The Dead Live (Book 3)

Chapter 24: Whats Going On? (Shannons POV)

I looked at Christian for a few moments, as I saw that he had a bit of a blank look on the face of his. It was clear that he was not sure how to respond to what it was that I had just asked of him, as I looked at the piece of paper that was in front of me, one more time.
If they knew where we were at, than we had to warn the people of our community, and we had to move. We had to move, who even knows how far away. I knew that we could not live at our current home, if there were people that were threatening us, and that knew where it was that we lived at.
I could not risk the lives of that many people... After what had happened last time, a lot of people had not made it out, and we were still recovering. We had fixed up all of the walls already, but there was still a lot more that we had to do. Now, more than ever, might be the perfect time for us to leave.
I was not sure if that would work though, and I was not sure how the people would respond to some thing such as that. It had already been had, when people had threatened to leave last time. Could we potentially hold them off? I knew there was a lot more people in our community, than there had been in this one.
If we knew that it was coming as well, than that meant that we could maybe even fight back. But the problem was, how many people were we going to lose to that? I shivered, as I felt a bit sick at the thought of all of that, as I closed my eyes, at the exact same moment as well.
I just wanted to wipe out all of those thoughts that were swarming through my head at the current moment in time too. I knew that it was a bad idea, and I knew that I should be thinking of a way to find a safe place for the people that were in my community, but right now, I did not want to do that at all.
I wanted to shake it all of, and think that none of this could be real. I was not sure how people were going to respond to the fact people were threatening us. I knew a lot of people would leave, and I was not so sure if I wanted to risk that. Even if we were going to get attacked, they would be a lot safer in our walls, than they would be out here.
We had several run ins with the dead, and it made me think as to the reason that I had even agreed to come out here in the first place. I shook my head, as I then looked over at Christian, at the exact same time as well, as I blinked a few times too.
Christian seemed to notice me looking at him from the corner of his eye, as he then began to ball up the piece of paper that he had in his hand, as if he did not want any one else to see the fact that there was a group that had taken down our friends, and were threatening to take us down as well.
I was not so sure as to what it was that was going on with him, as I felt like he was kind of thinking the exact same sort of thoughts that I was as well. Though the man rarely ever showed all that much emotion, it was clear to me at this point, that he cared deeply about our community, and the people that were in it as well.
Maybe even one person in particular as well, as I knew that my old friend had admitted to me, that she had been madly in love with him for a long time. I was not sure if he felt the same way, or if it was the fact that he was just too scared to ever fall in love again.
I knew that something had happened to his wife, and his young baby child, as I had been in his place, and I had seen a lot of pictures of them all over his home as well. They had either died in a car crash, or more than likely, they had died, due to the fact that the world had gone crazy.
I felt like, it had to have been the 2nd part of that, as I knew that he hated the dead a lot, even if they used to just be normal people. I did not want to ask him what it was that had happened, no matter how interested I was to find out what it had been.
It was personal, and rarely any person wanted to share their stories about all that had happened to them when it had first gone down, much less a person like Christian. I shivered, as my thoughts went back to my father, and my mother who I had seen, ripped apart, right in front of my very own eyes.
That was when I realized that none of this was a joke, even if I did not go out of the walls, and I did not see what the world was like, I had a very good reason to believe that it had not got any better. I closed my eyes at the same time too, as I tried to shake off the thoughts of the both of them.
I hated thinking back on that day, as I shook my head, and then I looked back over at Christian. Christian had a bit of a blank look as well, on his own face, as if he was deep on his own thoughts, even though he had told me that I always needed to be paying attention to my surroundings.
I saw Tanner from the corner of my eye as well, as I saw him a lot better than I had a few moments ago. I saw that he had his eyes squinted at me, as I blinked a few times, thinking back on the fact that we had got in to a bit of an argument, just a few moments ago.
I looked away from him, as I did my best to ignore him, as I looked back over to Christian. To my surprise, when I saw Christians face this time, he did not have a blank look, but rather a look that showed very little emotion, which was a fair bit normal for the man.
He was fully aware of me this time though, as he nodded at me. I blinked a few times, as I saw the balled up piece of paper that was in his hand. It all then came back to me, as to the reason that I was here, and why we were even in this room in the first place.
I looked at Christian for a bit more time, as this time, it was my turn to hold a blank look on my own face. I was not sure what to do, as I tried my best to shake off all of the thoughts that were all racing through my head at the exact moment.
It was dead silence in the room, as not a single person said a word to one another. I shivered a little bit, as it was giving me strange chills, as it was starting to freak me out quite a bit. I looked over Christian, at the exact same time as well, as I finally decided that I was going to speak to him, even though he had never responded to my original question.
