Finally Jasmine leaned over and wiped her face off. "No, Amanda, they just come. You don't do anything," she said. Amanda looked at her and saw Jasmine was telling the truth.

"Well, they need to hurry up," she said, taking a bite of burger and sending Nathan rolling again. Amanda was starting to find that very irritating.

When Nathan could breathe he looked at Jasmine, "Thank you for getting that hunk of food out of my throat so I could breathe with Amanda trying to kill me and all," Nathan said, and Amanda just mumbled at him. He refilled his bottle of lemonade and pa.s.sed around the jug so everyone could do the same.

Feeling really good, Nathan stood up and started getting ready, and on queue the others followed. Stepping onto the road they continued west. Behind them they could hear a vehicle go down the highway they'd left behind. "Can I walk beside you, Nathan?" Jasmine asked him.

"Sure," he said.

"Sorry, it's hard to talk to the back of a head," she said, falling in step with him. "Where are we going?"

"There's a lake up ahead. We're going to stay there tonight and probably tomorrow," he said.

Shaking her head, she asked, "No, I mean what's our destination?"

"Oh. Well the kids are determined to follow me to Idaho where I live," Nathan said.

"If you don't mind, why are you going there? It's really far. I mean, I understand you live there and all."

"I have several friends that I made a promise to. I said if something like this happened I would stick with them. We joined a group and have a set up in the mountains," he said.

"The mountains, that's good," she said.

"s.h.i.t, you've not walked the d.a.m.n things. I wanted a retreat in Nebraska or South Dakota," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"We bought a thousand acres in Idaho and can only use like a hundred and fifty of it. My friend Aiden is from Texas and said he never knew you could buy vertical land. I wanted a spot we could actually comfortably live off of and not just survive off of," Nathan explained.

"That makes sense, so why did you join with them?" she asked.

"I consider them my family and, to be honest, I have to agree with them. We all lived in Idaho and in something like this we would've had to tromp a thousand miles to get to our s.h.i.t," he said.

"Where's your family?" Jasmine asked.

"I'll tell you another day. Today is a good day," Nathan replied.

"I'm sorry, and yes, it's a good day," Jasmine said, looking around. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing? Should I head to my family?" she asked.

"Jasmine, you're asking the wrong person. I'm prepared to travel across a continent to get home, but I know what's waiting for me. We planned for stuff, had meeting spots, radio frequencies set up and so much more. I can tell you this, if I had not promised them I would come home, I'd be at a man's farm in Georgia. His name is Jessie," Nathan said.

"So you thought about staying?" she asked.

"Oh, I more than thought about it, I came very close to staying," he admitted.

"So you don't think I'm being a coward?" she asked.

"Can I talk straight with you and you won't get mad?" Nathan asked.

"Yes," she said slowly, not wanting more b.o.o.b questions.

"Did you and your family ever talk about a place to meet in an event of this magnitude?" he asked.

"No, of course not," she scoffed.

"Does your family own a hunting lodge or a place far away from other people? And do they have it stocked?" he asked.

"No," she answered.

"Do any family members have something like that?" Nathan asked.

Thinking about it for a few minutes, Jasmine said, "My uncle owns a sailboat."

"Close," Nathan said. "What I'm getting at is this: If you go there and you start at your house ... if you make it, that is. Where do you go from there? This is a big country. To be honest with you, in your shoes I would do the same thing. Wait till it cools down then look," he said.

"My friend with the radios, Charles, said it's going to be two years before it will even be close to the way it was," she said.

Nathan nodded. "Maybe, but I think it's going to be longer."

"You don't think we can rebuild?" Jasmine asked, not really wanting the answer she knew was coming.

"Oh I know we can, but have you heard what the government is doing?" he asked.

"Yes, trying to rebuild, wanting people to stay in place so they can take care of them," she said.

"Exactly, take care of them. Not let them take care of themselves. They are demanding taxes get paid, but people can't get to their money. But the government can."

"They stopped people from having to pay rent and mortgages," Jasmine pointed out.

