The Dead Don't Talk (Book 1)

Chapter 2: Wish not Granted

It had felt like hours... Just sitting there on the bench. Thinking about my sister and potentially get that job with her... But not only just that, that women I had seen... She was absolutely gorgeous, she was just so stunning. I knew i probably wouldn't be good enough looking for someone like her, but just thinking about her made me blush and made me look around making sure no one was looking at me. I knew even if someone was they would have no idea what I would really even be blushing about in the first place.
I had hoped for a long time, and waited for tomorrow to go work with my sister. To go do something with my life other than to sit around everyday taking care of my brother. I wanted to go with her, she was always out there, and I wanted to go do something useful to this world. I was just sitting here alone on this bench dreaming about the days to come.
My sister had really never even told me what her job was even like. She had told me that it was hard, I wasn't aloud to eat a lot, and you had to hide a lot.
That didn't really matter to me all that much... I didn't eat that much in the first place. Mainly because I was always depressed but, lets just be honest, who in this world that we live in now isn't depressed. The world went to shit a little less than 10 years ago and there was no electricity, not much to eat. Not many new people to meet. All and all life here was kind of boring. I knew that someone would have to take care of my brother. I loved him to pieces but he was nowhere near old enough to understand what really has happening in this world. I was really young when it all happened... And even then... I don't really remember much besides running the first few months out there. And I didn't really know what exactly it was like out there in the first place.
I wasn't the biggest, or most buff guy in this group. I wasn't exactly small or weak by any means... But I knew with some time and effort i could get to that level. I just hoped, because there was a piece of my mind that maybe my sister wouldn't volunteer to work me to do what she could do... She never asked to train anyone ever before... She may be the best but she never taught anyone to be like her.
I didn't want to be a farmer or any of those other boring jobs that I wasn't really allowed to go out much or do much of anything. And I was almost 100% sure that no one pick me for any of the other jobs because of what I said before. I just wasn't really a big dude... And even then I see some big dudes out there working on the fields. It scared me i didn't want to work in the gates. I wanted to be an actual help to the community and I wanted to see the world that I could have lived in but never did...
I saw my sister heading back with Shannon staring at her from far away. She didn't look too happy and neither did my sister. Her and Shannon didn't really agree on too much and they were about the same age. Before my mother there was another guy that seemed to be a decent leader. But after that my mother was the leader. And everyone loved her and approved on basically everything that she wanted done or wanted to help the community. Sadly as I said before my mother died when there was a bad storm that broke open a part of the gates and nearly killed about 100 of the people living here. That was a terrible day. It also killed my stepdad who I was fond of.
My mother was a good leader, we used to live in the mansion Shannon lives in now. But after she died, my sister and my 6 month old brother moved into the house we were at now. My brother used to call my sister his mother but he knows better now. We haven't really told him about the dead that was beyond the gates but we did tell him to never try and go out there. And she told him that his mother died bravely saving the entire community. My sister came over and said nothing to me but nodded her head basically telling me to follow her.
"So what happened did Shannon not let that group join us or something." I asked my sister. She kept walking and didn't really respond until we were out of earshot of anyone nearby that might here what my sister told me.
"She let them join yes... It took me a while to tell her too. But she did have a few harsh things to say about them, me and you... Mainly me but she did talk trash on your name as well." Angela told me. I don't know why she would talk trash to me... She didn't even know my name or know me in the first place. I knew she was a good leader but some of the things my sister had told me lately seemed a bit iffy.
I never talked to Shannon in my life, i know she knew my birthday was tomorrow. I sure hoped she wasn't going to force me to be a farmer. That's one of the worst jobs id rather teach the younger kids than do something like that. As we were heading our way back i finally decided to tell Angela what was really on my mind.
"Angela, I know you haven't trained anyone before but I would like to join you to be a scavenger. Please I have this feeling that Im going to have to go be a farmer." I said to her. She stopped for a few seconds and then started walking again. I had a feeling she was going to give me some bad news like, Shannon was going to force me to be a farmer or she didn't really want to train me to do the type of work that she did.
"We will talk about it when we get back. Im not very happy right now... Lets just say that..." Angela responded too me. Now i was about 90% sure Shannon was going to force me to be a farmer, my mother didn't force people to do certain jobs. But if they weren't very good or didn't put in the effort she would force them to do another job. I had heard that Shannon let people ask to train someone, but if no one did she would give them a job. A lot less fair then what my mother did but smarter at the same time. I didn't like what Shannon did but I did agree on what she did. She was definitely smarter than most of us and knew what she was doing as the leader of this community.
