"At the next corner, turn left," Yuuri said as she examined the map.

"You sure?" Kurumi asked. "I'm pretty sure the highway is in the other direction."

"According to the map, it's a right," Yuuri said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, then." Kurumi turned the corner slowly, hoping for an empty street. "Aw, crap."

Most of the width of the narrow street was occupied by a truck. It sat a crazy angle, filling the entirety of one lane and at least half of the other one. In front of it sputtered a broken fire hydrant. In the fading light, she could just barely make out something behind the wheel. She bit her lip and shifted into reverse.

"Do you think we could get around it by driving on the sidewalk?" Yuuri craned her neck, trying to get a better view.

Kurumi shook her head. "I doubt it. There's some of those… uh… you know those pole things that are in front of stores to keep cars from driving to close? There are some of those."

"Oh, I see." She sighed. "I suppose we'll have to try another route then. There should be another turn a few blocks down."

The car was silent as it eased backward.

"I wonder what those things are called," Yuuri said. "Miki, do you know what those are called?"

"Huh?" In the back seat, Miki twitched. She had spent most of the drive staring out the window.

"You know those pillar things on the sidewalks outside stores?" Kurumi said. "To keep cars away? What are those called."

"I don't know," Miki mumbled.

Yuuri looked over the back of her seat. "Are you alright? You've been very quiet."

"I'm fine."

Yuuri gave her a softly incredulous glance. "Really?"

"I was just thinking. You know, about everything that's happened. I still don't know what to think of it all. I need some time to sort it all out in my head."

"Don't we all?" Kurumi mumbled to herself.

"But you are feeling alright?" Yuuri asked again.

"Yeah. As good I can be, given the situation. I'm just tired."

The huddled lump beside Miki made a snorting noise.

"I guess you aren't the only one," Kurumi said, trying to sound cheery. "You think we should wake her up?"

"Let her sleep," Yuuri said. "After everything at the school, we should let her have some peace of mind."

"You think so?" Kurumi said. "It won't be long before we have to find someplace to stop for the night, and it would be better if she sleeps straight through. We don't want her waking up and wandering off to go to the bathroom or something."

"She's already been asleep for a while." Miki finally turned her face away from the window and toward's Yuki's sleeping form. "I doubt it would make any difference at this point. Besides, I think she knows enough to… take care of herself at least a little bit. I think she'd know not to run off somewhere."

"I sure hope not," Kurumi said. "Ugh, this street's totally blocked up, too. Maybe we should give up on trying to get to the highway for today. By the time we actually get onto it, it would be so late we'd have to get right back off."

"Perhaps you're right." Yuuri looked out the window. The sun was low enough that occasionally it was hidden by the taller buildings, and the sky was beginning to change from blue to orange. "We should probably look for someplace to spend the night. It's starting to get dark, and I'd rather not drive at night."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd want to try to drive around in the dark." Kurumi stuck out her tongue. "We don't want to waste gas either."

"How much do we have left?" Miki asked.

"About half a tank. It should last us for another day or two at least."

"The only question is where to stop." Yuuri drummed her fingers on the dashboard. "Somewhere that we could fortify easily would be the best. And we wouldn't want it to be a place that's normally… busy."

"If there are only a few of them we could probably clear things out, but if there are more than that, it would be too dangerous." Kurumi sighed. "I just hope we don't have to sleep in the car. We probably only have like another hour before it'll really be dark." She turned the corner. "Finally, a street that isn't blocked by anything."

"Wait a minute," Miki stared out the window, but this time her mind was actually processing what she was looking at. "I think I know this street!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. My parents work… worked in this area. At a store."

Yuuri thought for a moment. "I don't suppose that it's somewhere where we could spend the night?"

Miki continued to stare out the window for a moment before answering. "Now that I think about it, it might be. It was a store that specialized in camping equipment. You know, tents, sleeping bags, water bottles. That sort of thing. I think they sell some sort of preserved food too."

"That's perfect!" Kurumi exclaimed. "We can stock up on everything we might need!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Yuuri said. "This store, do you know how to get there from here?"

"I think so. It's just down this street."

"Do you think that it'll be safe to stay there?"

Miki nodded. "It should be. There's a second floor and there aren't many doors for… them to get in. It's not part of a mall or anything, so I wouldn't think that there would've been a lot of people around…"

"I see." Yuuri reached back and put her hand on Miki's. "And your parents?"

Miki swallowed. "I don't know. But it's probably our best bet to spend the night. If it comes up… I can deal with it."

"We can deal with it," Kurumi corrected. "It's the School Life Club, right? We'll be with you the the whole time, won't we?"

Yuuri smiled warmly and nodded.

"Mrneh." Yuki wriggled in her seatbelt, doing her best to roll over despite being held in place. She blinked a few times and yawned. "Are we there yet?" she asked.

