Alex--

He still had a flat.

After all these months, I had almost forgotten. My poor car, Psi, once my pride and joy, sat in the same corner of the driveway that he had been sitting in since the day that me and my family had gathered up what we could from our old house and driven to the Whenbrews, trying to find safety in numbers - and in the amount of useful farm animals they had. 

When I had driven my car over, I knew that he had a slow-leak in the front left tire, but since I didn't think I'd be needing him again, I hadn't bothered looking for a replacement. Now, looking at the flat, rotten piece of rubber, I knew that had been a mistake.

Behind me, under the shelter of the open-air garage, my sister Laura stood with her back against a support pole, nudging one of the barn cats with her foot. They were always begging us for food, since we hadn't exactly been able to go to the store and get it for them. Sometimes I wondered what had happened to all those rich pets that dined on salmon and steak every day. I supposed they were all dead. They wouldn't know how to take care of themselves.

Laura sighed as I jacked up my car, watching me from a small, turbulent sea of flag-tails and fur of various colors. I huffed, breath clouding the air in front of me as I lugged out the spare from the back, wishing that that, at least, was new. I had already used it far more than it should have been used in the past. For a tire that was only supposed to go forty or fifty miles to get you to the nearest shop, it was holding up rather well for having run closer to six or seven hundred. The treads weren't even all that worn.

As I worked, I watched my sister out of the corner of my eye. She bent down to pet the cats, her once-blonde hair, which had darkened to brown as she reached teenage years, just barely brushed her shoulders after a winter of no haircuts. Mine was beginning to reach the middle of my back again, finally. The year before, we had both gotten pixie cuts, though I had immediately decided to grow mine back out, whereas she had wanted to keep hers.

Finally, the silence broke. "So... you're leaving, then?"

I grunted, digging harder into my work. I knew exactly what she would say next. 

"Why can't you stay here with me?"

I sighed and sat back on my heels, turning my head to face her. "Because if we all stay here together, there won't be enough water. I'm sure with enough time, you guys will figure out a filtration system for the river, but.... I have someone who wants a future with me, in a better place. I need to go to him."

She sighed again, shaking her head. "You going to take anyone?"

"If anyone wants to come. The more people, the better the chance of survival."

She nodded, and there was blessed silence again as I went back to my work. Then; "will you ever come back?"

I banged my head on the inside of the wheel well, a string of muttered curses echoing inside the now-empty space. "Well... ow... that depends on a lot of things." I thought about it for a minute. "I suppose I'd eventually want to come back and get you guys, once I've built up a good home for us all. Or maybe I'll be forced to return if it doesn't work out."

"So when would you come back, then?"

"I dunno." I shrugged. "give me two years maximum, I guess. Maybe three if things go horribly. But if I don't show after that, I'm probably not coming back. In the meantime, feel free to come after me whenever y'all want to." I went back to changing the tire.

Before Laura could formulate her next less-than-subtle attempt to keep me there, the screen door in the back of the cavelike awning banged open, admitting the lanky Mr. Whenbrew, followed by Ally, his second-to-youngest daughter. They paused beside Laura as I let the car down on the spare, hearing the frame groan in protest. I winced. 

"Gonna try 'er out?" Mr. Whenbrew nodded at Psi. 

"Yup." I popped the 'P' for extra effect as I opened the door, hinges whining. 

Leaving the door open, and one leg on the gravel, I inserted the key into the ignition and turned. 

Nothing.

Not a click, not a rumble, there was no sound.

Then I noticed that the car wasn't dinging the way it usually would to alert me to the fact that the door was open while they keys were still in the slot. I slumped dejectedly into the seat. "Great. Battery's dead, and I doubt I have much gas left in this thing anyway. This bucket 'o' bolts will never get me anywhere." I patted the steering wheel forlornly. The poor old car had been my best friend for a long time, through some of the worst parts of my life - before the 'apocalypse', anyway. Before the Greenskin.

"Well... I was thinkin'..." Mr. stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Since we no longer have a working car among us," He glanced at the ten rusting vehicles in various states of disrepair that had turned his driveway into a used car lot, "you could take Clover and Pringles. We'll be fine with Jenna and Mary, they know how to plow better than those two young'uns anyway. You can ride Pringles and have Clover carry your stuff."

I massaged my forehead, mentally debating. Finally; "I guess I don't have much of a choice. There's no other way for me to make it down there in the next month. Although if anyone wants to come with me..."

He shook his head. "Everyone else is stayin', at least for now. We'll see if we can't get ahold of some more horses later in the year, and have a couple of us follow you. You're going to head to Yellowstone, you say?"

"Mhm."

"Well then they'll probably head straight there. I know Natani and probably Ally will be wanting to go, as well as Dan, and maybe your brother too."

"You guys do what you need to do. As I was just telling Laura, I'll be back, or I'll send someone to get you, sometime in the next two, maybe three years, if not this year. Depends on what I find and how quickly I can get a decent base up. I already know there's pure water there, and natural heat in the winter, if we use it right." I stepped out of the car and stood upright, stretching, hearing several vertebrae pop.

"Is that so?"

"Yup. The area is very volcanic, with over ten thousand thermal pools, geysers, hot springs and mudpots. It's also really big, but we'll have plenty of time to explore, once we get set up." I felt a droplet land on my cheek, icy and wet. "Oh, it's starting to rain!"

Everyone grinned, then shuffled back indoors to tell the others the good news. I gave one last glance back at my faded gold car, the duct-taped front bumper still grinning at me from the huge crack that ran across it. Sighing, I closed the door behind me. Then had to reopen it immediately to toss out a feline that had slipped past my legs during my moment of distraction.