"Okay, you don't see a problem already?" he asked.

"Well no. That would have been a big problem coming up with that much money when no one has a job," she said.

"Yes it would be, but remember, people that own houses are the workers. Granted, some workers live in apartments, but for the most part they will buy a house eventually. That's what most people save up for. Now if you tell those workers they have to pay their taxes and they aren't able to, and then you take their houses, look at the equity this country just came into," he said.

"That's far-fetched," Jasmine said skeptically.

"I don't think so, but you've heard them talking about taking the guns. If they were so worried about our safety they would be out training people to shoot. If someone breaks into your home and kills your kids you can't even call 911. You have to go find 911," Nathan said.

"You have a point there," Jasmine said, nodding.

"Tonight I'll let you read what a friend sent me literally minutes before the grid went down," he said.

"You have a computer?" she asked in wonder.

"Yes, and a tablet," he said.

"I miss my computer," Jasmine said, looking all dreamy.

"There's still no Internet," he said, chuckling.

"I just liked to sit and type," she said.

They came around a curve and stopped. There was an eighteen-wheeler delivery truck stopped on the side of the road. Nathan hopped up and looked inside, but didn't see anything, and there was no sleeper on the back. He walked to the trailer and saw it was secured with a padlock. He took out his crowbar and stuck the end in the lock and pried it open.

"We're going to get in trouble," Jasmine said, looking around nervously.

"You're kidding, right?" Nathan said. "People are starving and this is just sitting here. I've broken car windows shopping for my team and didn't feel the least bit bad."

"I did tell him he couldn't look in all the cars because it would take too long," Amanda chimed in.

Without looking at her, Nathan held up his hand. "Drop it," he said. "You mean to tell me if you find something that will help you survive you'd leave it, even though you might die?" he asked Jasmine.

"Well no, but what if it's someone's?" she asked.

"That's different, you'd have to fight them to take it. That's criminal," he said.

"This was locked," Jasmine pointed out.

"n.o.body's here," Nathan replied.

"Okay, I see what you're saying," she gave in. "You carry a crowbar? They weigh a ton."

"Hold out you hand," he said. When she did he laid the crow bar across it and she gaped.

"I feel like I'm going to break it," she said.

"Fat chance. It's made out of t.i.tanium and weighs seven ounces. I had to have a key to the city," Nathan said, taking back the crow bar and securing it to the bottom of his pack with straps. He opened the trailer's doors and looked at the pallets. "Spank me and take away my credit card," he said, looking at the pallets of food. "John, Amanda, keep watch. Amanda, take Ares' pack off in case someone comes."

"You said we weren't going to take it if it belonged to someone," Jasmine said.

Nathan dropped his pack. "Jasmine, if someone shows up and sees what's in here they'll shoot us to keep it for themselves. Just because I'm smart enough to open the d.a.m.n thing doesn't mean I'm going to just let someone take it from me," he said before climbing in.

He opened up the wrapping on the pallets and started pulling off cases and setting them in the door. Then he walked down the length of the trailer. "Toilet paper," he called out.

"I want some," Jasmine said, grinning as he tossed her two packs.

He brought up three cases of ready-to-cook rice meals and more canned goods. Squinting at his haul, he looked at the group. "This is all we can carry and I have my doubts on that," he said, trying to figure out how to do this.

He jumped down and started filling packs. John's pack was the most empty, therefore it got the most. There was still too much, so they all grabbed an armful. Nathan closed the doors and put the busted lock back on and set off, the others falling in behind him. The area they were heading for was three miles away, and they all had at least one case of something in their arms. No one even paused to look out over the dam as they went across. They were too loaded down to enjoy it and just wanted to get to their destination.

Peeling off the road, they followed a small dirt road then moved off into the woods until they came to a small inlet on the lake. Twenty yards from the lake, Nathan dropped his case of stew on the ground abruptly, scaring everyone. "This is camp," he said, panting. John just dropped to his knees and fell on his face.

