Kamiyo sighed. The fire at his back was making him sweat, but he used the discomfort to steel himself to push forward with his intentions. “I have to do this. The reason the demons found this place is because my pack ripped open when I was running through the forest. I lead them here.”
“You don’t know that,” said Jackie. “And it was only a matter of time before they found us, anyway.”
“If there’s even a slim chance I brought the demons, I need to make it right. Everyone is doing their part, but it will all amount to nothing if we don’t have supplies enough to last us. This isn’t even a decision to be made, it’s necessary, and I’ve decided. I’ll head out first thing in the morning.”
There was a moment’s silence, almost like he’d just announced he was terminally ill. They expected him to die. He expected it too.
“I’m coming with you.”
Kamiyo studied the crowd, wondering who had spoken. When Philip stood up, he repeated himself. “I’m coming with you.”
Carol gasped. “Philip, no!”
Philip tutted. “Calm down, Carol.”
Kamiyo was confused. Of all the people to volunteer to help him, Philip was the last he expected. What was the man’s agenda? “Philip, why do you want to come with me?”
“Because this isn’t your burden to take on alone. This place belongs to us all.”
“Philip, sit down,” said Jackie. “You have no idea how to survive out there.”
Philip nodded as if he agreed with her. “Then the doctor will have to do his best to keep me from getting killed. If I go with him, we’ll be able to bring twice as much back. Like he said, we might only get one shot at this.”
“You can’t come with me, Philip.” Kamiyo tried to speak with all the authority he could muster.
Philip folded his arms. “Not that I need your permission, but why?”
“Because I don’t trust you. You blame me for your son’s death.”
Philip flinched. He looked down at the floor for a moment like he was trying not to lose control of his emotions. He cleared his throat and looked up again. “I don’t know what I feel anymore,” he said. “But Bray is gone. Eric is gone. Lots of people are gone. But the rest of us are still here. Whatever you are or are not responsible for, I can see you’re trying to do the right thing. I’d like the chance to do the same.”
Kamiyo studied the man, disliking him still, but knowing he couldn’t live here with an enemy any longer. If this was the risk he needed to take to make peace with Philip, he had to take it.
Someone else shouted out.
“I shall also attend your journey.” It was Aymun, speaking from the shadows at the back of the room. The man had made little attempt to integrate with the group, as though he expected to be leaving soon. He spent most of his time on the castle walls, staring off into the distance. “If you two men have trust issues, then I shall be the salve for any tempers that arise.
Kamiyo and Philip exchanged glances, and then a shrug. “Okay,” said Kamiyo. “More the merrier, I suppose.”
“Then I’m coming too,” said Nathan. “You promised to let me come.”
Kamiyo located the boy in the crowd and groaned. “No, I didn’t Nathan.”
Nathan shot up out of his seat. “Yes, you did! You said I could come, and that you’d teach me to make it out there.”
“Sit down, Nathan,” Jackie demanded. “You’re not leaving the camp.”
“Fuck you, Jackie. No one here has the right to tell me what I can and can’t do. My mum is dead. Everyone is dead. And you’re all next.”
Jackie’s mouth fell open in a huge gasp. Ted, who stood beside her, eased her back down into her seat. He faced down the defiant teenager, looking like he might throw a punch. “Nathan, be a good lad and listen to your elders. There might be a time when you can leave this forest, but it ain’t now. If you’re looking for things to do, I’m sure there’s plenty I can-”
“This is bullshit! If I don’t learn how to survive out there, then I’m as good as dead. I want to learn how to fight.”
“Sit down, dickhead,” one of the other teenagers called out. Nathan shot back a look but kept his focus on Ted.
Ted stepped over to the lad, towering over him. Nathan didn’t flinch, even as Ted stared him hard in the eye. “You want to know what’s out there, kid? A world where every single child has been ripped to shreds. A world where corpses stink up every street, turning to liquid on the pavement. Outside this forest is a wasteland of horrors that even your warped mind can’t imagine. You might think you want to know what’s out there, but you don’t. In fact, you’d piss your pants.”
Kamiyo groaned at the hardline approach. Nathan isn’t the type of kid you can just yell at to behave.
The teenagers in the room howled with laughter, and Nathan’s plain expression cracked. His dark eyebrows lowered into a scowl and glanced back at his peers and cursed at them, using language so foul it was impressive. Once he’d run out of steam, he shook his head in defeat. “You’re all dead,” he muttered. “Every one of you.”
Carol was shaking her head and looking like she might start sobbing. “Nathan, please just calm down.”
Nathan kicked a chair. Then he fled, racing out of the hall and into the night.
Jackie stood up and sighed. “I’ll go after him.”
“Be careful,” said Kamiyo. “Nathan is…” He shrugged. “Well, I guess he’s just a kid. Don’t push him too hard.”
“I won’t,” said Jackie, leaving the room.
Kamiyo put his hands on his hips and looked at Philip who had continued standing there during Nathan’s tirade. He seemed perplexed by what he had seen, and Kamiyo had to nod to the man to regain his attention. “So… we’ll
