Will's P.O.V.

Evelyn was actually pretty reasonable.

She had a gun pointed at us to make us go down into the basement on the first day. It was a shot gun, and it didn't shake in her grip, which meant she was completely serious about this, but that was it.

We were so well behaved about going down there, and so whiny about how she so did not need a gun to encourage us, that, after that day, she trusted us to go down by ourselves.

We'd wake up, we'd get to make breakfast, take whatever we wanted to entertain ourselves with into the basement and then she would lock the doors. She was also pretty good at keeping the house working at a minimal level but just enough so that we had lights, water and enough electricity to run the TV she moved down there for us. She liked to remind us that she spent hours reworking her system to make all of that possible.

Because she was injured, Melissa got to stay upstairs with Connor, who we all immediately took a dislike to. Except for Rebecca, of course, because the boy was smitten with her and obviously giving her all that attention she had been craving from me.

I was sort of hoping that sooner or later she'd ask me if it was okay that she go with him and I would have to pretend to be upset while shoving her in Connor's direction and running away before he realized how high-maintenance and crazy she was.

If he took her off of me, there would be no take-backsies. He'd be stuck with her... forever.

We actually didn't have to down into the basement right away. The first couple of days she was back, she was too busy cleaning the interior of the house, and she made us help.

She had cleared the bodies away easily enough with the help of either me or Keith and that drifter guy Godrick. They were disposed of in the moat. After that was done she had either Keith or me move what was broke out of the house and onto the lawn. All while Rebecca was supposed to tidy and wash down walls.

She did nothing, the two injured parties were the ones who did all the cleaning. Evelyn had been livid when she realized what had happened. She almost killed Rebecca all over again, but Melissa talked her down, saying that she practically begged too.

But all of us knew what actually happened.

Once everything broken was out of the house, she made a list of things she needed replaced and even allowed us to add items to the list like before, all except Rebecca. Mostly because Rebecca kept asking for make-up and new designer clothes and other useless things, but also because we could tell that Evelyn really didn't like Rebecca.

Either way, Evelyn never wrote any of Rebecca's requests down.

When she was finally ready to go out and leave us behind, that was when we got the shotgun to the face and then forced down into the basement. But as I mentioned, after the first day she stopped doing that.

Firstly because she didn't need to. We knew the deal, we could go down without the scare tactics. Secondly, because she wanted one of us to go with her.

Turned out she needed the extra muscle.

She never took more than one person though, she only took one at a time. I guess cause she didn't trust us, which, again, was fair.

Mostly she took me, because I was helpful, she said. Keith was apparently too jumpy. She didn't trust Rebecca as far as she can throw her. And the other two were injured.

I had the feeling that Melissa would have gone, injury or not, but Evelyn's work wasn't easy. It involved a lot running. Well once we started going into the city for supplies and new furniture there was less running, but only because zombies weren't milling through Ikea and other furniture stores.

It never occurred to me that we could easily replace furniture. Out of everything that got looted the furniture stores were not the most popular targets. It took three trips in a pickup truck to get everything that Evelyn wanted and then Evelyn let everyone stay upstairs to help assemble everything. We had listened to music from Evelyn's computer and told stories.

Well, we did, Evelyn stayed quiet though we did get some stories out of her, and some confirmations about which of the stories we knew were truth or fiction. It was by far the best night we had had since Evelyn and Melissa had left for Ottawa.

We kept asking for the Ottawa story, but Melissa wouldn't budge on it and if you brought it up to Evelyn she would only glare at you until you changed the topic. We knew by now that Melissa had met Steve. We knew, by the fear that alighted in her eyes whenever we asked about him, that he was just as fearsome as we thought. We begged her to tell us about him, but she wouldn't budge.

Evelyn and I had gone out again. She had taken me out to what used to be Markham to a farm. In exchange for fixing their electrical panels she would be getting a huge rack of meat, her choice and a bushel of produce to help her get through the winter.

