Chapter 24: Survival

Dean watched the scene unfold from above. He watched how the scouts hidden in the woods had waited for Avery and Richard to fall into their hands.

He watched how quickly Avery and Richard were to surrender what little information they knew about the neighborhood and its preparations, and he watched as the scouts handed Avery and Richard some supplies before sending them back into Paradise Falls.

Dean didn’t say anything; he simply replayed the footage over and over again while sipping his morning coffee.

Yuki sat in front of him, her hair had been done slightly differently, and she was currently dressed in a tight sweater, a miniskirt, and a pair of leggings beneath. It was almost as if she had looked presentable, and Dean did not pay the slightest bit of attention.

This caused the girl to sit there pouting in silence, simply staring at Dean until he forcibly looked at her.

She waited longer than she thought was humanly possible, watching as Dean replayed the video over and over again. That is until she could take it no longer.

“Ahem…”

Dean looked up upon hearing the noise, his expression confused after looking around to see if he had missed something.

“I’m sorry, did you need something, Yuki?”

Yuki stared further at Dean, but he didn’t seem to get the hint. Until finally she sighed and rolled her eyes, getting up from her seat, she grabbed her plate, and her plate alone, before walking off.

“Forget it…”

Dean stared at his empty plate for a second, and then back at Yuki as she put hers away in the dishwasher more confused about why she hadn’t grabbed her plate than the underlying message beneath.

But he didn’t force it; instead his focus drifted back to his laptop. All the while Yuki adjusted the whiteboard in the background.

“I’ve prepared the daily rations and the list of people to hand them out to. I must say, Dean, the people seem a little agitated lately. I think you’re pushing the pace a little too quickly. Our neighbors are still grieving. You can’t be so heavy-handed with them… Dean? Dean…. Dean are you listening?”

Dean placed his cup of coffee down and sighed heavily. He made a decision in that moment when he flipped the laptop around and showed its footage to Yuki.

“I understand… but Yuki we have bigger problems….”

Yuki stared at the footage and froze on the spot as she watched it unfold. The marker in her hand falling to the floor said the words for her that she couldn’t express in the moment.

Dean turned the laptop back towards himself and stared at the footage again. He was about to speak when Yuki interrupted him.

“I’m sorry….”

His brow raised while his ice-blue eyes fixated on Yuki. Not in accusation or distrust, but in mild suspicion.

“You’re sorry? What exactly have you done to wrong me?”

Yuki, however shook her head, trying her best to stop the tears from forming in her eyes.

“I’m sorry… You shouldn’t have been forced into this position….”

Dean suddenly understood what the girl was actually saying. While Yuki might look like an airhead, she was far more in tune with the reality of Dean’s situation than anyone could have given her credit for.

He suddenly felt the weight of responsibility pull heavily upon him, even when just moments ago his heart had been as light as a feather.

All he could do was silently nod and return to his coffee while watching the footage unfold once more.

Dean was so entranced by what he was watching that he didn’t even notice Yuki shuffle towards him.

Only when her arms wrapped around him from behind did he allow himself to feel anything at all, his cheeks flushing faintly pink.

When she finally stepped away, she gathered his untouched plate without a word and carried it to the sink.

The sound of running water filled the room. Despite not turning around; Dean most certainly noticed.

—

Dean gathered the boys at the range later that day. But this time he did not carry rifles, magazines, or munitions.

No… He brought out his laptop… There he stood in front of the boys and played the footage without saying a word.

Not once, not twice, but three times. There was no ambiguity. The night-vision recording left nothing concealed.

Avery and Richard had met with armed men in the treeline, and they had accepted the supplies freely in exchange for information.

The boys sat there silently as Dean shut off the laptop and the video feed with it. Some of them averted their gaze. A few even whispered among themselves.

But one sat there staring at Dean with cold precision in his eyes, listening to every word that he said with the utmost focus.

Daniel… the same boy who had crossed the red line days earlier and retrieved the dead without hesitation.

“Now that you have seen the footage. There is no mistaking it…. We have an internal security problem…”

When the screen went dark, the silence lingered. Daniel spoke first.

“They’ve aligned with hostile forces,” he said. “That makes them a threat.”

The idea caused the other boys to bristle in their seats. All the while Dean continued.

“That is correct… And what do we do to those who threaten the survival of our community?”

Some of the boys stared at the frozen ground. Others clenched their jaws, knowing the answer but unwilling to give voice to it. Only Daniel did not hesitate to speak.

“We remove them.”

There was no anger nor performance in his voice. Only cold clarity.

The boys looked over at Daniel; some stared at him in horror as if he had said something unthinkable, and others were more resolute as if he had stolen the words right out of their own mouths.

But all the same, they looked to Daniel for leadership, and Dean noticed it on the spot. He gave a simple nod.

“Yes. Nothing more needs to be said on the matter. We move after dusk.”

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