Chapter 46 "Welcome"
Day 102; Group A&B
Selenis opened her eyes to the morning light. For a minute, she was scared at the unfamiliar surrounding, and she nearly called out for somebody — Shawn, Seth, Robert, somebody. She hardly remembered even going to bed Then, it hit her. She grabbed the soft sheets she was laying beneath and threw them off of her. She was in a safe place, she knew, but she could not be too sure.
She slipped on her pants and grabbed her gun. She went down the hall and checked the rooms. To her relief, Patricia and Seth, who decided to share a house with her, were accounted for. They were perfectly fine, as far as she could tell. Sighing in reassurance, she had a strange realization. She could go downstairs and make coffee. She could make breakfast. Finally, she could have real food; eggs, milk, and maybe a bit of bacon. And when she was done, she could go use the restroom on a nice, clean, porcelain toilet that didn't stab her in the bottom with every breath.
The Latina smiled to herself as she hurried downstairs to make her housemates a breakfast they could truly enjoy.
By noon, everyone in the group that had entered West Little Rock the previous day, aside from Allan who had moved back into the Governor's Estates and Mika who was sleeping in, was awake and were sitting together in Shawn and Beth's house.
"Look," said the leader, "I know what I said the other day — that we should stay on guard, and to not trust them. But look at this place! They gave us three houses, all for ourselves. They've given us plenty of food and water. I think they trust us. How about we trust them?"
The group smiled at one another in content, looking among themselves in joy. It felt like an immense weight was lifted off of their shoulders. Lyrik began to clap, and soon the whole group was clapping, or cheering, or laughing.
Interrupting their celebrations of finding a new home, there was a loud knock on the door. Immediately and instinctively, they all tensed, but Shawn stopped them. He smiled, attempting to reassure the group and remind them that things were okay here.
Shawn walked to the door and opened it wide. Before him stood Jim, Allan, and a very muscular black man, all three of which holding large duffle bags. "Hello," Shawn said with confusion.
"Hello, Shawn," Jim grinned as he looked past the farmboy. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I was just coming to inform you that, in honor of the return of Mika and Allan, as well as meeting the ten of you, tonight we're having a barbeque in the driveway of the apartments. It's at 4 o'clock, so don't be late!"
Shawn looked back to the group, once again pointing them at how friendly these people were. "We'd be happy to come," he said back to Jim. "But, um, what are the bags for?"
"Oh, right!" Jim bellowed, then laughed at his forgetfulness. "These are for you all. We wouldn't want our favorite new members walking around the community in those filthy old rags you've all got on, would we?"
Shawn shrugged, agreeing that they needed new clothes to go with their clean bodies. "Seth, Taylor," he called for his strongest men to come get the bags. As the two men toted them back to the group and everyone excitedly began going through their new clothes, Shawn looked to his new leader. "Is there anything we should bring?"
"Other than yourselves, clean," he joked, "no. Our hunters, Roger and Tavis, this guy here," he gestured to the dark-skinned stranger, "got us a good lot of deer, and we need to eat it all before it goes bad. Tavia, our head chef, has everything else covered."
Allan nodded behind Jim, recalling the excellent cooking skills of Tavia. "You guys are gonna love her potato salad."
Shawn shook his head at the three men before him, "Sounds great," he reaffirmed them.
"See you then," said Jim as he waved a farewell.
The group, aside from Allan, who was now more concerned with seeing everyone again, traveled together to the party, being cautious and reminding everyone that they are a unit. When they arrived at the poolside area behind the main building, everyone grew quiet.
The cacophony of the crowd faded as people tried to steal glances at the newcomers. Some people were ooh and ahh-ing, thinking some of the members of the group. Others weren't doing a great job of hiding their disgust at some of the group, such as spitting at the sight of Robert and Greyson's handholding, or holding a grudge on the way Shawn acted when he first entered and giving him dirty looks.
Beth held Mika's hand as they walked up to the party, but the young girl quickly released her grip from the older blonde as she noticed a group of other children. She laughing gleefully to herself while Beth worriedly tried to keep up. Beth and Shawn, who had taken notice of the running, sprinted towards them.
"Mika!" she shouted, attempting to corral the girl.
"Julia! Mia!" Mika sounded delightedly, playfully tackling two girls. One was slightly shorter than Mika, and the other one was slightly taller. The three all fell to the ground as the young blonde pounced on the two young brunettes.
A man and two women panickedly turned at the noise of the girls' collective screams of pain at the impact and excited yelling of each others names.
