Barry let out a groan, slowly flickering his eyes open as the sun began to rise in the early morning sky. Struggling to sit up, he groaned again, sleeping on the roof was probably one of the dumber things he'd done in his life recently. "I'm way too fuckin' old for this shit," he grumbled, turning towards where the girls had sprawled beside him the night before. Startled, he realized he was all alone on the rooftop. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but he couldn't remember when they'd left. Scrambling to his feet he hurried towards the stairs into the building to find them.

In the security office, Tara was actually relaxing comfortably on the sofa she'd claimed as her bed. Emily had helped her limp her way back to the office just before dawn. Emily herself was kicked back in Thomas' chair, her feet kicked up on the desk, eyes closed, but not asleep. It was nice and peaceful, right up until Natalie and Richard appeared, with Barry hot on their heels.

"Jesus Tara, why the hell didn't you guys wake me up when you came down here," Barry demanded. "I could have carried you down here ya know."

"We did try to wake you up," Tara told him. "Several times. You just kept rolling over and snoring, so we figured we should just let you sleep.

"Still..." Barry drawled out, trying to save a little face with his friends.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty's awake," Emily said, opening her eyes as if she'd been sleeping as well. She glanced around the room, taking in her first sight of Richard, before focusing once more on the two people now seated on the couch. Despite the quick glance at the others, she still couldn't help but notice the vicious bruise forming on Natalie's neck, or the fact that Richard appeared to be some kind of tall, hulking behemoth of a man looming beside her. He could have been any age between 40 and 60, the strange contrast of his burly, muscular build, and the graying hair that accompanied the craggy features of his face making it difficult to guess.

"You should have tried harder to wake me up Ems," her friend chastised.

"Hey, we made it down here just fine," she told him dismissively. "Besides, I don't think a freight train could have woke you up." Slowly she rose to her feet, stretching. "I don't suppose you saw Aaron roaming around on your way down? I really need to talk to him."

"More likely she needs a piece of ass," Tara muttered, just loud enough for the rest of the room to hear. Subtlety wasn't exactly her strong suit that morning.

"I heard that drama queen, and that's not why I'mlooking for him."

"Yea, right."

"Barry, have you seen him or not?" Emily asked, anger tingeing her voice.

"No, I didn't see anyone this morning."

"Fine, I'll just find him myself," she said, nearly stomping as she exited the room.

"Shit. I better go see if I can help her," Barry said. "Guess the truce must be over now that we're in the harsh light of day. Realityreally does bite sometimes." He left the room without waiting for the teen to respond.

"Ohmygod! She is such a bitch! I don't see how Barry has put up with her all these years," Tara exclaimed as soon as he left the room.

"Yea, I've noticed that myself," commented Natalie, moving forward, encouraged by the not so subtle pressure of Richard's hand pressing against her lower back. She took Barry's recently vacated seat on the sofa's arm.

"Why don't I leave you two ladies alone, sounds like you've got some girl talk to take care of. I'm sure you don't want an old man like me hanging around and listening." As he spoke, he flashed Natalie an intent look that spoke volumes. Inwardly, Natalie shuddered, knowing there'd be some serious consequences if she didn't do exactly as he wanted. She sat watching his back as he departed through the door.

"So what happened last night after I left? Obviously nothing good if she's still being such a bitch this morning," commented Natalie.

"For the most part I tried to reason with her that maybe we should at least consider what you said last night about what that Sean guy did before you got here. I mean, as far as I can tell the guy's a total ass. But she wouldn't listen to me, of course. I don't think she liked it when I threw Aaron into the mix. God forbid if anyone criticizes her boy toy."

"So she's pretty tight with that Aaron guy?"

"Please! They think they've got us all fooled, but, I mean, come on. What else are two people like that doing when they sneak away by themselves for hours at a time. They sure as shit aren't doing bible study."

"So you all think that they're..."

"Totally bumpin' uglies. I think they've been gettin' it on ever since him and Matthew showed up. And she's so fuckin' greedy. Oh my god. She knows I'm like totally into Matthew, and she prances around with both of them, just to piss me off. I mean, it's like she thinks that just because she's got big tits she has first dibs on all the available men around here."

"Is that right?" Natalie asked, intrigued. This fishing for information was starting to geta little more interesting.

"Hell yes! Like I said, she knows I want Matthew, but she goes into, like, full on turbo slut mode whenever he's around. It's so not fair."

"So you two really hate each other then," commented Natalie. She was trying to commit everything the girl told her to memory, not really sure that it would help out Richard any, but terrified of what he'd do if she didn't report everything to him.

Meanwhile, Emily managed to locate Aaron in the dating service office.

"Aaron! There you are," she called out, rushing over to the bank of windows where he stood, looking out over the ruins of the city.

"Shhhh..." he whispered, pressing a finger to his lips and gesturing with his free hand to where Justin lay sleeping. He'd finally succumbed to exhaustion and was sound asleep next to the beds the twins had occupied the night before. "Matthew and Allen took the twins downstairs to the department store to keep them busy," he explained before she could even ask where the kids were.

