Class of 2013 - 31

Epilogue

You know how people say that they hate Mondays, and that they hate Sunday because they know Monday is coming? Well, for us, for the first time, that was switched around. We were happy to see Monday, because it meant Sunday was over. With one man dead, the loss of ammunition and equipment, and the fact that Wal-Mart was now completely overrun with hordes of zombies… our mission had gone from being a bust to being an utter and complete clusterfuck. The addition of two skilled warriors was a plus, but even they were now down a weapon and ammunition thanks to the events.

By the time that we had gotten back, most of the base had bedded down for the night. We’d all gotten on a new sleep schedule in the last couple of weeks: up at daybreak and asleep by around nine or ten o’clock. Without anything to do at all hours of the night, it hadn’t been hard. The only ones not on this schedule were the night guards… and on occasion Colonel Sweet. I’d noticed that he tended to stay up later than most of the rest of us, though I couldn’t be sure whether it was due to being worried, or if this was simply normal for him. He also seemed to regularly take a mid-day siesta, so I had the feeling it was probably normal.

Sweet was also one of the few that had been awake at the time of our arrival, and he had decided to put Artemis and Thor up in the office with the rest of us. Alice and Timothy were moved into Sweet’s inner-office for sleeping. Well, mostly Timothy was – Alice had taken to spending nights in her lab and crashing wherever she could during the day. Thor and Artemis were put up in the former room of our two youngest survivors, and they were happy for it. They had not yet told us where they had been until now, but wherever they had been staying, it apparently hadn’t had very good places for sleeping. Once their accommodations were settled, we gave Sweet our full report on what had happened… of course omitting that we had ended up playing video games while on a mission. He was shocked to say the least, but there was little that could be done now. Considering the time, and the night’s events, he had told us all to hit the rack for the night and that the news would be given out tomorrow.

Christine was the first person to find out the next morning, as Lea sought her out before the rest of the group was informed about the events. She couldn’t believe what had happened, but she couldn’t come up with any reason to say it was a lie. It shocked her, but even more so it shocked us that the only thing she took was the key from the chains. She told Lea to hang on to the dog tags and the locket. It seemed strange to us that she wouldn’t want the other effects of her late friend, but we decided that now was not the best time to be asking why she didn’t want her dead friend’s stuff. Sophie and the daughters were next, then Alice and Timothy. They were all surprised and saddened, but there was little more to it than that. After that it came time to tell the main body of the survivors about what had happened – and that’s when things got heated.

The contingent was assembled within the cafeteria for the debrief of the prior night’s events. Most gathered were quickly figuring out that someone was missing, and I dare say that just about everyone had their suspicions as to why. It also seemed that the group was divided – and rather obviously at that. On the left side sat the P.M.A. survivors, and on the right sat the Perris High survivors – though it was interesting to note that this was not entirely the case. There were two exceptions: Christine and Amelia sat on the P.M.A. side along the aisle that was formed by the division of chairs. William, Novik’s son, sat along the aisle on the Perris High side; next to his father. Looking at Novik, there almost seemed to be a sneer on his face. It was as if he knew exactly what this meeting was going to be about… and was glad of it.

The thought both turned my stomach and made me incredibly suspicious of the man. How could he sit there and act like everything was going well? It was disgusting! Yet, there was nothing that could be done. Once everyone was assembled, Sweet began to go through the rundown of what had happened – and the entire time Novik’s mood seemed to grow steadily sour. It wasn’t until Sweet said that Johnny died as a result of leading the zombies into the gardening section that he shot to his feet.

“Lies! All of it!” The would-be vampire shouted, pointing toward all of us at the front, “Not a bit of that makes any sense! Johnathan would never act in such a way, no matter what the case may be! True, he was heroic, but that young man would never have betrayed those that he called his friends! If anything, they probably killed him, or tricked him into getting killed by the zombies! For that, they should be shot!”

“You son of a bitch! What would you know about it? You hardly knew him, you motherfucker, and you sure as shit don’t know us! How dare you try and say that we killed him!” James fired back before any of the rest of us could speak. At the same time, he lunged forward, and it took Chien, Thor, and I to hold him back. “I oughta come over there and beat your head in for saying that to us!”

