Chapter 19 "Neighbors"

Day 74

Things had been relatively peaceful since Maggie's departure. Though it was morbid, Maggie's death could be seen as a new door. She and her father demonstrated important information to the group about death. Made them more aware of themselves at night, and gave them better information on how to conduct themselves. They made more plans, and everyone was armed at all times. Even Jessie and Ron, though every chance she got, Jessie took Ron's gun from him and locked both of theirs up in a closet in their room. Jessie didn't believe that she would ever need her gun, and that Ron was much too young to have to be exposed to the horrors of the world. Not anymore. Especially after the things he had gone through. To her, he needed rest. Time to recover. They all did, truly. Soon, she thought, this world will be set back into place. There will be no more walkers and mindless killing. We'll never get our loved ones back, but we can move on.

Despite a few members of the group saying that the group should not be split up (namely Robert, Xavier, Sierra, Patricia, Selenis, and Gabriel), Shawn declared that the group would be spacing out. "There were other houses in the forest, and we don't have to cram ourselves into this one for the rest of our lives," he said, defending his case. "I really don't want that. Do you?" he asked the whole group. The members who wanted the group together even admitted that not having to share rooms would be nice, but stood firm that it was not wise.

Shawn made Sierra and Xavier come with him, and Amanda and Seth volunteered to help out when they decided to go clearing out houses. They set off on the road leading towards Bunker and went down a dirt road that they didn't notice when they were first searching for a home.

At the end of the road was a pretty small house, much smaller than the one they were in, and they went inside to clear it. Shawn turned the handle of the front door and it immediately fell off at the hinges. He sighed, and led them in. This house was definitely not suitable for people to live in. It seemed to have been abandoned long before the apocalypse and nature was definitely reclaiming it. Windows were broken, there were large holes in the ceiling and walls, grass was beginning to grow between cracks in the wall and the floor, and vines were pushing into the home furiously, bursting through windows as if Medusa were trying to break glass with her head alone. They decided to still check it for supplies, but the best thing they found was a lighter and a few matches that must have been left by some kids who sneaked in to smoke.

Amanda spotted something that obviously wasn't familiar to the other people, as they looked it over, probably assuming it was a weird forest plant. Amanda picked up the marijuana when they left the room and stuffed it into her pocket. She felt slightly guilty, but she was more content than anything. She would finally be getting a little bit of downtime. Some nice, good, familiar distraction from not only the tragedy around her, but also herself.

They left the house with only the matches and lighters, and a few things here and there. This house was a bust. They continued down the road and found another dirt road that led to a large plot of dirt. It was clear that either the house there had been demolished or the land was just being prepared to be built on.

"Yeah, Shawn," Xavier said. "Whole lotta houses around here, huh?"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Well, the map showed a lot more offshoots, and I was pretty sure they all led to homes. What else'd they be for?"

They continued driving, and eventually made it to the outskirts of Bunker, passing right by the place where the others tried to drop off Abi-Maria. They didn't even realize that this was the place, though. As they passed, they saw nothing where a van once was.

The town seemed to be quite clear, as it was a very small place. As with everywhere, there were plenty of walkers, but there was much less than previous places they had been to, such as Albertville, Palmetto, and Guntersville. They didn't want to actually live in Bunker, though. It was a town, and they were wary of staying in those, especially one as crowded as a town. Not after losing three people in a row in the last town they stayed in. Plus, it was too far away from the house they were staying in for them to comfortably put others inside. However, in order to get to other parts of the forest without driving an RV into a deep river or impossibly weaving it through the thick forest, they had to pass through Bunker to make it to a highway that led around to the western side of the forest.

As they drove, they found three more roads off the side of the highway. One led to a dead end, that only made the people in the RV angry at the waste of gas. Another led to basically another dead end. It was a charred lot, with ruins of a very large house left behind. It had been burned down, which again made them angry. It appeared to be much bigger than the one they were in, and it would have served them well. The other led to a house similar to the other one, but not nearly as overtaken by nature. It didn't have nearly as much plant life growing in it, though some was beginning to sprout. There were no holes or cracks in the building, and it seemed moderately sturdy, along with it having more usable things than the other, similar house, but it was quite small and only one or two people could live in it, so they brushed it off for now. They weren't quite ready for the group to split up into factions as small as that. As they looked through it, in the back room they found two dead bodies propped up on a wall. One was wearing a brown dress, the other shorts and a very stained white shirt. There was very little skin left, and it was mostly just bones. They both had a gun in their hands, and it was clear they had killed themselves, which made Shawn look down at the ground, reminded of Maggie. Seth bent over and took their guns, both fully loaded minus a single bullet.

