The Dead Live (Book 3)

Chapter 9: Its Settled (Shannons PoV)

I sat there for just a few seconds, as if I had not heard what it was that Christian had just said to me. I was a bit lost in my head at the moment, and I was not even sure why I had come to this place, in the first place.
I should have not pushed it off, I just did not want to believe that the world could be as cruel as it was, as to where they would take out a whole community, killing every single person that lived there. It made me feel sick at the same time, as I was thinking about it more and more.
I also was not quite so if they did kill all of them, as Christian had told me that there was a lot of missing people. I was not sure, they could have taken back the strong ones, which would make a lot of sense as well. Or they might have just walked out of the broken gates after they had been killed.
Either way, no matter what, it was clear to me that this had been an attack on them. I was not sure as to why, or how it had happened. Had they made someone angry? No... It had to have been more than 1 person... It was clear that this was a big group.
I felt sick, as I did not want to think about this any longer. I also did not want to tell the people of my own community, the actual truth that had happened as well, as I knew that they would all get scared, and many people would leave the community, and run off on their own.
They did not know how to make it out there, so they did not truly know how bad of an idea that really was. I was torn, and I was not sure what it was that I should do. I had my head down to the ground for quite some time, but I then heard an extra loud cough from right in front of me.
I suddenly lifted my head, as I was a bit more scared than I usually was, as to what it could have been, that had made that noise in the first place. You could not blame me for being so afraid though, as much unlike my own, strong and brave father had done, I never went outside the walls.
This time, Christian had pushed me just a bit over to the top however. We had been in the meeting room, and he had made a bit of a full of me, to all of my council that were there. A lot of them agreed with him as well, so I really had no other choice.
I stared at Christian, who as I could see, he had his eyes squinted at me for some odd reason. I was not paying all that much attention to it at all however, as my mind was more set on the night that we had that meeting, and I had made such a fool of myself, as I began to recall that memory.

I sat there for a few moments, as I looked up at my entire council that was sitting on the tables right below me, it was a overly large table as well. It kind of scared me at the same time as well, as I stared at it. A lot of that had to do with the council that was around the table too though.
I trusted all of them, but at the same time, I did not want to look like a bad leader to all of them. I gulped, as I looked away from them, over to Christian, who also had his eyes squinted on me. That was normal for me though, with him.
I stared at him for a bit longer for some reason, and he did not seen to budge one bit. Not that I was trying to get him too anyways, but he always seemed to be a man with no fear for some odd reason. After a bit longer as well, I blinked just a couple more times, and then I looked back over to my council.
To be honest, I was not sure what it was that I should say to them at the very moment. I knew that I could not tell them that the whole reason I was doing this, was because I was afraid of all of this. I was quite sure that Christian already knew, just based off of the look he seemed to have.
I sighed just a bit, as I knew that a lot of them were getting a bit annoyed that I was pushing it off for so long. I did not blame them either... It was late, and a lot of them just wanted to get back home, take care of their kids, or their wives or husbands.
Many of them just wanted to get some sleep, and I could tell by the looks on all of their faces, that they were all quite a bit worn out. The last couple of days had been very stressful, and I did not blame any of them one bit for it. I shook my head though, as I now knew that I had to stand up, and speak to all of them.
"Everyone... Relax... I just want you all to know, that I am sure, that it could all just be a single person that had thrown perhaps a molotov out, and it had let loose a scurry of events after that... Or hell, it could be the same thing that had happened to us just a few years ago." I said to all of them. I noticed right away, that it seemed to put a calm look on many of their faces.
I began to relax myself at the same time, as I almost just wanted to sit down. I knew that it was not all that I needed to say to them. As it was just enough to calm them down for just a bit, until the room seemed to get a bit more louder with each passing moment.
I gulped to myself once again, as I looked down at the floor. I was not sure what to say to them next, and I knew that I most certainly was not acting like a very good leader right now. I looked back up, and around the large table, as I saw that most of them did not have their eyes on me right now, but more at their peers.
