Broken Silence

Forget Your Past

I stare at Shaun, my lip quivering slightly. His hands waver on the gun, almost dropping it. His face is stony and unreadable. He just stands there, staring at the monster that was his sister.

"Shaun..." I start, but I don't know how to finish.

I knew that we were gonna have to kill Lynn like the flesh eater Lynn, but I didn't know who was going to do it. I definitely never thought it would be her own bother.

Kara and Mitch come storming down the hallway, their footsteps echoing like the gunshot that destroyed Lynn's neck. They stand at the door panting. I takes her a moment, but when Kara notices Lynn she sucks a breath in and sprints over to her.

"What," she whispers, "happened?"

I shake my head and look away.

"Well that's another one gone," Mitch says flatly. "First Adam, now her."

Shaun turns to face him, the gun still raised. The barrel points at Mitch's chest.

"Who's Adam?" Shaun asks, his voice shuddering.

Leo answers, "He was my best friend. He died a few nights ago."

Shaun lowers the gun, "I'm sorry to hear that."

I'm about to say something when Mitch interrupts.

"Well there really isn't much of a loss here," he says with a mocking tone in his voice, "I mean, when we lost Adam, that was a huge change for our group. He did so much. But here...with Lynn...it honestly doesn't make a difference."

We all stare at him for ten long seconds before I notice Shaun's lip twitch downward into a frown. Anger bubbles up into his eyes and spills out if his fists. He throws a punch at Mitch, clipping him in the shoulder.

"What was that? What'd you say? Lynn's life wasn't important?" He growls.

Mitch smirks, easily pushing Shaun away. With a yawn he says, "Lynn's life was important. Just not to us."

This sends Shaun into a boiling fit of rage. He lunges at Mitch, but gets thrown back effortlessly. He kicks and punches and slaps but to no avail. Finally, he gives up. Or so I think. Slowly, he reaches down and picks up the gun. He silently aims at Mitch's head.

"Why don't you say that again?" He challenges.

Mitch's expression doesn't change, if anything he's bored.

"Look, Shaun." He says with a yawn, "Shooting me would mean that we all die. If I'm not here, well who's gonna guard the doors at night? Who's gonna get us weapons? Who's gonna get us food? Who's gonna keep us safe? There's a difference, between me and Lynn. She was useless, whereas I'm not. Without me, you would be long dead. So put the damn gun down and go cry in the corner like the wuss you are."

Mitch walks casually out of the room, leaving Shaun pointing the barrel of his gun at the door.

"That son of a..." Kara whispers, but she doesn't finish.

I look up at Shaun, but he's gone. Most likely went after Mitch.

"Well," Leo says quietly, he makes a gesture to the window, "it's almost night we should, uh, find a place to sleep."

I nod and stare at the window. The moon is full and hangs low in the desolate, black sky. Tiny pinpricks of snow burst through hidden clouds and accompany the stars. The flesh eaters will surely be out today. Surely they'll be hungry.

"How about in here? It's warm and somewhat safe," Kara suggests.

We've walked around the school for approximately and hour. We haven't run into Shaun or Mitch once, which makes me worried.