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loose and truckers were abandoning their trailers by the hundreds, the group walked through the yard and selected the trailers they wanted.
         They chose the ones with metal seals on the doors. They knew those trailers were full. They also picked the ones with refrigerator units on the front of the trailers that were turned on. Those were full of perishables. But they discounted the reefer trailers with their temperatures set at forty degrees. Produce and dairy products were worthless to them. They wanted meat. And frozen food products that were easy to cook. Or already cooked.
         That’s why half the trailers they selected had Walmart painted on their sides. They knew that those trailers would be full of food they could prepare on a campfire. Or in one of the microwaves inside their trucks’ sleeper cabs. And as an added bonus, there was a good chance each trailer would also contain other items they could use. Clothing, blankets, tools, furniture… opening each trailer would be like opening a grab bag.
         Marty spotted Scott into position. He had Scott pull up tight next to the first trailer. And when a three inch space wasn’t good enough, he had him back up and try again.
         “Scrape the paint, Scott.” He said. “I want the trailers touching.”
         Scott Burley stayed in the cab while Marty dropped the trailer for him. Just as Scott was pulling away, Joe pulled in, driving Marty’s truck, towing the third trailer. Perfect timing.
         Within an hour, the group had fifteen 53 foot-long trailers side by side, forming the north wall of their compound.
         The south wall, twenty four feet away from the first, was a lot harder and took a lot longer. Each trailer had to be backed in, yet still had to touch the trailer that was backed in before it. Luckily, all of the drivers had many years experience behind the wheel, and knew what they were doing. 
         Once the south wall was complete, three trailers were backed into position on the east side, so their back doors were facing the inside of the compound like the other trailers.
         Then Joe brought a flatbed trailer full of plywood and lumber. He and Marty took the tarps and straps off the load and shoved it off the side of the trailer, and off to the side out of the way. By the time they were finished, it was a tangled mess of two by fours, four by fours and plywood. But there would be plenty of time to sort it all out and stack it later.
         Seven years worth of time.
         Once three of the four walls of trailers were in place, their task was almost finished. They retrieved three tankers full of diesel fuel and placed them in the field north of their new compound. They’d have taken all four tankers in the yard, but one of them had a leaky air line and the brakes wouldn’t disengage. So they settled for three. They read the gauges and did the math, and figured that 17,000 gallons of diesel would be enough even without the fourth trailer.
         They knew that diesel would be liquid gold to whatever survivors might come around in the months ahead. So they were careful to place the tankers on the north side of the compound, hidden from view of the truck stop and the highway that ran past it.
         The last step was building the west wall, using the last three trailers they’d picked from the yard. Before they closed the door on their compound, though, they drove all three of their tractors into the center of it. They used one of the truck stop’s yard tractors to place the final three trailers into position.
         When they were finished, they stood back and examined their handiwork. They had a secure compound, one hundred twenty feet by twenty four feet, surrounded by the back doors of thirty six trailers full of food and supplies. The only way in or out was to crawl under the trailers. It would be safe and easy to defend from marauders.
         There was more to be done, but they’d