Chapter One

The little bell above the door rang as she stepped into the shop. It was high noon on a beautiful late-summer day. The weather was reasonable; you still had to dress for it, but when you did, you were perfectly comfortable.

She looked around.

The shop was lit bright with big windows on two of the walls. Ceiling lights were on, but they didn't need to be. The shelves were generic but clean. The items they held were neatly-aligned, as though by the assistance of measuring sticks.

The shop was not crowded, but it wasn't empty. A few people in bright clothes scanned the items with neutral expressions.

Do not look them in the eye! one of her friends had warned her.

Her neck contracted as she gulped a mouthful of air. She was afraid it might have been too loud.

But the shoppers kept on shopping. One or two of them might have glanced at her as she was walking in, but their faces remained neutral. And she kept hers neutral too.

She picked up a handcart from the floor by the newspaper rack.

She walked slowly, calmly, about the store. She pulled a few things from the shelves. Heavy little things, lots of food in small spaces. Store brand stuff. Cheap. She filled the handcart and walked to the line, standing behind a tall man in a black suit.

A man in a checkered sweater came and stood behind her.

You're gonna be scared, her friends had cautioned her. There's nothing you can do about that. But you can't let it show.

She tried to keep a comfortable distance to the man in front of her. The man behind was very close.

The second you let it show, they'll know.

She swallowed again.

The man in front of her glanced briefly to his side, but didn't turn all the way around.

They're not looking for it, so you should be okay. So long as you don't give them a reason to start looking...

The man in the suit stepped up to the counter, paid for his things, then left.

Her turn.

She stepped up to the counter.

"Good mornin'!" The cashier with the gray mustache had a loud but friendly voice. "Or is it afternoon yet?"

Do whatever it takes not to talk to them, the voice of her friends echoed in her head.

"Yes," she said to the friendly cashier without looking him in the eyes. She swallowed once again and specified, "It's afternoon now."

The cashier scanned her items. "Forty-one fifty-three," he said.

She took a deep breath. She opened her purse, using all of her willpower not to rush. She handed the cashier the exact change.

She looked him in the eyes. It was only for a second, but it was direct.

It didn't seem to change anything. The cashier's face remained neutral.

And his voice remained friendly.

"You can take that cart out to your car if you want," he said. Then he smiled with his mouth, but not with his eyes.

Tonelessly, as her friends had taught her, and with that soulless smile she observed, she said, "Thank you."

She stepped out of the store, onto the sidewalk and into the warm sunlight.

The RV was parked just up the street. The door opened as she stepped up to it.

"How did it go?" Jillian popped her head out of the darkness.

"Fine, I think," said the lucky shopper, whose name was Elle, short for Eleanor.

Jillian, the tougher and more experienced of these two women, stared at her with suspicious, unhappy eyes. They were not a display of Elle's favorite emotions, but at least they were emotions.

Jillian's unhappy eyes were pitched down to Elle's side. "Why do you still have the basket?"

Elle looked down at the basket in her arms. Until now, she thought she was due for a compliment on a job well done. "I..."

"What's going on?" Another body came swinging from the dark depths of the spacious RV. His name was Ray. He was as tough as Jillian, but usually a little more understanding.

Jillian threw her hands up, keeping her voice down. "She still has the basket."

"Do they want it back?" said Ray.

"Of course they want it back!" Jillian strained to stifle her desire to shout.

"Let's just take off," said Ray.

"And never be able to come back here again?" said Jillian.

Still at the bottom of the steps leading up into the dark RV, halfway into the bright, warm sun, Elle took a hard breath and said, "I'll take it back."

Jillian looked down on her with uncharacteristically sympathetic eyes. She sighed. "No." She looked to Ray. Quietly, she said to him, "Ray, take it back."

Ray went quiet. He too sighed, and then nodded.

"Hey, are we gettin' out of here, or what?" Ernie called back from the driver's seat.

"Quiet, Ernie!" Jillian whisper-shouted.

"Alright, let's just get the stuff in." Ray motioned to Elle, who was still standing on the steps leading up into the RV. He grabbed the basket from her and set it all on the table in the kitchen. Then, basket still in hand, he passed Jillian and said to her, "Put it all away." Then he walked down the stairs.

Elle watched him through the thickly-tinted windows of the RV as Ray followed the sidewalk, wearing a different face than he wore on the bus. He returned to the convenience store on the corner of the block.

Her chest almost fell apart when he walked back out after the longest four-and-a-half seconds of her life.

He made his way back slowly. He looked perfectly calm, but Elle knew the truth.

Ray boarded the bus and the doors closed behind him. Then everyone in the bus started breathing normal again.

From the bright, untinted cockpit, Ernie the driver called back, "So are we good to go or did princess rookie forget the milk?"

"Rule number one, sugar," Elle felt the rough hand of Tunisia fall on her shoulder. "Don't go taking no shit from Ernie."

