Fight for your life

Chapter Nine

We find the group where we left them- the back of a pick up truck- with the boys at a close yet safe distance away. "Rise and shine," I say, throwing the trunk open and waking them all.
"Ricky!" Scout says loudly, jumping up and smiling. "You're okay! Oh thank god!" She says, crawling over to hug me as Donnie and Barrett rub their eyes and grumble, like it's any other morning. "Umm, Ricky, don't freak out, but there's three living people staring at us and, oh," she straightens up, fixing her hair. "They're kind of cute. I like the big one," she says, giving him a flirty wave as I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, David, Conor, and James. They have a motel, with people. And power."
"Really?" She asks as Barrett processes my words.
"Wait, is it safe?" He asks, eyeing the men.
"I trust them," I say, shrugging. "They say they have a generator, and some live stock, and a few types of foods growing- it sounds pretty real. They showed us on the map, we're a ten minute drive from a really small town, that's thirty minutes from a big city."
"That sounds promising," Donnie says, peering over at the men.
"So we'd have to ride in a car with them?" Barrett asks, frowning.
"Yeah. They have a van they drive for supply runs." Murdoc says dryly, making eye contact with Barrett. The exchange a look, and I elbow him frustratedly.
"Well," I say, sighing and leaning into Murdoc, feeling drained. "I say we take a vote. I'm in. I say we go."
"If Ricky says yes, so I do I," Scout says, and Donnie nods.
"It's a bad idea," Murdoc grumbles, shaking his head.
"I'm with Murdoc." Barrett says nodding, making Scout groan.
"Well, I'm gonna vote we go with majority vote," Scout says, and Donnie and I both nod in agreement.
"Well it's settled," I say, nodding and shrugging at the guys. "Lets go to your motel of horrors."

"So," Barrett says, hand on his gun, glaring at David, who's sitting next to me on the bench. "Military van, huh?"
"Uh, yeah, our mechanic showed up in it. We use it for runs, just in case we find a lot of supplies, or other survivors like you." He says, looking directly at me. A gesture Murdoc answers by putting a hand on my thigh.
"Mudz," I say slowly, turning to him. "You have three seconds to get your hand off of me." Scout snickers as he quickly removes his hand, and David suppresses a laugh, beaming.
"So," Barrett says sternly, still scowling. "Tell me about your people. Ricky said you had 14 people."
"Ah, yeah, there's us three, and we mainly do supply runs, then there's Joan, our leader, and my older sister. Then there's Janet, our mechanic, Brad's good with like, power and stuff, Liz is our medic- she was a nurse before this happen. Then we have her daughter, Lily, she's 9. Ben is a farmer, so we have some live stock and food growing." David says with a smile.
"Live stock?" Donnie repeats, eyes wide.
"Yeah, we have a few chickens, a cow, and a sheep." Her eyes grow brighter with every word, and he laughs.
"She use to live on a farm too," I say, and she smiles.
"I'm sure Ben will love to meet you!" He says happily, and she nods.
"I hope so."
I look out the window and watch as we drive down the bumpy road- the bumps being various pieces of various dead people. Scout beings to flirt with James, and Donnie and Barrett talk quietly about animals they wish they could have seen in person. Murdoc stays silent, still sulking as David beams at me. "I really think you'll like it at the motel! It's so much better than living out on the streets, we all get our own room, and it's usually quiet and-"
"We had that before," Murdoc says begrudgingly.
"Really?" David asks, looking curious.
"Yeah," I say with a small nod. "Kind of. We used to live by neighborhood. We'd go from house to house gathering supplies and sleeping in the houses... It was nice."
"We could just go do that again-" He starts, but I cut him off.
"Mudz," I snap, glaring. "Give it two days. That's all I'm asking." He starts to protest, but I cut him off, looking up at him pleadingly. "Please."
He pauses, staring down at me before sighing and muttering. "Fine. Two days."
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"And we're home," James says as we pull around the back of a very large, nice looking hotel, that's nothing like I pictured. It's surrounded by a large chain link fence, topped with barbed wire. He hops out of the car, going to unlock the gate, which is held closed with chains and a padlock. I turn to Murdoc, shocked, and then annoyed when he smirks at me, his eyes saying 'I told you this was a bad idea.'
Instead, I turn to David. "Is this it?" I ask, disregarding any manners.
"I know it's kind of strange but-" he starts, looking a little hurt.
"No," I say, looking at the gate that's now fallen open on its own. It opens inward, too. "This fence- it-"
"It's absolutely useless," Barrett says, looking just as dumbfounded as me. "I mean, sure it'll keep the dead out, but against humans? That lock could be shot off, cut off, broken off- and the fence could be driven right through, or cut- and for fuck sakes it opens inward. That's like, an invitation to zombies. If someone breaks the lock or doesn't close it properly, all the zombie has to do it walk into it and it'll open! It's like a huge beacon, 'look at us! We're right here and we can't protect ourselves!'" He snaps, looking livid. Puck seems to grumble with agreement, making Donnie jump- she forgot he was at her feet.
"I-" David starts as Conner drives through the open doors, leaving him to fend for himself. "It's the best we could do," he says, looking down.
"It'll be okay for now," Scout says, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "We can always try to make it more stable later."