Behind Our Walls (10 page)

Lot and Rowen looked at each other but both seemed to be trying to hide a feeling of excited interest underneath their blank faces. "All right," Lot said, "How far do we have to go?"

"About thirty more miles."

Lot nodded and turned to the group. "All right everybody. There are likely still some rovers wandering around here so I don't want to hang around for too long. Meredith has an idea for somewhere we might be able to go and stick around, long term. We should be able to get there in less than an hour so let's get moving. It's going to be dark soon, and we probably can't waste the extra gas using the headlights."

It took just over five minutes for everyone to load up. Sophie was pretty sure that some of Meredith's people ended up in the RV's and some of their people were on the busses. Nobody seemed to care, and despite what had just happened hours before, the mood seemed to be getting lighter. It was hard to not feel a momentum, leading them towards the possibility of anything better than this life that they had all inherited.

-24-

Sophie and Rowen sat together as they made their way down the road. It had been slightly longer than Meredith estimated but so far all of the vehicles were holding out.

Rowen explained the plan to her and the place they were going. The whole notion sounded ludicrous to her.

"I still don't understand how it would work," she said. "It'd be like climbing up to the top of a giant hill and screaming, don't look up here, nothing to see. How could we possibly control a building like that?"

Rowen shrugged. "I don't know the specifics. She has an engineer in her group who convinced her that it would be possible. We'd need to have a few things go our way, that's for sure. But she seems convinced that this could be the answer we've been looking for."

"If it all works out," Sophie snorted as she said it.

"I'm just as skeptical as you are. I'm just trying to keep an open mind. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? We show up, decide that it isn't going to work out and we end up right where we are now. And you know, there's nobody forcing us to stay. If it really makes you that uncomfortable, we can always head out on our own." He shifted his gaze back to the window and the passing countryside when a thought seemed to suddenly come to him. "If you'll have me, that is."

Sophie grinned, despite herself. She didn't know what this was yet with Rowen, but for now she was glad to have someone that she could trust and depend on.

"Admit it," Rowen said, "Aren't you tired of sleeping on the floors of gas station bathrooms with the door wedged shut? Hiding out in basements and sheds, trying to stay quiet and always wondering who might be wandering around outside? Wouldn't you like to have a place again to call your own that might actually have a door that you could close and even lock?"

"Of course I want those things," she said, "I just don't want to hope for them. There's been too much disappointment and I don't want to be let down again."

She looked up towards the front and saw Fiona. She kept reminding herself to look past that gruff exterior, the hostile expressions and down to the person underneath. Every time though, she couldn't seem to find her way in. She wanted to reach out and make Fiona feel like she was a part of something. To Sophie, she looked like someone who was on their way to serving a jail sentence.

As the thought formed in her mind, Fiona turned and made eye contact with her. Sophie shifted in her seat, uncomfortable but unable to look away. She looked into Fiona's eyes and in that moment saw absolutely nothing. No sign at all of the depth of soul seen in every other person she had met in this group. All she saw there was resigned judgment and spite. The one who had been killed, Ty, had it really been rovers that did it? Was there more to her story? Sophie tried to remind herself that if Fiona had been involved somehow in Ty's death, she likely wouldn't have made the mistake of coming back here. Unless there was another reason, someone else in the group she felt responsible for.

Or maybe she just didn't have anywhere else to go.

Fiona's scowl somehow seemed to deepen and she put her head back against the seat, closing her eyes as if trying to sleep. Sophie shook her head. She hadn't been around these people long enough to judge anyone, or try and speculate unfairly about the dynamic. Maybe she would take it up with Lot at some point, try and get some more insight into Fiona, other than what Nairi had to say.

"I think we're almost there," Rowen said as he sat up in his seat.

The caravan began to slow, and Sophie sat up to try and get a better look. Before she could see clearly, the vehicles turned into a parking ramp and began winding their way up towards the top.

"Meredith figures that we'll be less likely to be spotted if we take the vehicles all the way up," Lot said, walking back down the center aisle. "We'll also be able to spot any trouble coming if we have a lookout up there."

The RV drove up the ramp, circling towards the top level and it might have been her imagination, but she thought that she could sense the vehicle struggling, as if gasping to make it up the incline. She felt a brief thrill of panic that they were going to run out of gas right there on the ramp and end up rolling backwards into a horrible crash. They made it to the top though, and each vehicle pulled up to the concrete ledge that overlooked the highway below.

Sophie stepped out and joined the group already looking out with peaked interest. By the fading light of the setting sun, she could make out their destination. Across the street, she saw the chain link fence surrounding the construction site. Behind the fencing were massive stone walls. And enclosed within, a parking lot. Standing tall in the very center of it all was the darkened, unmistakable shape of a football stadium.

-25-

Sophie, Rowen, Meredith and Lot looked out over the parking lot below, at the foreboding structure that could offer either their salvation or demise. They had been so excited to get here, but now that the moment was at hand, uncertainty held them in its grip.

"So what now?" Sophie asked. She and Rowen had already taken to inserting themselves into these conversations and none of the others seemed to be objecting to their presence.

"For sure, we can't just send everyone over there without checking it out first," Rowen said as he looked around the perimeter of the building. "There could be anyone in there."

Meredith shook her head as she responded. "I think it's perfect for us though. Look at how it's built. It's even better than the article made it sound. The walls are all stone, you'd need something major to break through those things. Plus, there's no way to see into the stadium itself. There could be thousands of people in there and we'd never be able to tell."