I shook my head, as I then looked away from them, and to another person that was in the room with me right now. I looked at him for just a few moments, as it was a bit strange to me, the look that he had on his face. It was as if he was enjoying all of this.
It almost made me begin to think, as if he was the one that had betrayed us, or rather the other community. That also did not make much sense, as I was beginning to realize the idea about the molotov. A simple molotov could not take down a whole community.
Besides, I knew that Christian was a loyal man to us. I knew that he would never do something like that, no matter how many times he told me not to trust anyone. My thoughts seemed to disintegrate, as I heard one woman speak up for the rest of the council.
I looked away from Christian, as it did not seem that he had even noticed that I had been looking at him in the first place. I doubted that though, as it seemed as if he always knew. I shook my head and then looked over at the woman.
"A molotov could not do such damage as Christian had said... Perhaps a thunderstorm, but we really can not afford to take such simple precautions as that." She said to me. I looked at the lady for a few moments, as I squinted my eyes at her as well.
I knew who she was... She was a close friend of Angela's, as her mother had let her into the council when she had been the leader. She was a smart woman, and she said a lot of things that were true, and things that others might not have thought of, or wanted to say.
She was a good council member, but I just did not like her, simply because of one reason, and only that reason. She was friends with Angela... I hated Angela so much as well. I shook my head though, at the same time as well, as I knew that was not where my thoughts should be.
This was one community, and I could not let one person be the reason that I was not going to do a certain something. I knew that we all needed to work together, in a crisis like this 1. I sat there for a few moments as well, as I thought on what she had said.
I knew that she was right as well, but I still did not want to except the truth for some odd reason. It made me feel sick, as I wondered what was wrong with me. I then heard a man, Christian, begin to speak up for the first time, to all of the people in the room, and I listened to what it was that he had to say to all of us.
"This was not a thunder storm... This was a clear attack on the community, perhaps by another so called community. If none of you believe it, than I can show all of you..." He began to say to all of them. I looked at him for just a few moments, as I then gulped to myself once again.
I knew by each passing moment, that he was trying his best to tell us that it was true. He actually believed that it was true, and that was the part that scared me the most. I knew that he was not one to lie, much less a whole group of people lying.
I was afraid, and I was surely not going to risk the lives of my own council to prove a point. Odds are, he was right, and if I lost a lot of my council to that, than I was not sure if I could live with what I had done. I love my council, I did not want any of them to die.
I was about to say something about it, such as, that I was just going to believe him, but that was when the same lady that had stepped up to speak before, did the same thing once again. I had no choice but to listen to her, as I had my ears open to hear what it was that she had to say.
"It is not worth risking all of our lives... What about this? If Shannon really does not believe you, than she can go see for herself." She said back to Christian. I stopped thinking, as my mind seemed to blank. I began to shiver at what she had just said to all of us.
The night that my father had been killed, all of the sudden came back to me in a flash... I had heard the yells and the screams for help, but I had been sitting in my bed, thinking nothing of it. I knew there was nothing that I could have done, but still, it felt like it had been all my fault.
Because of what had happened that night, I had vowed myself to never go out of the walls, unless it was just a couple of feet past it. I had lived up to that promise so far, but now the thought of it, began to scare me more and more.
Most of the council were busy speaking to each other at the moment, as they were thinking about what it was that she had just said to all of us. I could see the look on the face of Christian though, and that was the look that really scared me...
It was as if he were reading in to my soul, and I looked away as I tried my best not to think on what it was that could be going through the mind of that man. I knew that he was a very smart man as well, and it seemed as if he knew what I was thinking about.
I looked away from him, as I did my best to try not to think about all of that, as I looked back over to my council. I then saw a man step up, and begin to speak out to the rest of us. I nodded to him as well, as I listened to what it was that he felt like he must add to all of this.
"This is our leader that we are talking about right now... She is going out behind the walls, and she might die... We can't risk our own leader... What if it is true, and what if they are waiting for her as well..." He said to all of us. I looked at the man, and then I nodded to him thankfully.