We walked slowly the house, it seemed like my sister was doing that on purpose to stall having to talk to me. I was almost 100% sure at this point that she did not want to train me. It was sad because I wanted to do what she did, but maybe she thought that I wasn't strong enough to do what she did on a daily basis. She had to kill a few people a couple of times... Mainly because they had killed 1 of the scavengers or they had tried to kill her. I knew I could do what she could, but it really seemed like no one believed in me at this point.
We walked towards the front door then knocked on it to make sure Liam knew we were coming in.
There he was in the exact same spot on that exact same couch. The only difference at this point was that he was reading another book. My sister said hi to him and then gave they went in and gave each other a big hug. Even though my sister was not around all that much, my brother still thought of her as his mother. I couldn't blame him, he wasn't really born with one. I was young when my parent died but at least I could remember them.
"Alright Liam i need you to go to the other room, me and Ben have a little something we need to talk about." Angela told him. Oh goodness, at this point i was basically 100% sure that she did not want to train me. Maybe that was a lot of the reason she came back with a not so happy face. She knew for sure that I wanted to be trained by her. I had been asking her for years at this point and she probably did not want to train me. She had never told me that she would lake to train me. It was all coming into picture now. Liam got up from the couch and began to head to the other room. He looked right at me as if he was thinking the same thing that I was. He was a smart boy, and I had told him that I wanted to be trained by her several times. "And close the door please Liam." She said to him. I hadn't even realize it, but he probably would have been listening to our whole conversation from the other room. Another reason why this was probably something not very good for me. I would have had no problem with Liam being in the room while me and Angela were talking about me becoming a scavenger.
It was a silent for a little while and she then went to the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. I almost choked on my own spit I knew what she was about to tell me, that's why she was holding it off for so long. She took some water from the sink and then put some ice from the freezer on it. We were lucky to have wells around the community for us to all have water. We had made solar panels, not very many for electricity. They had made these weird bulbs that stopped working after a few weeks but they still worked and they were rechargeable... We had ran out of all that stuff a long time ago. Cars were gone after the first few years. There was no gas and the places we found some they had basically died out and could only give us a mile or 2.
She finished glass of water and then handed me one "take some, whens the last time you had a drink? You were out there in that hot sun for almost an hour." She told me, I almost wanted to say no, but now that i thought about it I was actually really thirsty and I really could use a glass.
"Alright Ben we got a lot to talk about. And I cant say at all that you will like any of it." She told me. This was it, I knew she was going to reject me asking me to be trained by her. I had always had that doubt in my mind that she would not agree on it. But I had always hoped that she wouldn't do that too me. "I know you've wanted me to train you for a very long time but I have to go ahead and say that I cant..." My head dropped down real low, I basically knew at this point that no one would want to take me and I was dead sure that I would be trained to be a farmer. The life still I had always hoped I would never get.
"Why I promise I wont slow you down, I don't want to be a farmer Angela... Please just train me." I begged her. She was real quite for a few, it felt like it had been at least a few minutes before she finally decided to respond to what I had to say. I almost just wanted to walk out, and just walk out of the gates and prove to everyone that I could do what no one believed I could. It really felt like no one believed in me at this point. No matter how hard I tried I would never be able to show my true potential and I knew I could be one of the best some day.
"Its not my decision any more, Shannon just made a new rule that you aren't allowed to train family... And im almost 100% this is too take shots at me... I would love to... I really would but, she wont let me, and that is why she is a bad leader. She does what she wants and not what to rest of the community wants." Angela said to me. I felt sickened. I thought Shannon was a great leader, it was just her and Angela that didn't agree on a few things. But i now saw that she just didn't like Angela and wanted to bring her down in any way possible. This just wasn't fair for me, in no way did i deserve this. Maybe she wanted to me to be a part of her council, but i knew that wasn't the case. She never liked my mom in the first place either. "I can try and get my friend to help but he's out on a run right now. I left this morning because I didn't want to have to tell you about it. Im so sorry Ben, this isn't fair she lets her hatred for me cloud her judgement."
I had no word that I could say to her. I just put my head down. I didn't want to have a job where I was in the community all the time. Much less farmer, I wanted to go out there, like my dad, and like my stepdad, and most importantly my sister. My stepdad trained her, but she got to the point that she was at on her own. And i can now never do something like that. I was just going to be a useful farmer for the rest of my life. It wasn't fair. I wish that none of this had never happened and maybe i would just wake up and it would just be a very long dream. But i knew that wouldn't be the case, my wish would not be granted.
