<strong>Intro:<br/></strong><br/>After months in the woods - for better or for worst - the Smith family packed back into their minivan and made the long drive home, back to civilization. Or at least what remained of it, but they didn't know that yet. Even so, their home was in a new neighborhood up in the wooded hills on the outskirts of some nameless suburb. The nearest city was a good two hours drive. They had moved there recently, about a year ago, to get away from the grind of daily life in a city.<br/><br/>Andrew hated being cooped up in the city, full of cars and people and pollution. It had made weekend trips to the outdoors tougher but even more special. But why make it a trip when you could live out there in the first place? The development they moved into was still under constructions and there was one of the first houses to be completed. He had arranged for a neighbor to collect their mail and cut their grass. He wasn't worried about a break in but it was good to keep up appearances.<br/><br/>It was a long hike out, back to the car and it was already getting late by the time they had everything packed up and ready to go. Darkness descended on them before they hit their first paved road. It was a three hour drive back home so it was pushing 1AM by the time they finally got there. Out here, in the rural areas, everything closed early so he was not surprised to see no other cars on the road or any open gas stations along the way. But that was fine. They had enough to get home.<br/><br/>Their path lay on rural roads so it was quiet and Andrew had to do his best to stay awake and alert - deer and other animals often could be found on the roads. Everyone was so tired that they were dozing so he kept the radio off. Finally, the streets looked more familiar and they soon pulled into the neighborhood and up to the garage. It opened, operated off of a bettery, and he pulled the van in beside his truck. He was glad to see it was still there.<br/><br/>Once inside, none of the lights worked. There seemed to have been a power outage due to a storm, he reasoned. Luckily, flashlights were on hand and each member of the family made it safely to their beds. Andrew stripped naked, too tired to even shower, before sliding into bed with his wife.<br/><br/>"I'll check the power tomorrow." He murmurs, kissing her goodnight  before cuddling up against her.