"You know you love Ernie as much as Ernie loves his chocolate surprise!" said Ernie.

"Step on it, cracker," said Tunisia.

The RV started to roll.

Jillian walked up to Elle. She seemed in a much better mood. "You did good, Elle. Just bring the shopping bag next time."

"Honey, you did good," Tunisia emphasized. She glanced at Jillian. "And that's all that needs to be said to be said today."

"That's the problem with white women!" said Ernie. "All the incessant nagging starved for basic practicallity!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jillian grunted. "I'll be in my room. Wake me when we're far away from people again."

Tunisia unstrapped her gun from her back and sat at the small table. She went quiet as she looked out the tinted window, watching the buildings pass by, watching the pedestrians pass by.

"Hey," Rau touched Elle on the arm as he ambled toward the front of the bus, beckoning her to follow.

Elle joined Ray and Ernie in the cockpit.

Ray gestured to Elle to take a seat on the passenger's side while he remained standing.

"Is it time for her road test already?" said Ernie. "I could pull over right here and get us started..."

"You'll get used to Ernie's sense of humor," said Ray.

"Oh, this bus would fall on its wheels if it weren't for Ernie's sense of humor!" said Ernie. Then he leaned toward Elle. "Just an FYI: Jillian thinks it's her own little secret that she really likes me."

Ray pat Ernie on the shoulder. "Too bad you're not interested, huh, Ern?"

"Lucky for you though." Ernie winked at him.

Leaning forward between the seats with his hand on each one, Ray looked at Elle. "I can't tell you how happy everyone on this bus is to have found you. Any time it sounds like any one of us is rough, or grumpy, don't even think about taking it personally. Jillian was a bit touchy today, but that's only the beginning. But she knows that toughness like that helps her friends survive. And she sees you as a friend. That's the only reason she gets like that."

"Yeah, it means she likes you," said Ernie.

"Yeah," Ray chuckled. "So just take it easy, and you'll be happy here."

"I know," said Elle. "It's fine really. And you should know I'm just as happy to have found you." She turned her eyes back to the road. "I know how it is out there. The worst part about it is—"

Dead ahead, a woman threw a child, no older than three, into the path of the speeding bus. The crying child lay red-faced and helpless.

"Oh God!" Ernie slammed on the brake.

Everything on the screeching bus not nailed down, including the people, flew forward.

On the road ahead, the toddler got up and ran away. The woman who had thrown him stood where she was, staring through the untinted glass at Ernie.

For the first time, Elle saw Ernie's face become as serious as Jillian's.

He uttered, "Oh no."

The murderous mother was glaring with wide, animal eyes through the window straight at Ernie.

"Feelers..." she said. She pointed at the RV and screamed with a demonic countenance, "Feelers!"

"Go, Ernie!" Ray shouted. "Move!"

In the seconds before Ernie, wide-eyed in fear, slammed his foot down on the petal, the whole town was descending on them.

The RV stopped again when a van swung out in front of it.

"Go through it, Ernie!" Ray shouted.

A block of two-by-four blasted through the glass and almost took off Elle's head.

She dropped to the floor as gunshots rang above her head, deafening her.

She crawled out of the cockpit and toward the back of the bus.

The bus rushed forward and slammed into the van.

The tinted window by the table in the kitchen collapsed. A board came through. People were crossing the board. Tunisia was firing at them. Jillian ran to fire alongside her.

The bus started moving again.

Elle looked behind her.

Ray was still standing, his gun still trained out the side window. Ernie was still driving, his eyes on the road.

"Are they following us?" said Ernie. Then he shouted, "Are they following us?"

"No..." said Ray. "They're not."

Her chest gulping up oxygen, her neck glossed with sweat, Tunisia lowered her gun.

Jillian holstered hers. She looked down on Elle, who was looking back up from the floor. "Are you hurt?"

Elle shook her head.

Jillian nodded, then walked to the cockpit.

Tunisia came to Elle. Still out of breath, still dripping sweat, she extended her hand and with a gesture said, "Come on up, baby," and she helped Elle to her feet.

Elle looked at the broken window.

There was nothing but open land out there now. A wide open sky. No one was chasing them.

"It was gonna happen eventually," said Ray. "Just like the last town."

"Yes, but the last town at least lasted for a month," said Jillian. "And even that was a slack. Damn it, we have to get better at this!"

"I know, Jil," said Ray. "This was a freak thing. Ernie knows now. And... I was distracting him. We all know for the future..."

Jillian looked at Elle. It seemed like a look of expectation that Elle had at least learned something from today, and that there was going to be a quiz tomorrow.

Then the tough woman returned to the back of the bus, closing the door behind her.

Ray came in from the cockpit. He sat at the table, wiped some of the broken glass from it.

Tunisia touched him on the shoulder.