The Dead Live (Book 3)

Chapter 48: Missing (Christians POV)

I looked down at the ground after what I had just said, as I kind of felt a bit bad for it. It was not just the fact that I had became that way, due to the fact that the world had gone to shit, but it was more the fact that, I had always been that way, even before the world had gone to the way that it was now.
A lot of it was my own fault as well, as I used to be a lot of bad things, and I felt like I liked to assume that every one else was doing the same bad stuff such as I was. It was a bit hypocritacal as I knew, as I also knew that not every one was like that way either, but I could not help but to always be looking behind my back for stuff like that.
I had changed a lot after all of this, and I had grown up, but I often wondered to my self, 'how much was the change worth?' It scared me to even think on that, as I knew that I had lost all that I had ever cared for, and all that I had ever loved at this point. I knew that people always told me, 'just find some one, or some thing new'.
It just was not that easy for me, because unlike most other humans in this world right now, I still had control of the grip as to where I got emotionally attached to some one. It was some thing I was trying not to do with the kid, but I could not help but to always be worried for him, as I did not want him to die, as he was the last thing I had left from my best friend, and they had a lot in common.
I knew that he in fact was just a kid still, but I some times felt like I could call him my friend. I shook my head at the exact same time too, as I knew that I could not do as such a thing, as I felt like it automatically meant that the kid was going to die, just due to the fact that I gave him that kind of label on my life.
I knew that the kid did not recognize it, nor did he realize that I had any sort of emotional attachment on him, due to the fact that I did a damn good job of hiding it, as I was not going to lie. I was always good at lying to my self, and lying to other people as well, before all of this.
It made me feel kind of sick to think on that, as it was for sure not some thing to brag about. If I was a bad person, at often times I kind of felt like I was, though I knew I was not, well, not any more at least. I wondered that if I was bad, how much bad I could cause, just due to the fact that I was bad at lying to people.
I felt sick even thinking on that, as I did my best to try and shake all of it off at the exact same time too, as I knew that it was besides the point right now, as I also knew that I was getting a little bit too in my head at the same time too, and there was far more important things that we should be doing at this very moment in time.
I let out a bit of a soft sigh of relief, as I then looked over to the kid at the same time too, as I saw that he had a bit of a grin on his face, which confused me a bit at first, as to what it was that he seemed to find so funny, as I saw that he was looking right at me. As I blinked a few times, I then began to realize as to what it was that he was getting at in the very first place.
He felt like he had won in this, and that I was the one that had been wrong, and that we could trust these people. I was not sure as to why he already felt like that, as they had just shot at us a few minutes ago, but if he felt like there was some thing that he had heard in that gas station, that made them trust worthy, than maybe he was actually in fact, right, for once.
I knew I needed to calm my nerves at the same time too, as I kid see their kids behind them, as I could tell that they were quite a bit scared at the same time as well, I did my best to not look at them for all too long how ever, as I knew that it would look oddly suspicious to the parents.
I looked away from them, as I saw that their guns were a fair ways back as well, as I counted the time as to how long that it would take for them to get those and shoot at us. I felt like if I saw either one of them head that way at the same time too, than I could simply take one of them down to the ground.
I then shook off all of those thoughts all at the same time too, as I knew that they still very well could come to pass as some thing that might happen in the end, but I knew that it had not happened yet, and these people had kids, they also seemed to be genuinely decent people as well, which was hard to come by, which made it still a little bit suspicious to me.
They had done nothing at all that had been suspicious how ever, as I came to realize that all at the same time too, as I knew that the lady had simply shot at us, due to the fact that she had noticed that we were following them out in to the woods. I did not blame them for shooting at us, now that I came to think on it.
I had not even thought as to what would have happened if we had been caught, and they were in fact bad, or decent people, such as they seemed to be so far. I did not want to have to shoot any one, ever again, unless you counted the dead as living people, which I did not, as I knew that there was no cure to it.
You could not cure a man that had missing ligaments, and multiple gun shot wounds. I knew that it was impossible, but I still felt like I did not want to kill them, as I knew that they had once been living people such as I and Ben were. I did my best to avoid killing them if we had the chance to, as I also knew that we were still quite a bit short on ammo.
