After 30 Days

Twelve -Day 38 *

The men looked at each other before starting to  walk toward us. The crowded suv began to feel claustrophobic as they advanced, the urge to open the door again and bolt away from them growing. I wasn't the only one feeling it, either. Charlie didn't bother to hide her scowl, and Luna watched them with wide eyes and a panicked expression. Rex whined loudly, picking up on the mood.

Fear of strangers was a lesson that the past couple of weeks had taught us well.

The men stopped a respectable distance from Maggie's open door. The tinted windows kept them from a clear view of anyone except the two in the front seats, but that didn't stop them from trying to stare into the back.

The one Shawn had identified as Marcus shifted nervously on his feet and shot a glance at his companion. Brad, on the other hand, looked almost relaxed as he smiled at Maggie.

"Hi. I'm Brad. This is Marcus. It's been a while since we ran into new people out here."

"I'm Maggie," I noticed right away that she didn't introduce any of the rest of us to them. "I wish we could say the same. Shawn says you're missing a few of your people?" She went straight to business, uninterested is pretending any sort of social niceties.

The smile dropped from his face. "Yeah. We expected them back by yesterday at the latest. There was Kyle and Keith, twins," he gestured with his hand. "About this tall with brown hair. And Sheila, green eyes, dark blonde hair, and a scar on her cheek." Now both of them looked hopefully at Maggie, still hoping for news of their lost friends.

Maggie was honestly regretful as she answered them. "Sorry, no. We haven't seen anyone who fits those descriptions."

Brad's shoulders lifted with a sigh. "Yeah, that's what Shawn said." There was a moment of silence before he continued, "So, how many of you are there in there?" He hurried to go on when Maggie stiffened up. "We have a community. We can't support too many people yet, but there's room for a few more so long as they want to work with the group. Shawn said that you all had some trouble with others and your camp was overrun."

"We did. We lost a lot of good people," She hesitated and I thought for a second that she might not answer him. "There's just eight of us now."

Marcus was still trying to look into the suv with undisguised interest. Rex started to growl.

Both men jumped away from Maggie's open door.

"It's ok. We have a dog," now it was Maggie's turn to explain.

The men looked at each other warily, but they did come closer again. "I didn't know there were still any dogs left. We have a couple of kids at home that I'm betting would really love to see him."

Maggie glanced back into the vehicle. I knew what she wanted. She was checking to see what kind of reactions everyone else was having to hearing what the men had to say.

Alex was all but leaning between the front seats by that point. Likewise, everyone else seemed to be, at the least, interested in what Brad had to say. Except Charlie, she was still watching them through the tinted windows with distrust.

I stayed where I was tucked against Shawn's side and kept quiet. I didn't know what to think anymore. People were too confusing. I was just glad that the tremors that had been shaking me seemed to have let up.

Maggie turned back to the men, "I think that we would like very much to come see your community."

"Great!" Brad was smiling now. "It's about ten miles back. We'll take you and introduce you to everyone, then come back out to look for our friends."

His steps were much lighter as he led his companion back to their car.

We drove through miles of woods, passed what used to be a farm but now was just a bunch of rotting corpses in a barbed wire fence, before a few houses started to show up. They were set back from the road with big yards and lots of space between them. That changed to smaller yards with smaller houses. Through the front window, in the distance, I could make out what looked like another tiny town.

My stomach rolled at the sight. We had lost Colton in a place not much bigger than this one looked to be. Driving into this town, following strangers, was giving me anxiety.

The little car turned toward a long, low building made out of brick. The sign out front declared that this used to be an elementary school. Crooked, hastily erected chain link fencing surrounded the entire building and a big field off to it's right. There were a few people out in the field. Close to the building, I could see a couple of small kids playing on the old playground equipment.

A gate was pulled shut across the road in, and Marcus stopped just outside it. He and Brad got out of their car, said something to the grey haired man at the gate, and Brad began walking toward us. He went to Maggie's window and she rolled it down far enough to talk to him.

"I just have to ask, is anyone sick? We have kids in there and we don't let anyone in who might be sick. Is there a chance anyone could be infected?"

I thought that those were questions that he should have wanted answered before he showed us to the front gate of his home, but I bit my tongue to keep quiet.

"No, no one is sick or bit," Maggie told him.

"Ok. When we go in, stop over by the front doors."

The grey haired guy tried to see into the suv as we drove through the gate he held open. We had drawn the attention of the people out in the field and they were already gathering near the front doors of the school when Maya stopped the suv. More people came from inside the building.

There were more of them than us, and we exchanged nervous looks. The semi hopeful mood of the vehicle had evaporated in the face of the reality of the situation. Bill was the first one to open his door.

"Is it them?"

"Did you find them?"

I could make out what the people outside were saying now. They were looking between our suv and the car where Brad and Marcus were getting out.

"No, we didn't find them, but we're going back out to keep looking. These are some new people we met out there," Brad's answer seemed to deflate the growing excitement of the crowd. One middle aged woman put her hand over her mouth and started to cry. Another patted her back comfortingly.

All eyes turned to us. When Bill stepped out of the suv, a few people began to whisper. I had forgotten how physically imposing he was when you first saw him. No one in their right mind looked at the man and wanted to tangle with him.

One by one, the rest of the group began to get out of our vehicle. They gathered together nervously near the front. "Ready?" Shawn asked, waiting for the small nod I managed, before he opened our door.

The tremors were back. I looked at Luna still in the seat in front of us. "You stay in here until one of us tells you to come out. Ok?"

"Ok."

When Shawn pushed open the hatch, Rex jumped out. I heard a murmur from the people outside. My legs didn't want to cooperate as I slid out to the pavement. They felt like jello. Forcing myself upright, I went around to stand with the rest of my group.

I thought there were less than two dozen people staring at us, but it felt like a hundred. They all had some sort of weapon with them. I saw several with guns. I couldn't decide if the fact that a lot of them looked just as nervous about us, as we were about them, was a good thing. The hair ruffled up along Rex's spine and he pressed himself to the front of my knees.

The two groups of people, us and them, looked uncomfortably at each other. No one seemed quite sure how to bridge the gap and begin to make friends.

"Jaime!"

The cry from behind me made me jump and my heart pound. Tangled red hair streaked past so fast that I couldn't stop her. Luna bolted from the suv and straight toward a little girl who was holding the hand of a frightening looking man.