"She's right you know. Natalie's beautiful, but she's not worth risking your life over," Aaron commented.

Sean bristled. "Not that you wouldn't agree with whatever your little piece of ass said. Isn't that right Sarge? She lets you play hide the sausage with her, so you'll say whatever she wants you to say."

"You know that's not true LT."

"Fireworks!" Matthew called out, drawing their attention away from their argument. Off in the distance, there were indeed fireworks that could vaguely be seen, lighting up the night sky.

"What the hell?" murmured Aaron, shocked by the sight.

"Little early for the Fourth aren't they?" the medic commented, looking towards the others. All three stared up at the sky, confusion written all over their faces.

"Those aren't in the city limits, I'd guess maybe ten, fifteen clicks down the road tops," Sean said, walking closer to the edge of the roof, leaving the protective circle of light the lanterns offered. He reached for the binoculars that were always on the roof as he went, silently wishing they were outfitted with Night Vision. It still brought the fireworks into closer view as they methodically went up in the sky.

"I think you're right. Matthew, you're the local, any idea what's over in that direction?" Aaron asked, joining his former superior and taking the binoculars when they were offered to him. "Matthew?"

"I think it's a little town called Mentor. Not much more than a couple stoplight kind of town, little grocery store, post office, that's about it."

"Raiding parties," Sean said suddenly. "Shit, it makes sense now."

"I'm glad something makes sense, 'cause you sure as hell ain't LT," grumbled Aaron.

"The other day, when I was up here spying on Richard, he was talking to that Cholo guy about an armored truck that was being built for the raiding parties," he explained, as if that would magically make them understand. Seeing the blank looks on the faces of his companions he explained further. "Don't you get it? They're sending people out into little towns like this Mentor place and raiding it for supplies! If there's a grocery store there, that means food, medicine, diapers, just about anything a city would need to survive."

"But that's suicidal! Sending people out there with those things," protested Matthew.

"No more suicidal than holing yourself up in a city with no supplies. They'd be dead of starvation before they knew it."

"Cannibalism would always be an option," Aaron said sarcastically, gesturing towards the sound of the moving corpses below. "But then, that'd just make them one of those creatures, wouldn't it?"

"Brilliant observation Sarge," Sean replied dryly. "But this is a good thing to see."

"Why? So we know that there really are others alive out there and it's not all just some kind of hallucination of Richard's," scoffed the medic.

"No, because it gives us a reference point for where their rally point might be," the officer responded. "Sarge, did you ever see any maps of the city down in that security office? Maybe the department store even?"

"No, nothing."

Matthew laughed harshly. "Guess it's time for the medical expert to save the day. Downstairs, the restaurant on the first floor, it had a whole big mural painted on the wall where the front windows should have been. It's a big map. I could be wrong, but I think it include most of the city, all the important landmarks and stuff."

"Well, let's go check it out gentlemen," Aaron said, eager to be doing something besides just standing around planning. Strategic planning wasn't his forte, executing the mission was, and standing around waiting for the plan was starting to drive him crazy. The three of them hurried down the stairs.

Inside the office of the dating service, Richard had waited about a half hour after the solders and medic had disappeared before quietly seeking out Natalie. He'd found her curled up on a sleeping bag alone in a corner. Silently, he woke her, and the two of them crept from the office, careful not to alert the others of their movements, not that that had been difficult. The kids were sound asleep, all three of them, near Allen. Allen himself was snoring so loudly it was amazing that anyone could sleep. Barry was sitting all alone in his cubicle, probably waiting for his girlfriends to reappear. He was making a big show out of playing some kind of hand held travel poker game. Everyone else was missing, probably plotting against him. Either that or they were having one hell of an orgy someplace. Richard almost smiled at the thought, still dragging Natalie behind him to the security office.

"Just where in the hell did you disappear to this afternoon?" Richard demanded just as soon as he located a single lantern on top of an empty desk. The light weakly filled the office.

"I...I played a hunch. You'd been talking of trying to cause some trouble between those soldiers, so I...I corned Sean in the stairwell. Then I gave him a big sob story about how I was afraid and wanted his help to survive. Maybe even escape," she continued to talk, filling him in on the meeting she swore up and down had been impromptu. She didn't want him to know how long she'd sat in that dark stairwell, damn close to hyperventilating in fear, until he'd finally arrived. She wasn't even sure how she'd known it was him at the time.

Richard was about to speak, but hesitated at the sound of feminine voices echoing down the hall. He quickly doused the light. In silence they listened. Tara and Emily's voices became louder and more clear as they neared the security office. They were arguing about something to do with Catholic schools and getting laid of all things. The two conspirators continued to set in the dark for a short time after the voices receded down the hall in the direction of the dating office. Then the light suddenly snapped back on, temporarily blinding Natalie as Richard began to speak.

"The others are probably suspicious of you now. Unless you're a better actress with them than I've given you credit for," Richard admonished.

"Trust me, he was practically eating out of the palm of my hand by the time I'd finished with him," she boasted bravely. Mentally, she crossed her fingers that she really was a good actress. She hadn't been anywhere near convinced that Sean had believed her. There hadn't been so much as a change in his vocal inflections when she'd told him her story to reveal what he'd been thinking. Except for when she'd admitted that Richard liked to smack her around a little. There'd definitely been anger in his voice than.

