"Look, rules are all well and good, but they don't need much if people are living in fear and don't have food in their bellies," Roy pointed out. "I don't want to make any waves here, but these guys are right, we gotta take care of ourselves before we bother with who's in charge," he went on with a wave to the two men who had given out similar opinions- Collins and O'Riley? He was pretty sure those were the names.

"'Nother thing, folks," he said casually. "Even with the Japanese bringing food and water, we're gonna be hurtin' before too long, especially if we start something like a big construction project. People can't work on no wall with empty stomachs. And those couple of little babies- they're gonna need formula."

"So I just want to make a little proposal," he said, steepling his fingers and looking over his glasses. "What I'm thinking is I borrow one of those trucks out there- maybe that Ford with the Nebraska plates. I saw a Wal-Mart on the way in here, I think it'd be worth it to do some ripping and running on the place. Grab some food, water. If they got a sporting goods department maybe there's guns and ammo. If one of these doctors comes with me, they'd know what's worth taking in the pharmacy. I can get the lay of the land, figure out what's going on down in the town, get a better idea of what we're dealing with. All that and be back before dark."

He leaned back. "I could probably use two or three others, just to be safe and have help hauling stuff back. The rest of y'all can get on with sweeping the campus and building your fortifications while I'm out." Roy shrugged. "Like I said, somebody's gotta do something."