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Chapter 100


Society.

For some reason, since the dead rose, we’ve been operating as if such a thing still existed. The assumption simply was that the rules, expectations, everything was still there in some form. Now, we should have known better. That should’ve been destroyed by the simple fact that corpses were roaming the world like it was nothing. Why wasn’t it?

Maybe it was habit.

I don’t know. Believe it or not, I don’t always have the answers. Everyone expects me to, and I wish I did, but… I just don’t. So what happens when the rules of before are broken? What do you do? What can you do? The rules are gone. As are the punishments. It’s a different world now.

We adapt and face the new challenges the universe throws at us.

No matter how grim things may be.

I can’t share my doubts with the others. Even in this new home, with more people, I’m still the leader. People still look to me. Someone has to do it. I never asked for this role, but I take it on anyway. So I keep these thoughts in my journal. Remind me to someday thank Riley for the suggestion. That girl may drive me crazy at times, but this was one of her best ideas. I think it’s kept us all sane over the past ten months. It feels longer. The world from before seems like a lifetime ago. In a sense, it was.

One final thought to ponder…

What if the worst thing out there isn’t the undead… but ourselves?



Friday, February 22, 2013
Week Forty-Four

It seemed like another day in the castle. It still felt surreal, living overseas the way they were now, nothing but the moors in their view, when Kevin decided he needed a break. He needed space away from the others. A break from the leader role that plagued him. He wondered how this group had been run before they’d arrived. It seems that although they had survived, they had been unorganized. So of course, once Kevin had seen that, he’d gotten them into action. He’d taken full inventory of their supplies, checked what weapons they had and how much ammo, and started getting them to use weapons other than guns, to keep those aside for runs and possibly hunting game when spring came. He’d also started thinking about the idea of a new garden after the spring thaw. He was looking ahead at the long term, something not many others did but he knew was a necessary task.

“You look like you’re thinking too damn much again.”

Kevin chuckled as he turned to see AJ walking up behind him. He walked with an obvious limp, which kept his pace a slower one than before. It had lessened some since the initial injury; he only hoped it would be more subtle as time went on. He never mentioned it, since he knew how sensitive the other man was about it. AJ would never admit it, but Kevin knew he defined himself by how useful he was to the group, to keeping them safe. It was why, when he later found AJ had relapsed after breaking his leg, he hadn’t been too surprised.

“Just trying to make sure we’re prepared.”

The two started walking down the steps towards the bathrooms. Initially, Kevin was going to try and find Gabby, since they needed to go on a clothing run. He thought perhaps she’d like to go and get out of the castle for a bit. It was always dangerous, but since Brian, Nick, and Riley were going, he knew the teen would be well-protected.

“When do you ever take a break?”

“You can’t take breaks anymore, someone needs to stay vigilant.”

AJ snickered. “You remind me of Mad-Eye Moody in Harry Potter man – CONSTANT VIGALANCE!”

“What scares me is that you’ve read those books; they’re meant for kids.”

“Hey, those books are fucking awesome.”

“You never stop surprising me.”

“That’s because, like the books, I’m fucking awesome.”

He couldn’t help but start laughing again. “Look, Aje, we’ll be heading out on a run later; I need you to…”

“Stay behind, I know.”

“…Keep watch and snipe anything that’s roaming around the doors, actually. I need you to keep this place safe, to keep us safe when we return.” He paused, his hand resting on the former addict’s shoulder. “I need you to be my eyes, man. I wouldn’t trust that with anyone else.”

He saw a smile start to form on AJ’s face. “Thanks, man. It’s just-”

But what it was, Kevin didn’t get a chance to hear. A scream resounded throughout the castle’s walls and chilled Kevin right down to the bone. He knew that voice instinctively. The two shared a glance for a split second before sprinting down the hall, AJ forcing his leg to cooperate as best as he could. The screams continued. Kevin’s mind was racing. How could the undead get in here? The place was impenetrable; it was the only thing that let any of them feel safe.

How is this possible?

They burst into the bathroom, and Kevin was frozen with shock at the sight before him. Gabby was still screaming. The scene before them was different from any scenario the two could have imagined. A figure was hovering above her, moaning loudly. However, it was not a member of the undead. Instead, it was a human, alive and kicking. The old man, Alistair, was struggling with the young girl, as she fought to keep him from ripping off her clothes.

“Now, now there, girl, you’ll enjoy what I have to give ye…”

In that moment, Kevin saw red.

He reached forward, grabbing the older man and slamming him up against the wall. In his peripheral vision, he could see AJ going to Gabby, helping her up and trying to gather what was left of her torn clothing. There were already bruises forming along her arms and face. His rage only built at that fact. His emotions drove out any rationality he could have possessed at that moment. He shoved Alistair into the wall a second time and held him there, ignoring the way he winced as his head was thrust back against the stone.

“Hey there, lad…”

His grip tightening around Alistair’s throat, Kevin leaned in, his voice barely audible. “What gives you the idea, the thought, that you could touch her? How sick are you? Do you know what that girl has been through!?”

“It’s a new world now; the rules of old are…”

Kevin pulled him back from the wall, only to slam him into it forcefully once more. He could hear the noise as the other man’s skull smashed into it again, harder this time, and he felt a tinge of satisfaction, as the rage continued to surge through him. “It’s a new world, and you don’t deserve to be alive in it. You just tried to rape a thirteen-year-old girl!

