IV - Backpack Rule

The young woman giggled as she jokingly punched the young man in the arm. The man chuckled as he rubbed his arm, before placing his hands on the woman's chin. He leaned close to her face and kissed her.

"Help! Please!" shouted a voice in the distance.

The man released his lips from the woman's lips and pulled out his pistol, aiming it at the direction of the voice. The young woman grabbed her rifle from her back, dropping her backpack on the ground, and looked at where the man looked.

"Damn," he said.

Jewelee panted as she revealed herself from the small street that intersected with the wide street. She covered her right forearm with her left hand, which was stained red. The man lowered his pistol while the woman kept her rifle aimed at the girl, who approached the couple.

"Stop right there!" yelled the woman.

"Please, help me," panted Jewelee, sweat dripping from her face.

"Lois, she's hurt," said the man. "We gotta help her."

"But what if she's—?" whispered Lois.

"She's a kid."

"Help her then. I'll watch your back."

The man turned towards Jewelee and ran up to her.

"What happened?" asked the man.

"There are bad people out there," whimpered Jewelee. "They shot me with an arrow. I need help getting back home!"

"Let me see your wound."

Jewelee looked up at the ten-story building and pointed at the roof.

"Over there!"

Lois and her boyfriend both turned around to look at the roof. They saw a projectile quickly flying towards them, and before they knew it, the woman was struck in the shoulder with an arrow. She screamed as she dropped her rifle, causing her boyfriend to grab her hands.

"This way!" yelled Jewelee.

Jewelee ran down the wide street as Fallyn fired more arrows from the roof of the building. The arrows hit a car, a tree, a window, and a bus. Lois and her boyfriend followed Jewelee as they kept their heads low.

"Over here!" groaned Jewelee as she slammed her shoulders against a door to a building. "Come in!"

Lois groaned as the man dragged her towards the building. They both entered and found themselves in a bank, surrounded by an older woman and a bunch of children. The man gasped.

"Wha—"

Sonya jammed her drop point knife into the man's right knee, causing him to scream as he fell to his side. Desmond then pointed his golden pistol at Lois, as Lincoln and Ronnie Anne both gasped.

"That easy, huh?" panted Lois as she turned towards Jewelee. "Son of a bitch. What do you want?"

Ms. Malone reached into the right pocket of her baggy jacket and pulled out a snub-nosed revolver before aiming it at the man.

"Oh my god," whispered Lincoln.

"What's your name?" asked Ms. Malone.

"Let him go," growled Lois.

"Her name's Lois," said Jewelee.

"Thank you, Jewelee. But I wanted to hear it from her. Next question. Where's your camp?"

"What camp?" whispered Lois.

Ms. Malone tilted her head. Annie grabbed the arrow stuck in her shoulder and twisted it, causing Lois to scream as blood squirted out of her tight wound. Ronnie Anne gulped as Lincoln covered his mouth with his hands.

"Stop!" yelled the man. "It's between South Kesington and Maplewood! Beach Drive! It's in the woods!"

"How many people?" whispered Ms. Malone.

"About twenty."

"How armed?"

"Every man and woman's got a gun."

"No children?"

"No. N-No, they didn't make it. World's tough on kids."

"Not my kids."

Ms. Malone looked at Sonya and nodded. Sonya grabbed the man's hair and jammed her knife through the bottom of the man's skull by his neck. Lincoln looked away as Ronnie Anne slowly grabbed his hands. Sonya then released the man, dropping his lifeless body onto the marble floor.

"No!" screamed Lois. "You'll burn in hell for this! You'll burn!"

Annie thrust her own body against Lois's back before swinging the knife backwards into Lois's stomach. She screamed as Annie stabbed repeatedly. As Lois fell to her knees, she looked into Ms. Malone's eyes, unable to say anything as blood poured from her mouth. Annie then placed the blade against Lois's throat and swiped it across before kicking her body into the ground.

"Good job, kids," said Ms. Malone. "Remember, hurting a person doesn't necessarily make someone speak. But hurting their loved ones will. Don't hurt the one that will speak."

"Got it, Ms. Malone," said Owen.

Lincoln continued to stare at the bodies in shock as Ronnie Anne grit her teeth. Ms. Malone turned around and looked at the two of them.

"Kill to survive, right?" said Ms. Malone. "I'll let you two take the kills next time."

Ronnie Anne nodded slowly as Lincoln stared at Ms. Malone, having trouble comprehending what he just witnessed.

The doors to the bank opened, revealing Troy— who was holding Lois's backpack— and Fallyn— who was holding Lois's rifle.

