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The Walking Dead Revelation

Season 4 Episode 2: A Precious Cargo

TIME: 7:34 P.M; ONE HOUR SINCE THE DEFEAT OF ANDERS COMMUNITY

Lee lay in the grass. The sky was black, and the ground blanketed by fog. Orange light splashed into the air by fire flickered out in the distance. Smoke replaced cloud. Lee’s right hand barely tapped the shattered, gaping hole in his left collar bone. Blood caked his fingers. He thought he’d die. But it took several minutes of waiting for death to cradle him before he realized that tonight was not the night to die.

            Lee carefully pulled himself to his feet. Every movement of his left arm sent knifing, jolting pains. He knew not to grunt and cry out. The dead were out tonight, and they were hungry. He scanned the area. He could make out three rovers out in the distance, and bodies littered everywhere. He glanced over at the fairgrounds and winced when he noticed it was up in flames. Most of the rides had fallen apart, and small waves of the dead exited the grounds towards anything that made noise.

            Anders must have known about the bunker. It didn’t matter how he knew, only that he tried to steal supplies here, and failed. He failed because Lee stopped him. The small band of pawns that Anders led here as a last resort didn’t stand a chance once Gregonary found out they were coming his way.

            Gregonary…where was he?

            He went down a few moments before Lee did. Anders drew on Gregonary and shot him. Just before Lee fired at Anders, and then Anders at Lee.

            “Gregonary,” Lee called out. He kept to his knees as he crawled across the tall grass. He saw shifting a few feet out. As he crept closer, he found Gregonary rolling onto his back. A hole where his heart would be pumped blood.

            “Gregonary, hold on for me, man.” Lee asked of the old man. The dying rancher slowly looked up to Lee.

            “Lee…don’t tell anyone about the Fairbunker.”

            “What?”

            “They can’t know my failure…they can’t know…”

            Gregonary died.

            Lee pulled his knife from his belt, and slowly scrunched the blade into Gregonary’s temple.

            “He was a good man,” a familiar voice echoed. Lee knew who it was. He turned to look and winced at Anders. He stood firmly, ignoring the bullet wound in his side, “I didn’t want him to die. But you made it come to this.”

            “None of this would have happened if you would have just negotiated!” Lee growled crawling to his feet. His gun was still in his hand. Anders was weaponless.

            “My weapon is a couple of feet away and I don’t have the speed to retrieve it in time.” Anders smiled, “So let’s get this over with. Just know that killing me will come with a cost.”

            “Just like killing all my friends cost you?” Lee fired back, raising his gun vengefully. Anders chuckled,

            “No. Nothing like that.”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “Pull the trigger and find out.”

            Lee’s finger carefully tapped the trigger. Should he pull it? What if he’s bluffing? No, he couldn’t be bluffing…could he? There was something in Ander’s eyes. Something fierce, like he knew he was winning. Like he already won. Just then, the sound of several vehicles speeding into the fairgrounds pierced Lee’s ears. He made his decision.

THE PRESENT

“What you’ve built here,” Abraham Ford grinned looking over Brittany’s shoulder sightseeing the walls of The Church from the Valero gas station, “it’s something special. You can tell you fought long and hard for it.”

            “We did.” Brittany agreed, her eyes staying fixed on Abraham and his group standing behind him.

            “Something we’d be willing to do again if we had to. Understand that.” Zach added, his fingers tenderly tapping the hilt of his Dao sword sheathed to his side. Abraham smiled, “Won’t be necessary, partner. See we’re not looking for a place to stay. That’s not the current mission unlike most people. Our mission is to escort my friend here Eugen Porter to Washington DC.”

            “What for?” Bailey questioned.

            “That’s classified.” Eugene interjected. Abraham looked at Eugene, then back to Brittany.

            “Let’s just say what he’s got in-between the back of his head and his eyebrows is somethin’ that’ll change the world.”

            “What’s this got to do with your group knocking on our door?” Brittany stepped forward, her hand resting on her holstered firearm.

            “Our vehicle has just recently run out of fuel,” Sergeant Ford pointed south, “Fought to the last drop and died just a few miles out. We didn’t want to find another vehicle and risk losing all our supplies and ammunition that we’ve stocked up over the year and a half. All that to say, ma’am, we need fuel.”

            “I can’t help you there. Our community is running low as it is.” Brittany confidently replied.

            Lee stepped forward between Zach and Brittany, “You sure we can’t spare just a little bit to get them by?”