I began to cry, I hated it all, nothing right could happen in my life no matter how hard I tried. My sister Angela pulled me towards her. I felt broken inside, I was just going to be useless. Nothing could go right... Nothing. I was destined on this path from the beginning. No matter how hard I tried I would always fail. And I would lose the ones I cared about most.
"Its okay Ben I'm here, I always will be... Im sorry, I love you." Angela told me, The words were just blurred out in my mind, the rest of my life would just be a blur. In a few years id have to move out. I would never find someone who loved me, and I would just sit there and work, all day everyday and just come home by myself and sleep.
I got up from the table... I knew that my sister was just trying to care for me but I didn't want to be near anyone right now. Or maybe even ever. I just went straight to my room and hopped on the bed. Thinking about all the good things that could have happened, but that was all just a dream now. I wished it all was just a dream...
The last thing i thought about was that girl I had seen earlier, I don't know why, she wouldn't care for me either and she would probably be given a good job where I would never really meet her in the first place. I was just doomed like that. I fell asleep just thinking about her, even though I knew somewhere in my heart I would never really get too truly meet her.
But then i woke up, I wasn't in the house I was normally in nor the room I was normally in... I was what seemed to be a little cabin, there was wood across the walls, and there was a girl beside me in the bed i was in. She groaned and then tipped her head up. I instantly knew who that was. It was the girl I had seen earlier. She had no clothes on and then I noticed neither did I. I put myself under the blanket real quick and she looked at me and then laughed.
"What's wrong Ben, scared that Id see you flaccid." She said to me. But then I realized that I wasn't in control of my body. This was a strange dream. I picked myself up then groaned to myself in my head as i got up from the bed completely naked...
"Of course not Courtney, I don't know what had gotten into me." My body then turned towards the mirror, I had realized I looked way older, at least by 2 years and I almost had a beard growing out. She laughed and then gave me a kissed i felt it and tasted it but could not say anything at all or control anything at all. This was the strangest dream I had ever been in. I just wanted to get up but at the same time I didn't...
"Alright baby, Im going to hop in the shower... Id like if you joined me..." She said to me... She then got up from the bed and I then realized she had no clothes on either. I tried to look away but physically couldn't.
"Yes, I will in a little bit but, I have to go check the traps and make sure nothing has sprung those open. I wouldn't want anything to get any here. I don't know if I could lose another family member." I said back to her. Family member? That's nasty, why would I be kissing someone in my family for one and she looked nothing like my family... Plus I still had my brother and my sister still back at the house. Or wherever I was right now.
My body then moved from the bed and I put a boxer and some shorts on. Then i walked outside... I looked around as if I was looking for something but I wasn't too sure what. "Huh that's weird, where'd all the tripwire hooks go?" I said. Then i heard a little click as if someone was putting some rounds into a revolver. I spun around.
"Ben, Ben, Ben, you shouldn't have come so close to us. You knew we would find you... We always find everyone..." I recognized the voice I didn't see the guy though he was in the woods and had his face hidden.
"Tyler... Don't do this, your group got what you wanted just leave us alone." I said to him... I recognized the name but there were plenty of Tyler's I had met and I still couldn't see the guys face.
"Im sorry Benny, you had your chance to run away, but you decided to hang in here and try to find your sister. Like London said... Shes gone... And now you are..." He told me. Suddenly a few other people walked out of the woods, all carrying guns. "Now you tell us where your girl is, and we wont kill her, we will do some things to her but not kill her..." He said to me, I was so lost at this point, I couldn't tell if this was a dream or if, well I didn't really know...
"Shes gone, she ran away a while ago, I just stayed to find my sister." I said to him. But instead another guy walked towards me and then smirked at me... I pushed myself back and then he laughed at me... Then hit me on the head. It felt real but I wasn't sure if it was.
"Ben we have been watching you for days, we just saw her a few days ago. Im sure she is in your little cabin right now as we speak... But for lying Im going to kill you... But that's after we rape your girl while you watch and then slowly cut her wrist as she bleeds to death" the guy said to me... I pulled myself back up and tried to punch back at him but failed miserably. He dodged it so fast that a fail into a tree and he laughed at me. "Geesh Ben you're way weaker than your sister, at least she put up a fight before we killed her... You, you're pathetic."
That was the last thing i heard. The guy popped me in the head with his rifle, i heard a loud pop and a quick sting... And then I was out.