The guards laughed. One, a short, strong, middle-aged man gave Joelle's hair a tug. "This one would look great from the back," he chuckled.

"Let her go, slob," Sarah ordered.

The guard looked at his leader for instruction. Paris motioned to leave her alone and the guard released her hair.

"Don't touch me again," Joelle said.

"We won't," Paris promised, "if, of course, you admit your involvement with the nomads."

Sarah cleared her throat, "We are raiders, part of the Marauders' southern gang."

"Well then, that explains why the others put up such a fight. We're not dealing with infantry here boys, these are the elite. The few, the proud . . ." he trailed off.

"What should we do with them, boss?" The one who'd given yanked Joelle's hair said.

"Untie them and put them in the prison van unspoiled. If they act up, shoot them."

The guards' mouths hung open as though they didn't hear him correctly.

"Do as I say. We need these two." He stood from his chair and towered over everyone in the room. "We're planning a maneuver tomorrow morning and both of you are going to help. If either one of you disagrees I'll hogtie both of you in here and let the entire platoon in on the action."

"You're planning a raid?" Sarah smiled crookedly. "I thought raids were only for gangs."

Paris narrowed his eyes at her, "Do we have an agreement?"

Sarah nodded. "We'll take care of it. But we need supplies. I'll make you a list."

"Indeed," he said. "Bruno, get them out of my sight until the morning. Oh, and remove their bonds."

Bruno produced a knife from his belt. He freed Sarah first and then Joelle.

"Follow me," he said.

Sarah took Joelle by the arm to help her walk. She glanced back at Paris and didn't like the grin plastered on his face one bit.

Bruno led them to a windowless white van. He gave them food, water, blankets, and a pen and paper.

"The boss will get a real kick out of your list," he chuckled, and locked them inside for the night.

"I don't trust them," Joelle said. "Anyone could come back here later tonight and do whatever they want to us."

"We'll sleep in shifts. If any of those fuckers comes in here I'll gut them with this." Sarah withdrew a short serrated knife from her backside.

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"Stick with me," Sarah grinned, "And we'll have it made."

They placed a blanket on the van's floor and bunched up the others for makeshift pillows. Sarah took the first watch and Joelle went to sleep. She clung to the knife for hours and stared into the back door, willing the men to try their luck.

Chapter 6.

Joelle awoke with a start. "What's that sound?"

"We're moving," Sarah answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Better . . . oh crap, you never woke me up to stand watch. Are you making a habit of this?"

"You needed your rest, but now that you're awake I'm going to take a nap."

Sarah lay back on the blankets and handed the knife to her friend.

"Where do you think they're taking us?"

"Jerkface said something about needing help with a raid. I'm guessing he's taking us there to survey the land." She handed her the pad of paper and pen. "Make a list of any household chemicals you can build a bomb with. Maybe we'll get lucky and they won't know what we're doing."

"They're not that stupid. Anyone who knows about explosives will be able to tell what we're making the minute they read the list. Why don't we just help them out and search for a means of escape."

Sarah rolled over, showing her back to her.

"If I have the slightest opportunity to get out of here I'm taking it with or without you," she said.

"Fair enough," Joelle huffed. She scribbled down a list of items and threw in a few mundane things like toilet paper and tampons to thrown off any curiosity.

Hours slipped by before the van came to an abrupt halt. Men shouted at one another but the girls couldn't make out what they were saying through the van's reinforced walls. Moments later, Bruno unlocked the doors to let them out.

"We're here. Don't try anything funny or I'll blow your heads off," he said.

Sarah and Joelle exited the van. They found themselves staring into a small clearing in the forest. There were at least twenty cars stationed and over fifty Watchers armed with automatic rifles.

Paris waved to them. He sported a grenade launcher and wore a black Armani suit.

"I see you've survived the trip so far," he grinned.

Joelle handed him the slip of paper.

"Here's a list of some of the things we need," she said.

Paris snatched the paper, glanced over it, then wadded it up into a ball and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed slowly, almost salivating at the taste of the notebook paper. Then he spit it out.

"We'll provide everything you're ever going to need," he said. "Bruno, follow us up the hill."

"Yes sir."

The girls were led to a narrow path cut into the forest that sloped upward and eased out at the top. Once there, Paris pointed down at a fenced-in school building surrounded by zombies; beside it was a small football field and a track overrun by the dead.

"I want to get in there but it's heavily guarded by a group of survivors. They have stockpiles of food, enough to feed my men for months. We've tried trading with them and eventually gave up in favor of just going in and taking what we want."

Sarah lifted an eyebrow, "What's stopping you?"

"We can't break through their defenses. They aren't very smart, but there must be at least a hundred people in there. Our spy relayed all the information we need once we're inside, but we haven't been able to get through yet. And that's were you two ladies come in," he explained.

"If you want us to break into that school it's going to cost you," Sarah said.

"I'll give you both the freedom to choose the man you'd like to be with, and a valuable position in our guild."

Sarah laughed.

"We'll take it," Joelle insisted.

"What? No we won't!"

