Better Lucky than Good (Records of the Resistance) (15 page)

"Fine." Melanie replied curtly.

Clay shook his head in response to Melanie's continued combativeness. He knew that should he formally assume the role of leader, there would come a time when not everyone would be pleased with a decision that he would make. Although the debate had been an annoyance to Clay, he felt that it was important to remain receptive to the opinions and ideas of others. Melanie was in fact correct in her argument, in that every future decision he made would affect every individual in one way or another.

Clay's line of thought was suddenly interrupted by Lindsay who had been sleeping in the bed located next to his own, along with her daughter. The two had both sat up from their slumber and Lindsay had begun to run her fingers through the young girl’s hair in an attempt to unknot it.

"So, what's the plan for today?" she asked, while sleepily looking towards Clay.

Tim walked between the two from outside of Clay's peripheral vision. With his arm's outstretched into the air, he attempted to wake himself while on route to Lindsay. After sitting down on the bed beside her daughter, Tim nudged her gently with his elbow, inducing a tired smile from the little girl.

"How ya doin’, kiddo?" he asked quietly, obviously not intending to interrupt the discussion that Clay and Lindsay were about the embark on.

Clay had wondered to himself as they had travelled along the tracks, about the group dynamic of those who had been trapped together in the apartment. He had assumed that there would be some who got along and others who didn't. Clay had even expected that there may be some animosity between those who might have been capable of escaping the building had they of attempted to outrun the infected, and those who had refused to leave behind the several elderly members of the group. It appeared to Clay, that there was no paternal relation between Tim, and Lindsay's daughter, but had seemingly developed some form of bond. Lindsay had not reacted negatively to the addition of Tim's presence. In fact, she hadn't reacted to it at all, leading Clay to believe that Tim's behaviour was of the norm. Maybe the group had developed stronger ties than Clay had anticipated, forming impromptu family groups who cared for each other as if they were directly related. People had a tendency to react to high levels of stress in ways that are entirely unpredictable, leaving Clay without a clue regarding the group dynamic between the liberated peoples.
 

"We need to begin fortifying the building." Clay said, finally responding to Lindsay.

"Luckily, this store has a pretty diverse inventory and we should be able to find most of what we need without having to leave here." Clay continued.

"Most of what we need? What are we missing?" Tim asked.

Clay shifted his gaze towards Tim, who now had Lindsay's daughter resting her head against his shoulder. Other members of the group had now begun meandering towards the ongoing discussion, including Kevin.

"Lumber is the biggest concern of mine right now. We're going to have to start posting sentries on the roof top. But without anything to hide their silhouettes against the skyline, we'll likely attract all of the undead that we are attempting to look out for." Clay answered.

"There's a lumber yard on the edge of town. It's not a small lumber yard either. It will likely have everything we need." Kevin stated.

"Um... Not to sound unappreciative of being rescued, and having had been brought here. But... There sure are a lot of us living in a small place. Any plans on making our living quarters more comfortable?" said a woman who now sat on the bed beside Lindsay. Clay recognized her as being Kevin's wife.

"You're right. I'm sure we could all use a little privacy. Was anyone here a contractor in their previous life?" Clay said with a smirk.

Clay's comment had induced a quiet chuckle from those around him.

"Excuse me, young man." sounded a tired old voice from the back of the group.

Everyone quieted, allowing for the withered words to be heard by Clay, who craned his neck in an attempt to see who had addressed him. The group began to part, all of them knowing who had spoken and allowing for Clay to lay eyes on the man.

"When I was younger, I had been a cabinet maker." said the old man, who was sitting on the edge of the bed located to the far side of Lindsay's own.

"You'll have to forgive me, but I'm not entirely sure what that entails." Clay replied, unsure of how this man could assist him in their plan.

"Well, I imagine that you'd like to know roughly how much material you'll need before you head to the lumber yard. I've got more than a little bit of knowledge regarding that subject." he replied.

"What about the design? Any chance that you might have any input on that as well?" Clay asked, probing further after having begun to take the man more seriously.

The old man stood to his feet with the assistance of an elderly woman, who appeared to be his wife.

"I think I can come up with something suitable for both the roof and our sleeping arrangements." he replied.

"What's your name, sir?" Clay asked.

"My name is William." the elderly man stated.

"Okay, William. When we're finished up here, take as many people as you need to assist you. Try to come up with something quickly though. I'd like to head to the lumber yard, sooner than later." Clay said.

"Kevin, any chance that you could figure out how we can move a large inventory of lumber across town, in a single trip?" Clay asked sarcastically.

“Oh common Clay, that's too easy!" Kevin said coyly.

"We have a company truck parked in the warehouse. We even have ourselves a driver." he continued, while looking down at Tim.

"You're kidding, right?" Clay asked Kevin, incredulously.

"Been driving truck for nineteen years now..." answered Tim.

Melanie began laughing from her position on the bed behind Clay.

"You should have checked the list you had me make last night, before you started your little speech." she said smartly.

"I think you're right..." Clay replied, shaking his head.

The group who had now fully encircled Clay, had all begun to chuckle along with Melanie and Clay.

"What about the rest of us?" Lindsay asked amidst the group's laughter.