            “But we can’t,” Brittany whispered back, looking over her shoulder up to Lee and Zach, “I mean…finding fuel is tough as it is. If we run out, it’ll take forever to find enough to get cars running again.”

            Lee stepped back. He nervously looked all around him. He looked at Abraham’s group, then his friends. He knew exactly where to find a whole lot of fuel. But he made a promise. But maybe he could work his way around that…

            “What if I help Abraham-”

            “Sergeant Ford.” Abraham interrupted sternly.

            “I-yes, sorry. What if I helped Sergeant Ford find fuel around the county? I mean we know the area better than he does, and I think I could help them find some places that could supply them and us.”

            “Wouldn’t driving around scavenging for fuel cost us fuel?” Bailey sarcastically grinned,

            “Yeah, but if we find some it’s a win-win for all of us. No losses. I can find some, I know I can.”

            “If the kid can find fuel then I say give him the shot.” Abraham suggested.

            “I’m making the decisions around here,” Brittany made clear. She looked back at Lee, then at Abraham’s group, “Only Sergeant Ford and Lee will go. The rest stays here under watch. You have till sunset to come back and if we don’t see Lee by then, Eugene starts losing body parts. Understand?”

            Abraham smiled, followed by a short, rumbly chuckle.

            “You gotta deal, ma’am.”

TIME: 7:15 P.M; 45 MINUTES SINCE ANDER’S DEFEAT AT COSTCO

            Lee is speeding down back roads racing towards the old fairgrounds that was once the location of the Montgomery County Fair. His eyes fixed on the road, and from the outside looking in he appeared so determined and focused to get to the Fairbunker community. However, within his thoughts Lee was panicking. As he drew closer and closer to the grounds, he grew farther from figuring out how to save the fairgrounds and stop Anders and the remnants of his men without getting killed.

            The memory of Gregonary warning him not to return to the Fairbunker haunted Lee amidst all the other horrors. Suppose he did save the community and stopped Anders. What would Gregonary do? Capture him and hold him captive? Or worse? Surely not, Lee thought. Gregonary was a business man, and surely, he would understand that he would owe Lee should he succeed.

            Should he succeed.

            Lee blinked hard and breathed deep as he passed up a land marker that told him he was close. The space in his lungs seemed to have expanded and he suddenly couldn’t seem to get enough air in. He could feel the sweat developing around his palms gripping the steering wheel.

            Then he smelt it. The smoke. Then he saw it: a rover wandering out of the wooded roadside with balloons tied around it-a rover from the fair. Lee would never forget those things. Seeing this sight, and smelling the smoke from the outside, Lee knew deep down he was too late.

            Slamming on the breaks, Lee parked his vehicle to the side, and scrambled from out of the car. The ballooned rover stumbled his way, but Lee quickly dispatched it racing into the wood towards the smell that grew stronger the closer he got. Eventually through the cracks of the edges of the woods he could see the flames lapping around the metal forms that structured the different attractions of the rundown fair. All the weed and brush that clung to the metal and crawled to the highest elements only fed the orange flames. Rovers stood still within the fire, engulfed in violent inferno-the light and crackling roars of the fire attracting them more than the colorful traits of the fair itself.

            In the distance Lee could see Anders and the rest of his troops, which had to have been around half a dozen, all walked around carrying different supplies with them. They had loaded a truck full of gasoline, and another vehicle with food and other supplies. Anders could be seen off to the side admiring his handy work, proudly standing with his fists on his hips as if he was just as glad to receive a constellation prize.

            Lee could also make out Gregonary who sat on his knees surrounded by a number of corpses laying around him. He killed them all. Lee was surprised. At this point whatever sickness Anders expressed only seemed like dark normality at this point. But he had to be stopped. He’s not allowed to live. He doesn’t get to live. Not after what he’s done. The people he’s killed. It’s over for him, and Lee will make sure that it’s over for him.

            Speeding across the woods to get a closer shot with his long-range rifle, Anders managed to find a decent spot that provided an open shot at Anders, an appealing target, for sure. However, with his men standing about fully armed killed him would prove to be the more likely death of Lee as well. The same result if he tried to take out his troops one by one. Ah, but there was one particular target that was all too attractive: the truck loaded with fuel.

            One shot was all it took. The barrel that was hit by the round flashed white light as the heat of the bullet ignited the gasoline. The barrel burst open as the gas bubbled out in a splashing reaction of yellow fire, which only caused the five other barrels in the tailgate to go off as well. Within seconds the entire truck was in flames, and only five seconds after did the truck explode in a fiery blast.

