After Death

Chapter 23 (Suspicious Comrades)

Chapter 23: Suspicious Comrades

Ethan Warren

Estimated, October 2024

About 29 months after outbreak

California, The Circus

Season 3

--------------------------------

We opened our doors for the first time in weeks to those seeking refuge. I felt uneasy about doing so but I knew if I didn't it would be the backbone of everything that's to come. How we treat strangers that we don't have a reason to hate tells who we are. They ended up saving our asses more than I thought we needed. Their names were Zahir Wallach, Leandra Travieso, María Travieso, Allan Watt, and Elyse Adams. Zahir was dating Leandra and María was Leandra's 12 year old daughter. Allan was an older guy, around somewhere in his late 50's, he knew I was young but he always treated me with the utmost respect. And finally, Elyse was a natural born survivalist and pretty good at it too.

None of us trusted each other at first, I didn't blame them and they didn't blame us, it was just how it had to be in the beginning. Finally, Elyse warmed up to me enough that she told me about Timothy. She told me about the things he's done but she couldn't tell me where he was. Either she didn't know or she was protecting him, I tried not to consider the second reasoning because I needed this to work. Allan volunteered to be the one to go on runs and we both agreed to keep an eye out for Timothy and his people whenever he did. It was a two-way deal, he got information and I didn't question them. At the time, it seemed to make the most sense.

Zahir hadn't said a word to me and he kept his girlfriend and adopted child far away. It made me feel like shit in all honesty, it's not like I was going to hurt him. María was extroverted and took any chance to talk to Airianna and Angie that she could. I could tell Airianna hated it but Angie enjoyed the attention. Leandra just wanted to help out as much as she could, she was so grateful to be here and alive, I just prayed I could keep her hopes as high as they were. Most of my family didn't talk to the newcomers, some of the town citizens did but not too many. I almost felt bad for them, this was no welcome wagon.

"You want to find Timothy, you have to find Andrew," Elyse informed.

"Who's Andrew?" Leah asked.

"His right-hand man. That man loves Timothy like he's his bitch but if you make him hurt he'll tell you whatever you want."

"And how do you know that?" I asked.

"Experience, he'll talk, you just have to do the right things." I didn't know how much of this I could believe, after all, they were new and they could even possibly be working with Timothy. I didn't want to take chances but this was serious, it was only a matter of time until they knocked on our door. I decided to take Elyse's word for it, it's not like I had too many other options. Allan wanted to go out looking for Andrew but I sent Dallen with him. Airianna begged Rudi to let her go with and eventually he agreed once I told him Dallen would be there too. I kinda wish that I could have gone with them but I had a job here now and Thomas wasn't doing anything to help. He decided to stay out of shit now, it was obvious that my leadership was no longer temporary. I liked to think I was doing better at running the place but in truth I was a mess. I knew nothing about these people and now I was potentially starting a war. It was stupid of me to get involved first, maybe if I would have just stayed away then maybe people would still be here.

-----------------------

Rudolph Alinsky

----------------------

I hated letting Airianna go outside the walls but a part of me knew it would be good for her. She wanted to get away from María and Angie, they weren't really her type of people to hang out with, she preferred adults, they understood her better. They all had trauma but it was in different forms.

The new people seemed nice for the most part. I tried to talk to Zahir but he reminded me too much of Camila so I stopped trying. Leandra wanted to do as much as she could but she was new here, it wasn't her place to. I tried not to let her intrusiveness get to me, she was just trying to earn her place. Allan looked up to all of us, he told me he would try to teach Airianna things to help her survive. I didn't really know what that meant so I told Dallen to keep an eye on him. I didn't want them to run into Andrew, I hated even thinking about it, so many things could go wrong.

Elyse got along well with Leah, it was a given considering their demeanors were practically the same. It was good to see Leah spending time with people outside the meeting room. We all needed someone like that, I was kinda surprised that Leah was the first one to find it.

Piper and I have stopped talking after what happened to Thomas. I wanted to see her but she wouldn't talk to me. I decided not to take care of the other kids anymore either. Juna's more than enough and honestly, I was tired of feeling like a nanny instead of a father.

Steve tried to calm my anxiety about Airianna but nothing could stop me from being worried. I just needed to make sure she was okay and I had no way of doing that. I needed her to be okay, no matter what.