Chapter 28: Morning Meeting

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And Luke was without a doubt that link, that was the main reason his absence was so annoying, not only for him, but also for the rest of the group. Everyone was seated down on the grass in front of the porch of the biggest house in the place, waiting in silence for the last member of the group to show up.

Minutes passed by and the atmosphere was getting tense. He stood still, patiently waiting, wondering what kind of excuse Luke was going to give for his incompetence. It was somewhat entertaining for him. What wasn's fun was to figure out what to do with him, he should punish him? Just tell him to be in time next time? Ask him to be more responsible? No, this wasn't kindergarten. Public humiliation seemed like a good option. But ultimately the truth was that he didn't know what to do with him, but he was inventive, he'll figure that out. Chances of Luke having a convincing or clever excuse for his absence were slim, but maybe he should let him speak first, for the laughs.

"Ryan?"

"Toby?"

"You think we should go look for him?"

"No" he simply answered.

Toby didn't argue with him and went back to his spot on the porch, facing the silent group of people, and sat down on the wooden steps once again.

Finally; after what seemed like an eternity, but were probably just ten minutes, a figure appeared at the settlement's edge, a young man in his twenties running towards them, he seemed worried, even from a distance. At least he knew he was in trouble.

Luke reached the group; breathing heavily, he looked at Ryan. Afraid of what he might say.

"So Luke, you remember what I did this morning?"

Luke opened his mouth to answer, but Ryan, deciding it was better for everyone if he kept his excuses for himself, raised a hand, inviting him to keep his mouth shut.

"I'll tell you what I did this morning. I cutted my hair, because I like it short. I ate breakfast, the last I had left from Salt Lake, by the way. Then I left the house and knocked every fucking door in this place to get sure everyone knew a meeting was taking place right here 'in exactly one hour'. You yourself said 'sure thing'. That was an hour and a half ago, so you're either really fucking retarded, or you are just really fucking dumb. I don't care which one, and as no one else cares, I'll stop right now. You're going to sit down and you all are going to hear what I have to say, understood?"

Luke didn't waste time, he sat down immediately, keeping his mouth shut and looking down, ashamed. There were now 15 people seated on the grass at his feet; some of them had a smile on their faces, others were watching him with a worried or serious expressions. All of them were curious. Normally they would meet at the same spot every day before sunset. Ryan would say one or two things about safety and made a quick read of the inventory. Morning meetings were not common, it meant he had something special to tell them, and everyone was curious to hear what he had to say.

"Okay... " Ryan continued "I'll be honest with you, we're having serious problems, the shortage of food isn't getting any better"

"That's your fault" A man said. Ryan looked for whoever said that, he found him immediately. Aiden, a man around his age, was giving him a defiant stare. Aiden resented him and was always pointing out his flaws whenever he got a chance.

Some people seemed to agree with him this time, Ryan didn't mind them. He also noticed other people was giving Aiden a look of disapproval, a portion of the group was still willing to defend him, he found that reassuring.

"So..." Ryan ignored Aiden, he had a lot of work ahead, and to fuel a pointless discussion wouldn't be helpful "hunting is our only option. Now, I'm aware I said it could be dangerous, this is not exactly a friendly neighborhood..."

"And whose fault is that? You are the one who killed a couple of them, just last night..."

"He was a spy" Toby said. Stories about Ryan's actions last night were spreading insanely fast.

Ryan turned his head back murmured at Toby "Don't help" he was just encouraging Aiden.

"I'll decide who goes out. If you are chosen, just know that everything north from here is off limits, let's not take any chances..."

He was interrupted again for a third time In one meeting, probably a record "So now you say..."

"For the love of God, shut up!" Luke yelled at him, sparkling some laughter among the group "Ryan's probably the reason we are not dead, you should be grateful. He made a mistake, get over it."

Ryan didn't know this side of Luke, it made him reconsider his opinion about him. That was a rare occurrence.

Aiden looked at Ryan once again, visibly angry. But he remained silent.

"You know what, let's keep this short, I already said pretty much everything I wanted you to know. So lets go back to work, I believe everyone has something to do."

One by one, everyone stood up. Aiden still seemed annoyed, to say the least.

"Stacy, Luke, come here" he turned "you too, Toby" the three of them walked towards him.

"What's the matter?" Stacy asked him.

"First of all, Luke, if I ever annoyed you or insulted you in any way, I take it back"

"You welcome" he seem satisfied with himself for a change.

"Now, you three are the first group going out tomorrow, okay?" The three of them nodded, eager to show their value. "Good, meet me here tomorrow morning as soon as you wake up. Remember Luke, early."

"I'll be here before any of you" Luke said.

"Highly doubt it"

"Ryan" Stacy spoke again "what about Jackson? You know we'll not survive winter by storing meat, it rots. We need..."

"I'm working on it" Ryan said with a tone that suggested they should abandon this topic.

Luke and Stacy were gone shortly after.

"So...?"

"I'm working on it" Ryan said, guessing Toby's intention. "Come on, I'm sure you have things to do" without waiting for an answer he entered the house's porch and opened the front door.

He found himself in an empty room. There was a door at his left, he opened to reveal his room, consisting on an old mattress on the floor and a small desk at the wall next to the door at his right. There was a folded map on it, the only useful thing he found on the spy's corpse.

He took it and unfolded it. The map showed Jackson and its surroundings. Their little settlement was marked on it next to the words 'Jack's town'. For some reason Ryan found that extremely curious.

He focused on Jackson itself, the main buildings and locations were all marked on the map. The spy definitely made a mistake by bringing this map with him.

"Okay, let's get some work done"