            Lee didn’t take the time to watch. He was already within a few yards by the time the black smoke cleared. Most of Ander’s troops were wounded on the ground when Lee permanently downed them with his rifle. He emptied the rest of his clip when the last two standing troops attempted to fight back, but couldn’t see as well as Lee did through the smoke. Dropping the rifle, Lee picked up a handgun from one of his corpses and peered out carefully looking for Anders. By the time he saw him, Anders had already seen him, firing a single shot into Lee’s collarbone. Just after he took the shot, Lee fired a single round that skipped through the outer flesh of Ander’s throat. They both dropped to the ground.

PRESENT

Although Abraham’s group was allowed inside the walls of The Church, they were confined into one of the rooms where they would stay under careful watch. They were fed a large breakfast, and according to Rex it was the largest breakfast they’ve had since the beginning. Rosita confirmed it, and Eugene supported the theory by silently continuing to eat his share of pickles. Zach had been guarding the door of the cell for about two hours now, and had managed to get more acquainted with the eight collectives.

            “So, you said you know the cure?” Zach questioned. All eyes in the room suddenly fixed between Eugene and myself. Eugene looked at me, then at Rosita before swallowing the last of his food. His heavy build set him apart from the rest of the strong built group, but not nearly as much as the greasy, dark brown mullet he sported proudly.

            “I do, of sorts.”

            Zach’s fingers tapped the pommel of his Dao sword at an excited rhythm, but he made sure to keep his eyes focused and stern.

            “What is it?”

            “Eugene…” Pam interjected, as if telling Zach was forbidden, and Eugene needed reminding. Zach recognized the lack of trust between the two, based on the eyes that darted strictly towards Eugene, he understood that although he was the groups most precious cargo, all he was was a brilliant mind.

            “I’m aware of what is confidential,” Eugene snapped. He looked at Pam, then he looked at Rosita, and then he looked at Zach, “That information is strictly confidential.”

            “We know you are good people,” Rosita affirmed, “by now we can tell the difference. Being out on the road, we just can. But we also know that there are bad people out there, people who do terrible things to people. We can’t risk others sharing what Eugene knows. It’s why we don’t even know. What Eugene knows will die with him.”

            Zach understood. He communicated as such with a subtle nod. Hearing footsteps behind him, Zach turned around seeing Brittany and another civilian behind her.

            “Sean will cover for you for the next two hours if you want.”

            Zach switched places with Sean and gave one last look at Eugene before walking away with Brittany.

            “You get anything from them?”

            “Nothing,” Zach sighed, “they’re good people though. From what I gather they’re all in it to protect Eugene. They don’t even know what the cure is.”

            “So, they’re just taking Eugene’s word for it?” Brittany wondered with a tone of shock. Zach smiled,

            “I guess so. What do you think the chances are that Eugene’s lying?”

            “Well, I mean we don’t have a reason to think he’s lying-”

            “We don’t have a reason to think he’s telling the truth either.”

            “Exactly. You think sending Abraham and Lee out like that was smart?”

            Exiting the town hall and into the open outdoors, Zach turned facing Brittany,

            “…yeah I think so. But what else could we have done, honestly?”

            Brittany’s eyes looked down to the ground, stopping in her tracks, her back facing Zach. She rested her hands on her belt, “I don’t know.”

            “You’re doing that thing again,” Zach said taking a few steps closer to Brittany, “That thing where you look at the ground and turn your back on whoever you’re talking to in order to avoid showing your face.”

            Brittany only shrugged her shoulders, looking back up at the sun.

            “You’re doing the right thing right now. Just as you made the right decision on that day.”

            “Ha.”

            “I’m serious.”

            Brittany turned around and looked up at Zach. His eyes were bluer than they usually were-he’s getting emotional.

            “You made a hard decision,” Zach continued, “we lost…people. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right decision.”

            “The right decision means no one dies.”

            “No, it doesn’t. Sometimes it means we don’t lose as many people as we would if we made any other choice. Sometimes the right decision means we don’t lose everybody.”

            Brittany was quiet for a time. She looked at Zach. Her eyes were almost completely white. She was getting emotional too.

            “He’s dead because of me.”

            Zach smiled at about the same time a tear fell from his face. He wiped it immediately, “You-you can’t talk like that. If you didn’t give that command, Anders would have won and everything we were trying to build would have been gone. Everyone would more than likely be dead. You know that. Timothy knew that too.”

            Brittany fell silent again. Zach chuckled, “I didn’t plan on crying today. The festivals and celebrations are bringing everything back into memory.”

            “Yeah.”

