Fear The Living/Issue 79

This is Issue 79 of Fear The Living.



Issue 79
Logan Kent's POV

It’s the day after the others arrived at the lab, along with that bandit. I kind of caused a scene then, pointing at him, accusing him of being a bandit. It wasn’t until D.L. calmed me down that he explained to me what happened with the bandit, X is his name apparently. So now we have three former ex-bandits living with us, talk about living with the enemy. Everyone is getting to know the lab, but just like the warehouse, the bandits will eventually find us, and will take this place down. But for the time being this place is fine.

But in a little we all have to report to the cafeteria, that’s what we formed the little kitchen into. Apparently X is going to have an important talk with us, probably going to be something about the bandits we already know.

What happened yesterday is still fresh in my mind, I still remember imagining that biter lunge at me and turning out to be fake, all after I had memories about my parents. I could just be losing my mind, after yesterday I’ve been trying to get the necklace out of my mind, but I just find myself twirling it in my hand right now.

I sit down on a chair in the cafeteria, figured I would get an early start. But I guess I’m not the only one as Rose enters the cafeteria and sits down on the chair next to me, and I don’t have enough time to hide my necklace.

“What’s that Logan?” She asks me, staring at the necklace in my hand.

“Oh it’s nothing.” I say, and I quickly stuff the necklace back under my shirt.

“I don’t believe you, it’s got to be something important to you. You should have seen your eyes while you were staring at it, they were all lit up.” Rose says.

<span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Just trust me it’s nothing.” I say, getting a little nervous she will continue to ask about the necklace.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">And she does. “Come on Logan, you’ve known me for a while, you can trust me. I won’t tell Ken if that helps.” Rose says.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Fine I’ll tell you. This is a necklace that my parents gave me before all of this happened.” I say, and I take out the necklace again. “Each L stands for me, my mom, and my dad. My mom’s stands for her name Lourdes, my dad’s stands for his name Landon. Then there’s mine, Logan. It’s the last thing I have of them. I’ve been trying to forget about it, so I won’t keep remembering about my parents. But yesterday I accidently saw it, and I’ve been remembering my parents. I just want to stop remembering about them, I don’t want to get sad about them anymore, I know they wouldn’t want me to.” I say, but as I say it I can still remember my parents, and the sorrow keeps gnawing at me.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Logan it’s going to be okay, I know what you’re going through. It’s going to hurt, but after a while it all just goes away, and you just try and care about those around you to try and forget it. Just next time you think about them, or you think something you don’t want to think, just tell me. Ok Logan?” Rose says.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Ok.” I say, and Rose wraps me into a hug.

<p style="text-align:center;">Ken Myers Jr.'s POV

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">I approach the cafeteria, X told us to meet up in the cafeteria in a while, he probably just wants to talk about bandit stuff. No doubt they know about this place, how else would he have known. Hopefully this place will hold up for at least a while, Logan and Rose need a place to just sit down and relax after all they’ve gone through the last few months. I wish I could do a better job of protecting them, that’s all I want. I don’t care what happens to me in the process, as long as both of them are alive.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">I finally reach the cafeteria, and I quickly spot Rose and Logan sitting next to each other talking. “Both of you are early birds huh?” I ask as I sit down next to them.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Maybe, how are you?” Rose says, and she kisses me quickly.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Could be better, just the same old shit. How about you guys?” I ask.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“I’m good, this lab is a great place Ken. We could actually live for a while here you know.” Rose says, and she lays her head on my shoulder.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“I hope.” I say, and I intertwine my hand with Rose’s.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“I’m good also, in case you were wondering.” Logan says.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Don’t worry buddy I didn’t forget about you.” I say.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Seemed like you did.” He says, smirking.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Well when you get a girlfriend and have to take care of a kid, all while you never got to finish high school, then you can talk to me about things like that.” I say, jokingly.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Well then.” Logan says.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">We stay silent for a while as everyone else from the group enters the cafeteria, X entering last.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">Everyone takes their seats, and then X starts to speak. “Ok so I suppose all of you know I used to be part of the bandits, and I regret to be the one to say that they know about this place. So we might be safe for now, but I give us a couple of days before the bandits start giving us hell. But you see their base has things we could use, walls, fences, food, water, and supplies to last almost a year. I know how to get in and out of there quick, I know all routes, all ways in, all guard patrol hours, and all the times when their guards are down.” X says.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“So I suggest we take over their base, we hit them hard, while their guard is down, and make sure they won’t be able to rebound. All we have to do is wait, wait for a while, and if we don’t encounter them once, then we are safe. But we have to have a backup plan, just in case this all goes south. So tomorrow we are going to meet up here again, and we are going to talk out a plan to take over their base, and a backup plan in case we have to flee the lab. Now once we all agree on this, no one can chicken out. Anyone who’s against this speak now.” X continues.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">No one says anything, so X continues to speak. “Good, so everyone is with this. Meeting adjourned.” X says, and he nods his head to us, and walks out of the cafeteria.

<p style="text-align:center;">Wolf's POV

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">I stand on a stage in front of the other bandits, a microphone stands in my hand, and speakers are hooked up around the room, they have to hear me. After what happened yesterday with X, no one can be trusted, so we have to eliminate Ken’s group before we can be destroyed from the inside out. I know I said we were going to give up on Ken’s group, but they drew first blood, and I couldn’t deprive my men of the chance to kill Ken’s group. I shake my head, and I stare at all the bandits standing in front of me.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">I clear my throat, and I start speaking, my voice booming around the room. “After yesterday, after what happened with X, what happened to our prisoners, no one here can be trusted. From now on everyone besides me is to not be trusted, shoot first ask questions later. Alright?” I say, and I take a break from talking to allow the others to speak.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Alright.” They all say.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">I clear my throat again and I put the microphone close to my lips. “Everything is going to change now, X knew everything about us, so he will know a way to attack us, and make sure we remember it. All guard schedules will, as of tomorrow, change. We will make new escape routes, bury the old ones. Make new entrances, and now we are on twenty four seven guard patrol. All the time we will be on constant guard. Alright?” I say, and I pause again so they can speak.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Alright.” They all say.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Ok, also our men have told us all the information we will need to know about that lab they are staying in, we could easily overtake it, destroy it, killing Ken and his people once and for all, if you’re all willing to do it.” I say.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“HELL YEAH!” They yell, I guess they are just as eager to finally be done with that splinter in my side Ken as much as I do.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Tomorrow we will all meet up back here to discuss how to destroy the lab, when to destroy the lab, and also the new guard schedules, new entrances, and new escape routes. Alright?” I say.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Alright.” They all say, but more enthusiastically now.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"">“Good, meeting is done for now, go back to what you were doing, and we will meet up back here at the same time tomorrow.” I say, and I place the microphone in my pocket, and walk off the stage into my quarters.