The Young Fighters

CHAPTER 17

The meeting at town hall with the Village Elders and the Georgetown Militia went quite for the first few minutes after they arrived. Caden sat down in his chair with his eyes looking straight down at the table with his lips sinking in as his hands pressed against his face and shrugged. Less than an hour ago he'd seen the body of Jed over by Will after being informed of the attack. After leaving the home of the local medic, Caden broke down in a stream of tears seeing that he'd lost someone to this violence. By tomorrow they'd dig a plot for him in the cemetery and have him placed next to where his grandparents lay.

"It's not your fault, Caden." Andy uttered, "None of us could have predicted what would happen to Jed." Everyone inside the town hall were speechless over their loss. Jed might not have been related to any of them, but to every resident of Georgetown he was a sibling.

Filled with guilt, Caden remained silent and grief-stricken to a point that made him want to throw up. Both hands began to cover up his face as his eyes grew watery as he hunched his back towards the table with his elbows thumping on the table. Caden wept.

Leah reached over and padded on his back and began trying to commiserate him as Even joined her. Both of them had never seen Caden go up in tears before. The loud sobs began to break their hearts as well as the hearts of the militia. Mila slid her hand on Jackson's hand and clasped it tight. Along with them was Hunter and Grant; Hunter felt a rush of adrenaline in the moments that followed his heroic act, but now the thoughts of his deeds are beginning to make him question if what he did was right or wrong. Was killing those six people justice? He may have to let his conscience decide on whether or not he's a hero or a killer.

"What do you suggest we do now?" Andy asked,

"I'm not sure what's best." Leah answered,

"Do you think we should evacuate?" The whole militia looked at Andy after hearing his proposal with wide eyes.

"No." Leah shook her head with her answer. "Absolutely not. This is where we grew up and this is where our roots started. No one is moving."

"Do you think we should expand the militia?" It sounded crazy for Andy to say something at a time like this, but that was the only offer he could come up with.

Leah fell silent.

"I think we should." Evan answered,

"What?" Leah questioned the third in command Village Elder

"At this point we're weak and small in numbers. I don't even think we have enough guns inside the gun store that'll arm the whole militia. We don't even have a stable population to put together a whole army that could defeat what we're dealing with." What Evan said really managed to sink into everyone.

"What's your best suggestion?" Andy asked, "You guys are the commanders in chef, I need your demands and decisions to keep us safe from Joel."

"We're thinking!" Leah exclaimed.

Caden rose his head up and spoke as he undid his hands covering his face revealing red skin. "Who can we go to at this point?"

"What?"

"I said: who can we go to? Expand our military, I mean. It sounds like a smart idea to have a force on our side, but where can we find more people who'll get us through the conflict?" Everyone that Caden and the Village Elders could think of had already rounded everyone up shortly after the Great Disappearance within the local and nearby areas so that everyone was in one whole town. So far everyone stayed in Georgetown and didn't leave the area. For them they'd think that maybe the rest of the world had resorted to some kind of Mad Max styled post-apocalyptic world. Now it seems they were partly right.

"Do you think we could try looking to the north?" Evan asked? "If we go near the peninsula there might be a chance at finding more people, Hampton is a largely populated city, it's an hour's drive, but maybe it's worth it."

"What about the that big sporting goods store in Greenville?" Jackson butted in. "I went to this huge store that had more than enough guns and ammo in stock. If we need more supplies, than that's a place I'd go to for more weapons and ammo." With Mila's hand still wrapped around Jackson's, she started to squeeze gently.

"We could use more weapons." Caden nodded his head, "But Greenville is quite a drive. Are you sure you want to make the trip?"

"I'm positive."

"Very well..." Caden's eyes wandered off and looked over at Owen and asked him if he was willing to send someone off to Hampton with him to look for volunteer fighters. Other thoughts started to go about with possible ideas asking what if they were just as rebellious as Joel's army and what was the plan if they were foes. Caden gave them advice to stay on their guard all the time from now on.

After an hour had passed, the meeting was dismissed. Jackson was given the task of traveling far south with the help of Conner and Owen to fetch together as many if not all available firearms and ammunition visible. Evan was next given the duty of traveling up to Hampton with a few others (including Leah) to look for reinforcements. It all sounded crazy for Caden to put more lives on the line, but it was for the best.

Shortly after leaving, more local residents approached Andy and the Village Elders to enlist in the Militia. Caden felt honored to see more people join. It wasn't long for Georgetown to learn about what happened at the gas plant and Hunter's bravery.