The Dead Live (Book 3)

Chapter 8: Follow Me (Shannons PoV)

I shivered... I knew who these people were now. It made me sick to even think about what they had done to the other community. I had pushed it off for so long, and I had told everyone that it was nothing to worry about. I had lied to all of them, once again.
Here they were, or here he was quite specifically, standing right in front of me. I wanted to spit at him, or do some thing to him, but I was too afraid to go through with it. I knew what this man could do to me, and more importantly, the people in my community.
I had heard what they had come back, and had told me it was like. Hell... I had gone to see it once myself, at one point. I rarely went outside the walls, as I was scared of what the dead could do to me, or more likely, what they would do to me.
I felt like a coward for saying so, and maybe I was one. I did not want to go any where near the dead if I had to have the choice. I did not have a choice that day though, as I was not sure if what they had told me was true or not, or maybe it was a trap.
It was all true, and when I saw all the bodies, and all of the dead, oh how sick I felt. I felt like I was going to vomit, just thinking back on the memories of that day. I knew the people there quite well, and I was even friends with some of them.
I sat there for a few seconds, just staring down at the table, as no one said a word to me, thankfully in my case at the moment, as I recalled those memories, as if they were some sort of nightmare... Hell... They were a nightmare...

There I stood, with Christian and Tanner, as I looked at the wall that was in front of us, on the horse that I stood on right now. It was all black, and most of it was down on the ground. It was torn up, and I was not even quite sure what might have happened to it.
Maybe they had burnt it down, but it was made of steel, at the same time, I realized that it did not make sense. I thought that maybe, some how, there had been some sort of power breakage, that might have blown up, and caused this, but at the same time, I realized that did not make sense.
We steadied the horses that we were on, so that I could see that all that they had told me about, it was all true in fact, no matter how hard I wanted to say that it could not be so. That was not why we where here however. We were here for a much different reason.
At this point, I had figured with all of the people that had gone to see it, that it was in fact true up to this point, but seeing it now, just made the harsh reality make me feel even more sick. I looked away for just a couple of seconds, just trying to shake off all of the jitters.
I stared down at the ground for just a little while longer. I was not sure if I really wanted to go in there or not. I knew that there were going to be a bunch of dead corpses of all of the people that I knew, and many that I did care deeply for.
They were just corpses though, and I had to remind myself, that no matter how hard it would be to see them, that they were not going to hop out at me, and try to tear me apart... Much like they had done with my father, quite a long time ago now.
I stared down at the ground for a little while longer, as I heard the horse making noises, as it was clear that it did not want to stay in this one place for very much longer, much less a place that was wide out in the open, like we were in right now.
It was a very smart horse... It was my fathers horse... Much unlike I did, he often went out in the wild with many other of the gatherers and travelers, to find new places, and see some things. I wish that I could be as strong as him, but I was just too afraid.
I shook my head at the same time as well though, as I rubbed my hand against the sides of the horses face, to calm it down a little bit, and make sure that it did not freak out, and run off with me on it. I felt it begin to calm down a bit, after a few seconds as well.
I began to relax myself, much like I had done with the horse, as I knew that there was nothing to be afraid of at the moment. The horses were no where near as fast as a human, much less a horse... We were going to be fine, and everything was going to be alright.
I was going to be safe, as I had 2 of the strongest men in my community with me right now. I slowly begin to get in a rhythmic state of breathing, as I then looked back over to Tanner and Christian at the same time to. Tanner seemed to be giving to care in the world at the moment, as he seemed to be playing around with his horse.
It seemed as if he did not care about all of this at all. It made sense as well though, as he had been here, and he had been a part of the crew that had gone in to clear out all of the dead from their community. I shook my head, as I then looked away from him at the same time as well.
I then looked over at Christian, as I saw that he had his eyes squinted at me at the same time as well... Almost as if he was trying to read through my soul too. It was a bit strange, and the man kind of freaked me out a bit, if I was to not lie to myself.
I knew that he was a strong man though, and I knew that he would do nothing wrong with me. I was not really all the worried about that at all right now. He stared at me for just a bit longer though, as I blinked my eyes in a bit of confusion. He then shook his head at me, at the same time as well, and then he began to address me.
"Shannon... It is time to go in... I know you have a lot of friends in there, and I am sure that you will see a lot of them as well... But we have to show you some stuff..." He said to me. I looked at him for just a few moments, with a look on my face, that almost said that I had not heard a word that he had just said to me.
I was just so lost in my head at the moment, and it was a bit strange to me, as I was usually so attentive to my surroundings. I blinked a few times, as I saw that he was looking right in to my eyes, just as he had been not too long ago, once again.
I shook my head, more at myself, as I was not sure what was going on with me right now. Well... I did know what was going on with me, I was having a bit of a mental relapse, as I was thinking too much, on all of the things that I had lost.
I knew I should not be like that though. I was not the only person that had lost stuff, and I was fairly certain that we all had lost something. Hell... I knew that we all had lost stuff, if you were lucky enough to not lose your close family, we still lost everything.
We had nothing left in this world, and it was at times like these, that it made me just want to give it all up. I had lost it all, now that I came to think on all of it. I really had nothing left for me in this cruel world. I had no family, and I really had no friends either.
