Running in Hell

Chapter 8 - Glinted

Written by CharlieDog10115

Emily's P.O.V.

"We should just kill him for betraying us!"

I was awoken by the sound of Ella shouting at Tanner. I sat up, scowling over the fact that I didn't get much sleep. Tyler tugged on her sleeve, attempting to calm her down. I scurried over to Serina, who was standing a few feet from Nathan.

"Are we going to ever punish him? Or are we just going to scold him?" I asked.

It's been a few days since Tanner tried escaping with the van with Lexi, although that had failed and resulted in his girlfriend dying. 

"I don't know. I wish we could punish him, though. What he did was wrong," Serina replied, her face emotionless, "we could've died and he wouldn't have cared."

Tanner had taken care of us, though. He'd aid us when we were injured, and that was really helpful. If we kill him, what kind of humans were we? We lived in a world full of monsters, and killing someone normal would be wrong. Even if they tried escaping. Punishing him, though, would be another thing. That's fine for me. He did deserve to be punished, not murdered.

"Ella," my voice strained as I tapped her on the shoulder. I lowered my voice so Tanner wouldn't hear, "Are we going to punish him or are you just going to yell at him every remaining day we have?"

"Huh, haven't thought about that," Ella replied. I sighed.

"We can have a meeting about it later. But, for now, we can go lock him up in the shed."

Tyler and Mike escorted Tanner to the shed he had slept in for the past few nights. We all agreed that we couldn't risk having Tanner out here with us without anyone watching him, so Tyler and Mike have been taking turns guarding the shed. If he was loose, who knows what he could do to us?

I decided to take a small walk around the camp. Just close by; only near the lake. The water had lain still with several fish that inhabited the lake swimming silently and swiftly. There were pieces of wood that had fallen from the dock drifting in the water. We could use that, I thought, we need more supplies. It was true. We've been only getting our food from wild animals, and it wasn't that easy to find any. Many walkers roam the forest and we couldn't risk going out at night. And our medical supplies have been running low, as well. I suggested going on a run however no one had taken my idea seriously.

As I strolled on the dirt by the lake, I saw something glinting in the distance by the trees. I slowly walk towards it and noticed it was a necklace. The silver chain was braided diligently and the heart-shaped pendant had an engraved text saying, "Love You" in neat cursive letters. I assumed it was one of those necklaces that came in a two pack with each necklace having part of a phrase on it like, "Best Friends." I had wondered who had owned the necklace and who had given it to them. I bent down to pick it up and shivered slightly at how cold the metal was. Guess it had been here for a long time, I thought sadly. Slipping it into my pocket, I turned around and was face-to-neck with Nathan Clark.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, glancing at the pocket where I had tucked the necklace in. 

"Taking a walk, why?" I replied a little too quickly.

"Nothing. What was that you slipped in your pocket?" Busted.

"Oh, just this," I said, showing him the necklace, gripping it tightly. "I found it around here."

"Wonder who it belongs to," Nathan thought aloud. He seemed to be thinking about something, or someone.

And then I said, without meaning to, "Do you want to give it to Serina?"

He looked at me as if I were crazy. "Why would I do that?"

"Well, you seem to like her, I guess," I shrugged. "Here."

"I-I can't," he said as I handed him the necklace, although he hesitated to take it. 

"I don't wear jewelry anyways. It's no use to me."

He smiled. "Thanks. I just... she's really nice, you know? I'm glad to have someone like her as my friend."

As I was about to say something, I was toppled over by someone, or something. I heard Nathan shout for help as I rolled on my back and nearly had a heart attack. A walker had jumped me. I struggled to get out of it's grasp, but it was strong for only a walking skeleton with skin. I let out a gasp as blood splattered onto my shirt. It took me a moment to realize it wasn't my blood, but the walker's. I shoved the dead body off of me in disgust, quickly standing up. The walker had been shot on the side, but by who? I turned to see a man with long, black hair that looked as if it had never been cut and a pale complexion. It was the guy from the other day, the guy that I couldn't talk to. Now that I had a closer look, he seemed to be in his late teens or early twenties, but I couldn't tell for sure. He had a pistol in his shaky hands, still pointed at the dead walker. Nathan stood a few feet from him, trembling. 

I stuttered out a "thank you," glancing back at the limp, rotting body. The smell made me nauseous. 

"Nathan, who...," my words faltered as I spoke. I was scared.

"I'm Brandon," the man said. "Not really the most noticed member of the group." His voice was a little shaky as he spoke. 

"Yeah," I replied.

Serina, Tyler, and Adam came running towards us. They had blood splattered on their clothes and weapons in hand.

"Quick, we need to leave now," Serina said, panting.

"What? Why-"

"Walkers. They've invaded the camp," she interrupted.