Capítulo 7: Chapter 7: Before You Go To Sleep
Quick heads up if you read the previous chapters. I have rewritten the last one, so I would recommend rereading it if you read it a while before you read this one.
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Well, bugger. Just amazing.
Instantly, a few shrieks went up around the room, but only a few people reacted like that, and any fear seemed to be out of shock more than anything. I assume most people knew it was coming. I checked my watch.
17:14. My god, how had it already been so long? It had all felt like no time at all, honestly. Luckily, the sun had not set yet, so while it was still getting dark, we still had around an hour left of sunlight.
While we were all awake, the issue of infected coming near the door was easy to solve. There were few of them, and they could easily be... Killed? Weakened? Yeah, weakened. They could easily be weakened alone. We had also removed a lot of them earlier, so there weren't many on this floor anymore. But, if we were all asleep, then who knows what could happen.
It would be unpopular, but we could do that... Looking up, I saw many of them getting comfortable. Yep, they really aren't going to like this. I prepared myself.
"Excuse me, everyone. May I have your attention." Everyone mostly stopped and looked my way. Good. Shows I have some influence, at least.
"So, it is coming towards night, and I see some of you are getting comfortable. You probably won't fall asleep for a couple of hours, but still. Unfortunately, we have still got some work to do." A small groan went up around the room, but it wasn't as bad as before. Good.
"It is just two things. Firstly, we are going to need people to sit as watch throughout the night." I continued so no-one could interrupt me.
"It would be two people, starting at around eight o'clock, and the shift would only last for fifty-five minutes. Then, in a pre-determined order, they would wake two people up, and they would sit shift. And so on and so on. Not that difficult."
Reading the atmosphere of the room, I could tell that while it was not popular, people saw it as necessary. I mean, it's not like they had a say in the matter, but anyway. The next part would be harder though.
"Now, there is a way for those who like their sleep uninterrupted to not have to have a shift. If you look around the room, you can see a lot of wrappers and what-not, but you can't see any food. Same with bottles and water. So, before we go to sleep, I want to do a supply run."
And with that, a stunned silence descended upon the room.
Most of the food and water had been consumed with no supervision when people had gotten hungry. But, a supply run, while necessary, would mean leaving the relative safety of the room. The room one by one got louder, with some people objecting to it. But unlike at the start of all this, the objections were quieter and less spread. It seemed most people accepted me as the leader.
But, while a short explanation of the importance of a supply run while it was still relatively safe outside, and how it also allowed us to have breakfast instantly in the morning sedated most people, a group of five still complained loudly. Examining them, I singled out their leader of sorts, and slowly moved over. As they were all sitting on the floor, when I walked over, I loomed over them. I stood there, not saying a word, looking down at them. They stopped speaking. I gazed mainly their leader. She was the expensive handbag girl from before. She squirmed under my gaze.
"What is your name?" I kept my voice low and simply stood there. I want to build a power difference and display myself as intimidating, and subconsciously lower their power in their minds. Every action I take shall be to create that, therefore allowing me to exert influence over them.
Gazing down, the leader of the group realized I was talking to her. I could tell that I was beginning to affect her, but, even so, she remained defiant.
"Me? Well, I'm Malissa," She huffed, "What's it you, bitch?"
I didn't move nor react, I just stared at her and let her phrase sit there, and let her realize what she said. She broke eye contact and looked away. Good.
"What did you say earlier?" I sternly demanded. Not a hint of kindness nor politeness.
She stumbled. "I, er. I said why should we listen to you, who put you in charge?" So she's going to be like that, huh. Without breaking eye contact, I snapped my finger at Jake.
"Jake, bring me a chair." He seemingly caught on to my intention and brought over a chair without any complaints. A display of power, you might call it.
I sat down, no longer needing a height difference. I sat there, one leg crossed over the other, staring at them.
"Seeing as you want to not go on this critical food mission, what is your plan then?" That there was a snuck premise to imply that she wants us to starve, and then distract her with a question so people will associate her with the lack of food as she never addresses it, and instead she answers the question.
She looked up at me for a moment with confusion.
"Um, well. We could wait until morning to get food."
"What if more infected come up? What if the hallway outside is flooded with them, like before, and we are trapped in here? Wouldn't it have been nice to had a watch throughout the night and some supplies for the morning?" Despite her having not mentioned the watch, I have associated her objection to the supply run with an objection to my plans in general. She, also not being the sharpest tool in the shed, probably won't notice that, and response will be on the question.
Indeed, she sat there, seemingly frozen in thought.
"Yes, I guess so? B-" By interrupting her before she can say but for everyone to hear, she will be cut off from finishing and thus will be forced into publicly agreeing with me.
"So, if you agree with me, what is the problem then?" The mental toll seems to be getting to her, and she could only stutter a response.
"Bu... But I don... Don't." She is on the edge. Just a little bit more.
"But you just agreed with me. So if you agree with me that it is bad to not to do one, or do one in the morning, why the anger? Why the disapproval?" Here I used a Smash statement. She is most likely to respond to the latter statement, leaving the former unaddressed, and associating her with it.
"I mean, I... I thought... I... I don't know!" She cracked under the empty pressure I put upon her. Despite her looking down, I could tell that tears were forming in her eyes.
"Then, if you don't know, leave it to someone who does." Only then did I stop looking at her, as I stood up and walked away.
I glanced across the room and saw multiple concerned faces. Now while that is good, one cannot rule with intimidation and verbal prowess alone.
"So, now that's out of the way," I say with a chuckle, to dispense some tension I created, "I will need four volunteers for the supply run. To begin with, I volunteer as the first person. Therefore, only three other people are needed. Remember, for those who go, there will be no requirement for a shift."
If I lead by example and go on the run, while also going first and last for the watch, they are more likely to respect me, or at least follow my commands better.
"So, any takers?"
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