embarrassed.

Lily slowly shook her head. "I'm not giving anybody spoilers."

"I can handle it," the student insisted.

"I know you can and I know you'll like the book."

With the two of them on the same side he couldn't get anywhere. "I hope it aint inappropriate for Ellie."

"The main character is a boy near Ellie's age, Jack Sawyer and that's all I'm telling you."

Another Stephen King story about a kid was something to get excited about. "Can I start reading it today?"

"Sure, right after you write a book report for Sounder."

Crud. "Fine. I'll write a stupid book report when we get back on the road."

Lily turned back to Joel. "Don't worry, The Talisman is very long and engrossing. You can lose yourself for hours in the story."

A distracted kid meant no more 'are we out of this state yet?'. He chuckled. "I'll leave it to you Lily."

"Of course you will."

They finished lunch and had a quick stretch, it was too hot for much else and all were grateful to be back on the road with the wind blowing through the Jeep's open windows. Lily inserted a disk labeled Fuck those stupid hipsters into the player, Ellie worked on her report and Joel drove on hoping a shoe eating puppy wasn't in his immediate future.

3

Ellie had begun reading her new book. There was a shadow hanging over Jack Sawyer's life, his mother was dying; depressing yes, but not enough to make Ellie quit reading. The book was huge and surely the cure awaited Jack at the end. She wasn't paying attention to the road and was oblivious to upcoming Cedar Rapids as she was in Maine with Jack and Speedy Parker. She wasn't even aware there was a problem until she heard Lily.

Lily always watched the rear view whenever she passed an exit. It was an old habit and a good one. Looking into the side mirror Lily saw a vehicle coming up on the road behind them. "Oh shit." She stuck her head out the window and looked back then dropped back inside. "We've got a military truck coming up behind us fast."

Joel's eyes went to the side mirror. "Soldiers?"

"Maybe, there's a QZ in the city."

Being spotted by a patrol was a bad thing, being caught would be even worse. Joel pushed the gas pedal to the floor. "Get your seatbelt on Ellie!"

Ellie marked her spot in the book and buckled up. She turned a little in her seat to see out the back. "They're gaining on us!"

"This thing only goes so fast," Joel frowned, they were barely breaking sixty in the soccer mom mobile.

Lily freed her gun. "Get in the left lane, I'll go for their tires."

"Wait," Joel unbuckled El Diablo and offered it to Lily with one hand. "Scope on this is accurate."

Lily took Joel's gun and handed her nine to Ellie. "Safety is on."

"Got it," Ellie pointed the business end of the gun at the floor between her feet as Joel eased them over into the passing lane.

She kept a tight grip on his gun as Lily pulled herself out the window to sit on the ledge. As she leveled the gun at the approaching truck a man with hair too long to be military rose up out of the port in the roof. Lily fired, missed and fired again. This time she hit him and he dropped back into the hole bleeding from the chest. She wasted no time and aimed for the trucks tires; it wasn't easy they were covered with protective metal plates just about everywhere.

Ellie was afraid for Lily hanging out of the truck the way she was. "Joel?!" she fret.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

Lily got another two shots off, the truck began to weave making her target harder to hit. Another man popped out of the roof only this fucker didn't have a gun he had an "Oh shit RPG!" Lily yelled, but the wind tore her words away.

He heard Lily yell and a second later the road ahead exploded. Instinctively he jerked the wheel to avoid the debris cloud and the crater it was hiding. Ellie screamed "Lily!" as Joel saw his woman tip right out of the window.

Lily knew she was going to fall and tucked up as best she could before hitting the grass on the roadside. She hit hard enough to knock the gun from her hand and her arms away from her head. The wind was knocked out of her and Lily rolled downhill and into the fence that separated highway from old private property. She had the briefest moment to register that she was in pain and then the world went dark.

Joel locked up on the brakes and the ass end of the Jeep slid out turning them sideways in the road. "Oh my fucking god Lily!" Ellie was horrified.

