Lost Mind

New Life

Life seems to be not too bad here. For the most part, everyone is really friendly. I seem to be moving up the social ladder in a sense as I have been getting "better" jobs since I started as vice-president a few weeks ago. If I remember correctly, I started with helping the elderly. There weren't too many of them, just 5 to 6. I remember them all as if they have been my best friends for years. There was Beatrice, Collin, Bert, Shirley, Stewart, and Marge.

Beatrice was the oldest one of them all, topping out at 96. I knew it wouldn't be too long before she died though. I tried to not get too attached to her, but I had to help her along with the others so we grew a pretty close bond. She would tell me stories about how she would come here when she was a kid and play with her friends. She told me these stories all the time. Making me not want her to die even more. Eventually, she did though. It sorta felt like when my mom died. We had that connection with each other. At least with Beatrice, I knew it was coming. I was able to recover after a while and Robert gave me some time too.

My next job was probably the babysitter. I would have to watch the kids while all the adults had meetings and their jobs to do. It seemed everybody was busy in here except the kids who would bother their parents quite a bit as I noticed. Now I understand why they gave me the job. That and because I was the youngest adult at 20 years old and the next youngest was about 36. I started off pretty shy since it felt like they were judging me, just like the teenagers did in my high school. It took a little getting used to, but once I realized these were kids and not teenagers, I eased into it. I started feeling like my 9-year-old self all over again. We would play games and watch the cooks make food and pet the dogs. The dogs were getting a lot older now. Surprisingly, none of them had died yet. They have been keeping really good care of them in here.

After about 2 weeks, I got a new job. I was kind of sad to leave the kids, but it seemed some of the parents didn't see me as fit enough to watch over them. They were probably right. Finally, I got one last job before my official vice-presidency, lookout. I was tasked with watching out over the center during the days and some nights. Since I still wasn't the most social person ever, I normally didn't talk to anyone during the meals, which gave Robert a good enough excuse to put me on lookout duty during those times.

Almost all the time it would be silent. Every so often, there would be buzzing in the distance or movement in the bushes on windless days. I was instructed to hide behind a few boards lining up against the railing. I found a hole in one of the boards after a while and started looking through it as these events happened. Most of the time it was nothing or an alien passing through. I was fine with it as long as it wasn't attacking the building. Every once and a while there would be more than just nothing. There would be a human. I would think about asking if they wanted in, like Robert did with me, but I would see them holding things like rifles and pistols and had clean clothes with armor attached to it. They were more well off then we are in the center. They started appearing more and more as the days went on.

I would report this to Robert and he would make nothing of it.

 "People are just passing through." 

That's how he would describe it. I reported it enough to him that he eventually took me off the lookout crew. He told me that my "testing" was over and that I could be an official vice-president. I would join him on the stage every morning as he gave the announcements. I would also help him make hard decisions, though he would get the final word and I was fine with that.

That meant I wasn't the one in trouble if something went wrong, but I have some power to help others. While on lookout duty, I would have to take out the trash too since it required some courage. I took up the offer to not only make me look good, but also because I'm pretty sure I didn't have any other choice. On one of these visits to the "trash yard" we had, I noticed a rustling in the bushes. I stopped and waited quietly while I silently pulled out my pocket knife that I still kept hidden in my shoe. Slowly, a hand creeped out. Then an arm. An arm I recognized.

It was Sam. I hadn't seen him in so long, I almost forgot what he looked like. I whispered to him so no one inside would hear. 

"What's up Sam!" 

"Why did you take so long to talk to me again. Did you forget about our deal?"

 "No, it's just, well, crazy thing, I kinda became the secondary leader in there and the main guy keeps making me do a lot of jobs. I finally got a job that makes me go outside."

 "You're a leader in there now?"

 "Yeah, kind of."

 He seemed to be very ecstatic with that sentence. 

"That is so great, it's okay that you forgot about me. Now, here is the plan. Me and a few friends will... "

 "Hold up, you never told me it was going to be more than you that would come in?"

"It's fine, they are just some friendly people that I've met that deserve to come in. Anyways, we'll come in when you go to take out the trash. We'll just sneak in and act normal so that no one knows. Just remember, a deals a deal."

 He wasn't wrong but I was very hesitant about letting him do this. I could be letting many people become endangered with them coming. They would have to get caught eventually though. Right? Anyways, I agree with the plan and he seems happy and leaves.

Every time I'd go out to take the trash, he would pop out of the bushes and we would discuss the plan further with more detail. We finally decided on a day. A few hours later, I was relieved of the job since my "training" was complete. I sat in Robert's office while he talked to one of the cooks about meals for the week. I wanted to ask him what I was supposed to do now. Once they finally finished talking, the cook left and it was just Robert and me. I asked what I was supposed to do now and he said he had something important that he needed my opinion on.

There was a raider group that has been taking our supplies and taking some of our men on supply runs that we make. He said they threatened to raid the place and had people on the inside. I had a random feeling of doubt in my gut so I told him to call their bluff and wait for them to come. I told him to also have more troops on lookout in the following days. For a while, everything was silent. It came to the day me and Sam discussed of.

I sort of prepared myself for the day Sam and his friends would come by sitting in my room thinking about it when I woke up. After an hour of sitting in silence, I decide I'm going to do it. I tell Robert that I'm going to take out the trash and he seems to be fine with it. "Just watch out for any raiders." I open the green doors in the back, away from the crowd and leave it slightly open for Sam. As I walk toward the "trash yard", I hear a lot of rustling in the bushes. I just assume it's Sam and his buddies, so I keep walking away from the door.

It is Sam and as he walks by me, he whispers something to me. "Thanks a ton, friend." I look back to see some of the "friendly" guys he met as I drop the trash where it's supposed to go. They are very muscular and carrying rifles and shotguns and other heavy weapons and barge through the doors all whispering certain commands as the group charges toward the main room. Then the first shot can be heard. This can not be good.