I let out a bit of a sigh to my self, as I then nodded to my self at the exact same time too, as I shook off all of those thoughts all at once, as I knew that it was besides the point right now, and we had just been standing here in silence for quite a bit of some time, as it seemed like no one wanted to say a word at this very moment.
I did not blame them, as I knew that they were probably trying to read us right now, and see what our real intent was behind the reason that we had in fact been tracking them in the first place, which only made them feel even more safe to me, as I knew that was what a good person would do in this scenario.
If they were bad people, than they most likely would not have kids with them for one thing, but also the other thing too, was the fact that I had been getting my self on in the first place, was a bad person would simply just kill us when they had the chance, and take what little loot, and what little supplies that we had on us.
I breathed in heavily at the same time as well, as I also knew as to the fact that we needed new people in our community, as it had been quite a long time since the last group of people had come in. It had been over a year in fact, and it felt like, even after the fact that we had lost over half of our community in the first place, that we were losing even more people at a faster rate.
I shook my head, as I looked at the scar on the man's eye, as I felt like the man was telling me the truth as to how he had got it, but at the same time too, I also felt like a lot of people would not believe the story that he had told, if we did in fact want to take them back home, as they would want them killed as they all knew what the scar meant, or they would just throw them out.
I felt like the fact that they wanted them killed would be the more likely answer, as I knew that hardly any one would listen to his story. I let out a bit of a soft sigh all at once, as I knew that the first place we needed to take the man, was straight to Shannon's place if he did in fact want to come back with us, as it was a lot more safe than it was out side of some walls.
I knew that Shannon would not judge him for it, and she would listen to the story that he had to tell her. He would stay safe in side, whilst she would tell the community as to what was going on in the first place, and who the person was, that I was sure a lot of rumors would be spreading about them.
Meanwhile, if the man's wife was out side talking to some people, so that she could get to know them, than it meant that people would be a bit more relaxed when they did see the man walk out, as I knew that the first thing that they would look at, was the big scar that was on his right eye.
I shook off all of those thoughts all at the exact same time, as I knew that I was thinking way too far in to the future about some thing, as it was also some thing that I was not all too sure if it in fact was going to come true still, as I let out a bit of a soft sigh at the same time too.
It stayed silent for just a few more seconds as well, as I kept my head a bit low to the ground, as I was not too sure as to where else I should be looking at this very moment. Perhaps I should be looking back at the man right now, as I still was a bit afraid that some thing might happen, or I should be trying to see what their intent was as well.
I was not all too worried about it at all how ever, as I was about ready to close my eyes at this point, as I was starting to feel quite a bit worn out, due to the fact that I had not got all too much sleep just last night at all. I did my best to keep my self awake how ever, as I felt like I should just punch my self to get my self up.
Though I did not do so, as I knew that it would make me look like a bit of a physcopath to the both of them, and it might scare the kids too. I just held my self in, as I continued to stare down at the ground for just a little bit more time, as it had just been nothing but dead silence for a few minutes at this point now.
That was when, finally, I heard a voice begin to speak all at once, as I was a bit grateful for it too, as I felt like I could not take a dead silent area for much longer, as I felt like now a days, there always had to be some sort of noise, or it would be a fair bit suspicious to me, if there was not any at all.
As I slowly lifted my head up, I then saw that it was the man who had began to speak, which made sense, as I could tell that the wife was shivering a bit, as I could tell that she was still afraid that we might do some thing to them. It made sense as well, as a good person would in fact be doing some thing such as that, if they viewed this situation as that stressful to them.
I blinked a few times, as I got my focus off of the man's wife, and back to them man with the scar at the exact same time too, as I saw him nod to me, to make sure that I was listening to him. I nodded right back to him with out any sort of hesitation, as I then all of the sudden, at the exact same time as well, then began to listen as to what it was that the man had to say back to me in the first place.
"Yeah... I get that... I do not blame you for seeing the scar... That place did a lot of fucked up shit to a lot of people... Made it seem like it was a good and safe place for me and my kids and wife to live... But then they locked them up for over a year, and they beat the shit out of me, until I could fight back..." He said to me. I blinked a few times at the same time as well, as to the story that he was telling me.
