Playing God

Chapter 5 Taken for Granted

Our first steps are graceful, but our next steps aren't. We stagger to find balance in the heavy wind that carries millions of dust particles with it. No wonder this is the second hardest part of our journey. No one talks, we just walk. Quinton constantly looks at his compass to make sure that we are going east. If we take one misstep then we will go the wrong way. Plus there's no markers out here to know what way is what. Then I hear it, I didn't want to, but I did. "Who wants to hear a joke?" Carl says with enthusiasm, "Okay, here it goes! Knock knock?"
"Shut up" Quinton yells.
"Too!" Carl says continuing with his joke.
"Too who?" Nate, Quintons bunk mate, asks.
"Too whom!" Carl screams and begins laughing. We had to put up with this for a very long time until Quinton stops us all, "Did you guys hear something?" All of us shake our heads except Carl, he begins to speak but Quinton whispers, "If you say one more thing I am going to shoot you, we won't eat our food for weeks because you and your thick head will supply us. Now shut up!" He's back to his bad side. "Keep your eyes peeled," He stops mid sentence and looks at Carl, "and keep your mouths shut."
It isn't long before I start hearing things too, it's like whispers and metal clicking. Then I hear 'Chick chick'. "They got a gun get down!" I scream when I see the sun reflect off of some metal peeking out from a boulder. We all scramble to a pile of rubble as gunshots go off rapidly. They end as quickly as they started and I here people walking towards us. I arm my gun, so does Quinton, he holds up fingers counting, 3, 2, 1. I jump up and open fire I hit a gun in the shoulder then a girl in the leg, Quinton finishes off the man I shot and hits another in the chest. They fall to the ground. Carl and Nate stand up with guns out, still clueless about weapons I get down to reload and soon Nate is down with me, I see him collapse and look up to see Quinton fighting the one guy that wasn't shot, his gun goes off shooting him in the leg. Carl holds his hands up and I join him, we have no point in running.
Their little gang is made up of three men and two women, well two men now. They have us sitting on the ground lined up guns out. The two woman examine our weapons after they take them. The man who Quinton was fighting with talks first, "So you didn't think we wouldn't notice any spy's huh? Well you are wrong! Where's the camera huh? It's me, Sam, stop sending your men out here!" He says examining us he probably thinks we have a camera and he's talking to the person watching him, "We don't tolerate people like you."
"We are just survivors trying to get power for our bunker!" I say worryingly.
"Sure, and I'm the president of New Harrisburg!" Sam yells.
"Don't worry we won't cause you or anyone else any trouble, you guys can just move along with your hunt and gather group and go find some food or something." Quinton commands. Quinton hasn't left his bad side yet, and he is really showing leadership.
"Yea, what can you do to us? We are more powerful than you!" Carl exclaims trying to be more of the leader than Quinton. The man who hasn't talked yet aims a gun to Carl's head.
"No," Sam says, "let him live. But punish him, make him pay for his comment. His guilt will eat him up until he's dead." The gun is moved from Carl's head to Nates head and the trigger is pulled. His blood gets on my shirt, it reeks of decomposed flesh. I stare at the man who just killed an innocent, he begins to speak to Sam,
"What should we do with them? Wait. Here give me your gun, I need some more ammo." I look at Quinton and he nods, before they make the trade I get up grabbing the gun and I shoot Sams friend twice in the chest killing him. Quinton sends his non injured leg soaring into the ankle of Sam knocking him down, I kick his head knocking him out and aim the gun at the girl I haven't already shot. But before I know it the girl I did shoot holds a gun to my head. I drop my gun and wait, she opens her mouth to speak. Before she can say a word, bang! Quinton sits with the gun I dropped propped up in his hand. The other girl grabs a gun and aims it at Quinton but he shoots her. Quinton smiles and looks at us, "You can't kill me."