The Ruins

Chapter 28

They strode hard all morning, pushing each other to the edge of endurance. As the sun rose, the temperature soared.

"We have to just walk now," demanded Mal. "If we keep up this pace, we'll become tired and dehydrated. Want to save some water and energy. Maybe take a break-"

"No," said the guy with the eye patch. Sterling, Stan- whatever his name was. "We keep going."

After a half mile the ten Calvary Boys slowed down, and a mile later eased down to stop for a rest. Mal was sweating, but the exertion felt good. Her face glowed pink, and her skin gleamed, sticking into the leather jacket. The boys were exhausted, probably red hot skin like Mal however they're covered in paint so it's hard to see them sweaty hot.

Ryes went over to the side of the road and threw up.

Leaning on a car, Kaito watches with unconcealed contempt.

It was not that Ryes was frail- he had trained a shard as everyone else and his lean body was packed with wiry muscles- but he never reacted well to sustained exertion.

Phillip patted Ryes on the back, but as he did so he bent down and quietly said, "Dude, you're completely embarrassing ourselves over here."

Between gasps Ryes gave Phillip a thorough description of where to go and want to do when he got there.

"Okay," said Phillip, "I can see that you need some alone time. Good talk."

He wanders back the group. "How is he?" Asked Kaito.

"He's okay. It's just he can't handle the physical exertion."

"Man, we trained him so much he still frail as ever."

Mal frowned a brief look. "Or he can't handle on what's about to happen. When we go in the compound."

The mediocre laughter of Kaito echoed through the ten other Calvary Boys, their taunting laughs wanted Mal to rip their jaws open.

"Him being sick of killing? Now, that's pathetic."

"Pathetic? More like suicide, what it is."

"What's the matter, getting scared already?"

Scary wouldn't be the word to describe it. It just the matter of time before all hell breaks loose. It's uncharted territory to go up against fifty people which may be more of them.

"Scary? It might be. Negan lived through the Black Night, lots of years to build an army. You sure Charlie told you truth about Negan having fifty men and women in the compound or compounds?"

Kaito grinned, ignoring her point and gestured to a fork in the road. "We'll go that way. It's high ground, so we'll see fewer Infected today and that way can lead up a short cut to their compound. Then we'll about to go down land to where the guards will be."

"Guards?" asked the crooked nose with the bitter face Calvary Boy. "Thought Charlie said the guards hang around the inside of the perimeter."

"Actually outside," said Mags, who had drifted silently up to join them. "Will sneak up and kill them silently." Quietly he said.

Mal sighed. "Swell."

"How are we going to kill them all?" Asked eye patch, his eye wide.

Kaito considered. "Kill? Yes. With guns? No. I want us to kill them when it's late at night, while they are sleeping. Use our knives and struck them into the skulls. No one will wake up and it's done. If things go out of hand- I have a feeling everything will go according to plan- it's hunting season boys!"

"Sounds wonderful," muttered Ryes as he and Phillip joined them. His colour was bad through the smudge paint, but better than it had been during the last quarter mile of their run.

"No, it's wonderful for you Ryes," said Kaito, cupping both hands on his tiny cheeks. "You'll be one of us fully. And nothing will happen to us."

Kaito walked along the path as they followed. Mal walked behind the one-armed Merle, Skin with the slit cut on his right lip, and Ryes, and in a fair imitation of Kaito's cocky nostalgic voice Mal said, " 'Nothing will happen to us.' Yeah right, Kaito. This is the Ruins, not like before the Black Night."

She took a deep breath and strolled off to come close to Ryes, wanting him to regain her trust. He's such a helpless and hopeless boy following the boys as a puppy dog obeying their master that would put him into depression if not worthy to them. Ryes didn't much as a splinter of interest in finding help from Mal. Or maybe he didn't have a splinter of anything that didn't involve being the best. Or it's another corruption of Charlie's disease.

"What do you think of this?" Asked Mal, carefully sidestepping the issue.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

As they walked through the tall grass under the burning eye of the sun, Mal kept glancing at Ryes for any replies to the question.

"I have a lot of what if's. Like what if I can't kill anyone or what if I die in there, and so on. Too many things is making me frightened and I can't be scared."

"You can be scared, but you can't just panic. Panicking kills you. Being scared can alter your fears if you conquer them. If you can't kill, then don't do it. Why did you even come?"

"I need to show-"

"To show what?" She insisted. "To be them. You shouldn't prove yourself you're worth something. You are, you're picking the wrong side and if you keep going this path it'll change you into something you won't like."

Ryes wides eyes then turned sinister. "Like you're path is safe. Like you blaming us, Charlie fucking us to bloody bits, and it hurts so badly. Like your path is good." He began to tear up, sniffing hard to hold back the tears.

Kaito came along to rub his shoulders. "Get it out boy. Let it all go. It's not your fault. It's hers. She led Charlie to do this.

Mal barked back furiously. "It would have happen anyway, even without me!"

"Mal, shut that whore mouth of yours and keep walking." Phillip said and once she clocks her elbow to the root of his mouth, teeth shown ruby blood, and all ten guns pointed at her with her gun at Kaito.

"Put your guns down and apology about lying to Ryes."

"Lying?" She laughed, smirking then snarled. "You want me to tell the stories that Charlie whispered to me about you boys."

The butt of a gun met Mal's back and she groaned in pain, flinching forward but not letting her body fall to her knees. "Shut up," he replied.

"I did not led him into this. He just couldn't handle the thought of you guys being weak and fragile like a woman. And if he cares for you so much why couldn't he just not punish you guys. For a man like him, he's just sick no matter who led him."

They said nothing. Kaito said nothing when he lowers one of the boys guns and they followed.

"We do hate it. But Calvin said things will change." Said Kaito. "Let's keep moving. We've got about another couple of hours to get there. We'll go slow since we want it to be late as night."