Fear the Roaming Dead

Connections Lost (chapter 8)

snip! snip! The scissors glided through her hair. They shined in the light of the lamp. Cam had a towel around her neck and she was looking into the mirror. The pushed the scissors back further into her hair and cut more strands of it off. She was having some doubts, but at the same time, she was excited over it. Her dark brown hair shrunk from her shoulders up to her neck. Short hair, like a haircut a sophomore male would have. Nothing bad, just shorter.

She set the scissors down on the desk and sighed. She put both her hands on the desk and leaned forward, took a big deep breath, and exhaled heavily. She took her arms off the desk and looked into the mirror. "Survival." she whispered to herself. She slowly walked out of her room and into the hallway. She looked to her right to see the door to Aaron's room. It was wide open, which meant he wasn't in there. She stepped forward and heard her voice.

"Guys! Come downstairs and into the lounge! We need to talk about some things!" Veronica's voice echoed in the house. Cam sighed, smiled, then resumed walking downstairs.

Dex and Wally sat in the couch across from Veronica and Aaron. Tinley was sitting on a desk next to the fireplace. A warm blaze was dancing in the small area. Tinley looked deeply into the fire. "We just need that one girl, right?" Tinley asked. Aaron looked behind him. "Correct. We need Cam." he said. Veronica nodded. Tinley nodded and exhaled loudly. They heard her feet clop down the stairs. Everyone looked up at her. "About time-" Dex stopped when he saw her hair. "Christ, who did that to-" Veronica kicked his foot from under the coffee table. "-you! They deserve a reward!" Dex smiled clapping. Cam blushed. "Don't patronize me." she said. Cam walked downstairs and squeezed between Dex and Wally. Wally pointed to the bigger couch Aaron and Veronica were sitting at. "You can sit there!" Wally yelled. Cam slapped him in the back of the head. "You sit over there!"

Wally scoffed and stood up. He walked around the coffee table and sat between Aaron and Veronica. "Sorry it had to come to this." Wally crossed his arms and looked into Cam's soul. "Um, okay. We can talk about this now, correct?" she asked. Dex nodded.

"Bad news; we are down to three cans of soup." Veronica said. Dex sat up and looked around. "Wait, seriously!? You said we had food for years!" "We did have food for years, until we got more people. Also Wally eats while he's studying, and well. He's been studying all week for who knows what." Wally spoke up. "Explosives-" "We don't care." Dex blurted. Wally scoffed and sat back in the couch.

"The meaning is, we need some of you to go on a scavenging run. Some will stay back. I say three stay and three go." Veronica says. Everyone slowly nods in agreement. "I say Dex, Aaron, and I go." Cam smiled. Veronica and Tinley looked at Dex, who was pale faced. Tinley sprung up. "Me, Dex, and Wally! How's that?" Tinley yelled. Cam stood up and stomped her foot. "Uh, no! Me, Dex, and Aaron!"

Veronica looked at Aaron. "You wanna go?" "Hell no!" Aaron clapped sitting back. Cam looked at Aaron. "It's settled. Just Dex and I will go." "Nope. No. Sorry." Dex said standing up. "I got it." Veronica sighed. "Dex, Wally, Tinley, and Cam. You four will go. End of story." Veronica stood up and quickly walked out of the mansion.

Everyone looked at Aaron, who sat awkwardly for a few seconds, then jumped up and followed Veronica out the door. "Follow us! We'll get your supplies ready!" "We got it." Dex yelled back. "Okay." Aaron yelled back.

Wally jammed some chemistry, biology, and physiology books into his backpack. He put in an extra shirt and jeans. He put a pack of gummies in his side pocket. He picked up his pickaxe leaning against his nightstand. "Dex, I don't have a side arm." Wally turned around. Dex was loading his desert eagle. "Well, go ask Veronica. We have around eight side arms in the armory next door," Dex looked at the pickaxe. "Why the hell do you have a pickaxe?" Dex sheathed his military ballistic knife. "It's powerful." Wally responded flipping it onto his shoulder. "But it's slow. When a crowd of roamers come for you a pickaxe may take one or two, but it won't protect you from-" Tinley interrupted and bust the trailer door open. "Stop making out and let's go. We don't have all day." Wally and Dex both flinched and looked at her. "Uh, okay." Wally said blushing. He walked towards her and started towards the gate. Tinley followed up and caught up with him.