Abby groaned as her head smacked the wall of the bus for what felt like the umpteenth time that morning. She was seated on her cot with Colm. Above them, on the "bunked" cot supported by a pair of metal beams, were Summer and Matt, playing a game of cards. Across the bus were Ben and Lexie, while Mariah and Amanda were on the bunked cot above them. Tom was driving the bus, Lourdes and Anne were seated on the back couch, talking, and Jonathan and Korinne were seated on the forward cot. Hal and Maggie were scouting on their bikes, checking for skitters, mechs, Espheni, and Volm around the town the 2nd Mass planned to stop in for fuel.

'Ugh,' Abby groaned, shifting on the cot. Her back was aching from the position she was forced to sit in; the "bunked" cots were only about two and a half feet apart, not leaving much room for the occupants of the lower bed to sit up under the upper one (although the occupants of the top bed had even less room under the roof).

'Back?' Ben asked. He was lying on his back, Lexie leaning on his legs with her nose stuck in a book.

'Yeah,' Abby sighed. 'Oh well,' she shrugged. She squirmed around to lay on her stomach, with her legs up the partition at the head of the bed, since Colm was sitting at the other end and peering out the window. 'What do you see, Colm?' she asked, poking him in the side.

'Trees,' Colm grumbled. 'How long have we been driving?'

'Almost two hours, I guess,' Abby replied.

'Are we almost there?' Colm asked.

Upon his comment, Abby and Ben burst out laughing. 'Almost where, buddy?' Abby asked.

'Where we're going,' Colm replied. 'The city where everyone is.'

'Charleston?' Ben said. 'No, we've still got a really long time before we get to Charleston.'

'We are almost at the town we found Jonathan and Korinne in,' Abby said. 'You can go outside for a little bit there, if it's safe.'

'I'm bored,' Colm grumbled, crossing his arms and hunching over.

'Nothing we can do about that, buddy,' Abby laughed. 'We have a lot of driving to do yet.'

'But I'm bored,' Colm whined, flopping over so that he hung halfway off of the cot, his hands reaching for the floor. 'I liked it better when we ran with Samson and the skitters. We were outside then.'

'I know, but we're safer here,' Abby replied. 'We'll figure out something to do, okay?'

'I don't like "I Spy",' Colm said grumpily. 'That's what we always used to play in the car. I don't want to play it.'

'Okay, no "I Spy",' Abby agreed. 'We'll think of something else.'

'Can we go outside?' Colm demanded eagerly as the med-bus trundled into the gas station parking lot. The 2nd Mass had gotten lucky; the skitters and mechs hadn't destroyed the gas station when they had spotted Abby and Ben, and the scouts had found no sign of them or Volm in the area, so it had been deemed safe for the group to stop there to fuel up, scavenge for food, and eat lunch.

'Yep,' Abby said. 'But you have to stay with Anne in the parking lot.'

'Are you going to be here?' Colm asked.

'Yeah, but I have to stay in the bus,' Abby replied.

'Why?' Colm asked, cocking his head inquisitively.

'Because I don't have any shoes,' Abby replied.

'Why?' Colm asked.

'Because I lost them,' Abby laughed. 'That means I can't leave the bus until someone finds me new ones.'

'Oh,' Colm said. 'Why?'

'Seriously?' Abby mock-glared at him. 'Because it's cold and wet, and Anne is worried about me getting sick if my feet are wet.'

'But you went outside earlier in the snow,' Colm protested, clearly confused.

'Yeah, but that was an emergency,' Abby explained. 'Don't worry, Ben is going to take Summer and Matt to look for food, and they're going to see if they can find me some shoes, too.'

'How come Summer and Matt don't have to stay with Anne?' Colm asked.

'Because I said so,' Abby sighed. 'I told Summer that she could go with Ben, and I told you that you had to say with Anne. Okay?'

'Fine,' Colm sighed. He scurried to the front of the bus and out the door after Anne, Korinne, and Jonathan.

'I wish you could come with,' Summer said, looking up at Abby.

'It's okay,' Abby laughed. 'Remember what size I told you to look for?'

'Yeah,' Summer nodded. 'See ya!'

'Bye!' Abby grinned. 'Have fun!' she called as Ben led Matt and Summer off of the bus.

'Don't worry, we will!' Ben called teasingly over his shoulder.

Abby sighed and slipped off of her cot, wincing when she put weight on her injured ankle. She hadn't favored the joint the last night or earlier that day during her sprint, and was now starting to feel the repercussions of her haste. She limped to the front of the bus, waited until everyone had disembarked, and sat on the step that led outside. She was short enough that her legs could dangle off of the step and not reach the ground.

'Abby!' Mariah squealed, running towards her. 'Hi!' she giggled, running into Abby's legs and grabbing her hands.

'Hey, Mo,' Abby laughed.

Still giggling, Mariah let go of Abby and ran back towards the other end of the parking lot where Amanda, Colm, and Lexie were chasing each other around and laughing. 'Hey, Abs,' Jimmy said, arriving next to the bus.

'Heya,' Abby smiled up at him. 'What's up?'

'Not much,' Jimmy sighed.

'Where are you riding?' Abby asked.