We had surmised from the way Evelyn was acting—taking every odd job she could find in exchange for essentials, and stock piling what we'd need to survive the six of us—that we were going to go into hibernation as soon as the snow hit. She probably had enough for herself and one other person, but with five extra mouths to feed and take care of she'd need more.

I had been dithering about what to say to her. When to ask and how to ask her in order to get what I wanted. Today I was here to help, I held her tools as she soldered away. I must have been making a funny face because she turned to me, her welder's mask showing nothing except her eyes.

"Well, ask the question," she said, her voice muffled by the mask. When I just stared at her she turned back to her work but continued talk. "I can see you want to ask me something, so just ask."

"I want to ask for a favour," I started but I stopped immediately once she dropped the solder to the ground.

The welder's mask went up in a flash and then I could see her face. All nostrils flared and scowl firmly formed on her face. "Another favor? You dare to ask me for yet another favor? After everything else I've done?"

"I want to join the Drifters," I answered avoiding her eyes.

"Okay, so go ahead and do it. What do you need my permission for? Or a favour for that matter?" she asked as she stooped down to pick up the solder.

"I want to be put out of city," I explained.

She flipped the mask down again. "Oh, risky, but I still don't see what that has to do with me?"

"I was hoping you could talk to Jack and then get him to help me. And... don't tell Rebecca."

The welder's mask flipped up again and the scowl was back. "No. No. You are not putting that on me. If you want to run away from the princess bride then you do it, but don't make it my cross to bear!" she ordered jabbing the solder in my direction. I took half a step back to avoid the molten metal that flew from the tip.

"Look, it needs to be this way. If I tell her I want to leave she'll make my life a living hell until I promise to stay. And you already know so you're already involved. All I want is the possibility to disappear and things will get easier for you," I begged.

She stared at me briefly but said nothing. After a moment the wilder's mask went down again and she went back to work. I figured that was it, no favour for me.

I let her fix the panel. I let her collect her payment, which was a new rack of meat and a zombiefied cow. A cow that she immediately put into the small trailer she had attached to her jeep. I had questioned it this morning, and now I saw that she probably foresaw that she would be taking something back with her.

The car door slammed shut behind her and then we were driving. We were silent the whole way. I couldn't think of anything to say. We stopped at the Zoo and Evelyn got out, she caught my questioning stare and then came over the passenger side of the car, motioning for me to roll down the window.

"I'm gonna drop the cow off to Steve," she told me. I wanted to ask why the hell Steve would want a zombiefied cow, but she continued talking and I lost the moment. "If someone were to, say, put a call out to the drifter's direct line to the base on 101.5 fm to ask for a favour I wouldn't know a thing about that. But we don't know anyone who'd do that while I'm gone right?"

I nodded to her. "Right. 101.5?"

"Yeah," she said before walking away.

I waited until Evelyn and the cow disappeared into the zoo before turning the dial on her radio and grabbing the receiver.

"Uhm... hello? This is Evelyn calling for Jack? Is uuhh... Jack there?" I said into the receiver.

There was this long pause where I thought I might have messed up before a voice said: "Who is this?"

"Uhmmm... I'm William... I... uh... work for... uh with? Evelyn..." I said. This was not going well. "I just want to talk to Jack."

"Jack's busy. What does Evelyn need? Why didn't she use her regular call sign?" the voice asked.

"Because she's busy," I answered. "Look, I just want to join up. You guys recruiting? Anywhere? I'm down to leave the city if I have to."

There was silence for a bit before the voice came back with a: "Does she know you're on the com right now?"

It was like I was being chastised, scolded like I was a naughty little kid. I immediately bristled but I knew I probably shouldn't lie either. "Officially no, but unofficially yes."

"What?

"Oh will you just go get Jack?!" I thundered and luckily that's what did it. After that the idiot on the other side went to go get Jack and I was one step closer to freedom.