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threat, she might only have one more chance to stop him.
    Zoey cuts diagonally up the incline, throwing glances at the summit every other step. She reverses directions, keeping the largest rocks between her and where the man disappeared. Her back begins to ache and a tingling shoots down her left leg.
    Not now. Don’t have time for this.
    Ahead there are dollops of wet blood covering the ground, their round shapes glinting in the sun. She advances, rifle out before her, aiming purely by instinct. She reaches the top of the rise and pauses, gazing down.
    The man lies on his back several yards away. The scuffs in the dirt say that he fell hard, his legs cut out from under him. His eyes are open and staring at her, chest rising and falling quickly. His hand scrabbles at something near his side.
    “Stop moving,” she says, coming forward. The rifle is steady in her hands. He freezes, eyes focusing on her face. She places the rifle barrel beneath his chin and forces his head back before stripping the handgun from a makeshift holster at his side. She steps back, keeping the rifle trained on him. “Who are you?”
    The man grimaces as he tries to sit up. There is a small amount of blood pooling at his side. From the looks of it she barely hit him.
    “What’s your name?” she asks.
    “Benny.”
    “Get up, Benny.”
    “I can’t. You shot me.”
    “Yes you can. I only nicked you.”
    Benny stands and she examines him for a moment. Dark, straggly haircut done most likely by his own hand. Narrow features, pointed chin. Starved look about him. “Walk up over the hill and if you try to run, I’ll shoot you.”
    “You already did that, bitch.”
    She lets the comment go unanswered. She herds him up over the rise and back down into the valley. The tingling is now in both legs and she has to concentrate to keep from limping. The Suburban is there below, Merrill, Eli, and Ian all heading in her direction. When they spot the man walking in front of her, Merrill and Eli draw their handguns, muzzles pointed at the ground.
    “What the hell is this?” Eli says as Zoey brings Benny to a stop before them.
    “He was watching us from the canyon wall. His name’s Benny.”
    “Where you from, Benny?” Merrill asks as he pats the other man down, drawing a chipped knife from a sheath as well as a radio from one pocket. When Benny doesn’t respond, Merrill holds the radio up before his face. “Who are you keeping in contact with?”
    “They’re going to be here soon,” Benny says, looking up at the sky almost casually. “Then all of you are deader than dead.”
    Merrill glances at Zoey. “Did you see anyone else?”
    “No.”
    “Vehicle?”
    “Not out in the open.”
    Merrill returns his attention to Benny. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
    Benny begins laughing but winces, holding his side. “You got a real funny way of showing it.”
    “Why were you watching us?” Zoey asks. Benny gives her a sidelong glance before returning his gaze to the sky. With a quick movement she jabs the rifle barrel into his wound and he staggers to the side with a short cry.
    “Zoey! That’s enough,” Merrill says. “We’re not going to hurt him. We’re going to bring him back to camp, give him something to eat, and talk like civilized people.”
    She feels her jaw tighten, but she only stares at Merrill before shifting her focus to Ian, who gives her a small shake of his head.
    “Let’s go, you in front—” Merrill says, but is cut off by a crackle of static from Benny’s radio.
    “Benny. Where you at?” a low voice says through the radio.
    Everyone freezes.
    “Benny. You read me?”
    Merrill holds the radio up toward Benny. “Tell them you’re fine or we’ll shoot you in the head.”
    The other man stares at him for a long second before leaning forward. “No.” Benny smiles. Zoey nearly brings up the rifle then, but pauses, something snagging her attention. There is a frayed area on the grimy jacket the man wears,