The Disbanders

Chapter 21: Tension Rising

"No, I'm good, don't worry. I'm guessing this is about what happened yesterday?" I nod yes. "Honestly, if people come, people come. There's nothing we can do about it. We can try and hide, but at the end of the day, this might not be the safest place for us anymore." I nod again.

"There's no telling Will that," I say. "I love him more than anything, but he doesn't realize that his fear of the world paralyzes him. It's creating a deep hole inside of him and it's hollowing him out."

"He's not the only one who feels that though, that's the bad news."

"I agree. I'd say most of the others are afraid as well."

"Well, in fairness, some of us out here have more to lose than others by being forced into the outside world."

Evie really made me think about that one. Two of us would be in trouble by the law, while another can't show her face without the risk of people knowing who she is. It may not be impossible, but to say that there would be more risks for them would be an understatement.

Evie eventually gets the fire started. Standing up, she cranes her head towards the sky, before slowly lowering it and looking around the forest, not saying a word.

"What are you looking at?", I eventually ask, breaking the silence.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. I'm just.....taking everything in," she replies. "Let's head back inside."

We make our way back into the house, where everyone, apart from Will, is in the living room. They're in the middle of a conversation.

"He was smart to do that," says Hayden. "Sure, it might've been a bit extreme, but he had the right idea. We need to keep ourselves safe here."

"Exactly. We're all better off here," says Alexa. Evie rolls her eyes.

"Here we go again," she mutters bitterly, folding her again.

"Now hold on," says Chuck. "We're not going to be better off here if we're facing threats all the time."

"Wait, you'd rather be in the outside world?", asks Alexa aggressively. Evie and I look at each other curiously. Maybe Chuck is on our side?

"No, I'm not saying that. I don't think any of us would rather that, but what good is it going to do us if we keep waiting around for threats?", he replies.

"Look, we know how to protect ourselves out here! We don't have that same guarantee in the outside world. That's another reason we're better off here", retaliates Hayden. "Right, Evie?" Evie scowls at Hayden, before walking over next to Chuck. Hayden looks slightly stunned.

"I agree with Chuck," she says assertively. "Just because we know how to fend off certain threats, doesn't mean it was easy! At least in civilization, we wouldn't be hiding from everything. It's like when Alexa went missing. It was a fear of exposure!" Everyone else looks shocked. "Why did you think I'd take your side?"

"Evie, it's not like I tried to put us in danger! You know that, right?", asks Alexa.

"I know, but it proved to us how scared you all are of the outside world," retaliates Evie.

"Well aren't you?", asks Hayden, more calmly. "Hell, you were so scared of it, you ran into a forest in pitch black in the middle of winter! You would've froze to death if we hadn't found you!" Evie looks like she wants to say something, but purses her lips instead. She and Chuck exchange a look. He likely knows what kind of thing she was going to say next.

"Really, Hayden?", I ask, in disbelief. Will comes out of our bedroom. Oh great. Here we go.

"What's going on?", he asks.