"We aren't," Yuuri said. "Hopefully we'll arrive soon."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Yuki asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"You're asking if we're there yet and you don't even know where 'there' is?" Kurumi couldn't help but smile as she shook her head. "Why are you even asking, then?"

"Because we've been driving all day! I want to get out of this car and stretch a little. Where are we going, anyway?"

The other three girls were quiet. Then Miki cleared her throat.

"We're going to visit the store where my parents work," she said. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

Yuki grinned happily. "That sounds like fun!"

"Alright, we're here!" The tires squealed as the car skidded to a stop. Kurumi looked back over her shoulder. "This is the right place, right?"

Miki nodded silently as she stared at the building. A bead of nervous sweat ran down her cheek.

The car's engine shut off. The resulting silence was heavy. Fortunately it only lasted for a few seconds.

"What are you doing!?" Yuki squealed indignantly.

The other three girls all turned to stare at her.

"What is it, Yuki?" Yuuri asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"You can't just stop the car in the middle of the street." Yuki crossed her arms and snorted. "You have to put the car in one of the parking places or you'll totally block up all the traffic."

Kurumi and Miki looked at each other, than to Yuuri. Yuuri shrugged. "We probably should find a parking place."

Kurumi sighed. "Alright, fine." She drove forward a bit, stopping near an open patch of curb.

"But that's a driveway!" Yuki protested.

"It's the store's driveway," Miki said quickly. "It's fine if we park here. If anyone needs to get out, we can move the car."

"Oh, I see." Yuki nodded in understanding. "We get special treatment because your dad works here!"

"I guess you could put it like that," Miki said quietly.

"Kurumi, why don't you and Miki go in and make sure everything's ready for us?" Yuuri said. "We'll just wait here."

"Sounds like a plan," Kurumi said. "We should get inside before it gets too dark. The sun is starting to set."

She slowly and carefully opened the door and stepped into the evening. She stretched. If nothing else, it felt good to be out of the car. The street was quiet and, as far as she could tell, mostly free of anything dangerous. A few shadowy shapes lumbered slowly along down the block, but they were far enough away that they didn't seem to even be aware of the girls' arrival. In a rounadabout way, Yuki had been right. The spot she had parked the car in was near the entrance, but not directly next to anything large enough for an unpleasant surprise to hide behind.

She turned back to the car to retrieve her shovel, and found Miki holding it. More to the point, Miki was standing outside of the car. Through the car's glass she could hear Yuki asking why she needed a shovel to go talk to her dad.

"Thanks." Kurumi reached for the shovel. "This shouldn't take long."

Miki's grip tightened. "I'm coming with you. There's no way I'm letting you go in there by yourself." For a split second, her eyes focused on Kurumi's upper arm. "Besides, if it's my parents' shop…" She bit her lip. "I should go."

"Are… are you really sure you want to?"

"No." She shook her head. "I don't want to. I don't know if my parents are in there. I don't know if I want them to be." Her eyes began to glisten. "But if we're going to go in there… I have to."

She suddenly stomped forward, walking resolutely towards the store's entryway. She moved with such gusto that Kurumi was barely able to catch her as she traipsed past.

"Wait just a second!"

"I said I'm going in!"

"I know that. I'm not going to try to stop you. I just want to tell you something first, okay?"

Miki stopped. Kurumi let go of her arm.

"What is it?"

Kurumi looked oddly pensive for a moment. Miki had never seen the expression and it unnerved her a little. Kurumi took a deep breath, as if she was trying to psyche herself up for something.

"I don't really like to talk about it. Or really even think about it. But I feel like I should at least tell you about this before you find out what's in there. You remember the day that we rescued you from the mall?"

"Of course. How could I forget."

"Well, on the way there, we passed my house."

Miki inhaled sharply. "Did… did you…"

"Yeah, I went in. I can't really say that I even really decided to go in; I just kind of did it. If I had taken a few minutes to think about it, I don't know if I would've. By the time I actually thought about what I might find, it was too late to back out."

She looked away, waiting for her friend to ask the inevitable question. Miki opened her mouth to ask it, but couldn't get the words out.

"They weren't there," Kurumi said. "None of my family were there. I don't know whether they escaped somewhere, or whether… you know. I left a note telling them where we were, but I have no idea if they ever saw it. If they did, they were never able to get to us. I still don't know what happened to them." She sniffed and blinked a few times. "That was probably the worst part. I guess part of me was hoping that I'd at least find out what happened to them. Even if it wasn't good, at least I could know, and I wouldn't have to wonder where they were or if they were safe or anything like that."

"But at least there's a chance that they might be okay." Miki's voice didn't sound nearly as encouraging as she wanted it to.

