Aaron sat alone in the manager's office, enjoying the few minutes of peace and quiet he was stealing. It had been a long night of work, but it had been well worth it.

After the newness of the roof had worn off, he had started to look at what other uses they could put the roof too. Already the Haggertys, Jimmy and his mother had moved some of the quick open tents up to the roof. With Fall coming, it was decent enough out at night to be able to sleep and they were going to take advantage of the fresh air while they could.

Jimmy had stopped Aaron at one point and said, "Hey, Aaron. One of the sites I was reading had an idea I liked. They have these things called 'bug-out bags.' They're backpacks filled with food, water and stuff. They have them by their emergency exits just in case they need to evacuate."

Aaron loved the idea. He had enlisted almost everyone to get some bags by the store room door. They had also filled several and lugged them up to the roof.

"Why are we bringing these up to the roof?" Paul grumbled. "It's not like we can jump off or anything."

"Dude, you were in the Army and you're at a sporting good store with an ex-Marine. You should have known I'd find a way to use the rappelling gear we have," Aaron said, making Paul groan.

"It's not like zombies can climb ladders," Paul grumbled to himself. "We could just hang out on the roof, but noooo…"

Aaron grabbed the Haggertys and Larry to help him and Paul hammer climbing pitons into the roof and tie off the nylon climbing rope they had found. They set up ten pitons on the north side of the roof, closest to the River Bluffs Gated Community.

Aaron sent Larry back downstairs to get a box of gloves to tie down by the ropes. If they needed to evacuate, Aaron figured they'd slide down the ropes. It was a little risky, but it was better than taking time to get a harness on and having to get it off again when they got to the ground.

Paul looked over the edge of the roof and asked, "Okay, we're down on the ground, now what?"

"Tonight, after it's dark, we're going to lower some boxes down. We'll use those as a little staircase up and over the fence," Aaron answered.

"Do you really think that fence will keep them back?" Paul asked. "It doesn't look like it's in the best shape."

"Once we're over, they might lose track of us. If they manage to get through we go down to the marina and get a boat. I don't know, Paul. We'll have to see what happens when it happens."

Paul snorted a laugh. "Typical Marine. You guys should really learn this thing call 'planning.' And what about our dead friends? You don't think they're just going to stand there and wait for us to climb over the fence, do you?"

"We need to block off the ends of the alley," Aaron said. "I just want to wait until they calm down and wander off. Then we'll get the alley blocked off and have plenty of time to get over the fence if they break in."

Later on that night, they used extra rope to pull several boxes up to the roof, and then lower them to the ground. They had most of the boxes down and a haphazard set of stairs made when the zombies heard the noise they were making. Several rounded the corner and grabbed at a box the Haggertys were lowering. The zombies yanked it the rest of the way down, nearly pulling the Haggertys down as well.

"Motherfucker!" Danny yelled, pulling his pistol and firing down at the zombies. He fired every round in his clip, managing to only kill one zombie.

Aaron thought about just pushing Danny off the side and solving the problem he was continuing to be. He was pulled out of that happy thought by the sound of snarling and running coming from the Safeway side of the store.

Looking out towards Safeway, he watched a wave of zombies making their way towards Big 5.

"Good work, moron" he said to Danny. "Here comes a whole fucking bunch of them. Everyone stay quiet. Maybe they'll pass us by."

The group on the roof didn't move or speak as they listened to the zombie mob. They heard some of the zombies continue running up the road, past Big 5. Some of the zombies joined the group that was banging on the store room door.

Aaron moved along the roof, as quietly as possible, to the edge by the road. He peeked over the edge and saw some of the zombies had just stopped in the middle of the road and were looking around.

Paul joined Aaron and the two watched the zombies for a minute before Paul waved Aaron back from the edge.

"They're trying to figure out where the gunfire came from," Paul whispered. "That's not just brain dead zombie type behavior. That requires a little thought."