A short, plump woman, who was pale with hair as black as coal limped towards them, helping to make sure the three were okay.
The couple watched as the large woman dusted the girls off, and when the duo was certain they were alright, they turned back to their friends, continuing conversation.
"I'm so sorry," Beth gasped, lending a hand to the plump woman and the girls. "Mika, I told you to stay right next to me. Are you all okay?"
"We're okay," the taller brunette child said kindly, and her younger counterpart nodded in agreement.
"I'm really sorry," Beth said, looking to the two and the large woman.
"They'll be alright," the woman said with a grin, revealing perfectly white teeth. Beth pursed her lips, reminded of the three months she had gone through with barely ever touching a toothbrush.
Realizing Beth was staring blankly at the woman in amazement, Shawn piped up to diffuse the tension. "I'm Shawn," he extended a friendly hand, "Shawn Greene. This is my sister Beth. Are you their mom?"
"Runae Manson," the woman with coal-black hair smiled. "No, I'm not their mom. I'm just kind of, um. I'm like the daycare lady, I guess. A full-time babysitter for the kids here," she laughed, trying to make light of her job. "I hope you're both enjoying it here so far."
Beth nodded shyly. "We are. It's wonderful here."
"Hell of a-" Beth shot Shawn a glare, and he quickly went back on his words, giving apologetic glances to the offended-looking children. "Whole lot better than out there. I mean."
"I'm sure it is," Runae said, looking down at the ground. "I'm not sure how any of us can repay you all for taking care of Mika."
"Well," Beth shrugged, "it wasn't that hard. She's a pretty smart girl."
"Momma, can I go play with Julia and Mia?" the young girl interrupted, having been talking with her friends and not paying attention to the adults' conversation.
"Uh, I guess," Beth stuttered, both taken off guard by being called 'Momma' and out of concern for Mika's safety. "But show me their parents first. And be back in a few hours, okay?"
"Okay," Mika smiled, leading Beth to the distant couple from before.
"'Momma?'" Runae repeated, just as shocked as everyone else.
"Y-...yeah. Um, Beth decided to take over as Mika's caretaker after we all got separated a few weeks ago. I don't...I've never heard Mika call her that."
Runae nodded, a very friendly grin upon her face. "Well, I'm happy, then."
"You are?"
"Of course. Mika needs a family."
Shawn nodded, suddenly reliving the images of Lizzie's dead body, the two mangled bodies of Ron and Jessie lying on top her. He remembered Ryan, and the way he just seemed to shut down and abandon what little hope was left. If Ryan's still alive, Shawn thought, he's either found a sanctuary like this, or has finally got his head screwed back on right. Shawn didn't think Ryan was still alive.
"Plus," Runae said happily, "it shows me you people aren't all bad."
Taylor and Malcolm headed right for the tables of food and various drinks. They both poured themselves a cup of punch and stood awkwardly by, watching as children played and adults gossiped, attempting to take their minds off of Sarita's death.
Clearly, though, it had failed. "Do you think we did the right thing?" Malcolm asked dejectedly.
"I think we did what she wanted us to," Taylor sighed. "Was it right, though? I'm not sure."
The two stood uncomfortably around the snack bar the whole time they were there as people held conversations. An hour in, Malcolm frowned as he saw Beth, Shawn, and Mika speaking to Kevin, a bald old black woman, and the large, dark man from before — Travis? Malcolm pondered. Tavis?
Taylor watched everyone in the group, and the way others were reacting to them. Seth and Selenis were talking with the mother and her child they had all seen the day before. Robert and Greyson seemed to have found some nice people, Lyrik was talking with the blonde girl in the lake from yesterday, and Patricia was talking with two women who appeared to be around her age.
Distracting the two men from their quiet surveying of the people, an attractive Latino walked up to them.
"Hello?" the man greeted amusedly that they had not noticed him.
"Oh," Taylor said, looking away from his friends, who he was making sure were okay.
"Hi," Malcolm hesitantly smiled.
"My name's Roger," the tanned man grinned.
As Malcolm struggled to find words, Taylor extended his hand to shake the man's. "My name's Taylor, and this mess over here's named Malcolm."
"Hey!" Malcolm playfully yelled.
Roger looked between the two, trying to get to a point. "It's a pleasure to see some new, and familiar faces around here. Did you two know Kelly?"
"Uh," Malcolm raised a brow, "I think I heard of her once or twice. I'm not sure."
"Yeah," Taylor commented. "It sounds familiar, but Kelly's a really common name."
