The Dead Live (Book 3)

Chapter 32: Tell Them (Bens POV)

I was a bit confused as to what it was that Shannon was exactly getting at in the first place. It felt like she was for sone reason, admitting to us, that she had betrayed the community. It just did not make sense as to why she would do as such in the first place. She would let them kill her own council, which I knew that she cared so deeply about.
I saw Shannon had her head down low to the ground as well, as I could clearly tell that she was in a fair amount of pain at the moment, and I could see a bit of regret on her face as well. I was just still a bit lost on what it was that she was even getting at in the first place.
I squinted my eyes at her, which did not seem to matter all that much, as she was paying me no sort of attention at all at the current moment in time. Even if she did notice me, I felt like she would not let it face her at all any ways, as I was not exactly any where near the sort of stature that Christian was at, by getting in to peoples heads, and seeing what they were really hiding.
I looked over at Christian at the exact same time as well, as I felt like he was trying to do the same as I was, but as I looked over to him, I just saw a bit of a look of confusion on his face, as if he did not have a clue as to what was going on at the current moment in time right now.
It was a bit disappointing, as I had hoped that he could have at least got what it was that she was saying, and he could explain it a little bit to me, but it looked like to me, that he was just as lost as I was at the current moment in time. I blinked a few times, as I just kept staring at Christian.
Christian seemed to notice me from the corner of his eye, as he turned his head over to me, and he kept his eyes squinted at me at the same time too, which got in to my head, which he did tend to do, when he acted in the way that he was doing right now.
I dipped my head a bit low to the ground, such as Shannon was doing, so that I could at least try to ignore the fact that he was in fact doing a good job of getting in to my head. It did not make sense as to why he was trying to do so to me how ever, as I was not the one that needed to he questioned right now.
I blinked a few times, as I saw that thankfully, Christian was no longer looking at me, as I lifted my head up just a bit, as I felt a little bit more safe to do so now, as I made sure to not make the same mistake as last time, as I just kept my eyes on Shannon, such as Christian was doing right now.
At the same time as well, I heard the voice of Christian, as he began to speak up to her at the same time too. I did not turn my head to him, as I kept my eyes on Shannon through all of that, but I still listened, to hear what it was that he had to say to Shannon in the first place.
"So... Are you admitting to betraying us? Why would you do that? You think they would let your council live, if they had known that you had done so?" He began to say to her, as he suddenly stopped, which I turned my head to him to see why that might be so in the first place. Christian had his eyes locked on Shannon, as he was paying me no sort of attention at the moment. Christian then shook his head, as he continued to speak to Shannon. "What exactly was this deal that you made with them in the first place?"
Shannon kept her head low to the ground, as if she had not heard a word that Christian had said to her just now. I kind of felt bad for her, but at the same time too, I was not sure as to why, as if she had in fact betrayed us, than there was no reason for me to feel any sort of sympathy for her at all.
Shannon stared at the ground for a little while longer. It was as if time had stopped, besides the fact that I could still see from the corner of my eye, than there were a few people still walking around us, as they were finishing off the dead, just as Shannon had so called 'planned' all of this out to be.
I really was suspicious of her, as I was not sure as to what was going on with her, or what it was that she was even trying to say to me and Christian in the first place, that she also might want to hide to the rest of the people that were near us as well. It was as if she might think that we would join her in betraying us.
At first, I had thought that Christian might have in fact done so, as I was not all too sure how much I even knew him any ways, as well as the fact that I was not sure who, or what to believe any more, after the fact that we had come home to see all of this, and also the fact that Shannon had said my sister was the one that had betrayed us, which at first, I had felt like I kind of believed it, but now it seemed to Shannon was the one that had done so.
I was just lost as to why Shannon would do that, as she had so much with her, and so much power... Why would she through all of that away? I stared at Shannon for a little bit longer, as if she had for some reason noticed that I was doing so, as she lifted her head right up towards me, as if I was the one that had asked the question, and not Christian.
I saw Christian then go back to squinting his eyes at her, as it was clear that he had noticed her do so right away, as he was confused as to why she would look at me, rather than him, who was the guy that had asked her the quite serious question just a few moments before now.
Shannon was looking right back at him now, as I saw a bit of a sad look on her face. I was not sure what to think, or if I should feel bad for her or not. I felt like I should not, as I was still not sure if it had been her that had betrayed us, or if it might have been my sister that had done so still.
I was not sure what to believe, as it felt like I had a bunch of people lie to me as of late. I kind of felt like how Christian felt a lot of the time, if I was going to be honest with my self. I knew that he told me to never trust any one, and if my sister had done what I think she might have, than maybe he was right.
I shook my head, as I gulped at the exact same time as well. Shannon let out a bit of a sigh, which felt like it was a sigh of pain, and grievance. I went back to squinting my eyes at her, as I then began to remember, just what it was that was even going on around me in the first place.
She nodded to Christian, as she then began to speak to him once again, a little bit quietly, just to make sure that no one else could hear her, even though I was fairly certain that all of the people that were around us at the current moment, were more focused on finishing off any of the living dead that were all over the place.
I blinked a few times, as I then stopped squinting my eyes at her, as I nodded to her as well, to let her know that I was listening, even though I knew she was paying me no sort of attention right now. She began to speak up to us, or mainly to Christian, as I listened to hear what it was that she had to say back to him any ways.
