A Walk Among The Dead

Chapter 15

Our laughter faded when Alex's angry muffled voice boomed through the barn from the outside.

"What? They're here? Where the fuck were they? How do you know for sure?"

Rachel and Laura's eyes widened as they caught on to what Alex was asking about. Rachel grabbed Laura's wrist and turned to look at her. Laura just shook her head calmly.

"It can't be them, it can't be," Laura whispered. Rachel's eyes filled with tears as Laura held her hand and tried to keep her calm.

"What are ya'll talking about?" Brady asked. I looked at him, shocked that he'd decided to say something, considering he had hardly spoken a single sentence since we got here.

"Long story." Laura said quietly. But was it really that long of a story?

Before Brady could say anything else, Alex stormed back into the barn, Brendon following close behind.

"Rachel, pack your shit, we're leaving." Alex yelled. Rachel flinched at his boisterous voice.

"Don't be fucking stupid, Alex. Let's think about this first." Brendon said calmly. Alex froze and hesitated before storming back over to Brendon and punching his face, hard. Brendon fell back, shocked. We all jumped up, jaws hanging halfway to the floor. Rachel stomped over to Alex and slapped his face.

"Alex!" Rachel screamed. "What the fuck is your problem?" Alex stared at her blankly, holding the cheek Rachel had just smacked the shit out of.

"Joe's here for us, just like he promised!" Alex shouted in Rachel's face. Rachel covered her mouth with her hand, and put the other one back to find something to lean on for support. Laura rushed to her side and helped keep her upright.

"I knew it." Rachel whispered. Laura pulled Rachel in and hugged her head to her chest. Rachel began to shake and sob violently, so Laura took her over to their cots and tried to calm her down.

"What in God's name is goin' on?" Dad asked, obviously frustrated that no one was talking about anything. His arms were crossed over his lower chest and his foot tapped to its own rhythm. Brendon rubbed his face where Alex had punched him and sighed defeatedly. Alex stormed over to their supply inventory and began to throw everything into a bag.

"Some people we don't have a good history with are after us." Brendon said, annoyed. Dad dropped his hands to his side and looked at Brendon, shocked.

"Well what the hell are we still doin' here? I'll be damned if I let you drag my family into ya'll's little gang fight." Dad said. Alex stood and threw his hand towards dad in a 'see, I'm not the only one who thinks so' manner. Brendon rolled his eyes and scratched his head furiously. You could practically see the stress and frustration radiating off of his body like steam.

"All I'm saying is that we need to have a plan. We can't just act out irrationally like this!" Brendon shouted, throwing his hands in the air. While everything was hectic, Brady and Amelia had decided to go pack all of our supplies up as well.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" I asked them as they zipped up a full bag and began to fill another.

"Your dad's right, we can't get involved in their turf war." Amelia said, shoving a box of Poptarts into her backpack.

"It's not a turf war." I said quietly. By this point, Dad had made his way over to us and joined Brady and Amelia in packing.

"Dad!" I shouted. Dad just looked up at me for not even a second before continuing his packing. Brendon noticed our squabbling and rushed over to us, holding his already bruising face.