It all was making sense to me, as to what it was that he was saying, as I knew that those people that had attacked us, and also attacked the other community that we used to work with, were by no means good people at all. He very well could be making it up, due to the fact that he knew that I knew who they were, but the story oddly seemed to make sense to me.
The look of fear that I saw in the eyes of his children at the same time too, made it feel even more safe to me, as I was not sure how a look of fear could make me feel safe in the first place. I knew that the children were afraid of me how ever, and if the story that he had told me was in fact true, and they had been locked up for over a year, than it made sense as to why they would be afraid of me as well.
They might think that I might do the same as the people in that other community. They story made sense at this point, as I was now about fully ready to trust the man and his wife, as I was fairly certain that the looks in the kids eyes were real looks of fear, as I did not blame them if what the man had said had actually been the case.
I was still a bit worried that these people could me high class actors, but I was not too sure as to what it was that they would even be getting out of it at this point, as I let out a bit of a soft sigh to my self at the exact same time too, as I was starting to get less and less worried by every second that passed, and the more that I thought in to the story that the man had told.
I looked from the corner of my eye, once again, as I saw that Ben seemed to have a bit of a look on his face, that told me that he felt safe. I had told him to not ever think that way when you were out side of the walls, but for once, I felt like I could not help but to agree with him this time.
I breathed in just a bit, as I got my eyes back on to the man, who I saw was looking right at me as well, which did not scare me at all, due to the fact that he did not have a look on his face, with the intent to try to scare me for one thing, but also it was a look that told me that all that he had said to me had been completely truthful.
I nodded a bit to my self, but also to the man at the exact same time too, as I was getting ready to speak to him, and I wanted to make sure that he too heard what it was that I had to say back to him, such as he had done to me earlier before he had begun to speak to me after all that had gone down.
The man looked at me for a little bit more time, as I now saw a bit of a blank look on his face, as I could tell he was trying to hide his emotions from me, as it was clear that he had noticed that I was looking in to him. It was smart, as it was only make it seem more safe to me now, that what the man had said was in fact true, and they actually were in fact decent people.
After a few more seconds how ever, the man did in fact finally nod back to me, to let me know that he was listening as to what it was that I was about to say to him. I let out a bit of a sigh of relief to my self at the same time as well, as I then did in fact begin to speak back up to the man.
"Well... Your story makes sense... If you want to hear our story, than I can tell you, though it is not all too much exciting..." I said back to the man, as I was going to tell it to him either way, but I just wanted to make sure that he was paying attention to what it was that I was saying, which I was fairly certain that he was, but at the exact same time too, I also knew that there was no such thing as being too safe. I shook off all of those thoughts at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden saw that the man had then nodded to me. I blinked a few times, as if I had all of the sudden forgot what I was about to say at the same time too, but in the end, I did in fact nod right back over to the man, as I then began to continue to speak to him. "We are from another community... We got attacked by yours quite some time ago, as I am sure that you could guess... We have been trying to look for some new people, good people at that, due to the fact that we lost a lot of people... When Ben told me that there were children, I felt safe enough to track you... You see... We are a bit short on kids..."
I looked at him, as I squinted in his eyes at the same time as well, as I was a bit worried as to what it was that his old community did to the kids. I felt like they did all sorts of sick things to them, not just the fact that I was sure that they did brain wash them, to make them seem that what the things that they did, were good, and that they should be a part of it some day.
I shook off all of those thoughts all at the same time, as I knew that I really should not be trying to interview the man right now, as I could tell that he still had a bit of a worried look on his face, as I could tell that he still did not trust me at all. It should be I that was answering his questions.
To be fair though, I had in fact answered the question as to why it was that we were following them in the first place. It was partially truthful, as I did in fact want to follow them, to add new people to our community, after I had heard from Ben, that they did in fact have kids with them, but at the same time too, I also knew that I was ready to shoot back at them, if Ben had not all of the sudden stood up to them like that.
It was brave of Ben for sure, but at the exact same time too, I also felt like it was quite a bit idiotic, as to the fact that he had dropped his gun, and stood up to a bunch of people that we had no clue as to what their intent was that they had for us in the first place. I let out a bit of a soft sigh at the same time too, as I felt lucky for us that it had worked out in the end.
