"We have gathered here to discuss the exilement of Lori Loud from are trip to Houlton," started David. "Lori let her emotions get the best of her and attacked Carol before she was going to reveal her drug problem. Although, Lori had no prior knowledge about this, and in an honesty, neither did we, the fact remains: Lori is dangerous to the group, and we cannot afford to have her to come with us to the safe refuge in Maine. Those who disagree with my decision, speak up,"
"Hold up," blurted Lynn. "Who made you the leader of us? Last time I checked, we were all going to Houlton as a group."
"And what makes you think we're going to kick out our own sister from the group? You're out of your head!" argued Luna.
"Yeah," agreed all the Louds.
"No matter how "dangerous" you think Lori is, I won't let you kick her out of the group," said Bobby.
"There's gotta be a better to solve this problem," added Benny.
"I told you her siblings weren't going to let you kick her out of the group or even agree with you," Jason whispered with a smirk on his face.
"Fine! Fine," sighed David. "I'm not going to exile Lori from the group."
Lori sighed and smiled at her siblings, who smiled back.
"However! We do need to discuss the issue with the leadership of our group," ordered David.
"What is there to discuss? Lori is our older sister. She gets to lead us, while you can lead the others," said Lincoln.
"Someone needs to make the tough decisions, enforce the rules, guide the group for our trip to the safe town! And I am not trusting Lori to guide anyone other than her siblings," exclaimed David.
"So you think you can lead all of us," hissed Lori. Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lisa, and Lily are my family. Why should they follow some guy they met less than two weeks ago over someone who's been around them since they were born? This might be your mission, but they are my family.
"Well, why don't we take a vote then?" asked David.
"All in favor of this hard-headed arrogant jackass," asked Lori.
"I sure as hell am not in favor with an ill-tempered, naive, spoiled woman with no experience in survival, I'm with David," said Richard.
"So am I," said Missy, standing next to David.
"Me too," added Carol.
"Same here," said Sergei.
"Well, I'm for Lori," said Becky.
"Me too," said Dana.
"Me three, Drugs mess you up. You shouldn't have them anywhere close to children, Carol. Even though I don't agree with what Lori did, she had the right idea," said Tad.
"I agree with Tad," said Benny.
"She's my sister. I know her well enough to know she can lead us," said Luan.
"Some drugs do not mess you up. Lori seems like someone who acts before they think," said D.
"True, Beating someone up for that? Not getting my vote," said Wavehead.
Hey, you haven't been around long enough to see how well Lori is at protecting the group. She's got my vote," said Francisco.
"I think David would be the better leader," said Bobby, shocked Lori. "I'm sorry Lori. The stress of leadership is really getting to you."
No one else spoke up. Lori looked away from Bobby and started at the other group members. Her own sister started at each other with guilt. David took of his shades and looked at the group.
"You guys can talk among yourselves. Vote in thirty minutes, meanwhile, we eat lunch!" said David.
The roar of the herd grew closer to the group, although they were still miles behind the group. Lori, still bewildered by Bobby's decision, went to Lincoln for advice.
"Am I really that bad? My own boyfriend went to support... that cruel monster, Carol! What do I do," asked Lori.
"No, you're not bad. I'm sure he has his reasons to take David's side. Remember, he's not necessarily supporting Carol, he's supporting David," replied Lincoln.
"He right," said Jason walking to them. "Bobby is supporting David not Carol it's fine."
"Why would he though? Why?"
"Same reason I will. To relieve you of the stress of being the leader."
Lori's heart went cold after hearing Lincoln's own words come out of his mouth. Lori looked at Lincoln, holding back her tears thought she had no reason to. It seems to her that Lincoln has forgotten about how well Lori performed as a woman in charge.
"Lincoln..." whispered Lori.
"I'm sorry, I'm sure you understand."
Lincoln went back to sitting around the campfire that Lisa made behind a tree. Lynn and Clyde walked away from the campfire. They approached Lori.
"Hey, guys," greeted Lori sorrowfully. "What is it?"
Lynn and Clyde looked at each other. Lynn nodded her head and spoke up.
"We want David to be the leader. I'm sorry, but I won't be on the same side as Francisco," said Lynn.
"We also don't want you to worry about making the hard choices when someone with military experience can do that for you," said Clyde.
"I hope you understand. You know Clyde and I do love you, and we are deeply sorry,"
Lori became agitated.
"Why does everyone think I can't handle the stress of leadership? It just comes naturally! You know what? Never mind. Go ahead. I still love you guys no matter what you do," said Lori, her voice breaking at the last part.
Lynn and Clyde were surprised that the conversation didn't up end with Lori screaming at them. It was worse. Lori was disappointed in them. Lynn and Clyde went back to setting where they set and looked at each other guiltily.
Lori wondered where it all want wrong. She knew she took it too far with Carol, but otherwise, she has shown to be an effective leader, especially with leading the group out of Detroit. She has lost the support of most of the group, some who were her family. She continued to stare out into Lake Erie as she nervously waited for the have-hour to be finished.
Jason walked over to the vehicles to grab supplies to make more nail bombs and smoke bombs.
"Hey Jason I have a good feeling your going to vote for Lori," said Richard.
"Yes I am is there a problem with that," asked Jason.
"I just came to ask you to think about this before we vote," said Richard.
"I did think about it Richard and my vote is going to Lori end of story," said Jason as he crafted some nail bombs.
"Jason think about this, David is the best choice to lead the group he has experience in survival," said Richard.
"Just because David has expresses in survival doesn't mean he the right person to lead the group, there are lot's of people with survival experience some can lead a group some can't and some chooses to survive on their own. I have survival experience but you don't see me trying to be the leader," said Jason.
