"Are we sending anyone?" Chapman asked.
Hatchell shook his head, a curt movement. "Don't have anybody we can spare. We’re barely able to patrol our own town. Ellsworth is twice the size. They're going to have to get help somewhere else. Besides, Quigley sent in word from the west checkpoint that he's got more people walking in on foot."
Jo stood, half a scone still in her hand. "On foot? Why are people coming from the west? Shouldn’t everybody be going that way?”
"That's what you’d think," Hatchell said as he shifted his glare to her. "Quigley's interviewed a couple, they say there's all kinds of trouble brewing in Boston and it's driving people out into the suburbs. Some of the towns in New Hampshire are having a rough go of it. Lots of crime and violence. So that's driving people further north. Only a matter of time before more of them come to us. What happens when Bangor empties out?"
Chapman pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “I’d hoped we’d have a little more time…”
"I'm doubling the men on the barricades. We gotta get this town locked down, now. If we get another group of walkers like the other day…”
"I know, I know," Chapman said with a tired nod. "We have even less food and water than we did before."
"Everything in this town needs to be saved for the locals at this point," Hatchell announced. He looked at Reese and Jo. "I'm having a hard enough time as it is with the vigilantes trying to organize—I don't have time to turn this town into a fortress, too.”
Chapman nodded. "I said we’ll handle those hotheads, and we will."
"Anything we can help with?" Reese asked.
"It's the least we could do, since you’ve given us a chance to rest our feet, have a snack, and get some clean water,” Jo added.
"You can help by moving on out of town,” Hatchell growled. “There's already grumbling going on that we let you stay as long as we did."
"Showing a little Yankee hospitality isn't going to hurt anyone," Chapman argued.
"If giving them food," Hatchell said and pointed at the table and the remains of their scones, "takes food out of the mouths of Belfast citizens, then yeah, it's a problem. It's gonna be a bigger problem as time goes on and we start to run out of food. I'm not gonna be able to hold everybody back. You heard what they said about Ellsworth. I don't want that happening here."
"Neither do I," Chapman said. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Well, there you have it, folks. I suppose we'll have to be asking you to go on your way."
Reese frowned, but picked up his pack, nonetheless. "Sorry to cause any trouble," he said. "I do appreciate what you've done for us."
"I don't suppose there's any chance we could fill up our canteens for the road?" asked Jo. She held up the empty water pitcher.
"Takes electricity to run the well pumps to get that water out of the ground. Sorry," Hatchell said with a frown. “We have to confiscate gas from people's cars as it is."
"There's a clear spring just outside town. A little to the west. Follow the main road out, and you can't miss it. My family lives out there, and we've used that as our drinking water for generations. You're welcome take all you want,” Chapman said with a smile.
"Much obliged," Jo replied as she donned her campaign hat.
Jo and Reese shared a quiet, somber walk through town. The closer they got to the center of Belfast, the more evidence they found of the scuffles Chapman had mentioned. Several buildings showed signs of recent fires, and most sported smashed or boarded-up windows. Glass still littered the sidewalks, though most shops had evidently tried to clean things a bit.
The few people out on the streets stopped in their travels to watch the strangers with wary, tired eyes. They saw not a single child as they walked through town. One old man spat in the street as they walked by and glared at them with rheumy eyes that peeked out under caterpillar eyebrows.
"Such a friendly place," Jo said as they approached the western edge of town.
The checkpoint they found was a much more substantial structure than the one on the eastern side of the town. A school bus blocked two thirds of the road, and several cars lined up on the opposite side to make a zigzag, maze-like path to town. At any point, one car could be pushed forward and seal off the entire path. At best, anyone who tried to get through would be exposed several times to raking fire. Reese had to admire the ingenuity of such a design. Still, he couldn't help but shake the feeling of crosshairs on his back as they walked through the barricade and emerged into the open land outside of town.
"Let's not go back there," Jo said.
“Don’t worry about that,” Reese replied. "Looks like our best bet for finding shelter is going to be in Liberty," he said as he pointed at a sign on the side of the road. "It's only seven miles—we could be there by sunset.”
Jo sighed. “Well, let's get going—I ain’t gettin’ any younger.”
Chapter 4
Westin Residence
Northwest of Charleston, South Carolina
Darien stepped out from behind a clump of bushes well off the road and paused just inside the tree line. He hissed over his shoulder to stop his little troop of minions from bumbling forward any further. The way they trampled the underbrush, they collectively sounded like a tank as it rolled through a crystal vase factory. He'd never
