Meg glared at him, but Sam patted her back to calm her.  She whispered, “We are not leaving these people here to starve.”

Allistor whispered back.  “I know you want to help them.  So do I.  But we don’t know anything about them.  And looking around here, I don’t see why they’re starving.  There are viable vehicles to use here,” he motioned all around them.  “So they could hunt farther out if all the game in the forest is gone.  They have walls, with space inside for gardening.   So either they’re incompetent, or they’re playing us.  Either way, they need us.  We have the upper hand here.  I’m going to make sure it stays that way.”

They waited as Luther argued with someone atop the wall.  A minute later, Luther called down.  “Fine.  Come on in.”

The gates opened as the four got back into their trucks.  Sam led them through the gates into the section of the town that had been walled off.  The street just continued through the gates and on toward the back wall.  The shops and buildings on either side remained intact, as far as Allistor could tell.   People milled around, watching the two trucks.  About half carried weapons.  And as Luther had described, there were several children and elderly folks in the group.

Turning off their engines, they exited the vehicles.  Luther had come down from the wall and was approaching Meg.   “I’m sorry about that, Meg.  We’re all just a little twitchy.  We’ve been attacked twice since we put up this wall. By humans, I mean.  Lost some family and friends.”  He reached out a hand to shake.

“We understand.” Meg ignored the hand and hugged the man.  “It must have been rough here.  Our town was completely destroyed by a sixty-foot-tall asshole giant that stomped it flat.  But we haven’t had to fight other humans yet.”

Amanda interrupted.  “We can talk later.  These kids look like they’re about to pass out.  Let’s get some food off the truck and into their bellies.”

Luther motioned for people to come and help unload.  When Allistor opened the back of the box truck, there were gasps of surprise and cries of joy.  One old man who looked to be about seventy took the box of jars Allistor handed him with tears in his eyes.  “Bless you, son.”

Allistor, a lump in his throat keeping him from speaking, just nodded his head.

They unloaded a couple dozen jars of fruit and veggies, and Meg demanded to be shown to the kitchen.  She and Sam began cooking burgers that she brought along in her ring.  They used one of the recipes that bestowed buffs to Stamina and health regeneration.

Allistor sat in the back of the truck with Luther as Amanda began examining the children one by one.  He began to speak quietly to the man.

Luther, I have to ask… why are you and your people going hungry?  There are hundreds of miles of forest around you to hunt in.  And there have to be other towns close by.”