wouldn't have pushed to survive to end up like this. Like this group of three people they had all survived the hordes of undead. Unlike these three people though, this village was willing to replicate those very monsters to survive.
The Vote
T ess turned and looked out at the four faces in front of her. They were each picked as part of the voting council for this little town they were building up. William and Edna, an older man and woman. They brought their wisdom and years of experience. William of course also had medical experience and Edna had been married to a politician. It was no secret that she had actually been the real politician in the marriage and her husband had merely been a puppet. Matthew was a middle aged man with a science background. He was very shy which made him an odd choice for a member of the council. When he did speak his opinion was always clear and concise, the fact that it was rare added a certain power to it. Last was Emma, she was pretty young, only about twenty-five. She was in the military, medical discharge, but before that she had been a sharp shooter. Her knowledge was in safety and training.
Tess was really the odd man out. She had been a high school teacher before the outbreak, though given that she was barely thirty-two she hadn't had the job for very long. Many questioned why she got so many votes to be on the council, everyone questioned why the council had put her in charge. That was until they realized that dealing with classrooms full of teenagers wasn't much different than dealing with a group of people with conflicting view points put in a position of authority. Tess in her own right was the perfect tie breaker. Generally the votes came down two to two. Tess was a good listener, strong willed, and calm when pressure hit.
They were in a small house that had been converted into their meeting lodge and another storage facility. Since it was such a small house no one in the town really missed it. They living room had a clear space for the council to have meetings. The rest of the house had various necessities stored all around. Clothes, weapons, ammo, even a bit of food. Since an inventory was taken before and after each council meeting there was little risk of the five of them stealing. Honestly they were all well enough taken care of that the temptation never really crossed their minds, even if there wasn't such a high risk of them being caught.
Tess knew this vote was going to be a hard one. Each of their faces was mostly covered in shadows because they were using candles tonight. It was going to be a long discussion and no one was willing to waste the oil for the lamps, or gas from the generators. The candle light seemed to reflect the somber nature of the discussion they were about to have. Mostly shrouded in darkness no one felt comfortable, this was now their reality.
“We have to decide what to do about this situation,” Tess finally spoke. No one was looking back at her. “It won't be an easy vote, and it's certainly not one that any of us ever wanted to take. Enough people in the town complained about it though so we can no longer ignore it.”
“This isn't what I signed up for,” William said pointedly, still refusing to look up at her.
“No but it is our job,” Tess replied.
The faces didn't respond. Tess sat down in the chair beside her. She didn't want to force them to start talking it was a delicate issue and they needed their time.
“The people that want us to do something aren't wrong. The noise has gotten out of hand, and it has more than once brought the dead to our door,” Edna finally spoke after a tense few minuets. Tess nodded at her to give her thanks for getting the discussion going.
“Look there have always been noise problems, that won't stop if we take care of this one problem. It will however change the town. It will change us,” William retorted.
“Were it winter again I would agree. They would be slowed down and it would be just
The Vote
T ess turned and looked out at the four faces in front of her. They were each picked as part of the voting council for this little town they were building up. William and Edna, an older man and woman. They brought their wisdom and years of experience. William of course also had medical experience and Edna had been married to a politician. It was no secret that she had actually been the real politician in the marriage and her husband had merely been a puppet. Matthew was a middle aged man with a science background. He was very shy which made him an odd choice for a member of the council. When he did speak his opinion was always clear and concise, the fact that it was rare added a certain power to it. Last was Emma, she was pretty young, only about twenty-five. She was in the military, medical discharge, but before that she had been a sharp shooter. Her knowledge was in safety and training.
Tess was really the odd man out. She had been a high school teacher before the outbreak, though given that she was barely thirty-two she hadn't had the job for very long. Many questioned why she got so many votes to be on the council, everyone questioned why the council had put her in charge. That was until they realized that dealing with classrooms full of teenagers wasn't much different than dealing with a group of people with conflicting view points put in a position of authority. Tess in her own right was the perfect tie breaker. Generally the votes came down two to two. Tess was a good listener, strong willed, and calm when pressure hit.
They were in a small house that had been converted into their meeting lodge and another storage facility. Since it was such a small house no one in the town really missed it. They living room had a clear space for the council to have meetings. The rest of the house had various necessities stored all around. Clothes, weapons, ammo, even a bit of food. Since an inventory was taken before and after each council meeting there was little risk of the five of them stealing. Honestly they were all well enough taken care of that the temptation never really crossed their minds, even if there wasn't such a high risk of them being caught.
Tess knew this vote was going to be a hard one. Each of their faces was mostly covered in shadows because they were using candles tonight. It was going to be a long discussion and no one was willing to waste the oil for the lamps, or gas from the generators. The candle light seemed to reflect the somber nature of the discussion they were about to have. Mostly shrouded in darkness no one felt comfortable, this was now their reality.
“We have to decide what to do about this situation,” Tess finally spoke. No one was looking back at her. “It won't be an easy vote, and it's certainly not one that any of us ever wanted to take. Enough people in the town complained about it though so we can no longer ignore it.”
“This isn't what I signed up for,” William said pointedly, still refusing to look up at her.
“No but it is our job,” Tess replied.
The faces didn't respond. Tess sat down in the chair beside her. She didn't want to force them to start talking it was a delicate issue and they needed their time.
“The people that want us to do something aren't wrong. The noise has gotten out of hand, and it has more than once brought the dead to our door,” Edna finally spoke after a tense few minuets. Tess nodded at her to give her thanks for getting the discussion going.
“Look there have always been noise problems, that won't stop if we take care of this one problem. It will however change the town. It will change us,” William retorted.
“Were it winter again I would agree. They would be slowed down and it would be just
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