"Holy sh…moke," groaned Troy. "Let me guess. Sonya and uh… my sister…"

"She did a fine job," said Ms. Malone. "You should really listen to her."

Annie smiled as she looked down at the backpack that Troy was holding. She approached him and grabbed it, preparing to open it before she saw a small open pocket. Her smile faded as she dug her hands around the pocket as she pulled out an empty cartridge box. Her eyes shifted towards Troy.

"Lift up your pockets," said Annie.

"Look, Annie—"

"Don't make me ask again. Lift up… your pockets. Now!"

Troy gulped as the children all stared at him. Ronnie Anne looked at Lincoln's shivering hands. Feeling pity for him, she grabbed his left hand, allowing her warm touch to ease the shivers.

"Annie, don't…"

Annie walked towards Troy and placed her hands inside his jacket. She then pulled out a few new bullet cartridges out of it, revealing them to the group.

"Looks like someone wants to defy the backpack rule," said Ms. Malone.

"The backpack rule?" gulped Lincoln.

Desmond reached for the man's backpack before Sonya slapped away his hand and grabbed the backpack, opening it. She then spilled all its content— which included water bottles, bags of trail mix, medical supplies, packs of ramen noodles, and many other different items— into the middle of the marble floor. Fallyn removed the magazine from Lois's rifle and tossed it into the pile before pulling back the bolt, launching the bullet out of the chamber. She then tossed the rifle into the pile.

"Whenever we kill a survivor, we take what's in their backpack. Everything. We place it on a pile. And we split it evenly among each other, using a pair of dice to determine who picks first," said Ms. Malone. "Almost every survivor we encounter carries a backpack with them. You two were an exception. No backpacks, no clue where to go. Nothing on you to call your own."

"Is that why you didn't kill us?"

"Watch your tone, Lincoln," said Annie.

"Thank you, Annie," said Ms. Malone. "Indeed I don't like that tone."

"Sorry," said Lincoln. "When you found us— was it because we didn't have backpacks on us that you didn't kill us?"

"No. We didn't kill you two because you and Ronnie Anne are only children. We don't kill children."

"Lori and Bobby aren't children."

"We'll spare them when we find them. We'll even let you go with them once we do. But until then, you're with us."

"What happens when we try to leave?"

Troy's eyes widened as he smiled. Annie glared at Lincoln as Ms. Malone lowered her eyebrows. Ronnie Anne gulped as she looked at Ms. Malone.

"You gotta excuse him," said Ronnie Anne. "He asks too many questions— sometimes the wrong ones."

"No, no. It's fine. I'll answer it," said Ms. Malone. "If you leave… we'll hunt you down… and punish you. Education is mandatory. Don't skip and risk your life. Don't be like Troy."

"Troy… what's gonna happen to him?" whispered Lincoln.

"When you try to take something from the backpack when it's not your turn— bad things happen. Desmond may be a thief, but even he knows when not to touch things that don't belong to him."

Desmond looked at Lincoln and winked as he smiled.

"Troy has broken our backpack rule. He'll have to face the consequences," added Ms. Malone. "Troy! Stand in front of the pile."

"Look, Ms. M… I didn't mean to—"

"Now!" yelled Annie.

Troy's eyes sunk into despair while Lincoln and Ronnie Anne stood by the glass window above a long horizontal desk. He then moved himself next to the pile of items on the floor, as sweat filled up his face.

"What's gonna happen to him?" whispered Lincoln.

"No clue," Ronnie Anne whispered back.

"You want to know what happens when you break the backpack rule?" said Ms. Malone, her eyes growing in excitement. "Go ahead kids. Show them."

Annie turned around, curling up her fists as she placed her spear point knife back into her holster. All the other children surrounded Troy in a circle as he whimpered.

"Annie, don't—"

Annie swung her fist at Troy's face, causing him to immediately stumble back and grab his nose. Hargrove shoved him back into the middle of the circle before Fallyn punched his cheeks. Piers straightened out his hand and chopped Troy's throat, causing him to gag.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne both watched in horror, though Ronnie Anne quickly suppressed her expressions. Lincoln shook his head softly as Troy continued to groan.

Sonya punched upwards at Troy's stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. Troy attempted to wipe the blood off his nose and lips before Gertrude kicked his arms, causing him to smudge the blood across his right cheek. Owen picked him up and held his torso as Desmond slammed his fist across his face, sending a spit of blood across the room and onto the glass window.

Lincoln looked at the blood with wide eyes, and felt his hands trembling before Ronnie Anne grabbed one of them. He then looked at her, noticing that her stare had not been broken. Her eyes continued to look at the beating occuring in front of her.

