I don't know where we are but our car broke down and we were walking. They are Z's everywhere and from all the Z's making up that huge dust storm, it was hard for us to breathe and see. My asthma was kicking in but we had to find a safe and clean place for me to use it.
"Warren! Four!" I yelled seeing the Z's going behind her.
"Murphy! Get them off!" I yelled as he focused on the Z's to go away.. I killed 2 more Z's while 10k shot one behind me. "I thought we killed all these Zs last week."
"Maybe the Grand Canyon filled up." said 10k.
"Not funny." said Murphy.
"I wasn't kidding."
I looked ahead and saw a building. "Look! It looks like a hotel!" I said coughing and losing my breathe.
"Let's check it out." Warren said as 10k picked me up and ran towards the door. Doc looked in the through the window.
"Anybody in there?!"
"Do you think it's deserted?" Doc grabbed started to try to get the door opened but it wouldn't work. The Z's kept getting closer and we were trying to keep them back.
"Why don't we just break the glass?" Murphy asked.
"No, cuz then the Zs will be able to get in." said Warren.
I started to see dots in my vision when I saw someone move in the window. "There's somebody in there."
Warren looked in and saw them. "Open up please, we have a horde of zombies and a girl who needs to be out of this dust as soon as possible."
The door then opened and we hurried in. "Thank you." said Warren.
10k set me down as I started to hyperventilate and grabbed my inhaler.
"Here you go, and easy with it." 10k said as I used it.
"Lower your weapons! Turn around and go back the way you came." A guy yelled from on top of the stairs with others with guns aimed at us. 10k helped up his gun.
"Look! We don't want to hurt you. But we cannot turn around. There are way too many Zs out there. Not much oxygen either. Who's in charge?" asked Warren.
"My name is Gideon Gould. I'm the facilitator here. But we don't really have a leader. Cuz everyone here participates in our decision making." said Gideon
"Great. We just need some shelter until the smoke clears and some of those zombies move on."
"Okay. I think in order for us to put together a mutually beneficial agreement, we're gonna have to create a little framework of trust here." said Gideon
"Buddy, I'd have a lot more trust if you all pointed your weapons someplace else." said Doc.
"Sure. It's okay, everybody. What you got in mind, Mr."
"Gould? Popcorn circle process?" said Doc.
"You know what? That's exactly what I had in mind. That's a great idea." she said coming down the stairs with a staff. 10k held back up his weapon.
"Don't worry. It's not a weapon. It's a tool. We call it the talking stick. We use it to facilitate dialogue. When we make decisions, we pass it around the circle like a bowl of popcorn. Only the person who is holding the stick is allowed to speak. It makes it so much easier to be heard." said a lady. I grabbed 10k and looked at him as he lowered it.
"Speak softly? Carry a big log? Except for this stick is used for peaceful conflict resolution and communication." said Gideon laughing.
"Doctor Gould Gideon, please. We don't really get many visitors here. Gideon was a I'm sorry Is a world renowned expert in corporate communication and conflict resolution. We were all at his seminar in the hotel when the outbreak happened. We would all be dead if we didn't have a way to communicate. It's a way to build trust. Hopefully we can all build enough trust here so that we'll all lower our weapons, okay? We're gonna play a little quick game. It's called honesty inventory. I give you my first impressions of all of you without filtering anything. So let's see." She said looking at each of us. She started with Warren.
"You. You are the leader. You're a natural. And you have a wisdom. But it's born of loss." Then she went to Vasquez. "You are the enforcer, brother. You're tough. But your scars can cloud your judgment. You're the strong one. But there's a lot of loss in those eyes. I think it's more loss than you can handle. She relies on you." She went to Doc.
"Brother sir. You've got a face that's etched with sadness. And yet somehow you've managed to keep your sense of humor."
"Man, I need a hug." said Doc.
She looked at me. "Oh sweetheart. You are a strong woman who puts blame of the world on your shoulders. You fear losing one of your people. But you are intelligent and caring."
She then looked at 10k.
"Son. You got a good heart. You take care of your sister and you do whatever it takes to keep her safe. But you're a little bit angry. You don't like him. You two don't like each other, that's what it is." She said looking at Murphy.
"Hmmm. You got the weight of the world on your shoulders, don't you? I can see it. You do more for these people than they even realize. And you never really get the respect that you deserve either. You also will do anything to protect her." She said pointing to me.
"Let's everybody look around you now. I think we've all taken a really big step in resolving this conflict. It's all about process dialogue and filling the pool of shared meaning. I told you guys a story. And then it resonated with you hopefully. And now we have a common narrative, which of course is the basis of trust. What do you think?"
"We'll stand down." said Warren.
"Gee. Now that we're all friends and stuff, maybe we could get some food? I'm starving." said Murphy.