Joel's eyes found Lily laying in the grass. The truck of marauders that were almost certainly not military were slowing to stop where Lily was. He grabbed the binoculars and focused on his woman. She was still breathing, the attackers were almost to her. Behind him Ellie started hitching in frightened sobs. "Hand me my huntin rifle now Ellie!"

The girl moved her numb body to fulfill his request. "Is Lily..."

"She's alive and I aint leaving her." He freed himself from his seatbelt. Joel reasoned that there couldn't be more then three more able bodies inside that truck. He would have to take them out and get Lily before reinforcements arrived. "Get out and stay behind the Jeep." He grabbed his gun and backpack and stepped out of the Jeep as the military truck rolled to a stop on the road not far from Lily. Joel shouldered his bag and leveled his rifle. He put one in the chest of the first hunter that stepped out of the truck. The man fell dead and his buddies inside closed the door quick.

Ellie was shaking as she ducked behind their ride. "It's a truck just like the one that chased us and Henry and Sam."

"It's gonna be alright." He joined her on the far side of the Jeep. The truck decided to come after them, Joel dug into his bag. "I'm gonna take these guys out then we're gonna go get Lily and get on outta here."

She could hear the truck coming closer. A second later they were shooting at the Jeep as the bandits raced their way. "Joel..." Ellie squeezed her eyes shut and gripped Lily's gun tightly.

He didn't have time to be messing around with these scumbags. One look through the binoculars and he could see Lily was bleeding. There was no way he would accept losing her now. As bullets plinked into the Jeep he hoped they were missing the engine. The truck came closer shooting all the way. He waited until the hunters were close enough then Joel rose up and threw a nail bomb directly at the windshield. It exploded shredding the shooter sticking out of the roof and the windshield shattered. The truck veered off to the right out of control and crashed into the chain link fence.

"Holy shit," Ellie pant looking at the smoking truck.

"Ellie, get in the Jeep and get down to Lily now. I'm gonna make sure these fuckers are dead and I'll be right there."

She nodded standing on shaky legs as her pops shouldered his rifle in favor of his sawed off Shorty. As Joel crossed the blacktop Ellie climbed into the drivers seat. She dropped it into drive and started back toward Lily avoiding the hole the RPG round had left in the road. Ellie was parking the truck when she heard Shorty go off down the road. Quickly she hurried to her teacher mom in the grass. "Oh fuck." Ellie knelt down beside Lily. The woman was bleeding from a nasty gash above her right eye, the area around it was already turning purple. Her arms and legs were scraped up and bleeding in some places too. "Lily?" Ellie took Lily's face in her hand. "Lily can you hear me?" The girl got no response so she peeled open Lily's eyelids. Not surprisingly one pupil was bigger then the other. She let go of Lily's face and checked her heart rate using the carotid to feel her pulse. Lily was hurt, maybe more then Ellie could tell, but her heart was still strong.

The girl ran back to the Jeep and came back with the first aid kit. She was bandaging Lily's head to stop the bleeding when Joel finally came running over. "Joel!"

Joel hurried to Ellie's side taking in Lily's damaged body. "Shit, how bad is it?"

"She's got a bad cut on her head and a concussion," Ellie kept wrapping.

He started with her legs gently feeling for broken bones. He got to her left wrist and squeezed a little. Lily's eyes flew open and she sucked in a pained breath before sagging unconscious again. "Her wrist is broke."

Ellie tied off the bandage and reached for the kit again. "There's a splint in here."

"Lets get it on and get the hell out of here."

She looked at her pops distressed. "I have to set it."

Joel swallowed hard. "Can you?"

"Lily taught me how, but... if you think just touching it hurt... this is gonna be bad."

He shifted so he could hold Lily still while Ellie did her thing. "Do it. Make it quick."

Her stomach was a pit of churning acid. "On three. One, two, three."

Lily opened her eyes again at the fresh pain rolling up her arm. "What the fuck?"

