Author's notes: Funny thing, only after I wrote this did I realized I named the extras after some relatives. Hope they never read this...:\

"Are you looking after yourself? Eating well? Taking regular showers?"

"Yes, mom. All of the above. Mostly."

"Michael, honey, when are you coming home?"

"I've told you before. So has grandpa. I'm not coming home. Ever. And if I do, you need to lock the door and make sure I can't get inside, because the only way I'm coming back is if they get to me and Star."

"Do you want to talk to Sam?"

"Yeah...sure. Put him on the phone."

Michael leaned an arm against the side of the building as he shifted the receiver from the payphone on his shoulder and watched Star in the store gathering a few odds and ends for the trip. Windex. A hell of a lot more baby wipes. Bottled water. She looked like she was holding up okay. Not shaking anymore, from what he could tell. That was a good sign. If either of them started breaking down, they'd never make it through this.

"Mike? Did you hear me? I said make sure you send me something cool," Sam blurted on the other line, bringing Michael out of his daze.

"What? Sammy...I don't have time to go shopping for knick-knacks right now!"

"It shouldn't take that long, Mike. Just grab something the next place you stop at, and hold onto it until you drive by a post office," Sam protested.

Michael laughed, switching the phone to his other shoulder, "two years on the road, it's always nice to be reminded you're still a dork no matter how long I'm gone."

"And you're still an ass-monkey," Sam retorted right back at him. "Seriously though, Mike...is everything okay? You're still fine? Haven't seen them or nothing in awhile? Cause me and Ed were thinking, maybe there's a way you can throw them off your trail, y'know? Like...light the car on fire or something if you need to. I mean, if you catch a bus after you do it, there's no way they'd go after you. Have you guys thought about maybe just staying in crowds?"

Michael looked back towards Star, who'd just finished paying for their supplies and was tucking a paper sack against her chest to head outside, when she nearly bumped into a guy pulling the door open. He wasn't sure if he liked the look of the dude...and when the man started trying to put the moves on Star, he decided he'd have to cut the phone call shorter than he'd planned.

"Listen, Sam, I think they're catching up with us. Don't worry, though. We're just fine...okay, talk to you later. Bye." Michael hung up the phone abruptly, hardly even registering Sam's last statement before he strode towards the door, eyes trained on Star. Right as he came within earshot of the pair, he realized it was a good idea he'd hung up when he did. The guy was a dick in sheep's clothing. Starched white shirt, brown suede bolo tie to match a pair of dark cowboy boots. It wasn't so much the outfit that screamed douche bag, as the way he held himself. Like he could get star into the back of his truck with a couple of words and a greasy smile.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing all the way out here without a man by her side?" He cooed, stepping just a little too close for comfort. Right as Michael was getting prepared to tell him to back away, Star reared back and stomped her foot on his boot, grinding her heel as hard as she could.

He cursed, shoving her away, and Star just barely managed to recover in time before she almost dropped everything.

"Leave her alone," a man at the counter warned, though he didn't step around to do much else.

The douche-bag in the bolo tie grimaced and lifted up his foot to rub at his tender toes, "I was just trying to be friendly. Didn't ask the bitch to ride my-"

"Star, sweety, what's taking you so long?" Michael growled from behind him, stepping up to hold open the other door for her to step through. She averted her eyes from the asshole and stepped out to wrap an arm around Michael's torso.

"Sorry...'baby', I was just leaving."

The man glanced at Michael and quirked an eyebrow as he gave him a once-over, "nice jacket," he snorted. "Bit hot for that out, ain't it?"

Michael ignored him and let Star lead him back towards the car. If he wanted, Michael could easily take him in a fight. He was tempted to do so, too. Shit...where was all this anger coming from? Maybe...maybe he was still upset about the deer carcass.

"I've got a bad feeling about that asshole," Michael mumbled under his breath.

"Don't be silly, Michael. He can't do anything to us. Let's get going before it gets dark," she looked up at the sky, releasing Michael's torso so she could reach up and tip her sunglasses down slightly.

"I think we slept most of the day away. The sun looks like it's going to go down soon..." Star sighed.

"Then I guess we better get going. I think I'm good to drive," Michael shrugged, taking the keys from Star and striding ahead of her.

"Glad you decided to stop being stupid." Star remarked at his back. He stopped and spun around to face her.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"The jacket. You put the jacket on."