"We'll just have to wait and see than, now won't we? That's why I had a little chat with the kid this afternoon, to buy us a little insurance policy."

"I don't get it. Why would you want to involve him?" Natalie asked, genuinely confused. "He's just a scared kid. There's no way of telling whether or not he's going to freeze up when you need him."

"The only thing I need from him is to keep those little brats in line. The others won't do anything to put them in harms way, and as long as I've got control of the boy, I control everything."

"And just what exactly do you have in mind?" Natalie asked. She was surprised at herself, it was very rare for her to ever question anything he did. She'd learned quickly that it was the fastest way to ask for trouble.

"Feeling brave tonight are we?" he asked menacingly.

"No," she whispered softly. "I just think I have a right to know what you're planning. I'm helping you, I've done nothing but what you've asked of me...all along.."

"Having private chats with the enemy wasn't something I told you to do," he replied, not even bothering to hide the anger in his voice. "And I can't really share my plans with someone who goes off on her own little initiative like that. You could have ruined everything you know."

"But I didn't," she protested hoarsely, the anger in his voice sending a shiver of fear down her back. "And I swear to you, from this point on I will only do exactly what you ask of me. The only reason I did what I did, talking to Sean like that...I thought you'd be proud of me for taking advantage of a situation. Please, please, tell me what's going to happen," she begged. She knew almost instinctively when he decided to comply, it was written all over his face. He liked it when she begged, it turned him on. The sick fuck. Sure, she'd get the information she wanted, but it was going to come at a price. The thought of fucking him yet again raised the bile in her stomach, and she desperately prayed she wouldn't puke.

"Oh, I'll tell you. And then you're going to use your new found friendship with Scarface to help our plans. I can't control what you've done, but I will use it." He reached out, roughly grasping the nape of her neck and tugging her closer. She let out a whimper of pain that made him smile. Quietly, he began to speak.

Later, long after everyone had made their way back to the dating office, Natalie crawled towards where Sean lay, tossing and turning atop a sleeping bag. Her side ached where Richard had managed to get an unusually strong punch in, enough to make her think that maybe he'd busted a rib this time. She lay down beside Sean, face to face, and reached out to nudge him awake. Before her hand even made contact, his eyes opened. She moved a finger to her lips, indicating him to be quiet, before motioning to him to follow her. Silently, they crept from the office, the darkness of the hallway stood in stark contrast to the dating office, which was still lit up brightly by battery powered lanterns placed all over. Sean produced a small flashlight, pausing a short distance down the hall from the dating service.

"What's going on Nat?"

"Not here, up on the roof, it's more private there," she whispered, reaching out to grasp his hand, pulling him into motion.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Please, he can't know that we're together, it'd ruin everything," she said softly, still tugging at his hand.

"This had better be worth it."

"It is, you'll just have to trust me on it."

He allowed her to lead him towards the stair once again. Trust her, she'd said. Did she really think that was possible, he thought. Or was this all just one big game to her? Playing him and Richard against each other. He didn't doubt for a second that that's what was happening here. It didn't matter that he was attracted to her, despite what Aaron and Emily thought. He couldn't risk the lives of the rest of them just to get laid. At least, he was pretty sure he wouldn't.

It didn't take long for Natalie to start talking once they stepped out onto the roof. She turned on the water works, sobbing about how Richard was going to use the children to control the rest of them. He let her keep talking, noticing that, although on the surface she seemed to be telling him a lot, she was actually just going around in circles. Most of what she said, she'd already told him earlier that day in the stairwell, it was just a slightly different variation now.

"Shhh. It'll be okay," he said, pulling her into the circle of his arms. She continued to sniffle against his chest, and he felt chagrined to realize that as much as he didn't want it to bother him, it did. He wanted her to be honest with him.

"How. If he uses the kids, there's just no way for us to stop him," she hiccuped into his chest, making her voice sound slightly muffled.

"We'll just have to make a point of keeping him away from the kids," he said. It was the truth, at least, to an extent. For the plan he and the others had concocted, while looking at the mural map in the restaurant, to succeed they were all going to have to assume a little risk.

"Do you know what you're going to do yet?" she asked. For a moment, all pretense of fear had left her voice. As if realizing her error, she sniffed hastily and buried her face against his chest again so she'd be able to avoid his eyes.

"Yea, I've got a plan. We'll let Richard take us into the city, it'd be stupid not to, and it'll keep the kids out of harms way. Once we're there, I'll try to slip you away from him. I'd imagine there's enough people left in that city where we can just disappear and hide out. The others will just have to take care of themselves," he said, hugging her more tightly against him.

"You really mean it? You'll take me away from Richard and keep me safe?" she asked, surprised. This time, he was the one who held her head against his chest, not wanting to meet her eyes.

"Of course. We're a team here, aren't we?" He threw the words out at her, like it was a test. When she stiffened up against him, fighting to look up into his face, he knew he was being played. The woman obviously had some strong self-preservation instincts. And now, the question became, did Richard realize he was being played too?Was he factoring that into whatever information he gave to her? Sean's mind whirled at the possibilities as he continued to hold her.