"Lily," Joel tried to get her to focus on him as Ellie did her work. "It's alright, we got you. It's gonna be fine."

Joel looked scared. "Am I shot?" she managed through lips that felt cold.

"No but you're banged up pretty good. Can you tell me where it hurts?"

Lily's head was swimming. "You have to make sure the seal is right or the pickles wont be any good."

Ellie wasn't so deeply focused on her task that she wasn't paying attention. A frightened, hysterical laugh bubbled out. "Yeah she hit her head alright."

"Lily its okay," Joel remained as calm as he could.

"Did the cops find our pot?" Lily's mind jumped from one distorted memory to another. "We've still got our tickets right?"

She was scaring him but Joel nodded. "Yup, we're good."

Lily nodded and closed her eyes. "Dick Cheeny did it," she muttered and then darkness had her again.

"What the double fuck?" Ellie secured the splint and then wiped the sweat off her forehead with her arm.

"You done?"

"I should probably disinfect these other cuts."

"Later," he moved to get Lily into his arms. "We gotta get the hell outta here."

Ellie closed up the kit as Joel lifted Lily off the grass. She ran ahead of him and opened the passenger door. Ellie reclined the seat all the way back and moved out of the way looking both ways down the road. "It's still clear."

Joel belted his injured lover into her seat. "Get in Ellie." On his way back to his seat Joel saw his gun in the road and retrieved it. El Diablo was scraped up but okay. They filed back into the Jeep and buckled in. Joel wasted no time turning them back east and putting the hammer down. He wanted distance between them and the attack site. "Keep an eye on Lily, we're getting the hell out of here."

4

Ellie stopped giving a crap if they were still in Iowa or not. Hours had passed, Lily was still out and they were nearing the state line when Joel asked "Ellie, get out that road atlas and check something for me."

"Where is it?"

"If it aint sittin out in the back its probably in Lily's backpack."

She undid her seatbelt and looked over her seat. Ellie didn't see the atlas out so she grabbed Lily's bag and brought it into her seat with her. She unzipped it and found the atlas at once. Ellie set Lily's bag on the floor at her feet. "Okay, I've got it."

"Open it up to Illinois and tell me where I get off thirty. Its the route highlighted yellow."

She looked it up. "Route fifty-two south to two fifty one then twenty four."

"Okay okay, just navigate for me. Lily was gonna take over the driving when we got out of Iowa, but that aint gonna happen so I need you to tell me where we're going."

"Do you think we can make it to her hideout without her?"

"We discussed the route last night. I'm sure we can manage."

Ellie looked at Lily in the fading afternoon light. "Lily's pretty fucked up."

He stole a worried peek at his love. "You did some real good first aid."

"Lily taught me. She said triage is important even in peaceful places because accidents happen. Like you at the plant I guess."

Joel had almost forgotten that cover story. "Her head wound stopped bleeding."

"I hate to be the one to tell you this but she totally needs stitches, I'd do three at least."

His eyes went to his girl in the rear view. "Think you can handle it?"

"Party dresses weren't the only reason Lily had me sewing." For a moment Ellie bowed her head and longed for Jackson. "I can do it. I'll numb it up and stitch it closed."

"We'll see to Lily proper when we get to our next stop."

"It's still hella far away isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so. We got another six hours or so of driving ahead."

Ellie sagged a little. "How are you holding up? I mean, I can drive for a while if you want me to."

"I'm alright, I can make it. You be my navigator and my look out, keep an eye on Lily."

"I wish she'd wake up."

So did he. "Try again, just talk soft to her see if you can bring her around. Get her to open her eyes."

"Lily," Ellie leaned closer to her maternal unit. "Lily can you open your eyes? Wake up Lily, come on, wake up."

Joel bounced his eyes between the road and his passengers willing Lily to wake up. "Come on Lily."

In her altered state of consciousness Lily heard Andrea calling her then she felt her shaking her. It was February 2026, they were in the woods overlooking an abandon airstrip. "Did you get my fucking bag?" she mumbled as her eyes rolled beneath their lids.

