A Candle in the Dark

Their camp had doubled in the last two weeks. Those who had been there since the beginning had mixed feelings about this, but if they weren’t happy with it they weren’t about to tell somebody to go out into the woods and face the monsters alone. With the latest newcomers, a young couple that didn’t understand the value of food in this new world, that made eight women, ten men, and two children. Twenty in all.

Situated close to a lake, in a small field, stood the camp. The tents had been arranged in a haphazard circle around the fire pit. Some people had found fold out chairs on their excursions for food and those sat closest to the fire, along with two logs for everybody who didn’t get to one of the chairs fast enough. They had three vehicles in all; most of the camp inhabitants had come upon it on foot. One was a sedan, belonging to one of the two families, a truck, and a Jeep.

On the roof of the Jeep a map of the surrounding area was rolled out. Three men stared down at it, one circling spots along the road where they had found food and other provisions.

“That last one’s all cleared out,” said Jack, a former police officer, rubbing a hand over his jaw.

“There’s always Walkers there anyway,” said Ezra with a sigh. He was unbelievably tired, but he supposed he should be used to the feeling by now. If he wasn’t out getting supplies for the camp he was planning when he would be making his next trip. Apart from worry that his younger sister had been looking at Javier too much, there wasn’t much else to do.

“And we can’t go in this direction anymore,” commented Bill, running his finger down one of the marked roads. “Snatchers have started lurking ‘round there.”

“Shit,” Ezra muttered. “Just what I needed to hear.”

“What about east? We haven’t gone east since Maddie came back with that Carter kid.”

“Speaking of Maddie, where is she?” Bill asked.

Ezra scanned the camp, looking for Maddie’s dark, dreadlocked hair. She’d taken to piling it onto her head in a massive heap that could be seen across the camp. But at that moment, Ezra couldn’t see it. “Maybe she went to find that deer she saw yesterday. The one that bolted when Daisy laughed.”

Jack and Bill agreed that this was probably the case, and returned to studying their map. But while he was looking across the field for Maddie, Ezra’s gaze had fallen upon his sister’s slender frame leaning dangerously close to a much taller, masculine one. He made an irritated noise and strode toward the pair, fury brewing in his eyes.

When Javier saw Ezra approaching, he stepped back and grinned. “Woah there, no need to look pissed. We were just talking.”

“My ass,” Ezra fumed, grabbing his sister’s arm and dragging her away from the older man.

“Let go, Ezra,” Eden complained, twisting her arm as Ezra pulled her into their tent. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Eden? Stay away from Javier.”

“I’m not a kid, I can do what I want.”

Ezra sighed. “Please, just trust me on this one thing? You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

When he was satisfied that she wasn’t going to talk to Javier, at least for the rest of the day, Ezra returned to his Jeep. Jack had an amused expression, but Bill’s eyes were understanding. His daughter, Daisy, was only fifteen. With three males in the camp within six years of her age, Bill was wary whenever one of them looked at the pretty blonde for a second too long. Ezra had never wanted to be like that with Eden, but from the moment Javier arrived at their camp alone, he’d been suspicious. There was an untrustworthy air to the tall man, and his smirk whenever Ezra caught him with Eden was infuriating.