บท 47: Push

A little earlier in the day back at the Reed Residence, there was something that had taken place among the survivors within the protective walls.

It had not been too long since Brick had left and a large group of people gathered around the building that everyone was holding up in.

There was a heavily restrained person laying on a table that had an amputated arm and looked deathly pale.

There was Tristan, Alice and Cherie were within the same building while Tristan and Alice had taken turns to check up on the injured patient.

There seemed to be far less people around them since Brick had left and there were heavy noises that came from within the building from the direction of the front door of the building.

There were additional noises created from a crowd of people that were gathered outside of the door and there were a couple of them that raised their voices higher as they yelled.

"Open the door!"

"Let us in!"

"You are putting us all in danger!"

"Kill him before he turns!"

A crowd had gathered outside and those leading them was someone that had already faced Brick before.

Shawn hit heavily on the door with a large amount of force and yelled. "Open the door! Alice! Do not make me ask again!"

Alice shouted from the other side. "Brick said that they should be safe and can be monitored in their present state so there should be no problems. Please leave!"

Shawn snorted and yelled back again. "You believe Brick? He is just some kid! What does he know? All we know for sure is that those who have been bitten will turn!:we have to kill them first before they turn and try to kill us!"

His words only further incited the crowd behind him which created further doubts towards Brick and the actions he had taken to preserve the lives of others.

They were led by fear and desperation while they did not yet know the correct knowledge related to the zombies or the virus.

Nothing had been confirmed and they were just making things up or learning as they went along with everything that happened around them.

There was one clear thing that they knew and that was how the infection could be spread.

No kind of alternative method to deal with the infection had been given so many would come to question Brick's method of trying to save others.

Not everyone would feel safe around the potentially infected person so they could not remain in the same location as them while others had their loyalties tested further.

There were people that stuck around Brick when he had been there but when he wasn't and there were additional factors to consider, there were some that had stopped being closer to those belonging to his group or chose to join another group.

There were some people that stuck with the group they thought would aid their survival better or that had the most influence so they could switch sides when one side had looked like it was on the weaker side.

There were two additional orphaned children inside the house with Cherie, Tristan and Alice that had already been put to sleep in another room so there were some people that were worried about their safety or were trying to use them as an excuse to gain entry.

Shawn removed a pistol from his waist and tapped it against the door. "I have a gun. Do not make me use it! Let me in and let me solve this problem then we can all feel safe!"

Alice yelled back. "Take your gun away or we will open fire upon you. You are acting out of line right now and we are taking the proper measures to handle this. Go away."

Alice and Tristan had guns too after they had been left to them by Brick but they were still hesitant to use them on their fellow humans.

She was bluffing in order to make them leave and to hold them off.

Not everyone would be so willing to step forward if there was going to be a gunfight even if one side was the smaller group that had less firepower.

There would always be a risk to life if a conflict broke out and not everyone was so willing to take that risk just to follow along with Shawn.

There was a hint of confidence in the voice of Shawn who started to kick towards the door with the help of his closer allies.

Cries of the children came from within and there was a warning shot that was fired all of a sudden by Alice but it did not work to scare everyone away.

Shawn was confident that Alice and Tristan would not be willing to open fire upon them.

A conflict broke out as the door was kicked open and was hanging off the hinges then Shawn and two others entered while pointing their guns towards Tristan and Alice who blocked the way.

When Tristan had the gun pointed towards him, he cowered out of the path of the guns but Alice blocked the door leading to the person that had been treated after being bit by a zombie.

Alice bravely stood in the path of the guns and raised her pistol towards Shawn. "Back off or I will open fire upon you. The person behind this door is an innocent who still has a chance. We are taking the proper steps to ensure everyones safety."

There were less people around that could hear what was being said since they remained outside.

Shawn laughed as he spoke towards Alice. "You should have just moved. That smug looking kid called Brick was really not worth following and I doubt he will be coming back. If he does return then it will be fun to see how his face becomes twisted when he sees how he has no power left around him."

When Shawn found no supplies in the home of Brick, he was extra angry towards Brick after he already disliked him for his smug attitude and how he was stealing away others.

Shawn's inferiority complex towards Brick who was younger than him had been a lesser position was further increased the more that Brick had shone brighter or was outperforming him.

