Episode 7: Countdown

Part Two:

"Ready or Not"

Episode 7

"Countdown"

(Jeff)

I sat at the kitchen table and twirled the gun around. I was bored, but I knew there should be no time to be bored. Everyone was still getting over Jess's death, and we have no food. Everyone was in the kitchen, we were having dinner. The food amount was a lot smaller this time, it didn't fill anyone. I twirled the gun again, and it stopped, pointing at Mark who was sitting directly across from me on the other side of the table.

"Jeff would you stop that?" Stan asked, irritably.

"Sorry." I grabbed the gun and stashed it in my pocket.

I looked at everyone, who was picking at their food, not wanting to eat. I think a lot of the problem was that nobody wanted to run out of food. If they didn't eat, they couldn't run out of it.

"Look," I said, "I know we barely have any food, and I know it sucks. But we need to pull ourselves together."

Mark snickered across from the table, everyone looked at him. He looked me dead in the eye and laughed.

"Pull ourselves together? Shut up Jeff. This isn't some god damned fairy tale, you can't just pull yourself together and have a happy ending. You should listen to yourself. Maybe you should have pulled yourself together when it came to saving Jess."

I stood up at the table abruptly, everyone at the table flinched. I wanted to attack Mark, I had a lot of anger built up inside of me, but I knew I shouldn't start a fight. Everyone was under a ton of stress, I don't need to be hurting anyone.

"Where were you?" Kayla asked.

"What?" Mark asked.

"When Jess died, you blame my dad for it. But where were you?"

Mark stopped, looked at Kayla in shock and in disbelief. I didn't even expect her to say that either. He got up and left the table, shortly after that, we all left without touching our food.

(Stan)

I sat in the darkness at the dinner table, by myself. Everyone was mad at each other, and nothing was working out. We've already got the bandits to worry about, and we can't be tense around our own people as well. I sighed and looked down. My side still hurt a bunch, it was stinging badly. I haven't told anyone about it, since I don't want that to be yet another worry on people's minds. Back when the stranglers raided the mansion, one of them sliced my side with its fingernail. I was trying to protect Kayla, and I ended up getting myself hurt. Ever since I have been feeling worse and worse. I lifted my shirt up and examined my wound. It was really red around, and the cut was oozing yellow pus. I put my shirt down and closed my eyes in pain. I heard the door open, and I saw Bay walking in. The only person living here that I actually somewhat like.

"Hey." she said.

"Hi." I cringed.

It was dark, so she couldn't see the pain on my face.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine. Why?"

"You've just seemed really depressed lately. I promise you Stan that we will make it through this. We will defeat these bandit assholes, and everyone will start to feel a little bit happier."

"Even if we do defeat the bandits, what about food? We have barely any food to stay alive. I give us one week, and we're shit out of food. How are we going to fight bandits with no fuel to keep our people strong? Everyone here hates each other, and that just makes things worse. We're dying Bay."

Bay stayed silent, she knew I was right. The bandits weren't even our main concern anymore, if we all hate each other anyways, what's the point in fighting for each other?

(Jeff)

We needed to stop these bandits sooner than later. Once they're gone and out of the picture, we can focus on other problems, like food. Winter is about over, we just have to hold on a little longer, and we can plant crops, and we can live again. I walked down to the basement, where we were keeping the prisoner. He may be the key to us surviving. If we can make a deal with the bandits, maybe our problems will go away. We can trade the prisoner for peace. If we hand over the prisoner, the bandits leave us alone. It's a long shot, but its all we got. If it doesn't work, we are going to have to go to war.

The stairs creaked as I walked down them. I could hear the prisoner crying, what was he crying about? Out of all people, he seems like he would be the one with the least amount of problems. I walked up to him and knelt down beside him. He was still tied to the chair, and the rope looked like it was starting to burn him.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Please don't send me-"

"What's your name?" I asked again.

"Jack." he whimpered.

"You're a bandit, correct?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Listen Jack, we're going to take you back to your group. All you have to do is cooperate with us."

"No!" he cried.

I stopped and looked at him, confused. What sane man wouldn't want to go back to his group after being held prisoner?

"I failed," he said, "I can't go back. Ryder will punish me."