            Zach looked out in the distance at the different tents, and inhaled to take in the amazing smells.

            “I’m hungry. Are you hungry? Cause I’m hungry. Let’s get food.” Patting Brittany on the back, he made his way towards the source of the smells, being sure to take her with him.

            Pulling up into the ruins of the Fairbunker, Lee and Abraham stepped out from the truck. By now the fair grounds were rusted and collapsed, black with ash and buried in brush.

            “You think we’ll find fuel here?” Abraham wondered,

            “We will.” Lee assured, walking towards the iron door in the ground that would lead to the underground community.

            “I’m willing to bet my nut sack you’ve been many times.” Abraham theorized. Lee glanced at the Army-man just as he discovered the door and pulled it open.

            “A few times.”

            Disappearing under the ground, Lee headed towards the very back of the former bunker to where the fuel was kept. Abraham followed close behind. The two carefully stepped over the piles of useless junk that Gregonary had once traded.

            “What was this place?”

            “It used to be a trading community. They had everything. They had a system.” Lee turned a corner and opened the entrance door to the fuel vault, revealing multiple barrels of gasoline. Smiling at the sight, Abraham clapped his hands and rubbed them together,

            “Well mother d***.”

            “We’ll load as much as we can and get out of here.”

            Loading eight barrels onto the tailgate, the two climbed back into the truck. Abraham waited to start the truck. He looked at the fairgrounds and then looked Lee who only kept his eyes forward.

            “What happened here, Balusek?”

            Lee hesitated, then he looked down, then at Abraham, “They trusted a madman and their system failed.”

            Abraham saw right through Lee.

            “You’re the only one that knows about this, aren’t you?”

            Lee didn’t respond. Abraham chuckled, “Every group has their secrets. I get it. Now let’s take the precious cargo and go home.”

            As the truck pulled away from the fairgrounds, Lee took one last look before it disappeared behind the woods. It was a big risk coming here, but it was worth it. He doesn’t know, and neither will anyone else.

EIGHTEEN HOURS LATER

            Abraham and Lee returned to the Church safely. Their group made plans to journey back to their vehicle which by their suspicion was about a fifteen-minute drive from the community. Ian, Dylan and Maddy volunteered to take them back along with Sean, who was happy to take everyone else’s guarding shift. That night, at two o’clock in the morning, however, Lee had a small journey of his own. One that brought him back to the Fairbunker, and one that called for a backpack full of food.

            Climbing down into the underground trading center, Lee crawled through the piles of junk for the second time in the last two days, stopping at one of the vaults. He opened the door, hanging a lantern on a hook in the ceiling. The light cast a shadow behind a man whose legs were chained together. Lee opened the backpack and tossed the man a couple of cans of food and several bottles of water.

            “That should last you the week.” Lee affirmed. He sat down and looked at the man scramble for the food, ripping one of the cans open and carefully pouring the contents into his mouth. After several servings, the man lowered the can and wiped his bearded lips.

            “Thank you, Lee,” Anders gasped, “how’s everything back home?”

            “Great. Your people love it there. We’re celebrating our victory against you guys so it’s been fun.”

            “Three years…” Anders chuckled, “That’s how long I’ve been down here. And I only know that because this is the third time you’ve told me about this celebration.”

            “You’d be free to go if you told me what I want to know.” Lee countered. Anders immediately burst out laughing.

            “Man, I swear you young people can be so naïve sometimes.”

            “It’s young people like me that beat people like you.” Snarked Lee with a cocky smile.

            “You’re probably right. And it’s been three years so the fact you’ve been this persistent…I’d say you deserved a reward.”

            “I do.”

            “Fine then. I’ll grant you one answer, to one question. And you will have complete honesty from me, I assure you.”

            “I own you,” Lee stepped forward, his eyes growing fierce, “you have no room for demands. I ask questions, and you answer them.”

            “No one owns me” Anders smiled. Lee smiled back. Without warning, Lee pulled a knife from his belt and jammed it into Anders’ leg. Screaming in pain, the prisoner laid flat on the ground gripping his limb as blood leaked out of his quad.

            “Shut up, dude, it’ll heal somewhat as long as you can stop the bleeding.” Lee put away his knife, then knelt down in front of Anders.

            “I’m tired of trying to speak the words out of you, man. Foreal, like, I’m actually pissed now. So, tell me what I want to know, or I’ll start stabbing things that matter a little bit more for your health.”

            Anders groans of pain slowly turned into chuckles.

            “Lee Balusek, you’ve grown up!” Crawling to one of the four walls, he sat himself up against it and eyed Lee with such confidence, “Alright, buddy. You earned it. What do you want to know?”

