Behind Our Walls Page 9

  Clive raised his light, carefully avoiding the bodies as he looked, pointing across at some vehicles parked against the wall. "Can someone see if any of those start?" Daniel's partner, seemingly composed for the time being, stumbled across to one of the trucks. Several sets of keys hung on the wall and he grabbed them. It took a while for him to find the correct key, and another few minutes of turning it over, but eventually it did start. He killed it, not wanting to waste the gas.

  "Daniel, why don't the two of you head up and let everyone know that we're all right," Lot said. "Ask Rowen and Meredith to come down here but don't say anything about the bodies. Tell the others to head over to the parking ramp and get everyone loaded up. When we get all of this cleared out of here, we'll open the door and signal you all to come over."

  Daniel nodded and seemed grateful for the excuse to leave. Lot walked over to the wall and pulled on a heavy chain. There was a heavy mechanical sound of something disengaging and the door pulled up slightly. Lot walked over and tried lifting it. He was able to get it to move a few inches but in the end, it took all of them to open it completely. He nodded approvingly.

  "Once we get everyone over here, we can close this and re-engage the attachment to the motor. This door is so heavy, you'd need a lot of force to break through it."

  Sophie just wanted to get through this and put it behind them. She walked over to the pile and reached down to grab a pair of legs. Lot and Clive ran up behind her to help as well. Soon, they were all lifting bodies and dumping them into the truck. She tried to block out as much conscious thought as she could over the next hour. It took all of her concentration to just keep herself quiet, to not dwell on the people here.

  When the truck was loaded, Lot nodded to Clive. "Just get somewhere practical and dump them. Make sure you're paying attention to the gas gauge, we can't have you getting stranded somewhere." Clive nodded and jumped into the truck. This time it started right up, and it shuddered precariously as he drove out of the garage and up the ramp. Lot and the rest walked up to the parking lot, waving when they were within sight of the rest of the group. The RVs and busses started making their way down the ramps to the stadium parking lot.

  It was time to move in.

  -29-

  One by one, the caravan drove across to the stadium. There was room down below for all of the vehicles with plenty to spare. Rowen and Clive pulled the heavy steel barrier to the parking lot shut, hoping to prevent the casual observer from seeing in.

  "So how do we plan on keeping people out?" Lot asked.

  "We did a walk-around while everyone was getting moved over," Daniel said. "The way I see it, the biggest problem is going to be the main ticket gates. The nice thing is that a lot of old stadiums were built with big, giant open areas that would allow for large amounts of people to flow through. My guess is that this place was designed to try and control the crowds a little better because everyone had to file through these small archways. There are three of them at each ticket gate."

  "All right, what else?" Lot asked.

  "We counted thirteen other entrances, mostly unmarked, entrances for staff. They all have functional locks but it doesn't take much to pick something like that."

  "So what do we do?"

  "The regular doors are easy enough," Daniel answered. "I'd just seal those off with a blowtorch. They're all metal doors and frames. I should have enough fuel and welding rods to get the job done."

  Rowen looked back and forth between the two of them as if he got something that they hadn't picked up on yet. "Wouldn't that mean that we'd be trapped in here if something happened?" he asked. "What if there was a fire?"

  "That's true," Daniel said. "But if we were to just lock the doors or set up a barricade, we would be constantly worried about whether or not one of the doors could be breached. This gives us the most peace of mind, which I think we need if we're talking about trying to build a home here."

  "It isn't like there are a ton of combustibles lying around," Lot said. "I think it's a pretty low risk. Besides, if the building is really burning down, chances are the shit has pretty much gone through the fan, don't you think?"

  "I suppose," Rowen conceded.

  "Look, we wanted this to be completely isolated, cut off from everything out there," Lot said.

  "Okay, well it's a moot point if we can't seal off the ticket gates so what's the plan for that?" Rowen asked.

  "Here's what I had in mind," Daniel said. "It'll take some time and some doing, a little bit of luck, but if it works, we'd be set up here for a pretty long time. Basically we have to seal off all nine of the archways that lead through the outer wall. Once we have those closed off, the only way in to the building will be through the garage down below."

  "How do we do that?" Sophie asked.

  "Two phases. First, we fill the archways themselves with drywall. We use metal studs, instead of wood to provide more strength."

  "And the second phase?" Lot asked.

  "Once the drywall is up, we coat both the outside and inside with a thick layer of concrete. It's simple and perfect, because when it's done, it'll be damn near impossible to break through."

  "How hard will it be to find all the materials?" Lot asked.

  "Not hard at all. There's bound to be stores around that'll have what we need and most of the stuff wouldn't be the kind of things that looters would be interested in."

  Rowen began to pace back and forth, looking around the room as everyone unloaded the vehicles and started to gather.

  "All right," he said, "get some people and take one of the trucks. Try to get as much of what you think we might need in as few runs as possible. I don't want to risk having people exposed out there. Stores are always going to be big targets for rovers, regardless of what they're looking for."

