Ellie and Luiz watched the dust cloud grow in the distance.

Luiz said, “There’s a lot of them.”

“Yeah,” said Ellie. She checked the safety on her AR-15 again.

“You don’t need that,” he said.

“I hope not.”

There were a dozen vehicles or so and perhaps fifty people among them. Most stayed back a few hundred yards but a Mustang approached and parked in front of Ellie and Luiz. A woman emerged. She was dressed like a high school English teacher.

“We’re not here for trouble,” she said. “We’re going to the Ring and we could use a guide.”