Days Nevermore

Survivor

I sighed as the silence in the van was deafening. Pure silence from the three musketeers who are normally chatting and slinging jokes at one another. As if he couldn’t take it anymore, Dallas asked “What happened back there, Sarge?” My brows knit together,” What do you mean?” He and Davis looked at one another, then Dallas cleared his throat. “The way you handled that situation back there.” I looked over my shoulder at him, “How did I handle it, Dallas?” almost glaring. Ruiz looked at him through the rearview before looking back to the road. “You normally just leave when potential enemies are in the area. You know the whole ‘Don’t draw attention.’?” I just blinked, not believing what I was hearing. “Usually, but he admitted to r**e, desecrating a corpse and even arson.” Dallas stared at me like I was growing a second head. “What, Dallas?!” He looked to the other two, “Okay, I get that. But when do past laws apply to now? And when you looked at him…” he looked slightly uncomfortable when he looked back at me, “You weren’t you, Sarge.” My brows knit together, and I blinked at him incredulously, “What do you mean?” “I mea…“ he scratched his head and sighed, “Never mind.” I stared a moment longer before looking back to the road. The entrance gate to camp was coming into view. The closer it got, the more I began to relax. What I’d do for a bath right now. Our three-day supply run had us all a little dirty and missing the simplest of luxuries from home. The guard in front of the gate waited for us to stop, then his serious expression turned into joy. “Hey, open up! It’s Sarge and men. They’re back!” he waved to the guard at the top of the gate and then at us, “Welcome back! Hope this run was successful!” we all nodded and grinned. Ruiz steered the vehicle through the gate and slowly made our way through town to our storehouse where food and other supplies could be rationed out. Word gets around quickly, with only 80 people in our current population. They all began to follow the van, smiles of joy upon our return. “Who would have thought just the sight of us would bring this much joy? Back then, a third of these people would be cursing us.” I watched as people gathered or watched. “It’s a different time now, Ruiz. They need people like us now more than they ever had. We can only train them or protect them. Lead them to safety. They depend on us to gather supplies they need until the new recruits are ready. Even then, only a few want to be a part of us. To serve and protect.” The van went quiet as the reality of the heavy burden set in. Without people like us, those military trained, no telling how many of these people wouldn’t survive. Especially against rogue military personnel. Ruiz parked in front of the store house, killing the engine he got out. I followed suit and we made our way to the back of the van. Upon opening the door, I was met with a surprise. The young girl that guarded the door was looking at me terrified in Ruiz’s cuffs. “Please don’t hurt me. Please, I’ll do whatever you want.” “What’s this?” I looked to Ruiz, gesturing to the scene before me. Ruiz looked a little sheepish, “Well, she’s a young girl. When I knocked her out, I handcuffed her and put her back there, so she didn’t get in the way or cause trouble. “I-I’m no trouble. Please, I’ll do whatever you want. Just let me go.” She started to bawl, looking between us terrified. I sighed and noticed the crowd getting closer. I quickly took my cuff key from a small pocket on my vest and released her from the cuffs, giving them back to Ruiz. “We aren’t here to hurt you, but we will need to hold you in a holding cell for questioning first.” Her tears started coming in faster. “No, please. I’m innocent. I was forced to guard the door. I would never hurt anyone, I promise. Please don’t lock me up, please.” She sniffled. I looked up to see Davis and Dallas watching the interaction quietly, “Dallas, take her to the holding cell. We need to question her before I can trust her in this camp.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. “No. Please, I’m no threat. I promise. Please don’t lock me up. Please.” Dallas gently pulled her hands away and began steering the girl away from the van and out of sight of the crowd. She was sobbing harder as he led her towards the holding cell. “Time to get this stuff in the storehouse.” I grabbed a box of canned goods from the back as the crowd came closer, “Need some help, Sarge?” an older gentleman, about in his late sixties peered at the supplies we were able to gather. He whistled like he was impressed. “Had a good run this time.” I grinned and nodded, “Yeah, we had to go further out. I didn’t like it especially with you all so far, but it was a good decision. Faced a few eaters and a screecher, but the bounty was worth it.” His brows rose in shock. “A screecher? Infernal women. I have no doubt they were naggers in their living days. Always yelling at their husbands…” I chuckled at the imagery, but yet had a shiver too. Screechers were mutated zombies. Women, as far as we know, have elongated arms with claws at the ends of their fingers, glowing white eyes with wide mouths. Their screams were high pitched screeches, faster than your average eater and can alert hordes from a mile out. Disgusting zombie if I had ever saw one. “To answer your question, yes. Some help would be great.” He smiled and nodded, reaching into the back to pull out another box also full of canned goods. “I’ll help too, Sarge.” A boy, well teen, of about 16 or 17 years old also grabbed a box. “Me too!” a woman said. Pretty soon all the supplies were out of the van and put into their assigned places in the store house. The shelves no longer look so dreary. I looked to the sky and saw it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. I sighed and turned to Ruiz, “Lock it up. I have a stranger to question.” He nodded and stood up from the chair he was sitting on. He closed the door behind him and locked it.