            “That night when we shot each other,” Lee responded, barely able to hide his eagerness to know the truth, “you mentioned killing you would come with a cost. You think you can explain that?”

            Anders smile got a little wider,

            “That’s the question you choose to ask? It’s a good one, not gonna lie. But, like you said, you own me. So, I’m obligated to answer. You really think that the Coscto community was its own independent structure? You think Denbury, before your buddy Zach took it down, was independent?”

            “No, because you traded with them.” Lee replied firmly.

            “You don’t understand, Lee,” Anders leaned forward, his eyes fixed more carefully on Lee, “why do you think we kept files on all of our supplies, all of our missions, everything that happened at our communities was logged in, written down and filed as reports. Why do you think we took the time for that stuff? Costco wasn’t independent, Denbury wasn’t independent, sure, we traded with each other but only because we were obligated to. Like us, Denbury kept track of everything that as well, and like us these reports were sent elsewhere beyond our communities.”

            Lee’s face was suddenly swept over with surprise, “Why were you sending out reports?” Anders smiled even wider now, he was so excited, and Lee knew it. He could smell the joy of have all of Lee’s attention on what he had to say.

            “Because we reported to people, Lee. We weren’t our own communities, we weren’t independent: we were outposts.” 

 

                

TO BE CONTINUED

The Walking Dead Revelation

Season 4 Episode 1: Remember the Dead

            The Church stood firm. It survived the beginnings of the outbreak when the dead stopped dying, and the living fought to stay living. It survived under seemingly endless destruction, infiltration of the walking dead known as “rovers”. It survived until it lived with the manifestation of human lives embracing survival and calling the place home. It was under these circumstances that the Church was prepared for when man was desperate enough to kill each other for a chance. A chance to live. A chance to eat the next meal.

            A man named Anders waged war against the Church. They waged war against the people of the Church long before the church was reclaimed by the living. Anders had developed a community of survivors at a nearby Costco, only to find that the Church had supplies that were well needed. The people of the Church refused to give up what they had fought for, and Anders killed their friends.

            War was waged between Anders and the Church.

            Now as the sun rises three years since the waging of this war, the lights of the sun beat against the concrete walls surrounding the community of the Church. These walls were once sound barriers that lined highways, and now they serve a greater purpose. A giant crane was carefully positioned in the center of the Church’s territories and was turned into a make-shift watch tower.

            Fields were turned into crops.

            Parking lots turned into grounds for mobile homes.

            A community was built. Sustained. Maintained.

            None of this would be acquired if it had not been fought for. There is no fight without tragedy. The back corner of the community’s borders was the burial grounds. It was where the bodies of those that sacrificed lay six feet under. After the war against Anders and Coscto, the Church lost many. But Anders lost more. That is why the Church is still here, and Anders is not.

            Yes. Anders is dead.

            After the war, there were many that lived within the grounds of Ander’s reign that took no part in the war, there were people who simply wanted to live. The Church accepted these people; took them in. The populous of the Church grew immensely under the span of a month. Now to the present, three years later, lives have been born and survivors found. Now standing with 136 survivors, the Church has come out stronger than before. A strength unachieved without sacrifice.

           

            It was the third-year anniversary of the Church’s victory. Survivors called it “V-Day”. Today was going to be a busy day. Filled with candy, board games, sports, and fun, enjoyable things like that. At least…the ones who weren’t truly affected by the war were the ones who participated. Every now and then a veteran would smile and have fun and play games, but for the most part the people that fought, and survived, the ones that lived while their loved ones died…today was a solemn time. A day to remember. A day to remember that they didn’t want to remember. Yet there Zach Golden stood facing the burial grounds of his friends. His face scarred, his blond hair hanging humbly before his raw eyes, his callous knuckles gripping the leather-wrapped Dao sword with its blade dipped into the grass before the dead…he remembered.

            He whispered the names of the people who died. All of them.

            “Tray, Joan, Todd, Hannah, Parker…” flashes of their faces blinked across his memory. His grandfather bitten in the sanctuary, his father, brother, and sister’s walking corpse amongst a horde of rovers shifting towards him, the image of his grandmother falling to the ground, her hand gripping her heart,

            “Zack Castanon, Josh Merelet, Alyssa Merlet, Glenn Balusek, Robyn Balusek…” he remembered the Property, seeing so many families swallowed by the dead.