Clay paused for a moment before responding to Lindsay. He honestly wasn't sure what they should all busy themselves with. Then again, he wondered. Maybe busying themselves is exactly what they should do. Melanie was correct in her assertion, that Clay should have taken the time to look over the inventory that he had requested her to complete, prior to assigning jobs for today. However, even without seeing the list, Clay had known that not everyone would have skills that would set them apart from the rest. Even so, everyone could contribute in their own way, making every individual in the group equally important. Busying themselves was exactly what they should do.

"Look everyone... I'm not sure if there is a delicate way to say this or not..." Clay began, while sounding apologetic.

"There is no telling how long we are going to be here. Hell, there is even the possibility that we will never depart. That leaves us with two options, as far as I see it. We can make do as things are now and await either military assistance or eviction by the infected... Or we can accept that our situation, as distasteful as it may be, could become improved if only slightly by our acceptance of the simple fact that we might be stuck here for a while..." he continued.

Clay paused briefly, taking a moment to observe the group's initial reactions to his statement. He made a point of making eye contact with as many individuals as he could during the short pause in his monologue.

"... Not all of us are going to have the skills or experience that make us noticeably stand apart from the rest of the group. I want each and every one of you to know, that even the most seemingly meagre contributions are equally as important as some of the most unique skills. If we are to stand any chance at surviving the days ahead of us, it's going to be by working together as a community. It is paramount that each and every one of us feels as though they belong to this community." Clay said.

He could see that his words had begun to hit home with the group. Clay was certain that they had all been sharing similar concerns regarding the future of everyone present, and what their role in the overall organization of the group would be. Clay intended on making the hierarchy of the community plainly evident to everyone who was now listening.

"Now, I'm sure that some of you are beginning to wonder about the relevance of your skills and how they may effect your position within the community. The answer to any questions that you may have regarding this subject is a simple one. There isn't going to be any hierarchy. No one person is going to be more important than another, nor is any opinion going to carry more weight than another." Clay went on.

The gigantic building had remained completely silent, save for the voice of Clay. Even Melanie, who had proven just prior to Clay beginning his speech that she wasn't shy about speaking her mind, listened quietly. Clay hunched forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he continued to speak.

"Based on the information provided to us by the military, it appears that this crisis isn't simply a local affair. Many of those who survived the outbreak, haven't been lucky enough to survive its aftermath. Now, I'm not attempting to iterate some kind of 'we can build a whole new world' speech. We are in no position to allow ourselves the belief that we are building anything. It stands to reason that for humanity to survive, a population is required and we are a part of that population. Our focus is to be solely on our survival. We can survive by running and hiding, abandoning the weak and forgetting what it actually means to be a human in general. Or we can create a new home here and at least make an attempt to carry on our lives, despite the situation at hand. When I look around at all of you, I don't see a bunch of individuals in front of me, but a large family..." he said.

Clay was quickly beginning to exhaust all of the material he had on this subject, although he hadn't felt as though his words had carried the weight which he had initially intended. Moments such as this were the source of the aversion that he felt towards leadership. Simply put, Clay felt inadequate as a leader. Without anything more to say, Clay's pause began to become awkwardly elongated.

Lindsay was quick to break the silence in the absence of Clay's voice.

"I don't think that anyone could have said it better, Clay." she said.

"For anyone who isn't sure what do to, or isn't otherwise preoccupied, I'll be right here. I'm going to be working on keeping the children occupied, while starting to clear a space to allow for more beds. I'm sure that several people's sleeping arrangements had felt pretty awkward last night. Unfortunately, we lacked enough space to allow for everyone to have their own bed to sleep in. But before I do that, I'm going to see if there isn't a way that we can get some coffee on the go. I don't know about everyone else, but I've been dying for some caffeine." Lindsay continued, while looking around at those surrounding her.

The entire group who numbered thirty-five in total, uniformly began to erupt in a mix of laughter, while some began to comment amidst the noise about their similar desire for a good cup of coffee.

"Well, I guess that settles it then." Clay began.

"You all know what to do. If you don't, report to either myself, Lindsay, or William and we can get you sorted out." he finished.

Immediately, everyone began to form small groups, discussing their plans for the day. The once quiet building came to life with the people busying themselves. One of the young women had begun to gather together all of the children and lead them away in the direction of the building's toy department. Lindsay soon began to coordinate the effort, in which the people would begin their pseudo-renovation of the department store's interior.
 

Clay stood and removed himself from the hustle and bustle of the activities' epicentre. He was soon followed by Tim, Kevin, Mel and Mick, who all had efforts of their own to organize. They quickly formed a circle around Clay and awaited further instruction from him.

"That was pretty good." Tim said smartly, referring to Clay's speech.

Clay's response to Tim came in the form of a half-smile accompanied by the rolling of his eyes.

"Mick, are you ready for what we discussed yesterday?" Clay asked.

"Wait..." Melanie interrupted. "What did you discuss yesterday?"

"Grenades. We're going to need to start fortifying this place, which includes improvising some weaponry." Clay answered.

"Does that mean...?" Melanie began to ask, but was soon interrupted by Mick who cut her sentence short.

"Yes. It means that we're going need what remains of the outfitter's black powder supply." Mick said.

"And how do you suppose that you're going to accomplish that?" she asked.

"Tim and Kevin. I need you guys to get that truck ready to move. But before you do that, I need you to take everyone who is both capable and willing to fight, over to the hardware department. Make sure they're all adequately armed to fight the infected. Axes, sledgehammers... Anything sturdy enough to either cleave, or crush a skull." Clay instructed.