July 1st, 2018

"Happy Almost Birthday, America."

"Is it really America anymore, Dilton?" Veronica rolled her eyes.

"Sure it is," Joaquin shrugged, "It's not like it was a military attack. We're not besieged by someone that wants to claim America for themselves. Just the undead," He said logically.

"Do you think the Founding Fathers ever imagined this?" Josie asked.

"Absolutely not," Elio sniggered, "Thank god for pyromaniacs and Memorial Day," He said as they loaded holiday fireworks into the RV. Though it wouldn't be used for its intended use in three days' time, you never knew when it would come in handy. It was lucky they had anything at all to loot, but then again, Americans liked to stock up early to set fires in their front driveways, Veronica thought with a sardonic snort.

"Do you think your mom will let me kill a Cannibal and then stuff them with some explosives and then blow it up?" Dilton asked with a mad-scientist gleam in his eyes, "For science," He added with an offended tone when Joaquin gave him 'fucking weirdo' eyes.

"For science, right," Josie gave a laugh, "And no. Do you really even have to ask?"

Dilton sighed, "Yeah. Damn it."

Archie gave Veronia a sideways worried look and she hid a giggle behind her hand. It had been a few weeks of the perfect relationship. No fights, no drama, no issues, just them taking on the world together. As it should be.

It also was much easier when her father was not trying to kill Archie every other step he took, but Veronica didn't like to dwell too long on that.

"We're near to Idaho," Nick said, with the teens but still apart, not quite fitting in all the way. His reminder caused everyone to give an intake, out of anticipation or fear or worry, Veronica wasn't sure. Maybe all three, "Maybe we really will land in a state no one ever remembers except when cooking dinner," He said with a disgusted sneer.

"Good. It means less fighting off others," Josie snapped back, her patience running thinner and thinner with him each day. While Elio had slid into their 'friendship' easy enough as the days went by, Nick continued to bite every hand that offered him food.

If Veronica had any reason to like him, she'd tell him she understood. She too had a bad habit of pushing away those that wanted to help you when you felt cornered into something. She'd tell him to let them be nice to him. Stop antagonizing everyone. Just live and be happy.

But she hated Nick, so it was fine by her to watch him butt heads with everyone else.

"This is the last load," Veronica said before Josie accidentally shot a firework at Nick's head. As funny as that would be, they shouldn't waste any right now, "Let's just get back to the car and get moving. Maybe we'll find where we're meant to be sooner."

July 4th, 2018

Veronica wouldn't say she was superstitious at all. She was superstition in the way that anyone else was; laughed and joked if someone walked under an open ladder, recited a something-or-other about bad luck if someone saw a black cat, held her breath while going through graveyards, just to see if she could.

Her grandmother though? She was superstitious.

It seemed to be in the blood of the Spanish. Veronica could repeat all of her grandmother's proverbs from the heart, all warnings about weirdly specific things Veronica should stay away from. Just closing her eyes, allowing herself a little chuckle, she could hear her grandma's rattling voice in her head.

"Mija! En martes, ni te cases, ni te embarques, ni de tu casa te apartes!" This was a warning to never start anything on a Tuesday. Did the end of the world come on a Tuesday? Shit, if that one was true, maybe grandma was on to something.

Or, "Dios mio! Mal de ojo," Her grandmother would mutter whenever a child was sickly.

The point being, Veronica did not think she was superstitious, not like that.

But when they got off the RV of their newest stop, she couldn't help some feeling swirling and quelling and roaring inside of her.

A good feeling.

They were stopped off at a Gas Station to refuel. The gas station was pretty picked over, but there were still a few things to grab off the shelves, including a kitchy magnet.

"Welcome everyone to," Archie looked at the magnet with a wry grin, "Cody, Wyoming!"

"Hey, I know this place," Joaquin said with a snap, "It's really touristy. Or, err, was." He added with a wince.

"How did you hear about this?" Josie asked as she fiddled with the back door to the lounge and offices.

"Ah, back when Kevin and I were stupid and young, we imagined going on crazy road trips places. Just vanish," Veronica watched Joaquin with a frown. Though he talked in a mostly even tone, she caught a cracked tone to bring up Kevin. She wondered what would she have done if she went to the prison and Archie had been gone? How would she have coped?

