Infected.

Chapter Seventeen Pt. I

 ***Jake***

  We'd all not so anonymously decided to have a memorial of sorts for Chris. Angelo dug around and came up with one of his old Misfits tees. The rest of Motionless tossed  roses into the five foot hole Ryan and Andy had dug earlier in the morning. No one spoke- except for me. I put a foot forward as the sermon preacher.

  Looking out at the people I had recently grown to love as my own blood, I inhale deeply and hold back the wave of emotions. In front of me, Jeanne never lifts her head, Keller maintains a hysterical look, swaying back and forth with wide eyes; Ryan clenching and unclenching his jaw repeatedly. Scattered reactions from all. "I have no smart or overpowering speech to give to you all today. I have no prayers to 'God', but I will say he's in one hell of better place than we are now. Christopher Thomas Cerulli was and still is one of the nicest and most outspoken men I've ever gotten the chance to meet. He fought, he loved, he kicked some serious ass. His name means 'of Christ', which I find true. I don't believe in god, but he was one of those guys that you'd consider a god to his fans. He stuck up for the real human beings, he saved lives- shit." I pause. "We lost another great soldier, but we'll never be completely lost. This is just the beginning of us- of a new life. Now, we fight harder than ever to fend for all that we have left." I stepped back and let Ricky take my place. Grim as he normally appeared, he looked like Death coming to kill off even the smallest of annoyances. Jinxx had found an old violin last night and tuned it to perfection. Soft notes were ringing in the air as Jinxx played and Ricky sang Shadow Moses.

  I believe this is the first time i'd seen any of the guys- including BVB- cry in public...or cry at all. Each person took a turn passing the empty hole, dropping whatever they'd chosen; dropping a piece of their hearts. Mere minutes passed. Ash took her position at the head of the small crowd. "Just as Jake stated, we need to fend better and fight harder. We're getting wood fencing from the long dirt road and creating a barrier around the house. I remember spotting some barbed wire in the old shed over there." She pointed to the far corner of the property, which stood an overgrown and ancient shed. "We will educate ourselves further on this situation and we will make it out of this alive."

"For every future life to come, and for every past life that has gone." Balz mumbled, seemingly enough, we understood. Ghost stepped forward and said, "When do we start?"

"Now."

   Hours had passed and not a single person sat. We wasted no time in taking action on Ash's words. Andy, Ashley, Balz, and Ricky had gone to clear out the barn in search of the ever illusive barbed wire, Chey, Jet, Jeanne, and Ashton had taken to gathering everything in the house in proper order, Jinxx, Ghost, Angelo, CC, Danny, and I were taking down the fence along the dirt road and loading it on the make-do cart. Ryan, Keller, and Ash were at separate high points, on watch with snipers.

  Regardless of our continuing, I noticed the slight glitch we all maintained. No one was right without Chris here. Ashton seemed to be a drone, not thinking, not speaking. Chris was practically the father he never had.