[center][color=#ead2b2][h3]Darlene Kate Revie[/h3][/color][/center][right][color=silver]Albuquerque, NM: Interstate 40
August 27, 2016[/color][/right]It felt so strange to be riding alone in a car, driving it herself, eyes on the road with no one to talk to. She'd begun to talk to herself less and less lately; it had now been more than a week since she had last said anything. What was the point, when there was no one?

It had taken her longer than she had thought it would to hotwire a car by herself this morning, but at last she had succeeded. It was so much harder to do, without the warm presence of someone beside her, placing his hands over hers to direct her to the right wire when she faltered. The group had been harsh at times. Disciplined. But after a few months of being with them... they had become more than just friends... an extended family. 

Gone now.

Her mood was melancholy as she drove down the road. Driving on such an empty road needed little concentration, so her mind was free to drift, dwelling on the past. She had been torn between leaving or staying in Alamosa. Many memories were associated with the place, perhaps too many for it to be healthy. But at the same time those memories were the only things that could give her the courage to keep moving. Her right hand lifted to touch the pouch hidden beneath her shirt before returning to rest on the steering wheel.

She had never been particularly strong-willed. Nor physically strong. Not super smart. They were more talented artists out there than her. She wasn't witty. She wasn't skilled at making friends or holding conversations. 

She had been content with being normal. She had never wished for a drastic change. Never. But the Plague had come anyway, and cruelly left her alone.

Darlene was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice immediately when the car began to have issues. The little warning light on the dashboard went ignored, not that she would have known what it meant or what to do about it. It was only when she smelled something that she was pulled out of her thoughts, noticing with some worry the smoke beginning to seep from under the hood of the car.

Whoa.

She overreacted, braking hard, automatically pulling to the side of the road even though there was no need to. She was no mechanic, had never even gotten a drivers license. So she had no idea what was going on with the car. Stepping out, she slipped the hatchet back on her belt on the opposite side to the pistol that was already there. For security of mind.

Darlene spent the next few minutes staring inside the hood, but she didn't know what she could do. The car still drove... at the moment. But what if it exploded soon or something? 

She would have to walk, perhaps steal another car if the opportunity arose. At least she was near houses and buildings if had read the map correctly, so she wouldn't have to walk too far to get to an exit. Was it even stealing if there was no one there to own? She shook her head slightly and got to work. There were more supplies in the trunk than she would be able to carry, so she would have to leave the less important ones behind. Like the few books she had picked up. The sweets. But she wouldn't leave behind the paper and pencils. She began to separate what she would keep from what she would leave, before a sound made her freeze. 

Not barking, not growling, not the birds. Or the squirrels. Was that an engine? Or had she finally gone crazy and started imagining things? She stepped closer to the open door by the driver's seat in case it turned out that she needed to get away quickly. Dogs couldn't drive. Neither could cats.

That meant that... that... she didn't allow herself to hope. [color=#ead2b2][i]It's probably nothing. Probably just something breaking down. Something crumbling apart. Just something you haven't encountered before.[/i][/color]

Except that a car soon rolled into sight, complete with human inside. And stopped.

[color=#ead2b2][i]Hallucinations?[/i][/color] She needed to be careful. If there really [i]was[/i] a man, he could turn out to be hostile. [color=#ead2b2][i]Or he could turn out to be a friend.[/i][/color] She shook her head again, but even as she did so she forced herself to smile a little. 

[color=#ead2b2][i]Be polite. But not overly accommodating. Don't look weak. Firm.[/i][/color]

Her right hand came up to rest lightly on her hip, just over where her pistol hung. Close enough to show that she wasn't afraid to use it, but not close enough to come across as too threatening. Would a teenager even seem threatening? The man seemed young, perhaps maybe around her age. But still... her other hand drifted up once more to touch the pouch before returning to hang loosely at her side.

She made herself walk forward a few steps towards the car, until she was approximately four feet or so away from the barrier between them. 

A nod. [color=#ead2b2]"Good day, sir,"[/color] she called out. Better to be overly polite than to come off as rude. [color=#ead2b2]"It's been a while since I've seen another human, so I have to say I'm glad to see you."[/color] Glad to see him, if he didn't turn out to be hostile. If he was, well, there was the barrier. And the car that might or might not explode if she tried to drive it for any longer.