Number One Fan - Trickster x Reader

XIII

"A-attention, everyone? Attention!" Dwight Fairfield cleared his throat, hoping to alert the survivors circled before him.

Everyone was gathered by the campfire, though it resembled more of a raging bonfire at this point. You'd all been working your hardest the past week to upgrade your growing community. It seemed the more advanced you all became, the larger the flames grew. With all the new additions, your group had come to a consensus. "Town meetings" would now be implemented to discuss the creation of society. This was the very first one. A podium had been dragged to the center, just before the campfire, and Dwight stood behind it. In his hands he shuffled the papers where each survivor had written down suggestions for topic of discussion.

The clamoring group quieted down, all eyes shifting towards the timid leader. You stood in the front row, casting him a reassuring nod.

All of this was long since due.

"Ok, ok," clearing his throat again, he lifted one of the papers towards his face. "Looks like first thing...we have a new survivor joining us!" Giving a small smile, he gestured towards a figure off to the side of the podium.

Said survivor stepped forward and a ripple of concern flew through the crowd. He was just a teenager. Sporting a black hoodie and dirty skinny jeans, he gave a wide smile. His hood was up and pale blue eyes twinkled just below. From where you stood, you could tell he had a mess of dark brown hair.

Both hands shoved in his pockets, he gave a short introduction. "Yeah, my name is, uh..." after a short pause, he reached a hand up and rubbed the skull tattoo on his throat, "Michael!" he blurted before backtracking, "Er, well, you all can just call me Mike..."

Hm, that was weird, you thought.

"How did you get here?" Nea stepped to the front of the crowd, suspicion evident on her features.

Mike, or so he'd called himself, continued rubbing his neck. His fingernails were absolutely covered in dirt.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Dwight gave him a reassuring smile from the podium and said, "I think she just means, 'what was your life before the Fog took you?'"

"Ah!" blue eyes lighting up, he smiled before his lips twisted into a quick frown, "Oh, well I was bullied so much in high school." covering his face with his hands dramatically, he let out a sob. "Those football jerks went a little too far one day. I think they buried me under the football field. It was all so dark until I woke up here!"

A few of the survivors gave sympathetic glances, some of them even walking up and placing a hand on his shoulder. However, others just crossed their arms incredulously.

"Hey," Claudette leaned over towards you and began whispering, "Something weird is going on here, right?"

Nodding, your eyes never left "Mike." He caught you staring, sending a cheeky wink your way. You recoiled and turned back towards Claud. "Yeah, he's definitely weird. Tell Laurie and the others to keep a close eye on him."

"Sounds like a plan!"

"Ah, but," lowering your voice, you gestured towards Dwight, "Just don't say anything about it to him. He has enough to worry about."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" your meek friend rose a brow at you. "I respect the decision but..."

"We can handle this!" Determination flared in your eyes and the effects seemed to be infectious because Claudette dropped the subject.

"I guess you're right!"

That alone was enough to waive the concern for Claudette, but you however were not convinced. Something was nagging in the back of your mind. 

"Alright everyone let's move on now!" Dwight clamored for order, his voice rising above the din. "We have other things to discuss!"

Mike's frown faded, effectively switching back to a grin. There was something about it that seemed all too familiar but you weren't sure. You'd never seen this man's face before but the way he carried himself struck a chord in you.

He trailed past you and joined the crowd, standing not too far behind. You would drop it, at least for now. As Dwight said, building up the community was more important right now.

When a general sense of silence fell over the group, Dwight began again.

"Ok, now we need to think about naming the town. I've chosen a few good candidates. We'll post them on the bulletin by the cabins and you can cast your vote." Nodding affirmatively, he shuffled his papers. "We'll also hold an election for leaders that will help make important decisions because, well," he paused and let out a breezy laugh, "this is all becoming more than I can handle by myself!"

"Can I nominate myself?!" Nea shouted out.

A few groans rose from the crowd as well as a laugh or two. You simply smiled, rolling your eyes.

"No, of course not!" Dwight answered seriously, a line of stress wrinkling his forehead. "You must nominate someone other than yourself. I would like for everyone to give me a name by the end of the day, please, so I can tally the votes!"

General murmurs of positivity followed and so Dwight took that as a sign to move forward.

"Okaaay," tapping his chin thoughtfully, he scanned the last paper, "Final notes...we have working showers running on the east side of the cabins. Only a few more homes lack power. Laurie, Kate, and..."

"Me!" Detective Tapp raised his hand.

"Ok noted!" Dwight nodded, scribbling on his paper with a worn down pencil. "Anything else?"

"No!"

"Nope..."

"I don't think so."

"Ah, good," relief spread on his features. "Alright, I hereby end the first ever town meeting!"

A few cheers rang out here and there, some scattered applause, but most simply shuffled away. General excitement rose from the survivors as they busied themselves with work or hobbies. Creating a society from scratch was the most enthralling event to happen to them in who knows how long and you were very proud to have lent a heavy hand in the making. After all, using the generators outside of a death game was your idea in the first place! Because of this, there was talk around the makeshift town of appointing you Co-leader, vice president, whatever they planned to call it.

"Hey!" Laurie Strode called out, coming up beside you.

You jumped from your thoughts, scrambling to greet her.

"A few of us are going to help Mike set up his new cabin," she said, an air of sweet innocence ever present on her features. "You wanna join?"

"Yes! Of course!" This was your perfect chance! You'd be able to keep an eye on the guy without alerting Dwight to any sort of issue.

Following the blonde towards the cabins, you two met up with Jake, trusty toolbox in his hands. Your trio traveled to Mike's cabin on the northwest edge but he was nowhere to be found. Jake searched the inside of the home while you and Laurie combed the outer forest. Not a single sight of the new survivor.

"That's...strange..." you scratched your head, returning to Laurie and Jake.

They were posted on the porch looking just as baffled as you.

Where the hell could he have gone?