"You're just going to loot their bodies?" Amanda protested.

"Well, it's not much use to them now, is it?" Seth said factually. "Clearly, they don't need these anymore."

Finally, they found a road that looked quite promising. The road was dirt, but it seemed to be very worn and often used. Thus, it must lead to a house. "There could be people there, though," Xavier said. "The tracks look fresh enough."

"Well, we always welcome new friends, don't we?" Shawn said, slightly sarcastic and bitter about the last group leading to the deaths of his father and sister. No one laughing as he had hoped, he coughed. "Look, if they're any trouble we can handle it. It'll be fine."

"We don't know how many of them there are," Amanda said.

"Can we stop?!" Shawn yelled, getting frustrated. "We don't even know that there are people there, but y'all are talking about this like we're about to face the mafia!"

Everyone in the RV shut their mouth tightly. Xavier and Sierra looked slightly annoyed, while Amanda seemed to feel guilty for causing Shawn to get so angry. She fingered the substance in her pocket. Maybe he could use some, too, she joked to herself, trying to remain calm.

"Like I said," Shawn continued, driving slowly down the road. "If there's trouble, we can handle it. We're pretty much the strongest people in the group," Shawn said, before remembering that they had brought Amanda and he broke a smile. The group took it as him continuing to reassure them, and the tension faded into silence as they moved down the road, keeping their eyes peeled. They stared out of the windows and down the road, looking for signs of other people being around. A turn came up, and around the bend a large building with a red roof could be seen, with a gorgeous, triangle-shaped lake a ways behind it. The road continued past the house, and a building that looked very similar to it could be seen with about five cars in front of it, though most looked like they hadn't been touched in a while, being dusty old models.

Everyone grabbed up their weapons and bags, prepared for walkers, to simply scavenge, or potentially the worst: humans. Shawn parked the RV outside of the first building and everyone got out, guns and knives at the ready. They walked around the perimeter of the house, and Amanda noticed a few curtains shutting. She looked to the group, and they worriedly looked back, clutching their weapons, hoping this wouldn't have to end in a bloodbath.

Shawn didn't notice it, however, and though that Amanda was lying to convince the group to turn back. He rolled his eyes at her. Pussy, he thought about her. They went back to the front of the house and Shawn put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. Locked. "Of course it is," he thought aloud as he backed up and threw himself against the door.

"Shawn, what are you doing?!" Seth yelled to him, beginning to worry as he raised his gun to the windows, making sure they weren't going to be sniped.

"Getting in," Shawn said, backing up again and running at the door once more. "What does it look like?" he said after another unsuccessful throw.

On his third try, the door flew open before he could connect with it, causing him to fall ungracefully to the floor. He heard a click over his head like a gun being cocked and he scrambled to his feet, his gun raised back at the noise. Dimly lit, he could see that the person holding the gun was in fact a very young teen with long dirty blonde hair who looked ready to pull the trigger at any moment, her gun pointed right at his head. Behind Shawn, another gun could be heard. It was a rifle, and it had been cocked. He looked back quickly to see a tall, thin man in flannel pointing his rifle at the people outside.

"Who the hell are you people and what the fuck do you want?!" he yelled, his voice a mixture of anger and fear. Sierra and Xavier had their guns pointed at the man, while Amanda had her gun pointed at the young girl, ready to take the girl down if she tries to hurt Shawn. Seth kept his gun locked on the windows, making sure there weren't more that would easily snipe them.

Xavier, with a strangely calm voice - as though this was something he'd been through a lot - spoke up. "We thought the house was empty. We're only here to scavenge and make room for the rest of our group." As Xavier spoke, Seth noticed one of the curtains of the windows open, and a man could faintly be seen looking out at them. Before Seth could decide whether or not to shoot, the curtain closed and his chance disappeared.

"The rest of your group?" the boy said as he looked around the woods nervously before he drew himself closer into the shadows of the house.

Then, a loud thudding sound could be heard from deep inside the house. Shawn peeked away from the young girl once more to see a very robust man walking across a platform that the stairs led up to. The fat man was walking towards him down the stairs, his gun pointed between Shawn's eyes. The farm boy gulped. The large man looked very intimidating. He made his way to Shawn and stood beside the girl.

