𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐌 (𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛)

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝐸𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

The white plastic chair creaked under my weight in the middle of a large living room. Fifteen pairs of eyes peered at me. Would I impress them enough to earn my stay? I scanned the crowd for familiar faces. Kenny stood in a corner by himself with folded arms. May and Connor sat on a leather couch.

"All right, everyone, you know how this goes," Lee addressed the room about the ritual.

My hands were tucked under my thighs to minimize the fidget.

"Well, I'd like to ask something," Kenny declared. He approached and set his sights on me.

"How many people have you killed?"

I stared back at him, wide-eyed and baffled.

"I-uh, none. I haven't killed anyone."

"Bullshit!" Kenny bent down and placed his hands on his knees. I felt like a child getting told off.

"You can't survive in this world, not this world, without killin' somebody," he went on.

"Give the kid a break," someone called out.

An attractive dark-haired man smirked,while his muscular arms wrapped around an equally beautiful woman. She sat on his lap and wore a deep v-neck shirt over a bra that pushed her breasts up to the sky. She smirked too with an arrogance that lingered thickly in the air.

"I'm not a kid," I frowned. The couple giggled in their whispers.

"And I'm not lying," I turned back to Kenny. He wasn't convinced. Kenny stood up straight and turned to everyone else.

"I don't trust her. I say we give her the boot!"

My stomach dropped and I clenched my teeth together.

"That's not fair!" May protested.

"You always do this," said a young girl sitting on a lovechair. Her folded hands rested on her pregnant belly. "You're never willing to give new people a chance."

The girl spoke in a beautiful southern drawl that one might hear in an old time movie. Her blonde hair was cropped just below her chin and tucked behind her ears.

"Now sit down and let someone else have a go," she told him sternly. Kenny silently complied and went back to his corner.

The girl leaned towards me with a warm smile.

"Hi, I'm Betty," she said sweetly.

"Hi," I nodded.

"You don't look like you're from around here. Georgia, I mean."

I didn't know what that was supposed to mean but I went along with it.

"No, I'm not. I lived in Los Angeles before all this. I was here on vacation when it happened," I explained to Betty. Although I knew the whole room was listening, Betty made me feel like it was only the two of us.

"Oh, I've always wanted to move to Hollywood," she swooned. "He's on watch right now, but my husband David always tells me that I should've been a movie star."

"I have a question."

It was the man from before with the woman sitting on his lap.

"I wasn't finished, but fine. Go ahead, Grant," Betty huffed and waved him along.

He grinned obnoxiously as I gave him my attention.

"Where were you before this?"

The one question I prayed no one would ask. To recount my time at the farm or before that would be painful. The group I lost. Daryl. But I needed to stay and find a place to begin again.

"I was with a group on a farm. Things went well until we got overrun by a herd of walkers."

"You mean biters," Grant corrected.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and bit the inside of my cheek.

"I have another question," Kenny said.

He didn't wait for Grant to say he was done and went ahead with his question.

"Are you good at anything?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Do you have any special skills? Shooting? Hunting? Anything that could show that you're actually useful?"

I didn't have a good answer. I was good at using my knife to kill walkers, but everyone should be able to do that by now. It was the bare minimum.

"No," I finally said. "I don't have any special skills."

"Great. So you'd just be another damn mouth to feed!" Kenny scoffed loudly.

"Ease up, man," Lee spoke for the first time.

"Come on people! Think! Betty's about to pop. Is taking in someone else really a smart move? Especially right before winter?" Kenny flung his arms around as he spoke. If I were deaf, he'd look like a bad mime.

"We have more than enough food," May calmly said. "We could use another set of hands to help out while Betty's recovering from having the baby."

"I don't appreciate being talked about like I ain't here," Betty joined in.

"Are you prepared to babysit her when she eventually fucks up?" Kenny shot at May while pointing at me.

"I'm sure she'd be less of a pain in the ass than you are!"

"Guys, settle down!" Lee took a step closer to them.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?!" Kenny bellowed at May and she stood up. The two broke into a yelling match. People that didn't speak up before started to join in, taking either Kenny or May's side.

I looked on helplessly as Lee tried to calm everyone down, but his efforts were in vain. Kenny got in May's face, and Connor jumped up. A crazed look flashed in his eyes as he balled his hands into fists. It's as if he enjoyed the chaos, the exhilarating prospect of a fight.

What kind of group was I trying to get myself into?

✯✯✯

(𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 4/7/21)