Twenty - Day 40*

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My heart started thumping harder at the words. After Brad and Marcus had abandoned us by the side of the road, I should have known that getting Shawn back inside the gates wasn't going to be an easy task. The one rule that this group seemed to adhere to religiously was that there could be no infected inside the fences.

To be fair, it was a good rule, but that didn't stop me from being offended by the man's hasty retreat from our vehicle.

Maggie reacted before I had unscrambled my thoughts enough to give the guy a piece of my mind. That was probably a good thing. Leaning slightly out the window, she called after him, "Of course we wouldn't bring someone inside who might be dangerous. Shawn isn't sick."

The man halted his backward shuffle and frowned suspiciously at her, "Brad said he was bitten."

Silence reigned in the vehicle for too long as everyone tried to figure out what to say next. Admitting that Shawn had been bitten was not going to make the gate guard more likely to open up. But he had been bitten, and some of their people knew it for sure. We couldn't lie.

"Well," Maggie started haltingly, "Yeah. He did get bit. But he's not sick. Really." She finished in a rush.

It didn't matter, because gate guy was moving away again. He shook his head and pulled the gate open just far enough to slip inside. "I'm going to get Ned. You all stay out here until he comes. He'll decide what to do," he pulled the gate shut firmly and clicked the lock.

Our arrival at the gate, and gate guy's obvious reluctance to let us in, was starting to draw attention. A small crowd was forming outside of the school, and several people began walking toward us when they saw one of their own lock us out. Ned's head of grey hair wasn't in the group. When they got close enough to talk to the gate guard, everyone milled around for a few seconds, before one woman split from the group to dash back into the school.

The gate guy had company when he walked back to stand just on the other side of the fence. There was a lot of nervous shuffling and talking amongst themselves as the group of a half a dozen people watched our vehicle with varying expressions. The woman who had been crying when we first came in to this place was there. She looked drawn and exhausted, staring our way with hollow eyes.

"What should we do?" Charlie kept her voice down. She wasn't the only one who was getting nervous about the situation. The atmosphere inside the suv was tense, everyone sitting rigidly in their seats.

"Don't panic yet," Maggie glanced at Charlie before going back to watching the people outside. "Let's hear what Ned has to say."

"I don't like this."

"We still have people inside."

Maggie's reminder that we were not all present inside the suv was enough to silence any other talk. The quietly running engine and heavy dog panting were the only sounds. The sweat that had started to trickle down the side of my already sticky face tickled. I swiped at it.

When Ned appeared, it did nothing to calm my inner turmoil. He steadily walked through the still growing crowd and unlocked the gate. Shutting it quietly behind him, he walked to stand a few feet away from Maggie's open window.

"Maggie, I hear you found your missing people." Ned nodded to her before he tried to look past her, into the suv, "that's good. But we have a bit of a problem here."

Maggie nodded back at him. "I understand the concern, but Shawn is not sick. We wouldn't expect to bring an infected person inside."

Ned was standing up straight again. I watched the expression on his face carefully through my window, trying to decide how this was going to go.

I couldn't tell.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. I really am, but these people look to me to keep them safe. If I let someone in who we know was bitten, it won't be a safe situation for anyone." He swiped a hand through his hair, making it stand up crazily, "Have you ever heard of someone surviving a bite before?"

Maggie didn't answer him. She didn't have to.

Ned sighed heavily. "I just can't let him in. At least, not yet. The rest of you are welcome to come back inside if you choose. We're not looking to turn you away. Alex has already proven useful to us, and I think you all would be good additions to our community. We need capable people if we are going to make this work here, and we're grateful for the help finding some closure for our own missing people. But I can't risk it all for one man."

I had started to lean forward to argue with Ned, when Shawn gently pushed me back in my seat. He had kept characteristically quiet through the whole ordeal, but now he leaned forward to be able to see Ned. "It's ok. I understand, and I wouldn't ask you to endanger the whole community. I'll find someplace nearby to stay until the community is satisfied that I'm not sick."

"Agreed," Ned look suddenly relieved as he spoke. "That grey two story over there has already been cleared and stocked with supplies, it's our quarantine area. You can stay there." He pointed to a newer looking house that sat about a hundred yards from the gates. "Thank you for understanding."

Ned nodded and then went back to his people. By now, what looked like the entire community was standing just on the other side of the fence. Luna had her face pressed to the chain link, watching the suv with an expression that I couldn't decipher. I hadn't even considered how the little girl would have handled hearing that Shawn was bitten until that second. My heart thumped painfully for her.

"Well, I guess I'll be over in that grey house if anyone needs me," Shawn's words brought my attention back to the situation at hand.

"You can't stay out here alone," Bill spoke up from the back.

"He won't be alone," I pulled my backpack up from where I'd tossed in onto the floor.

"I'll stay out too."

Maggie had put the vehicle into park and was reaching for the door when I stopped her. "No. You go in with the others. They need you. Keep an eye on them and make sure Luna is ok," my eyes met hers in the rear view mirror. We will be ok out here. You make sure everyone is ok in there."

She nodded.

"Ok then," I looked at Shawn. "I'm ready."

The crowd inside the fence didn't even try to hide their confusion when Shawn climbed from the vehicle. The noise level rose with murmurs and a couple of louder questions. I followed him out and shot my best dirty look at them all. Shawn might be ok with being kept outside, but I wasn't ready to let them off the hook just yet.

Schooling my expression to one less hostile, I looked at Luna. "Hey, Luna. Everything's ok."

"We aren't going far," Shawn added.

The girl kept staring with that same unreadable expression on her face.

"Maggie's coming in now, and we'll be back soon. Don't worry," I tried to reassure her.

She blinked, but that was all. Her little friend appeared at her side, looking from us, to Luna, and finally back to her dad who stood near the back of the crowd of people. At least Luna was still going to have people to look out for her on the inside.

Rex's toenails clicked on the blacktop as he jumped from the suv. I shut the door and tried to not let Luna's lack of response bother me. There wasn't anything I could do about it at the moment anyhow. Slinging the mostly empty pack over one shoulder, I turned away from the school and began wearily walking toward the grey house.

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