"Yeah," Aaron whispered back, "and that scares the shit out of me."

Aaron leaned back in his chair, thoughts of last night and zombies far from his mind. All that mattered now was sitting back and taking a few minutes to enjoy some peace and quiet.

"You shut your fucking liberal, traitor ass mouth or I'll shut it for you!"

Aaron groaned. Here we go again, he thought. Getting up, he opened the office door and stepped out into the store. By the registers the Haggertys and Larry were shouting and pointing their fingers at each other.

"Typical Republi-sheep. Where's your master now? Haven't heard any news on him. Not that that's a bad thing, he couldn't do the job right before, why would I expect him to be able to do it right now?" Larry yelled.

"He's somewhere working to make this country safe. You know, the country where you liberal pussies are allowed to bitch about the hard work he does and not get arrested?" Andy shouted back.

"Yeah, right. Idiot's pry out there planning on invading Canada because they have trees and, you know, trees are weapons of mass destruction!"

"Will you three shut the fuck up?" Aaron yelled. "I am not listening to this shit every goddamn day. Either knock it off about this useless political bull…"

The phone ringing cut off anything else Aaron might have said. The four stood frozen as the phone rang a second time.

Shaking off his amazement, Aaron sprinted back to the manager's office, one thought running through his head.

Katie.

He ran into the office and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He asked, praying to hear her voice.

"Please you've got to help us," the male voice said.

Aaron squeezed his eyes shut and bent over the desk. He felt like he had been punched in the gut. He had wanted so badly for it to be her.

"Hello? Are you still there?" The voice on the other end asked.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "I'm still here."

"We're trapped next door, in Del Taco. Can you help us?"

"What's your status?" Aaron asked.

The man must have pulled the phone away from his mouth; Aaron could barely hear him say, "He wants to know out status."

In the background he heard a woman say, "Give me the phone."

"Who am I talking to?" The woman asked.

"Aaron Masters. Who are you?"

"Lisa Cavanaugh. Listen, Aaron, we've been in here since all hell broke loose. The cashiers here locked the doors when the crazies started running the streets."

In the background Aaron heard a loud noise over and over. Another man's voice in the background yelled, "Jesus, Lisa, hurry up, they're getting excited!"

"Okay! We saw you yesterday on the roof. We tried to bail out of here this morning but there were a couple out back. They chased us back and we didn't get the back door closed in time. We're trapped in the manager's office here and they are trying to break through the door. Can you help us?" She asked.

Aaron thought about it for a moment and said, "I don't know how bad it is outside right now but I'd say, if anything, we won't be able to make a move until after dark."

"I really don't know if the door here is gonna last that long, buddy," she said.

"It is too risky to try something during the day. Find a way to brace the door and we'll see what we can do. Call back every hour on the hour to let us know your status," he said.

"Don't keep us waiting too long, Aaron," she said as she hung up.

Aaron turned towards the door and found the Haggertys and Larry standing there watching him.

"Who was it?" Andy asked.

"A complication" Aaron answered. "I'm going up the roof and take a look at things."

He made his way up to the roof, the others following, itching to know what was going on. Aaron knelt down by the edge of the roof and took stock of the situation. Del Taco's parking lot had at least a dozen zombies wandering around it. To make matters worse, the back door to Del Taco was standing wide open.

"Larry, get Paul and let's reconvene downstairs where we can talk," Aaron said.

Once the group, including Paul, was back down in the store, Aaron let them know what was going on.

"Here's what we've got," Aaron said to the group. "We have… Damn, I didn't ask her how many people were over there. Anyway, we have at least three people next door at Del Taco. They're trapped in the manager's office with the back door wide open and at least one zombie beating on the office door. They want us to mount a rescue."

"Right on!" Danny said. "Let's get our shit and get going!"

"Slow down, cowboy," Paul said. "There's no way we can pull this off during the day. There's too damn many of them out there already, thanks to someone."

