'N-no, it's okay I don't mind,' Annabelle really laid on the little girl act thick.
'Can you tell me what those army men, looked like?' I asked a little forcefully.
'Erm, I didn't really see them. I hid.'
'Well then how do you know, they were army men?'
I watched the others faces, I could see that it hurt them for me to have to interrogate a child, but it had to be done.
'W-well they had on uniforms, so I knew,' she stumbled.
'Where did you hide when your family were being killed?' I asked more forcefully. 'In the cellar,' she replied too quickly.
'But if you were in the cellar, how do you know who they were?' I demanded.
'Why are you being so mean?' She cried.
Dom went to touch her, to comfort but I warned him not to.
'Tell the truth Annabelle, who killed your family?' I shouted.
'It was the men, I swear,' she wailed.
'Alright, that's enough. You're scaring her,' Brooke yelled.
'Not, until I get the truth, it was you wasn't it? You killed them, your family your friends. Tell the truth Annabelle?'
'No, I promise.'
'So if I go down to the cellar, I won't find your dead sister tied up there?' I asked. I had not told the others about that part of the vision, I didn't see that point. Annabelle could easily get round that, she could say she was lonely, that she didn't understand that the walkers were dangerous.
As those words left my mouth, the look on her face changed. She no longer resembled a little girl, she let out a laugh that was so bone chilling it made me shiver.
'You're smart, much smarter than my family. All theses years, they had no idea what I was. But you do, don't you?' She said in a voice that could not have belonged to a little girl.
'Yeah I did, now tell me why. Why did you kill them?' I asked angrily.
'They were a burden, a drain on my food supply,' she answered so casually that I knew there was no hope for this girl.
'Delilah, get her,' I ordered.
Before Annabelle could escape Delilah grabbed and restrained her, preventing Annabelle from moving.
'I'll get you all, one way or another,' she cackled.
'Do any of you need more proof?' I asked my friends.
'No, I know what needs to be done,' Delilah was the first to agree.
'As much as I hate it, yeah I'm with you,' Jensen agreed.
'Do what needs to be done, but don't ask me to do it,' Tessa told us. 'I-I can't be a part of this, whatever you decide leave me out of it,' Brooke mumbled.
'I don't know can we not help her somehow?' Dom asked.
'How, how can we help her? She's mad,' I replied.
'Let me work with her,' Jade offered.
'What? No, your the first one she's going to kill,' I replied.
'Jade she's right, you can't be the one to do this,' Brooke surprised me by saying.
'It's my life to put on the line, let me try and help her!' Jade argued.
'I can't do that Jade, I won't have you dying. We've lost enough people,' I bit back.
'Frankie's right Jade, what if it was one of us in that vision who died? Would you let us try and help her?' Jensen asked. 'How do you know that by killing her we're not screwing with the whole grand design? For all we know, she could end up killing someone who is far more evil than she is? What if by letting her live, we actually save more people?'
'You can't be serious Jade?' I couldn't believe this is the point she was trying to make.
'I'd rather a thousand strangers die, than lose you,' Jensen answered.
'Then you're selfish, I cannot be that selfish,' Jade told him.
'Then answer me this, what if it was Maggie or Tamara that you could save by killing this thing, would you do it then, or would you let them die?' I shouted.
'Don't you bring them into it, they're gone already,' she spat.
'Whoa, easy now people. The last thing we want is to fight amongst ourselves,' Dom reasoned.
'I think it's a little late for that,' Delilah piped up.
Jade took a moment to breath and calm down, I couldn't believe how she was being. I took no pleasure in this, but I knew it had to be done. How could Jade not see that?
'Look all I'm asking for is a little bit of time, just let me try and help her. We'll keep her locked up, and if in a week she can't be helped then you can kill her,' Jade said calmly. I looked at the others for answers but none of them said a word, it was up to me to decide. I looked over at Annabelle's face and for a moment I saw Emma, the little girl I'd had to kill. I wasn't a monster, I didn't want to do this, to have a child's death on my hands.
'Alright, fine. You've got a week, but after that week if you can't help her, she's dead,' I replied sternly as I walked out of the room.
I left the others to it, Jade could kill Annabelle's walker sister, I needed to get out of here. I walked out of the doors, into the playground, through the metal gates which I made sure to shut after I left and ventured into the big wide world.
Why did it have to be me? As much as I was grateful for the Goddess or the universe or whoever it was that gave me my visions, sometimes they were a curse. I didn't want this, to have this responsibility over other peoples lives. In so many ways I still felt like a child, despite being twenty-three I wanted nothing more than to run into my mothers arms and never let go. Everyone thought I was so strong, so brave but I was just trying to stay alive. I didn't know how to be a leader, I didn't want to be. Even with Jade here, I still had to be in charge. While everyone else was wrapped up in their own grief, I have to set mine aside to save everyone else. I didn't get to fall apart, to be cold or afraid, no I had take care of everyone else.
I power walked away from the school, I couldn't bear it. It wasn't fair, why did everyone else's fate rest in my hands? I slumped down on the ground in front of an old stone wall which ran around an aged house. I'd been through so much this last year, I found Jade and everyone, I fell in love, Nikkita came back, then I had to kill her.
