Snow rained down from the smog filled sky onto the windshield of the Hummer as I drove through the unforgiving blizzard. The windshield was glazed over with ice. The worn windshield wipers were futile in removing the frost. My visibility of the terrain around me was made worse by the raging blizzard. "Daniel I told you we should have waited the storm out in North Dakota, it's suicide to drive out in this weather," Andrew said through chattering teeth. I couldn't blame him for being cold; the Hummers heater only provided so much warmth, because temperatures were way below freezing outside.
"You'll be thanking me when we get to Mexico it wasn't hit as hard by the bombs," I said. My words brought an eerie silence the only sound besides the wind was the muffled hum of the engine, nearly drowned out by the howling of the wind as it whipped furiously at the Hummer.
A couple of minutes later Stacey finally spoke after her seemingly trance like state of silence during our journey from the King brother's estate, "We haven't had contact with any civilized survivors since the King brothers died... Daniel I'm really scared what if conditions in Mexico are no different than they are here in America?"
I thought of a way to answer Stacey's question without taking a stab at the group's already dwindling moral. "Stacey we can't know for sure but the fact that countries down south were virtually undamaged by the bombs, and I'm sure you know Mexico has never been known to have particularly harsh winters." Glancing in the overhead mirror I saw Stacey raise her red electric blanket over her mouth, she looked like such a fragile child though she was a mature young adult. "We're going to get through this Stacey I promise," looking at her through the mirror I saw tears trickle out of her dark brown eyes down her face.
The storm was showing no sign of stopping and I began to wonder rather there was enough gas in the tank to make it out of the blizzard. Just the thought of having to stop and refuel out in the middle of the storm sent a shiver down my spine. "Hey Daniel how much gas does the gauge read?" Andrew said his voice muted by the scarf he had wrapped up to his nose.
Shifting my eyes to the gas gauge I was relieved to see that the meter was closer to full than empty " It's a little over half way full," I said. Andrew let out a sigh and leaned his head against the window but quickly pulled back at the sheer frigidness of the glass.

I could tell the snow was starting to thin out on the road because the traction of the Hummer was starting to lessen, so in order to not skid out of control I slowed the Hummer down to fifty miles per hour. " We're making progress guys the storm isn't quite as hard-hitting here." I called back to my friends. "That's the best news I’ve heard all year", Stacey said. "Aghh man, I wanted to build me a nuclear winter snowman." Andrew said sarcastically. Nobody laughed.
It was a miracle the elctromagnetic pulse of the bombs hadn't rendered the Hummer into uselessness. How long could they hold up against the dropping temperatures? And how much radiation have we already absorbed?