Beginning of the End

V

   "JADE!" I woke up to my name being screamed. I hopped up and grabbed my sledgehammer and ran out my door. Lamar was standing there with Aysa, they both had knives out.

    "What?!" I yell.

    "The fence is down somewhere. Everyone except us, Khalil, Kayla, Tyler, and Nick are in their houses. There's walkers coming in!" Lamar sprinted off. I stared wide eyed at Aysa. We followed after Lamar, who was sprinting towards the top right hand corner. I saw about 10 walkers stumbling in.

    "Fuck me..." I muttered as I pulled my sledgehammer back to get the velocity I need for the strike I delivered to one of their heads. I repeated this process a few times. Between me, and the others, we killed them all, "There's sheet metal and chains with locks in Storage! GO!" I shouted out. Nick and Tyler ran to fetch what I asked for. They ran back over and we all worked together to get it done. We managed to MacGyver the hole in the fence.

    "This fence was fine last night." Aysa said as he walked over to me.

    "I know. What the fuck happened?" I hollered as I threw my sledgehammer down.

    "I have no idea," Nick shook his head, "I stepped out my house and I saw movement over here and I knew something wasn't right, I just knew. I grabbed everyone else then told someone to get you." I ran my hand through my hair.

    "Someone could've fucking died today. We can't afford to lose anyone." I was furious.

    "We know, Jade." Aysa said.

    "There's a metal barn thing up the road. Maybe a mile? If that? Take the flatbed. Rip it apart. We need to secure these walls," I looked at Khalil, "It's you and Cymon today. Take Tyler, Kayla, Elyas. And anyone else you need. Just not Lamar, Nick, or Aysa. I need help here if we need it." I reached down and picked up my sledgehammer, as I walked away, I yelled back to them, "The sooner the better. Tell Audrey and Jed I need to talk to them." I walked back to my house and threw open my door. I threw my sledgehammer on the couch and ran my hands threw my hair.

    "You needed us?" Jed and Audrey walked in.

    "Something happened to the fence. It was fine last night." I sat down on the couch, pulling my sledgehammer onto my lap.

    "Are you sure?" Jed asked as he stepped in front of me.

    "Positive. I went on a walk at about 3 this morning. Nothing was damaged." I leaned back and looked up at him.

    "What are you suggesting?" Audrey walked over beside Jed.

    "Something happened to our fence. Or... Someone? I have no idea. I need to assign a night watch now."

    "Tanner and William could do it." Jed suggested. I nodded and stood up.

    "I'll go talk to them. Make sure Khalil and Cymon are rounding up Tyler, Elyas, and Kayla. I gave them an assignment. And the sooner they fucking do it, the better." I picked up my sledgehammer and walked out. I started walking to Tanner and William's trailer, when I noticed that Lamar and Aysa were studying the hole in the fence. I walked over.

    "Hey, Jade, come take a look at this." Lamar called me over. I walked up.

    "What's up?" I asked as he pointed to the fence.

    "It looks like someone cut it open. With bolt cutters or something." Aysa sighed.

    "That's impossible. The bolt cutters are in my house." I shook my head.

    "Who said it was from the inside?" Lamar looked up at me.

    "There's no fucking way. We would know."

    "Jade... Last night. Maybe it wasn't a deer." Aysa looked at me. I sharply inhaled.

    "Fuck," I gripped my sledgehammer tightly, "Get everyone to CMC. Now," I walked over to the CMC, but I noticed Khalil and Cymon were talking to their team. I jogged over to them, "I need you all in the CMC. You can leave after the meeting." I walked back to the building, seeing people already walking in.

    "Hey, what's going on?" My dad asked as he caught up to me.

    "I have no fucking idea, but we got a problem." I walked in, made my way on stage. I counted heads and made sure everyone was there. Lamar stepped in front of the stage.

    "Alright, guys. We need to calm down. This is a very serious meeting." He turned back to me and nodded when everyone quieted down.

    "Guys. We have a serious fucking problem. But, first, I need pure honesty. Does anyone here have in their possession a bolt cutter? Or know someone who does?" I looked over the crowd, people were looking between themselves, "No one? Well. Looks like we got an even bigger problem. Someone cut open a hole in the back right corner of the fence. Walkers leaked through earlier. Has anyone seen or heard anything?" I stopped and waited for a response. Elyas finally stood up.

    "I got out to Shannon's grave a lot at night. And I'll hear things in the woods. Sounds like a deer or something walking. I assumed that or a walker. I never thought much about it." He scratched behind his ear nervously.

    "Okay. I would ask why you never told me about it, but I understand. You didn't feel threatened or anything," I sighed, chewing on the inside of my lip anxiously, "Sounds like we've got friends," I smiled, "But they don't realize we don't play nice on the playground. I'm assigning night watch. Tanner and William. You're one team. Devin and Lily. You're the other team. Take turns. One night one team, the next night the other team. If you hear anything or see anything. Wake Jed, Khalil, or Lamar first. They'll decide when they need to wake me up. Now," I scanned the room, "My running team today, you're dismissed for your task. I need you back as soon as fucking possible." Khalil, Cymon, Elyas, Tyler, and Kayla all stood up.

    "If we come across anything else that seems like we need, we'll also grab that." Khalil said as they all walked out.

    "This is very fucking serious guys. Your lives could possibly be in danger. Don't hesitate if you know any-fucking-thing." I walked off the stage and out the building. I walked back to my house and slammed the door behind me. As soon as I sat down, there was a knock on my door.

    "This better be important..." I mumbled to myself and I got up. I opened the door and Lamar stood there.

    "Can I come in?"He asked. I stepped back and gestured for him to enter. He walked in and sat on the couch.

    "What's up?" I asked as I sat next to him.

    "What are we gonna do if it is another group?" I could tell he was worried by the tone in his voice.

    "Kill them." I looked at him, he was obviously anxious.

    "What if we wouldn't have noticed the fence in time?" Lamar shook his head.

    "Don't even think about that. We have great people here. Excellent people. They do their parts and a damn good job of it too," I sighed as I stood up and walked over to my China cabinet, "I'm just pissed I didn't fucking investigate more this morning." I grabbed my bourbon and a glass. I poured it halfway, then set the bottle back in the cabinet.

    "Yeah, you and Aysa mentioned earlier. You guys went on a walk?" He looked over at me, being nosey. I rolled my eyes.

    "I couldn't sleep. I went on a walk and decided to wake him up and take him with me. We were just right by the back gate. We heard something in the woods, first thinking it was a walker. But heard no groans or noises, so we just put it off as a deer." I took a sip or my drink.

    "We'll figure this out," He chuckled, "I hope they know they're fucking with the wrong people." He stood up and walked out. I walked back over to my couch, but I walked over to my bookshelf. I picked up 'American Psycho', sat on my couch, and began reading.