They moved quietly down the darkened street. A door slammed shut as they jogged past and light seeped out from the sides of curtains as strangers snuck a peek. People were obviously expecting something and had taken cover accordingly. The ones who hadn’t had joined the mob on Main Street. Civilization had obviously fallen by the wayside while she’d been stuck in that school. Shit like this shouldn’t have continued to surprise her, but it did. Humanity had fallen fast and far.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” said Nick.

He barely breathed hard and she puffed away beside him. Past houses and across the remnants of a park they went. Like everywhere else, this area had been turned into farming land. Mulch and wood smoke scented the air. A children’s swing set sat in the middle of a crop of zucchini. An old slippery slide was surrounded by neat rows of beans. A cow gave a low, plaintive cry not too far away. These people were so lucky, so fortunate, and yet they wanted to kill. There’d been so much death. How they couldn’t have already have had their fill of it, she did not know.

Ahead of them a refrigerated van minus its tires sat on an angle. It was surrounded by rubble from destroyed houses. She could just make out the crushed forms of cars embedded further along. The people of Blackstone had used everything at their disposal to build the wall. Had she been in a better frame of mind she’d have respected them for their ingenuity.

“Come on,” Sean said, calling them closer.

One of the other men fiddled with a chunk of metal and Frosty joined in, slowly pushing it aside. The thing had to weigh a ton. A lot of grunting and heaving was involved in the sloth-paced process. The interior of the van must act as a tunnel through the wall. This was how they’d get out.

“Guess you don’t trust these people as much as you’d like them to think,” said Nick.

“Always have an exit strategy,” said Sean. “You know that. Directly across the train tracks there’s a warehouse. Inside are some vehicles kitted out and ready to go. Take one and do not come back here, ever.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” said Nick. “Don’t worry, we won’t be back. I don’t think Blackstone suits us after all.”

Her and Nick against the world. Fine. If this was what remained of humanity then they were better off alone. Sure as hell they were safer.

The chunk of metal seemed to be taking forever to move. No one spoke.

The sound of footsteps drew close and Nick suddenly shoved Roslyn behind him, between him and the wreckage. She clung onto the back of his shirt to keep upright.

“Lila. Damn it, I could have shot you.” Sean swore profusely beneath his breath. “What are you doing here?”

“Take these for Roslyn,” Lila said, pushing a backpack at Nick, her pretty face tight with concern. “There’s some food and medicine in there. Keep the wound as clean as you can. Good luck.”

Frosty growled. “You told her about moving them?”

“No,” said Sean, sounding not the least bit apologetic. “But she knows about the exit. I trust her.”

“Yeah?” said Frosty, stomping from foot to foot, looking all kinds of hostile. “Well, clearly they don’t.”

The surly prick was right. A shadowy group moved fast through the playground toward them. One of them turned on a flashlight and shone it in their faces. The light blinded her. Gray and white blobs danced across her vision. Fear had a throttle-hold on her chest. She wouldn’t let them take him.

Frosty faced the pack with his rifle but Friendly kept working at pushing the metal aside. She couldn’t see Sean, but she heard him just fine.

“Tom,” he said.

“I warned them you were planning something,” the other man answered. “All of you will go down for this.”

“We’re not going to let you lynch him, Tom,” said Sean. “That’s f**king insane and you know it. We haven’t fallen that far. We’re not savages.”

Roslyn had her doubts, but it was nice to know some people retained a shred of decency. Meanwhile, her head reeled from the meds. She leant her face against the back of Nick’s shirt and kept a tight grip on her gun. They were escaping, whatever she had to do. The scent of him soothed her, but she still flicked off the safety on her gun. Nick’s hand reached around at the noise, pulling her closer against him. The thought of losing him was untenable. She’d only just found him; she wasn’t giving him up. Not yet, not ever. These people were no better than Justin and she’d mowed him down.

“The town will decide what happens to all of you,” the man Sean had identified as Tom said. He had a sneery know-it-all voice. She hated him and she hadn’t even seen him yet. “Did you really think we’d let you take our only medic away?” Tom laughed. It was a distinctly brittle sound. “She’s ours.”

“You’re out of order, Tom. What I do is none of your business,” Lila answered in a tight voice. “I don’t belong to anyone but myself.”

“Get over here!” Tom ordered.

“Do not talk to me that way,” Lila said, her voice climbing higher and higher.

“Lila—” Nick started.

Ros could hear guns being cocked. Angry murmurs. The men with Tom were backing up his sentiments. But how many men had he brought with him? Frosty faced the party opposite with absolute calm. Friendly slowly turned to face their foe. The way had been cleared. A dark hole almost the size of a man sat opened at ground level, leading into the back of the fridge compartment. They could get of here, now. Escape sat right there, waiting, a bare few footsteps away.