As I wrestled with what we should do with him, the man trembled on the floor, his eyes like those of a trapped animal. The physical education teacher, the very one who had taught us about the Declaration of Human Rights, was now on the ground, pleading for his life. His eyes locked onto mine, and a flicker of hope crossed his face.
"Emily, please. Don't let them do this to me," he whimpered, his voice a pathetic whisper. "I… I only wanted to protect us. We were all scared. It was nerves, the stress. Please, help me."
A surge of revulsion churned in my stomach. Did he really think his words held any weight in this moment? That his excuses, his lies, were worth more than my friends' tears? My morality, the one they had taught me since I was a little girl, told me not to judge, to listen. But my instinct, my rage, screamed at me to ignore him.
He tried to crawl towards me, his body shaking. Out of nowhere, a foot came up and kicked him in the shoulder, hard enough to make him groan in pain. Tim. He still had his gun aimed, his finger on the trigger. The rage in his eyes was deep, brutal. The same rage I felt.
"Don't you dare get near her, you animal!" Tim yelled, his voice as hard as stone.
Alex walked over, placing a hand on Tim's shoulder to calm him. "He's not worth it. Don't waste a bullet on him."
Tim lunged at the teacher, accusing him of being a predator. "You were their teacher! You were supposed to protect them! You betrayed their trust!"
The teacher tried to justify himself again, with the same pathetic tone. "I didn't do anything! We were scared! They were scared! I just gave them a little... a little hope!"
That excuse, that blatant lie, was the final straw. The anger I had been holding back overflowed. It was no longer a current, but a wave that swept me away. The sobs of my friends, the bruised faces of my comrades, all merged into a single scream in my mind. I stepped forward, my hands clenched into fists.
"Shut up!" I yelled, my voice shattering the tense silence of the warehouse. All doubt was gone. The morality that had made me hesitate vanished. "We know what you did! Their tears scream it! My friends' faces confirm it! You weren't comforting them—you were preying on them!"
My voice was a roar. Tim looked at me, and the fury in my eyes was reflected in his. He put his finger on the trigger. My heart pounded fiercely, a mix of terror and a terrible satisfaction. Part of me wanted him to do it. I wanted to see this man pay. I wanted karma, if it existed in this new world, to be real. But the other part, the one still clinging to my humanity, screamed at me to stop him. We couldn't become monsters.
Just then, Alex stepped between Tim and the teacher. "Tim, there's no need," he said, his voice a shadow of what it normally was. "He's not worth a bullet. We'll need those later."
Tim looked at him, his eyes still burning with rage, but he lowered the gun. The teacher remained on the floor, trembling, but alive. The silence was heavier now, filled with tension and hatred. Alex looked at the teacher on the ground, leaned in, and his voice became a venomous whisper.
"Besides… I think, if he was already trying to save people, he'll be able to save a lot more out there in all this chaos."
His comment, loaded with contained rage, made me realize Alex's cold and brutal logic. But upon hearing Alex's brutal suggestion, the teacher completely collapsed. The fear he hadn't shown before, the real terror, took over his face. His eyes widened, his lips trembled, and for a second, it seemed like he was going to cry. But then, something in him broke. It wasn't a cry, but a desperate rage.
"You don't know anything! I'm not a monster! I helped everyone survive!" The teacher, who had been kneeling, staggered to his feet. "I saved the students! It was me who found this warehouse. I helped them get in when the military abandoned us and those… things… appeared. Where were you? I was here!"
My eyes narrowed. I wanted to scream at him. I felt a fury burning in my chest. His words were a poison that contaminated the warehouse air; each of his excuses made me feel like the world was falling apart faster than I thought. This man's cynicism was sickening.
"And… and I killed one of the students," he continued, his voice having grown firmer, as if he were convinced of his own heroism. "He turned on the first night. I had to end his life to protect the others. I did what was necessary! And you come to judge me?"
A snort of disbelief escaped my lips. I looked at him with utter contempt. My companions were the same. Tim stirred beside me, his fists clenched.
"What you did has no justification!" Tim yelled, the veins in his neck bulging. "That doesn't give you the right to…!"
"You don't understand. I didn't know what was happening outside. We were the only option here… They! They thanked me!" the teacher interrupted, pointing at the girls. His voice was now a murmur that dragged through the air. "The girls… they gave me their support, their gratitude… in an unconventional way, it's true, but it was the only thing I could do to keep them safe and with hope. You have to understand me."
My body tensed. My hands were shaking. Rage ran through my veins. I felt my body grow hot, my blood boil. I wanted to punch his face. I wanted him to shut up. His voice was like a drill in my head, every word a hammer blow.
