"Hey, look who's waking up. Thomas, he's with us again." Ryan says, and stands up from squatting position. "Oh, welcome back, stranger. I'm Thomas, and that's Ryan." I tell the man sitting in the chair as he struggles to break loose of the ropes tied around his hands. The man is looking around the dark room, and is studying Ryan and I. He's looking at Ryan's hook-hand resting on Ryan's side. "What.. do you want with me?" The man studders as he struggles to break free again. "The real question is what do you want with us?" I ask him. "I don't know what you're fucking talking about." The man replies. "Really now? Because you've been snooping around our walls. Mind telling us what that's all about?" I ask him sternly. "Are you with the Zealots?" Ryan quickly and eagerly asks before the man could answer my question. "Ryan, go stand outside, I'll handle this." I say, shooing him away.
Ryan shakes his head and slowly walks out. "Okay, this time without interruptions, why were you snooping around our walls?" I ask him. The man smirks at me. "The matter? You scared I might sabotage your little community?" He snarls. "You fucking bet I am. I run this place, and I keep it safe. Don't make me beat the answer out of you." I reply to him. "Okay, okay. You win.." The man says. "I was just looking to see if you guys were hiding anything dangerous or fucking psychotic in case I wanted to join you, turns out I was right." The man says. "Now, it's not what you think. We've been attacked before by crazies, and we just don't take the risk anymore. The thing is, you sneak around our walls, we think you're suspicious. So we engage in bringing you in here and interrogating. Make sense? And I never caught your name, if you will." I explain to him.
The man tied up nods and looks at me. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. And they call me 'Indigo', you can call me that." He introduces himself. "Indigo.. That's.. Different." I chuckle. "Look at the colors of my mask and my clothes and you'll see why they call me that." Indigo replies. "Well, can't argue with that logic. Plus it's always smart hiding your real name." I say and pull out a knife, only to walk behind him and cut him loose of the ropes. Indigo grabs his wrists and rubs them to relieve the pain. "Thomas, you said your name was?" He questions. I nod, giving him a notice of correction. "Mind getting this god damned bullet out of my thigh?" He says, standing up on one leg. "Alright, follow me if you will."
Indigo follows me out of the room and Ryan looks surprised. "Thomas, the fuck are you doing?" He questions me rudely. "Indigo here is not a threat, you don't need to worry about him." I tell Ryan as I held the front entrance, or from inside, the exit, open for Indigo. "He's a stranger that was attempting to break in." Ryan tries telling me. "He was being cautious about us, just as we would be with anyone else if we tried joining a community as big as ours." I tell Ryan before the door closes behind Indigo and I.
Ryan shakes his head and walks behind the desk and looks at the man as Ryan prepares his stuff to end the day. "Don't forget to send a few men to move Howard and his wife's stuff out of their home and into a new one in District E. You can use a truck to transport it all, I want this to be done before tomorrow ends." Ryan tells the man. "Yes sir. Where do you want them to be moved to?" The man asks Ryan. "An empty house of course." Ryan says with attitude, then continues to walk out of the building with the man before locking it up. "See you in the morning, boss." The man says and departs from Ryan. Ryan then begins to walk to his home, to finally see Dani and get some rest.
Ryan arrives home and looks around the house for Dani, but can't find her. "Dani? I know you're here, silly." He calls out from the first floor. No answer, he then moves up to the second floor, looking throughout the rooms. "There you are, Dani, I was worried for a sec-" Ryan says, but stops as he looked over the pale body of his young, adopted girl laying on the floor. "Dani?" He says and walks over to her. She didn't respond and he checks her pulse. "Oh fuck.." Ryan says and picks her up with his good hand around her torso and his other arm around her legs, then begins running down the stairs. Ryan gets the door open fast with one hand and runs out, leaving it open as he ran down the street.
YOU ARE READING
Discernment
HorrorThomas Kinway was a young adult struggling to survive the apocalypse. He meets various survivors and tries to keep them safe as they look for an ideal shelter in the city.
