twisted // H.S

04

It's been five hours since Jack died. I can still feel his warm, sweaty hands, against my palms. I keep telling myself that this is all just a bad dream, that i'll wake up from it eventually. But with each minute passing that I sit in this chair. I realize, this is my reality.

Kein sits in front of me with his arms crossed against his chest, while the rest of the council shuffles into the room. It's quiet. Too quiet.

I don't blame them, no one knows what to say. Or more importantly, who to blame.

"Let's start with the most obvious problem we now face." Kein says, finally breaking the silence. Heads lift to look in his direction as he stands up. "Camp Inferno knows where we're located now. I want to say that last nights incidents were premeditated but due to their sloppiness, I feel as if this was a spur of the moment decision for them."

"They took almost all of our winter inventory. How are we gonna survive the cold?" Taylor whimpers out. She's pressed up against the back of the couch. Her blonde hair tied back into a slick braid.

"Yeah, Taylor is right. At this rate we're gonna starve before the winter solstice." Gina adds.

Kein runs his hand across his face, whipping the dirt off of his chin. "We have to start somewhere. So let's start scavenging again. We search in groups of five from now on, no one goes alone."

"We've already searched all the near by towns. Every shelf is empty." Chris sighs from beside me. He's right. There is no food left. With the garden we have, along with the food they didn't steal we'll damn sure be dead within a month.

"Okay then we go farther this time. I want eyes and ears everywhere. That means double the guards at your stations and keep them circulating every twenty-five minutes." Kein said recrossing his arms. I watch as everyone grows quiet again. We all know something he doesn't.

"There aren't enough guards to double." Taylor finally says. Her voice is soft and full of distress.

I watch as Kein's eyebrows furrow. His serious face filling with worry. "Then we train. Starting today every child over the age of twelve will be up at dawn and will train until the sun goes down."

I scoff, "They're still children Kein. You can't seriously be trying to put innocent lives at risk."

"You don't get to speak." Kein growls at me. I feel the anger radiating off of him.

"You don't tell me what to do." I spit back at him. I watch as he curls his fists.

"Grace, watch yourself." He warns taking a set towards me. The tension in the air is so thick you couldn't cut it with a knife.

"Or what?" I test him. He inches closer to me until he's standing directly in front of my small body.

He leans down and presses his lips to my ear, gripping my shoulder. "You and Jack are to blame for this attack, I know it. So help me god if another word comes out of your mouth you'll end up like Jack."

My breath hitches in my throat. Everyone around us is looking at me with nervous eyes. Kein isn't one to be under minded, especially in front of other people.

"Kein. Enough." Taylor whispers leaning towards the both of us. Kein looks up at her and loosens his tight grip on my now aching shoulder. I wince as he pushes me backwards, my body colliding with the back of the couch.

"Back to what I says saying," He continues, making sure to give me a warning look. "We can't take this as a loss. This was a learning experience. With the food running low we need to be more attentive at all times. That means earlier curfew and three search teams going out every day."

"Okay I'll take Taylor and Grace out with me today to search the old carnival." Chris offers shifting next to me.

"Not my sister." Kein replies quickly. I know what he's trying to do. He's going to isolate me until I have no one left.

"With all do respect sir, Grace is one of our best fighters. She should be out searching with the rest of us." Gina replies.

Kein rolls his shoulders, "Not after what I saw today. Grace showed signs of weakness. I don't want her anywhere near anyone until she gets her shit sorted out."

I open my mouth to attest but Chris speaks up next to me. "She beat the shit out of everyone who crossed her path tonight. I think she did the best she could." I turn to look at him, giving him a soft smile.

"Enough." Kein says raising his voice. "This isn't up for debate. You didn't see what I saw. She is weak and will be handled accordingly. I don't want to hear another peep from anyone about it."

Chris furrows his eyebrows and swallows the lump in his throat. I place my hand on his stif leg, "Leave it. I'll be okay." I whisper to him. He nods and places his hand over the top on mine. I wince at the aching pressure on my bruised knuckles.

I guess beating the shit out of somebody leaves a mark.

"I say we start south. See what we can find there. I want the green fingers at the garden today, every single one of them. Able bodied or not. The garden needs to be replanted and fertilized by nightfall. As for everyone else, split up and find a search team to scavenge." Kein orders, heads nodding in his direction.

"I'll take Manny." Chris says, speaking up. Kein looks over in his direction and gives him a small nod. It's not a 'I forgive you for standing up to me' nod, it's a 'i'm gonna beat the shit out of you later nod'.

"Okay get to it." Kein says. Everyone stands up from their seats and begins walking towards the door. I lift myself up off the couch, stepping over the table to try and avoid my possessive brother.

He speaks again before I reach the door. "Grace i'm only gonna tell you this once. If you ever try to oppose me in front of the council again, I'll have your head."

I keep walking. I don't look back, because I know if I do I'm only giving him the satisfaction of knowing i'm terrified of him. He's not the same person he was before the apocalypse hit. He's a monster, waiting to draw fresh blood.

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i'm writing the next chapter rn and...Harry is coming guys don't worry(: