“He’s right,” Josh says calmly. “We need to double back. Route 53 is probably our best chance at something plowed.”

Brecken’s phone buzzes a five percent battery warning.

“I don’t know,” Harper says, but she’s staring out at the road and I think it’s because she wants me to go along with it. “We’re not doing it until we’re all in agreement.”

I nod, and try to think it through. Brecken isn’t wrong about the road. There is one set of tire tracks we’re following. They’re the only ones other than the tracks we’re leaving behind. If the tracks we’re following turn off at any point, the game is up. We won’t be able to see a thing.

“Harper.”

It’s Brecken, and he’s twisted around in his seat, his voice soft. This message isn’t for the rest of us. Just her. I feel that invisible tether again, winding between them. “I know this is scary, but we’ve got to get you home.”

Harper looks at Brecken and her eyes fill up and spill over with fresh tears. Her chin trembles when she opens her mouth to respond. “Nothing else can go wrong.”

“Then we go,” he says, and he looks at me. I nod without even thinking about it. What choice do we have? None of our options are great here.

Brecken starts rolling forward again. No one asks for a vote. No one argues. At Josh’s next instruction, we take a right, and then another right. The roads grow gradually less clogged as we head closer to Route 53.

A few houses dot the mountains now. Not many, just little blips of color here and there, some festooned with Christmas lights. Some only bearing the faint glow of a lit window.

I should feel relief that we’re closer to civilization. We can drive faster and make some actual progress. But I can’t think about any of that. All I can think of is the book in Brecken’s bag. My missing phone. And Harper’s soft confession to Brecken, her words highlighting a fear I can’t even name.

Nothing else can go wrong.

Chapter Fifteen

The road winds and twists, and the going is beyond slow. Somehow, we hit Route 53 a few miles east of the gas station, but it’s pitch-dark by the time we get there. We have no choice but to drive back past it on our way west. Worse still, we’ve downed our water and both Harper and I need to find a restroom.