"If it means what I think that it means, than I should go and warn the people of our community. We need to have a lot of people on the walls soon, and we need to salvage as much ammo as possible." I said to him, as I hoped that I would finally get some sort of response out of him.
Christian stood there for a bit more time though, as he kept the same look on his face, that he had just a few seconds ago. I was starting to get annoyed by it, as it felt like no one could hear me right now, and I started to wonder if I had even spoken in the first place.
I looked over at Tanner, as I saw that he was still staring at me with his eyes squinted. I rolled my eyes, as I felt like I should just give up. It felt like there was no use, and I had better things to do, than to just stand in a dark, and silent room for a couple of hours.
I was not even sure if either of them were even thinking at all. I blinked a few times, as I shook my head, and then I turned my eyes over to where it was that we had even come in to here in the first place. I stared at the dark hall way, as I tried to envision the way back, in my brain.
I knew it was starting get dark, and we were running out of time. I knew that the dead were worse when it was dark out as well, and I wanted to at least pull my horse in, so that it was safe for the night. It was the last thing that I really had from my father, and I was not just going to let him die, because these two could not make up their minds on what it was that they had to say.
I shook my head, as I began to walk down the hallway that we had gone through to get in to this room. Though it was dark out, I had been in this place quite a few times, and I was sure that I could find my way back to where it was that we had come in to the building, before hand.
As I continued to go down the hall way that was in front of me, I then heard the voice of Christian, as it seemed like, all that it had taken for him to get my attention, was to see that I was going to leave them. I turned my head over to him, as I rolled my eyes, and I listened to what it was that he had to say back to me as well.
"I think it is an empty threat... But I do think we need to have our eyes and ears open. It is clear that these were people that attacked, and destroyed this place. That was the reason that we took you here in the first place... To prove it to you." He said back to me. I looked at him for a few moments, as I began to think on what it was that he had just said to me.
It did not seem like all that much of an empty threat to me, as a lot of it had seemed a bit personal. It was not the first time that we had seen people with the scars around their eyes. I felt like they might in fact know where we were, and they might know that we were going to come here and find out what happened.
I shivered, as I felt like I was going to throw up at the same time as well, as I thought back on the thought that I had seen a lot of bodies, of people that I had once called friends. I had been here every few months, as I was a part of my fathers council, and I did a lot of trades with these people.
I closed my eyes, as I did my best to clear off all of those thoughts at the same time as well, as I knew that I did not need to be focused on that. I knew that I needed to be focused on the fact that I had to make sure that my community, and the people that were in it as well, were safe.
I opened my eyes after a little while longer, as it seemed like I had done a good job of clearing out all of those thoughts. If I was to be a leader, it meant that I was going to lose a lot of friends, and a lot of people that I cared about. Especially in the world that we lived in now.
I just had to do my best to make sure that I could at least save as many as I possibly could. If I took the threat lightly, and I did worry about it. It meant that it likely could happen, and I would lose even more people that I cared about, or even worse, I could lose my own life.
I stared right back at Christian, as it seemed almost like he had a bit of a suspicious look on the face of his, as if he thought that I might potentially betray him, and every one else. I blinked a few times, as I was not sure as to why he might think some thing like that, as I had never thought of any thing such as that.
It would not be the first time that some one had thought that of me, as I knew that Angela was like that a lot of the time. A lot of the reason that I hated her to the core. I shook off those thoughts though, as I continued to stare at Christian for a little while longer, until I finally decided that I was going to speak back to him.
"If there is even a slight chance that it is a real threat, than I can not risk the lives of the people on our community... You know that..." I said back to him, as he blinked at the same time too. Even though he did blink, as if he was thinking on what I had just said, he still held a bit of a look on his face, that showed very little emotion.
Now, it was my turn to get a little bit suspicious of him, as I continued to give him a bit of a strange look, as if I was trying to read in to his soul. I knew that was nearly impossible for this man though, as a lot of people had told me, that he did not have a soul at all in fact. Some times, I even wondered if it was not a joke, and if it might be true, as it did not seem like he in fact, cared for the people that were in the community.
I knew that was not the case though, as I knew that I was badly over thinking all of it. I blinked a few times, as I tried to shake off all of those thoughts, as I nodded to Christian at the same time as well. I saw that Tanner was still staring at me, with his eyes squinted, from the corner of my eye.
I tried not to think of it all that much, and what he had said to me as well, as I kept my focus on Christian, and what it was that he had said to me, at the exact same time too. Christian nodded back to me, as he let out quite a loud sigh, that I wondered if the dead out side, might have even heard it.