"Poor kid," she said, looking at the sleeping teen. Focusing on Aaron once more, she asked, "Isn't there someplace we can talk alone for a few minutes? I really need to tell you about something."

Aaron nodded, taking her hand and walking towards the back hallway where the executive offices lay. "Actually, I've got some things to tell you too," he said quietly. As he spoke, he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. It was Barry, followed by Richard entering cube-land. As soon as he caught sight of the two men, especially the big, gray-haired man, he roughly yanked Emily to him, whispering, "Play along, act like you're fighting me." His lips roughly met hers, taking her by surprise.

As soon as he raised his head she tried to slap him. "You sonuvabitch! What the hell do you think you're doing?" She struggled to break out of his grasp, but he still dragged her out of sight down the back hallway. The sound of a door slamming shut echoed into cube-land a few moments later.

"Looks like there's trouble in paradise," commented Richard. Barry whirled towards the sound of his voice, not having realized he'd been followed.

"They'll...be okay...I'm sure," he replied slowly, not really sure what he'd just witnessed. "I mean, Emily has always been a sucker for good old-fashioned make-up sex."

"Really?" Richard asked with a smile. "I could have sworn she didn't look interested in anything to do with that man.

"That's how their whole relationship has been. You don't think he'll hurt her do you," Barry said. "Maybe we should go check on them."

"No. It'll probably be better to let them work it out alone. The Sergeant doesn't seem like the kind of man to rough up a woman," the older man said. "And you said it yourself, it's probably just a kinky little game for them."

"I'm not so.."

"Trust me, I've had lots of experience in that area."

"But..."

"Look, why don't you tell me more about your friend. When we're done talking, if you're still worried about her, I'll help you get her away from the soldier." Richard casually lead Barry towards a couple of chairs in a vacant cubicle, sitting him down for a nice, 'man to man' talk.

Inside the back office, Emily was startled to see Sean seated at the desk, typing away at the computer. Turning to look at Aaron she said, "Looks like you've got a lot of explaining to do. Care to fill me in?"

The night before:

"Allen! Wake up!" demanded Sean, his booted foot nudging the driver in his ample backside.

"Mmmmm...Just a few more minutes honey, I promise, I won't be late for work this time," the man grumbled in his sleep.

"Allen!" Sean called out sharply, applying the toe of his boot with a little more force.

"Wha!" the driver exclaimed, sitting up quickly and looking at the three men that stood looming over him. The sight caught him off guard, considering he'd been dreaming of waking up and seeing his wife standing there. "What...What's going on?" he asked. Even to his own earshis voicesounded like a frog had taken up residence in his throat, the expressions on the other mens' faces making him nervous.

"We've got some questions for you and we want answers. Now," Aaron told him curtly and without preamble.

"Whatever...Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you," Allen said carefully.

"The bus. What exactly did you mean when you said it was 'low' on fuel?" Aaron demanded.

The chubby bus driver sighed. "Nothing," he whispered.

"Nothing? What do you mean by that?" Sean pressed.

"The tank was about half full yet when we stopped here," the driver stammered out.

"Then why lie to us? Why not just tell us the truth from the start?" Matthew asked.

"Because that's what I was told to do. He said...he said he'd give me a hundred thousand dollars if I told you all that, plus another hundred to keep my mouth shut."

"Who told you?" Sean asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear the man say it anyway.

"Ri..Richard."

"If he offered you all that money, why are you telling us?" Matthew asked skeptically. "And why should we believe you?"

"I just woke up to three men standing over me, two of them with guns demanding I give them answers. Why would I lie?" the driver asked, putting on a brave face, hoping they weren't just going to shoot him. "Besides. Look outside. What good is a bunch of money going to do me now? Is it going to bring my wife back? The world is dead, and its just a matter of time before we are too." He looked down sadly, tears forming in his eyes.

"Wait, why would Richard be bribing him to lie to us?" demanded Emily as soon as Aaron finished telling her about the previous night'sevents. "Where's the logic?"

"I don't know. That's all we could get out ofhim last night," Sean replied. "Even after your boyfriend King Kong here tried to strong arm him into more. There just wasn't anything else to learn."

"Maybe not from him, but he's not the only one on Richard's payroll. Natilie's working for him too. But I don't think it's money he's holding over her head," Emily said.

"What makes you say that?" Aaron asked.

"She was a very busy girl last night, arranging for a little gathering up on the roof for herself, me, Tara and Barry. Complete with all the weed we could smoke. Basically, she got us up there to tell us some bizarre story about Sean knee-capping some old woman to save his own ass."

"I did what!" demanded Sean.

"Knee-capped an old woman and left her for the dead to save your own skin. Oh, and then there was something about stealing an SUV and ditching some other woman to help you get away. You know, give the monsters something to nibble on while you drove off into the sunset. I'm still not quite clear how the guy who went off in search of bottled water was your fault, but she was blaming that on you too. And of course since the two of you obviously know each other, you're both the masterminds behind some kind of evil fanatical plot," Emily explained.