It was all too much, how could they expect me to deal with it all? I looked down at my ring that Jensen had given me, it came from him but it also came from Jade. I knew they loved me, I knew they'd die to protect me. But the one thing, no one had been to do for me in all the years since the world ended. And that was, to give me peace. I'd always really been in charge, and yes I'd done a better job than most could do but I was so tired, mentally, emotionally, I just wanted a break.
I wanted to cry and scream, to tell universe to stop being so damn cruel but I couldn't, I didn't get to. I looked up as I heard a noise, please don't let it be a walker. Not today I prayed silently.
'Frankie, are you alright?' Jensen asked as he ran into view.
'Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed a break, it was getting a little intense in there,' I replied strongly. He looked into my eyes, in a way no one had before and I knew, he could see it. The pain, the heartache, everything I'd been hiding for so long. He said nothing, as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, keeping me safe from the world. In that moment, I was able to to let it go, to let everything go. I cried, I cried so hard that I didn't think I would ever be able to stop. I cried until my face hurt and my eyes were red, until a painful headache formed. The more I cried the tighter he held me, I felt I was emptying my soul of all the agony I held inside.
It was sometime later that I lifted my head and looked into the eyes of the man I love, he brushed the stray hairs out of my face and kissed me. It was a soft gentle kiss, that reinforced my feeling of safety. I wrapped my arms around him, letting the love I felt swell inside me. Though Jensen could never be a leader, maybe just maybe he could help lessen my burden.
Chapter 6
Roy
The Isle of Wight was a beautiful place, full of lush scenery and stunning coasts. The fact that the walls stretched round the whole island was amazing, we all lived in our own areas. We were not by any means cooped up or in close quarters, I chose ho
wever to keep all of my troops in one place. They didn't live in the same houses, but they stayed within the same section of town. If only all of the freedom and beauty wasn't spoilt by being kept in fear by the General.
Since being back in the clutches of General Ronald Hawthorn I found my faith in the army to be waning even more, I heard the screams at night, I saw the bodies dragged out in the morning. Yet there was nothing I could do, I kept my troops in line, to prevent them from being next to undergo the Generals punishment. We'd been back barely three weeks and when we'd arrived, we found the walls around coast had been breeched, the dead were clawing through the second wall and what forces had stayed on the Isle of Wight could not hold out for much longer. We came barrelling in, charging like bulls who'd seen red. Within a day we had secured the Island, though we received very little praise from the General.
I held my tongue, I kept obeying orders, but I knew I could not continue like this. General Ronald was a mad man, the power had corrupted him, made him cruel. He had lost sight of the army's true purpose, to help rebuild the world and to save as many people as possible. In the end I knew, the world could not be saved by the likes of him, even his own men were afraid. I had thought long and hard about what our next move would be, but every time I tried to make a suggestion the General shot me down. I could not bear the screams any longer, I had to take action.
One night, just before dawn I took some ropes from our storage house, I crept along the watchtowers, avoided everyone on lookout that night. I found the General asleep in his house, he had no wife so he slept alone. I took a deep breath as I bound him in his sleep. I took the knife from his belt, and the gun from his drawer. I shook him awake barking at him to move, the look of shock on his old worn out face almost made me laugh.
'What's the meaning of this?' He demanded angrily.
'It's time that your reign of tyranny came to an end,' I told him fiercely. I had not told my troops of my plan, for fear that if I was caught, I didn't want them to go down with me. I should've known though, just how easy it would be. While the security along the outer walls that kept watch for walkers was vigilant, the inner security was very lax. There had been no issues of in fighting or desertion, so there wasn't much need for it. Everyone was too afraid of the General to try anything. Not me though, no I cared too much about my troops, about the world, to let this carry on. I thought back to when we'd killed his men, I had wanted so badly to keep Kitaro alive but I feared that the General would torture him into telling on us or that Kitaro would tell him out of fear. So many lives had been twisted or ended because of this man, well no more.
'You'll never get away with this, my troops will end you the second you get out the door,' he laughed.
'I seriously doubt that, they all hate you,' I spat.
'You'll see,' he mumbled.
I dragged his sorry arse out of his home, I looked at the pale sky to see the sun just peeking above the horizon. It would be shift change, a perfect time to get everyone's attention.
'Gather the troops near the south coastline,' I shouted up to the nearest watchtower.
'What's going on?' A young man asked.
'A new order is being imposed,' was all I would say. The man took one look at the General and I could see the look of relief on his face, I smiled at him letting him know that it would all be alright. I marched the General to the south coastline while I waited for everyone, I knew there would be children here and though I didn't want them to see what was going to happen, I wanted them to know that from now on they would be safe within these walls.
It did not take long for everyone to appear, the poor little kids looked tired as hell, some were being held in their parents arms seeming as though they might fall back asleep at any moment. My troops walked to the front looking both confused and relieved. Ronald's troops looked too relieved, but I would worry about them later, the regular people who lived here seemed shocked at seeing the General tied up.
