"Okay," Serena nodded quickly.
Her home was in a small, out-of-the-way county, over a hundred kilometers from Zenith City. She'd gone to college in Prism City. Her family was ordinary; her father was a long-haul trucker, mostly driving between their county and Prism City.
During summer and winter breaks, she'd often ride along with him, sometimes spending a few days in Prism City.
"Back then, I don't know why, but everything seemed so interesting, so much fun," she said wistfully.
Then, catching herself, she apologized. "Sorry, I'm rambling…"
"It's okay," Zephyr said. She'd just faced death and was worried about her family. She was remarkably composed.
Her eyes were still red-rimmed. He noticed her subtly tilting her head back, trying to hold back tears.
"Go ahead," he encouraged. "We have a long drive." The country road wound onward, with no turnoffs in sight.
A small smile touched Serena's lips. "Okay. I was trying to remember the roads. I was worried I wouldn't remember clearly, since I was a kid…but it's all coming back to me. Two routes go through cities, lots of traffic."
Zephyr shook his head. "Congested areas are out. The military cleared the highways. Getting stuck in traffic is a death sentence. What about the others?"
"I figured those wouldn't work…" Serena said. "Another one goes through a bunch of small towns. We used to deliver to factories in those areas… Lots of people there too."
More people meant more zombies. Another no-go.
"There's one more…it goes through the mountains. It's…complicated. And there's a long stretch with…nothing."
"Complicated" wasn't a problem for Zephyr. The Etherscope constantly corrected his driving, making even treacherous roads safer.
But "nothing" was probably why she hadn't mentioned it first.
No food, no water, no gas stations…
Serena didn't know the van was stocked with enough food to open a mini-mart, and had plenty of water. No need to ration.
Zephyr wasn't about to tell her, though. Not that he didn't trust her. Explaining was just…a hassle.
He really hated hassles.
But no gas stations was a problem.
"Tell me the route. Do you know how long that 'nothing' stretch is?"
Serena gave him a rough estimate. Zephyr added a fifty-kilometer buffer and had the Etherscope calculate.
When he'd picked up the van, he'd had it filled up and later acquired extra gas.
The base vehicle's tank was much larger than a regular van's. He hadn't realized how much larger, and now regretted not getting more gas.
"Based on current parameters…fuel tank capacity one thousand liters. Two hundred ten liters remaining…range: one thousand fifty kilometers."
A typical van had a fifty-liter tank. Plus the extra gas, he'd thought he had plenty.
Compared to a thousand-liter tank, it was nothing. The tank, located beneath the bed in the back, was huge.
"A thousand kilometers will get me all the way to Zenith City, and then some." But the Etherscope calculated "normal" fuel consumption – twenty liters per hundred kilometers. That was for regular driving, no hard acceleration, no crashes.
The vehicle's enhancements all used gas. Hence, the massive tank.
But the standard fuel economy wasn't much worse than a regular van's.
"Zephyr, have you decided?" Serena asked anxiously.
She worried he'd reject all her suggestions, that she wouldn't be any help at all. She believed in helping each other, emphasis on each other. He'd given her a ride. This was the least she could do.
"Yes. The mountain route," he said.
All things considered, it was the least complicated option.
He couldn't count on a full thousand kilometers, but it should be enough to reach her county.
"We'll look for gas stations along the way."
"Okay," Serena said, a bit surprised. She'd thought he'd risk the factory route, despite the zombies.
But it was his decision.
As long as they had gas, food wasn't critical.
"I read somewhere that you can survive on just water for a long time. This girl once fasted for a month to lose weight, and she was fine. Even without food or water, you can last several days," she said.
Zephyr glanced at her, wondering why she was saying this.
Then she smiled. "I could stand to lose a few pounds anyway."
"Uh…" Zephyr was speechless.
Did she really think they'd be starving?