"What do you mean he will punish you?" I asked.

"Whenever you mess up on anything, you are punished. Fall asleep on watch, you get the shit kicked out of you, you get captured by the enemy, I'll be beaten to death."

I sat there and thought for a while. I thought over the possible scenarios in my head. If I send this guy back to his camp in trade for peace, he will be punished. I can't even guarantee that he will accept the trade. If I leave him here, we will have to keep putting up with the bandits. If we deal with the bandits now, we will have more time to worry about food and overall healthiness of the group.

"I'm sorry." I concluded, "we need to send you back."

"No! Please! Why can't you keep me here?" he pleaded.

"We don't have room for another person, and we need you for a trade."

"A trade?"

"We can trade you to the bandits," I said, "for peace. We give the bandits you, and they stop bugging us."

"It's not going to work," Jack said, "Ryder doesn't care about me. All he cares about is that girl you have here. Bay is her name. He could give two shits about me! The trade won't work!"

"Even if it doesn't, we still can't keep you here. We can't have another mouth to feed."

The bandit slumped his head down, he gave up. He realized that I wasn't going back on my decision. We need to trade this guy, it's our only hope. Our last hope.

I walked upstairs and met Hudson and Cora. They were talking things over in the living room.

"Hey guys." I said.

"Hey Jeff, you need something?" Hudson asked.

"The prisoner downstairs, I think I know what to do with him."

"What?"

"We offer a trade to this Ryder guy. We give him the prisoner, in exchange for peace. Maybe he'll stop bugging us."

"You think that will work?" Cora asked.

"It's all we have."

"Alright, when do we go?" Hudson asked.

"I'll get Bay to draw us another map to the bandit camp tomorrow."

"How can you draw a map of a forest?" Hudson asked.

"We'll just figure it out okay? I want you two to come with me for the trade tomorrow morning."

Hudson and Cora looked at each other, they nodded. At least these people still had my back. Glad to know there are still some people here that still don't hate me. Then again, they didn't see what I did. What I did to Terrence. The horrible things I did.

Night approached, and we all went to sleep. Like always, I didn't sleep. There was too much to worry about to be sleeping right now. Samantha was also starting to worry me, when will she just wake up? Time will only tell, I just wish it would tell a little bit faster.

I woke up the next morning, I lugged myself out of bed and headed downstairs. I was prepared for the worst today. I don't know how this trade is going to go down. If what the prisoner said is true, about Ryder not caring about him, then we are going to have the fight the bandits. It was the sad truth, and this time I don't think we are going to win. We've won battles against bad people before, but we weren't as miserable as we are now, and we had some people help us. I saw Hudson and Cora downstairs, they were the only people up. I think nobody else even has the motivation to get up anymore, we're pretty much sitting here waiting for someone to come and kill us. Hudson had his duel wielded pistols, and Cora had a normal pistol this time, instead of her big machine gun. I guess if we weren't planning on fighting, we didn't need big guns. Just enough to protect ourselves if this goes south. Hudson tossed me a pistol and a respirator.

"Just incase." he said.

He already had Jack ready. He had his hands tied behind his back with rope, and he was slouching by the front door miserably, waiting to meet his punishment with Ryder. I didn't like doing this, but it was what has to be done. Sacrifice one person, so all of us can go on. I'm sure Ryder won't kill him, he'll just take a small beating and it will be over with. It's worth it.

I didn't want to wake Kayla, and I didn't want to bother anyone right now. So I wrote a note for the group, to tell them that we were leaving and we would be back later. I was planning on asking Bay for directions to the bandit camp, but I'm sure Jack can tell us.

"Are you ready?" I asked Jack.

He nodded slowly. I put my hand on his shoulder and tried comforting him.

"You're helping us out Jack, just remember that. It means a lot."

"It's not going to work." he said.

"We have no choice, now I need you to lead us to the camp."

He sighed and walked to the front door, Cora opened the door and we followed him outside. He walked slowly, probably trying to stall.

"Pick up the pace." Hudson snapped.

He started walking faster, and we headed into the forest.

"This guy better bring us to the camp, if he tries anything I'm shooting him." he said to me.

"We need him, it's the only way we can do the trade. He may be the key to our peace with the bandits."

