The heavy lights flashed on, causing the group to cover their eyes with their forearms. The silhouetted figures stood in front of the bright light, searching to see who was behind the big lights and huge metal gates.

"Do you have weapons?" A voice called out from above the gate.

"Some of us do," Tom answered the deep voice.

"Raise your weapons and hold your hands up in the air," the voice ordered. "Walk in slowly."

"Okay," the member said as a shadowy figure walked off.

The gate slowly opened as the group walked forward with their hands raised, except for Tom who only had one arm raised, as he was carrying a young child in the other. As they stepped in, the gates closed and the group was met by a few men. Three guys were standing on both sides of a man, holding up guns that they were ready to shoot if needed. There was only one man who was standing in the middle without a gun, and he looked as if he was the leader.

He was the same height as Tom. He wore a tight fit black t-shirt that showed off his slightly large biceps. Just like half of the men holding up guns, he too had a beard the was a few inches long and a dark brown mustache to go with it. His piercing blue eyes stared long and hard on the individuals that were standing before him.

He stared at the group as the gates completely closed. He looked at the men standing behind the group before nodding to them. A few men came towards the group and started patting the group down to see if they were hiding any weapons in their clothing. One of the guys in the group watched the men as carefully as possible in case they tried anything on them. Once done, the men look up at the guy standing at the front and nodded at him before stepping away.

"State your business," the leader commanded.

"We were just heading through. Our car ran out of gas a few miles back," Braden spoke.

"So I'm guessing you're the leader of this group?"

"No, we don't have a leader at all." Tom replied shaking his head. "Just humans helping each other to survive."

The leader made a humming noise before walking up to the group and holding out his hand. "Well." The man lifted his arms up as if in a welcoming manner. "I'm Jack, the leader of this group. And you are?"

"Tom," he simply answered.

"Well, Tom, we have room for fellow survivors," Jack told him. "We could use the manpower, as I see you have strong looking kids."

Tom looked back at all the guys in response.

"Well, we have food, water, and safety," Jack informed Tom. "We could also work together. Help one another."

"We were actually heading off to try and find other members of my group," Tom lied the eerie twinkle he saw in the man's eyes was enough to have Tom to lie like it was his second langauge.

"You have others?" Jack looked amused.

"Yeah. We got separated at a school safe zone we were at," Tom continued. "We were just trying to find them."

"Well, you could stay for the night," Jack offered.

Tom turned his body to look at the group and started to nod as he turned back. "Sure. We could use the rest, and we could help."

Jack grinned. "Good. Well, welcome to our safe base."

"Thanks for the help." Tom lifted M.J. a little higher on his arm.

"So, if you don't mind, what are the rest of the group's names?"

"Actually, we are all pretty tired from being on the road and all," a Ben spoke up. "Can we get acquainted first thing in the morning?"

Jack nodded. "Okay then. I guess that'll be fair. I'm sure you had a hard time getting here."

"We have," Tom answered.

"Come and let me show you where you can stay." He turned and headed towards a building as he signaled for them to follow.

They looked warily at the people with the guns pointed at them and the men on the floor with their guns down. The guys especially looked at them very carefully, not trusting them. They started to follow Jack and two of his men as they entered a building, which looked like a motel. When they walked further in, they noticed a pool in the center of the lobby, and their suspicions were confirmed. Chad looked at Jack while his back was facing him, something in his head reminded him of someone, who wasn't the nicest of people he's met, that he could not identify but he kept a close eye on him.

"Is this the only building you cleared?" Tom asked, trying to make conversation.

"No, we cleared the building office across the street, too," Jack answered. "Also, the jail next to it and a few of the buildings like the McDonald's down the street and the dentists."

"How'd you clear it?" Ben asked.

"When the virus broke out and those things started happening, me and my boys just happened to be in this area," Jack answered. "While everyone decided to run off, me and the boys decided to stay put."

"How'd you get the weapons?" Ben continued to question.

"I owned a gun store, while some of the other guys hung out on the shooting range or were just the type to carry weapons. Well, here we are." Jack stopped on the second floor at a green door that had the number 15 on it. "There's only a king sized bed in there with a little round table, so you guys might take up two rooms or more if you don't want to share."

Jack opened the door and stepped aside to let them check out the room. They walked in to see that the room was a little crowded. Erin walked into the bathroom to see the tub and the toilet, and then went to the shower and turned it on. At first, the pipes groaned, but then it stopped and water sprayed out of the shower head. Erin grinned from ear to ear in excitement and stuck her hand in to touch it.

"The water works," Erin said.

"Yeah, just go easy on it," Jack informed them. "Use it too much and green water starts coming out."

Erin turned off the water and dried her hands. "Um, ew."

"So the next room is open if you guys want to take that one too?"

"Um...Give us a second will ya?" Tom asked Jack.

"Sure. I'll be outside." Jack stepped out and closed the door behind him.

"So what do you guys think?" Tom asked.

"I don't know," Mari said. "That guy seems off."

"I guess, but at least we have a place to stay," Braden shrugged.

"I really don't feel good about splitting off," Diana said before lowering her voice. "Maybe he's just trying to separate us to make us weaker."

"We'll just be next door," Tom assured. "We'll come and check up on each other from time to time if we get an odd feeling."

"That would work, but I still don't know, Tom," Mari said, shaking her head.

"The guy is controlling," Chad said bluntly. "His men are probably going to shoot us the minute we refuse to do something. Just keep an ear and eye out with these men. The man reminds me of a few people I used to know that were the same way and they were not good people."

