8. Good or Bad?

Your usual teenager stereotype would probably throw a hissy-fit because;

a)      

a)  Someone that she didn’t like dared to speak to her

b)      She didn’t know where the hell she was

c)       She had to do something with someone she didn’t like

But that would probably be a high school prom queen stereo-type.

 

I clung to the spade crossover tighter and followed Joe to wherever we were placed to guard.

As we made our way over across the camp that was placed above the bomb shelter, I realized that this place looked like a bunch of friends who’s camping trip gained a few days.

Of course, minus the fences, weapons, ruins, people in the bomb shelter and the actual fact that there were zombies out there.

A few people smiled and waved at me as I walked quietly behind Joe. I returned their said gestures.

I also got a few glares. Those were too returned.

‘’ You really must stop that. ‘’

The old man said once we reached our destination; a simple gateway into the camp.

‘’ What? ‘’

I said, stepping back a few paces to look at the forest outside through the few cracks that were made in the fence.

‘’ The glaring. You used to be a nice, sweet, shy-girl you know. ‘’

‘’ Really ? ‘’

‘’ Nope. ‘’

He chuckled at that and I couldn’t help but laugh a little too.

‘’ You were as stubborn as they come �" still are at that. Too confident for your own good and awfully protective. But you’re a good kid. ‘’

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t answer.

Hearing Joe, of all people, say that to me was as weird as having your worst enemy give you a no-prank birthday present because they wanted to.

For the days that I’ve been here, the old man wasn’t overly nice. To be honest, I didn’t even think that he could be nice.

Yet something in his voice told me that that was the truth.

‘’ You didn’t change much. ‘’

His voice broke the silence after a while.

‘’ I don’t feel like I’ve changed. ‘’

‘’ Of course not, you couldn’t tell even if you wanted to. ‘’

Although that was true, there were polite ways to say it.

‘’ The only thing that did change, though, is your sense of the world. ‘’

Now, that threw me off guard.

‘’ Sense of the world? ‘’

‘’ Yup. ‘’

He said that as if the meaning behind his words was obvious.

‘’ What do you mea- ‘’

‘’ We’re in the middle of an apocalypse. Good or bad ? ‘’

Although I had no clue what Joe was talking about, I decided not to ask. Asking would just lead to more reading in between the lines and I was not good at that.

‘’ Bad, obviously. ‘’

‘’ Alright. Kalenah. Is she a good leader or a bad leader ? ‘’

‘’ Oh okay. ‘’

I could see where this was heading. I didn’t know how they chose their leader here, but if Joe thought that I would back him up for some ‘ vote-for-Joe ‘ type of thing, he really was out of his mind.

‘’ If this is about you being the leader or something- ‘’

His laughter cut off the rest of my sentence.

‘’ Hahaha.. Just.. Haha.. Please, just answer. ‘’

‘’ Good. ‘’

‘’ Alex. Friend or foe ? ‘’

I narrowed my eyes.

‘’ Friend. ‘’

‘’ Okay. Me. Friend or foe ? ‘’

‘’ Right now ? ‘’

I asked.

‘’ Yes, this very second. ‘’

‘’ Foe. ‘’

I tried to read his expression, to see how or if he’d reply to the words in some sort of negative manner, but Joe just stood there without blinking.

‘’ Okay. ‘’

Then he turned around as if that answered my question.

‘’ Was that supposed to help ? ‘’

‘’ Yup. ‘’

Okay. Joe clearly did not get sarcasm.

‘’ Your sense of the world is wrong right there. ‘’

Right where? That Joe was a friend ? That Alex was a foe ? Or that Kalenah was a bad leader ?

Or was there something else that I was missing…

We were in the middle of an apocalypse...right ?

I shook my head.

Of course we’re in the middle of an apocalypse. Alex is a friend, Kalenah leads the group well and Joe is a foe. Stop being stupid.

 

With my mind set, I turned away from Joe and clung tighter to my crossover weapon and started to listen.

 

***

 

I stopped day-dreaming at around 8. It was still bright outside; the campers were carrying around chunks of wood and food, as if preparing for a camp fire. Whether that meant a gathering or a simple celebration I did not know.

So far my duty had been fairly boring. Joe didn’t say much aside from some unusual humming.

Crack.

My head snapped up instantly. It was a branch cracking for sure...

I listened closer.

There didn’t seem to be any gurgling noises, noises that you’d expect a walker to make.

Crack

‘’ Joe ? Can you hear that ? ‘’

No reply, which apparently was supposed to mean yes since his eyes were pressed up to a crack in the fence.

‘’ Ah, it’s just Alex. Rose is with him too. ‘’

‘’ What ?! ‘’

Was that Kalenah’s definition of safety ?!

‘’ Come on. You trust Alex, besides he wouldn’t let anything hurt Rose. ‘’

That didn’t seem to calm me.