"Is he alright?" She asked.
"Vitamin deficiency."
We were sitting on the couch as Warren was talking with Gideon. "I smell food." I said
"All this corporate double speak is making me hungry." said Doc.
"Yeah, sit tight. Warren's negotiating for some food." said Vasquez.
Warren came over and told us that they agreed to let us stay until the fog disappears and the Z's thin out.
They came over with a little bit of food.
"Sorry, We kept losing people all through Black Summer, until we voila couldn't defend the whole hotel. We abandoned the rooms to the zombies." said Anna.
"Kinda like a zombie roach motel." asked Doc.
"Yeah."
"You guys have been here the whole time?" asked Warren.
"We thought about going. At least I have. But the group always vote me down. My company sent me here for a weekend retreat to work on my people skills. That was four years ago."
"You guys have a pool? I always wanted to swim in a pool." said Murphy.
"You're drinking it." Anna said. I looked down at my water and started to freak out.
"Don't worry. We filter and boil everything. Let me show you where we keep the food under lock and key." Gideon said as we got up to follow her.
"We lock up all the food since we discovered some was disappearing I do all the cooking and cleaning and A regular cinder fella? I even clean up after the janitor. Guess I should be glad I'm alive." Gideon said as we continued walking. We walked into a big reception hall area.
"Why don't you guys relax in the ballroom? And I'll see if I can scare up some blankets." Gideon said walking off.
"You know these satellite dishes are useless unless hotel porn makes a comeback." said Murphy.
"Lovely as that would be, hotel's would need to make a comeback first." said Doc.
"I mean if we're lucky enough, there's enough circuitry left that we could reorient one of these dishes and get another satellite going here." I said "But these wires are striped."
"Yeah. We're not lucky." said Iggy coming in. "I came from New York to this place for a stupid seminar."
"All the way from New York?"
" Yes, You know we've been inside this hotel since day one."
"Nobody tried to leave?" I asked.
"Lots of people. Some of them escaped. Some were banished, I thought they were the lucky ones. Then they'd always turn back up a few days later as zombies. After a while, you just quit trying." Iggy said.
"Well it makes sense you stayed. You had food and shelter." said Warren.
"Sometimes I thought I was going insane. Gideon's very controlling. I just wanted to be somewhere without a ceiling. You know breathe in some fresh air out in an open sky." said Iggy looking out the window.
"It's dead. See different faces. Got to tell you, it's It's pretty effed up out there." Warren said.
"How do you keep going? I mean there must have been places for you to stay along the way."
"I promised a friend I'd get him to California. Gives me some place to go."
"Some place to go. I like the sound of that." said Iggy. All of a sudden a shot rang out.
"Hey, Murphy? Murphy! Help! Somebody help! God damnit."
"Hey, where'd that shot come from?" I said seeing a group of people.
"It came from here." Someone said pointing to the door. I tried to open it but it wouldn't budge.
"Door's locked." I yelled. Vasquez came over kicked the door in. When the door opened, Murphy was on the ground shot in the shoulder while someone else was on the ground behind him.
"Murphy." I went over to him and tried to stop the bleeding as everyone else came in.
"He's bleeding bad."
"Greg's been shot." Iggy yelled going to him.
"God, right in the heart. He should be dead." said Doc.
"What happened?" 10k asked running in.
"Iggy, get the door." Yelled Anna.
"Okay, we're gonna move them out to the bar. There's more light over there. Danny, get the first aid kit, Hurry!" Anna yelled as we moved Murphy and Greg to the bar. Doc and I were working on Greg while Warren helped with Murphy.
"Addy, cover the door." Warren yelled.
"Got it."
"Who put you in charge?" asked Gideon.
" I did. I was a cop for ten years. This is a crime scene. Someone tried to kill our prisoner." said Warren
"Prisoner?"
"I can't stop the bleeding." I said as I'm putting pressure on Greg's heart..
"You need to mercy him." Gideon said as he got his knife ready.
"Wait. He's not turning. You can't mercy him before he's dead." said Iggy.
"There's no time to discuss this." yelled Gideon looking at
"We have to process this without violence.
"We can talk about this later."
"What you need to do is tie up your man and secure him before he turns or I will mercy him myself." said Warren.
"Alright How is he?" Warren asked coming over to me as I was working on Murphy. "Well the bullet went clean through. I'm more worried about this nasty head wound. He must have cracked it when he fell. He's definitely got a concussion. Maybe worse." I said as I was looking at Murphy's head while Doc was working on Greg.
"Please don't mercy him before he's dead." Anna said going to Doc and looking at Greg.
"I won't. I promise. Unless something unforeseen happens." Doc said. After he got Greg situated, they came over to me and we started to talk.
"What do you think?" Vasquez asked as we went off to the side.
"Well I only heard one shot." said Addy.