"But David can lead the group, why are you going vote for Lori," asked Richard.
"So she learn how hard being a leader is and get experience I'm not changing my vote," said Jason.
He then walked away from Richard not wanting to talk anymore.
"You guys better vote for Lori," threatened Ronnie Anne with a fist.
"Okay, okay we were going to support her anyway," said Liam.
"Yeah. Why are you supporting her? Why not support David with your brother," asked Tabby.
"My dumb brother doesn't think his girlfriend can handle being a boss. I can tell she loves being in charge, and she is very good at it," responded Ronnie Anne.
"I heard Lincoln is going to support David," said Zach.
"Grrr. I gotta talk to him," hissed Ronnie Anne.
Ronnie Anne walked towards Lincoln and grabbed his shirt.
"Why aren't you supporting your sister?" asked Ronnie Anne.
"I'm doing it for her," replied Lincoln terrified. "I don't want her to handle the heavy responsibilities of being the–"
"Bullshit! She is damn well at being the leader. Think about it, Lincoln Loud!" said Ronnie Anne as she released her grip on Lincoln's shift.
The group gathered once more around David and Lori. Lori stood by the camp fire. David stood by the tree.
"Stand by the person that you want as the leader of the group!" announced David. "Remember, Lori let her emotions get the best of her, and it clouded her judgment!"
"And remember, I have led most of you out of Detroit while this men failed to save my family in time!"
Missy, Richard, Carlos, Bobby, Sergei, D, and Wavehead stood by David. Becky, Dana, Tad, Luan, Benny, and Fransisco stood by Lori. Lynn and Clyde guiltily walked by David's side, to his surprise. He did not expect to lure any of Lori's siblings.
"I while always stick with my sister. She can always make me feel better," said Leni as she walked and stood by Lori.
"The effect of Carol's drugs in not only a physical way but in a psychologically and emotionally way would've damaged our group in immeasurable ways," said Lisa. "Therefore, I support Lori, because she had the right intention."
"Yeah, I agree with Lisa," said Liam following Lisa as she walked towards Lori.
"So do I," said Tabby following Liam.
"Me too," agreed Zach, following Tabby.
"Well, I don't agree Lisa. Drugs aren't even a big deal!" said Luna. "I think Lori overreacted. Sorry, sis, but I think David would make a better leader."
"I agree with Luna," said Sam.
"Ditto," said Chunk.
Luna, Sam, and Chunk all walked and stood by David, making him smile a little.
"I have twelve supporters. Lori has eleven," declared David.
"Make that twelve for Lori!" said Ronnie Anne.
"Actually Lori has thirteen because she sure as hell got my vote!" said Jason.
Bobby was shocked. He could not believe that Ronnie Anne chose Lori instead of joining him in standing by David.
"Nuh uh! Make that fourteen for Lori," exclaimed Lola.
"I like Lori. She makes me feel better than that strong man," said Darcy.
"I guess that's fifteen for me," said Lori to David.
"Make that sixteen for you and twelve for David. It would've been seventeen if Lily could vote," said Lucy as she walked towards Lori while carrying Lily.
"Wrong. It's thirteen for David," said Lana. "Sorry. David has experience with this kind of stuff. I mean, come on, he's ex-Marine!"
Lincoln, Rusty, and Vonda stood next to each other, trying to decide who to choose. Rusty walked by the tree and stood by David's side, without saying a word. Ronnie Anne grew angry, knowing that Lori needed one more person to support her in order for her to gain the leadership power.
"I'm just going to go with David because I don't want to be the icebreaker," said Vonda.
Lori gulped. She wasn't ready to allow the life of her family to go into the hands of David. Her heartfelt cold as she knew Lincoln would choose David.
"I'm standing by..." uttered Lincoln, "Lori."
All of Lori's supporters smiled. Bobby and the rest of Lori's siblings hid their faces in shame. Lori looked shocked, but quickly smiled and hugged Lincoln. David frowned, but he knew he had to keep his word, He knew Lori could not handle being the leader of the group, and she had to learn somehow. Now that she actually became the leader, David knew she had to learn the hard way, and it was only a matter of time before she would give up the power to him.
"You handled being the oldest sister 17 years in a row. For sure, you will be able to handle being the leader of 34 other people for about a month," said Lincoln.
"Alright, everyone! As your leader, I say we go on with our journey. Nothing changes except one thing. Carol has to toss her drugs away or give it up or else she's not coming with us."
Carol sighed and looked out into the lake. She grabbed her bag of drugs and handed it to Lori. Lori kept her face straight, even when she wanted to wince upon seeing Carol's bruised face. She grabbed her bag and walked into the RV. She placed the drugs in the cabinet above the couch.
The order of the vehicles did not change when the group left for the road again. David remained silent throughout the whole trip and only focused on arriving Buffalo before sundown. Many hours passed by, and the closer the sun touched the ground, the less fuel the vehicles had. And when the sun touched the ground, Vanzilla drove no longer.
"That's it for the day. We have to wait until sunrise to find some gas to siphon," said Lori.
The vehicles stopped near a small town. As the group ate dinner around another campfire that Lisa made around a few vehicles, Lori and David walked near a building.
"It was very civilized of you to had your leadership title like that. No hard feelings right?" asked Lori.
"Yeah. No hard feelings," said David., looking out at Lake Erie.
These words relived Lori enough for her to get as close to a decent sleep as she could get since the bombing of Detroit. However, as always, the group slept uncomfortably in their vehicles. The thunder of the herd was miles away, but away roamer walked with ease along the road, coming closer to the group every hour.