Nathan pulled off his pack and helped John get his pack off. Then he pulled out his poncho liner, spread it out and grabbed his sleeping bag, the others following suit. In an hour they had the area set up nice. Nathan took off his vest and laid it on his woobie. When Amanda saw that she stood up and pulled off the jacket and the big t-shirt and took off the vest she had on.

"You wear a bulletproof vest?" Jasmine asked in wonder.

"He made me," she said, pointing at Nathan accusingly.

"That I did, and when we leave you'll put it back on," Nathan said, taking off his shirt and throwing it in a pile. Pulling his suspenders off next, he took off his undershirt. "I think that thing can walk around by itself," he said, throwing it down in disgust.

"What now?" Jasmine asked.

"Relax, and later we'll set up the shower then start getting clothes clean," Nathan said, laying down and taking off his boots and socks. He looked over at Amanda inquiringly.

"Oh, I'm coming," she said, walking over in her socks. She plopped down and held out her feet. They didn't look as bad as he was expecting. Once he'd cleaned them he didn't replace the bandages, wanting to let them air out. Amanda gingerly walked back over to her spot, where she dropped her pants, leaving just her panties on, and sat down on her blanket. She glanced at Nathan and the look on his face spoke volumes. "You walk around in your boxers so don't start," she said, lying down.

"She has you there, Nathan," John said. Nathan just pulled off his pants and laid back, closing his eyes. He was asleep in seconds.

Hearing water splashing, Nathan opened his eyes and noticed the sun was getting close to the horizon. He looked to the water and saw John bathing and Amanda swimming. "You had mud in your cuts once, I'm not digging it out again," he warned.

"She has on my swimming shoes," Jasmine called out. Nathan turned and saw her in the water with the kids. He caught his breath at seeing Jasmine in a bikini. A little red string bikini.

"Hoochie mamma," he said in a low voice, letting out a puff of air. He looked around for Ares and didn't see him. Standing up to call him, he found Ares swimming behind Amanda, trying to catch her. Nathan grabbed his shower kit and headed to the water.

They swam and played for an hour before Nathan finally climbed out. He looked around for his clothes and saw them hanging on the line, drip drying with everyone else's. "Jasmine and I washed them," he heard from behind him as Amanda walked past wrapped in a towel.

"Thank you," he said, hanging up his towel. Walking behind the shower curtain/blanket, Nathan changed underwear and hung his wet ones up. Then he went back to his bedroll and laid back down, closing his eyes as Amanda leaned over.

"And you want to know why I want tah-tahs," she said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about and I'm not sure I want to know," he said, cracking his eyes and squinting at her.

"Your eyes almost fell out when you saw Jasmine in a swimsuit. John can't even look at her. All he does is stutter," she said.

"My eyes didn't almost fall out," Nathan said, closing his eyes.

"You're saying she's not pretty?" Amanda asked.

"I didn't say that. Yes she is pretty, but she's a teenager. Besides, that isn't a bikini. I've seen more cotton in the top of a medicine bottle," Nathan said firmly.

Shaking her head, Amanda said, "You're so weird."

"I'm fixing to hold you down and spit in your ear," he warned her.

"If you put that stuff in your mouth now, I'll pee in your sleeping bag," she threatened him.

"You get to dry off Ares," he said.

"So?" she asked.

"You'll see," Nathan said and was soon back asleep.

Seeing Ares running toward his woobie, soaking wet, Amanda grabbed a towel and jumped up. "Ares, here," she said, pointing in front of her. Skidding to a halt, Ares looked at her and c.o.c.ked his head to the side but didn't come.

"Ares, here!" Amanda snapped, stomping her foot. With his tongue hanging out, Ares sat down and just looked at her. "I know you didn't," Amanda said, storming over to Ares and holding up the towel.

When Amanda was a step away, Ares lunged, grabbing the towel and growling. Startled, Amanda let the towel go and Ares took off around her with the towel in his mouth. "Ares!" she yelled, spinning around to see a soaking wet Ares dive on her sleeping bag and crawl inside.