"Interesting. I don't suppose she said anything about the fact that Beverly had already been bit when I shot her?" Sean asked. "And I actually shot her in the head, not the leg. She was begging for help, and a quick death with no chance of coming back like one of those things was the only thing I could offer her at the time."

Emily nodded, absorbing the information. "What about her other accusations?"

"The second lady's name was Lynette. She was the last one trying to squeeze inside the Ford Explorer we'd found out on the interstate, insisted that the kids and the rest of them pile in first. She'd just started to climb inside when one of those monsters came out of nowhere and bit her in the arm. I saw the blood spurt, heard her scream and just floored it. She could have climbed the rest of the way inside, but instead she jumped out. The last thing I saw in the rear view mirror was about twenty of those things swarming all over her, tearing her to pieces."

"She jumped out? She wasn't thrown out of the vehicle when you took off?"

"Tell me something Emily, what would you have done in her position? Imagine you've been bit, you know it's only a matter of time before you're dead and putting everyone with you at risk. What would you do?" Sean asked.

"Probably put a gun in my mouth," Emily said carefully.

"And if you didn't have a gun?"

"I don't know. I don't think I could just give up and let them take me apart like that," she said softly.

"You won't have to. It'll be over my dead body that those things get close enough to you to harm you," Aaron said fiercely. "And if it comes down to that, than my sacrifice would buy you time to get away." Emily stared at him in shock.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, Sean tried to bring their discussion back on track. "What else didNatilie say?"

"Not much. She got pretty pissed off at us when we didn't immediately start cursing you and planning on burning your likeness in effigy after she told us her story. God forbid we question her so-called 'facts' before forming an opinion."

"Did she say anything about Richard."

"No. Hell, it wasn't until after she'd left that the subject of him even came up. I don't remember seeing him at all yesterday. This morning, in the security office, I swear, that's the first time I remember seeing him. Ever."

"So what made you decide Natalie and Richard are working together?" Sean pressed further.

"Something Tara had said about what was going on in the security office while the rest of us were dealing with the Vicki situation...it just got me thinking about the possibility. Then this morning, they both showed up in the security office together, and when I saw her...I just knew that she's pretty much at his mercy."

"What makes you say that?"

She explained about the bruises on the other woman's neck, the way she seemed to look to him before she spoke. To Emily's way of thinking it all spoke of one thing, he was using the other woman, and using violence to exert his control.

"What else happened last night?" Aaron asked, curious.

"Well, after Barry fell asleep..."

"So why are you letting Natalie get to you so much?" demanded Tara. "Are you that afraid it might be true?"

"That what's true?"

"That your boyfriend and his little crony are a couple of murderous sons of bitches who would sell their own mothers to survive."

"Go to hell Tara, you know Aaron better than that."

"Not as well as you, apparently."

"Why are we always fighting?" Emily asked suddenly, catching Tara off guard.

"What do you mean."

"If I say the sky is blue, you say it's green. Whatever I say, you immediately contradict, why?"

"I guess I never realized that was happening. I just assumed you were being a bitch on purpose."

"You're not still holding the whole Aaron and Matthew thing against me are you?"

"Maybe," Tara admitted gruffly. "But you're still acting like I'm dumb just because I'm a teenager, admit it."

"Okay, maybe just a little guilty of thinking that in the past, but now I admit it, you're definitely not stupid. So, that being said, I want you to be honest, do you really believe a word of what Natalie was spouting off tonight?"

"Some of it may be possible, but I don't really see how Aaron could have been involved ahead of time."

"Exactly. He couldn't have faked the kind of surprise I saw on his face the first time he recognized Sean. So I'll tell you what, how would you like to do a little bit of undercover spy kind of stuff?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Barry wants us to have a little truce, I say we go with it..."

"How's that supposed to be undercover spy stuff?"

"We'll go with it behind closed doors...but in front of the rest of the group..."

"We'll be just as bitchy as ever!" Tara exclaimed, catching on to the idea quickly.

"Told ya' I knew you were smart. We'll let everyone assume we hate each other, so you'll get a chance to get close to Natalie. I'd be willing to bet she'll jump at the chance to make friends with you, spread whatever wild tales she can. She might even think you'll be able to influence Barry and some of the others to her way of thinking."

"It sounds just crazy enough to possibly work," the teen grinned. "But there's just one other thing that makes it worthwhile."

"What's that?"

"The fact that I still get to be an absolute bitch to you and you'll just have deal with it!"

"I could say the same thing to you." The two women shared a smile, and the tentative bonds of friendship were forged.

"So do you think it was wise to throw her to the wolves like that?" Sean asked after listening to her story.

"It's not exactly throwing her to the wolves," defended Emily. "And how else are we going to find out what those two have in mind for the rest of us?"

"How else indeed," Sean said quietly.