  Daniel nodded. "I'll need to take some measurements but that won't take long. There's one other thing I think we can keep an eye out for as well."

  "What's that?"

  "Solar cells."

  Rowen and Lot both looked at him with equally disbelieving looks. "Solar cells?" Lot asked. "Are you serious?"

  "In theory, we should be able to do it. It isn't like we would have to power an entire city, and the wattage would be low. But people could at least have some power for small electronics and lights if they have them. We could easily put the cells up around the field where they wouldn't be in the way. At that point, you only have to deal with wiring."

  "It's as good of a start as any," Lot said. Of course, it would only take one person walking by on the road to see what was going on. That's all it would take to sink everything, but Sophie still thought it was worth it.

  It was all they had left.

  -30-

  Sophie paced slowly down the aisle and scanned the shelves for anything else they might need. For as long as it had been, it surprised her to see how many things could still be found in these smaller towns.

  Two of the others approached with a cart filled with about a dozen cases of canned food. She looked it over before checking something off her list. "Go ahead and take these out to the van." She watched them walk off and resumed her inventory.

  She was so absorbed in her search that she almost didn't hear the sound of movement behind her, and turned to face three strangers as they wandered around the corner. Three men, all haggard and wearing clothes that were probably a few months past the point where they should have been thrown out. They stared each other down for several moments as Sophie watched the hands of one of them creeping towards his pocket. She put her hands up to try and placate them.

  "Take it easy guys. There's plenty to go around. No reason to start anything here."

  The guy in front, who the others seemed to be deferring to, was over six feet tall. He looked like he could have been an athlete at some point. He dragged a baseball bat on the floor and Sophie could see blood staining the end of it. As he began shuffling towards her, the other two did the same, inching closer.

  She took several s
teps back as she felt his eyes going up and down her body. He didn't say anything to her, but the expression she saw was of someone long since dead to the world. They pushed their own cart of supplies and as Sophie took another step back, the man with the bat paused before resuming walking towards her. All she could think about was the squeak coming from one of the wheels as they approached. It occurred to her, likely too late that she should call for help but as the thought articulated in her head, the three of them simply walked past her, glaring at her as they did so. Even as they passed, the tall one with the bat turned around, backing away from her and keeping her in his sight until they rounded the corner.

  Sophie let out a breath that threatened to turn into a sob as she put a hand out to steady herself against the shelf. She noticed Nairi for the first time, and from the wide-mouthed expression on her face, she must have seen what had happened.

  "It's all right," Sophie said. "Why don't you go grab toilet paper and soap. And blankets. Get as much as you can and take someone with you." Nairi nodded and ran off, as if she didn't want to even be near the scene. Sophie looked down at the random assortment of things she had picked up. There were several hot plates, toaster ovens and microwaves. It was all useless, but if they could get some power running to the stadium, they would definitely come in handy. She also grabbed boxes of matches, flashlights and batteries.

  "What do you want us to do?" The two women who she had sent to the vans to unload their canned food were back.

  "Try and find some clothes. Nothing fancy, just plain shirts and pants. Packages of socks and underwear, just the basics. See if you can find sewing kits and laundry detergent." They nodded and turned to head off. "Get back to the vans when you're done," she called out after them. "We don't have much more to get, and there's a few guys walking around here. I don't want any problems."

  Sophie turned to try and find a gardening section, as Rowen wanted to try and plant vegetables. As she rounded the corner, she found herself again face to face with the man and his bat, his two friends lurking behind him.

  "See, here's the thing," he said as he advanced on her. "We decided that we might as well take everything you've got. Saves us the trouble of getting it." She noticed for the first time that the guy's friends both wielded small knives.

  "Look, there's no need for this," Sophie said, trying to keep them calm. Why hadn't she asked someone to stay with her for added protection? The guy with the bat smiled as he moved in, and Sophie's mind raced, trying to figure out how she might be able to talk her way out of this when she saw Clive step out behind the three of them. Before she could do or say anything, he raised his gun and fired off three shots in rapid succession, one head shot each. Sophie staggered back, only vaguely aware of the blood, splashing against her cheek and forehead.

  Clive reached over to the shelf and grabbed a tablecloth. He tossed it to her to wipe off her face and turned to head for the vans.

  "You..." she started to say something but her fear and anger combined to block any articulate thought from forming.

  "You're welcome," he called back over his shoulder. He looked up at the chorus of voices coming from around the store, asking what was going on. "It's all right!" he yelled out. "Just a spot of trouble here, took care of it."

  "What...the hell do you think you're doing?"

  He turned back and gaped at her, clearly shocked that she would even have to ask. "What do you mean?"

  "We don't do that. We don't just blow people away because they might be making things more difficult. Who the fuck do you think you are anyway?"

  His smile made her gut twist into a new surge of anger and she wanted to walk up and put his teeth down his throat.

  "Sophie, you've got a lot of growing up to do. If you can't keep your fucking head clear, then maybe you shouldn't be coming along. It's us or—"

  "Don't give me that shit. How does that make us any better than them if we're just going around executing people?"

