The late dusk sky revealed nine silhouettes standing around a large, dull, rusted metal object. The glass on it was cracked but intact. It roughly mirrored the vibrant dark orange sky hanging ominously above it. The foundations of rubber were sad-looking and beaten, but stable nonetheless. The teens had found a car.

It was about five hours earlier when Soul and Spirit had made their surprise entrance. They had explained how they had actually planned to remain in Sioux Rapids, but the Fallout Freaks had become considerably more aggressive. They had gotten in a skirmish with a couple of them and Spirit bore the marks to prove it. Soul had to drag one of the boys off of her just so that she could manage. What Spirit did to provoke them was beyond any of the travelers, but it was a collective decision to not ask.
Shortly after the skirmish, Soul and Spirit decided to leave and follow the traveler's trails.

And now they were taking part in admiring the mostly-intact car.

"You think it has gas in it?" Atlas excitedly tried to pry open the gas cap.

"Why was it abandoned? Is the driver nearby?" Ryft wondered aloud, her brows furrowed with worry.

"Maybe someone was living in it." Fang suggested.

Soul visibly flinched, looked around nervously, then resumed her admiring. Spirit gave her friend a knowing, sympathetic nod.

Jade witnessed this exchange and narrowed her eyes. Something was going on here. She'd tell Ryft when she had the chance.

"What if the owner is nearby?" Silver echoed Ryft's previous worry. "I don't think we should take it. It would be stealing."

"I agree, this isn't right." Cricket, who had previously been thrilled with this discovery, frowned sadly. "I don't care how desperate we are, I refuse to agree to stealing."

"What?!" Atlas, giddy with excitement, stumbled backwards in result of a failed gas cap removal attempt. "Heck no! We can't just leave it here!"

"I agree with Atlas." Fang sighed. "We can't let this go to waste."

"Ryft? What do you think?" Cricket looked to the blonde girl anxiously.

Ryft stared, her mouth opening and closing silently. She was trying to weigh pros and cons but everything was happening too fast.

"Stop it!" Soul half-yelled. "No one is coming back for the car."

Everyone, including a silent Raven, turned to look at Soul.

"How can you be so sure?" Cricket asked nervously.

"Because he's dead." Soul furrowed her eyebrows in a worried expression. "I- saw a body not too long ago adult male, maybe in his fifties. It.. must have been the car owner."

"Yeah! I saw it too." Spirit backed Soul up. "Not a pretty sight. We didn't wanna freak you guys out."

Silver and Cricket appeared convinced.

"Well, it couldn't have been anyone else, since there's no other cars near here..." Silver pondered.

"I agree." Cricket nodded.

Raven narrowed her eyes but nodded all the same.

"That settles it!" Atlas squealed. "We've got a car!"

"That's really great, but it's getting late." Raven spoke up. "I can take first watch if we settle down here."

"Sounds great, Rave." Ryft smiled at the blue-eyed girl.

"I wanna sleep in the car!" Atlas called out. She looked almost ready to begin worshipping the discarded vehicle.

"Joining you there." Cricket was not entirely over the raccoon incident yet. Sleeping out in the open was something she wasn't looking forward to.

It was becoming hard to see in the dim light. Facial features were significantly darkened. Everyone eventually settled down, weather it be in the car or around it. 

"Ryft, I'd like to speak with you." Jade whispered to the fellow teen.

"Okay, lead the way." Ryft appeared slightly disappointed, even in the difficult lighting. She was exhausted from the eventful day. They got about five feet from the car before Jade halted.

"Soul and Spirit are kind of making me suspicious." Jade started, turning to face Ryft and glancing toward the car nervously.

"What is it that you've noticed?" Ryft asked, yawning.

"Well, I watched Soul have this weird mini freak-out and Spirit just acted like it was normal. And then she.. I don't know." Jade was beginning to realize how this lacked stable reasoning.

Ryft opened her mouth to say something, but another voice interrupted her.

"I actually agree with Jade on this one." Raven had somehow made her way over to the two girls without attracting attention.

"W-what makes you say that?" Ryft stuttered, surprised at Raven's sudden appearance.

"Well, remember how Soul mentioned a body, and Spirit backed her up?" Raven's gaze was burning a hole into Ryft's eyes.

"Yeah...?" Ryft shifted her weight. "It's the apocalypse.. bodies can't be uncommon. People don't survive atomic explosions."

Jade watched this exchange, intrigued.

Raven shifted some of the dirt beneath her shoe. "People vaporize in atomic explosions. Plus, when is the last time you saw an adult?"