            “Hunter Reed, Hunter’s own mother…Lauren’s little brother, Hunter Rayphand…” he fought the memory flashes as best he could. He didn’t want to see their deaths in his mind,

            “Lashaun Johnson, Vergilio Cortez, Rich McDowell, Jenna Kirk…”

            A droplet of tear rolled from Zach’s eyes. He fought the memories as best he could, but he lost this fight. The memories tormenting him as he remembered,

            “Kelley…and Timothy Roland.”

            The tears were quickly wiped away. Zach forced a smile, “I wish you guys could be here and see what we’ve built. You made this happen; all of you. You deserve to see it.”

            Not daring to stay a minute longer, Zach turned and walked back towards the old student center now deemed the “town hall”.

            Walking up the balcony stairs was something that would never get old. It would remind Zach of the old days before the world fell apart; the old days of pulling up on Wednesday nights and seeing old friends chatting it up. Ian and Jenna amongst others were always up there talking it seemed. If Jenna were still here, she’d most likely be up there still. But she isn’t up there today-she hasn’t been for a long time. But that didn’t mean an old friend wasn’t up there resting against the balcony railing watching over the Church.

            Zach reached the top of the stairs and leaned up against the railing next Brittany.

            “Why do we do this to ourselves?” Brittany asked, her eyes staying fixed on the boundaries of the Church watching the citizens play games and express their joy. Zach glanced at the entertained people before looking back at Brittany,

            “I feel like it’s more for them than it is for us. Bad things happened, but this date marks a good day; a day that should be remembered.”

            “Some of us don’t want to remember.”

            “I don’t either,” Zach carefully responded. He looked down from the balcony at the concrete below. He could still see the bodies that had once laid there, “but the people have to remember who fought for them. People have to remember who built this place. But I get it: this day hurts. It hurt for me just like it does for all of you.”

            “Some of us were hurt more than others.” Brittany responded, her voice barely a whisper. Zach nodded, “She’s strong. I’m just glad this was three years ago. Two years ago, was a completely different story.”

            “Where is she, do you know?”

            “Last time I saw her she was in her room.”

            Brittany glanced at Zach and grinned from the corner of her mouth. That was her goodbye as she stepped into the town hall. Zach remained on the balcony watching over the community.

            Retrieving a remote from his belt, Zach spoke closely into it,

            “Lee, how’s it looking?”

            Sitting up at the top of the crane’s bird nest, Lee scanned the perimeter of the Church the same way he had been for the last three hours,

            “Clean as my left cheek, jelly bean, over.”

            “You ready to come down?”

            “Nah, this is nice. I could stay up here for another hour or so.”

            “Alright, sounds good. Just don’t fall asleep.”

            “That’s a fat bet.”

            “Yeah, okay.”

           

            Brittany quietly stepped into her quarters that she shared with Lauren. Lauren was sitting at her bed. She wiped her tears as Brittany came in.

            “Hey.” Brittany spoke. Lauren looked up and then looked back down. In her hands was a polaroid of her and her brother, Hunter.

            “You’d think after three years I’d be over it.”

            “I don’t think that,” Brittany quickly responded, “my dad died when I was barely a teenager and I still struggle with it sometimes. I miss him. This pain you feel won’t ever leave, but over time it will get easier to hide.”

            “I was supposed to protect him,” Lauren gasped as she fought the welling tears in her eyes, “I promised my parents and I failed them. What does that make me? My one purpose here on earth and I failed it. What am I supposed to do?”

            Brittany sat beside her and put her arms around her friend,

            “You keep going. Just like all of us have had to; like we’ve been doing. And you do have a purpose here, Lauren.”

            “So, I talk to newcomers to make sure they aren’t dangerous. Big whoop.”

            “Without your help we could have killers within these walls. Because of you we stay safe. I can’t imagine how many lives you’ve saved because of this.”

            Lauren wiped her tears a second time, and pulled her dark hair behind her head,

            “Maybe. But it doesn’t make up for the one life I wasn’t supposed to lose.”

            Sherman combed his lengthy, red beard gently as he paced the walkway of the walls. Every ten seconds he’d scan the area around the main entrance gate, perspiring with anxiety. Audrey had fought for a solid two minutes as she watched Sherman, but inevitably let out a snorting chuckle.

            “What are you laughing at, girl?”

            “Why are you such a nervous little beard otter? They’ve done these supply runs a dozen times. They’re gonna be fine.”

            “Anything can happen, and on a day like this, the last thing we want is for anything to happen.” Sherman retrieved a pair of binoculars and scanned the area for the hundredth time, “I see them. They’re headed our way. Tell Dylan to open the gate.”