"They had us all stuck... I had no other choice..." She began to say, as it looked like a single tear might drop from her eye, which I felt might have been a first for her, for at least the longest of times. Shannon kept her head down low, and I was almost certain that was all that she was going to say, which felt like we were still not getting to the point. After a little bit longer how ever, I saw her dip her head back up, and squint her eyes at Christian, as if he was the one that was being suspicious at the moment, rather than her. She then continued to speak to him. "I made a deal with them... They were going to kill us all... I told them if they didn't do that, than we would give them supplies and food every so often..."
I looked at her, as I tilted my head at what she had just said to him. Some thing seemed a little bit off with what she had said, but I just was not so sure as to what it was that it could be. I was not sure as to what it was that she was even talking about in the first place.
It was clear to me that she was looking for an excuse for some thing bad that she had done, but the excuse seemed to be a bit of a lie. Besides, even if it was, than why would she even tell us about it in the first place? No one would have ever known if that was to be so... Maybe she just needed to ease it off of her conscious, as she felt a bit guilty for what it was that she had done.
I looked over at Christian as well, as I saw his head tilted quite a bit, as I could tell that he was also a bit confused on what it was that she had said. It was clear that she might have admitted that she had betrayed all of us, but I just still was not sure as to why she might have done so.
Christian seemed to look at her for just a little bit longer, as I could tell that he was a fair bit suspicious of her, as he could tell much like I could, that there was some thing that she was not telling us. He shook his head how ever, as he let out quite a bit of a sigh, as he then continued to speak to her.
"Well... I mean we are not all dead... But I can tell that there is some thing that you are not telling us... And I am not sure what you mean by them coming to us for supplies... If we have no one to work, than we cant exactly give them any sort of supplies." He said back to her, as he kept his eyes squinted at her all the while, whilst doing so.
Shannon had her head dipped a bit low to the ground, which was still a fair bit suspicious to me, as I wondered what it was that was going on through her head, and what it was that she might be hiding from us. I was a bit surprised that she might have told us about some thing like that, that she had done, but I still felt like she was only telling us the half truth.
Shannon seemed to continue to stare at the ground, as I looked over at Christian at the same time as well, as I then shrugged my shoulders at him, to let him know that I did not have much of a clue as to what it was that she was trying to say to us either, such as he did not too.
Christian rolled his eyes for some odd reason or another, and then he looked right back at Shannon once again, and he squinted his eyes at her, just as he had been doing all this time. Shannon did not seem to notice it how ever, as she seemed to be quite content with the fact that she was just staring down at the ground right now.
After a little while longer how ever, of us just staring at Shannon, and waiting for her to respond to what it was that Christian had just said to her not too long before now, Shannon finally lifted her head up, as I saw the same sad look of pain, and guilt on her face, which I could not tell as to why that was even for in the first place.
Maybe she really had betrayed us, and she felt like she could not live with her self after doing so. It would not be good for us either, as it meant that we were with out a leader at a time such as this one. Not only that, but the other person that might have been able to step in for the spot as leader, might have also betrayed us such as she had.
I dipped my head a little bit low to the ground, as I was not sure as to what it was that I should even do, or if I should say any thing about this at all right now. I blinked a few times, as I looked down at the concrete road that was in front of me, as I saw grass growing from some of the broken cracks that were in the road as well.
That was not what I was really looking at, at all how ever, as I saw a bunch of the dead on the ground beneath me as well. It was almost as if I had forgot that they were all around me. It only made me feel even more sick, as it was a harsh reminder to the world that we lived in right now.
You might have thought that at a time like this, it would have brought out the best in people, as we needed to stick together, and fight off the dead, but it felt like it was just the opposite of that. It made me feel sick, as I was not sure as to what to think, or what was even real any more.
Why would people even do this to us in the first place? Why could we not just work together? I knew this was real as well, as we had met the people that were up in the mountain, and they had told us all about these people that had done this to us. It made me feel sick, as I did my best to shake off all of those thoughts at the same time as well.
Luckily, there was in fact some thing that did in fact get rid of those thoughts from my head too, as I heard Shannon finally decide to speak up to the both of us, or rather to Christian, as it seemed like that was who she was focused on right now. I lifted my head up, and I blinked as well, as I then listened to hear what it was that she had to say.
"Well... I made the deal with them, when he had my council held down with a bunch of guns... I told them that I would give them supplies, food, and guns if they didn't kill us... He agreed to it... To my surprise... But it didn't seem good enough to him..." She said to us, as I was a little bit confused on what it was that she was talking about, or who it was that she was talking about. I saw her blink a few times, as she dipped her head a bit low to the ground, but she continued on with what it was that she had been saying any ways. "He changed the rules... He said he would do it, but he would have to kill half of us, and we give him half of our supplies in return... I didn't have a choice... He was going to kill all of us... I didn't think he would kill all of them..."
I saw her turn her head over to where her dead council was, which was impossible to see, as they were on the other side of the community house. I felt like there was still some thing that she was not telling us, but at the same time too, the story that she had just told us, also made a fair amount of sense.
I looked at her for a little while longer, as I saw her staring at the ground. I felt bad for her, as I could tell that she was blaming a lot of this on her self, even if I thought that perhaps this was really not all her fault. I let out a soft sigh any ways, as I followed in her foot steps, as I looked down at the ground.
As I stood there for a bit of some time, I heard Christian begin to speak, as it did not seem like what she had said to him, was good enough. I lifted up my head, as I tilted my head at the exact same time too, and I listened to hear what it was that he had to say back to her at the same time as well.
"If that is true... I think you should tell them..."