"We could just stay for a day or two," Tom offered. "Get some rest, food, water, and then head off."

Everyone nodded in agreement while Chad just shrugged.

"But are we sharing or not?" Diana asked.

"Half of us should go in the other room," Chad said, "We don't want anyone alone at all, so Tom and his family can stay in this one while all of us could crash in the other. It's the only way we could keep track of each other and know if something is up."

"Okay, he's right," Braden agreed. "We will take the next room. We'll come to check on you when we put our stuff down, kay?"

Tom and Mari nodded in agreement before Braden and the other group walked out of the room to be met by Jack leaning against the wall. Braden nodded to Jack and he pushed himself off to open the next room.

The second half of the group walked into the room and set their stuff on the floor as they looked around. The rooms looked exactly alike from the colors to the layout. A king sized bed sat pushed against the wall in the dead center. Red pillows sat leaning against two clean white pillows also leaning against a wooden headboard and white sheets were covering the bed and draped to the side.

There was a wooden small round table that sat to its right in the corner with just two small cute seats on each side facing each other. The white cream colored walls made the room feel relaxful even if the group was feeling everything but at ease.

"We hope you guys plan on staying," Jack told them. "We could use the help."

With that, he shut the door and walked off, leaving the group in the room by themselves. They shrugged at one another and got comfortable.

"So-" Ben started as he sat on the bed. "Who gets the bed?" As he stretched out his hands going behind his head.

"The girls do," Braden said, pushing him off the bed and allowing the girls to lie on it.

"Why do they get the bed?" Ben complained.

"It's called being respectful, Ben," Chad said, putting a pillow on the floor at the end of the bed. "It's rude if you make the women sleep on the floor." He lay down and put his head on the pillow.

"Yeah, so get used to it," Braden told him, "Because every time there's a bed, the women are most likely going to get it." He placed another pillow on the floor on the side of the bed where Diana was lying. "Unless there are two, or we could fit on it."

"Yeah, now go to sleep," Chad told him as he rolled onto his side.

He walked into the police station and was greeted by a few of his men.

"How's your night, boys?" His deep voice said as he stood in front of them.

"Good, good," they answered, nodding a little.

"So, man, what brings you in here today?" One of them asked. "Want time with one?" he chuckled.

"You always know what I want, my good friend," he winked at him.

The man tossed the keys over to him, and once he had the keys in his hand, he unlocked one of the cells and stepped inside, where he stood in front of four people that were hung on the wall of the cell. He smirked as he stood in front of a small girl who had light skin, mocha brown eyes and brunette hair. The man put his index finger below her chin and lifted her head, forcing her look at him. He smiled as he made a ticking noise and shook his head.

"Aren't you a pretty one?" He said to her.

The girl shook her head to avoid his touch. His smile faded and he roughly took hold of her jaw with his index finger and his thumb, forcefully turning her head back towards him.

"Don't you ever do that again," he growled at her. "Remember, little girl, you're under my control. I could do whatever the hell I want to do, and if I want to touch you, I can touch you. I'm going to take this one," he told the others as he smiled. "Haven't had her yet."

"Leave her alone," a voice a few people next to her growled. "You don't touch her."

The man looked over at them in amusement. "And if I do touch her?"

"If you touch her, I will-" the voice was interrupted.

"You'll what, exactly?" He yelled at them, inching closer towards them.

"When I get out, I will kill you," they yelled at him. "You think you're so strong.".

"What do you know about strength, huh?"

"I know you don't have it," they said. "You are a coward. You and your men are all cowards."

They knew that the man was getting very angry by the way he was clenching and unclenching his jaw and fists. He swallowed hard, and his eyes turned dark as he began to shake slightly. "Shut up," he said through clenched teeth.

"Why? Is it because you know it's true?" They continued.

"We are all strong men," he said, defending himself and his men. "We are not cowards."

"Is that why you needed at least ten men to take down a group of kids?" They taunted. "You're the biggest coward of them all, having your men do all the work while you stand there and do nothing, acting like you rule the place when in reality, you're nothing but terrified of the soulless."

"I said –" he gritted his teeth. "Shut up!" he yelled at her as he back handed her, making her head snap to the right.

"Doesn't it suck knowing that your leader can't take us down by himself?" She asked the guys behind him.

"He's a strong leader," one of them nodded calmly.

"Is that right?" She looked at them. "Is that why when we first came here, he couldn't even take me down by himself, so he had a group of men to take me down instead? Your leader is nothing but weak," she spat. "And the funny thing is that he knows it. He knows he is weak, and that's why he tries to act so big and macho, because he knows he's nothing."

The man laughed. "You know, I really wonder how good this one is in bed?" He told her as he went back to the little girl that he was first on. "Maybe when I'm done with her, my men could have a piece of her."

She spat at him as he got in her face. "Fuck you! Don't fuckin' touch her."

The man wiped her spit out of his face, and she watched as his eyes turned pure black. She didn't even have time to realize what was happening when he punched her, making her black out.

"Take her down!" He ordered.

The men took her down, letting her drop to the hard concrete floor. The girl only blacked out for a second, and she turned herself onto her back. She let out a painful moan as she coughed and tried to move.

"I guess I still need to teach you your manners," he said as he stood over her and held her by her jaw.

With that, he grabbed hold of her chained hands and dragged her out of the jail house. She tried her best to kick and squirm around with the only strength she had in her. It wasn't much, knowing how weak she was after that hit and the fall she took.

*Edited