Beyond

(Chapter 12) Decisions

We finished cooking as Brooke finally came out of the shower and Mia finally came out of the bedroom and walked towards me and sat down in the dining seats. "How does it all fit, Brooke right?" Mia tried to sound pleasant. "Great. And yes that's right." Brooke sat down across from her and Mikal and I put down everyone's plates. It was odd in this moment I felt at home but still so far away. We quietly started to eat the canned vegetables and beans that were what we called a meal.

"So how did you guys come across Lucas?" Mia asked them while eating what I put on the plate for her.

"We came across him sitting in your driveway on our travels. We had a minor setback at first but ended up being okay after having a good discussion." Brooke spoke very cheerfully. "We told him what we were trying to do and he allowed us to spend the night a while ago and we ended up spotting the note you left him." She smiled at me.

"Oh well I thank you. You brought him back to me. That's all I can ever ask for." Mia said and put her left hand on my hand. "Well I will speak with the council tomorrow we will do whatever we can to make sure you two get the best while you're here." She said not knowing exactly what their intentions were. Mikal looked up at me and I again shook my head to him.

"Thank you." He said. We continued to eat what was left on the plates considering the meal we had was very small. I put Mia's and my plate away and that was the end of the night. "Why don't you two take the bedroom? It's a comfy bed I'm sure it will be a nice to have a warm place to sleep." Mia mentioned before we walked that way. Mikal got up and Brooke hugged Mia and then me which shocked Mia and went into the bedroom. "It was nice meeting you Mia" Mikal said and followed Brooke. Mia and I then made the dining area into a bed and she laid on me with her head on my chest and fell asleep fairly quickly. For some reason I couldn't fall asleep though. The image of Gabriel falling back continued to replay in my head as I closed my eyes. I just starred at the ceiling waiting for that moment where a pleasant thought would take me into rest.

The next morning we awoke to a lot of commotion outside. People were running around and families were all gathered together going past our front door. Mia and the others walked outside and I followed. We saw everyone gathered together in the distance and noticed nine people together a little above them. We made our way to them still seeing the stains of where the fallen were at rest last night. At least they cleaned it all up. I didn't know what more to do but continue to follow Mia to where the group has emerged. When we reached them I could see numerous people just yelling at these people standing at the top of these walkways that over looked a big area of the colony. Jesse was among them but he was sitting further back from the other nine people.

"What reason do we have to believe that we can be kept safe when gun shots and death roamed our community?" One person yelled out to them with others screaming "Yeah" right after him.

"How many people do we have to lose until we are protected without worrying for our children?" A woman started on and then held onto two children very closely. Finally the group calmed down just enough where one woman put her hand up trying to gather their attention. People looked as if they weren't angry but more in fear for themselves.

"People." The woman spoke very clearly.

"We understand your frustration with our safety. Unfortunately after yesterday's events it is hard to see the great vision we have for our future. We assure you this is only a minor setback. We lost eleven members of our community with five of them being kidnapped. We have now double security in every corner of our colony. I ask you to be patient with our colony because every person here is equally important to our survival." She paused and another gentleman walked over to where she was standing.

"We have decided to create strict curfews for this community. None of us will be outside during the dark unless you are on guard duty. Six great men were taken from us to soon just trying to protect us all. We ask for you to mourn in their passing and this time of need. They put their life on the line for our overall safety and lost their lives trying to protect our families." The man said and every person around us had their heads go down in that same moment. Jesse finally got up and walked forward and saw Mia and myself and walked down towards us.