"He said that Ryder doesn't care about him, he just wants Bay."

"I know." I sighed.

After walking through the forest for a while, Jack stopped in his tracks. I looked ahead and saw a camp, full of people walking around. It was in the distance, so they didn't see us yet.

"That's it, that's the camp." Jack said.

There were tons of people, probably about sixty or more. The camp was rather large, but hidden well in the trees and bushes. I would have never seen it if Jack didn't point it out. There were a bunch of tents, and campfires all over the place. It was like its own mini town. These people could easily take us out in a fight, I wonder why they used stranglers. If they attacked us head on, we wouldn't stand a chance.

"So now what?" Cora asked.

"We go in." I said, my voice shaking a little bit,

I grabbed Jack by the arm and walked ahead with him in front of me. I walked slowly, and Hudson and Cora walked behind me. When we got closer, they spotted us. I heard yelling coming from one of the watch towers.

"Stop right there! Don't go any further, or we'll blow your damn head off!"

I stopped, Hudson and Cora stopped behind me. A bandit walked out of the camp and up to us. He had long short blonde hair, and his face was really dirty. He had a long scar across his mouth. He wore a blue jean jacket and ripped jeans.

"What do you people want? Why do you have Jack?" he asked.

"We wanted to talk to Ryder." I said.

"You don't talk to him unless I say so. I'm second in command, his right hand man. My name is Scott. Anything you need to tell to Ryder, you tell me first."

"We wanted to make a trade." I said.

He looked at Jack, then looked back at me.

"What are you trying to trade?"

"You people attacked us with stranglers earlier, we are the group that lives in the mansion. We want to trade you your man back, as long as you leave us alone."

Scott stood there and though about it for a while, probably trying to think if this was a good deal or not. He looked at the ground and spit.

"Stay right there, don't move." he walked back into the camp.

After waiting for a few minutes, another man walked out with Scott. The man was odd looking, wearing a white dress shirt, and black jeans. He had long black hair, that was combed back.

"Who is the leader of this group?" the odd man asked.

We all looked around, we never officially elected a leader of the group. Everyone assumed Jess was the leader, but she was gone. I stepped forward.

"Jeff Jones." I said.

The man looked at me and squinted.

"I don't care what you're name is. I just want to know why you're here on my property."

"You must be Ryder." I sighed.

"Mhm."

"Well," I began, "we caught one of your men snooping around our place, so we took him as prisoner. We didn't harm him, we were just wondering if you would be up for a trade."

Ryder smiled, he looked at Scott. Scott smiled as well, even though he probably had no idea what he was smiling about.

"I do like trades," Ryder said, "go on."

"We were wondering if we could give you your man back, you could stop bugging us. We don't want any more enemies."

Ryder started laughing, he slapped Scott on the back. Scott laughed with him nervously. They just went on for a long time, laughing non stop. We just stood there, feeling stupid and nervous. Ryder finally stopped laughing and stopped to face me.

"I don't give a shit about him!" he pointed at Jack, "I don't even know his name! Listen Jeff, I have so many bandit soldiers working for me, do you really think one would stop me from harassing you! I only have one bandit in mind, and it's Bay."

"What?" I asked.

"I couldn't give a shit what happens to the prisoner you have! The only bandit I really care about is Bay."

Scott looked at Ryder, looking a little hurt.

"You see, I know Bay is living with you people. I have eyes everywhere. The forest is mine. She left us a while back, and I want her back."

"So why are you trying to kill us?" I asked.

"Duh! To flush her out, and she'll come scurrying back to me!"

I looked at Hudson and Cora, they looked as shocked as I did. He was willing to go to such extremes just to get Bay back? He's insane!

"Now Jeff, I think you're a reasonable man. You look somewhat like one. And I'm reasonable too! So how about I give you a decision."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Bring me Bay, and I'll stop bugging you people. Simple as that. You have three days."

"What happens if I don't?" I challenged.

Ryder stepped closer, trying to size me up.

"Or else I bring my army to your stupid mansion, and I kill every last one of you's until Bay is with me. I arrive on the third night."

I looked behind him into the camp, he had a lot of people there. I couldn't even count them all, definitely more than we did. There was no way we could fight them. I backed up, and Ryder smiled, knowing that he had me scared.

