บท 15: More People, Less Problems
It had been a week since I heard from the radio, and a week since Dad and I decided to keep it a secret. It was our little thing, even if it shouldn't have been. Every day, I was doing better and not letting it affect me. It didn't eat me up anymore to say that I knew something the others didn't, and I widely viewed it as something that made me important.
The fence was almost set up completely, we had a few more logs to set up, and then the chain link to put in, but we had at least a week to do that. Cody, Connie, and I started exercising outside to stay fit and not rot away inside, and Niko, Papa, and Bob were watchers outside to see if there were any problems. Nothing very significant happened.
There weren't any conflicts, and we all worked together to get things rolling at the elementary school. I was more than happy with the quality of life here. The one big complaint I had was childish: I just wanted to play video games one more time.
As Connie and I were taking turns running back and forth on the playset, I had to take a break because I was out of breath. When I stopped to sit down, I sat near the log fence in the front and looked out to the street through a gap in the fence.
I watched as the wind blew the grass in the middle of the day and cooled me off. I sort of liked this easy way of life. We were safe here importantly, but equally as important, I could contribute in a way that wasn't limited because of my age. All of my problems could be solved by putting myself into a profession that I knew how to do.
Of course, there were still things that had to be taken care of that we never considered. For new additions to the school, we needed somebody who was good at building things, and somebody who could up-keep on everything moving in the school already. Maybe these things would be obscure to the normal mind, but we happened to find the solution to this problem on the same day.
Through the gap in the fence, I saw two families moving up toward the school. Their clothes were dirty, and only one of them had a kid. They reeked of unadulterated optimism and smiled as they came closer to the school.
"Hey there! Are you friendly? Oh... you're just a kid, are your parents around?" The man shouted out, limping over to the gate where I was sitting down.
He ended up almost directly over my head, and I couldn't run from it so I just froze. I tightened my chest so he wouldn't hear me breathe, and closed my eyes as if that would hide me any better.
Connie seemed to be his main focus, as she was the one he called out to. Connie ran behind the corner and the man called out once more before Dad turned the corner.
When Dad came back from the house on his first trip back where Henry got bit, he brought two guns for himself and Mom, and now had it holstered on his hip every time he was by the fence. I had no idea why at the time, but I didn't have to think about what it would be used for. I unfortunately knew that the subjects that walked around were dangerous, and had to be killed in the worst-case scenario.
"What do you want buddy? You lost?" Dad asked. I wasn't sure if he did it by accident, but he rested the palm of his hand on the gun on his hip as he talked to the mysterious man.
"No No! No trouble, I'm just looking for a new place to stay... you see, those damn zombies took over and ran my wife and me out of our house. We found these guys on the way to a better place. So, are you taking new applicants?" He asked, leaning his hands on the fence.
"Don't lean on that, we just built that. We could be taking new applicants, but I want to ask you if you have any weapons on you. Anything at all? Knives? Spatulas? Guns?" Dad asked
"Just some kitchen knives to get us from Point A to Point B. Do you want us to hand them over? We really aren't about that business we just want a place to keep our daughter, Emma, safe," The man said.
He took out the knife and held the handle toward Dad over the fence. It wasn't over me, as he moved his body in order to do so, but it still made me nervous at first. He must've noticed me and changed his position.
"No, keep it, I'm all about people staying armed. As long as I know you won't hurt anybody. Tell me your talents, good at anything specifically?" Dad asked again. He shifted his hands off of the handle of his gun and then changed his stance so he was pointed sideways toward the new families.
"Well, I used to be a construction worker and a ton of other different trades. Brandon here used to work on a lot of firearms and small projects at home," The man said. He realized he never said his name and introduced himself as Brian.
"Brandon?" Dad asked, peering at the family in the back. Dad didn't know anybody named Brandon, not unless it was my Uncle.
"Charlie! Oh is it good to see you! I heard they set neighborhoods on fire and was hoping you were smart enough to get out," He said. He shook Dad's hand over the fence, and Uncle Brandon jumped over, helping my Aunt, who I called Tete, and the other family's kid over the fence. It seems that Uncle Brandon vouched for the new people to our establishment, and they were instantly allowed in.
"This is a crazy thing you have going on... solar panels on the roof, a greenhouse, this is all crazy! Have you been here a while?" Brian asked. He was quite the talker...
"Since we first could, yeah. Well, please, you're both welcome here of course. We have beds in a multitude of places if you don't want to sleep with the rest of us, and plenty of jobs that can be done around here. Brandon, you can help me go over the condition of some things around here. Brain, you said you were a construction worker?" Dad asked. He nodded, going on another tangent about how tough it was before everything went to crap.
"Okay... well, we can add some things to the school, maybe a greenhouse expansion the more people we get, and we'll be depending on you. We all work together here, so if there's a problem with something going on, we call a group meeting to solve it. Are those rules clear?" Dad asked Uncle Brandon, Tete, Brian, and his silent wife.
"Yeah! You know, I really love the system you have here. So many other groups that we tried to get into were very distant and annoyed by the fact that we just wanted to work together, as a big family, you know? And then, we get here, and you guys are so willing and accepting of so many policies, and really are one big family. I don't even know you yet, but I really do see a prosperous future here. I'd love to help out, me and my wife Sandra. She's a really good cook if you guys need one of those?" Brain asked on one of his long tangents again.
"No, Gammie is a good cook, so we're all good with that," I told him. I greeted myself and Brian introduced himself yet again, as if I wasn't close enough to hear the entire thing.
"Wonderful! Then Sandra can help. Do we have bonfires at night? We should if we don't. I want to get to know everybody if possible. I have a ton of beer in this backpack! They're small cans, but hopefully, they'll suffice. How old are you, Charlie, right?" He asked Dad.
"Thirty-Seven. What about you?" Dad asked in a painful tone. I could tell he was trying to be respectful, even if Brian was excruciatingly annoying.
Dad watched me the whole time he talked to Brian. I'm sure he was thinking of our conversation before when I told him that making as many friends as possible is the way to success. Having friends who can do a ton of things, was the beautiful part of being human. Having a purpose, or something. I'm sure I didn't understand the full extent of that message, but I would one day.
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