He stood next to me, leaning against the car like I was. “We set off again. It’s all we can do. There will be a point where we’ll get some answers and know where exactly to go for help. We just have to keep pushing forward until then. I think it’s best, however, if we get off this highway and take more of a back road.” He looked around at all the stalled cars, his expression morphing into a worried frown.

My gaze followed his and I wondered if there was more wreckage up ahead…wondered if we’d smell that scent that had told me people had died. A tiny chill made me draw my shoulders up. But while highly upsetting, dead people were no threat to us. “What type of danger are you worried about?”

He met my eyes again. “I don’t know, none necessarily. But it’s still unclear what happened. I want to be able to see what’s in front of me, and what’s behind. There are too many parked cars here. I’m thinking it might be best to avoid the city where we already know the power’s out and look for a smaller suburb. Or anywhere we can tell has electricity.”

I nodded, squinting in the direction the signage told me was Springfield, wondering what was happening there, and if the people piled up in apartments were helping each other, or…panicking. I felt mildly numb at the thought of more walking, but I knew Tuck was right. Sitting here on this highway full of abandoned cars wasn’t going to help us. We had to search for people who were managing this obvious catastrophe, whoever those people were.

At least now I didn’t have to do it in tattered slippers. “Thanks for the shoes,” I said. I looked over at him and our eyes met, something passing between us that I wasn’t sure what to call. It was an understanding, but of what, I couldn’t exactly say because it wasn’t just one thing. It felt complex and tangled. Then again, how could it not? My emotions for this man had always been deep and convoluted.

“Better?” he asked, glancing down at my feet, and I swore I saw true concern in his eyes.

I shrugged. “Yeah.” They were better, and they felt more supported in the sneakers I was now wearing that were mostly my size. But it would take time for the blisters to heal, and more walking wasn’t going to accomplish that.

“Hey, by the way,” he said. “Not only did we find food in these cars. I found something else.” He took a small bottle out of his pocket and handed it to me.