and for the first time he asked himself the obvious question: What did they want from him? He wouldn’t have gone along with them stealing the gas, shooting at women, and they had to know that.
As he talked to them he tried to memorize every name. As he mingled he sized each man up. It was easy enough to tell which ones were leaders, and which were followers. A couple of them were high on some kind of drug, he could see it in their eyes. One man, a neighbor of Lawrence’s named Wesley, was drunk.
Ted’s thoughts whirled. Instead of planning how he’d form his own organization to help them all survive this crisis, now he tried to think how he could maneuver himself out of this mess. He had no intention of joining this crew, not that he was dumb enough to say that aloud and think they’d let him walk away. Maybe they would—but maybe they wouldn’t.
What was he supposed to do with the information he possessed? He needed to think.
“We need a place to meet,” Lawrence said. “A kind of headquarters.” Now that keeping in touch by phone wasn’t possible, they had to physically meet. In different circumstances, with a different group of men, Ted would’ve suggested his own house so he could be in the thick of things, but thank goodness he’d figured out what was going on before he’d taken that step, and also that he hadn’t agreed to let them meet at his house today! He didn’t want these men within a mile of Meredith, much less in her home.
It did make sense to suggest that they should meet at a place more convenient for the volunteers, something central, perhaps near the school. He nodded; he wanted it to look as if he was participating.
As they were discussing the matter, Wesley the drunk spoke up in a voice so loud it might have carried across half the county. “I’ve got a friend whose mom owns that crafty shop up by the pizza place. I’ll talk her into letting us use it. It’s just sitting there, empty.”
A few of the volunteers nodded in agreement, and once more Ted joined in. He didn’t care where they met so long as it was far from Meredith.
They set a time to meet at their new headquarters—the day after tomorrow, which would give Wesley a chance to gain permission and a key, and perhaps to sober up—and it was done.
As the others wandered off, again in small groups, Lawrence placed a hand on Ted’s shoulder. It took everything Ted had not to shake that hand off. “You might be tempted to quit the community patrol and tell Sela Gordon and her folks to stuff it, and I sure wouldn’t blame you, but don’t do that just yet.”
Here it was, Ted thought, the reason he was here.
“You see, they don’t trust me, they don’t trust any of us. But you, Ted, they trust you just fine.”
“I don’t know about that,” Ted replied, letting his resentment toward Sela show. Likely Lawrence had heard about the confrontation at the store, and he’d be suspicious if Ted pretended all was well. “That bitch—well, never mind.”
“Just keep it cool, man. We’ll need you to let us know what’s what. Food’s going to get more and more scarce. Ammo too. Meds are already running really low, and I figure you can find out who’s got what and where it’s all stored.”
It seemed right to show at least a touch of indignation. “You want me to spy.”
Lawrence smiled. “We want you to gather and share important information. You can call it spying, if you want to, but I see it as another step in ensuring our survival. Survival of the fittest, and all that. We also need more men to join us. You appeal to a different element of our fine community, you can convince others to be a part of our efforts.”
Ted nodded, but didn’t smile. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Half that bunch acts as if they’d rather I dropped out, anyway. Let me think about it. I don’t think they’re telling me everything, so I don’t know how much use I’d be.” Yes, that sounded about right, to keep Lawrence from getting suspicious.
“Don’t think too long, Ted. We need you.”
Ted turned away and headed for home. The walk up the hill to his house was becoming less and less arduous, as he built up the muscles in his legs. He no