"So we have one bullet and two victims." said 10k.
"Judging by the bullet's trajectory, the shooter was here." Warren said standing in the spot. "He surprised Murphy, sees the food, fires once. The bullet hits Murphy in the shoulder, continues on, hits victim number two in the heart."
"Now, wait. Hold on. You're telling me that the bullet passed through Murphy and hit this dude in the heart? Well no wonder he ain't turning. He's looking just like Cassandra." said Doc.
"You better keep your eye on him." 10k said looking at Greg.
"Damn straight." said Addy.
"Hey guys?" Iggy said coming in through the door. "Could I ask you to come in here and join us in the trust circle? We're gonna resolve this conflict peacefully. Without violence." We went out to the hall.
"Well that's not gonna be easy. Considering one of you just shot one of us." said Warren.
"Do you have any proof of that?" asked Gideon.
"Okay, listen. Everyone. Violence can spread like wildfire. It just takes one spark to burn down the bridges of trust between all of our fellow human beings. And once it's started, a fire doesn't care who it burns. I know we can resolve the issues between us." said Iggy as we sat in our circle.
"The issue between us The issue between us is that one of you shot Murphy." said Warren.
"Imvume." Iggy said looking at the talking stick.
"You said Murphy was your prisoner. Maybe he tried to escape and one of you shot him." said Meg.
"Meg, thank you." I got up because this was ridiculous.
"Will you please sit down? We all have to trust." said Iggy.
"This is bullshit." I said getting ready to walk out when 10k grabbed my arm.
"Sit"
"I saw him sneaking around where the shooting happened." Everyone said looking at 10k.
"I saw him there too right after the shot was fired. He was acting suspicious."
"You better watch it." I said.
"So clearly there's some unresolved conflict between you and Murphy." said Gideon
"Hold on. If 10K wants something dead, it's dead. And he would never try to kill Murphy. Kick him in the nuts a few times, maybe. But he would never try to kill him. He is my brother and I know him better than anyone else. " I said
"You care to defend yourself?" Iggy asked.
"Murphy's not my friend. He never will be. I have more than enough reasons to want to kill him. And when the time comes, I will kill him. Happily. But it's not the time."
"Why should we believe you?" said Gideon
"Because he didn't fire that shot. One of you did." Vasquez said coming out of the room with a bag of food and water.
"My God. Look at all that food." said Anna.
"It's more than Found this hidden on top of the cabinet near where Murphy was shot." said Vasquez.
"We knew someone was stealing the food. But we thought they were eating it." said Iggy.
"Sounds like someone has a getaway stash. Murphy must have stumbled upon it and got shot." said Addy.
"Well it turns out to be true that one of us has been stealing food. It's our agreed upon policy that the punishment is immediate banishment. Now there's only one person, other than myself, who has access to our food supply." Gideon said looking at Iggy.
This was getting out of hand so I slipped out to check on Murphy. I cleaned his bullet wound and I kept cleaning his head. He kept moaning as if he was in pain or dreaming. Addy, Doc, and Warren came in after a little bit.
"I got the bleeding stopped, but he still hasn't regained consciousness." I told them as I kept working on him. "He just keeps moaning like that, like he's having a bad dream."
"As soon as he can travel, we got to get the hell out of here." said Warren.
"Well we're gonna have to wait till the swelling goes down and he's conscious. If we try to move him now, it could kill him." said Doc looking at him.
"What about this guy?" asked Warren looking at Greg.
"Oh man, check this out." said Doc as he went over. "That thing about the bullet passing through Murphy and hitting this guy in the heart blew my mind you know. Got me thinking, If that tiny amount of Murphy blood could keep this guy from turning, what would a little bit more blood do?"
"Doc."
"I know, I know. But it's the apocalypse. I figure go for it, right? So I've been soaking this rag in Murphy blood and letting Greg here suck on it."
"Doc." said Warren
"I know. Bad idea, right? But check it out. He's getting better. His fever broke. He's breathing normally, which I don't know how the hell you do that when you got a hole in your chest the size of a silver dollar. And look at his skin. It's turning that pretty blue, just like Murphy."
"Wow, this Murphy shit is real, isn't it?" said Warren.
"Sure looks like it, Chief." said Doc.
"Well, you two keep an eye on him or It or Whatever. Keep Murphy alive." Warren said as they were all starting to leave.
"Where you going?"
" I'm gonna go climb the corporate ladder." She said as she closed the door. 10k locked it and kept guard as Doc and I stood there.
"This is bigger than any of us." I said to Doc looking at Murphy and Greg.
"It's the apocalypse. Weird shit is bound to happen."
"I'm gonna go and check around. You guys good here?" asked 10k.
"Ya, we will be good. You be careful ok. There's some strange shit going on."
10k left and we kept watching Greg and Murphy.