I wanted to cry right now, but at the same time, I could not do so. I was a leader, and I knew that it would make me look very weak, if I was to ever do something such as that. I looked back up at Christian, as I then remembered what it was that he had just said to me a few moments ago.
I thought about it for just a few seconds, as I almost wanted to call it off. I just wanted to walk away, and never go back to this place. I wanted to run away from everything, but at the same time I knew I couldn't. I then nodded to Christian at the same time as well, as he now stopped squinting his eyes at me. He then nodded back to me, and I then began to speak to him.
"I-I-I'm not sure if I can do this... I believe you now... I believe that they got attacked... Can we just leave? It is dangerous out here, what if there were something bad to happen to us?" I said to him. He looked at me for just a few moments, as then to my surprise, he then suddenly began to laugh.
This time, it was my turn to squint my eyes at him, as I was not so sure as to what it was that he found was so funny at the moment. I looked over at Tanner, as I saw him roll his eyes at Christian, as he then turned his head over to me, to explain what was going on.
"Shannon... We are not here for that... We knew that as soon as we showed you it, then you would believe us... We are here to find out, who caused this, and where it is that they might be." He said to me. I looked at him for just a few moments, as I then suddenly began to understand all of what was going on at the exact moment.
I still was not so sure what was so funny to Christian right now. Maybe, he might be having some sort of nervous break down. That did not make much sense to me either however, as I knew that he was not one to have very many emotions.
I shook my head at Christian, as I had no clue what was up with him. I then looked over at Tanner, as he was the one that had just spoken to me, and it seemed like he was going to be the one that was going to take the lead at the same time too.
Tanner looked at me for just a few moments, and then he looked back over to the community walls, which were all torn apart. It was a mess, and what was once a beautiful place, now looked like more of a night mare to me. I then began to speak to him at the same time as well.
"Oh... Oh... Okay... Lets go..." I said to him. He turned his head back over to me, as he rolled his eyes at me for some odd reason. I was a bit confused as to what was going on with the both of them at the moment. Was a really making myself look like this big of a fool right now?
Tanner then turned his head over to Christian, and then he nodded to him. Christian turned his head over to me, with a but of a sligh grin on his face, and then he took the lead for all of us, as he whipped on his horse, to make it go over to the walls.
I could tell that the horse did not look too sure if it was a good idea, but he did not have much of a choice, as he went ahead and began to head over to old entrance of the community, that was in front of us. I began to shiver, as my horse was smart enough to know to follow them too.
I still could tell that he was not too sure if this was a good idea or not, as he looked up at me with a scared look on his face. I was scared as well, but I knew that we had to keep on going, as I nodded to my horse, and began to pat his neck to calm him down, just as I had done so not too long ago.
The horse then began to keep on going with the other ones, as I began to get even more afraid by every passing moment. I hoped that my horse could not sense it, as I wanted him to stay calm right now, as he continued to follow the others.
I looked around, as all of the smoke that I had been told about, was all gone now. It had been a few weeks since I had been told of all of this, so it made sense at the same time too. It still was scary to look at, even without the dark smoke rolling through the air.
I shook my head, as I just stood still as I made my horse keep on going, and trying to stay calm for him at the same time as well. We kept on moving, as the horses slowed down a bit, once we got to the part of the wall that had been torn down.
The horses were a bit confused as to what to do next, but Christian whipped his horse to keep on going. I felt a bit bad for tbe poor horse at the same time as well, as it was simply just confused as to what it was, that it was supposed to be doing.
I wish that Christian took better care of his horses. At the same time though, I knew that they were horses, and they were not humans. I still could not help but feel a bit bad for the horse, as it began to climb up above to torn down section of the wall.
Me and Tanners horse began to follow it at the same time too. I looked around at the community, once we were on the other side of the burnt down walls. I looked around, and I saw dead all over the streets. They were not the living dead, but instead, they were just rotten corpses.
They smell was nasty too, and it nearly made me want to throw up at the same time. The horses walked past the dead bodies, and all across the burnt down houses and buildings. It was all so beautiful at one point, but now it looked like this.
It made me feel sick at the same time as well, as to why some people would do this. I knew that it was people, as I had been told about others running in to bad people as well. It did not make sense that everything here was all burnt down, and not a single person had made it out alive.
I kept on going, as I tried my best not to think about all of it. I would worry about it, when we got to the place that Christian was trying to show me of. I blinked a few times as well, as I realized that all of us had stopped. I looked around a bit confused, as all of the sudden Tanner began to speak to me.
"Lets all put our horses down right here, we are near the place." Tanner said to me. I looked at him for just a few moments, as I then looked down at my horse at the same time as well. I was a bit scared for him, and I was worried for him.
I knew that I should not worry about that at the moment though, as there were more important matters that needed to be tended to. I got off my horse, and then I tied him to the fence, just as Tanner and Christian were doing with theirs.
I looked at him sadly for a few seconds, as I was a bit worried for him. I looked around to make sure that there were no dead around. There were none luckily, and I patted my horse down for good luck. I sat there for just a bit longer, until I heard Christian speak to me from not too far away.
"Shannon... Come on! Follow me!"