Dead or Alive

Chapter 11

"What's up?" I asked, sitting on the ground.

"You are actually thinking that we should stay?!" Lyndsey said.

"Well, yeah! We're safe here, there's a lot of food, and we have potential to have this be a permanent settlement." I explained.

"These people kidnapped us! Why would you want to stay?" Lyndsey said, beginning to raise her voice.

"...I believe I already answered that, Lyndsey. Besides, so far these aren't bad people," I explained.

"I can't believe you..." she muttered.

"It will be safer here than out there! Here we have walls that can protect us from when Lurker herds come through. We have a greenhouse, and we have enough food to last us for a long time! This place is perfect!" I exclaimed.

Everyone sat in silence for a while, taking in everything that I said. 

"We can try to see how this will turn out. Just try to get us out of the cell and we'll go from there," Aaron said.

"You got it. I'll try my best."

We all fell asleep a few minutes later, only to be woken up after what felt like a couple minutes.

"Alright, everyone get up! We let you all sleep in, so you all have a lot of work to do!" Alan exclaimed.

We all leaped to our feet and faced him. 

"You all have the same jobs as yesterday, so get to it!" Alan ordered.

Everyone filed out of the cell one by one. I walked up to Alan to receive my orders.

"Amala, I need to ask you something," He said.

"Alright. What is it?"

"We are willing to bring one person out of the cell right now. Who do you think can help us the most at this point in time?" He asked.

I thought for a minute. "Lyndsey."

"Lyndsey? The one that yells at you?" He asked, shocked.

"She has potential. I may not like her, but she has potential to be an asset to the community," I explained.

"Alright. I'll go and tell her that she's out of the cell. Your room has been cleared out, and your equipment is already in there. It's the second door on the left past my office," He said.

"Thanks, Alan!" I exclaimed.

"You're welcome."

Alan left, and I followed suit. I walked toward my room and opened the door. The bedroom was a decent size. A double bed, and clean white walls. A dresser was across the room from the bed, and a mirror was in the far corner. I noticed another door. I opened it and revealed a bathroom. The shower and the bathtub were surprisingly clean, and it looked fairly nice. I left the bathroom and looked at my bed. My bag was sitting perfectly in the middle of the light blue covers. I opened the bag and saw my machete sitting on top of everything else. I quickly checked my side and found that this was indeed my machete. 

"Where did you go?" I whispered as I twirled the machete in my hands.

I strapped the sheath back to my belt and took out the other items from the bag. The gun, the checklist, and even some extra clothes. I looked at the clothes with a shocked expression. I quickly shook it off and put the clothes in the dresser.

"Why did he give me extra clothes? I guess I have been in these a while, but they're not that bad. What are you doing, Amala? It's not that big of a deal, just get the rest of your stuff and get to work," I argued in my head.

I shook my head and grabbed the checklist and the gun. I left my room and began walking down to the main part of the warehouse. When I got there, I noticed a scout running up to me.

"Hey! What's the matter, Tristen? Is everything alright?" I asked worriedly.

"Lurkers. A large herd of them are coming this way. They'll be here either tomorrow or the day after," He explained, panting heavily.

"Could you make a guess as to how many there are?" I asked.

"I don't know. My guess would be about five hundred at the very least," He explained.

"Alright, you go and tell Alan. I'll get people started on making sure that the wall is going to hold," I ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Tristen ran off in the direction of Alan's office. I ran over to where Aaron and Cody were stacking more supplies.

"You two, there has been a change of plans. A Lurker herd of at least five hundred is coming this way. They'll be here either tomorrow or the day after. I need you two to fortify the wall as much as you possibly can," I explained.

They nodded and began running outside to work on the wall. After I had warned every one of the impending danger and sent them to begin fortifying the wall, I ran to Alan's office to ask what we should do. When I got there I banged on the door. He opened it and invited me inside.

"What's the matter, Amala? You seem worried," Alan said.

"Did Tristen stop by and tell you the news?" I asked.

"Yes, he did. What of it?"

"What should we do? I already have everyone working on the wall, but do you think it will hold?" I asked.

"It will hold," he said.

"What if it doesn't? What will we do then?"

"We will try to escape. Under my office is a tunnel. If we go down there, then we should be able to escape quickly," he explained.

"Will we be able to get everyone down there?" I asked.

"We'll have to."