Michael snorted, "it's just clothing. Doesn't mean anything."

"Good to see we're on the same page. It doesn't mean anything. And you know...it really does look good on you," she pulled open the passenger door and slid inside the car.

"I am going to grab a different one when I get the chance, though," Michael insisted as he slammed his car door.

"Speaking of which, you know we're on our last couple hundred, right?" Star asked as she settled herself in her seat and pulled out a couple of bottles of water. By the looks of things, they were in for another long and boring drive. Unfortunately, she could already feel her internal clock shifting. And while she really didn't like the idea of struggling to keep herself awake during daylight hours again, especially the longer time wore on, Star was confident somehow they'd make it through this. After all, they'd been managing for two years. And they had each other to hold themselves back, once the hunger began...surely her memories of it were much worse than the reality. Exaggerations built on the passing of time. She was getting very good at the fine art of denial. That was something she and Michael had in common.

While he drove, Star tried to pretend she couldn't hear his heart beating. And Michael turned on the radio to tune the sound of hers out.

He watched the couple leave, scowling. They had a pretty nice car. Vintage. All the caked on bits of fur and blood around the hood didn't look too good, though. He glanced over at his pick-up truck where five of his friends were waiting for him to hurry up and grab the beer. Maybe they'd follow those two for a bit, give them a good scare. Wasn't much else to do tonight. But then he remembered he had that stupid party to go to, and decided against it.

Of course, if they happened to be driving in the same direction, well...that just couldn't be helped, could it?

"Hurry the hell up, Tod!" Andrew shouted, banging on the bed of the truck, which only set the others off to do the same until the whole parking lot was ringing with the sound of clanging metal.

"Ah, shut the fuck up, Andy, I'm getting it!" Tod shouted back, heading into the store.

The sun was down, and already David could feel just how little road Michael and Star had put behind them. With a self-satisfied chuckle, he released his claws from the rafter and sailed down to the earth, landing in a puff of dry dirt and flying bits of yellowed grass. He was always the first up and ready to go. Dwayne usually followed. But Paul and Marko...well...they were lazy fucks.

"C'mon, c'mon, boys!" David shouted towards the rafters, clapping his hands together. "Gotta get a move on! Tonight's gonna be a good one!" He added, turning towards the barn exit and stalking swiftly out.

Marko shifted and groaned, rubbing at his eyes, "I'm tired. I'm hungry. I don't want to chase after them tonight."

Dwayne reached over and gave a firm tug to Marko's curls before flying down to join David, "you heard David. Let's go."

"We've got time to eat, though, don't we? Davey...we haven't had anything in over two days!" Paul pouted, swooping down to the ground with Marko reluctantly on his tail.

David tossed his head back and looked up at the stars, hands tucked into his coat pockets, and a smirk playing on his lips. "Yeah, I don't see why not. It's about time we had some fun of our own before we finish this. It'll probably take awhile, though, since there aren't many people-" he was suddenly cut off by the sound of a truck motoring down the road, about five guys screaming and hollering in the back as they toasted their beers to the tune of a loud country song blasting from inside.

"Man, talk about timing," Marko snickered as he threw an arm around Dwayne's shoulders and shook him lightly. "You see what I see?" He asked, looking up at the taller vampire. Dwayne just rolled his eyes in response.

"We taking the bikes, then?" Paul asked, crossing his arms.

"No...I think I'd like to get some exercise tonight," David decided, taking to the air. "And they'll be easier to carry!"

"You sure you seen em turn down this way, Tod?" Andy shouted from the bed, laughing as a bump in the road jostled and shook the bed until Bernie nearly fell out.

"Careful there, chief, don't wanna have to scoop your ass off the road tonight!" Lennie crowed, digging a can of beer out of the cooler and shaking droplets of water from his hand.

"Hey! I think I see them up ahead!" Tod shouted out of his window, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Hold up, what are you planning on doing?" Bernie demanded, crawling forward and bracing himself on the bed of the truck after his near accident.

"Just gonna scare them a bit. Get them to pull over...maybe feel the girl up while you hold him down..." Tod shouted back to them, slamming down a beer as he was forced to swerve back into the right lane when another driver came into view driving straight for them.

"Close one," he sighed. He was so focused on that close call, he didn't notice the figure standing in the road right ahead of him until it was too late.