Loading up in the vehicles, the teams bid farewell to Jack and the others and set off in opposite directions. Jack had managed to find several fifteen-passenger vans that they could use to get back to Dallas with all their members. They expressed how sorry they were for their actions and promised that they were just looking for someone to follow and get through the apocalypse together. Tom felt pretty confident that they would simply be eager to learn recruits and was happy to have them aboard.

Before they headed out of town, Carl showed them to a place where they could spend the night and head out fresh in the morning. Dealing with the cult had taken a good part of the day and everyone was tired. Near the edge of the city, there was an old Hotel that was being used to provide places for people to stay. They got rooms and rested for the evening.

Early the next morning, the teams met in the parking lot to get ready to head out.

"Provided we make similar time to what we've been doing, and there are no more delays..." Derek paused to look at Tom.

"I'm not sorry for the stops we've made," Tom said.

"Even so, we should make good time to Flagstaff Arizona like we did from Amarillo to Albuquerque. We can stop there and it should only be a short trip up to the Grand Canyon. I want us at least as rested as we can be when we arrive. So we will stop there to rest." Derek explained.

"That sounds good. I know some places in Flagstaff that might still be a good place to stop. Might be some monsters around because Flagstaff isn't as big of a city as Albuquerque. But, shouldn't be anything you lot can't handle." Carl said.

"Cool. Because I could use a little more practice." Austin said. "That last fight where they got the drop on us kind of messed with my head."

"It's not your fault that happened," Bobby said. "It happens to everyone. you get surprised and you lose a fight. Don't let it get you down."

"Thanks, man. I appreciate that." Austin said. "Especially since you got your ass handed to you too."

"Oh really? I wouldn't have gotten jumped if I wasn't in there trying to pull your ass out of the fire." Bobby said.

"Well, that's funny because I was only in there when Derek was getting the shit kicked out of him," Austin said.

"And I was only in there because Tom got jumped," Derek said.

"I never said I was a fighter. I was just trying to be a good leader and taking the initiative." Tom said.

"True. We can't fault you for that. No one else wanted to go first. And you can heal yourself. So better you than someone else." Derek said.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown," James said.

"I am NOT wearing a crown. This is just me trying to be willing to take on responsibilities." Tom said.

"That's respectable," Carl said. "I'm glad to hear that our leader is willing to put in the work for the guild."

"Well, I think we've wasted enough time. Time to hit the road." Derek said.

"Agreed, Let's go," Tom said.

Hopping into the vehicles, the crew headed out following Carl on his Harley. After a bit of driving they arrived at a hotel that appeared to be housing a small group of people. Carl led them inside to talk to the receptionist.

"Welcome to the Albuquerque Holiday Inn. How can I help you...Carl?" The lady at the desk said.

"Hey Rose, good to see you're still here. Think you have some rooms for me and my friends here?" Carl asked.

"Sure thing. If you wanna head upstairs I can give you these keys. Each one has double beds. Should be enough for all of you." Rose replied.

"Thanks love. We'll be out in the morning headed on our way." Carl said as he turned to head upstairs.

Everyone split up the keys and went to rest for the night knowing they had a long day ahead of them and tired from the events they had been through today.

Rising early the next morning, the team met downstairs to enjoy a breakfast from the food the people of Decatur had given them. Once finished, everyone bid Rose a farewell and thanks for the rooms and climbed into the vehicles to head out. Carl again took the lead as he knew the way to Flagstaff better than anyone else.

Once again, time was spent moving vehicles out of the way, and Carl was happy to let the others take the lead to run down any goblins that had built roadblocks. As they traveled through the desert areas the teams also began to see larger monsters roaming the sands. Monsters that had to be as large as small mountains for how large they appeared yet still seemed to be so far off in the distance.

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Happy to leave those beasts be, the teams continued on toward Flagstaff. When they finally reached the road signs saying they were entering the city limits, the crew was ready to rest for the evening, tired from the travel of the day and the work needed to get them there.

Pulling into the city itself, the area looked like a ghost town. Not a soul could be seen anywhere. When they stopped at a hotel that seemed abandoned, they looked around to see if they could find anyone.

"What's with this place seeming so desolate?" Kedron asked.

"No idea, it's normally not like this. Though the population is lower than other towns, it's not this quiet." Carl said.

"Over there, I saw someone moving in that window," Bobby said.

"Are you sure?" James asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. They definitely were watching us then ducked down out of sight." Bobby said.

"HEY OVER THERE! WE AREN'T HERE TO HURT YOU WE JUST WANT TO REST FOR THE NIGHT!" James yelled at the place Bobby had indicated.

"Really smooth, James. I would definitely want to come talk to someone yelling at me." Derek said.

The door to the house cracked open slightly and a woman poked her head out.

"You were saying?" James asked.

"Keep your voices down. They'll hear you." The woman hushed them.