“Oh yes! Threaten me with death! That makes you look so very innocent!” Novik snapped, then looked to Sweet, “I say there should be a trial! No, better, a courts-martial for the four of them! This isn’t the first time that their actions have caused trouble, Sweet – but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the last time! Mark my words!”

“How can you accuse them of something so horrible without having any proof?” Artemis cut in, “I was there, and so was my brother! That boy wasn’t killed by these four. He did just as the Colonel said!”

“Oh, and because the two of you say it’s true means we should believe it?” Novik scoffed, “And just why is that?”

“Because we’re not associated with anyone involved in this. We didn’t know anyone here until we met them at Wal-Mart!” Artemis glared, “What reason would we have to lie?”

“Food. Water. Shelter. Weapons. Ammunition.” Novik replied, “That’s a handful of reasons right there why you would lie about it. You would lie so that they would vouch for you, and talk Sweet into letting you stay with the lot of us. Besides, you can’t be trusted anyhow. The two of you showed up with the four of them after our man goes missing. It’s suspect. What you say doesn’t matter.”

All the while that Novik and those before the group went back and forth, Lea remained silent and standing back. A glance to her and I soon noticed why. She was looking at Christine, at first with a puzzled look, and then her eyes went wide and she mouthed the word ‘what’.

Looking at Christine, I saw why as the redheaded sleuth mouthed back.

‘Have… the… trial…’

Lea looked at her in disbelief, but Christine gave a small smile and a nod, then motioned with her eyes toward Sweet. With a small nod, Lea moved behind the group to whisper in Sweet’s ear. I couldn’t hear what she said, but the quick turn on Sweet’s head and the astonished look on his face told me that she’d conveyed the message. Looking toward Novik, glancing at Christine, and then looking back at Lea, he gave a slow nod before Lea stepped back. Looking forward again, he raised his voice – and I swear it seemed to shake the cafeteria.

“Quiet!” He bellowed, and then looked to Novik. “If you wish for a courts-martial for these four, then you shall have it Novik. Bring forward what evidence you think you may have in one week, but I warn you… so help me God… you better not be wasting our time.”

Novik smirked. “Believe me, I’m not.” He crossed his arms then, “However, seeing as how the only officers aside from yourself are those that are on trial… and you will no doubt be the judge… we must select a jury, is that not true, Colonel?”

“What do you propose, Novik?”

“Simple, Sweet; we have just enough people for a proper jury. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but there are twenty-five of us left. Nine of us – you, me, the four accused, the mute girl and her brother due to age, and whoever the legal council for the accused shall be – are disqualified from the position. That leaves sixteen of us to be jurors – meaning that it will truly be a jury of their peers. As well, to speed things along, I suggest a vote decide their fates. Majority rules.”

“Alright, and the desired punishment for a conviction?”

Novik sneered, “Death, of course.”

“Agreed.” Now Sweet crossed his arms, “And what of a tie?”

“Exile, until the tie is broken.”

“Very well.” Sweet nodded, “They’re innocent, you know.”

“You’re biased.” Novik smirked, “How can we trust you to carry out the sentencing?”

Sweet glared, “I’m a man of the law, Novik. You’d do well to remember that.”

Novik rolled his eyes, “We shall see…” Then he glanced sideways toward Christine. “And I just can’t help but wonder who will rise to the challenge of defending them.”

Christine turned and looked at him, hatred in her gaze as she stood. “I will.”

Novik laughed, “Oh, some friend you must have been to the boy! Defending his very killers! And why? Because one is your girlfriend, Miss Fury? That it?”

“No.” Christine said simply, looking toward Sweet, “I do it because I know that they’re innocent. Johnathan, no matter the influence, was always a good judge of character. He would never befriend someone that would ever think of killing him.”

“Oh…?” Novik grinned darkly, “Is that so, dear Christine? Tell me; how sure are you?”

Christine looked to the man across the aisle and scowled. “With every fiber of my being.”

“Ah… well then… if you’re so sure, how about this…” He clasped his hands behind his back, “Would you care to share in their fate, whatever that the jury decides?”

Christine didn’t even hesitate. “I will. They’re innocent. I’ve nothing at all to fear.”