"I know. Believe me, I don't think there's been a day when I haven't told myself that. And that's why I just wanted to tell you about everything before you go in. I can't say I know exactly how you're feeling right now, but I can take a guess. So I just wanted you to know that whatever we find in there, I'll do whatever I can to help you get through it."

Miki smiled weakly, but genuinely. "Thank you. I always knew that I could rely on you." She held out the shovel. "Here. You can probably use this better than I can."

Kurumi accepted it. "Thanks. You ready to go in?"

She nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go."

Yuki pressed her face against the window of the car. "What's taking them so long? I need to stretch. And use the bathroom!"

"I'm not sure," Yuuri said softly. Her fingers fidgeted with the edge of her skirt. It had been a good five minutes since Kurumi and Miki had vanished into the building. Rationally, she knew that it would probably take them a bit to make sure that it was reasonably secure. Emotionally, she wanted nothing more than to see them emerge, safe and sound. "I'm sure they'll be back soon." She wasn't as sure as she wanted to be.

For a merciful moment, Yuki was quiet.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Yuuri looked back to see if she had really heard the question. It had come out of nowhere, and it was so sincere that it almost didn't even sound like Yuki had asked it.

"I just asked if you were doing okay," Yuki said. "Ever since that fire drill at the school, you looked like you were kinda worried about something."

"It's… It's nothing," Yuuri said with a smile. "It's just all of the things I had to do to get ready for the trip, that's all." Her eyes darted up and down the street. Nothing was moving, which was both good and bad.

"You really do a lot for all of us, don't you?" Yuki poked her head over the top of Yuuri's seat. "Doing all the bookkeeping and keeping track of our food and all the planning and stuff like that."

"Yes, I suppose so. But it's okay. I don't mind helping all of you out, even if it is a bit tough sometimes." She smiled. "I just want to take care of everyone."

"Yeah, I know," Yuki said. "But, you know, you don't have to do everything yourself. It's really great that you want to help all of us so much, but we can help you out too. Megu-nee always told me that there's nothing wrong with asking for help if you need it. We're all in this club together, you know?"

Yuuri kept staring absently out the window. "You're right," she mumbled.

"I don't always know how to help though," Yuki continued, undaunted by Yuuri's lack of enthusiasm. "So if you ever need any help with anything, just let me know! Or at least let Kurumi or Miki know. They'd probably be better at figuring out how to help than I would. I know they'd totally give you a hand."

"They would. It's just that sometimes I feel like they have enough to worry about without having to help me."

"But you have enough to worry about without having to take care of us. I bet if we all helped each other out with everything we'd all have less to worry about."

"I suppose." Yuuri smiled, finally turning to look at Yuki with a mischievous glint in her eye.. "So you want to take care of dinner tonight then? I've been doing a lot of cooking lately."

"Um, maybe not that. I bet Miki could make something really yummy, though! Don't you think?"

"I'm not sure," Yuuri said. "She hasn't cooked much since she joined the club."

"Here she comes! Maybe you could ask her!"

"Huh?" Yuuri turned back to the window. She sighed in relief as she saw Kurumi and Yuuri heading towards the car, looking none the worse for wear. "Oh, thank goodness." She rolled down the window. "I'm glad to see you back. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything seems to be fine," Kurumi said. "At least on the first floor. There were a two or three of them wandering around in the courtyard behind the store, but we locked and barricaded the door, so it should be safe. Most of the lights don't seem to be working, but the emergency lights are on, so at least we'll be able to see well enough."

Yuki rolled down her own window. "Can we go in now? I'm really stiff and I have to go to the bathroom!"

Miki nodded. "Yes, we can go in now. We'll be staying in the old break room. Just remember that this is a store, so we have to be careful not to make a mess, okay? Kurumi, can you show her where we'll be staying?"

Kurumi saluted with her shovel. "Sure thing!"

"Okay!" Yuki flung the door open and started towards the door. Kurumi followed her closely.

"Um, Miki…" Yuuri said as she got out of the car. "I have a question…"

"I didn't find anything about my parents," Miki said flatly. "I'm still not sure how to feel about it. But we only looked through part of the area, so we still might find something."

"I see." She cleared her throat. "Thank you for letting us stay here."

"Don't worry about it. We needed somewhere to stay, and this is as good a place as any." Miki sniffed, and Yuuri could tell she was holding back tears. "Besides, maybe if we look around tomorrow, we'll find something."

"Maybe, but tomorrow is tomorrow." Yuuri put her hand on Miki's shoulder. "For now we need to rest. It's been a long day."

"Yes, it has. We should probably get inside."

Yuuri nodded, and the two of them followed Kurumi and Yuki towards the door.

"Oh." Yuuri said.

"What is it?" Miki asked.

"I, uh, I just thought of another question."

"What is it?"

"Did you check to see if the bathrooms still work?"

Miki blinked a few times as the question sunk in. Then she chuckled. "I sure hope so."