I could hear them all slowly shuffling through the front doors of the chapel- our new headquarters for all community discussions where everyone was welcomed to bitch and complain about their problems... But my eyes never left the butterfly knife in my hand as I threw it back and forth, twirling it with ease through my fingers. Dad hated it, but frankly I no longer cared what he wanted me to do- or not do, I should say.
It was the end of the world, I knew how to work a knife. Big deal.. There were more urgent talks to be had, which is why all he did was eye my knifing skills with disapproval and go back to addressing the room before us.
"Thank you all for coming," he started, silence following suit- lately everyone was afraid to speak up, afraid that what they said could get them killed. "This week has been hard to endure... A week of great loss and grief. So I'm sorry to everyone in this room who lost someone in the midst of this chaos. I know what this must look like to you.. that this seems like the end of everything we've built-the end of our survival.. But it's not. We're not done fighting! And you all need to realize that before it gets us all killed. Before any more blood is spilled.." He paused again, and this time I did look up from my knife to see him locking eyes with every living person in the room.. It was something my father had always been good at- connecting with the pain the other person was drowning in. In his eyes, you could always see more than just blue hues staring at you... You saw compassion, love, and understanding.. He made you want to believe in his words, believe that there was more out there than just suffering and death. He was a leader, even back in the day when the dead weren't munching on the living. I just wish I could believe that again, believe that there was still good in us...
"We need to unite, as a team, as a community, we need to gather more weapons, fix our attitudes, and know that we will take him down eventually. But we can't do it all in one day; he won't go down in one day... So I NEED you all to stop doubting, stop trying, stop plotting.. Because all you're doing is getting us killed.. Making us weaker and him stronger... He's got numbers on us, y'all don't see that? He's got the weapons, the people, the shelter, the food- He will kill us all if he feels threatened again. We need to cooperate-"
"What we need is to get rid of you." My eyes snapped up, grip tightening around the handle of my knife. I recognized the voice immediately- it belonged to Derek, the strongest soldier we have on our side. Though he was handy with a gun, knife, and hand to hand combat, he was mouthy and out of line... But he never questioned our leader like this, not in front of the remaining survivors.
Green eyes stayed glued on him, but he didn't notice me. There was a sneer on his face, his eyes only looking at father as if no one else was in the room. "I mean, you got us into this mess, didn't you? It's you he doesn't like. It's you he wants dead." He tilted his head, his arms crossing against his chest. "We kill you, he gets off our case. Sounds like a good plan to me," though no one verbally agreed, the tension in the room grew and I could see masks of conflict on everyones face as they put two and two together. Father stood, his eyes dark, an anger vibrating off of him in ways I'd never seen before. So I stood up just a few steps behind him, knife twirling through my fingers.
"You go anywhere near him and this knife will slit your throat quicker than you can inhale your next breath- and that goes for anyone in this room." I could hear the threat in my voice, and a sense of pride welled in the pit of my stomach at the fear I caught in a few familiar faces. "You're more than welcome to pack your sh*t and go- survive on your own if you don't agree with what our-" I stressed the word through gritted teeth, "leader is proposing. In fact, I'd love to see you walking out those gates with no supplies, no shelter, no weapons... How long do you think you'll survive out there?"
"Well, well, the princess speaks." The stupid smirk on his face grew, his eyes now watching me like a hawk. I took a step forward, not wanting Derek to think he could intimidate me, but dad wrapped his hand around my wrist and stopped me mid-tracks. "Enough, Danny!" He ordered, eyes glaring as he turned his attention back to everyone else. But my eyes stayed locked on Derek's. He didn't stop watching me either, his eyebrows raised as if daring me to try anything..
"Don't you all see that this is what he wants? He wants us divided, scared not only of him but our own people. We can't let this get between us- we can't start thinking about killing each other off when we have a common enemy waiting for a reason to put a bullet through our skulls. HE is who we want dead. We, as a community, need to take him down. Fighting each other only let's him win... You got that?" This time, father's eyes looked between me and Derek, waiting for a response... And though we both nodded slowly, deep down we knew this moment would never be forgotten. Enemies?
