Ken Stevenson was sweating heavily. DC in summer. The smooth wooden grip of the baseball bat felt slick in his palm. However, he made no attempt to remove his suit jacket, or even loosen his necktie. That would not do. He was not going to go around looking like a disheveled idiot. That would mean they had won.

He had felt a pang of dismay as he watched the last evacuation helicopters leaving, and kicked himself for deciding to shut himself in with Maddie for a weekend, mindlessly fucking, the television and phones turned off. Otherwise, Ken might have gotten to the rally point for Congressmen. He'd be safely out of the city by now, on his way to. . . somewhere. Ken didn't really know where, the orientation packets he had received on his first day in office had been a little vague on that point.

Still, he was a smart man. Ken knew that any halfway decent continuity of government scheme would give him a free pass into secure confines- any elected figure would be valuable in restoring order. The trick would just be reaching somewhere safe. Miranda was back in Louisville, Maddie had decided to take her chances in the city. He had come alone. But he was not alone. Looking over the group of disappointed would-be refugees, he picked out a few that actually looked physically fit enough to help in a fight, against looters or crazies or whatever those things he kept hearing about were.

"Alright, everybody listen up!" he said loudly. He did not yell. That would be undignified, put people on the defensive. He merely spoke very loudly. "Those helicopters are not coming back. We're going to have to find our own way. I'm heading south, to either Fort McNair or the Navy Yard. It's not far, only around two miles. Anybody who wants to accompany me is more than welcome. I serve in Congress, if anyone decides to come along I will see to it that the soldiers or sailors grant you shelter." Confident that he had their attention, he smiled reassuringly at the crowd, waiting to see if anyone would take him up on his offer.