The rest of the journey was spent in quiet contemplation, each one of them dealing with their own thoughts and struggling with a different set of emotions and worries.

Rina was thinking about how she didn't appreciate money enough when there were so many people in the world, like Nat, who didn't even have enough money to buy food and that fact never even crossed her mind while she was comfortably snuck in with her expensive books.

Although her family life was far from perfect, she started realizing that the situation in her home wasn't as bad as she thought when she compared it with all Nat had to go through, even Serena and their parents.

She spent most of her life as the invisible girl and although that had left a lot of emotional scars, she never suffered when it came to food or shelter, she had everything she had ever wanted.
There was a lack of parental love present in her life, but even that wasn't as horrible as what Nat had gone through.

So besides feeling sorry for Nat, Rina spent the major part of their journey contemplating what kind of person she was and what kind of person she wanted to be, inspired as she was by Nat.
Somehow, although he committed crimes, she still saw him as a hero, a person who did everything he could to prevent small, defenseless children from starving, and she couldn't hold that against him.

Caroline and Jack were also in a contemplative mood, thinking whether their daughters' lives would have been better by their side if they had made a terrible mistake by separating.
They wanted for their daughters to have a better life without their dangerous presence looming above them, but now they felt guilty for never risking a visit, for never realizing how much they struggled.

The only one who wasn't focused on her life choices and what she should have or shouldn't have done was Serena.
She spent most of the time gauging Nat's reaction to revisiting his dark past and how that affected him.

Ever since she knew him he tended to bury things deep inside his heart and it was rare that he visited that place so it worried her how much pain her family had caused him by making him revisited that horrible place because of their unfounded distrust.

But Nat himself did his best not to think.
His attention was on the road and the change of scenery that was gradually happening as they left the city lights behind only to be greeted by the lonely roads boarded by trees.
In that isolation he found some comfort since he didn't have to worry about anything, he could just enjoy the ride following the path drawn on the map.

It came as a relief after the turmoil they went through.
Not having to come up with any answers or share any personal information was such a relief that he couldn't help but bask in the feel of freedom the empty roads and the quiet passengers granted him.

The trip turned out to be a long one, but after they cleared the air about Nat's criminal past it was a comfortable one.

However, once they reached the village of Tovrane that was marked on the map, they were surprised by the fact that they could no longer use their car.

In their minds, they had the idea of reaching Zizi's house with the car and that was a certainty that was crushed by the uneven, dirt road that was filled with too many holes not to get stuck driving a car such as theirs.

The road ahead was clearly one that was not meant for any vehicle, except maybe horse carriages, and even that was doubtful.
They thought that maybe people rode horses or walked to the place where Rina's great-grandmother had her house which posed a problem for them since they were unable to do either of those things.

"What do we do now?" Serena asked.
For the first time, fear was coloring her voice since it was obvious that they couldn't just walk all the way to Zizi's house, not with Jack wounded and barely moving.

"We'll think of something," Nat said.
He felt it was his duty to think of a solution, but he had nothing, no movies or real-life misfortunes had prepared him for the situation at hand.

"No, son. The answer is simple. The four of you go ahead and I will stay here." Jack said.
"No way! I am not leaving you!" Caroline yelled.
"You are not leaving me. You guys will go find help and come back for me. I am sure they have some means of transportation since I am guessing Rina's great-grandmother isn't young enough to go on foot. She must have some way of reaching civilization when she needs supplies." Jack said.

"What if we don't find her?" Caroline whispered the moment Rina and Serena exited the car to survey their surroundings and potentially find a solution to their problem.
"Then you will still find a way to come back for me. I am sure there is someone out there. Don't worry, my love, we've been through so much, we can go through this as well and come out as winners." Jack said.

He was trying to sound comforting, but he was actually not sure if what he was saying was true.
All he knew was that he wanted his family to be safe and following the crude map they had, seemed like the best chance for them to find said safety.
Even if the great-grandmother had died the house and some supplies could still be there, and he didn't want the most important people in his life to suffer just because he got himself shot.

"Okay, but don't you dare die on me." She said as she exited the car.
"Not a chance," Jack said with a small smile.

"Okay we are going ahead, then once we find the help we need, we will come back for Jack," She said.
There was a determination in her voice that the girls hadn't heard before so no matter how reluctant they were to leave their father behind they nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'll stay with him," Nat said.
"If he stays alone, he will die. Besides, if you have to hide, for some reason, I will be a liability since I can't turn invisible." He added.

The moment he said that Serena engulfed him in a huge hug thanking him profusely for staying behind to take care of her father who was anything but nice towards him.

"Okay, now that's settled let's get a move on," Caroline said.

She didn't say goodbye to Jack, feeling that by saying goodbye she would in a way leave him with permission to die and that was the last thing she wanted.
She needed him to fight, if even for another chance to see her and their children.

"Boy, you should go with them," Jack said the moment Nat reentered the car.
"And let you die?" Nat asked.
"Serena would never forgive you, nor me, if she came back only to find you dead. So like it or not you are stuck with me." Nat said.

For the first time in a while, Jack was speechless, so they just sat in silence worrying about the girls.