After some time, Strategist and his family managed to get off the main road and got on the abandoned one, it was obvious for him and his entire family that they were betting on something that had their lives on the line.
The tense atmosphere in the car was sometimes relaxed by the occasional "baaing" sound that came from the goat and sheep in the back of the car that brought a small smile to Strategist's family, which quickly got erased by the signs that kept saying it was a dead end.
Each time they passed one of these signs, the car would unconsciously slow down as fear of suddenly falling down a pit or something worse overwhelmed his dad.
"Are you sure about this?" Strategist's dad asked as he slowed down to read the full sign.
"We have no choice. If we go back now, we are dead anyways." Strategist said with a pained voice.
The thought of imminent danger forced Strategist to keep going into deep thought, as he remembered some of the information he acquired on the internet, which gave him nightmare scenarios that would always end up with them dying, if this was a dead end.
"It has to be good." Strategist said, as he tried shaking off every bad thought he harbored in his head.
From time to time, military jets and aircraft kept going overhead towards the city as explosion after explosion started becoming a common background noise, these managed to distract Strategist from his deep thoughts long enough for him to notice something strange outside the window, as he told his dad to immediately stop the car.
"Oh crap!" Strategist said as he went back into the car after realizing what he saw.
"What's wrong?" His dad asked.
"You are going to want to accelerate from here on." Strategist said with a worried voice.
After making a serious face, his dad demanded Strategist to explain himself. What his dad learned was that not even a kilometer away from their current location the road ended as it was cut by the highway, and it then continued on the other side.
The only good thing that came from stopping and looking carefully was that on either side of the highway, there was a dirt hill, which could help them jump over the highway, but it was a bet that again they had to put their lives on the line.
"You are making a bad habit out of this." His dad said with an annoyed voice.
"Making a bad habit out of what?" Strategist asked angrily.
"Placing our lives in danger."His dad answered as he began accelerating.
In the meantime, Snow Black and Ghost Mane kept seeing long lines of cars on the main road, as their alternative road kept leading them closer to the main one.
"The road is still as crowded as before. It's shocking to see how fast people just seal themselves inside these tin cans thinking that they are safe in them." Ghost Mane's dad said as he drove at a lower speed.
"If things get really bad, in one or two years we won't even be able to use cars, thanks to the gasoline decomposing into highly corrosive substances." Knowing a thing or two about cars, his dad said these words in hopes of getting Ghost Mane talking, as he seemed lost in thought.
"Can you please be a little more positive?" Ghost Mane said, annoyed by his dad's words and also after remembering the gruesome visage of patient zero.
"I am just saying that if we are forced to go into that road, it would be faster walking." Shrugging off the mean glare his dad kept talking.
"I was honestly expecting you to bring along a girlfriend, but I guess you didn't have enough time for that." His dad said with a bored look on his face.