It was not the fact as to what it was that he had just said, that made me feel a lot better, but it was the fact that he had managed to get everyone in the room to think about the risk of losing my life. I was not sure what it was that I was afraid of right now... I was sure that I did not fear for my own life right now however.
I was really not to sure what it was that I was afraid of... I was not scared of the truth, which I was beginning to believe more and more by each passing second. I closed my eyes for just a little while, as I let my council just think amongst themselves, as to what the man had just said.
A part of what he said was right, but it was really not the reason that I was so afraid of going out there. I shook my head at the same time as well, as I then suddenly opened my eyes up, as I heard the familiar voice of Christian begin to step up to the council, and speak to them once again.
I sat there for just a few seconds, as I just stared down at the floor. I was not sure what to think at the exact moment, but I listened to what it was that Christian had to say, as I suddenly then turned my head over to the man.
"Sasha's father used to always go out and make sure that we were safe, he used to go on missions... What makes this any different?" He said to all of them. He then suddenly turned his head over to me, as he squinted his eyes at me, as he then continued to speak. "You out of all people should remember how brave your father was..."
As soon as he had said it to all of the council, the room immediately erupted in the chaos, as I could tell that many people agreed with what it was that he had just said, but I could also tell that many of them did not agree with it at all.
Christian kept his eyes squinted at me, but this time I did not want to think about that, as I walked over to a nearby chair, and then I looked down at the ground, and I suddenly then closed my eyes as well. I needed to think, as I knew already that what he had just said was correct.
My father was a very brave man, and I was acting like quite the bit of a coward if I was going to be completely honest with myself. I was sure that if my father were here right now, he would most certainly not be proud of me. It was very rarely that he was proud of me anyways.
I closed my eyes as I remembered the nights that he would beat my brother into a pulp, because of a little bit of a disagreement that they had. It was a lot of the reason that I did not want to be like my father either. I still loved him, but I also knew that what he had done, was not okay.
I kept my eyes closed for just a bit longer, as I did my best to try not to think on any of that. I did not try to get my ears on any sort of certain conversation that was going on in the room either. I just wanted to clear all of my thoughts right now.
I knew that it was loud in the room with all of the people that seemed to be yelling at one another, much unlike a normal meeting went, but for me it was all silent. It lasted that way for a little while as well, until I heard one of the council men speak up, as I opened my eyes and looked up at him.
"You guys... We should not expect her to do this! Her father was a man! She never goes out of the community!" He said to all of the people that were in the room at the moment. I looked at him, as I wanted to agree with him, but I was a bit angry as to what he had just said to all of us.
It was blatant sexism, and I had thought that the world was over that at this point. The man seemed to realize his mistake, as I saw a lot of angry looks from many of the younger woman, as the room once again erupted into complete chaos.
I had a blank look on my face, as it seemed, even though what they were all talking about, had to deal with me, no one in the room seemed to be paying me any attention at all at the moment. I almost just wanted to walk out of the room right now.
I knew that I couldn't though, as this was perhaps one of the most important meetings in the history of our community, if you did not count the night that the thunderstorm had happened. I did close my eyes though, as I felt like I was going to vomit.
I felt a bit woozy, even though my eyes were closed at the moment. I felt like I was about to pass out with all of the talking in the room. Suddenly I then heard the voice of the same lady that had spoken earlier, once again step up to talk.
"Your joking me right? There are many women that go out of the walls and risk their lives... Angela is one of those that does that." The woman said to me. As I saw her turn her head over to me as well, as she had clearly meant it as an attack on me.
I was not sure what to do at the exact moment, as I looked up at the sky, as if I were looking up at my father, hoping to find some sort of help from him... It was crazy as well, as I was most certainly not a religious woman. It seemed as if he did respond to me this time however.
I then lifted myself up from the chair, much to the surprise of a lot of the council, as I shook my head at all of them at the same time as well. It was time for me to show everyone how strong I really was. I then began to speak very loud to all of them.
"She is right... You all are... My father did do that, and it is time for me to do the same... So... Its settled..."