TheFamousFilms Crafting Dead: Untold Tales

Quinny - Part 7

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the late update, things have been crazy as of late. However, we are nearing the end of all the CD Untold Tales that have been written up to this point. I will be giving you guys a very special treat for the final part, although I would still like your opinion on this: Would you like for me to revamp the series in order to clean up inconsistencies and make them better? Or would you rather see new content?

Also, I actually posted the wrong hint poem in the last chapter. Today is about Quinny, not that character which shall not be named as of yet!!! (hooray...)

So without further ado...

The lone Walker shambled past the solid fence, following the scent of living human in the air. Its rotting feet shuffled on, the stench of its peeling skin able to send even the most hardened men scrambling for something to stop up their senses with. And there were many here, a satisfying feast ready for the-

A series of gunshots ran out in the air, leaving puncture wounds in the living corpse as one shot blew out what little brains it had. The monster collapsed, finally lifeless, as a group of children in military uniform lowered their rifles. The one adult among them looked with grim satisfaction at the work these young soldiers had done.

"Good. Head back to your quarters."

Quinny threw aside the rifle given to her and sat heavily on a bench, the scene from earlier sickening her to her stomach. If things had been different, Daddy would've taken care of the Walker and they would've run far, far away from this... prison, from Spencey and Misty. Daddy wouldn't be in a cage, she wouldn't be hurting from all of the cuts and bruises they gave her for "being such a baby", and Daddy...

She fought hard to suppress the tears that sprung up, and quickly ducked away when a guard looked her way. She waited until she sensed him looking elsewhere, then quickly wiped away the threatening liquid.

Rea, another girl-turned-soldier like herself, glanced at Quinny with something akin to a pitying expression before her face became carefully neutral. She walked up to her, her mismatched eyes staring into her own.

"You need to be more careful," Rea whispered, glancing back at the guard as he swept his gaze over the group of children milling about the cafeteria. "You know they can't stand crybabies."

Quinny nodded consent. Rea, as far as she knew, had been here longer than the rest, and had seen a lot of bad things. She was the most experienced out of all the other kids, and many of the new recruits, including Quinny herself, looked up to her as a sort of big sister.

"I try not to cry," Quinny whispered, finding a brown stain on the floor particularly interesting. "It's just so hard when I know Daddy is being hurt all the time."

"I know," Rea replied under her breath, her own head lowered. "When they... took my family away... it was really hard."

She raised her head, then, a hardening glint in her mismatched eyes.

"But they would've wanted me to stay strong. I'm going to survive, even if they didn't."

Quinny nodded, and opened her mouth to reply when two more guards arrived, escorting two young boys.

"Hey, Leafy Man, where's Daddy?" one of them asked, tugging irritatingly at the new military uniform all of the children were forced to wear. His large red eyes peered up at the guard expectantly, head tipped far back to catch even a glimpse of a response.

The other kid, to Quinny's surprise, didn't say a word. He shuffled along with his head downcast, dark eyes taking in everything with a scared expression.

The guard closest to the talkative kid raised his voice over the younger's pestering.

"Kids, these are new recruits. This one here's Jimmy" - "But where's Daddy?" Jimmy cut in - "... And this one is Eli," he finished, gesturing to the silent boy once before pushing them both forward, into the small group of children with less than welcoming expressions on their faces.

"We're watching you, so don't start any fights," the other guard spoke, a hint of an annoyed growl in his throat as his gaze swept over the children, resting on Quinny for a moment before looking at the group as a whole and turning away. "And no leaving the room," he added before making his own exit, the door sliding shut behind him.

Quinny and Rea shared a glance before turning to greet the two newcomers, one of whom was still pestering the guard.

"Why are you wearing leaves on your clothes? I'm going to call you Leafy! Hey, hey, can you take me to Daddy now?"

Eli laid a hand on Jimmy's shoulder, and shook his head in warning when the more talkative of the two turned to question the guard again. Jimmy closed his mouth reluctantly and turned towards the two girls eagerly, frustration forgotten.

"Hey, hi, who are you?"

"Rea," the blue-and-green-eyed girl replied coolly. "And this is Quinny," she added, gently coaxing her forward.

"Cool! I think I'm going to call you Pinky Pie!" Jimmy exclaimed, pointing at Quinny. "And I think I'm gonna call you-"

"Rea," the girl interrupted, putting a hand over Jimmy's mouth. "Just Rea."

Eli gave a small grin at that, and looked like he was giggling, though no sound came from him. Quinny tipped her head at him, curious, before Jimmy filled in.

"Eli doesn't talk, and he's really good at hide and seek."

"Really?"

Eli nodded confirmation, tugging at the neckline of the new uniform uncomfortably. He glanced back the way they had come from, sadness glistening in his dark eyes as he clutched a small plush in his fingers.

Quinny understood the struggle he was going through. He must have family trapped here as well, and there would be no telling what was going to happen to them. Quinny was lucky, since Spencey decided to keep her dad alive. But there was a possibility that, like Rea, Eli could become an orphan-

The iron door opened suddenly as a few guards entered, each holding a rifle. The one that spoke before returned, carrying enough guns for a few of the kids.

"Walker training," he announced, gesturing to Quinny and the three friends gathered together.

"You four, come with me. Everyone else, go to your rooms."

Rea slipped into her neutral appearance as she followed behind, and Jimmy eagerly tagged along, unaware of the danger of these "training" sessions. Quinny got up and walked beside Eli, who silently motioned for her hand.

Curious, Quinny complied and "listened" as the mute child wrote out his thoughts upon her hand.

I'm going to find my family.

Quinny looked into his eyes, and saw only determination. She glanced up at the guards, but they didn't see the secret message being passed on. He started to write again.

Don't let them know I'm gone, ok?

Quinny nodded consent as Eli silently slipped away, melting into the shadows as if he belonged there.

Jimmy was right, Quinny thought as they turned a corner and exited the building, warm sunlight streaming out from beneath the cloud cover.

Eli is great at hide and seek.

Alrighty! Well, I hope you enjoy that little snippet and the next Untold Tale will be coming up soon! Please do give this a vote and comment, I would love to hear your opinions on this chapter and what you guys would like me to do!