            Speaking into her remote, Audrey gave the order all while pulling her rifle out in front of her and securing the area as Christian and Maddy pulled up to the gate in a silver truck-the tailgate pull of supplies.

            Dylan slung his crossbow behind his back and pulled the steal-barred gate open allowing Christian to pull into the community. Christian gave a subtle nod to Dylan, who subtly nodded back.

            “You think we could get someone else to unload the truck for us?” Maddy wondered looking over at Christian. He ran his hand through his long, black hair and tied a bun around it, Christian shrugged,

            “Worth a shot.”

            “We’ll say we have to help decorate or something.”

            Christian smiled, “Okay.”

            Leaning forward in the back seat, Ian cleared his throat, “You guys do realize, I’m still here listening to ya’ll planning to ditch your own job, right?”

            “What do you mean,” Christian chuckled, “Brittany said she wanted us to decorate when we got back. Right, Maddy?”

            “Right.”

            “You guys are a couple of stupid idiots.”

            As the truck pulled up to the front of the Town Hall, Zach stepped back down from the balcony stares to help load the supplies. Exiting the building and meeting Zach below was Bailey, her face fixated on a clip board as she checked off some of the Church’s inventory.

            “I heard 23 canned goods over the radio was that accurate?” she asked. Stepping out of the vehicle Christian looked as a small slip of paper he had retrieved from his pocket, “Actually, its 28.”

            “Okay. Let’s get this loaded up already,” Bailey groaned as she carried a load of supplies from the tailgate and towards the Town Hall, “I’ve had a long day, and I don’t want to deal with people right now.”

            “The days just started,” Zach smiled as he followed her with two arm loads of food, “Today will be a fun day. At least it should be. Come to think of it, Bailey might ruin the day with her buoyant personality so maybe you should stay in your room the rest of the day.”

            “Sounds good.” Bailey grumbled back.

            “Also, Brittany asked us to help decorate,” Maddy called across to Zach before he disappeared by the entrance doors, “So we’re not gonna be able to help unload.”

            “That’s funny,” Zach looked back grinning sarcastically, “cause, I remember so vividly helping Brittany decorate this morning with the help of the several other community members…”

            “Plus, I’ve been keeping tabs on radio frequencies,” Bailey added, “she never said anything like that. Ya’ll have fun unloading the truck.”

            Christian chuckled, “Well we tried, I guess.”

            The original eleven members of the community dreaded sleep tonight. Throughout the rest of the day, there was tons of games and fun that took place within the walls of The Church. It was a time of joy and celebration, while also it was a time for mourning and remembrance. For most of the original members of The Church, they tried the best they could to keep themselves busy; to keep their minds off of the memories and the flashbacks. They knew that the moment they had the time to think about it, that was when the emotions and the crippling mournful waves would crash about them. This was why they dreaded sleeping tonight.

            The sun was beginning to set behind the Texan pines, the sky painted orange and blue, the trees blanketed under a black shadow, the air cooling a few degrees and the winds picking up ever so slightly. By this time, the rovers were known for growing much rowdier when night fell, so the Church’s leadership drew the civilians inside the commons building within the Town Hall.

            It had become the traditional act of giving a memorial speech every year. As the leader of The Church, the community naturally asked Brittany to give a speech every year. She had never been one for speeches, and frankly she had never enjoyed the spotlight, but once a year for the past three years she managed to get up in front of the entire community to remind them of how The Church got to where they came.

            “So, this is the third V-Day that the Church is celebrating,” Brittany began looking down to all the members of the community, “We’ve come a long way. In three years, we built walls, we grew crops and water purifying systems, we’ve created a safe environment for survivors whenever they came…but most importantly we’ve all grown in strength. At one point or another we have all fought for something here. Our friends, our family, our future. All of us have fought, but we’re not here because we fought. We’re here to remember those who died fighting.

            “Since the outbreak, we’ve lost someone. Our friends, our family, our future. But since then we found something new that we now have today: Our friends, our family, our future. Since we’ve formed these bonds, we have lost some of these friends, some of these family members. But their deaths weren’t for nothing. For every death we obtained everything. Everything we have here is because of your friends, your family, your future. The sacrifices they paid, the sacrifices we paid has earned us everything.

            “Because of our friends we have everything. Because of our families we have everything. Because of the future our loved ones gave to us, we now have everything. Because of this, their deaths will not be forgotten. They will be remembered. Without them, The Church would not be here. We would not be here doing what the church has always done: helping others and reaching out. It will be the church that brings back our world. It will be the church that destroys the dead, and paves the way to civilization. It has become this way because of our friend’s sacrifices. So, before I end this speech all I ask of you is this: please remember them. Remember the dead.”