"Yes of course," Ellie was excited to get a response. "I've got it right here."

"My brag book is in there bitch you know it," in her dream Andrea smiled at her.

"Okay," Ellie leaned closer. "Lily, can you open your eyes for me?"

They were open, she was looking right at Andrea. Lily then realized they weren't open and it freaked her out enough to open them wide. Andrea looked weird. "What did you do to your hair?"

"Lily its me Ellie, can you see me alright?"

Her student replaced her old partner, Lily blinked. "Ellie?"

"Yeah," the girl smiled. "Welcome back."

A quick look around told her most of what was going on. Her screaming aches and pains filled in the gaps. "Oh fuck, what happened?"

"You fell out of the truck," Ellie studied Lily's pupils. "Your wrist is broken and you've got a nasty cut on your head."

"Are you guys alright?"

"We're alright," Joel reached over and rested a hand on her thigh relieved to see her making sense.

Now that she was waking the pain was taking over. "Ellie, the med kit in back. There's a blue plastic container with some pills in it. Grab me two."

Ellie moved to make it happen, Joel rubbed Lily's legs. "You alright?"

"It hurts everywhere."

"It's my fault, I was driving."

"They lobbed a bomb at us, its not your fault the road blew up."

He looked at her worried and sorry. "You about scared me half to death."

"I'll live, but those pills are going to put me out. Stick to the route and if I don't get up before we hit the Ohio state line wake me up." She closed her eyes for a moment pushing back the pain.

"Are you goin to be alright?"

"It will suck to be me for a while but we'll manage."

Ellie brought Lily her pills and helped her open her tea to take them. "Are you okay Lily?"

She chased the pills with the rest of her tea. "I'll be fine Ellie I'm just a little busted up is all. Probably looks worse then it is."

"Not your head," Ellie crinkled her nose. "You need stitches."

"Great, well we will deal with that when were no longer in a moving vehicle."

"I'm really glad you sound like you again," Ellie sighed relieved. "You were talking about pickles and cops taking your pot."

Joel smiled. "Then you told us Dick Cheeny did it."

"Great," she dropped the empty bottle near her feet and relaxed back in her seat.

"You said something about a brag book too. What is that?"

"Its a book with pictures in it," Joel answered. "I used to keep one full pictures of Sara in my glove box."

"What happened to it?" Ellie smiled at her pops.

He shook his head. "Got left behind when we evacuated. Everything did."

That was disappointing, Ellie looked at Lily. "Do you still have yours Lily?"

The heat of the day came crushing down on her. Sure kid its in my bag I never leave home without it. "Ahh," Lily brought her good hand to her head and touched the bandage. "Fuck, my head."

"Easy," Joel soothed. "Maybe you need some quiet Lily. Now that we know you're alright we wont pester you. Go on and let them drugs knock you out."

"I'll check on you in a couple hours," Ellie backed off feeling bad for Lily. The poor woman had to be hurting.

Lily nodded a little and settled waiting for the pills to put her to sleep. She tried not to think about the pictures in her bag. A few minutes later she was back in the snowy woods with Andrea and the Jeep ceased to exist around her.

Ellie waited until she was sure Lily had fallen asleep before she leaned forward to talk to Joel. "It's good that she woke up."

"Lily is gonna be alright, she's just banged up and achin everywhere."

"Is it okay for her to be traveling like this?"

"We don't have much choice right now."

"If our next stop is a safe place should we stay there a few days, give Lily a chance to recover?"

He sighed knowing he wasn't going to be letting Lily do any one handed driving. "Naw, I'd rather get her to that doctor friend of hers, make sure she's alright."

"Good point. I guess that means you'll be doing a lot of driving."

"I'll manage. You just be sure you're navigating and paying attention for me while Lily is resting up."

"I can do that." Ellie nodded and settled back in her seat. She checked the atlas against the road signs they passed. They still had a long way to go. I can totally do this.