  "Is that really what you just saw? Because to me, that was called defending ourselves."

  "I'm sure you believe that, but don't you think there were a few steps we could have taken before killing them?"

  He shook his head. "Like what?"

  "Like, you had a gun and he had a baseball bat. The other two had what looked like steak knives. The guy would have probably given up if you'd given them the chance."

  "Right. Because what we really want is idiots like that walking around who have seen us and can come after us later?"

  "And you get to decide who lives and dies, right?"

  "This was a pretty easy call."

  "And what happens when it isn't so easy?"

  "For Christ's sake, Sophie." He turned to leave when she called out to him again.

  "Hey!"

  He turned back to face her.

  "What happens when you run out of bullets?"

  He either had no answer or no interest in offering one as he turned and walked off. Sophie looked down at the dead bodies on the floor, there because of her. She hadn't pulled the trigger, but if she had been able to calm them down, turn them around, maybe Clive wouldn't have needed to do it.

  She could hear the voices of everyone converging and questioning. Clive just told them to shut up and get back in the vans. When Sophie walked into the receiving dock, she climbed into the van that he wasn't driving, somewhat put out that none of the group had come after her to make sure she was okay. She hoped that Clive had at least told them that.

  To her credit, Nairi looked concerned as Sophie sat down, asking the question with her expression. Sophie shook her head.

  "I'm fine," she said as she slammed the doors behind her, barely in time for the driver to pull away and keep up with Clive. Apparently, the instructions to make sure that everyone stayed together had slipped his mind. It didn't matter anymore, she would just have to take it up with Lot. Clive was one of his people after all. She put her feet up on one of the stacks of canned soup and let her head loll back against the mountain of toilet paper.

  She fell asleep almost immediately.

  -31-

  Sophie snapped awake as the van jerked to a halt. She shook her head to the sound of car doors slamming all around her and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. Rowen and Lot stood by the far wall, Clive already talking to them. If he wanted to play it that way, it was fine with her. Clive glanced back over his shoulder as she approached but walked off before she got there. Rowen patted him on the shoulder as he left, saying something that she couldn't quite make out.

  "I need to talk to the two of you," she said.

  Rowen nodded and crossed his arms over the clipboard he held. "I understand we had a bit of a nutty back there?"

  "A nutty? Is that how he described it? Did he even tell you what he did?"

  "He said that he was trying to protect—"

  "Rowen, he killed three people in cold blood. Just shot them. No warning, no attempt to talk them down, just three bullets to the head."

  Rowen nodded but didn't offer any defense. Sophie took a step back and looked the both of them up and down.

  "Tell me you aren't okay with this."

  "Well, I—"

  "Please tell me that this isn't what you want out of this community. Is that what we're here for? So we can act as badly as the people we're trying to get away from?"

  "Sophie—"

  "What do we even need the stadium for anyway? We're just a big gang, like the rovers out there. Let's go and get us some bikes and ride around, killing people and taking whatever the hell we want."

  "I understand why you're upset."

  "You understand why I'm upset. That's great. I just had to watch three people die in front of me, but at least you get why I'm upset. I've got blood soaked into my fucking clothes but hey, you understand."

  "It's not like you haven't seen anything like that before."

  "Okay. But in those cases, there was an equal threat involved, like, other people shooting at us. We weren't sneaking up on p
eople armed only with a baseball bat, and capping them in the head without even pausing to talk."

  Lot finally joined the conversation "Sophie, you need to understand. We have to start re-thinking how we live our lives and how we deal with people."

  "I am so fucking tired of people telling me about what I need to understand," Sophie said, and looked around the room, suddenly aware of everyone pretending to not be listening. She lowered her voice and tried to reign in her emotions. "I get what you're saying. I understand that we need to protect ourselves. But if we aren't careful, we're going to end up no different than the rest of the world out there, just with some big walls around us." She paused as she suddenly started playing back in her mind the expression on Rowen's face as he spoke to Clive. Almost as if he had been expecting a report back on something.

  "Was Clive running a special errand for you?" she asked.

  Rowen looked uncomfortable for the first time as he shifted his gaze from side to side before answering.

  "Rowen?" she asked again. In the end, Lot was the one who answered.

  "I told him to bring back as many guns and ammo as he could get his hands on. He did that."

  There were so many different things that she wanted to say, but couldn't even place them in the proper order in her head. "What did you...why did you...how did I not notice him loading all this shit up into the van? I guess I know why he peeled off out of the store without waiting for me to catch up." She turned away from Lot to look directly at Rowen. "What the hell were you thinking?"

  "You're kidding, right?" Rowen looked taken aback by the question.

  "No. What were you thinking? You think guns are the answer to all our problems? What's going to stop someone from going bat-shit crazy in here, dipping into the gun closet and blowing everyone away?"

  In her periphery, she could see Lot shaking his head. "The guns will be locked up. We aren't going to just let anyone waltz in and take them."

  "Well if they're locked up, what good would they do us anyway?"