'I'm sorry for calling you here at such an early hour, but as many of you know the decisions this man has made have not always been for the greater good. He has killed mercilessly, he's tortured his own people, killed children just for fun of it. Many if not all of you fear him, I stand here before you all to ask you to pass judgement on this man. How can we hope to save our world, to have any kind of future with this man in charge?'
'Are you asking us to vote on his life?' A young mother of two asked fearfully.
'Yes, that is precisely what I'm asking you to do,' I replied strongly.
'They won't do it, look at them. They're sheep the whole lot of em, mindless little sheep who need someone to tell them what to do,' the General mocked.
'I say we kill him!' I heard one of his men shout.
'I second that!' Another called. The crowd began shout and raise their fists, there was not one person who fought for this man's life. I looked upon their angry, grief stricken faces, even the children who should have been too young to understand this shouted in agreement. This is what Ronald had created, a community of blood thirsty people. Kids as young as three screaming 'die', women whose husbands had been killed by him, shouting until their faces grew red.
'Silence!' I shouted into the crowd. I felt surprised that they all listened to me. 'We pass sentence on this man, because it is the right thing to do, not for vengeance or to satisfy our own blood lust. The world we live may be cruel and harsh, but that does not mean we should allow it to twist us into becoming people like him!'
The crowd murmured in agreement, I felt there was still hope for these people to be somewhat normal again. I took a breath before speaking, I felt like my heart would break through my chest.
'General Ronald Hawthorn, for the crimes of murder, torture and crimes against your country I sentence you to die by beheading. Do you have any last words?' I knew I would have to still stab him in the head afterwards, but I chose to do it this way partly because my troops could stop him from moving and because I often thought that killing someone using a ranged weapon was the cowards way out. I had sentenced him to death therefore I would kill him myself, it was my duty.
'At least I get to be free of this world, you lot still have to live in it,' he laughed.
I gestured to a few of my troops to come forward, I pushed the General's head down on to the wall in which we were stood next to.
'Hold him down,' I ordered them.
He wriggled and fought with all his might, but his efforts were futile. I took an axe from Tim's belt, it was sharp enough to do the trick.
'I ask all of you with small children to go home, they do not need to see such awfulness not when our world is bad enough,' I said with a hint of softness in my voice.
The parents looked both surprised but happy at the same time, I waited until every last child had gone from sight before doing my terrible duty. My troops held him down while I silently prayed that I could kill him on the first blow, I raised the axe high above my head, feeling cold the metal of the handle in my now clammy hands. I swung as hard and as fast as I possibly could, I felt the it connect with his neck, I saw the blood spurt from the wound. The gurgling sounds he made as he died sent shivers up my spine, no sooner as his head rolled on the floor did I whip out my knife and stab it.
'And so ends General Ronald's reign of tyranny,' I said in relief.
'But what happens now Major General, who will lead us?' Asked Willow.
'You should lead us!' Someone in the crowd called. Within seconds the crowd began to chant my name, I honestly had not expected this. Though it was a great honour, I didn't know if I was the right man for the job. I raised my hands to crowd and they fell silent.
'It is a great honour to be asked to lead, but I feel it should be done properly. I shall temporarily lead you all, but at the end of this week we shall hold a vote. Anyone who wishes to step forward to lead will have a chance to speak, but if in the end it is your wish that I lead you that I will gladly accept,' I told them.
They cheered and clapped as I wa
lked through them, I found my tiredness levels to be rising. I was in need of a long nap and good meal in me, my troops walked behind me as I went back to my house. All I knew was that the time of being afraid was over, one way or another we would look forward to a future.
'You alright Major General?' Willow asked softly.
'Please call me Roy,' I replied smiling.
'Alright then, I guess there's no need to stick to formalities any more,' she laughed.
'No, there really isn't.'
'Their going to pick you, you do know that right?'
'Something tells me you'll be leading the people to vote for me,' I laughed. 'Yes, as will all of your troops. You've done the impossible, you've freed us and them from a mad man. You've given everyone their lives back, they all have hope because of you,' she told me happily.
'It was never my intention to become leader, but I swear if I am put in charge I will do what's best for the people,' I answered feeling a little nervous. 'I know you'll be a great leader, your made for it. You have compassion, loyalty, bravery and the capability to make the hard choices. None of us could do what you just did, we were all too afraid,' she confessed.
'If you don't mind, I'd to borrow you for a little while,' I said sounding a little shy.
'Sure, no problem.' I saw no reason why I shouldn't now tell her how I felt, if I was made leader I would eradicate so many of the rules I considered barbaric or unfair. There was no one else higher ranked than I, as far as I knew the General hadn't been in touch with anyone of higher power. While I was an army man, I was also a person as were all my troops and all the people here. We deserved to live as normal as we could, if we hoped to have a future then we needed to act like that's what we were striving for. I'd happily allow any of my people to fall in love, have children, get married regardless of their race or sexual preference.
I had a renewed hope, that we could do more than survive. We could build a life worth living, we'd open our gates to anyone seeking safety. There was a hundred and fifty people here already, I saw no reason that we couldn't double or even triple our numbers. Maybe just maybe we were the beginning of civilisation in the new world.
Dead World Rising (Book 3): The Cure Page 6