“Good…” Novik said with wicked joviality, and looked toward Sweet, “And will the court hold the legal council of the accused to her words? Well…?”

Sweet looked to Christine, while the rest of us – even James – quietly looked on as our future was being decided for us. The redhead gave a simple nod to Sweet, and he nodded back to affirm her decision. A glance toward Novik’s son, and I noted, curiously, that he seemed to be holding his head; as if he were having a rather bad headache.

“Yes, it will. Should there be a tie or a conviction, the legal council of the accused shall face the same consequences as the defendants.” Sweet raised a brow as he looked at Novik, “Is that all?”

“Indeed it is, Colonel. Thank you for being so… understanding.”

“Very well then… with these matters out of the way, I declare this debriefing adjourned.”

==X==X==X==

About an hour later, Sweet, Sophie, Artemis, Thor, the Core Four, and Christine were all gathered in Sweet’s office – and the eight of us were wondering just why in the hell Christine had wanted us to agree to a trial.

“This is insane!” James fired off, “He has nine people out of the sixteen on the fucking jury! You’ve killed us, woman! You’ve killed us!”

Lea side glanced at James, “Okay, aside from the melodramatics…” She looked at Christine as she leaned on the wall off to the side of Sweet’s desk, “James does have a point. The vote will be seven to nine in favor of a conviction. How does this help?”

“You’re forgetting that two of the people on the council are swing votes. Amelia isn’t tied to the rest in any way aside from having gone to Perris High, and William is one of my best friends – the fact that I’m defending you guys will sway him in our favor. Amelia is a smart girl, and she won’t vote guilty based on whatever bullshit Novik comes up with. He’s counting on her having gone to Perris High to decide her loyalties, and on William being his son to get him to vote in favor of his father. I’m counting on them having morals and knowing me to vote for us.”

“I didn’t hear how that helps us.” Chien crossed his arms, looking at the former cheerleader, “Care to explain that?”

“It’ll be a blow to him in two ways. One, it’ll show him that he can’t always get his way, and two…” She walked forward, pulling Johnny’s key from her pocket and tossing it on the desk. “…It gives me a chance to investigate this.”

“A… key.” Thor said slowly, looking at her, “Y’know, I’m not sure exactly how important a key is… at least not without knowing what the key is for.”

“Be patient… I think she’s getting to that, bro.” Artemis nudged her brother with her elbow. “Right, Christine?”

“Indeed.” Christine said, clasping her hands behind her back, “That key is for Johnny’s locker in Perris High. He never liked the combinations because people figured them out pretty easy. So he got a regular padlock to put on, and gave his homeroom teacher a copy of the key.”

“Alright… so what do you think is in Johnny’s locker?” I asked, leaning on the desk.

“I think whatever it is could lead me to enough evidence to put Novik away for a very long time.” Christine grinned, “I’ve been building a case against him for years, but until now haven’t had enough concrete evidence for anyone to care. I think Johnny wanted to help me for a long time, but something was stopping him. I’m not sure what, though I think that his dealer might have worked for Novik, and was using drugs to control him. If that’s so, that might even mean that his dealer is alive… and might even be in the school. And if that’s so…”

“If that’s so, that means that Novik might have passed the order down for Johnny to do what he did.” Sophie picked up when Christine trailed off, “But there’s a problem… his withdrawal ended. He was never alone long enough without someone trusted around him for something to be done to him.”

“That does put a bit of a hole in the theory.” Sweet commented with a sigh.

“Not necessarily…” I said, arms crossed as I thought, “…Christine, how long has William been getting headaches? Do you know?”

“Well… ever since…” She paused, then looked at me, “No… you don’t think…”

“Ever since when…?”

“Ever since the morning that Johnny’s withdrawal stopped.” She said softly, “It’s a stretch, but… the back of his head does have a bump on it. You don’t think that someone snuck up on him, and knocked him over the head in order to get into where Johnny was held, do you?”

“I wouldn’t rule it out. William was standing guard at night. If the lights were off in the locker rooms while he was there… and if he was looking at anything that was a light source, then his vision would have been impaired. It would have been easy. I think it pertinent that you ask him, though. Find out.”

Christine nodded, “I certainly will.” Then she picked up the key, “I’m gonna get this bastard, once and for all.”