1995 Words

POV Sean.

"Get in Carlos's tent." I raised my voice to Dream, as she had refused my demand. Fear over whelmed her eyes, she shrunk, and looked as small as humanly possible. That wont work in our crew. We need to be the over dogs.

"Yes sir," She coward. That's more like it. I watched as she tried to get to the ground. She knows that she has a broken leg, yet remains as stubborn as a jackass, and tries to walk still. Finally, for once in his pathetic little life, Ben does something right. He walked over to Dream just as she slid off of the table, and picked her up like a bride, then carried her Carlos's tent, and quickly shut the door, not wanting to miss the show.

"This, ends, now," I started that fucking Mexican right in his anger/horror fuled eyes.

"I couldn't agree more, Sean, you do not have to put me to the tree! I have learned my lesion!" He pleaded, trapping himself in the illusion, that for some, god forsaken reason, I would change my mind.

"I don't have to, no, but you also didn't have to break my mask. You also didn't have to punch me in the stomach, no, and you also didn't have to GRACE us with your MAGNIFICENT presence, but hey, aren't we the lucky ones here!" I said, sarcastically, a bit louder than I probably should have, sometimes your anger gets the better of you, ya know?

"Sean, I get it, I made a few mistakes, I understand, and am willing to do anything to get rid of them, but do you really think this includes tying me a to a tree, with a rope around my neck, with my arms bound behind my back like a wild animal, in front of all the zombie mess! That is more than a punishment, that's being fucking insane!" He yelled.

"Oh? I'm the one being insane?! IM THE ONE BEING FUCKING INSANE!? FUCK YOU! I am expected to carry your sorry ass through out all of this bull shitting zombie hurricane, and you want me to have no rules, it that it? No consequences for your actions?! THATS NOT HOW LIFE WORKS! Try to wrap your miniscule brain around this concept!

Life, isn't what you think it is! Life is not pretty, life is not a fun filled adventure, and life is definitely not fair! I'm sorry, I know that is a hard topic to understand, but with you not comprehending this, you are going to get us all fucking killed! We have ALL made sacrifices to be here, but we are making this work, we have this system, with everything in its place, making a nice clock work, rungolberg machine, but nooo! Here comes in Carlos to make everything a mess, thinking everything is about him, and trying to take away from everyone else, like we haven't been struggling our entire lives!

Yuki, a world, renown doctor, working on a patient, when suddenly, dies, then comes back to life, nearing killing her there. Someone she cares for, Didn't care enough to not make her a snack!

Darla, a sweet, single mother, going through a divorce, trying not to break for her kids, had to watch send them away with government officials, hoping to start a better life for them, she hasn't seen them in two years, while you see your child every, single, day!

Ben, a teenage boy, working his way through college, trying to get his major in sports medicine, and possibly, a spot on the penguins professional hockey team, has to watch his dream melt before his eyes, and everything crash in burn, like the tree that fell on top of him when we found him.

And Dream! When I first saw her, she was chasing after something of great importance, but then, life took her away from her journey, and I now, continually, fucking her over! We don't even know her story yet, and she is acting more mature than you are!

Tell me I'm crazy. Maybe you're fucking right, hell if I know, but I know one goddamned thing, that's for sure, and that one thing is, you are not alone, unless you choose to be. By betraying our entire team, you are choosing to be alone. Alone, on the tree!" I yelled my entire speech. I was so lightheaded, I could barley stand anymore.

"Sean, you're not crazy, you've just lost it! You're gone!" Carlos screamed, in his last desperate attempts to persuade me. This only made me more angry.

"The only reason you're not lost, is because of Ruth. She doesn't deserve a father a terrible as you are," I even knew that I had crossed the line with this one. I instantly felt regret for saying that, but not enough to feel sorry for it just yet.

"You're a monster. You're a fucking monster Sean Mcloughlin!" He screamed, with anger tears in his eyes.

Everyone behind me was well past silent. I swear, with all of the noises of the night, you could hear your blood rushing. I could hear mine, even if Carlos was still screaming at me. It hurt. It was thinner than heated milk, and my heart is pounding harder than the bass in a song.

"The monsters in this world, is much worse than the monster you claim me to be. Get to the tree." I demanded. But the monsters in my head are much worse than the monsters romancing freely over the ground.

"Fine! Tie me to a tree! Watch me die! I don't care! As long as I don't have to hear another spat of poison that leaks out of your vial mouth, I'm fine! Fuck, I would rather be dead, than be in the group anymore!" He shouted.