He did not just wish to lose to Brick anymore and wished to tear down what was connected to Brick so he gathered others once he saw an opportunity.

A door opened and a small figure ran towards the side of Alice not realising the danger she was in.

It was Cherie who could no longer stay hiding away and was worried about Alice. "Sister Alice!"

Just as she had ran out, the atmosphere had been tense and then Alice was distracted so Shawn had taken it as a sign of weakness. "Open fire!"

"Boss?"

"There is a kid."

Shawn grit his teeth and stated. "They are in our way to survival."

He raised the gun towards Alice which caused Cherie to become fearful.

Just as the trigger was pulled, Cherie became very scared and screamed. "Aah!"

She raised her hands to protect herself then a slight force came from her body and went towards the direction that she pushed her hands towards.

The force was not that strong but it was enough to knock Shawn over when he was unprepared and was slightly off balance. "Ah.. wha."

He fell back and hit his head on the ground then stood back up quickly to point the gun towards the cowering little girl. "What did you do?!"

His anger reached the limits as he pulled the trigger but nothing happened afterwards. "Huh?"

Alice was equally shocked and saw that he was willing to pull the trigger. "You.. you really!?"

Cherie held onto the clothes of Alice and let out a cry while cowering and Alice protected her behind her body.

Alice was aware of a fact that others were not aware of and it was that a part of the guns had been removed to prevent them from being used.

Brick removed and hid them away so that others could not arm themselves and overthrow others that held power or to be used against himself and those around him.

Nobody had fired the guns due to them making enough noise to attract the zombies and there was little need to use them when Brick had done a lot of the difficult work.

There was little need to resort to guns when there was little danger for them to face even if Shawn had his group enter a building to get to others.

Each house would have a limit to around four or so people if it was a bigger building and not every person inside may have been infected.

When the guns were on the bodies of each of the people around Shawn, the danger they posed were nothing to anyone that they were pointed towards.

It was one of the reasons why Brick did not fear Shawn in any way and had left Shane to deal with the problem while he was away.

No bullets were fired by Shawn or those around him when the trigger was pulled due to them being messed with before they were taken from the armoury by the group with Shawn.

Suddenly the noise outside had increased as there seemed to be more people outside and a more authoritative voice spoke up. "Move! Move! Move! The owner is here! Stop this instant!"

A little later, there were some people that were dragged out of the home by the people that came with Shane.

He coldly aimed his shotgun towards Shawn and said. "I heard about you from Brick and what he said seems to have been true. I will give you a choice… you can die here or you can go outside to survive on your own. If you or your people so much as show your face in front of me again then I will show you no mercy next time."

Shawn was exiled from the group along with those closest to him while the rest of the people had been taken back under control by Shane.

Things returned to how they should be and a small girl had found that she had gained a new and strange power as she had been promised by Brick which would leave him filled with jealousy.

The person that had been bitten had died later that night but did not turn into a zombie while Alice and Tristan had gained a little more freedom and recognition from others once everything had been confirmed to be true like they said.

The day came to an end after Shawn had been exiled with a couple of others but they did not get too far before they found a trail of zombies chasing behind them.

It was unknown if they had gotten away but their odds of survival without a tool to defend themselves were very low.

Back in a dark room, there was a small girl that had a teddy sitting on her bed opposite her before she went to sleep and she raised her hand towards it.

A weak force went towards the teddy from her hand and pushed the teddy away from her as it fell off the bed. "Wow.. I really can be like a super hero."

Cherie became incredibly excited to find that she possessed a unique power that had manifested when Brick had went away and when she felt like she was in danger so used it to protect herself for the first time.

She had been spending a little time trying to recreate what happened earlier and practiced a little more but the force released from her palm was still not that strong.

It was enough to push weaker people or zombies back a little and could push lighter objects away from her but it was not enough to push away Shawn.

It was a type of repulsive force of power that was opposite of an attracting power that was connected to a telekinetic or energy based branch of power system that Cherie had unlocked during her awakening.

Some abilities manifested in a way that was more versatile while others came in a specific form like how it had done for Cherie which could be called a repelling, psychic push, outward energy release or force push type of power that released an invisible energy from within her.

There was another female in another location that was practicing to summon a small flame during the same night before she fell asleep and that was Tanya the who unlocked a fire superpower that was within the elemental based category of powers.