'In the pick-up again,' Jimmy replied. 'With Colonel Weaver and Jeanne.'

'Nice,' Abby nodded. 'Is it weird?'

'A little,' Jimmy admitted. 'But Jeanne's really nice, and it's great to talk to the Colonel again. He was like a father to me when I was with the 2nd Mass.'

'That's great,' Abby smiled.

'How is it in the bus?' Jimmy asked. 'It seems crowded.'

'It's not bad,' Abby shrugged. 'Colm's been complaining; he says he wishes we were travelling with Samson again, because then he could run outside. He doesn't like being cooped up. I mean, none of us do.'

'Yeah,' Jimmy agreed. 'It's weird. I mean, it's been like… a year since I was even in a car! Longer for you guys, too, I guess.'

'Yeah,' Abby nodded. 'Probably. I mean, I don't know everyone's stories from before they joined the rebels, but I doubt there was much driving going on.'

'Probably not,' Jimmy laughed. 'Hey, where's Summer? I see the other girls and Lexie and Colm, but not her. Or Matt, for that matter.'

'I told Summer she could go look for supplies with Ben and Matt,' Abby replied. 'I figured she was old enough. Mariah and Amanda didn't want to go, but Colm did. I told him no. I think Summer wanted to go because of Matt; they're getting pretty close.'

'Yeah, they are,' Jimmy agreed. 'They'll be fine. Ben will keep them safe.'

'I know,' Abby nodded. 'That's why I said she could go.'

'Look,' Summer pointed excitedly. She, Matt, and Ben had chosen a mostly-intact house to check out. She and Benwere currently in the kitchen, poking around the cupboards.

'What?' Ben asked, not turning around. He was checking the expiration date on cans of beans, placing those that were still good (or had expired less than three months ago) in a heavy duty knapsack on the counter beside him.

'I found something,' Summer said. She pushed aside a toppled table and pulled out an old-looking wooden rifle. 'A gun!' she exclaimed.

Ben whipped around and stared at her. 'Can I see?' he asked, striding over and crouching down next to where Summer was kneeling.

'Yeah,' she nodded, handing him the gun.

'This is old,' he said, checking out the weapon. 'But… it looks like it's in pretty good shape. Good find. Do you wanna see if you can find some bullets for it?'

'Okay,' Summer agreed. Ben handed the gun back to her and returned to the cabinet. He placed a few more cans in his knapsack before cinching the top and heaving it over his shoulder. 'Found some,' Summer said, pulling a cardboard box out of a drawer in the table. 'It spilled.'

'We have time; can you pick them up?' Ben asked.

'Sure,' Summer grinned. She rooted around in the drawer as Ben glanced over his shoulder and out of the kitchen.

'I'm going to check on Matt,' he said. 'Stay here. If you hear anything, freeze. Do not shoot this gun.'

'Okay,' Summer nodded, continuing to poke around in the drawer and on the floor around the table, putting the bullets she found back in the box.

Ben nodded and left the kitchen, crunching through dead leaves, broken glass, and other debris on the floor. Matt was gone from the first story, so Ben went upstairs. He found his brother pulling medicine out of the bathroom cabinet and dropping it into his knapsack. 'Hey,' Ben said.

'Hey,' Matt replied. 'The medicine cabinet was pretty well stocked. I figured Anne could use some of this stuff.'

'Yeah, that's great,' Ben nodded. He noticed a pair of boots on the floor next to Matt. 'You found shoes for Abby?'

'Yeah,' Matt nodded. 'The numbers for girls' sizes are two bigger than boys', right?'

'I think so,' Ben laughed.

'I think that's what she said earlier,' Matt said. He dropped the last bottle of pills into his bag and turned to Ben. 'These are guys' shoes, but I figure they'll work.'

'I'm sure Abby will be grateful for them,' Ben grinned. 'Come on, let's head back. Summer found a gun and some bullets in the kitchen.'

'Really?' Matt gaped. 'That's great.'

'Yeah,' Ben agreed. 'The bullets spilled; I left her there picking them up, but I want to get moving. We don't want to stay here too long.'

'It looks like you found plenty of food,' Matt grinned at Ben's heavy, full knapsack. The two reached the bottom of the stairs and crunched their way back to the kitchen.

'Yeah,' Ben nodded. 'It doesn't look like this town was touched much, besides Jonny and Korinne.'

'And us!' Summer chirped as the boys joined her in the kitchen. She presented the gun to Ben. 'I think I got all of the bullets.'

'Great,' Ben smiled down at her. 'Let's get back,' he said, looking at the gun in his hand. 'You got the bullets?'

'Yep,' Summer nodded seriously. She clutched the box in both hands as she followed Ben and Matt back out the front of the house.

Before they exited, Ben peered out the door, glancing both left and right, then crept out, checking the street for any other living beings. 'All clear,' he said over his shoulder, and Matt and Summer followed him out.

'Benji!' a taunting voice called from the end of the street opposite the direction from the gas station.

Slowly, Ben turned around, as did Matt and Summer, to face the owner of the voice. When he saw who it was, he lowered the automatic gun he had raised in his right hand. 'How did you get here!?'

A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUNNN who could it be!? Tune in next time to find out!