“Come on Rosy. Shhhhh,” Hugo said. He rocked her in his arms, but the baby continued to wail.

“We can't stay here, the baby is attracting too much attention,” said Adam.

The groans of the wanderers became louder each second. Over the hills and throughout the roads, the wandering silhouettes shuffled into the moonlight. The group watched them through the trees.

“Ahh!” said one of the strangers. It was a teenage girl about Hugo’s age, a wanderer had grabbed her from behind.

“Carmen!” said Dylan, who was presumably her father. He tugged her away from the wanderer, pulling the wanderer to the ground. The father stomped on its head, making a hearty splat!

“Out of the trees, this way,” Hugo started to sprint holding Rosy tightly.

Careful not to trip over rocks or branches, the group continued wandering as the night grew darker. When they reached the end of the patch of forest, they were met with a highway junction.

“I-5,” said Dylan. “This will take us up to Bakersfield.”

Hugo and Adam glanced at each other.

“That’s where we’re headed,” said Hugo. Adam stayed silent.

“We’ll, I guess this is where we split, we need to head to the coast…” said the second stranger. It was an adult man, but in the dark Hugo could not see the details of.

“Wait,” presumably said the man’s son, “Hugo?”

Hugo paused, looking at the boy. He was also Hugo’s age and stature.

“Jacob?” said Hugo.

“Dude it’s me!” said the boy named Jacob. It was Hugo’s high school best friend. Hugo held Rosy to his side while they shoulder hugged. In that moment, they were reminded of Rosy’s cries.

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“We need to go,” Hugo sighed, “You can follow us or not.”

“To Bakersfield? Why?” said Jacob.

“Lila was taken,” answered Hugo.

Jacob turned to his father and they began to speak, Hugo could not hear them over Rosy’s cries.

Jacob’s father then turned to Hugo, “We’re going. Now.”

Throughout the night the group hurried to escape the area. They found scraps of food for everyone, Rosy eventually calmed down and they managed to escape Santa Clarita into the mountains going to Bakersfield. They followed the highway from a short distance away. There, it was just the road and the hills.

The group walked in modules. Dylan and the teenager who seemed to be his daughter walked slightly away from the others. Jacob and his father walked together. Hugo and Adam walked somewhat together. Rosy was traded around when their arms got tired of carrying her.

“Hugo,” said Adam. “How are you?”

“What do you mean?” Hugo answered.

“Your aunt,” Adam continued.

“Oh,” Hugo looked downwards, and took a breath. “I haven't thought about it much,” he said plainly. “There’s alot going on.” A shiver crept across Hugo’s skin as he remembered the two mascots who were shot, knowing one of them was Marga.

When he thought about the one who attacked the killers, he realized that was her and the first one to die was Rosy’s mom. Hugo tightly closed his eyes remembering the moment and let it out again with another breath.

“I see,” said Adam.

It felt like midnight now. The stars were the brightest Hugo had seen.

Jacob turned to his father, “How far are we going to walk?”

“Not far. I was hoping to find a usable car once we got further away from Santa Clarita,” said Jacob’s father.

“I know how to hotwire,” said Adam. He turned to Hugo, “...learned it from your aunt.” He wasn't sure if that helped or annoyed Hugo.

—

Soon after they had hotwired a car that had driven off the side of the road. The engine was still intact as the only problem was the dead driver that was still in the seat.

Carefully, they pulled the driver out and made sure it was dead. Adam, Dylan and Jacob’s father pushed the car back onto the road, and the group entered. The six of them along with Rosy squeezed in, Hugo being put in the middle.

With Adam at the driver seat, everyone else soon fell asleep. Hugo stayed up with Rosy in his arms, napping once again.

Adam eventually pulled over off the road. As the group woke up, they saw a sign that read “Pyramid Lake Visitor Center.”