"Carlos, you cant say that!" Darla spoke up.

"Hell if I cant! Do you see what he is doing to you?! He is brainwashing you! Trying to convince you that his little world he keeps trapped inside his head Is a perfect euphoria, while its clearly bull shit!" He yelled to me.

"The only one stuck in a fantasy world, is you! You need to suck it up, and face the facts that life is terrible! We already have! We're just waiting on you! Open your eyes Carlos!" I screamed, pleading for him to come back.

"Who says life is terrible?!" He cried, as we started making our way to the tree.

"The zombies. They say anything, and everything, with out a single word uttered from their disgusting, decaying mouths." I said, as Carlos slid down the tree, finally giving up. Darla, and Ben helped me wrap the course rope around Carlos's thick skin, making sure not to cut into him, but also making sure that there would be no way for him to get out.

"If I die, you wicked man, make sure that Ruth is in safe hands," He said, just as Ben finished the last knot.

"She already is," Darla said, trying to sympathies with him. I stood over his hunched down body, asserted my dominance once again, turned my back, and we made our way back to the camp.

23:56 back at the camp

"Nightly roll call; Darla," Even with everything falling apart, there is still use for order.

"Here," She responded quieter than a mouse.

"Ben?"

"Here sir," One of the only times Ben has ever called me sir, I like it.

"Yuki,"

"Here," Quiet as usual.

"Ruth?"

"In her tent sir," Ben responded for her.

"And Dream,"

"Sitting with Ruth sir,"

"Alright, I would like to thank all of you for being present, and working really hard today, it was productive. Get a good night's rest, because tomorrow will be a long day of scavenging, You are dismissed to your quarters," I said, then put my homemade clipboard down on our table, to grab again in the morning.

"Thank you sir," The chorus rang out, and they retired to their tents. I slowly made my way to mine. I was still more blind than a bat, just another sacrifice I have made for everyone I guess. You know, when I was listing off everybody, and their sacrifies, I didn't even mention myself. I cant imagine how hard it is for these wonderful people to relive everything they had went through, that's why I didn't even mention myself.

I had a little sister, her name is Grace. She was my entire pride and joy, I loved nothing more than my pride and joy, Gracey. For my twenty-sixth birthday, she went to the store all by her nine year old self, and bought me the, most ridiculously, bright orange jacket you could ever imagine. You cannot imagine how proud of her I was that day. I tried it on, and haven't taken it off since, well, of course to wash it, but as soon as it was out of the dryer, back on it went! She was so happy every time she saw me.

That was a year ago. A year ago when I had to choose.
For the entire first year of the apocalypse, it was just us, just Gracey and I. She had always kept my spirits up. Both of my dads abandoned us, and I hate them to this day, so Grace and I set out on our own. We were doing just fine. We came into a large encounter with a horde of zombies, and she got cut. 
On January 17th, her birthday. We had rummaged through a large convince store, and found a really big can of plums. For some reason, her favorite. She was pretty sick at the time, so I knew it would be amazing to spend her birthday with her favorite food, to lighten her sprits a a little bit.
I lit the candles, and sang my best for her. She blew her last breath on those candles, after telling me she loved me.

The flame of the candle was the flame of her existence, all it took was a single breath to take her away from me, leaving me to stare at the smoke lingering in the hatred filled air, until it finally disappears, transforming into the surrounding air, but in Grace's case, one of them. Her beautiful, blue eyes had turned into cold, angry, yellow beams of liquified hate, and tried to rip at my throat. I should have known she would turn, but I kept myself locked in my own euphoria of having her still, I refused to face facts, until I grabbed the can opener, and held back my baby sister, and I had to make a decision.

Do I let her continue on as one is these hell forsaken creatures to exist in constant pain, or do I end everything for her, take every ounce of suffering, and send her to a better place. I took the can opener, kissed Grace's forehead, then plunged the knife deep into where I kissed. She fell to the floor instantly. I cried, slit my wrists, starved, and dehydrated myself, doing anything in my will power to die, but I know Grace would have never let me. The jacket she gave me is the thing that stopped her bite.
If I would have known how hard life would be without her, I would have let her take me too.

While I had Grace, I was trapped, lost in my own dream, and took a terrible nightmare to get me back into reality. And now, I am more grounded than ever. Carlos is facing this, and I do NOT want the same way to get grounded the way I had to, so I am trying to help him.
Maybe I was a bit too rough on Carlos, but I care about these people too much to see their fire being extinguished by an unforeseen breath.