"Lizzie, you know what I told you," he said. Shawn smiled to himself. Little girl's gonna get told off for not staying in her room, he thought. Serves her right, pointing a gun at my head, small as she is. "Only aim for the head," the fat man finished, causing everyone in the group other than Xavier and Sierra to look on confused. This man let - taught, even - his daughter to shoot? To use guns at such a young age? They thought he must be a savage, or insane. Xavier and Sierra, however, completely understood, and were even a little bit envious that this stranger got a child that was willing to fight - to help. Ron was just like his mother: incapable of even contemplating violence, and thus, incapable of protecting himself.

Soon after, a black woman and two thin, white young men appeared on the platform. The black woman was a bit pudgy, wearing a grey top and tight brown pants. One of the thin men was shorter, wearing tight black pants and a stained orange shirt. He had moderately long brown hair and freckles lightly sprinkled across his nose and upper cheeks, and appeared to be around Robert and Lyrik's age. The other was taller, with very short brown hair, wearing blue jeans and a loose blue plaid shirt. The black woman and the youngest-looking boy came down the stairs and stood beside the man and his girl. All of them had guns pointed at the group, striking Shawn and the others with fear. The two that had joined the man clicked their guns, and Shawn gulped deeply.

Fearing for his life, the farmboy dropped his gun and raised his hands. "Do it!" he yelled to the others, who angrily sighed, and followed his lead. Their guns were collected and they were brought inside.

The fat man sat them down at a couch, their hands tied up in rags, and he sat across from them in a big, red chair. He spoke to them as though they were criminals. "So, what were you really here for?" he began, looking down the light at them, meeting each one of their eyes. "We know one of you saw us close a curtain, but you still tried to get in."

No one spoke, all of them looking to Shawn, some with anger. Amanda spoke up, not wanting them to hurt or endanger him. She was beginning to care a lot about him, and losing him now would be awful. Not only on her, but the whole group, and Beth. Especially Beth. "I made them do it," Amanda said shakily. "I saw the curtain and I decided that we should come in and loot it anyways. Take you all down."

Everyone looked to her, stunned. Why had she lied? And why would she say something like that? Shawn looked down at the ground in guilt as the large man stood up and began making his way to her. "She's lying," Shawn said. Everyone turned to her. "She did see the curtain move, but I'm the one who forced them to come inside." The fat man raised a brow at him, and opened his mouth to ask a question, but was interrupted by Shawn, who continued to say, "We're here to clear out houses for our group. Spread out."

"Spread out?" the man said. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Might as well just split up and make it official."

"What do you mean?" Amanda spoke up once more.

"What I mean," he said pointedly, "is that if you spread out, you might as well just agree to not communicate, travel, or be together in any way from then on. To separate. These are unsure times, and it's not smart to split into groups. A pack could come through, or a group could attack - sorta like y'all did. And then you'd be split up anyways."

Shawn looked to Xavier and Sierra, who were glaring at him with very intense "I told you so" faces.

Suddenly, a woman with very light purple hair and dark brown roots who made Xavier's eyes go wide came down the stairs, chasing after a short blonde girl in a brown dress who was in tears, crying "Daddy!" She ran to the man, and hugged onto him. "I didn't hear anything, so I thought they got you."

"Kelly! How could you let her get out like this?!" the man yelled, furious.

"I'm sorry, Ryan - sir, I mean. I just, she said she was going to go to the bathroom, and I didn't realize she was running off until I heard her feet banging off across the floor."

Ryan sighed, and looked down the young girl. "Mika, do you not get how dangerous this could have been? You aren't even armed. What was the plan here?"

"I'm sorry, daddy. I just thought that maybe they'd stop if I asked nice enough."

Ryan sighed and looked back to Shawn and his people. Now that they all seemed to be aware of their mistakes, the man looked at them. "Well," he said, "what should I do with you? You didn't hurt any of my people, though you did point two guns at my daughter."

"To be fair," Seth said, "she pointed a gun at us, too. We were only backing up our friend, covering our bases."

"Smart," the man replied. "But dumb. 'It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt,'" Ryan quoted from Mark Twain. Funny, he thought, that of all the place I wind up and of all the quotes I remember, it's of this guy. Must be fate. Fuck you, fate. "Don't speak up like that.. uh? What's your name?"

"What's yours?" Shawn gritted his teeth, furious about the quote Ryan had used against him.

"Ryan Samuels. Now tell me yours. All of you."