5

By seven o'clock the light was almost gone, they were in the middle of Indiana and Ellie hungry. She sifted though the food box and found what she needed to fix a couple of jam sandwiches. She passed one up to her pops, he was grateful for the sugar boost appetizer, but what he really wanted dinner. "We're almost there," he promised his girl.

Not long after he finished his sandwich Joel started seeing signs for the state line, finally he bade Ellie "Go on and wake Lily up."

"Lily, come on get up. Joel needs help finding our way around Ohio."

She heard Ellie calling and forced herself awake. "Okay, I'm up. Where are we?"

"We'll be crossing the state line in about five minutes." Joel responded.

"Okay." Lily opened her eyes, the day was gone. She dropped her hand to the lever on the side of her seat and brought the seat up some with her as she forced herself to sit up. Her head began throbbing at once. "Oh fuck."

"Don't push it Lily" Ellie was concerned.

"Take your time," Joel reached for her again and pat her knee. "We aint far from your hide now are we?"

"No not at all."

"Can you get us there?"

"Yes, take the first exit and head south."

Joel followed Lily's directions and in no time the headlights were shining on the gate at the driveway of a property surrounded by fencing and abandon cargo trailers. The other driveways in the small, suburban neighborhood were filled with cars, some spilling over onto their lawns. Though he could barely make out the house over the perimeter wall Joel caught the gleam of solar panels on the roof. Lily told him where to find the key to the padlock, he moved the right rock and found it. Joel opened the gate and Ellie pulled the Jeep up the drive to the garage adjacent to the house. He locked up behind them and ran up to meet them. "Pull right up in front of the house Ellie." He drew his gun as she obeyed.

Ellie shut the Jeep as Joel disappeared behind the house circling the property. This house, a ranch, was boarded up the same way the farmhouse had been. "How do we get in?"

"The key is in that middle flowerpot buried half way down in a plastic baggie," Lily pointed. "It unlocks the side door, but first you'll need to move the crates stacked in front of it out of the way."

"I got it." Ellie got out as Joel came around the other side. She went to get the house key and got him started moving the crates out of the way. Ellie unlocked the house and shone a flashlight inside. On the kitchen counter an oil lamp sat. She went to it digging a lighter out of her pocket. "Let's get some light in here." The small lamp illuminated the room and Joel moved ahead of Ellie. "Go check Lily. I'll sweep the house and then come and get her inside." Ellie left the light on the counter, he used his own flashlight to check each of the rooms. They were peacefully alone and he hurried back to Lily. He found her getting out of the truck with Ellie's help.

"Easy," Ellie tried to hold Lily up, her teacher was shaky.

He was there to catch Lily when her knees gave way. "I got ya." Joel swept Lily into his arms. "It's alright, ya aint got your legs back yet."

She was mindful to keep her broken wrist out of the way. "I guess not. Ellie, the main power switch is in the kitchen pantry. Throw that and we'll have some light. Flip on the perimeter fence too, red switch."

"Okay," she led the adults back inside with her flashlight. Ellie went to the pantry while Joel carried Lily into the shadowy living room. She pushed the main switch to ON and called "Okay."

Joel set Lily in a chair and turned on the light on the end table beside it. "I'll get some lights on."

Ellie came into the living room as Joel turned on a third lamp. "Jesus Lily you look rough."

"Thanks."

Ellie pulled the dust cover off the couch and balled it up. She tossed it into a corner and went to Lily's side. "You want to move over there and I'll get you fixed up?"

"We should probably do it in the kitchen there is going to be blood to clean up."

Joel stepped up. "Okay, Ellie, you help me bring our stuff in then I'll move Lily into the kitchen and you can get her fixed up."

"Okay." She hurried to follow Joel nervous about stitching up her teacher. Ellie put the atlas back in Lily's bag and grabbed the first aide kit. She carried it with both their packs back inside.

