“What the hell do we do?” Matt waddled backwards to give Jenny more room to continue her sketch. “What if the Depot hands you over?”
“No, I don’t think so. By the looks of it, I don’t think the Depot knows anything about that deal.”
“Why?”
“Cause they’re holding those people at gunpoint. Not letting them move a muscle out there. It’s like a standoff. Can’t you hear them? They’re just shouting back and forth.”
“Well, what the hell are they saying?”
“I don’t know.” Irritated, she swiped across the drawing. “It doesn’t fucking matter right now!”
“Of course it matters!”
“Look…” Jenny lifted Matt’s chin away from the ground. “I trust the Depot now. They’re being careful, especially now with what happened to Danny and Griffin.”
“They probably think the S.A. took us, because we’re outlaws or something.”
“The Depot doesn’t know why they took you. I’m pretty sure nobody saw them head out with you guys. They think the S.A. killed Danny and Griffin. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. I’m sure they’ve noticed you guys missing but have no idea why the S.A. decided to run off with you.”
“We’ll just tell them they took us,” Matt said.
“Exactly. No big deal.”
“Alright, let’s go then.” He stood to leave, but Jenny snatched the sleeve of his coat.
“I’m first. To them, you might look like just another guy with a rifle. I’m one of eleven women in the camp. The guys will definitely recognize me.”
Matt conceded but glared at her.
“It’s true…” she pressed him.
“I know it is,” he grumbled.
Jenny nodded to him with a weak smile, knowing the jealousy hidden in his voice. Alright… Again, she swept her hair free from inside her coat. Can’t afford not to be recognized. Sherman would have been a dead giveaway, but he’d be no use in an all-out firefight. Can’t afford to lose him. I hope this is the right thing to do. Breathing out, she looked to the sky. Danny… get me through this.
“You good?” Matt asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I’m thinking we head left to cut off the other group’s view of us before moving across the street.”
The two of them cut through the bushes and along the shop fronts of the strip mall before crossing the six-lane road toward the Depot’s parking lot. Continuing to their left, they managed to remain out of view from the group of outsiders with the assistance of some opportune vehicles.
“Depot’s still not seeing us.” Matt forced the whisper through clenched teeth, clearly upset the plan hadn’t worked now that they were standing well within the parking lot.
“They will. Just—”
“Like I said, we just need to see Griffin!” one of the outsiders shouted.
“Already told you he ain’t comin’ out!” An unknown voice responded from atop the Depot’s roofline. “Says he don’t know who you are. Says you need to identify yourself first.”
“Tell his bitchass to get out here. He missed our damn appointment and forced us to come all this way.”
No reply from the Depot.
Jenny and Matt trudged deeper into the parking lot, careful not to cross into view of the other group.
“Jenny!?” someone from the roof shouted.
“Yes!” she shouted back. “Me and Matt, both!” Reassurance swept over her, but nearly as fast as it came, it evaporated.
Two of the men stepped from behind a nearby car, rifles bearing down on them. “Don’t move!” one of them barked.
Jenny eyed them, gauging an appropriate response. Fuck… seemed all she could muster in the moment. Unfazed by Matt and Jenny’s abrupt appearance, the two men stared at them, battle-proven. What now?
If she moved, warned Matt to do the same, it might not be enough. Even if she were to make it down and behind cover, he might not. The two men’s rifles needed not to convince her more of that reality—one pointed at each of them, freezing them in place. She gulped. This can’t be it…
“Stop!” one of the Depot guards warned the group of outsiders. “They’re coming in. Touch ‘em. Hurt ‘em. We lay all of you down in the snow. Permanently! You’ll rot right there!”
The two seemed unimpressed with the threat of force. Coolly, one swept a piece of blonde hair back underneath his sock hat before pressing his cheek back onto the butt of the rifle, a sinister grin showing, impatience consuming his eyes. His partner glanced back toward their group. Jenny held her breath for what felt like an hour. The man cocked his head sideways. “You sure?” His proud demeanor folded, and he clasped the blonde man’s arm, tugging, signaling for him to let Matt and Jenny pass.
Relieved with the immediate change in fortune, they tore through the snow, dipping between vehicles, not leaving anything to chance. Not giving the outsiders the opportunity to reconsider and grab them. Weighed down by Jenny’s rucksack, Matt slogged behind her. She looked to him, but he waved her on. “Just go. I’m com—”
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Gunfire sent Jenny spiraling into the snow, clawing for cover behind an oversized SUV. “Matt!” Her immediate concern. She slid her rifle into a low ready and hunched alongside the vehicle. Crack! Crack! Crack! Glass showered her from above. Crack! Crack! She slammed her body against the door frame. Fuck! Edging her eyes beyond the partition, through the broken window, she caught glimpse of the outsiders pinned down—their position perhaps worse than hers. She looked to the roofline. Their attention, too, was drawn away from the parking lot. “Matt!?” Her voice barely rose over the trill of gunfire.
Fear passed through her. Where the hell is he? Their paired footprints split barely twenty yards back—his trail cutting to her left, away from the firefight, between two sedans sitting bumper-to-bumper. Closing her eyes, she focused, listening to the panic in the air. Screams. Cries for where the shots were coming from surrounded her. Through joint terror, the outsiders and the Depot seemed to be coordinating their effort.
Crack! Crack!
“Damn it! Matt!” she screamed. “Answer me!”
“I’m good! I’m good!” he shouted above the volley of additional gunfire. “Stay down! I’m coming to you!”
“Where?! Where are you?!” She caught his stare over one of the hoods of a sedan. He appeared shaken, eyes wide. “Be careful!”
Crack! Crack! His head disappeared.
A lull in the gunfire and Matt leapt from between the cars. The rucksack rose up and then fell against his back, the weight pushing him forward, spilling him into the ground.
“Hurry!” Jenny shouted, relieved to see him in one piece.
He scrambled to gather his gear, collecting his rifle from the imprint left in the snow. A few more shots skimmed overhead. Another pop and crash of a car window in the distance. Come on! Come on! Her attention bounced from Matt and the collapsing scene behind her. She dropped her ass into the snow, back against the front wheel. Her eyes affixed to his. “Just a little further!” His boots slipped, feet to knees to feet, skittering toward her. Finally, his back met the rear wheel of the SUV. They exchanged fleeting smiles, each of their chests heaving.
“What’d you see? Anything?” Jenny asked between breaths.
“Their shooting—shooting at something. Can’t tell what.” Matt swallowed. “Not sure they know either.” He pointed to the Depot. “Up top there. They—they moved too, all of them moved to the far side.”