Roger half-frowned. "I see. Do you know who might know?"
Malcolm shrugged. "Not us. We've only been with them for like two weeks now. That short Mexican woman over there," he pointed to Selenis, "she would know."
With an air of happiness returning to his voice, Roger issued a quick "Thanks," and ran to the woman, desperately searching for an answer to Kelly's fate.
Robert and Greyson looked into each other's eyes, gripping their hands tightly together, and they made their way forward, introducing themselves to a kind-looking couple. It was a man and a woman; the male had long hair and sat in a wheelchair, missing his left foot, and the female was short with glasses and brunette hair done up in a ponytail.
"Hello," the disabled man greeted the boys kindly and extended a hand to the duo. "I'm Terrance, and this is my wife Tina," he grinned as he gestured to the woman beside him.
Greyson shook first, introducing himself and his boyfriend.
"I'm really sorry about all the stares," Terrance apologized. "They're just…" he stopped himself, and attempting to find a good word.
"Scared?" Robert asked seriously, looking among the crowd. Greyson, who had gone back to holding Robert's hand, tightened his grip, afraid his lover had offended the man.
Terrance studied Robert's deadpan expression as he observed the people of West Little Rock almost carelessly. He looked to his wife, and they smiled politely at the duo. "Honestly," the long-haired man chuckled, "yeah. They can be a bit, uh, hostile, to new people. No, hostile's not the right word."
Robert nodded in understanding, returning his focus to the couple. "I can't say I blame them. A group of dirty, beaten, battered, and angry-looking people showed up at my doorstep, I'd run."
The four shared a laugh, and it reassured them all they were, in fact, getting on well.
As his laugh subsided, Greyson locked eyes with a man that was glaring daggers at him from across the pool, and he put his head down in slight shame.
"You okay?" Robert asked softly.
"Yeah," the freckled boy reassured him. "I'm just a bit scared."
Tina looked in the direction Greyson had and noticed what the issue was. "Don't worry about him," she said. "That's Mike. He talks a big game, but he's completely harmless."
"Which one was it?" Robert asked.
"That big, white one. Looks like he was hit in the face with a baseball bat and told he was still beautiful," Greyson said, trying to make light of the situation.
The brunette boy found the man, a fat redneck with only three teeth. The man noticed he was being watched and met Robert's eyes, who gave him an intense, threatening glare. The redneck's eyes went wide and he put his focus back on the two girls in front of him, who appeared to be his daughters.
"Why does everyone here seem so hateful?" Greyson asked as this was happening, trying to move on.
"Honestly," Terrance said quietly and wheeling himself closer, "I think they may be a bit...brainwashed."
"What?" Robert said, his attention caught.
"Jim, the leader here," Tina said, "I know he means well, but he's kind of...lying to them all. He's not wrong, it is dangerous out there. Much more than in here. But he says that all the people left out there are wild, hostile animals. He's doing everything he can to make sure he doesn't lose more people."
"More people?"
"Well, you know about Allan and Mika, right? They used to live here."
"Yeah, I know that, but...do you mean that more people left here than their group?"
"From what I've heard," Terrance stated with a nod. "You guys knew Ryan, right?"
"Of course," Greyson said.
"Well, he kind of started the whole thing, about moving out. He left because he wanted to be the leader, because he thought Jim was doing an awful job. He took his girls, and a handful of people left with him to keep his girls safe from his stupidity. After that, people started leaving in batches, and it got ridiculous. Jim lost it, locked down the place, and transformed this place. At least, from an insider's perspective. He made this thing he calls a 'Leader's Council,' and started his propaganda about the world outside being a wasteland."
"So, what, we can't leave now?" Robert asked, taken aback. They didn't have plans to leave, but not having the option to made it sound like they were prisoners. "We're trapped in here?"
"I wouldn't say trapped," Terrance shrugged, "but yes."
That night, as they were all laying down in their own beds, Selenis wrote in an old book she had found. She flipped through the pages, past many entries that could have been written by anybody. One passage she had found detailed a young girl's struggle with her father, who she had to put down after he stormed out of a house they were taking refuge in, only to get bitten and crippled in the middle of the woods, unable to navigate back home.
She wrote about her first impressions, and the stories she had been told about Ryan and the other people they had met with him. She wrote about the way the place seems to be handled, and how she hopes it remains a safe haven. She wrote about how concerned she is for her people, but how happy she is to have found a place where Mika could be happy.
"Truly," she inscribed on the wrinkled paper, "they have given us a wartime welcome."