"And anyway, we made a big bucket list of plans of where we wanted to go. Yellowstone was on there, and Kevin found Cody as a good stopping place while visiting." He swallowed, laughing, "Actually, we had planned to this summer…before FP sent me away, of course. It was supposed to be our first trip."

Veronica stopped herself from tripping over her words, but yes, something was certainly lining up here, though she wasn't sure for what purpose. It could not be a coincidence that this had been something so closely tied to Joaquin in some way. Sure, some may argue that Wyoming didn't have much, so they had a pretty good chance of hitting the said town, but she was hoping the universe worked in more mysterious ways than that.

"What can you tell us about Cody, contestant number three?" Elio asked with a grin, faking a microphone with a toilet plunger.

"Named after this dude named Buffalo Bill. That's all I remember." Joaquin said with a shrug.

"Maybe we'll have to take some light reading. Brush up on Buffalo Bill?" Elio said, going over to an old magazine rack, spinning it, and throwing dust into the air, "Ah! Buffalo Bill Cody: An Autobiography. Perfect."

"Why's it matter? We're just passing through." Dilton said, poking his head from one of the aisles.

"I…" Elio paused, frowning, as though this thought hadn't hit him. Veronica noticed that he still hadn't let go of the book, "I just…getting low on reading material. Maybe it'll be interesting."

"Yeah, but The Shining is right next to it," Dilton pointed out, "I dunno. Just seems odd."

And it was.

But once again, meaningful.

The back office door clicked open and Josie gave a yip of success. To keep herself occupied, she'd had Joaquin teach her how to pick locks.

"That was an easy one," Nick said with an eye roll, "I'm sure a five-year-old could get that open."

"Nick…" Elio said with a sigh and then shook his head, as though to ask why he insisted on antagonizing everyone so.

The back office was nothing special, much to everyone's disappointment.

Inside the back office desk were a few bongs, though the weed inside was unusable at this point. And no one could find a bag of extra.

"Damn," Dilton said, as though he'd ever gotten high, "I was looking forward to being a connoisseur of that good ole Mary Jane."

"This is how you know the world is totally fucked," Joaquin said, picking up the bongs and lighters with a smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"When the burn-outs, the high dudes that probably run this place leave and leave this?" He held up what was likely their prized possession, "The world is really over. When you're high, you think it's the end of the world when you hear someone vacuuming upstairs. The real apocalypse probably didn't scare them, until it was really scary."

"You should like someone that would know," Nick said with a narrowed glare.

"Yeah, I would," Joaquin crossed his arms, "And I'd think you would too. I know the rich schools are full of illegal drugs."

"Hey, he's not wrong," Elio said nervously, hoping to step in as a mediator, "We've spent quite a few of our nights nigh as a kite."

"Oh, but he thinks his weed is somehow superior, isn't that it?" Joaquin asked, laughing, "My dude, the $200 shit is probably the same $50 shit I got. They just knew they could get more out of rich snobs like you."

Nick lunged and Elio held him back while Dilton and Archie moved to push Joaquin back because he seemed ready to brawl too.

"Walk it off, Joaquin! Shoo!" Veronica gave a groan, pushing her friend out of the room, looking back to see Elio trying to calm Nick down.

"He just pisses me the fuck off."

"Join the club," Veronica said dryly, "But god, this isn't the time to be infighting. Even if his face is very punchable." She added with a grin.

Joaquin stepped into the sun, just hot enough to be a bit uncomfortable. He swallowed, pushing back tears.

"I worried when I fell for Kevin I was falling for preppy kids, but no, it was just Kevin," He said with a laugh, "I just hate how superior he acts. And I hate how kids like him survived when Kevin might be dead or in danger and he's just safe? God, Veronica, he has no idea how lucky he is! Even now, he just wanders through this, like he fell accidentally into being under your mother's safety. It just pisses me off."

"I know, I know," Veronica agreed with a sigh. While Elio had tried to integrate himself in, and was succeeding, and had killed at least one Cannibal, Nick had stubbornly stayed in the car, refusing to get his hands dirty. But this wasn't an optional field trip. This wasn't something he could leave behind at home. This was his life now, "Eventually he's going to have his reckoning."

"You believe that anymore?" Joaquin asked with an angry shake of his head.

"Yeah, I do," She said with a heavy and equally sad smile, "Because fate came for Daddy and killed him."

Joaquin jerked his head up, words fumbling for apologies, but Veronica shook her head. She knew who her dad was. She knew the hurt he'd caused. She, somehow, felt like this was something good the universe had done, as much as she missed him with every breath she took.