"Who will hear us? This place looks abandoned." Tom asked.

"The raiders," She said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Raiders? There shouldn't be any raiders yet. The apocalypse just happened like two weeks ago. Who the hell got their shit together that fast to do raids?" Derek asked.

Rolling her eyes the woman waved them over to the building she was in.

"Get in here and be quiet. We don't need them coming in early because you jackasses won't shut the hell up." She said.

"Wow, language..." James said.

"Oh, you're one to talk. Mr. I can't go one sentence without swearing." Derek said.

"Fuck you," James said.

"Case and point," Derek said smiling back at him.

Moving to the building, the teams entered inside and the woman hurriedly shut the door behind them. Tom clicked the button on the remote to lock the GS2 out of habit and the horn honked. The woman gave him a withering gaze in return.

"Sorry, force of habit," He said holding his hands up placatingly.

"Look, the raiders come through here almost every day looking for things to steal. They harass people and kill anyone that gets in their way," The woman said.

"But where did they come from? Like I said, it's too early in the apocalypse for anyone to have found the time to coordinate raid groups and vehicles to attack people like this." Derek said.

"They are a nomadic people that live out in the desert. They broke away from society about ten years ago to go live in a lawless society together where there are no rules and they reject any government interference." The woman said. "The local police had many run-ins with them as they tend to be drug addicts or sovereign citizens that believe they had found some loopholes in the constitution that means they don't have to follow the rules like everyone else."

"Oh, so crazy people," James interjected.

"Essentially. They had been gathering supplies and building up stockholds in the desert for years and now they see this as their opportunity to take whatever they want from people." The woman continued. "Now they come and raid the city trying to take anything they can to keep up their supplies. They were ready for something like this to happen and are just taking advantage of the rest of us."

"We are so sorry to hear you've been dealing with that. This apocalypse is hard enough without having to worry about crazed lunatics coming in and trying to steal everything not nailed down. My name is Tom. This is my team and we are on our way to the Grand Canyon to try to help with the worldwide quest so we can set things back to normal." Tom said.

"Don't you say it, Tom," Derek said.

"But maybe we can help here as well," Tom said.

Derek facepalmed.

"I'm Sarah. I'm not sure what you could do here though. If you are passing through, I'd suggest getting going now. Those vehicles are something the raiders will be looking to take with them." Sarah said.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Kiera asked.

"And go where? It's an apocalypse. I don't know where to go. No one does. With communication shut down, we can't just call our family and plan a road trip. We need to know where to go." Sarah said.

"Well, we can't just let our vehicles get stolen. Guess we will have to do something about it." Tom said.

"If by do something you mean keep driving, then that's a great plan," Sarah said.

"We should probably try to defend them," Tom said.

"That is a bad plan. There are a lot of raiders. Hundreds of them." Sarah said. "And there's what? A dozen of you?"

"I think we are up to fourteen now," Tom said.

"Oh, those two should make the difference," Sarah said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Touchy much?" James asked.

"You try living in constant fear of being attacked daily for two weeks and then come tell me how you feel about it," Sarah quipped.

"Fair point," James said.

"Look, we have been on the road for a long time, and we need to rest. We should be stopping here. And these people can't just go out and do whatever they want like this." Tom said.

"And if we fight them off, we haven't rested at all," Derek said.

"Maybe not, but we made a difference in people's lives," Tom said.

"Or send the raiders off with their tails between their legs only to come back with even more forces where they will completely burn the town to the ground out of revenge," Derek countered.

"You all seriously think you can fight off the raiders?" Sarah said.

"We've fought a lot recently," Tom said. "It's kind of our thing."

"Much to our detriment," Derek said.

"We've done nothing but get stronger and improve our teamwork through the fights," Tom countered. "It prepares us for this bigger fight coming up."

"It delays us and puts us in danger," Derek said.

"We're always in danger, Derek. It's a fucking apocalypse." Tom said.

Derek was quiet for a moment. Tom had a point. He just hated that they were still sticking their neck out for people.

"I get you hate that we keep doing this, but if not us, then who? You said it yourself to Seth." Tom said.

"I said that to get him to join us," Derek said.

"Hey!" Seth said.

"Oh, you needed to hear it too. You were being Tom just for that one town." Derek said.

"Look, I appreciate you looking out for us. You are our constant voice of reason and one of my best friends. But we need to do this. I can't leave people to suffer like this." Tom said.

Letting out a big sigh, Derek nodded.

"I know. I'm just trying to be sure we don't do something stupid. Which I will say this is." Derek said. "So what's the plan?"

"We need to set up some traps for them. Jay, you think you can help with that?" Tom said.

"Why? Because I'm the rogue?" Jay asked.

"Umm, yes?" Tom said.

"....Yes, I can actually, but I don't like being stereotyped," Jay said.

"Duly noted. Probably going to happen again." Tom said looking at the others. "We are going to give them a surprise they won't forget."