"Then its settled," Paris said. "Bruno and a few other guards will stay here with you as you devise a plan. I'll return in one hour."

As he marched back down the hill Sarah punched her friend in the shoulder.

"Have you lost your mind? I'm not staying here."

Joelle whispered two words into her ear so Bruno wouldn't hear her, "Trust me."

Alex kept the convoy of Watchers in sight but didn't dare chance getting a closer look. They left in the morning, taking the girls with them, and drove until reaching a secluded section of woods. At first, he didn't know what they were up to, and hid his motorcycle beside an abandoned car that was wrapped around a tree. He didn't question how the vehicle had gotten off the road and into the clearing, but from the decomposing body rotting half out of the windshield it looked like a suicide. He did a quick search of the area and found a group of guards posted just over the hill. They were hard men, worn from the New World and facing outward, itching for a fight.

He backtracked into the forest. He would circle around them, try to discover where they held the nomads captive, and sneak in when night fell. But as fate would have it, he wouldn't have the chance.

Heavy gunfire exploded in the distance.

He ducked behind a thick oak tree and raised his automatic rifle. The gunsshots didn't repeat but he could hear people cheering from somewhere. It wasn't the Watchers, as they were in another direction. These people were closer.

He slowly advanced toward the sound, slinging his automatic onto his back in favor of the sniper rifle. He was a quarter of the way down an inclined hill when he spotted a high fence surrounding a school building. Thousands of zombies pushed on the fence, rocking it back and forth to no avail. Through the scope he could see stationary machine guns posted on all four sides of the school and a pile of dead zombies near the gate. He quickly surmounted that this was what they had been shooting at. Then, from the corner of his eye he caught a sudden movement.

A bald man, one of the Watchers, was peeing on a bush not far away.

Alex remained perfectly still. He aimed the sniping rifle at the man's head and thought twice about pulling the trigger. If he killed the man it would be one less Watcher to deal with tonight, but if he shot him and the others took notice, they would search for him and he'd spend the night in hiding instead of trying to break the ladies free.

As he debated, the man finished urinating and walked back the way he'd come.

Alex lowered his rifle. He knew the Watchers well enough to know they would recognize a missing guard. They probably had an accountant setting specific times for their bathroom and lunch breaks. He would have to be careful tonight. The sun would be down in a few hours so he had enough time to plan a kidnapping, but his success would depend on catching them off guard.

He leaned against a tree and waited. In the distance he could hear the moans of the zombies as they rattled the school's fence, and somewhere in the distance the crows were gathering as they prepared to feast on a banquet of fresh corpses.

Sarah and Joelle were given a hand drawn map of the school from Bruno. He told them the spy had drawn it but when they asked if they could question him Bruno told them he was dead. They spent half an hour devising a plan to raid the school, and the leftover time to plan their escape. The school would be easy to breach, it was just a matter of using the right strategy and people; the escape was the difficult part. The plan was simple: break into the school with the Watchers and search for the nearest exit. The spy's map indicated that there was a section of fence one of the guards would lift to go into the woods and smoke meth, but it was heavily watched now after the zombies had eaten him. But if they drew the Watchers' attention away it could provide an easy escape route into the forest and beyond. All they needed was one chance, and if they failed it meant death.

The hour was up. The plans were finished. And Paris strolled up the hill right on time wearing his usual confident grin.

"Well, let's hear it," he said to the ladies. "What have you two thought up?"

Sarah pointed to the fences surrounding the school. "The plan is quite simple. First, you take the car with the most armor on it and drive it through the weakest point in the fence, which would be here," she said, directing his attention to their intended escape point. "And then you wait."

"We just wait?"

"Yep, we sit back and let the zombies flood inside and when they're busy dealing with that mess you bring the Watchers in the opposite direction, take out the people on the roof, and you're in."

Paris put his hands on his waist and gave a wide smile.

"You really are Marauders, hot damn." He motioned to Bruno.

"Yes sir," Bruno said.

"Strap these two into the sedan and drive it through the weak point in the fence."

"But sir . . ."

"Do I have to shoot you?"

Bruno dug handcuffs out of his army pants pocket and slapped them around the ladies' wrists.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sarah snapped. "We had a deal."

Paris traced his index finger against her cheek. "You're a hot one but you're much too dangerous to let live. Don't worry, I'll give your plan a shot at any rate."

Sarah opened her mouth and clamped down on his finger. Her teeth ripped through skin as she swayed her head back and forth like a Great White shark feeding on baited meat.

He screamed as blood ran freely from the wound.

Bruno stepped in and forced his massive hands around Sarah's neck. He squeezed tight and didn't stop until she let him go.

Sarah choked on blood as she struggled to breathe. She hunched over, spitting and coughing as Paris screamed.

"You fucking bitch," he cursed, then reared back and slapped the side of her head. Sarah fell to her knees. "I'll kill . . ."

He never got to finish his sentence. Joelle had had enough. She leaped forth, driving her knobby shoulder into his chest.

Paris toppled over onto the forest floor, stunned.

"Don't you ever touch her," Joelle snarled.