Free Race to Refuge by Liz Craig

want to stay here. There is water nearby. And there are animals we could trap. Plus, it’s very quiet,” said Joshua.
    I nodded. So where was the downside?
    “The only problem here is that we’re totally exposed,” he continued. “There isn’t any type of shed or abandoned building that we can stay in for protection. And the water supply, although it’s decent, may not always last if we don’t get regular rainfall.”
    “It’s just a temporary solution, then,” I said, disappointed.
    “It would be better if we had land we could farm, too. Eating a diet of game meat would probably get old after a while,” he said, eyes twinkling. “It’s very shady here and the soil is rocky. It’s not a great place to farm.”
    I took a deep breath. “I guess we should head for Annie’s and Jim’s place. That was probably the best plan all along. I know they keep a garden there. And it’s still very remote. I think they even have a well or something.”
    Joshua’s face grew serious. “One thing that we do need to take care of is getting gasoline. I noticed that you weren’t exactly sitting at a full tank.”
    I suddenly wished I could just go lie back down again. My head was throbbing. “Right, it’s only got about a quarter of a tank. And the car drinks gas down pretty fast. There’s no way that’s going to last until we get to their house.” Then I remembered something else. “I don’t even exactly know where I’m going. I know the general direction, but we’re probably going to have to hunt around for the house a little while, since it’s been about a year since I’ve been there. I meant to use my GPS to get an exact location, but I got distracted.”
    I got distracted by helping Joshua, actually. Although I was glad I did. I’d have been completely nerve-wracked if I’d been out here in the woods by myself. I’d have been sleeping in my car with the doors locked and jolting awake at every sound.
    “Have you tried it? Just to see?” he asked.
    I doubted I would be able to pick up a signal, but I pulled my phone out. And sighed. “Battery is dead. I’ve got a car charger, so we’ll put it on the charger and maybe we can try again when we’re getting gas for the car. I do know how to get there most of the way It’s just when we get to the final leg that I’m not sure about the turns we need to make.”
    I was still weirdly reluctant to leave. I say it’s weird because at work I’m always a take-charge person. All day long I say, “I’m on it,” when the senator asks me to do something. I’m an action-oriented person. It’s not like me to linger or procrastinate. But I had this tremendous reluctance to face the world again after escaping it so thoroughly.
    Joshua somehow seemed to understand. “I’ll help you scout out a place to stop for gas,” he said. “I know I wasn’t much help yesterday with the nap I took.” His expression was chagrined.
    “I just admired you for being able to nap, under the circumstances,” I said with a grin.
    He returned the smile. “Today will be different. I’ll be a real copilot. We’ll get you to your friends’ house.”
    “We’ll get us to my friends’ house,” I corrected. And he smiled again at me.
    Fortunately, we were still in a rural area for the next thirty minutes we drove. At that point, I don’t think I could have handled another city and another crowd of soulless eyes gazing hungrily at me. The rural areas seemed naturally safer, less-populated, less-likely to have huge numbers of used-to-be-humans around.
    But thirty minutes later, we were in dire need of gas. And the rural route highway wasn’t offering any places to stop. I got the feeling that Joshua was biting his tongue, wanting me to reach a particular conclusion myself. Eventually, I did. “I guess we’re going to have to get onto the interstate and then exit off.” The words slouched reluctantly from my mouth.
    Joshua’s expression was relieved. “Unless you know for