I was not going to give it all too Ben how ever, as he very well could have got him self killed, and he had simply just got lucky that it was not their intent at all, and that these people were actually decent humans. I shook off all of those thoughts all at the exact same time too how ever, as I knew that it was besides the point.
Right now, I just wanted to calm down the family, and make them feel a little bit more safe, that way that there was not so much tension in the air at this very moment in time, such as I could tell that there was right now. I let out a bit of a sigh of relief, as I could tell that no one had the intent on attacking one another, which was at the very least, step one.
As I looked at all of them for just a little bit longer, I then suddenly saw the man look right back over to me, as he had been looking over at his wife and children, just to make sure that they were doing okay, such as a good father, and husband would do. I let out a bit of a sight of relief at the same time too, as I nodded over to Ben at the same time as well, so that he knew that I was finally giving him some credit.
Ben had a bit of a smile on his face, as it seemed like that was all that he had even wanted from me in the first place, as I rolled my eyes at him, as I saw him nod right back over to me all at the exact same time too. I looked back over to the man that I knew I should have my focus on right now, as I too saw him nod to me, just as Ben had done.
I wondered if they were some how talking to each other through their minds, as I saw that he too had a bit of a grin on his face, which did not seem to last all that long, as the look that he had for a few seconds disappeared in to a bit of a worried look once again, as it seemed like he had changed his mind all of the sudden, and no longer felt any sort of safe.
I let out a bit of a soft sigh to my self at the same time too how ever, as I did in fact nod back to him in the end, to let him know that it was in fact safe to now speak back to me, and also the fact that I was listening as to what it was that he had to say to me at the exact same time as well.
The man seemed to feel a bit safer when he had seen me do that, as he let out quite a loud sigh him self, and after just a few more seconds too, he did in fact begin to speak back to me, as I then at the exact same time as well, began to listen as to what it was that he had to say back to me, after that few seconds of silence.
"Well... We will think on it for a little while... But we have got much more important things to be doing..." He said to me, as I tilted my head at the exact same time as well, as I was just a little bit lost on what it was that he was getting at in the first place, now that he had said that, I was starting to get a little bit worried once again, that we might have made a bit of a mistake when we had dropped our guns all the way back there, as I was about to turn my head and look back at them, when I stopped my self as I knew that it would look suspicious to him, and perhaps I was just over thinking a bit, on what it was that he had said to me. Though no matter what, it was clear that they were in fact doing some thing, such as he had just said. I blinked a few times, as I nodded to for the man to continue on, as I could tell that he had some thing else to say. After a few seconds of seeing me nod, he did in fact begin to speak to me once again, as I did in fact listen as to what it was that he had to say just as I had a few seconds ago. "Well... Before we get this out of the way... We get that your son over there, is named Ben, but what is your name?"
I looked at him for a few seconds, as I blinked a few times at what it was that he had just said to me in the first place. Mainly at that last part, as I could tell that Ben was thinking on it too, just based off of the fact that I could hear him laughing from not too far behind me at the exact same time too.
I could tell that it confused the man quite a bit, which I did not blame him, as I could tell that this was not really a situation at this very moment in time, that he seemed to view all that funny. He tilted his head over at Ben, as I rolled my eyes at Ben at the same time too, as soon as I had looked at him.
He noticed that all of the eyes were on him right now, as he all of the sudden shut him self up, and he then dipped his head a little bit low to the ground at the exact same time too, as it was clear to me, that he was a bit embarrassed that he had began to laugh that loud in the first place, especially in a situation that was not funny.
I knew that he was laughing at the fact that the man thought that he was my son, which was kind of funny, if I was not going to lie, but at the exact same time too, I also knew that I needed to hold my self in, as none of it was funny to this man right now, as I knew that he was scared for his family.
I shook my head at Ben, which I knew that he had seen from the corner of his eye, even if he had his head dipped a bit low to the ground, as I saw him dip his head even lower, so that I was fully out of his vision. I let out quite a loud sigh, as I then looked back over to the man, who I could tell still had quite a bit of a worried look on his face.