They went down the line, introducing themselves. Then, returning the motion, Ryan's people introduced themselves. The thin boy who was originally at the door's name was Allan, the black woman's name was Patti, the girl who pointed her gun at Shawn is named Lizzie, the other girl's name is Mika, and the two are sisters. The woman who came down the stairs with Mika is in named Kelly, and the other two thin boys are Daniel and Greyson, Greyson being the younger of the two who had freckles and walked down the stairs with Patti.

The whole time everyone was speaking, Xavier was unable to take his eyes off of Kelly, admiring every little feature of her. Her stance, her attitude, her appearance. She was like perfection to him. Kelly and Sierra both took notice of this. When Kelly noticed, he quickly turned his eyes away, shy and afraid. But she returned the stare, and they smiled. Sierra noticed the contact between the two, and felt a strange mix of jealousy and grief. She was sad that she and Xavier would likely never be together again, but she was relieved that she could move on with her life. That Xavier wasn't crazily attached to her anymore. They could all move on.

"So, what's going to happen from here?" Shawn asked.

Ryan smiled. "Now you get it. Kinda. You still spoke out of turn, but you know I'm the one in charge here." Shawn glared at Ryan for a split second, moderately angry about being talked down to like that. "Well, me and some of my people are going to go back to your place to check it out. From there, we're going to live together at whoever's place is the biggest. Don't want us splitting up now, do ya'? We'd be settin' you loose to regroup and come back and do whatever you want to my people, and we can't have that."

Shawn looked to the others, moderately angry, and was met only with shrugs. Xavier normally would be angry as well, but he was too interested in Kelly to object. Sierra didn't want to ruin that. Seth didn't care either way. Amanda wanted to feel angry for Shawn, but like Seth, she didn't care.

After a little bit of indecision of whether or not to bring the leader, Ryan took Shawn and Xavier with himself, Patti, and Daniel back to the house, much to Xavier's disappointment. He didn't know what it was, but he was passionately, scarily attracted to her, and he didn't want that at all. Not in this scenario, tied up as hostages. Not even in this world, where death lies around every turn. Everyone else would stay to watch over Seth, Amanda, and Sierra. Ryan kept them all tied up still as he led Shawn and Xavier to the black car they would be taking.

They arrived back at the house within a few minutes and were met with Robert, Selenis, Gabriel, Beth, and Otis standing along the house, pointing their guns to the unfamiliar car. When Shawn was pushed forcefully out of the car with a gun to his back by Daniel, Beth and Otis instantly put their guns down. "Don't shoot!" he yelled desperately, and the same was done to Xavier by Patti. The five at the porch looked among themselves and lowered their guns.

Ryan stepped out of the driver's seat with his hands up as a show of good will. "Your friends are perfectly fine. There is nothing to worry about. They haven't been hurt. The other three are with the rest of my people - surprisingly close to here."

"He's not lying," Shawn said.

"Jesus, Shawn, have you learned nothing?" the fat man said, irritation punctuating his words thickly. "Let 'em loose," he said.

Patti and Daniel swiftly swung knives down onto the ropes binding Xavier and Shawn's hands, startling them greatly. Shawn jumped, afraid his hands might have been cut off, while Xavier merely cringed and held his hands to his face when he was sure they were fine.

Ryan led them to the house, and they examined the place. It seemed fine for a group as small as theirs. However, it wouldn't do to move in eight more people. "It's settled," he said, not having to look around much. "You all have a new home!"

Beth looked worriedly to Shawn, just as others did among the nearest people. Shawn grimly nodded his head. "So, we have to leave?" Shawn questioned, and his voice began to fill with anger once more. "We can't stay here? My family is buried here! We have crops outside! When do you expect us to leave? Now?! We need to get everything, and you made us leave our strongest man behind!"

The large leader was simply smiling in response. "You really are just a little stick of southern dynamite, aren't you? I thought I told you all of this before we left. Either we all move into the biggest house, which is clearly ours, or we have to execute you all. Take it or leave it."

Shawn was greatly tempted to risk fighting for this house. There was only three of them, and they could totally take them on. In fact, they were almost guaranteed to win. But the problem was, as experienced with previous shootouts, people could die. People would die. And there's no telling who could go. Even if a good number of them survived - even if just the strongest did, they would still have to go back and rescue Amanda, Seth, and Sierra. That would be another, much more dangerous shootout - and on top of it, they had disposable hostages. The risk was too big, so Shawn turned to his people. "Pack your things. It's this or death."

Ryan smiled greedily. He had won. He and his people helped the others pack, and they made their way back to Ryan's house, taking everything they could with them. The majority left in the RVs while Patti drove the car they had brought here back.