Danny glared at Paul. The fucking zombie had nearly pulled him and Andy off the roof. He had a right to make the motherfucker pay for that.

"I agree with Paul. We should wait until night," Larry added.

"We have one other question to consider too. Should we even try to help them?" Aaron asked.

The group stared at Aaron, dumbfounded. How could he even ask such a thing? Then they exploded at him. He raised his hands and said, "It's something we have to think about. We only have so much food and the more mouths we have to feed the sooner we have to go shopping again."

"That's kinda cold there, Aaron," Larry commented.

"Well, Larry, someone has to think about the cold hard numbers. If it makes me an asshole, then I'm an asshole. I don't care."

"So are we putting it to a vote or something?" Danny asked. "Cause I say we help those people."

"I'm with Danny," Andy added.

"Damn, I hate agreeing with Republicans but they're right," Larry said.

Paul stared at Aaron. "You weren't serious about not rescuing them, we're you?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. It is a factor we have to consider. Do I want to save them? Yes. I'd love to save as many people as possible but we have to look at all of the angles," Aaron said.

"Well, if this is a vote, no matter what, the ayes have it. So we're doing it," Paul said, keeping his eyes locked with Aaron's.

Aaron nodded and said, "Alright, then we do it by the book. We go tonight, after it's dark. We'll need to create a diversion to get the zombies out of the parking lot so we can have a clear shot over."

"Yeah, and while we're there I could go for a burger right about now," Danny said.

Aaron looked at him, a smile tugging at his lips. "That's one of the smartest things you have ever said, Danny. We'll take some backpacks and load up on as many burger patties as we can get. I'll get someone to clean out the freezer in the break room and the bait freezer."

"You three," Aaron said, pointing at the Haggertys and Larry, "get your guns cleaned and ready for tonight. While you're doing that try and think of what we can use as a diversion."

The threesome headed off, leaving Aaron and Paul alone.

"I take it I'm not going," Paul said, glaring at Aaron.

"Not with your hands injured. We're going to be climbing down, and probably up, ropes," Aaron said. "Add to that, you might have to shoot and I don't know if you can do that right now."

"Damn, you really are in an asshole mood today, aren't you?" Paul snapped. "First, you don't want to rescue these people. Then, you tell me you don't think I can hack it?"

"That's not what I said and you know it. You're hurt and need to heal. Plus, I need you back here to take charge and do things the right way," Aaron snapped back.

Paul stared into Aaron's eyes for a moment before asking, "So, this isn't because of what happened when we went to the gas station?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Paul?" Aaron asked. "Here, let me spell it out. I wish to God you were going over to Del Taco with me. You are my first choice to have cover my back. Do you fucking get it yet?"

Paul looked down at the floor, doing everything to now avoid Aaron's gaze. "I'm sorry, Aaron. I just thought that after the other night when I… When…"

Aaron put his hand on Paul's shoulder and said, "It's alright. The other night was hell, man, but we made it through."

"Yeah, but you didn't lose your duffel," Paul said.

"Jesus Christ, Paul, is that what this is about? A fucking duffel bag? Who gives a shit? We got what we needed."

Paul shook his head and said, "You don't get it. I dropped the duffel because I was scared. When I fell, I just wanted to lay there and die. I didn't care if they ate me, I just wanted to die."

"Paul, I nearly dropped my duffel too," Aaron admitted. "I was scared out of my mind but we made it through. Together. That's what matters."

Paul snorted a humorless laugh. "No, Aaron, what matters is you go out there and save the day. I go out and nearly freeze up when I have to shoot a zombie. I nearly lay down and die because I am so terrified. Look, let's just drop it. What do you want me to do tonight?"

Aaron hesitated. Should he keep pushing Paul to talk about his fear or let it drop? Aaron needed Paul. He needed Paul to see the flaws in his plans and make them better. He had come to trust Paul. What would he do if Paul lost it?