Jewelee kicked his knees, causing him to stumble down. Ira screamed as he kicked him over and over, before Desmond pulled him back. Troy then saw Annie stand on top of him with her bleeding knuckles. She lowered herself and punched Troy in his left eye. And then once more.

"Alright, that's enough," said Ms. Malone.

"Actually," panted Annie, "I think Lincoln and Ronnie Anne should join. They gotta give at least one good lick."

"I'm good," said Lincoln.

"No, that's a great idea," said Ms. Malone. "Join. Now."

Lincoln felt his heart pounding as Ronnie Anne released his hand. Annie looked at them with her deranged eyes, panting with excitement.

"Hurry it up," said Annie. "We don't have all day."

Ronnie Anne stepped forward and walked towards Troy as Lincoln meekly followed her. Troy groaned as he covered his left eye, groaning in pain. He then looked up at Ronnie Anne.

"RA, don't…" groaned Troy.

"I hate that nickname," said Ronnie Anne.

She grabbed his jacket and punched him in the lips. He then grabbed his hair and punched him again in the lips.

Troy spit out blood onto the marble floor as Ronnie Anne backed away, rubbing her knuckles.

"Excellent job," said Annie, patting Ronnie Anne's back before facing Lincoln. "You're up now."

Lincoln stood above Troy, who lay on the floor, exhausted and beaten. He knelt down and looked at Troy.

"I'm sorry, man," whispered Lincoln.

"Don't apologize," said Ms. Malone. "A thief gets what he deserves. Now, hit him!"

Lincoln slapped his hands across Troy's cheek. He grunted softly.

"A punch, not a slap!" exclaimed Ms. Malone.

Lincoln curled up his fists and punched Troy in the chest. Troy coughed a tiny drop of blood from his lips.

"Harder!" shouted Annie.

Lincoln punched Troy's stomach with slightly more force.

"Harder or I'll break his face myself!"

Lincoln yelled as he slammed his fists towards Troy's stomach, repeatedly as Troy tried to kick away Lincoln. He then sent one final blow, causing Troy to lie on his side, gurgling on his throat. Lincoln's eyes widened as he saw Troy throw up, his red-stained vomit splattering onto the pile of items.

"Oh, damn!" gasped Sonya. "You went right for the stomach."

"I'll admit," said Desmond. "You're probably not as weak as I thought. Didn't know you had such a nasty fighter inside you."

"For real, he made Troy throw up all his junk into that pile!" said Owen.

"I… I didn't… I didn't mean to…" stammered Lincoln.

"It's cool, Lincoln," said Fallyn. "I don't care about the supplies. I don't want anything from it anyways."

"Me either," said Hargrove.

"I don't think any one of us wants it," said Gertrude.

"I do," said Ira.

Desmond looked down at him and shook his head softly. Ira looked at the pile, noticing the bubbling bath of bile, and cringed.

"Never mind."

"Everyone wants to relinquish their claim to the pile?" asked Ms. Malone.

The children all nodded their heads, with the exception of Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, and Troy. Lincoln seethed in anger as he looked around at the nodding heads. Annie looked at Lincoln with a menacing glare before turning around. Ms. Malone smiled.

"Alright. Let's go back home."

"What about their camp?" asked Annie.

"Annie. You showed exemplary work today. But I think Lincoln and Ronnie Anne need a break. It's been quite a day for them."

"True," said Annie, facing Lincoln again. "May have been a lot to handle."

"Exactly. Let's go."

The children began to walk out of the door. Troy groaned as Hargrove and Gertrude both helped him up to his feet. Lincoln walked towards him before Ronnie Anne grabbed his arms. She shook her head before tilting her head towards Annie, who was watching Lincoln.

"You're upsetting her," whispered Ronnie Anne.

"Because I didn't want to beat her little brother?" whispered back Lincoln.

"I don't know. All I know is that you don't want her for an enemy."

Lincoln sighed as he walked out of the bank with Ronnie Anne following him. Annie then followed them as Hargrove and Gertrude helped Troy through the door. Ms. Malone then looked back at the red and warm pile with a smile.

The dark evening was lit up by the campfire that crackled near the playground as a metal bowl hung above it. Desmond and Sonya were tickling each other and laughing in their table before Ira joined them. Fallyn watched them as Owen and Jewelee laughed along with them. In the other table, Hargrove and Gertrude were eating their soup while talking to each other, while Piers sat on the corner, reading a book. Across the table from Hargrove and Gertrude was Troy, who held a bag of ice above his left eye. By the campfire, Ms. Malone was talking to Annie, who could be seen smiling and giggling.