"You have so many people," I began, "why didn't you just attack us yourselves then first time? Why use stranglers?"

"Because just because I have a lot of people, doesn't mean I like to lose them! How do you think I have such great numbers? I don't waste my people. How many people have died because you were reckless Jeff? Probably a whole lot." Ryder snickered.

"We've been through a lot of shit," I said, "you wouldn't imagine who I've had to kill to get to where I am now. You'd be scared of me if you knew."

"Bah, you don't scare me Jeff. I know you're scared though. If you want to keep all your people alive, be a responsible leader and bring me Bay. I get her either way, don't waste your people Jeff."

"Thanks for returning what is mine though." Ryder grabbed Jack and threw him to the ground.

Jack was still tied up, and was defenceless. He started kicking him over and over again. I grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing? I thought you said you didn't care about him!"

"I sure as shit don't! But he must be punished. He failed, he was caught by you guys! He needs to learn his lesson, and next time he will be more in line."

"Just let us take him in." I argued.

"No! He's mine! Once he has been punished, I will place him back in the army, where he will be sure not to mess up again!"

"Now leave Ryder to his work," Scott said, "you have three days to bring back Bay. Then you will be left alone."

We backed up, Jack's eyes met mine. He looked at me with such pain. He knew this was going to happen, I didn't listen. I was being stupid, and desperate. We could have kept Jack at the mansion. I can only imagine what he's going to do with Bay once he gets her back. I don't want to find out. We turned and started leaving the forest, while the screams of Jack echoed through the trees. Ryder was a madman, and I don't think he was bluffing when he told me he would kill every last one of us.

I looked at Hudson, and then Cora. They both looked terrified. I tried to cover my nervousness up, but it wasn't working. There was no hiding it, I was scared. I've been through a lot, but Ryder had a lot of men, not as many as Lockwood, but enough. Ryder knew where we lived, and he was crazy. Do we flee the mansion? Do we fight? Or do we turn over Bay? Betraying Bay is the last thing I want to do, with the group's tension already sky high, I have no idea how we are going to handle this. Maybe this time, there is no way out. We might just have to give over Bay. If we don't, he'll kill all of us and just take her anyways. I don't want to, but it is the only thing we can do. The thing Ryder told me was still circling through in my head.

"How many people have died because you were reckless Jeff? Probably a whole lot."

I can't let any more people die because of me. I can't be reckless. If I give over Bay, then nobody dies. It won't be a reckless act, but it would be an evil one.

(Kayla)

I sat in the infirmary room and watched my mom. I was so scared for her, I wanted her to wake up for good. I wanted to see her so bad right now, I wanted her to see me. I wanted her to see how far I've made it. I wanted her to be proud of me.

"Mom," I began, "I want you to know that I'm still here. That through all of the things that have happened to me, that I'm still here. Dad kept me safe. Yeah, he had to do some pretty reckless things to get us to where we are, but that is the key to survival. You have to do reckless things in order to be a good leader. Sometimes people will die, but we will always make it out on top. No matter what. I just want you to wake up, so you can see what we've done. How far we made it. I just want to see you be happy mom."

Everything was silent, until then I heard my mothers voice speak.

"It really is you, isn't it?"

I jumped off of my chair and ran to mom's bedside. I knelt down and looked at her.

"Mom?" I asked.

She turned her head and opened her eyes.

"Kayla."

"You're awake!" I cried, hugging her.

"I heard everything you said. About dad being a good leader. I knew Jeff was, ever since I met him. There was something about him."

"I'm so glad you are awake." I said, tears flowing all down my face.

"You're a strong girl Kayla. You've made it this far. In this cruel world. I knew I would find you eventually, I saw you and dad in my dreams."

"Really?" I asked.

"I did, when I was locked up in that horrible place. I saw you. It gave me hope to stay alive. I wonder if Jeff had dreams about me."

"I'm sure he did! He should be back any minute! Can you stand?"

"Yes, I'll try to." Mom slowly sat up in the bed, she took a minute to look around and take everything in. She looked at me and smiled.

"I'm so proud of you," she smiled, "you've changed so much."