The sound of doors opening and boots hitting the ground echoed around us. I glanced up and down the convoy to see soldiers exiting vehicles and starting the process of setting up a perimeter. A few of them started heading in our direction, no doubt intent on speaking with the captain.

“Are you in charge of all these guys?” I asked.

Morgan’s expression sobered. “Sadly, yes. We’re a bit of a rag-tag contingent, you might say. Came up from San Antonio, what’s left of it, anyway. Where are you from?”

“Houston, originally,” I said, seeing no point in lying. “Not much left there either.”

“So I heard.”

“How bad did San Antonio get hit?” I didn’t think it was a good idea to let on that I already knew, considering the hijinks my father and the other guys got into less than twenty-four hours ago.

“Bad. We were part of a larger force along Highway 46. Tried to keep the infected from spreading north.” He shook his head. “Didn’t last long. What you see here is a big chunk of what survived.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

He nodded, eyes fixed in the distance. “After the retreat, we got orders to head north to Colorado Springs. Supposed to look for survivors along the way, ask them to come with us, render what assistance we can. Can you tell me anything about this place?” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the wall of RVs.

I thought of Jerry’s wounded arm, and Travis’ prone form just inside the gate, and wondered how to play it. After a few seconds, I said. “My best advice is to watch yourself around these people.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I came here to trade some ammo for water. Things were friendly enough at first, but then the guy who runs the place tried to shake me down. Said he used to be a cop, wanted to search my stuff. I told him to go fuck himself and went to leave, and he had one of his guards draw down on me. I got a buddy out there with a scoped .308 watching over me. He shot the gun out of the guy’s hands while I used the distraction to deal with the leader. I was just leaving when you guys showed up.”

“I’m sorry,” Morgan said, eyes narrow with suspicion. “Did you say there’s a sniper in the hills?”

“Yep. Marine Force Recon, old friend of my father’s. We’ve been traveling together since Houston, looking out for each other. Figured it would be best for him to hang back in case these people weren’t as nice as they seemed. Turned out to be a good idea.”

The captain looked at Johansen, then back at me. “I don’t suppose he would mind coming down and having a talk with us, would he?”

I shrugged. “Not sure. I can go ask him, though. He might, he might not.”

“Kid,” Johansen said, “if we have to hunt him down, he ain’t gonna like it.”

I shot him a level stare. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Johansen,” Morgan said, glaring, “why don’t you go somewhere and make yourself useful?”

The sergeant looked like he was going to say something else, but when he saw the impatience on Morgan’s face, he bit down on it, gave a curt, “Yes sir,” and stalked away.

“I suppose if your friend was a threat to us,” Morgan said, “Johansen would no longer be among the living. Is that a fair assumption?”

I nodded. “I would have said something when he was pointing his gun at me, but to be honest, I was too surprised. What’s that guy’s problem, anyway?”

“I don’t know. Too much testosterone? Maybe his parents didn’t hug him enough? Honestly, though, he probably just had you pegged for a deserter. We’ve been having problems with that lately.”

“Do you think it occurred to him if I was a deserter, I wouldn’t go strolling by an Army convoy in my tactical gear? Wouldn’t it have been smarter to—oh, I don’t know—change into civilian clothes?”

“Things like that don’t always occur to Sergeant Johansen. He’s not what you might call quick on the uptake.”

“I gathered that.”

Morgan sighed, took off his helmet, and ran a hand through a thick mop of short black hair. His face looked mildly sunburned and he was sweating in the heat. “About your friend, the Marine. If he shot someone, I’m kind of obligated to investigate. Was anyone killed?”

“No.”

“Any serious injuries?”

“Not sure. I put the hurt on the guy who tried to stop me from leaving.”

“How bad?”

“He was unconscious last I saw him.”

Morgan cursed softly. The quartet of men who had been walking toward us from the front of the column finally arrived. They came to a halt behind the captain, eyeing me suspiciously. “Okay,” he said, “here’s what we’re going to do. Turn your weapons over to these men here. We’ll conduct an investigation. If everything is how you say it is, you’ll be free to go.”

“Just like that?” I asked.

He nodded. “Things are pretty bad out there, kid. This is the least of the messed up shit I’ve seen. The way I see it, you have a right to defend yourself and your property. If you traded with these people in good faith, and they did something out of line, you were well within your rights to fight back. But you better be telling me the truth. Understood?”

I nodded. “Understood.”

THIRTY

Ten minutes later, Travis was red-faced and sputtering.

“I want him arrested,” he hissed, jabbing a finger in my direction. There was a large shiner on his temple where my elbow had hit him. We were standing in a ring of soldiers and curious onlookers just past the compound’s gate, baking under the mid-afternoon sun.

“For what?” Morgan said. “Maybe you didn’t notice, officer, but you’re outside your jurisdiction. Furthermore, your department doesn’t exist anymore. You have no official capacity here. Ergo, you had no right to demand this young man allow you to search his belongings, much less detain him at gunpoint. On the other hand, if Mr. Hicks here decides to press charges against you for attempted kidnapping, a federal crime, I’ll be obliged to take you into custody until we arrive in Colorado Springs, at which time you will be brought up on charges.”

Travis’ eyes widened in sudden realization at what he had done. I felt a sort of sympathy for him; he was so fixated on surviving and protecting his little community, he had lost perspective on his actions. I stepped forward and raised a hand to get Morgan’s attention.

“That won’t be necessary, Captain,” I said. “It was a misunderstanding, that’s all. As far as I’m concerned, it’s been resolved. There’s no need for things to go any further.”

“Misunderstanding?” Jerry shouted, standing next to Travis, holding his bandaged arm. “Look at this! Whoever’s out there shot me in the arm!”

“First of all,” Morgan said, “that’s a shrapnel wound, not a gunshot wound. Second, weren’t you pointing a gun at Mr. Hicks here when the incident occurred?”

Jerry worked his mouth like a fish a few times, then said, “Well yes, but-”

“And why were you pointing a gun at him?”

More fish-face. “Because he told me to.” He nodded his head at Travis, who grimaced.

“Jerry, you idiot, just shut up.”

“And when you pointed your gun at him,” Morgan went on, “was he threatening you?”

“Well … no, he wasn’t.”

“Was he threatening anyone else, or stealing something, or brandishing a weapon, or doing anything that was in any way a danger to the lives of anyone in this compound, or detrimental to their property?”

“Uh … no.”

“So what exactly was he doing when you decided to threaten him with a rifle?”

“He was … walking.”

“Walking?”

“Yeah. Walking.” Jerry lowered his head, realizing how ridiculous he sounded.

“So you pointed a gun at him. For walking. Because this guy told you to.” The captain pointed at Travis, who by now looked almost as embarrassed as Jerry.

“I gotta tell you guys,” Morgan said disgustedly. “You don’t present a very damning case.” He gestured to the staff sergeant holding my weapons. “I don’t have time for this shit. Give him his property back.”