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two years before.
Mia always liked to count the clouds. Every road trip, every drive, she looked to the sky and counted the clouds. Noticed their shapes. Over time, as the days passed by, she stopped being able to count them and instead just noticed they were there. It was hot in Atlanta. She found herself praying for the clouds to cover the sun for a little while.
Every day was the same. Drive, find shelter, scavenge for food and water, and repeat. Riley Jones was slowly losing his mind. Or maybe he already lost it. The drive through the empty streets of Atlanta was quiet. Paris was asleep. Mia and Lucas were quiet. She continued to stare out the car window. Lucas played with a toy car he found on the road. Riley glanced at him occasionally, thinking of how much he looked like his mother. Then, he got upset. His kids were only twelve and nine. They deserved a better life than what they were living in now.
He watched his daughters from the rearview mirror. "Mia, you doing okay back there?" He voiced.
She finally tore her eyes away from the window. The same honey brown eyes that they shared. "Yes, daddy." She answered softly.
"Lucas?"
"I'm fine dad. Are you?" Lucas said while continuing to play with his toy.
Riley didn't answer. He drove slowly through the streets. The city had been raided by corpses. Blood stained the streets with trash littering everywhere you look. There wasn't a person in sight. Everything was gone. "Yeah, buddy. I'm doing just fine."
Paris stirred in her car seat. Soft groans left her lips.
Riley looked back into the mirror and smiled. "Sleep well, baby girl?" He asked his youngest daughter.
Paris rubbed her tired eyes. "Where are we?"
"We're passing through Atlanta."
It had been months since they fled their home in Dallas. The only thing they could focus on was survival and they were barely able to do that. They were running low on food and Riley knew he was going to have to go on another run soon. The sun was beginning in to sink in the sky, a brilliant orange enveloping over the blue. The radio read 7:30pm.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." Paris started to get fussy.
"We'll stop in a little bit honey, okay?" Riley spoke softly, his eyes scanning the roads carefully.