Joel grabbed his bag and the box with their various food items, he left it on the kitchen counter and set his back pack with theirs in the living room. "You ready for this Lily?" he was anxious.

"I need to know how bad it is don't I?"

"I reckon."

"Then lets do this."

"Alright." He scooped her out of the chair and took her into the kitchen. He eased her into one of the captains chairs at the table as Ellie opened the med kit.

"Inject the Novocain before you start cleaning it up," Lily instructed. "Check the bathroom closet for more sterile gauze."

"I'll get it," Ellie went, turning on lights as she moved.

Lily reached for her head bandage. "Take it off."

"Alright be still." She rested her hands in her lap, he untied the knot and slowly unwrapped her head. Carefully he pulled the bandage away from the long deep cut over her left eye. "Jesus Christ Lily."

"Is it bad?"

"It aint good. It definitely needs stitches."

"Am I horribly disfigured?" she teased up at him to abate his worry.

His smile was melancholy. "Naw you're still the most beautiful woman in the world." He leaned down and softly kissed her lips.

"Fuck Joel she just came out of a coma," Ellie chide coming back in. "Let the woman breath will ya?"

He looked over his shoulder at his girl. "Shouldn't you be boiling water or something?"

"Yes actually I need sterile water." Ellie pulled a pot off the stove and got it under running water to rinse the dust out.

Lily reached up with her right hand and put it on his face to direct his attention back her. "Maybe you can handle fixing some dinner while Ellie uses me as a pincushion hmmm?"

His sweetheart was covered in her own blood. "She can sew you up then I'll help you get to the bathroom so you can get cleaned up."

"Deal."

6

Lily made Ellie do some deep breathing exercises with her while her forehead went numb. By the time the girl went to start stitching her hands were steady and she was calm. Joel boiled water for pasta and started warming the meat sauce before helping Lily into the bathroom. She walked there, but Joel took as much weight off her weak legs as he could without lifting her up. He left them to freshen up while he went and finished dinner. It took some doing, but between the two of them Lily and Ellie got all her scrapes cleaned out and treated. Lily's head was freshly bandaged and her body was stinging everywhere when they were done; she swallowed two more pain pills with her spaghetti. After dinner she let Joel carry her to the couch. He went around pulling off dust covers while Ellie did dishes. It was already nine o'clock when they all sat down to watch The A Team. The pills kicked in and Lily fell asleep half way through. Ellie turned down a bed and Joel carried her to it. He tucked her in elevating her broken wrist on a pillow and went to finish the movie with Ellie.

Ellie was yawning and Joel looked asleep by the time the credits rolled. "Alright," Ellie stood. "I'm going to take that room next to the bathroom. You should really get to bed too. Its a long drive from here to New York."

"I reckon we'll be on the road ten or twelve hours," he rubbed his cheek through his beard. "Lily will need to rest through some of that, those pills make her mighty tired. I'm gonna be counting on you to keep a look out and remind me when I need to take a turn."

"I can do that."

"Alright, go on and get your teeth brushed and get to bed. I'll be getting us up early."

She nodded at her pops and grabbed her backpack. "Goodnight Joel." Ellie went down the hall to the bathroom.

He heard the door close and leaned back rubbing his face again. He was exhausted physically and mentally. The driving left him road weary and Lily's condition had him stressed. She's gonna be alright. One more long day and they would be in Vineland; the doc could check Lily out and then get busy on a vaccine. They could settle down in Lily's place and Joel could nurse her back to health. A quiet autumn in the finger lakes was in their future and Joel held onto the idea to keep him going.

When Ellie finished in the bathroom Joel went in and performed his nightly ritual. He wanted to sleep next to Lily, but he was afraid he'd squish or hurt her in the night so he opted to sleep on the couch. It was across from the open door to the room Lily slept in, he would hear her if she got up or called to him. He shut the lights and went to the couch to get comfortable. He turned off the dvd and tv with their remotes and lie back to get some sleep. Within minutes he was sound asleep.