It was nearly morning, and Carlos and Sarah had driven all night. He was exhausted to say the least, and they still hadn't found a safe place to stay. They were in the middle of nowhere, driving down a lone road as the sun started to rise in the sky. Sarah's kids bop CD restarted for about the twentieth time, and Carlos was worried. They had no food, no supplies, only what Sarah had packed in her bag, they had no plan, no destination. Everything was going to hell.

They were far out of the city now, but that still didn't mean that they had a place to go. Carlos had no relatives or family in the area. And they couldn't stay in the car? Could they? But once they ran out of gas they were screwed. Thinking about the gas, Carlos' eyes drifted down to the gas meter and he sighed in relief once he saw that they still had half a tank left. So they'd be able to get somewhere with it, but where?

Suddenly, Sarah began to stir... "Daddy?" She questioned, waking up out of her sleep.

"I'm here sweetie." Carlos answered, placing a hand on the top of his daughter's head.

"Where are we?" She asked, sitting up in the seat and remembering the events from yesterday. Her mom was gone, her baby brother was gone, their house was gone, and now they had nothing. They were getting away from the monsters, at least that's what her dad told her. He told her that they were going to be safe now.

"I don't know." Carlos answered honestly as he looked out the window. There was nothing but land, trees, and dirt. He wished they had a map so they knew what direction they were going, but they left the house in such a hurry that he forgot that they would need food and supplies.

"Oh." She replied thoughtfully.

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked, not really sure on what kind of answer that he would get from his daughter. It was a general question, sure, but with everything that was going on around them it could mean literally anything. Because things were not okay, and he was sure that Sarah wasn't okay either.

She shrugged, "I guess." But still, she had no idea that the world was falling to pieces around them, that people were dying and eating each other. "I am a little hungry though." She said shortly after. "Can we go to McDonald's?" She asked, looking at her dad with big doe eyes.

"McDonald's is closed." Carlos replied a little too quickly. "But we'll find food soon sweetie." Sarah nodded respectfully, not really knowing if her father was telling the truth or not. Any other time she asked for fast food, she got it. What made this time so different? Carlos sighed, he hated lying to his daughter, but he figured this would be best. He didn't want her to be exposed, he only wanted her to stay safe. But what would happen if she saw something on accident? Carlos knew he couldn't shield her from everything.

"Dad, look!" Sarah said, pointing further up the road, and pulling Carlos out of his thoughts. "There's people!" Carlos looked to where she was pointing, and sure enough there was a car, and an elderly couple standing beside it. They looked worse than most people. "They probably need help." Sarah noted as her dad continued to drive.

"Sarah, honey, we can't stop." Carlos said. After all, he didn't know these people, they could be thieves or bandits, or murderers for all that matter. Albeit they were an elderly couple, Carlos knew that you should never judge somebody on their appearance.

"Why not?" Sarah demanded to know.

"They could be dangerous." He replied.

"But they're old! And they need help! Look, they're waving at us." She said and pointed again. "Please dad, we have to help them." She begged as their car came closer to the elderly couple. Carlos contemplated what he should do... Should he stop? Or drive by them? He had to make a decision fast because they were right there. "Dad..." Sarah drawled out, and he finally pulled over on the side of the road to help the older couple.

"Oh bless your heart for stopping." The old woman said as she approached the car.

"Sarah, stay here." Carlos ordered as he got out to talk to the couple. She nodded and stayed in her place. Carlos then got out of the car and walked to where the old woman and man were standing. "Are you guys okay?" Carlos asked them, taking the time to look over them. They didn't look dangerous, but you never knew with the apocalypse.

"I'm Shirley, and this is my husband Gerald." She introduced themselves.

"I'm Carlos." He replied, "And I've got a little girl named Sarah."

"It's so nice to meet you." Shirley said with a small smile. While she was talking, Carlos took the time to get a good look at Gerald, and he didn't look so good. "We headed out of the city when all of this nonsense started, and I'm afraid we've run out of gas. My husband is very ill, so we can't walk." She explained. "Would it be too much to ask for a lift?" Shirley asked, and Carlos honestly didn't know how to answer.

"Well, I don't really have a destination." He said.

"Oh, that's all right." Shirley waved off. "We're just trying to get away from those things."

"I'll ask my daughter if you can come." Carlos said, after all, it was Sarah's big idea to stop and help these people.

"Thank you so much." Shirley replied.

Carlos then headed back to his car where Sarah was still sitting in the front seat. "What did they say?" She asked excitedly.

"They want to come with us, they ran out of gas." Carlos explained. "Do you want them to come with us? It's up to you."

"If they need help, then of course daddy, they can come." She replied with a smile.

"Okay." Carlos nodded.