CHAPTER 6

Joel woke to the sound of Hannah yelling. He jumped from his bed and ran out the door and saw Hannah being held by a guard. She was kicking and yelling at another guard.

"Hey!" Joel said running over to them. "Let her go!" He grabbed her and wrestled her away from the guard. She was breathing heavily. "Hannah, what's wrong?"

"They took Jessie and they won't tell me where."

"Jessie?" Joel said. "What do you mean they took him?"

"This morning," she said. "Two of these goons came in and dragged him away. I tried to follow them but I was told I had to stay here."

Joel turned to the two men. "Alright, what's going on? What have you done with Jessie?"

"He's fine," said the taller of the two men. "The Captain wanted to speak with him privately."

"About what?" Hannah said.

"We're not privy to such information, ma'am."

"Privy?!" Hannah yelled. "I'll give you privy!" She lunged for one of the men and Joel grabbed her by the waist.

"We are also supposed to have a meeting with the Captain today," Joel said. "When can we talk with him?"

"The Captain is a very busy man. He will call for you when he is ready."

Hannah piped up. "Well, what are we supposed to do until then?"

"You are free to access all the common areas, including the grounds," the short man said. "It's Sunday, so there will be a spiritual service at eleven. Listen for the bell. Also, the Captain has given you some new clothes; you will find them in your room. You are not to enter the private areas. Those hallways are marked with yellow."

Joel looked at Hannah and gave her a look that meant 'let it go'. She relaxed. They found their clothes in their rooms. Joel had a pair of khaki pants that looked practically new and the shirt was actually new, as it had a price tag hanging off of it. Hannah had an orange t-shirt with a pair of jeans. Try as he might, Joel couldn't help but see Hannah as she was slipping into her pants. She was young and years of walking everywhere had made her legs firm and muscular. He also noticed how skinny she was, most likely from the lack of food. He looked away before she noticed him watching her. There were also two pairs of sandals.

"Why do I feel like I'm on vacation?" Joel said.

"Well, we seem to be getting the royal treatment for the most part," Hannah said.

"I don't know."

"What's wrong?" Hannah said.

"Nothing, just wondering what happens if we decide we're not staying. Do we leave naked?"

Hannah recalled the previous night and Chrissie crying and Grace laying there in that bed. "I think we should think about staying here," she said.

"Why?"

"Because what else is there, Joel? Are we going to find a place better than here? Even if Terminus exists, you think some railroad junction is going to be better than a stadium full of people with guns and food and children and…"

"…and guards and curfews and mysterious meetings," Joel added. "Hannah, I understand that safety and security comes with a price, I'm just not sure yet whether the price here is worth it."

"I think it is worth it. Curfews and yellow painted hallways are a small price to pay for food, and clothing, and life."

Joel sighed. "You might be right, let's see what happens when we meet with the Captain, okay?"

Hannah nodded. They finished getting ready and slipped into their sandals. Hannah insisted on making her bed. Old habit, she had said. They walked down some stairs and onto the ground level. Everyone was milling about and they were met with smiles and 'good mornings' from a few people. Joel noticed that Hannah seemed to be looking for someone. He saw Strauss cutting through the people and headed toward them.

"Good morning," he said. "Sleep well?"

"I don't do well with strange places," Hannah said.

"Ah, well hopefully it will get better over time. It can take some getting used to. When I first arrived here, I still kept my knife under my pillow for the first two weeks."

Joel was indignant. "Oh, I guess that was before all victims… er, I mean visitors were stripped of their weapons."

Strauss grew annoyed. "There was a time when Haven was not as fortified as it is now. We are grateful that we have the stability necessary that our citizens don't need weapons. Someone like you should appreciate that."

Hannah stepped in between them. "Boys, boys," she said. "No fighting till after breakfast."

Joel didn't appreciate being talked down to by someone like Strauss. He knew the type, guys who thought their badge and rank made them better people than everyone else. He had trained enough of them to know how their minds worked. They were not easy to teach and they thought they knew everything. Sometimes Joel would just have to allow them to fall on their ass before he could begin to teach them anything about proper self-defense. A gun was nice but when someone got the jump on you, it couldn't be counted on. Joel knew human anatomy, joints, muscles, tendons, nerves and every which way the body could be manipulated into doing his bidding. He was tempted to use some of them on Strauss but he knew Hannah would be angry. He liked the fact that she was more of a pacifist than he was.

"Yeah, let's get some breakfast," Joel said, locking eyes with Strauss as he walked to the other side of the grounds.

They walked over to the same counter they had gotten a food block the night before. There were a few people in line in front of them. The smell of food made Joel's stomach hurt. He still hadn't fully recuperated from the near-starvation of life on the outside. One by one the people walked away munching on their food block. When they got up to the counter, Craig was there.

