Becoming Them: A Zombie Novel

Seven

A week later, we were all sitting in the living room, eating our lunch. The amount of food we had was quickly disappearing, so we were only able to eat some potatoes with some other vegetables alongside it to help scavenge our remains, along with the fact we had an extra mouth to feed; the prisoner. His name was Gavin. He proved to not be much of a problem though. Adrian only tossed him some scraps. And the fearful man remained passive and quiet throughout the days that went by.

Adrian had announced to everyone that there'd be another looting run to go on after finishing eating, to find anything of use to help us grow our own food and such, like seeds and equipment. People let out murmurs of agreement while chewing on their food.

Adrian went on. "However, we'll need someone to fill in for Aria's work and be able to do their own as well," he said.

People continued their raucous chewing, acting as if they hadn't heard him. I guessed no one wanted the extra workload. No one spoke. No one volunteered, and an awkward silence had ensued.

"I'll do it," I exclaimed.

This time, the chomping and munching and the swigging of water had halted. Eyes were on me. Aaron and Paula held smiles at my bravery, while most of the others held only worry, probably thinking I wasn't ready for this sort of thing. Joe let out a few sniggers. Adrian held a cold, dark look when I said those words. Unfortunately, he didn't look impressed at all.

"I can handle it," I added, looking at no one in particular, but attempting to persuade one person especially. I might have been trying to convince myself, too. There was no denying there was a small sprout of worry growing inside me, and if I went out there, it would flurry throughout, taking over my mind and filling it with pessimistic aftereffects. I needed to believe in myself more. If that didn't happen, then it'd surely be the cause of my downfall.

"You? Really?" Adrian let out a chuckle in astonishment, although it was painfully clear he didn't find the situation amusing. His mouth was set in a straight line and his eyes continued to study me. It was like he was looking for a reason to hold me back, a small crack that would ensure I wouldn't be able to go out there with the rest.

I nodded, gulping. "Yes."

"Well, would you look at that? She kills a couple of bad guys and she thinks she's ready for all of this, isn't it? I think she just needs a reminder that it doesn't make her a hero," he said, eyeing around the room, then focused on me again when no one replied. Everyone looked on at the growing anger Adrian withheld. "You think you can handle what's out there? You think your bony self can handle a zed?"

I only cautiously nodded, suddenly afraid to utter anything else.

Cara interjected abruptly by clearing her throat. Adrian looked over at her. "I think she's ready, Adrian," she simply said. She looked as if she wanted to continue talking, but found it difficult to find the right words.

He silently asked her to carry on, demanding an explanation on why.

Sighing, she replied, "I've been teaching her how to deal with zeds." I could sense the relief from Aaron and Paula at not being mentioned.

His eyes widened but didn't look all that surprised. "You knew what I thought about that, yet you—"

"She needed to learn, Adrian. She needed to know how to survive."

"It was a waste of time! She's not going to be able to survive, anyway," he shouted.

Silence followed after that. I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but I knew I had to keep my mouth shut at that point. Hurt and confused, I had no clue what I should be doing.