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everyone outside your home to be a danger. The military is currently working on a vaccine to ensure the safety of the uninfected population. Until that happens, all citizens must remain inside. Anyone not obeying the martial law order will be considered infected and destroyed. At the moment there is no known cure for this disease, so anyone not following the law will be shot on sight. We are working round the clock to find a vaccine, but you must follow these directives.” The secretary left the podium and the television returned to its regular snowy reception.
    “He’s full of shit,” Einstein said, returning to the table to finish dinner.
    “Because?”
    “Unless our government knew beforehand about the virus, they can’t just whip up a vaccine. Something like that can take years.”
    Dallas tapped her chin. “You’re right, but if that’s true, what’s their end game here?”
    Einstein shrugged. “Hard to say. At this point, we’ve been operating on video game and movie lore.”
    “So far, it’s kept us alive,” Roper replied, twisting pasta on her fork.
    “But for how long?” Dallas asked to no one in particular.
    It was a rhetorical question that neither answered. Instead, they finished their meal in eerie silence, and afterward, Einstein cleared the table.
    “Okay,” Dallas started. “First thing’s first. At any time, if any of us wants to peel away or go on our own, we are free to do so. No guilt, no regrets. Just best wishes and good luck.”
    Roper nodded, “Agreed. You get one weapon and our blessings, but anything collected along the way stays with the group.”
    All three nodded.
    “Okay. Next on the agenda. Are we gonna stay here or not?”
    Roper and Dallas looked to Einstein, who shook his head. “Staying is a bad idea. It would be safer to get to a state that wasn’t attacked.” He slid a list onto the table. “These are the ten cities attacked.”
    Roper pulled it to her and read them out loud. “San Fran, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, D.C., New York, Nashville, Little Rock, and Dallas.” She bowed her head, repeating the final city.
    Dallas reached over and laid her hand on top of Roper’s. “My family is in Houston as well. There’s nothing we can do.”
    Roper sighed heavily. “I know. That’s the hardest part, isn’t it? How do we just turn our backs on our loved ones?”
    “The way to survive this, Roper, is to take care of yourself first. Always make sure you’re safe and never count on anyone jumping in to save the day. That’s how you help your family: you stay alive.”
    Dallas gave Roper’s hand a quick squeeze. “Okay. So you think we need to get out of California?
    Einstein paced across the room. “The farther we are from cities, the better our chances are. Cities are where they’ll find food, find each other, and multiply. So our best bet is to go somewhere without a dense population.”
    Roper and Dallas both said, “The desert.”
    This made Einstein’s face break into a grin. “See? Already you guys are thinking like gamers. Yeah. The desert is a good bet for the time being. Low population, hard for them to walk fast in sand, and we can see them coming for miles.”
    “And we get there, how?” Einstein deferred to Roper with an open palm.
    “Horses. Horses will take us off the grid. It will obviously be slower going, but with horses there’s no limit to where we can go that the soldiers can’t adequately patrol.” Roper rose and returned with a folded road atlas. Spreading it out on the table, she ironed the wrinkles out with her palm. “By navigating the hills and back roads, we stay away from soldiers and man eaters alike.”
    Dallas studied the map. “It’s as sound a plan as any. We know we can’t stay on the Harley and we can’t stay here.”
    “No, we can’t. If what we saw on the bridge and after rings true, they will travel in hordes, picking up strays along the way, killing more to add exponentially to their