Behind Our Walls by Chad A. Clark

them, but Lot kept his rifle trained on her. Sophie looked past Meredith, at the busses and saw the people looking out at them, pressed up against the windows. It was hard to see them clearly through the dirt and grime, but what she could see made her heart ache. It looked like desperation, brought to life. She had a hard time imagining any kind of a threat coming from a group like this, but obviously they had to be careful. Lot didn't look like he was about to give in.
    "Where are you coming from? We just got ambushed back there, so it seems like a pretty big coincidence that you would just show up like this."
    "Yeah it is, but I don't know anything about what happened. I don't really expect your trust, but I'm just trying to keep all these people safe."
    Lot kept the hard expression on his face, but he lowered the rifle. Rowen did the same and relaxed his stance somewhat. Meredith took it as an invitation to come a little closer.
    "Are your people all right" she asked. "Anyone hurt? We've got a few ER docs in our group."
    Lot shook his head. "We're fine. Mostly it was the RV that got it." He nodded back at the vehicle, and Meredith looked over their shoulders, taking in the bullet holes and nodded.
    "That's good. You got lucky."
    "Yeah."
    "So can I ask what your names are?" Meredith asked.
    Lot paused before answering, still not looking ready to be hospitable. "I'm Lot. This is Rowen, Sophie and Clive."
    Rowen reached out and Meredith came forward to shake his hand. "Look," she said, "we're all strangers here, but I'm willing to bet that my people are just as shit-scared of you all as you are of us. Truth is, we're gettin' pretty close to the end of our rope and I don't think we have that many choices left. So I'm just going to take a leap here. You seem like people who look out for each other, and not the other kind, so we'll take the first step and see if maybe everyone can feel better about things."
    She turned to the busses and waved them out. Slowly, her people came down, lining up for them all to see. Sophie marveled at how many of them there were. She had thought Lot's group was large, but there were at least twice as many people here. And they really did look to be on their last legs. Most seemed to sway, as if a stiff breeze could have knocked them down. It didn't look like they had been eating very well. In truth, they looked like they would have a hard time working up the energy to walk, let alone fight.
    Sophie immediately saw the look of stricken pity on Lot's face at the sight of so many people. After a few moments, he shook his head.
    "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't mean to treat you so badly. We just have to be careful."
    Meredith nodded. "Understood. So where were you all headed?"
    Lot shrugged. "We were just trying to get a little more distance, in case those idiots from back there have friends around."
    "Would you have any objections to us tagging along?"
    Lot considered this for a few moments before a tiny smile formed on his lips. "Sure. Why don't you get those busses turned around, and we can head out of here."

-23-
     
     
    They drove for an hour and turned off onto a side road, down the gravel for a few miles before pulling off. Everyone unloaded and started introducing each other, getting acquainted in a group that had just gone from large to massive. Before too long, it sounded like a high school cafeteria. The din of combined conversations filled Sophie's head, and she reveled in the brief moment of normalcy. She looked back and saw that Corrine was being helped over to her.
    Meredith, Lot and Rowen came together again to resume their conversation. Sophie happened to be standing nearby and shifted slightly closer, so as to listen in. Lot noticed her moving towards them and showed no sign of caring.
    "So how's your gas doing?" Meredith asked.
    "Pretty low. We just lost a few people scouting around for more."
    She nodded, and Sophie could hear the regret in her voice. "Sorry to hear that. We've been