The Sheriff goes back to the door of the library, and peeks out satisfied that no one is coming to investigate the gunshots. He then impatiently waves at the siblings, urging them to leave as quickly as possible. Jen and Danny hurriedly pack all the books into the box and bring up the rear, but as they leave, Jen quickly scoops up the obese deputy's pistol.

"This way. Quick." Sheriff Clay orders in a low voice and leads the pair round the side of the building, to an alley where an SUV had been parked. The word "SHERIFF" is emblazoned on both sides of the vehicle, right beside the coat of arms of the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff unlocks the SUV and throws open the rear doors for both his passengers.

"Get inside and stay crouched below the car window." Clay orders, "Make sure no one can see you."

With no other choice available to them, both siblings pile into the SUV as Clay instructed. The Sheriff fires up the car's engine and pulls out of the alley, keeping the vehicle's lights off. Clay's eyes dart left and right before he elects to make a turn down a deserted street, leaving the main drag behind and passing between rows of dark, ramshackle houses.

"This neighborhood is still deserted." Clay says, "No residents here yet. We should have a clear run from here on out."

Jen levels the pistol she stole against the back of the driver's seat and nods at Danny. But before either of them can make a move, Clay continues to speak.

"I just saved you, Jennifer. Both of you in fact." Clay grumbles, "Some gratitude might be in order."

"I never told you my name." Jen scowls.

"Heard it from Xir." Clay smiles, "Both of you are all it has on its mind these days."

"So you do work for Xir." Jen shoots back, the barrel of the pistol not wavering an inch.

"Sure I do." Clay agrees, "You might have wanted to consider that before jumping into a strange man's car, Jennifer. Bit late now."

"Why are you helping us?" Danny cuts to the chase, realizing this back and forth was getting nowhere.

"How do you like our little town son?" Clay asks in good humor, but there's a bitter undertone to the question.

"It sucks." Jen replies for both siblings, "You have a monster roaming openly about hacking off people's private bits."

"The wasteland has that as well." Clay replies, chortling at the observation.

"Fine." Danny sighs, "This place is pretty darn good, even if you account for Xir as part of the bargain."

"Damn straight. No starvation, there's electricity, the entire works. And Xir ain't too bad either, once you've seen the horror of the virus wastes." Clay nods affirmatively, "Unfortunately this town is not going to last."

"Not going to last?" Jen asks, "We're all trapped here. None of us are going anywhere."

"Not everyone is trapped." Clay explains, "Xir lets people out that it can trust. The posse and I regularly head out to scavenge for food and supplies."

"Yeah. I saw Archie's stock." Danny mutters as he thinks back, "Those biscuits couldn't have come from here. But there was fresh meat and vegetables on the shelves as well."

"Private gardens." Jen cuts in, "Also there are folks raising chicken on the edge of town."

"The issue at hand is," Clay says grumpily as he steers the conversation back on point, "Ever since you showed up Jennifer, Xir has allowed us to leave less and less often. Its as if it no longer cares about the food situation."

"Maybe the town no longer needs salvage?" Danny muses, "Everything is in good condition here and the gardens should handle the food shortfall."

"Really." Clay snorts as the SUV passes a house that had collapsed on itself after termites had eaten the beams through.

"In comparison with everywhere else." Danny hurriedly adds on a rider to his statement.

"That's true, but you're wrong about the food situation." Clay says, "You saw what a fat fuck Phil was. What the town brings in as produce wouldn't allow him to become a human balloon. And Xir hasn't reduced rations for anyone, even though the town is depleting the food supply."

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"That doesn't make sense." Danny protests.

"Unless Xir no longer cares about the town." Jen concludes with a meaningful look at Danny, "It already has what it wants."

"That's my guess too." Clay answers, "I know that Xir is planning something. Its been talking about taking all of us to the clearing at the end of the road. I have no idea what it means, but it can't be anything good."

"That's why you're helping us now?" Jen challenges, "After hunting us for Xir."

"I have always been helping you Jennifer." Clay rolls his eyes in annoyance, "Its the reason why you could beg for scraps from Archie. And its also why your brother is still breathing after being lured to that death house."

"Death house?" Danny blurts out in shock.

"Yeah. Not everyone Xir allows in gets to actually live." Clay grunts, "Some poor bastards get lured to the death house. One morning Xir visits them and no one ever sees said bastard ever again. The end."

"That's crap." Danny rebuts, "Xir visited me. I just barred the door and it couldn't come in. I only had to leave because I was starving. Did you go into the house Jen?"

"No." Jen mutters, "I was suspicious of how convenient everything was and wandered about instead, eventually meeting Archie."

"Good for you." Clay smirks, "The only reason your brother could keep Xir out was because I had warned him that the death house was special. That's the trick behind it. Once you know that something is unusual about the house, it becomes completely ordinary. Xir can't use whatever trap it has prepared."

"I found a wooden box inside the house." Danny murmurs, "What's it for anyway?"

"A wooden box?" Clay asks, "No idea. I hadn't had a clue about what was hidden inside anyway. I knew about the trick because some poor schmuck managed to escape from the trap and babbled about it before we had him delivered to the church."

"And here I thought you were trying to help people." Jen comments bitingly.

"I am trying to help people." Clay snaps back, "I'm also trying to stay alive. So cut back on the sass, Missy."

"Let's not fight." Danny breaks up the quarrel before it gets any worse, "We're all on the same side right?"

"Damn straight. Here take this. You need it more than me." Clay replies as he presents his gun to Danny by the grip. Danny quickly grabs the weapon, eager to finally have some means of defending himself.

"Danny no!" Jen protests but its too late. The pistol is securely in Danny's hand. Danny gives Jen a puzzled look.

"He's setting you up!" Jen cries, "That's the gun used to kill the deputy!"

"Will you relax?" Clay huffs, "Yes, I'm setting both of you up for Phil's murder, not that it would make things any worse for you. Xir wants the two of you alive and a murder's not going to change that."

"But ..." Danny begins to object but Clay cuts him off.

"And Xir knows where I live." Clay says, "Phil called your burglary in. I need to explain the headless corpse left at the library in a way that keeps my nose clean. Got it?"

"Right. Got it." Danny sighs unhappily, accepting the weapon. The pistol's grip is cool, but it had somehow become red hot in Danny's mind.

"Good. Right, we're here." Clay pulls up by the side of the deserted street, "We're very close to the woods, just cut across that empty field. You two should be able to make yourselves scarce from this point."

"Uh, thanks." Jen mutters unwillingly as both siblings disembark from the SUV.

"Thank me by staying alive." Clay shoots back, "The longer both of you are out of Xir's hands, the longer I get to play Sheriff."

And without further ado, Clay turns the car around and charges down the street at full speed, heading back to investigate the scene of a recently committed crime ...