"STAY INSIDE. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS." 

Ben didn't have to tell me twice. I had no desire to meet with Andrew Good again. Or the company that he brought with him this time. Pressing the shotgun into my hands, Ben hooked his handgun into a holster strapped to his leg and strode outside as the truck stopped in front of our trailer. Mr. Arnold and Mr. Choi weren't far behind.

"Well, hey. New faces today," Andrew hollered out amiably as he hopped out of the passenger side. 

A few armed young people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, stood up in the truck bed to announce their presence. I watched from the corner of the screen door, holding my breath. Andrew took off his sunglasses and scanned our trailer. I slipped back into the shadows.

"Where is the young lady I met yesterday?"

Ben's shoulders stiffened. "I'm Ben. This is our home. What do you want?"

Andrew held a hand out towards him. "Andrew Good. You the law around here, Ben?"

Ben took a firm step towards him, eyes not leaving Andrew's face. "In a way."

"I think I've heard about some kind of renegade in these parts. Lone wolf on a motorcycle, like that one." Andrew motioned to the bike by the shed, still being repaired. "I've heard about some pretty nasty encounters with this character."

"Just tell us why you're here, Mr. Good," Mr. Arnold called out, his normally tepid voice laced with warning.

Andrew sniffed, perching his hands on his hips. "Now, don't get me wrong. I respect survivors. If you are the motorcycle avenger, then more power to you." He gave a rueful laugh and cast an unimpressed glare towards the bike. "I only wanted to introduce myself formally. I'm guessing that was your woman that I met yesterday."

"She doesn't belong to anyone."

"Of course, she doesn't belong to anyone. I'm not that medieval. You're awfully literal, aren't you?" Andrew's gaze trailed towards the screen door once again where I was peeking out. He winked in my direction. "Whatever she is to you, she's a good one. Loyal. A trait hard to come by these days."  

"I think you and your armed friends should cut to the chase, Mr. Good," Mr. Choi called out.

"Of course. I'm sorry to drop in like this uninvited. I am here in sincere good faith. Since there are only a few of you, I wanted to offer you a place among us. Especially you, Ben. If you're the kind of person that I think you are."

Ben relaxed his stance in the following silence and took out a cigarette. He held the pack towards Andrew. "Smoke?"

"Thanks. Marlboros, huh?"

Nodding, Ben lit his cigarette and tossed the lighter towards Andrew. Despite his casual demeanor, there was an edge to him that I had never seen. Maybe it was the toss of his head or one leg propped away from his body. A latent, deadly energy hummed in his presence.

"Where have your people set up camp?"

"We're on the coast, a little south of Acadia. Hope to be ready to go by winter."

"For your sake, I hope you will be too."

"So what do you say, Ben? You and your people want to enter into the fold?" Andrew blew out a cloud of smoke, meeting Ben's eyes as he had done with me the previous day. 

Ben tapped ash into puddle by his foot and inhaled sharply through his nose. "Though I appreciate the invitation, I think we're good here for now."

Andrew smirked. "The place is kind of falling apart."

"But we like it that way. So we never forget that we're living in the end times."

Andrew gave a deep chuckle. "Funny, but I can't say I agree. I prefer to think of this as the beginning." He took a step backward. "Good day then to you folks. Nice to have neighbors. Friendly ones especially. Tell your woman hello for me, Ben."

Mr. Choi and Mr. Arnold had a bonfire that night behind their trailer. Mr. Choi had cleared out the brush filling the nearby field. He had plans of growing crops come spring. I helped him tear up the rocky soil, netted with dandelion and Queen Anne's Lace. Gardening in Maine was not for the faint of heart, but there were few other options left to us.

As sparks spit over our heads towards the summer stars and absent moon, we planned the fortifications for Silver Gardens. Mr. Arnold had worked construction for years and Ben had been raised with a basic knowledge of woodwork, thanks to his Dooms Day Prepper father. For the remainder of the summer, we decided to break down the trailers that weren't salvageable and use the materials to build a gated wall around us. Hopefully, if we were diligent in our work, we could have it before the snow fell.

"We need more hands," Mr. Arnold said, shaking his head and tossing a stick into the flames. "More people like us, just getting by. Wanting to help themselves and help others. Less folks looking to grab power. That Good character, he didn't come out and say it, but I can smell it on him. Reminds me of jokers I knew in the ranks. One promotion and they were unbearable. Always trying to prove something."

"Yeah, but what is Andrew Good trying to prove? That's what concerns me," Ben muttered, running his long hands over his face and pausing them over his mouth as he stared into the fire. "Or more like, how far is he willing to go when there isn't anything left to prove yourself to."

"We need more people?" Lauren piped up.

All of us turned towards the normally stoic preteen.

"Got any ideas?" Ben asked her.

"There were a bunch of really nice people down in Camden," she said, kicking at the ground where she sat, hunched over in a rusted lawn chair. "Some of them helped me and my mom. They were still living down there in an abandoned hotel."

Mr. Choi jutted out his chin and arched an eyebrow at Mr. Arnold. I got the impression this was the most they had heard from her about the days before she came to Silver Gardens.

"It's only two hours south," I said, looking over at Ben. "It might be worth investigating."

Ben nodded solemnly. "You up for it, Mr. Arnold?"

He sighed. "Why not?"

"We'll get started on the fortifications here," Mr. Choi added.

"Yeah, don't worry about us," Lauren said, a note of confidence in her voice that hadn't been present earlier. Being taken seriously seemed to do something for her self-worth. "We can take care of things."

After returning to our trailer, I braided back my waist-length hair on my side of the bed. Per usual, Ben loaded his handgun and set it on the bookshelf. I blew out the candle. When he pulled me against his body, I waited a breath. 

"Hey, I have a suggestion." 

His lips paused against the crest of my spine. "Hmm?"

"When you go to Camden, I want to go with you."

He flipped me onto my back. I peered up at him expectantly in the dark. I snaked a hand around the back of his neck, tangling my fingers in his hair.

"To Camden?" he repeated.

"Yes."

He gripped the curve above my hip then drummed his fingers against me in thought.

"Maybe."

"Just maybe?" I pressed, arching a leg around his waist without shame. He slid a hand up over the dip of my thigh with a firm grip.

He pressed a kiss to my lips, then hovered over my mouth. "Yes, Annabeth... let me think about it."

"What's there to think about?"

"Your life."

"My life consists of weeding gardens and washing dishes in abandoned double wides. I want to be by your side. If only this once."

"You aren't used to it. The last time you were out there... I found you nearly destroyed on the side of route 182. I can't see that again."

I tugged him closer, mating my torso to his and rocking my hips. He released a shaky breath, resting his forehead against mine. It was merciless, but I wanted to see the outside world for myself. 

"Just let me go with you. This once," I murmured against his lips, earning myself an urgent kiss.

"Okay," he caved, hitching up my t-shirt. His mouth found my breast. "Okay, fine. This once," he breathed against my bare skin.