Shai was warm – too warm. Despite the fact that they had been driving several hours, the heater was still cranked up to the fullest. No one else in the truck seemed to mind, and thus Shai didn't say a word. Instead, he stayed bundled up and sweated it out.

Fabian and Lake switched after two hours. Mav offered the same to Asumi, yet the girl stubbornly remained seated in the back.

The silence and the warmth combined were nice enough to almost let the teens inside forget their situation – almost.

"So..." Roanna spoke.

From beside Shai, Fabian let out a groan. "Do you always have to talk at the least convenient times?"

The driver scowled at him through the review mirror. "I don't like silence."

"Geeze, I would have never guessed." Fabian leaned his elbow against the window.

Both Mav and Shai didn't show that they heard either of the other two.

"Since it's a long road ahead," Roanna continued, "we might as well get to know each other."

No reply.

"We were obviously all in the same scavenging group. Haven't seen any of you before though. What part is home?" The girl's eyes darted between the road and the mirror.

Silence.

"Island 4," Fabian finally muttered.

"4?" Roanna's eyebrows rose. "Isn't that for farming?"

"Farming doesn't happen by itself."

"Ah." She adjusted her grip on the steering wheel. "How about you?"

Shai had opened his eyes only to make contact with hers through the review mirror. He held her gaze for a moment before turning to the dreary scenery they were passing.

"He's from 1. His sister is a commander," Fabian informed her. "You may have seen her with..." He trailed off, eyes darting to Shane.

The boy didn't react.

Fabien cleared his throat. "Lake on the other hand," he jerked a thumb to the back where the other boy was currently braving the cold, "his father is on the Force."

"Should I be honored?" Roanna stared ahead.

"It does explain the whining," Mav spoke. His eyes had been closed until that point but were now slowly opened. "High ranks tend to have a habit."

"Well, rank or not. It's all the same to the infectors and infected out here." Roanna nodded at him. "How about you?"

Mav leaned forward. "Don't call any of them home."

"Oh?" The car jerked as the girl took it off road to pass by a fallen tree that blocked the main way. "No family?"

"Dead." Mav sounded emotionless.

"Hmm..."

"You?" The original question was returned.

Roanna flashed a smile. "Island 2. As for family...got separated from them when the infectors first came...haven't seen them since."

"Harsh." Mav leaned back again. "I almost feel it's easier if you at least know..."

"Maybe." The car jerked again. "So...since we're all tin that generation were you guys in the middle of it when it first broke out?"

Silence.

"The chaos I mean."

"Well this is definitely a comforting topic." Fabien leaned forward. "All those pleasant memories."

"I was in Texas through most of it," Mav said. "Dallas."

"Whoa." Fabian leaned back again as he let out a whistle. "They held on pretty long."

"True. We put up a fight. Rumors are there's still people out there." Mav flashed a grin. "Human or beast, infector or infected, they should know better than to mess with a Texan that's got a gun." He turned to Roanna. "Where were you?"

"New York." The reply was instant.

"Ouch. I heard that place was hell." Fabian's hands went behind his head. "The more crowded, the lower your chances. You must have gotten lucky to make it out."

"I call it Lavivrus." Roanna turned the vehicle.

"La what now?"

"Lavivrus." The girl turned to shoot Fabian a glance.

"And what does that mean?"

"It's survival but spelt backward."

Shai watched the landscape pass by as the conversation surfaced memories. Screaming, panic. The pillaging only lasted a few days. Once people realized what was coming they headed for the coast.

"So..." Fabian's forehead was wrinkled. "If it's survival backward you mean you didn't survive?"

Roanna shook her head. "No...it's because the whole situation is backward."

Mav snorted.

Fabian leaned forward. "Do share."

"Well..."

Though he didn't show it, Shai was now listening closely too.

"Think about it." Roanna tapped the steering wheel. "Before the Infectors it was us that graced this planet by being the strongest. Tigers, Rhinos, Elephants...animals much larger in size than us faced or were extinct."

"Ok. But they're not ruling nor the most powerful," Fabian protested. "That would be the infectors...so it's not really flipped."

"True." The girl jerked the car to the right. "The animals may not be the strongest, but compared to us they are stronger." The vehicle shook, making those within bounce violently.

Shai grabbed on to the seat before him for support.

"That's because," Roanna continued, "They don't get infected.

Silence.

The car slowed down somewhat making the next obstacle not shake the passengers so violently.

"Besides," Roanna added softly. "I don't think you can call our situation survival...because how I see it, survival is making it through a situation or ordeal. We haven't made it through. It hasn't ended. The infectors are out there making more infected as we speak."

More silence.

It was broken when Fabian's throat was cleared. "I think we went down even faster than New York."

Mav spared him a glance. "Where?"

He pumped a fist in the air. "Paris."

Roanna raised an eyebrow. "Frenchman?"

"Yup."

"You don't have much of an accent."

Fabien shrugged.