Doc and I were sitting there when a shot rang out and a bullet grazed my cheek. Doc and I dropped down as the shooter ran as everyone came in.
"Shit!"
"You guys ok? Doc, what happened?" Warren asked.
"Some zombie loving bastard took a shot at me and grazed my cheek. I'm done with this shit."
"Did you see who it was?" asked 10k.
"No! But they went that way!" said Doc pointing at the door.
"Let's go. Addy, you come with me. 10K, stay with them." said Warren as they ran.
10k came over and kept looking at my cheek. "10k I'm fine, it's a crazy."
"Ya ya."
"Okay, open up. There you go. Yeah, take your medicine like a good little Z." Doc said as he rang out Murphy's blood into Greg's mouth.
"Doc. We have to stop this. I would rather be dead then become someone like Cassandra. We gotta stop."
"I know, I know. But I'm telling you, the dude's getting better. What about Murphy?"
"Still in dreamland. His swelling is down a little and his shoulder is doing fine. But we can't stay here any longer this place is gonna fall. We are gonna have to move him soon." Everyone rushed in as Z's were coming.
"What's going on?" Doc asked.
"Z's got in."
"Well This is a really small space to spend the rest of your lives." I said.
"Well thanks for the positive vibe, sweetheart." said Gideon.
"Don't talk to her like that." 10k said
"Hey, you can relax, buddy. She's being sarcastic bitch."
"Why don't we go outside with the Z's and see who survives. I'm a girl and I got more balls than you."
"You need to chill out, lady."
"I told you not to talk to her like that." 10k said grabbing him by his neck.
"Hey, we need to resolve and figure out what the hell to do next. Now do your little stick thing." said Warren looking at Anna.
"Okay. Now more than ever we need to resolve these conflicts. Using the talking stick plus deductive reasoning, we can navigate a journey of discovery that will lead us to the true identity of the killer. That's all I'm saying." said Anna.
"Or we could just ask Greg who shot him. Look who just woke up." Doc said as Greg came out of the door.
"Hey, Greg. Who shot you?" Doc asked as Gideon pulled a gun on all of us. I went to grab my gun but he pointed it at me.
"Don't even think about it! Not surprised a zombie figured it out before you corporate morons."
"Who you calling corporate?" said Doc.
"Shut it. And if anybody moves, I will not hesitate to kill you. Dana, get over here. Come on, baby. We're getting out of here." Everyone there was shocked looking at Dana and Gideon.
"I never wanted anybody to get hurt."
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on. Where exactly do you think you're going?" Travis asked as they started to leave.
"We would rather take our chances out there than die in here listening to you."
"Okay, go. Go. You're both liars. You're both murderers. And you know what, we'll ride this out and live on and give you mercy."
"I think it's time for you to go. Unless that stick of yours shoots ." Gideon said.
"45 slugs, we're staying until my man is well enough to travel." Warren said as we started to hear knocking.
"Is that somebody knocking?"
"That's impossible."
"That's not a Z. Somebody's out there. Somebody alive." Addy said.
"Open the door."
"On three, open the door. Be ready for anything. Three. Two. One." As we opened the door and quickly pulled the person in before any Z's can get in.
"Iggy."
"You're alive."
"No thanks to any of you."
"I am so sorry. Ignatius. You have every right to be angry. The process failed you. So on behalf of everyone, I just want to say that we're sorry." said Anna.
"You're you're sorry?" Iggy said really pissed off.
"You have a lot of complicated feelings right now. But we need to work through those feelings. Is there anything else you want to say?" Ana asked.
"There is something I'd like to say. Sure. For all the people who who aren't here to to speak for themselves. Thank you. Sure. They aren't here to speak for themselves because you did all the speaking for them!"
"What did I miss?" Murphy said coming out of the room rubbing his head.
"Murphy? You're awake." I said.
"They're leaving. The Zs are leaving." Addy said looking out the window.
"I had the craziest dreams." Murphy said.
Now that Murphy was awake, we needed to continue our mission. I cleaned Murphy's wounds again and rewrapped his head. Since all of the dust had settled, we didn't need our mask anymore.
"Thanks again for the food." Warren said as they handed us a bag of food and water.
"Thank you for the freedom. If you hadn't come along, we'd still be right where we were, under Gideon's control."
"So what are you guys gonna do?" I asked as we were grabbing our weapons.
"Take our chances on the road like you guys. I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon."
"Ah, you might wanna It ain't what it used to be. Well we got to go." I said.
"Good luck."
"Yeah, you too." I said as we left.
"How you feeling, princess?" I asked Murphy looking at him.
"I have an apocalyptic headache." He said
"I'm glad I never had an office job. Those people were messed up." said 10k
"It's the corporations, man. They are the crazy ones." said Doc.
