And I was worried about the Garcias too. Perhaps it was irrational, but I’d come to think of them as extended family. I’d lived in their home. I’d passed by the family photos on the wall and seen the love reflected there. I’d practically sensed their panic as they realized the scope of the disaster and counted the hours that they didn’t hear from their only child, halfway across the country as society collapsed.

I had to try my best to push those imaginings aside though because they’d only end up breaking me. We’d heard story after story as we’d traveled, and everyone was panicking. So many were trying to get somewhere. People were doing everything possible to protect themselves and those they loved in any way they could. I turned toward Tuck, breathing him in and finding comfort in his scent and his solid strength beside me.

Even the back roads were more crowded now and it was slow going, even in a car. We passed several men siphoning fuel from the cars, watching us with narrowed eyes as we went by as though we might stop and challenge them. And that made sense being that we were in a vehicle that would only keep running if we had a continued supply of gasoline. Now that it had obviously occurred to more people that there was fuel available in the deserted cars, I wondered how long it would take until most of them were emptied out. I wondered how long it’d take before people were fighting over the last of it to keep their generators running, or whatever else they might have that used gas and was still working.

Tuck looked concerned too as we passed by a couple with a gas can and a hose, draining a Lexus SUV. “Things have progressed in the last few days,” I murmured.

“Or regressed.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have holed up for that long,” I said. “But I can’t manage to regret it.”

“Me neither. I wish it could have been longer.”

It could be, I wanted to say. It could be forever. But I didn’t say that and neither did he. I hardly dared to dream that Tuck would stay with me, that he couldn’t bear parting. And right now, there were a thousand unknowns and too many maybes that were bigger than us. I’d seen the way his eyes had lit up when Hosea mentioned helping abandoned children and others who needed assistance. Would he be pulled back on the road once he’d helped me get to my parents? There were so many things he could do now, and I wondered if staying with me would be enough.

That old familiar longing rose inside me, bringing a rush of fear. I felt like, in some ways, I’d been here before. Only now, it was far more complicated, and the stakes were higher.