"Ah," said Craig. "Good morning! I have something special for you two," he said, pulling out two yellow food blocks. "These are new. They're a new recipe of my own invention. I decided to add a little spice to the food. We recently were able to harvest some potatoes so the texture is slightly different and I added a little touch of cinnamon. I hope you like it."

"That sounds wonderful," Hannah said. "Thank you."

"Thanks," Joel said.

They walked across the field and ate their breakfast. Joel had brought a bottle of water and shared it with Hannah. They noticed a group of people gathering near one end of the field in front of what looked like a small podium. Some of them were still finishing their food blocks, and Joel saw some of the food blocks were brown, and some were yellow. Joel figured they had gotten the new potato recipe, while others had finished off the non-potato variety. I guess they were pulling out all the stops, he thought.

"Hannah!" someone yelled from across the field. It was a young woman with blonde hair.

"Chrissie!" Hannah said. They hugged and Joel felt like he was missing something.

"You look like you were able to get some sleep last night," Chrissie said. "You can call me the miracle worker."

Hannah smiled, "Yeah you were. I can't thank you enough."

"You two know each other?" Joel said.

Hannah said, "Yeah, I couldn't sleep last night so I went for a walk and wound up at the medical facility and there was this sick little girl there, and that's when I met Chrissie. Chrissie, this is Joel."

"Hello Joel," Chrissie said. "I'm in charge of the hospital here in Haven. Well, we call it a hospital, but it's actually part of a locker room that's been converted. We have some good equipment and medical supplies though."

"Please to meet you," Joel said. "What's wrong with the little girl?"

Chrissie looked at Hannah. "Oh, we're currently running some tests, but it's looking good. It's probably just some strain of influenza."

"Oh," Joel said.

"So," Hannah said. "What goes on now?"

"Every Sunday Reverend Piscarro has a service. He's really good. Not everyone in Haven is Christian or even religious so he keeps it general and uplifting. It really brings our community together."

"You sound like the Captain," Joel said.

"It's true a lot of what he says may be rose-tinted, but the people who live here really have a chance to build a life."

The three of them sat down on one of the back benches and waited for the service to start. Joel felt uneasy. Everything just felt wrong. No matter what was going on inside this stadium he could sense the walkers outside the walls. He knew they smelled the same things he smelled and that the noise and the lights were calling to them and they were saying one thing, food.

Joel felt like he was sitting in church but nothing seemed right. He felt like everyone around him was pretending they were in church and pretending they were a happy community, like oblivious robots, completely unaware that the whole world had gone to shit. He thought maybe it was just him, that he was the odd one and that he should enjoy what small amenities life was giving him because they came so few and far between these days. Either way he wasn't really in the mood for a pep rally.

Hannah, however, was talking and laughing with Chrissie and Joel wondered why she had been allowed to leave the room last night and for a moment he was angry at her for leaving him. Even though they had been together for only a few weeks, he felt protective of her. She could have disappeared and no one except him would care. He was the only one who cared about her.

"Here he comes," Chrissie said.

And old man wearing a black suit coat and black pants slowly walked up to the podium. He was bald and had thin wireframe glasses. He smiled brightly as he waved to the crowd. There was no microphone so he had to speak very loudly.

"Blessed week, Haven!" he said.

The crowd repeated in unison, "Blessed week, Haven."

"Brothers and sisters," he began. "It is truly a blessed week to be here. Whether you believe it or not, the shining light of Providence has shone down upon us! The potatoes have been harvested, as some of you know." This last bit was met with applause from the crowd. "I spoke with the Captain and he assures me that we are also going to have a larger-than-expected crop of corn coming up and combined with the cabbage we have in reserve, the outlook for the health and well-being of all of Haven is assured!" More applause. Joel looked over at Hannah and Chrissie and was surprised to see Hannah clapping along with the crowd.

"Just as Jonah was saved from the crushing waves of the unforgiving ocean, so too has God given us a refuge from the storm. Haven is our salvation!" A crescendo of applause cascaded across the stadium, echoing off the walls of the make-shift houses. Someone in the crowd whistled as if they were cheering the Falcons.

Somewhere in the noise of the crowd Joel heard something else. Something different. He quickly looked around. The applause was waning and he heard it again and it was louder this time.

"Hannah," Joel said. "Do you hear that?

Other people had started to notice the noise and stop clapping. The Reverend had a puzzled look on his face as Joel strained to discern the noise. He heard it again and he knew exactly what it was. It was a noise he was too familiar with.

The screams of someone about to die.