            Those who had glasses raised them, and those who didn’t remained silent. As Brittany left the stand many of them wandered away while others slowly returned to socializing with fellow members of the community.

            Lee and Zach stood in the far back corner of the commons area watching everyone walking around and going about their business.

            “Dang, man,” Lee commented as he stared off, “it’s crazy looking at how far we’ve come.”

            “I was thinking the same thing.” Zach replied. Lee carefully glanced over at Zach before looking once again off into the distance,

            “I don’t know why I thought of this, but it kinda just hit me randomly…you still think of our mom and sister?”

            “Everyday, actually,” he replied calmly, “I’ve accepted the fact that they’re most likely dead. I mean they were in the heart of Florida when everything fell apart. I don’t think they made it. If they did, I think we would have known by now.”

            “Yeah.”

            After a few moments of silence between the two, Dylan had found them within the commons area and stood next to them leaning up against the wall.

            “It’s been so busy today, none of us have had the chance to hangout.”

            “Yeah.”

            “We will later though” Zach slightly grinned, “I have no plans to sleep tonight.”

            Lee nodded in agreement. He knew why Zach wasn’t going to sleep the same reason he wasn’t going to sleep either.

            Night had fallen. Outdoor curfew was always eight o’clock. People found shelter in their mobile homes lining the property, while the Church always asked two men to stand guard. They switched off scanning the community via the watch tower and walking the perimeter wall. Zach and Lee volunteered for this job, but were soon replaced by two older gentlemen who almost forcefully took Lee and Zach’s place. Their reasoning being that they wanted to honor their service or something like that. Zach and Lee allowed them to take the job, and the two brothers returned to the Town Hall where the rest of the originals stayed.

            Maddy, Christian, Brittany, Dylan, Lauren, Ian, Bailey, and Audrey were all found sitting together in the large room that had once been the student center of their church. Zach and Lee didn’t have to search for them because they knew where they were gonna be. The two joined them as they all sat around the room. They were all quiet.

            “My assumption for how tonight was gonna was go,” Zach smiled, “was that we were gonna occupy ourselves to keep our minds off of everything. Not sitting around and thinking about it all.”

            “That’s kinda hard to do when there’s nothing to do.” Audrey replied.

            “Sure, there is,” Lee replied as he walked into the game room of the student center. He came back out with the eight-ball of a pool table, “It’s been a while since I beat ya’ll in a game of DORK-ball.”

            For almost two hours the family had played several rounds of DORK-ball, Lee losing every single round, ironically. He must have lost his touch. But, he did however best Zach and Dylan in multiple rounds of Ping-Pong, and that made him feel a little better. Christian had managed to smuggle a giant cooler of Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper from the supply run. A little snack they specifically kept quiet from the rest of the community. The drinks may have been flat, but it was enough to remind them of the good ol’ days. Then they got the call in from their radios.

            “Brittany, this is Davis,” one of the two guards called in, “We got a group of people outside the walls wanting to speak to the leader.”      

            Immediately jumping back into action, the group grabbed their firearms and weapons and rushed out the door towards the main gate. Standing in front of the steel bars the ten survivors of the apocalypse gazed at a group of other survivors. One helmed the front donning military equipment. His red hair and handle-bar goatee was tainted with blood and his knuckles dripping with rover-guts.

            “You’re the leader of this place?” the man asked,

            “I am. State your business.” Brittany coldly responded, her fingers gently tapping the AR-15 in her hand.

            “Me and my company are on a mission. We’ve run out of fuel and frankly, my group is starving. We’d like to seek shelter behind your walls until we’re resupplied and then we’ll be out of your hair.”

            “Do you understand the amount that your asking for? We don’t even know you.” Brittany countered.

            “I understand more than most, darlin’. I noticed a gas station down the road a ways, me and my group can hold up there. I’d like to negotiate a trade in order to obtain some supplies. Unless negotiations are out of the question for you and your people.”

            Brittany looked at each of the members of this man’s group. She didn’t trust him. Not one bit. But he’s shown potential for being trustworthy. She played every possibility in her head. She nodded when she came to conclusion that she can’t lose.

            “Stay there tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow morning. I need a name.”

            The man smiled and looked at the rest of his group, who’s faced folded into relieved grins. The man looked back at Brittany,

            “My name is Sergeant Abraham Ford. Thank you for your hospitality.” 

           

TO BE CONTINUED!