She saw her mom leaning against the RV, looking around, always on the watch. Smithers sat next to her, having pulled up a camping chair.

She approached her mother carefully, just as Smithers started a coughing fit.

"I'll get water!" Veronica said, starting to turn, but Smithers stopped her.

"I'm fine. Just some dust in my throat," He said, though his smile told her that that wasn't entirely it. It seemed rude to press, so she let it go.

"Mom, I don't know how to say this, but…maybe we should see if there's anything close or in the town we could stay?" She played with the hem of her tank top, "It sounds stupid, I know, but you always told me to trust my gut…and if we don't, you know, we don't-," She began to babble, unsure why she was so sure this was it. Strangely, her mother glanced at Smithers and gave a warm, welcoming smile.

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, Mija. I'm tired of traveling. Aren't you?"

Veronica nearly vibrated with relief and excitement. The idea of putting roots down again somewhere was almost too good to be true.

The excitement spread through everyone like wildfire. Everyone was giddy about the idea of settling, even Nick, as much as he showed any excitement about anything.

They explored a few different options. The first idea was the Hospital, but that seemed to be crawling with Cannibals, even a few blocks away. Then, they explored the main downtown strip, which had old-time stores with apartments above. While Veronica loved that idea, her mother shut it down, saying that they were just too spread out. As much as people wanted privacy, they should still be careful and stick closer together.

Then Joaquin suggested a mall…which may have been a great idea if there was a mall to be found.

A stack of cute little motels was vetoed for the same reason as the apartments.

"But they're little log cabins!" Veronica sighed. They sort of reminded her of Lodge Lodge, so her nostalgia was taking over. Though, maybe on second thought, it was better not to dwell in a place that would inevitably remind her of her father eventually.

Finally, they passed a building that Archie pointed to with a smirk, "How…how about, what's that, a Middle School?" He sniggered.

Hermione, who was driving the RV, slowed.

"Actually…" She murmured, tilting her head in thought.

She stopped the car. Xander followed behind. The whole hoard piled out, staring at the fenced-in Middle School, which seemed utterly abandoned. That was a theme that Veronica had noticed. This entire town was literally a ghost town. It seemed everyone just up and left, differently than Riverdale, which had been in chaos. Maybe they'd had a warning, somehow, and smartly found somewhere else to be?

"What's with the fence?" Josie asked, throwing an experimental rock at it, "Not electric."

"It's a Middle School, not a prison," Archie said with a smile.

"Exactly. My question stands."

"Bears, wolves, moose…" Joaquin shrugged, "This is close enough to Yellowstone and rural enough that I wouldn't be shocked if they-,"

"Pedos," Dilton cut Joaquin off with a deadpanned expression.

"Ew, man. I like the bears explanation," Archie said, shoving his shoulder.

"Really, a middle school?" Nick rolled his eyes as Dillon tried to get the electronic keypad to allow them access.

"It's not the worst idea," Elio rubbed his chin, "Lots of space. A huge kitchen. Bathrooms. Probably a nurse's office. Safe fences. Outdoor space to maybe grow items." He shrugged, "Good eye, Archie."

"It makes sense," Josie said with a grin of agreement, "Remember when we were all little and we joked that our teachers must live at the school? I think there's a reason it seemed so logical to us, apart from the fact we were just dumb."

"I went to a boarding school for elementary school, so my teachers actually did live at the school," Nick said, raising his chin.

"Do you want a prize or something, man?" Joaquin raised an eyebrow, "Great?"

"I'm just saying that she should be more careful when she talks," Nick said dismissively, "Because it's not a universal experience to have that memory."

"Oh boo-hoo you," Veronica narrowed her eyes and glared, "The poor white rich boy feels left out of a narrative. Cry about it."

Nick clenched his jaw, turned away, and stomped to the other end of the field, muttering as he left.

"Look, he clearly belongs here. Just like a toddler throwing a tantrum," Veronica said triumphantly, expecting everyone to laugh with her. However, she only saw Joaquin stifle a laugh, but everyone else was looking at her with a mixture of pity and unsureness.

"What?"

"Well, it's just...I mean, he can be a dick, but…" Josie trailed off, "Are we really the 'playground bullies'"? She asked, continuing with the school theme.