Lincoln stirred his bowl of soup around as Ronnie Anne slurped hers. She then looked at Lincoln.

"I think it's best to forget about the whole thing," said Ronnie Anne.

"You can't tell me you're okay with this, right?" said Lincoln.

Owen looked back at Lincoln and Ronnie Anne's table. Ronnie Anne awkwardly smiled before Owen looked away.

"Keep your voice down, Lincoln."

"We just beat a kid today. A kid our age when this all started."

"I know. I know, I'm not okay with it either. But we don't have a choice."

"We could leave."

"The kids are trackers, man. They'll find us. And then we'll end up like Troy. Or worse."

"Worse?"

"Shush, shush."

Annie arrived at their table with a steaming bowl of soup. Lincoln placed a spoon in his mouth as he avoided eye contact with her.

"How was the talk?" asked Ronnie Anne.

"It was good. It was fun," smiled Annie. "She said that I was a perfect example of someone who could set the rules straight. That she has never seen my loyalty ever before. She also mentioned I was her favorite student before it all happened. And I still am."

"You're making progress," said Ronnie Anne. "I bet you feel good about it, right?"

"Those kinda talks? For sure. They're the best kinds of talks."

Annie slurped her bowl of soup before looking at Lincoln. Her smile faded away as she continued to glare at him.

"You look like you feel sorry for him," said Annie. "Hey, look at me."

Lincoln lifted his eyes.

"Don't apologize for what you did to Troy. He knew the rules and he knew what would happen if he broke them. And yet, he still tried to steal from us."

"After you stole from the two survivors," said Lincoln.

Annie squinted, her eyes looking deep into Lincoln's. The silence was filled by the laughing in the distance and the crackling of the campfire.

"We have a way of doing things around here," said Annie. "You may not like it, but it's how we survive. You may have Desmond and Sonya and the others fooled, but not me. You didn't mean to hit Troy. So you better drop this kindness act or else it'll be you who ends up in his spot."

"Survive? Really? You hit your brother to survive?"

"He needs to learn. He was born a troublemaker. A pain in the ass for my parents before they died. Now I got the burden to take care of him."

"He's your little brother. You're supposed to treat him with love, not anger."

"Don't lecture me about how to take care of Troy. Or else we're gonna have a problem."

Lincoln felt himself tapping his fingers on the table. Ronnie Anne noticed and quickly joined the conversation.

"I'm sure you have your reasons," said Ronnie Anne.

Annie nodded. Lincoln scoffed as he stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be back in a second," said Lincoln.

He walked towards Hargrove's table and approached Troy. He kept his hands in his own pockets as he sat down next to him.

"Hey, Troy."

Troy gave him a side glance as he continued to eat his soup.

"Look about earlier, I didn't want to hurt you. Your sister… she forced me."

"She wanted you to give me one hard punch," said Troy. "One. Hard. Punch."

"You were there. She wanted me to hit harder."

"If you had hit me hard in the face the first time, it would have been over. But then… you hit me again and again in the stomach."

"I thought it would hurt less."

"But it didn't. Vomiting ain't fun. I thought I was gonna puke my brains out."

"I'm sorry."

"No one hits that hard again and again and feels sorry. Just go away, man."

Lincoln closed his eyes and sighed. He then stood up and walked back to his own table.

"Well?" said Annie. "You feel better now? Does he feel better?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Weak."

Lincoln continued to stir his spoon as Ronnie Anne drank her soup in the awkwardness of the silence in the table.

Dim lights flickered. Water flowed out of a faucet. A certain noise hummed out of the vents near the ceiling.

Lincoln sighed as he raised his head, looking into the mirror as water dripped from his face. He turned off the faucet and grabbed a nearby towel before hearing a noise by the lockers outside the bathroom. He turned around and stared into the dark hallway before peeking out, finding a figure move towards the stairwell.

The lights for the bathroom turned off. Lincoln walked down the hallway and towards the stairwell before hearing a door close upstairs. He followed the steps upstairs and then slowly opened the door, finding himself on the roof of the school under the dark night sky. He then heard metal clanging against brick coming from behind him. He looked down from the edge of the roof and saw the figure moving down a ladder and hopping to the ground before running.

Lincoln felt the cold air brush against his neck as he shook his arms covered by long sleeves. He looked at the figure moving towards the woods with a lantern at hand, headed into the direction of Maplewood— which Lincoln could see from a few miles away.

"Oh man, I might regret this," said Lincoln.

