“Shit. Doesn’t dehydration cause labor or something? You’re not about to give birth?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good.” She put her helmet on the passenger floor. “Is that blood on your clothes?” Amy stared at Calliope’s tunic, her eyes wide, forehead creased.

“Yes,” she said, her voice catching.

“Is it yours?”

Calliope shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about Susana. Not in front of Eunjoo.

Amy didn’t persist.

They passed a chain of fast-food restaurants.

“Do you think we should try any of those?” Amy asked.

“A convenience store would be better. Packaged food keeps longer. The power’s been out a day, right? Fast food could be spoiled.”

“I doubt it. That stuff’s like cardboard. I saw this YouTube video about a McDonald’s cheeseburger left out for weeks that didn’t go moldy, not even a little. That stuff’s not real food.”

They passed the dim gold-and-red arches. Even the twenty-four-hour drive-throughs were dead. Calliope realized the ubiquity of chain restaurants and their neon night-lights across major cities and small towns alike had been a source of comfort. Strange what a person misses when it’s gone. Had Andres brought food along on his journey, with their son? Was Phoenix hungry?

Daylight shone iridescent between smoke swirls, drifting in from the mountains to the east and the Sisters to the west; soft white ash sifted across the windshield like snowflakes. Calliope turned on her windshield wipers. This wasn’t snow. It was the leftovers of her home.

“You okay back there?” she asked Eunjoo.

“Just thirsty.” Although Eunjoo’s small voice was not a whine, Calliope felt a tugging between maternal protection and irritation.

“We’re gonna stop soon, chica.” Her head throbbed despite the water she’d had back at Susana’s. “That one,” she said, pointing toward a gas station convenience store. “We’ll break in there. We need gas anyway. We’re below a quarter tank.”

“You think these pumps will work?”

“I don’t know. We have to try. Water first, then gas.”

“What’s the plan?”

“I’ve never robbed a store. I have no idea.” She’d never been much of a wild child and sensed Amy was more suited for this kind of venture.

“We could throw something into the window, break it.”