"Nick St. Clare can be knocked down a peg or two," Veronica said, pulling her arms around herself. She felt her mind prickle, going on the defensive for a joke that she had thought was hilarious.

"I'm just saying. It's not like his comment was that offensive. I think he's just trying to fit in."

Suddenly, even the way Archie was looking at her made her feel like a shitty person.

"Nick tried to rape Cheryl. Did we all collectively forget that?" She hissed, "He can burn in hell for all I care."

"And my family tried to off your family. Archie beat Nick within an inch of his life. And you, you were in a gang, weren't you?" Elio turned to Joaquin, who was the only person who seemed on Veronica's side.

"I guess-,"

"He helped clean up Jason's body and then pretended not to know anything for the entire time the town wondered. He let Jason's own father get away with murder." Josie supplied, "And he dated Kevin just to get intel."

"That's not fair," Joquin said, "I actually fell for Kevin. And I didn't have a choice! He...he had a choice not to do what he did," Joaquin gesticulated to where Nick was leaning against the brick wall far from view.

"Veronica knows the way types like us were raised," Elio glanced over at Nick's parents, "She knows her own father. I'm just surprised. We're all just kids." He gave a half-shrug, "Does he annoy the hell out of me? Sure. But it's the end of the world. I think that it would be foolish to be throwing people out in the cold."

"So all sins are just forgiven then?" Veronica asked angrily, looking for Archie for help, but found him staring at the ground.

"Perhaps," Elio said "Maybe...otherwise, your father died with so much fucking blood on his hands that I…" he gave a hard laugh, "Well, he'll join my parents in the deepest pits of hell, that's for sure."

Veronica felt ill, angry at Elio, though she knew it was true. But she wasn't much in the mood for discussion on being a hypocrite.

"I think we should give him another chance. People should be allowed to change," Josie said, looking over at Nick, "And then if he messes up again, we won't be so forgiving."

Luckily, before the teen's arguments could be explored further, Veronica heard a joyful 'yes' from Dilton and turned to see him standing up and opening the door wide to the atrium of the middle school.

Everyone gathered at the doors, but there was a collective pause.

"Maybe these doors are closed too…" Simone reached but found it unlocked "Oh, look. They're open."

The unanswered questions lay hanging in the air...why was everyone frozen in place, unable to move inside, where it may be safe, despite knowing they could?

It was Archie who spoke what everyone feared, never much one for reading the room.

"What if there's...god, what if there are little Cannibal kids?" He asked, everyone having reached the same conclusion.

"If there is…" Hermione reached for the doors, steeling herself, "They're not kids anymore. Just vessels. And death." She said quietly as if promising she would take care of it.

The school was eerie, and luckily, not even ghosts seemed to physically lurk in the halls. Only memories; bulletins still tacked to cork boards, coffee cups left on teacher's desk with the expectation to be filled another day, lesson plans strewn out on kid's desks for learning when they were to walk in next...it very much seemed like one day they were fine and the next day, no one returned.

"May 10th," Dillon said, pulling down one of the flyers most recently tacked, "About." It was a flyer for an art fair happening 'remember, tomorrow night'.

"About tracks," Josie agreed, "That everything just went down all at once."

The school wasn't huge by any means. Probably about what the Riverdale Middle School would be, which Veronica had never any reason to visit. Certainly much bigger than her middle school in New York City, number and space-wise. Her school had been in a skyscraper and since it was so premiere of a school, there had only been twelve other classmates when she graduated 8th grade, the richest that money could send.

It took most of the afternoon to check, everyone praying no surprises would pop up for them. The school cafeteria had some boxes of pasta, cans of tomato sauce, and gas still on the stove that Hermione lit with a lighter. And, for the first time since this really began, everyone ate without care, at least for one night.

When the sky darkened and it seemed time for everyone to go their separate ways, they all hovered, unsure.

"Cots," Joaquin said, dragging a few from the nurse's station, "We should all stay together, tonight. Just in case. And to double-up." He said. No one wanted to sleep on the hard linoleum floor, so that become their reasoning, not that everyone was so used to sleeping with everyone else in small spaces.

"Tomorrow we'll divvy up the area," Xander said and Hermione agreed, "It's late."

Hermione agreed, nodding sagely.

Veronica was unsure if she could fall asleep, but found herself able to slip to slumber much easier than she would have guessed, curled into Archie's arms, surrounded by the familiar sounds of everyone else snoozing around her.