"You know..." I said in a sing song tone, strapping in my seat belt after making we stopped for the bathroom and gas. "We wouldn't have to stop so much if your car wasn't such a gas guzzler."

The offense taken was clear on his face was he turned to me. I had insulted his baby. "Ducky is a good car. We will feed her as much as we need to."

"You're ridiculous." I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, dude, you're creepily attached to this thing." Nicole commented.

"Well I like it. Ducky's a good car." Callie chimes in.

"Thank you, Callie. At least someone's not a horrible traitor." He glared daggers at me.

"Oh you'll get over it. I wasn't suggesting we get rid of your car." I too had, funnily enough, grown attached to the environmental monstrosity Jacob adored. "I was just stating a fact about fuel efficiency."

"Hmph well we're almost there, so you can can it, Locke. Unless you wanna get out and walk." He stuck out his tongue.

I snorted. "Real mature."

"I've got two rules remember? And one of them is respect the ride." He petted his dashboard, lovingly.

"Ah yes you're orderly chaos with your two rules." Nicole scoffed.

"I didn't realize you were Columbus." I muttered under my breath.

Jacob burst out laughing. "Did you just- did you just reference a zombie movie... From 2009? Hah!"

"What?" I scowled. "It's a good movie."

"It's just irony. We're living it!"

"If we are I call dibs on kissing Emma Stone."

"No fair, I wanna kiss Emma Stone. You just said I was Columbus."

"You're actually Bill Murray cause only you would get yourself shot for such a dumb prank."

He thought for a moment and then was satisfied with the response.

"No one is kissing Emma Stone. This isn't a some fictional universe, guys." Nicole rolled her eyes. "Besides, I call dibs."

"You can't call dibs-"

"What are you guys even talking about?" Callie asked.

"A movie that came out before you were born. It's rated R. No you can't watch it." Suddenly, I felt ancient.

"I've seen mature movies before!"

Jacob nodded. "Locke, she says she's seen mature movies before and besides she's already seen enough messed up shit living it. It's not that bad for something rated R."

"It's not like we are planning on sitting down and watching a movie any time soon!"

"Well now I want to watch it even more! Please, Locke!" Callie pouted.

Nope, wasn't giving into puppy dog eyes. "Cal, we're not going to have the time any time anyway. You only want to watch it because I said no."

"Yeah, but still!"

"I vote yes." Nicole raised her hand. Callie copies her.

I glared at Jacob, as if daring him to do the same. He just smiled and kept both hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road.

"This isn't a democracy. Maybe when you're older." Oh god I sounded like an adult. That was actually terrifying.

Callie folded her arms with a cute little 'hmmph!'

Jacob pointed up ahead a few minutes later. On the side of the road stood a sign we had passed before: Welcome to Montana, the Last Best Place.

"This time, no stopping for strangers." I scolded. Inside, my heart leapt as I thought back to Jake. I was so close. This time he wouldn't be so rudely yanked from my grasp.

Jacob nodded. "Promise. But we do need to stop soon. All of us are running on like, no sleep."

"Good idea. We can find a motel or something and we can watch zombie movies." Nicole smirked.

"Nic, no."

"Nic, yes!" Callie pumped her fist.

I was worried they'd give her nightmares. Frankly, after what I had been through, I doubted I could view those movies in the same light. I'd once loved the horror of the apocalypse on screen, and now I truly understood the despair in the situation.

"I think there's a place twenty minutes from here. We'll rest then. Besides we'll be too tired to watch anything." Jacob, voice of reason, said.

I didn't want to stop, as we were so incredibly close, but reason and exhaustion knew he was right. It would be best for all of us.

He was right, as a little over twenty minutes later we were hauling our buts inside a rather nice hotel.

Nicole and Callie decided to share a room, and Jacob and I took the suite with two queen sized beds right next to it.

I expected to hear them, and yes I could hear them, turn on Night if the Living Dead or Zombieland And was surprised when silence followed quickly after we arrived.

It was comfortable, almost too comfortable for us to not bask in after being trapped in a car for so long. Instead, we were too tired to use any of the amenities offered. Jacob passed out in his clothes, on top of the covers, in the bed next to mine. I rolled my eyes. He slept in the weirdest ways.

Nicole and Callie has also retired fairly easily. I snuck in, having a spare card, to find the two of them out like a light.

I crawled into my own bed, praying that now we were in Montana things would go easily.

I was so close.

Yet rarely do things work out the way you hope, do they. Since when did the universe want to make things easier on me?

Short answer: it didn't.

And it wasn't about to start now.

I found it hard to sleep.

I know this chapter is all over the place but it was fun, I hope. I wrote it after rewatching Zombieland: Double Tap, so you can blame that for the not at all subtle references. If you like this story I absolutely recommend that movie. It's a found family zombie comedy and a must see in my book. It's actually pretty tame too, with a few scary moments. But it actually helped me get over my fear of zombies, so I think it's worth a watch. Also for those who haven't seen it, sorry for my mild spoilers, but hey, it's been ten years.

As always thanks for reading and don't forget to ask me any questions you want about the UP AND COMING Q & A! You can ask as many as you want and they can be pretty much anything! They can be about the characters, inspiration, my writing process, other books, future projects, the author, etc... The Q & A will take place TWO CHAPTERS FROM NOW!

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Love you all, dear readers!
~Oz