It has been two hours since Owen drove the car nonstop. Alysson and Lisa were silent, they didn't move an inch. His daughter was so quiet because she was sleeping, but there was something different in his wife.
The manager could have dozens of flaws, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew for what Lisa was passing for. However, there was nothing he could do about that matter. What she needed there was emotional support; she was shaken because of the previous events. Owen needed to pass for a situation very similar to that one.
'Anyway, our relationship is so worn out that I don't know if I am the right person to support her. I also don't believe in myself to do something like this. I am not good to talk about feelings and traumas. I think that's one of the things that she hates so much on me.' He gave a pitiful towards her for a moment.
Lisa was looking out of the window, so she didn't notice her husband looking at her with such an expression. Deep inside, she wanted that the guy did something for her. She always wanted that he did anything, even the smallest thing. Nevertheless, it wasn't worth it to keep waiting for him to take the initiative. The only time that he bothered to do more than necessary when helping her was when they were still in their early dating times.
'I think that, as time passed, something started to disappear on me. I don't know if I love her as much as I did anymore, but Lisa probably still waits for me to make her think the contrary.' Owen was aware of what passed through the mind of his wife. Sometimes, she showed to be unsatisfied with something and he could even notice what she wanted, but he never would do anything to please her.
'Anyway, because of all the things that are happening now, I don't think that it is time to be rambling about my marriage...' He strengthened the grip on the steering wheel as his shoulders became tenser. 'A lot is going on. I keep changing my focus to different things to try to soothe my mind or prepare myself to do something, but I never find the courage to do so.
They stayed like that for some more time. The end of the afternoon was coming. The couple was flabbergasted about how fast the time passed since they entered the road.
Alysson woke up at some point but stayed silent. At times, she would start to cry in the back seat of the car, never allowing his father and mother to notice what was going on. Since they knew her, they expected such behavior, so they let her alone for the time being.
"What do you think that we will do for now?" Lisa asked. "We will go to the pier, but do what afterward? Isn't it the wrong thing to do in the end? Can't we just wait for the authorities to come and save us or something? I bet that the military is coming to sav--" Her line of thought was interrupted when they saw a storm happening in the distance. Its lightning bolts were falling freely on a random city nearby the Capital. The scene wasn't the best one to look at.
Actually, destruction was around them all the time. The road was all cracked, filled with vehicles that no longer had their owners alive or that just got abandoned. Some craters could be seen here and there, signals of explosions. The road was collapsed in some parts due to the earthquakes as well.
As if all those terrifying things weren't enough to make them shiver and fear for their lives, the crimson sky was still above them as a reminder of the apocalyptical scenario that they were in.
"Unfortunately, Lisa, we just need to look around to have our response. We could wait for the militaries to come or the government to take the initiative. However, this thing that befell us suddenly is dominating all the nation. We can't keep hiding somewhere while waiting for them to come because we don't have anywhere to hide. This apocalypse is part of our reality now and bad things will still happen no matter where we are.
"The only thing that will change something is if we start to move and save ourselves before others get the chance to do it in our place!"
Once he finished saying that, Lisa just cast a grim look at the window again, seeing those incredible things happening out there. Her hair stood to the end and she began to hold her tears.
"We lost our future here, you know? I am aware that you are probably thinking the same thing as me now, but we lost everything, even what we should be capable to conquer. There is nothing left for us, just a dark tomorrow that awaits our insignificant lives. Owen, we can die in just one second if an earthquake starts or those monsters appears again!"
The manager was aware of all those things. Anyhow, it hurt the same when coming out from his wife's mouth, just as if those words made the idea got more concrete.
If they had the perspective of a happy ending one day, it was shattered now like the fragments of broken glass that they couldn't fix anymore.
Owen inhaled deeply, holding his breath instead of releasing it. His expression was as dejected as Lisa's.
"I have a lot to say about it, but I will leave it aside. Let's think better about it as we go."
"Yes, Owen. Let things for later, just as you always do. Coward." She didn't look at him. Maybe she was again expecting him to do or say something, but Owen wasn't the perfect boyfriend she had before, just a weak-willed husband.
The man wasn't holding the pressure inside the car anymore, but fortunately, they could find the first gas station on the road.
"We will take a pause." He spoke in a grumpy voice. "Please, go to the convenience store and take as much food as you can. I will refuel the car meanwhile."
Lisa nodded without saying anything else, opening the car's door and going straight to the convenience store. Alysson started to sleep again, all that situation was getting her really tired, so Owen didn't get worried and just let her rest as much as she wanted.
Once he parked inside the gas station and went out to have the car refueled, he noticed a firetruck parked there as well. He found it strange but brushed off the matter for the time being.
'Well, at least now I don't need to pay for the gasoline...' He mocked the situation, whistling while opening the fuel tank cover.
However, even before he started fuelling the tank, he heard that his wife was calling him. The man rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.
'That woman will just ask me to decide with her what the hell we need to take with us or then complain about the snacks being too caloric. I could bet money on it!'
Owen entered the place with a slightly angry expression. Then, he noticed that the store shelves were empty. He was expecting that someone would have passed by there and took some things, but not that it would be all vanished!
'What the hell happened here?' He thought, widening his eyes and walking inside the store.
"Lisa?" He called.
His wife answered, her voice coming from a nearby corridor. When he got there, Owen spotted her. She was looking with a confused face to a man and a woman standing in front of her with huge black bags filled with food.
After all, Owen wasn't the only person that concluded that the main road would have too much traffic, and that it would be better to take an alternative way. Sarah and Scott thought the same thing. They were some hours advanced in relation to the others, but they settled in the gas station for too long.
It was mainly because of Scott. The man was exhausted after having to pass for so many dangerous things inside the Capital and then having to drive for several hours, so he needed to get some food and then rest for a while. They also got those black bags and spent some more minutes filling them with reservations for their journey.
"Hey..." Owen squinted his eyes, getting closer to his wife and standing in front of Scott and Sarah. His eyes focused on the latter. "I know you, right!?"
Sarah looked at him from top to bottom.
"Yes..." She answered, exchanging looks with Scott with a perplexed expression. "I do think so."
The awkwardness of those four was interrupted when the store's entrance ring sounded again, also as a loud motor outside.
From there, Will entered the store with some other youths on his tail.