He closed the rooftop door and began to climb down the ladder.

A dozen minutes passed. The stars twinkled above the woods. An owl hooted as it flew below the moon.

Lincoln shivered as cold air flowed out of his lips. He took another step forward before opening his cold eyes to see where the lantern went. It was still more than a dozen meters away. He then partially closed his eyes and rubbed his hands as he took another step on the thin snow, trying his best not to stumble.

Suddenly, he heard a gunshot. His eyes busted wide open as he looked at the figure by the lantern. He then heard the figure fire another shot.

Lincoln continued on reluctantly. He then approached the figure, now being able to see the side of his bandaged face lit up by the lantern.

"Troy?" whispered Lincoln.

Troy turned around, keeping his pistol elevated. Lincoln raised his hands slowly.

"How'd you find me?" asked Troy.

"I followed you here," said Lincoln. "That's a bright lantern."

"Why?"

"Curiosity got the best of me."

Troy broke a smile as he lowered his pistol.

"Gets the best out of all of us, don't it? Except, I got punished for it. Like… crazy. You're not gonna tell on me, right? Because if you do— well, it won't end well for me."

Lincoln's eyes drooped as he let out a guilty sigh.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't want to do it. And I shouldn't have hit you that many times."

"You could say you didn't mean it as many times as—"

"I meant it," said Lincoln. "Every hard punch."

Troy gulped.

"I'm a dangerous kid," added Lincoln. "I don't want to hurt people. I try my best not to. But once I do… it's like… something inside me is unleashed… and I go a bit berserk."

"Like Ira."

Lincoln chuckled softly.

"Yeah," he replied. "Like Ira. Truth is… I only get like this when I'm under threat. When my loved ones are under threat or… or when they're dead."

"But I didn't threaten you," said Troy.

"No. You didn't. Your sister did."

"Of course. You're gonna blame my sister."

"I'm taking responsibility for what happened. But Troy… something needs to be done about your sister."

Troy turned around and looked ahead at the cans in the distance. He then raised his pistol and aimed at it.

"Wanna have a therapy session with her?" said Troy. "Some sort of intervention? Or do you wanna shank her in her sleep or something?"

"You're defending her?"

"I guess I am. She's my sister after all."

Troy then fired a shot, missing the cans. Lincoln leaned close to him, moving his hands towards his arm.

"Allow me?" asked Lincoln.

"Sure."

Lincoln moved Troy's arms upwards, so that the iron sights aligned with his eyes.

"You're keeping your arms too low," said Lincoln. "If you keep it a bit stiff, you can control the recoil. But not too stiff, you need some slack in the arms so that the recoil doesn't hurt your joints."

"My arms still wave around too much."

"Inhale deeply. And exhale slowly. And if you wanna go for long distances, hold your breath. Maybe hum a song— that's what my sister Luna did."

"What happened to her?"

Lincoln looked at Troy.

"Sorry if it's too personal," said Troy. "Curiosity's getting the better of me."

"No, no, it's alright. If I'm being honest… I don't know. All I know is that she was such a cool sister and she loved playing music with her girlfriend. And I love her. And she treated me with love."

"You know… Annie wasn't always like this. She was actually cool, like your sister Luna. At least, cool to me. The other girls didn't think so. And I guess that made her feel really insecure."

Troy fired a shot. A can was hit.

"She was bad at math," he continued. "She used to stay extra hours at school with Ms. Malone helping her. I guess it must've been around that time when she first started crushing on her. So, she's sorta like Luna— you know, being a lesbian and all that."

"Actually, she's— nevermind, keep going."

"This world somehow made her change. It's like… she's a whole different person now. Our mom died in front of her, so maybe that's why."

"When did the abuse start?" asked Lincoln.

Troy lowered his pistol and faced Lincoln.

"Is that what you think it is? Abuse?"

"She hits you hard."

"Lori never hit you? Luna?"

"Yeah, but… it was never that serious. We would fight over stupid stuff. But they never mean it."

"What makes you think Annie means it? If anything, it's Malone that's forcing her to do it. Kinda like what Annie did with you."

Lincoln looked at the empty cans in the distance.

"You stole the bullets from Malone? You're practicing… because you plan on being alone."

"Not alone. With my sister. If there's anyone you should shank in their sleep, it should be Malone."

Troy released the magazine from his pistol and looked inside. There were no bullets.

"Just think about it. Now, let's go back before we get caught."

Lincoln nodded. Troy grabbed the lantern and began to walk back to the school, with Lincoln following him, thoughts being stirred around inside his mind.