He nodded his head, he looked happy with my reply. I was just telling the truth. Whatever time I had left in this wasteland I wanted to help as many people as I could.
“Ok, I’ve already asked your friends before they left this morning”
“Oh yeah?” this had gotten Nia’s attention. She sat up straighter and lifted her head.
“Yep I started with you guys, whilst another of my colleagues is doing the main survivor area.”
“Why us?”
“Because you have already lived as a group, you are used to this type of communal camp, running its self. Over the next few weeks we will be holding elections for the people to vote in a council. This council will essentially be in charge although we are hoping for democracy and not a dictatorship.
“Will all you military men be leaving?” Nia looked a little scared.
“Eventually, but to start we will use this as our base of operations. We will be leaving in teams to go and look for other suitable compounds to build up for other survivors or to use as a backup base just in case…” he trailed off. He wanted to say just in case this one ever got overrun but didn’t want to worry us.
“Ok this all sounds good, in theory” I was a little sceptical that it could be done. I’d seen the devastation back at Deacons place when the zombies invaded a camp like this. I assumed that here they would just keep expanding and bring people back here.
Now that I thought about it though it made sense to have multiple camps all over.
“We will get there George, we will suceed in our fight against the undead”
“Can you tell us what jobs our friends picked?” Nia enquired.
“Well so far I’ve only seen the men that left this morning. He checked his list. Adam and Will have chosen sentry duty, Billy has joined Captain Coopers’ military, Amelia was with them his morning saying good bye. She chose gardening and kitchen duties.”
“Military, Billy chose to leave us and join you, when you leave?” Nia sounded just as shocked as I felt.
“No in fact he has joined us to help this camp. You see who ever will be on the council will have joined the military. They will receive more intense training than the rest as they will be making the final decisions on things. They will also have access to the weapons and rations. Billy will be the first member of your council, the only one not to be elected.”
“Why Billy?” I was shocked that he would be the very first council member. Don’t get me wrong it’s not that I didn’t like him but he was dreadfully young and naïve.
“I know that he’s young but I think that’s what we need, besides it was his idea about getting a self-sufficient camp so that the military could help elsewhere.” Almost as if he’d read my mind. He stood up getting ready to leave.
“Well that’s great” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. It was an amazing idea. The more people that we could help the better. Plus, it would be good to know of another safe area that we could escape to should we ever run into trouble out on the road or if this place was overrun.
He nodded and left without another word.
“Well that’s something exciting but scary to think about! Our own place.” Nia grinned. I hoped that she would eventually accept that I needed to be on the move. Outside of these gates.
Plus, I wouldn’t be out all the time. Just a few days or weeks per month.
“Definitely scary with Billy in charge” I laughed. Nia laughed too, the melodic sound brightened my day.
We talked for a while about all the possibilities that could happen as our camp continued to grow and strengthen. We had only been here a few days for me but honestly, I felt safer here than I had in weeks at the old place and I desperately wanted it to be successful. A place where we could not only survive but thrive.
The doctor came in at around 4pm dressed in purple scrubs, her hair was thrown up into a neat bun. Annabelle and Amy were the only two I had seen wearing proper medical uniform. I guessed by those two wearing the proper gear it differentiated them from the other two trainee nurses, Ben and Nara. Doctor Annabelle sent Nia back to the living quarters. Nia couldn’t get out of bed quick enough, she began stuffing her clothes into a small bag.
“Will you be ok?” I asked, concerned that most of our friends had left the compound and we had yet to hear that they had returned. That despite the camp being full that she would be alone because we hadn’t had a chance to meet the other survivors properly.
“Of course, I will, I can’t wait to get out of here. Amelia is still here. I’ll come back later to see you. Plus, the doc says I must check in each day for the next week, you’ll be sick of me before long. Here, take these.” She smiled and handed me the stack of books that I’d gotten for her the day before, minus the one that she had been reading.
“Why, thank you” I placed them on the foot of my bed.
“I’ll never be sick of you Ni. Now go, have fun and be safe” I shooed her away with my hands.
“Will do, boss” she saluted me and let out a girly laugh. She really was happy to be free. I’ll bet it was extremely boring sat in bed, alone for most of the day, and I was going to be in here for probably another two days. Oh, let the joy begin.
Nia was right it was incredibly boring in the hospital wing.