"Unless someone just wandered in and figured out for themselves," Lot said.

Meredith shrugged, "Yeah, well that is a problem. But Daniel seems to think that if we can get a little bit of time and luck, we can close off those entrances and no one would ever be the wiser."

"You don't think someone would find it strange to see a stadium with the entryways all blocked up?" Lot asked.

"They never finished the place," Meredith answered. "It's clearly still a construction site and I think most people would see it that way. It's worth the risk."

Sophie looked out over the property and it was hard to not feel the same way. It seemed absurd with so much open space around them. But it was more secluded than it seemed. A stone wall surrounded the entire parking lot, towering at over ten feet tall. So unless someone climbed up on top of it the only way to even see the stadium was to peek in through the gates. Meredith was right about one thing, there could be a game going on inside with fifty thousand fans and the only way anyone could tell would be from the noise.

"I agree with Meredith," Sophie said. Rowen turned to look at her and she could tell from his expression that he did, as well. After another minute, Lot nodded.

"So how should we handle it?" Rowen asked.

Meredith offered the plan, once again. "Ask for volunteers. Five teams of two people each ought to do it. We search it from top to bottom, and make sure there's no one in there. Once we clear the place, it should be dark enough that we can bring the caravan over without being seen. Look over there, by the south side of the building." She pointed to draw their attention. "That's a pretty big sized ramp going down underneath the stadium. I bet there's a garage down there and if it's big enough, we could park all of our vehicles down there and keep them out of sight."

"I'll go," Sophie said.

Rowen didn't make eye contact with her but Lot was clearly uncomfortable. "Sophie, with what's happened, I don't know if you want to—"

"Save the chivalrous bullshit, all right? I'm going, so you might as well start looking around for the other nine."

He wasn't happy with her volunteering, but he threw up his hands in resignation and walked over to the rest of the group. Everyone was eager to help and it only took a few minutes before he had all the people they would need.

"So what are we doing?"

Sophie jumped at the sound of her sister's voice. She hadn't even been aware that she had approached.

"We're going over there to make sure it's safe. If it is, we can see about maybe settling down. It's hard to say for sure until we actually get over there and see the place."

"Are you going?"

Sophie nodded without answering.

"Do you have to?"

"No. They're asking for volunteers but I think I should go."

Corrine nodded and crossed her arms in front of her chest. It looked to Sophie like she might have shivered slightly.

"Corrine—"

"Just be careful." It was all she needed to say. Sophie hugged her, and again gave silent thanks for being able to look at Corrine again as her sister instead of an adversary.

"All right," Lot said as he walked back to them. "Sophie, Rowen and myself make three—"

"I'm sure as shit going along," Meredith interrupted.

Lot nodded. "All right, fine. Meredith makes four. I had fourteen people volunteer. There were others, but I turned them down. No point in risking too many of us. Eighteen should be able to clear that place pretty quickly. I think we should split up into teams of three just to be safe."

Lot waved for everyone to join them. They walked down the ramp and Sophie tried to focus her attention, to not put too much hope in the possibilities. If she expected the worst, she couldn't be disappointed by what they found. As they got to the bottom level and checked to make sure it was clear, they ventured out, moving silently and in single file towards the stadium.

-26-

Sophie pushed through the door to the next luxury suite. Rowen followed, as close behind as he could, while the third member of their party stayed out in the corridor. Both Rowen and the other guy were armed, but Sophie found the guns made her more nervous than anyone who might be hiding in here. She supposed that at some point she would have to ask Rowen to show her how to shoot, but she wasn't ready yet.

So far, they had found signs in only a few of the suites that people had been in there. There were some rags of clothing, some of the sliding glass doors had been shattered and a few pieces of furniture were wrecked. All throughout the suites was the underlying smell of body odor and urine but no people.

Rowen walked to the sliding glass doors and looked out over the field.

"What is it?" she asked. "What are you looking at?"

He shook his head and snapped back to reality. "Sorry. Mind wandering. But look at it. We'd be completely isolated here. There are enough of these suites that everyone could have their own space. There's enough room to get outside, get fresh air and walk around. We could even grow crops down there on the field."

Sophie thought about pointing out that the grass might be artificial turf but she kept her mouth shut. He had clearly been giving this a lot of thought. "Come on, let's try to focus on the task at hand, all right? So far it's a little bit of a 'too good to be true' kind of thing, you know? I mean, we can't possibly have been the first ones to think of something like this."

"Why not? It isn't like there are that many groups that need a space this large. Most people wouldn't think of staying here,
because
it's so huge. There's no way a handful of people would feel like they were in control here. So, people just scrounge for supplies and move on."

Sophie placed a hand on his arm. "Still."

He turned to look at her and the brazen intensity in his eyes almost made her take a step back. She had never seen him look so hopeful and vulnerable, as if he knew he was throwing all of his chips in on this one hand.

The silence rang in her ears as she nodded towards the door. "Come on. Lot gave us an hour. We're only about halfway done."

The next suite was also empty, but sported the most gruesome evidence of activity. All four walls were splattered with blood. A shattered glass pitcher on the floor was also stained with blood, but no other sign or explanation as to what might have happened.

The next four suites were empty and undisturbed. Rowen found an unopened bottle of water, which he tucked away in his pack.