"Shai?" Roanna asked the last person.

The boy didn't let his eyes stray from the outside. "South Africa. Durban."

"Oh?" The car jumped as Roanna mercilessly took it over a few bumps. "Home?"

Shai's eyes latched onto a bird that soared in the cold blue sky. "My mother's side. We were visiting."

Silence took over again.

Shai was just getting comfortable when Fabian was the one to put an end to it again. "My parents always said they thought we would destroy ourselves with nukes."

Mav chuckled. "They really thought we would have been stupid enough to drop those on each other in an all-out war?"

"What, you think digging and waking up the infectors was wiser?"

"Touché."

Roanna chuckled.

"What?"

The girl shrugged. "I was just thinking that it's funny that the other life ended up coming from below and not above."

The car came to a sudden halt, throwing the occupants forward.

"Sorry." Roanna shot a sheepish grin through the review mirror. "Tree." With that the vehicle was put into reverse and the obstacle avoided.

"Is that what really happened?" Shai spoke his thoughts out loud.

Mav turned to shoot him a questioning look.

"Yup. That was definitely a tree." The girl began in her defense.

Shai shook his head. "I mean us waking them up." He tugged at his coat. "It's always bugged me."

Silence.

"What else would you propose?" The steering wheel was jerked to the left and the occupants were flung to the side. "Russia did the digging. Thanks by the way for unleashing our doom. The US and China financed it...and the rest of the world did the watching...in the end we went further than ever before and set them loose."

Shai frowned as the thought that had surfaced over and over again rolled around in his mind. "In the past, governments often told a lie only to hide a darker truth."

"Isn't that what humans do?" Fabian muttered.

"Alright then. Amuse us." Roanna tapped a finger on the steering wheel. "What's your theory? You think they were made? Like someone cooked them up in a lab or something?"

Mav sat up straighter and Fabian grabbed on to the support handle as the car jerked again.

For a moment, Shai didn't reply. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "I'm saying that it's possible that we don't know the real story. I always wonder. The infectors...where did they first come from?"

"That is something I would like to know," Fabian agreed

Mav nodded. "The whole truth is probably something few know and none will tell." He lifted his hand to examine the spot where one of his fingers was missing. "If I would have to guess, I think Shai's close in thinking that mankind has more to do with it than we think. Seriously, digging? Ever wonder why they appeared on the continents around the same time and yet not on the islands?"

"Oh boy." Roanna let out a sigh. "Looks like I'm stuck together with a bunch of conspiracy theorists." She ran a hand through her hair. "In the end, would it make a difference?" She didn't wait for a reply. "I mean...created or awakened, the outcome is the same, right?"

No one replied.

The car came to a halt.

Fabian's grip slowly dropped from the handle. "Why'd you stop?"

Roanna was already unfastening her seatbelt. "Tanks almost empty." Her hand went to the door but Mav reached out and stopped her.

"I'll get it." His door was thrown open and the cold instantly invaded.

Shai followed. He closed the door, exposing himself to the winter air.

Mav was already in the back, rummaging around the canister.

Sticking his head around Shai saw Lake sitting with his arms wrapped around himself. A blanket was draped over him and a sleeping Asumi. The boys made eye contact.

"I'm frozen," Shai's friend informed him. "Any chance it's my turn?" He nodded his head to the warm front.

Shai nodded. His eyes turned to Asumi. The girl's face was turned to the side and her eyes were shut. The paleness showed that she was cold too.

"We can switch," Mav said as he shoved a funnel into Shai's hands.

"You got her?" Shai asked Lake as he nodded to the sleeping girl.

Lake nodded. It was all Shai needed. He turned and followed Mav who was already unscrewing the fuel cap on the car. He put it on the roof and waited for Shai to place the funnel. The latter held it while the formed began to pour.

Too tired or cold, perhaps both, Asumi didn't protest as Lake lead her past the two refueling boys and to the front. A door opened, a door closed. Lake came around the other side and opened another.

"Smooth driving," Shai heard him tell Roanna sarcastically before the door slammed shut.

Shai shifted as the cold nipped at him. He watched the fuel disappear into the car like water down the throat of a parched athlete.

Mav tipped the canister further and further until the last few drops came out. "Should be enough to get us to town." The boy grabbed the cap and screwing it back on while Shai took the canister and funnel. He tossed them into the back of the truck before jumping after them. A rifle and blanket were grabbed.

Mav pulled himself up and joined him. Once settled, Shai turned and banged on the window. The engine was turned on and the vehicle lurched forward.

Neither boy said a word as they sat in the cold. Shai kept his hands under the blanket, the rifle was put beside him where he could easily reach him.

As the group continued on their way, Shai kept his eyes glued on the horizon behind. A shiver ran through him. Not from the cold but something else. The hairs on the back of his neck stood and his eyes narrowed. Somehow he couldn't shake the feeling. If he didn't know better he could almost swear that something was following them.