I then nodded back to the man all at the exact same time too, to let him know that I was about to speak to him. The man seemed to get a bit comfortable, as he felt safer around me, even though I was the bigger guy with out very much emotion, than the kid that was bursting with emotion, at the wrong time that he needed to be right now.
The man looked at me for just a few seconds, as I could tell that he was still looking at the kid from the corner of his eyes, as he then did in fact nod right back over to me, after the few moments of silence, where no one had said a word, nor made any noise. Once I had seen him do that at the exact same, I then did in fact finally begin to speak back to the man.
"Sorry... Excuse the kid... No... He is not my son... I am simply just training him to see what the world is like out side of our walls..." I said to him, to explain on the fact as to why the kid was laughing in the first place, and also to let him know that I had no sort of corilation to the kid at all, besides the fact that I used to be best friends with his step father, which was besides the point right now, as I shook my head, and let out quite a loud sigh, a bit annoyed that it seemed like Ben had scared all of them, as I could see that the kids had moved back quite a bit. The man how ever, seemed to be a little bit alright now, now that I had explained the situation to him, as he then all of the sudden nodded to me, as if he expected for me to continue. I was a bit lost at first, until I then all of the sudden remembered what it was that he had said to me in the first place, just a few seconds ago. I blinked just a few times, as I cleared out any of the other thoughts that were going through my head all at once, as I was still a bit suspicious on a part of what it was that he had said, but at the same time too, I knew that I had to answer his question fight, before I could get in to further detail in all of it. I finally did in fact nod back to the man, to let him know that I was going to speak to him, as I made sure that he was still listening to me, as I did in fact continue to speak up to the man. "My name is Christian... What are your guys names? Also... What is it that you are looking for? We might be able to help you, also we do not want to lose you if you actually want to join..."
I said, as I was a bit worried that I was pushing them a little bit too hard, as I knew that it was their own decision, and they should make up their own minds about all of it in the end. Based off of the story that he had told me at the exact same time too, I felt like he might be a bit afraid to take his family back in to another community.
I let out a bit of a soft sigh at the same time too, as I felt like I might have made a bit of a mistake with the words that I had used, and I also felt like at the exact same time as well, I was being far too needy. I just could not help it, as I knew that my community that I had lived in since the world had gone to shit, had only been going down hill over the last year.
I dipped my head a bit low to the ground, such as I saw from the corner of my eye, that Ben was still doing, as I could tell that he was a bit embarrassed about what it was that he had just done, even if he knew that the topic was not on him at all any more, as I had already cleared the air on him.
I had not cleared the air on my self how ever, and I felt like I was being quite the idiot on what it was that I was saying, as if this was the first time that I had ever done this. To be fair, it was the first time that I had done this since our community got absolutely destroyed a while ago, so I was not too sure if we did have a safe home any more.
I shook off all of those thoughts at the exact same time as well how ever, as I could tell from the corner of my eye, that the man was not really judging me all too much on what it was that I had just said to him in the first place thankfully, as he seemed to be more focused on some thing that was completely different.
It confused my just a bit, but I then finally heard him begin to speak back to me after quite some time of silence, as I blinked just a few times, but I did in fact lift my head up, to let the man know that I was paying attention as to what it was that he had to say. I nodded to the man, as I listened to what he was saying to me.
"Well... I am Daniel, and this is my son, Edwin, who is probably around the same age as Ben... This is my youngest daughter, Anne... And this my wife, Jaenette..." He said to me at first, as I blinked a few times, still a little bit lost as to what was going on right now for some odd reason or another, as I had a bit of a blank look on my face, as if I had not heard a word as to what it was that he had just said to me. I had heard what it was that he had said, but I just was not all too sure as to what was going on. I blinked a few times, as I then remembered all at once, that we were giving out our names to each other... I usually did not like that either, as I knew that it meant that it was the beginning of growing attachment to some one. I let out a bit of a soft sigh to my self, as I shook off all of those thoughts all at once at the exact same time too, as I heard the man begin to speak once again. I listened as to what it was that he had to continue off with as well. "Well... We have another daughter, she ran off when she was angry... We could use your help, you seem to be better at tracking... She's gone missing..."