Alistair tried to talk again, but Kevin’s grip began to cut off his air. He knew he could do it, kill him right then. He knew that to leave this man alive would be a mistake. He could hear someone yelling in the background, but he was too enraged to make out the words. All he saw was this sad excuse for a human, alive by chance, damaging Gabby even more than she already was. It had been pure luck that they had been close enough to hear her screams in time. Had he been blinded back in Florida because he’d had the good luck of finding companions who were good, honest people? His trust in what humanity was left had been brutally betrayed.

A few minutes longer, and… His grip tightened even more at the thought. The rapist’s face began to redden with the lack of air.

“KEVIN!” AJ screamed.

He ignored him, focusing in on the task at hand. “I should kill you.”

“KEVIN, NO!!!”

AJ lunged at the two men, forcing himself forward and prying Kevin’s hand from around Alistair’s neck. He shoved Kevin back so that he couldn’t go back at him again. The old man passed out, slumping to the floor. AJ stared steadily at the former colonel, who simply looked at him coolly in response.

“Kevin, you were killing him.”

“He deserved it.”

Gabby just stared at them from where she stood, tears streaming silently down her face.

“Yeah, but fortunately for that bastard, we’re better than that.”

Kevin sighed, staring down at the unconscious body, and then nodded. “Grab Nick; we need to get him locked up. Ask Liz or Shaun if there’s a dungeon we can use. We can figure out what to do with him there.”

AJ nodded, pausing at the doorway.

“I’m not going to kill him. I… wasn’t thinking.”

“I know,” he replied and rushed off to do as Kevin said.

Kevin turned towards Gabby. She rushed to him, and he cradled her in his arms. She sobbed hysterically as the two slowly slumped to the floor, exhausted. His head rested on top of hers as she continued to cry, her body shaking. Kevin rocked her, clueless of how to comfort the teen.

“Did he…?”

She shook her head, still unable to say anything.

“I’m here for you, okay? I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised, looking up at the ceiling, wishing for a sign.

Jo, I need you. How do I protect your daughter? How do I keep her safe?

I’m sorry I failed you.


***


A few hours later had them all together, staring at the man locked in old shackles Kevin knew would hold. It was almost barbaric, but he knew the man deserved no better. Gabby was glued to his side; she had been since the incident. She hadn’t spoken a word either. He could see Callum out of the corner of his eye, staring at Gabby worriedly. It made him smile that she finally had someone her own age around. He hoped Callum’s presence would help comfort her in the days to come. She would need that, more than anything. Gabby had had more to deal with than he could even imagine. It was a miracle she hadn’t become catatonic or something, he figured. How could she trust again? He caught sight of Callum again. Or even love? He wanted that for her, something to light up her dark, bleak world. He worried for her deeply, his surrogate daughter in a world of orphans.

“So what do we do with him?” AJ asked bluntly, since no one else seemed to want to.

“That’s the question. I almost…”

“Dude, I get it. Hell, I want a piece of the bastard myself,” Nick replied, but Riley put her hand on his shoulder, a silent gesture to keep him from acting.

“I always thought Alistair was a bit daft, but…”

“He deserves a good flogging,” Shaun said, looking sheepish as his wife gave him a look for interrupting her.

“Kevin has already done that,” Dr. Kwak In-Su reminded them with a distinct tone of disapproval.

“What do we do? We don’t have laws anymore,” Gretchen added, reminding them all of the biggest flaw in the current situation. “We don’t have prisons; we have to handle everything ourselves.”

“We kill him,” Selena said simply.

“We don’t kill the living,” Brian declared firmly. “What’s the matter with you? Suggestions to beat him, saying we should kill him? I get it; Kevin was upset when he found him doing… what he did. But to really plan it out and do it? Are you insane? That makes us no better than those corpses roaming around, trying to eat us.”

“Oh sod off with your morals,” Selena retorted. “This is about reality. We can’t be letting this bastard free to wander. What are we going to do? Just force him out the door for the undead to eat? That’s the same as killing him. We should just shoot the wanker and get it done.”

“Brian’s right,” Riley chimed in, staring down Selena. “We can’t kill him in cold blood like that. That makes us lower than the sleaze himself. I say… we keep him chained up down here. For now. We don’t kill him. We hold him till we figure out something else to do.”

Ashton stood in the corner silently as the debate continued – something Kevin didn’t like. He’d rather everyone gave their opinion on the issue. But he also knew that was too much to ask. No matter what everyone thought, the decision was going to come down to him and him alone. It was easier for people like Selena to suggest killing. Why? Because she knew she wouldn’t have to be the one to do it. In the end, it would be Kevin who held Alistair’s life in his hands. He hated the feeling. It made him feel slimy, dirty.

It was that feeling that made his decision.

“Brian and Riley are right: we can’t kill him. For now, we’ll hold him here, feed him, and keep him alive till we have a solution.” He turned, his steely stare fixated on the old man, who had wisely refused to utter a word this entire time. “Don’t think you’ve gotten away with it, or that our respect for human life is a weakness. That would be a mistake.”

The words seemed to echo throughout the dungeon and haunted them all.

***