I was so worried on all of that, even if I knew that I really should not be. I knew that he would take care of me, and he would make sure that I was safe, while we were out here. I trusted him on that at least, as he went out of the walls every day, just about, and so far, he had not gotten killed.
I just knew, that I should follow what it was that he ordered me to do, as if he was the leader, and I was not. I knew that he knew more about the world out of the walls than I did, so I knew that I could not really complain about it, as I knew that I needed his help, at the exact same time too.
I shook those thoughts off, as soon as I started to delve deeper in to them, as I remembered that Christian was speaking to me. I stared at him, so that he knew, that I was well aware of what he was saying, as I then listened to what it was that he had to respond back to me with.
"The stupid people will leave... We do not need to have room for idiots... If they make it out there for a little while, than perhaps they will see what it is like, and they will come back." He said to me. I looked at him for a few moments, as I thought that a bit of what he had said, was correct.
At the same time though too, I knew that it was a bad idea. I knew that the people that would go out, thinking that they would do better on their own, would not last but a couple of days if they were lucky. I knew that the smart, and the strong ones would stay, and that was what we really needed in the end.
But I also knew that I could not just let innocent people die, even if they were idiots for leaving. It was as if me and Christian had suddenly switched sides on this, as at first, I had been the one that was wanting to not tell people, as I did not want them to get scared.
But now that I knew that there was an actual threat, I felt like people deserved to know the truth. I looked back over at Christian, as I squinted my eyes at him, which to no surprise, he once again did not budge, very much unlike I did, when he did it back to me.
I wanted him to change his mind, but it seemed like he had already made up his mind, and based on the fact that I had gotten in to a bit of a disagreement with Tanner earlier, I knew that I could not turn to him for help either. I shook my head, as I just focused on Christian, as I spoke back to him once again.
"Are you crazy? They will die out there! You are putting peoples lives on the line as if they were not actually people!" I said back to him. Christian looked at me for a little while, as if he had thought that perhaps what I had said to him had been right, which was kind of a first for him, as he was one of those guys that felt like he was always right.
I looked at Tanner from the corner of my eye, once again, as to my surprise, I saw a grin on his face, at it seemed like he might be enjoying the argument that was going on in front of him. I was starting to think that the man actually liked to get in to fights, or see other people do so.
I shook my head, as I felt like I was going crazy, I felt like we were switching sides, back and forth, and I was not sure which one of us was for telling the people, or who was not. Christian had his head a bit low to the ground, as it seemed like he was lost in a deep train of thought.
I felt like we did not have time for that though, as I saw through the windows, that it was getting a bit dark out side, and it was starting to make me grow a little bit nervous too, as I stared through one of the windows. I shivered a bit, as I saw a few of the dead, roaming around.
I just wanted to leave at this point, as I felt like, we could settle our disagreements another day. I turned my head back to the hall way that was in front of me, just as I had begun to do earlier, I started to walk down it, as this time, no one started to speak to me, and no one tried to stop me.
I rolled my eyes, as I really did not care all that much any ways, I was worried about the risk that I did not know what was a smart thing to do, and what I should do to get out of certain situations either. I knew how to use a knife though, and if worst came to worst, I had a gun, with a silencer attached to it.
I had started to use a gun, as I was told to be ready for any sort of bad situation that could happen. I was a fairly decent shot, and I felt that if one of the dead was to get in my way, than I could hit it with a bullet, and take it down, quite a bit easily.
I felt a bit sick too, as I used to remember that my parents hated guns. That had changed completely for my father, once the world had gone crazy, as he started to learn how to use a gun, and he had one, that I still left in a cabinet, back at the community house, in my own bed room.
I did not want to ever take it out, even if I had started to learn how to use a gun my self, as it felt sacred to me, and I did not want to lose it. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, as I stopped in the middle of the hall way that I was going down, as I tried to shake off all of the thoughts that were swarming through my head.
I sighed to my self, as I looked back over at Christian, as I saw that he still had his head to the ground, as if he had not noticed that I was walking out. I knew he had though, as I knew that he always noticed stuff like that. I looked over at Tanner, as I saw that he was still staring at me, all the way down the hall.
I shook my head, as I felt, if they really did worry about me all that much, which I was starting to think that Tanner did not, at all. Than they would stop me. I turned my head around, as I then continued to walk down the hall way, as I made sure my steps were silent like Lilly had taught me long ago.
As I took a couple more steps, with a bit of a smile on my face, whilst I was doing so, I suddenly heard the loud neigh of a horse, from just out side. I stopped my self right away, as my heart began to fail on me, as I knew that it was my fathers horse. I heard Tanner yell loudly to all of us as well, though I did not focus on the words that he had said.
"Shit! What's going on!"