It was her way to honor her mother while dedicating her life to fighting cancer, a killer that we must kill, was how Sam saw it.

Preparing for her move, Sam got all the paperwork completed to live as a foreign student in Canada, even the documentation for transporting her mother’s remains across the border—repatriation, they called it. Sam’s aunt and uncle had helped her find an apartment downtown near the campus. They had wanted to come to New York and help her, but Kevin had insisted that he would handle Sam’s move. In her heart, Sam wanted to make the move alone with Kevin.

Sam and Kevin Tatum were high school sweethearts, even though he was a few years older. Her mom had loved him. “He’s a good-hearted boy, a keeper, Sam,” her mother had said. And it was true. Kevin had been Sam’s rock throughout all her pain with her mother’s sickness. And he was a pretty smart guy, studying business admin at Queens College in Flushing, majoring in finance, while working part-time at a brokerage firm on data analysis and spreadsheet modeling.

So, the day before she turned in the keys to the house, Kevin and his friend, Leo Barzi, helped her load Leo’s pickup truck with her belongings. She remembered Leo telling them about the documents he’d put in the glove compartment with the vehicle registration, in case there were questions about ownership at the border. He reminded them to keep an eye on the gas gauge and keep the portable gas can full. Then he checked the dashcam, hugged them, and wished them a safe trip before his brother picked him up.

Looking at all her stuff tied down under a tarp, Sam had told Kevin, “I feel like a latter-day member of the Joad family.” The next morning, they’d set out to drive to Canada through New England, planning to visit a school friend in Montreal before heading for Toronto.

But so far, not once during the entire drive had either of them raised the underlying, unspoken fear that they each held. With Sam living in Toronto and Kevin staying in New York, would they survive a long-distance relationship?

The future terrified Sam.

Because you never know what’s waiting for you, she thought as they traveled deeper into the darkening forests and she fell into much-needed sleep.

***

The pickup’s engine sputtered for an instant, then resumed.

Alarmed, Kevin scanned the instrument-panel lights and the fuel gauge.

What the —?

The gas needle had plunged and was now resting below the Empty level. The engine stalled and died. Out of gas, the pickup rolled to a silent stop.

No, no, no!

Kevin swallowed hard, telling himself to relax and think.

He turned to Sam, who was snoring softly. Out cold.