"And those boys… those with the bruised faces… they were the ones who tried to attack us," he continued, pointing at my injured comrades. "They tried to endanger everyone. They wouldn't listen to me; they didn't understand that noise could attract more of those things. I made them shut up for everyone's sake!"
"You! Why did you take so long? Where were you last night? If it weren't for me, those things would have devoured you! You come to judge me, why? Where is your morality? I am the savior of these students!" the teacher tried to blame us.
The silence that followed his words was the heaviest I have ever felt. The looks of hatred we threw at him were a mix of fury and a cold rage that had no way out. The air felt denser, charged with a dark energy.
My friends had their fists clenched, their bruised faces a testament to what the teacher had done. My mind raced at a thousand miles an hour; the world had become a place where morality was a luxury few could afford, but this man's actions had no justification whatsoever.
I looked at Tim, his jaw was tight. His eyes burned with a hatred I felt myself, but he had no doubts. He wanted to end this. I looked at my companions, who seemed to have similar thoughts to Tim's. I looked at Alex. His expression had changed. First it was furious, but now it was a chilling calm.
I realized that his mind, always practical and calculating, was looking for a solution. Not just for the teacher, but for us. A solution that wouldn't end with more blood on our hands. I was surprised that Alex didn't seem more drastic, even with all the things the teacher had done. It didn't seem like his mind was contemplating killing him.
The silence in the warehouse was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. The teacher's last justification had been the worst of all, a mix of blame and a complete contempt for the lives of my comrades. The teacher, noticing that no one was saying anything, that the hateful looks wouldn't go away, that Tim was still pointing the gun at him, pleaded.
"Please! Don't do this to me!" his voice was a shriek. "There are still laws. What you're going to do is a crime. You'll go to prison, you'll be judged. They'll punish you for this!"
My fists relaxed. The teacher's words, so out of place in this ruined world, hit all of us like a bucket of cold water. Reality, the old reality, crashed against us. My companions looked at each other, their tense faces contorted.
The possibility that their actions would have consequences, that the police or military could arrive and judge them for what they were about to do, stopped them. They hadn't forgotten the world before. The world of laws and rules.
I also froze. The fury I had felt vanished, and in its place appeared fear. The fear of consequences. The fear of crossing a line that couldn't be undone. I looked at Alex. He was unmoved. His face, always serene, showed no reaction. His expression, of an almost icy calm, gave me a clue.
He wasn't thinking about the laws. For him, that world no longer existed. The teacher's words, for Alex, meant nothing. There would be no police. There would be no judges. The streets were full of zombies, and chaos was the only law. Just as no one would judge the teacher for what he had done, no one would punish Tim for what he was about to do.
Tim raised the gun again. This time, his hand wasn't shaking. He seemed determined. Alex, noticing his resolve, walked up to him. He whispered in a tone only Tim could hear, but I, being so close, caught it too.
"Tim… I understand your rage, believe me," Alex said, his voice barely a murmur. "But we can't do this in front of the students. We can't… we can't turn Emily into this."
The sting of his comment hit me hard. The fear of consequences vanished, and in its place appeared a deep shame. I realized how far my mind had come in just 24 hours. I was ready to let Tim kill that man. I was so consumed by anger, guilt, and fear that I had lost perspective. Alex had taught me a lesson in humanity, in leadership, without even trying.
Alex looked at me, his eyes penetrating. There was no judgment in them, just a deep understanding. He turned to me, his words an order, but his tone was gentle.
"Take them to the cafeteria. It's safe. Make sure the injured are okay. They need water and something to eat. And please, Emily… give them some comfort, they need to heal from what they've been through."
I nodded, my throat feeling dry. My mind was no longer in the warehouse; it was on Alex's words. To care. To heal. That was my mission now. I turned around and began to guide the group out of the warehouse, away from the tension, away from the hatred. Right at the door, I stopped and looked back.
I saw Tim, still angry, his eyes fixed on the teacher. The teacher, on the ground, with a look of hope, believing his life had been saved. And I saw Alex, in the middle of the two, with a mysterious look on his face. It wasn't one of fury, or of judgment. It was a look that told me he was in control, that he knew what he was doing, and that, in this new world, he was the one making the rules.
As we left the gym, the student who had been attacked by the teacher clung to me with desperate strength, her small tremors echoing in my body. It wasn't just fear she felt; it was the terror of a cornered animal. I guided her gently toward the light of the cafeteria, away from the gloom of the gym. She spoke in a broken whisper, her voice cracking.
"I'm so scared, Emily," she confessed, her warm breath tickling my ear. She pulled away a little and looked at me with eyes full of a vulnerability she didn't want to show. But what she said next broke my heart. "He… he didn't do anything to me. He just touched me."
Her words weren't to justify the teacher, whom she hated with every fiber of her being, but for herself. So that I would know, so that everyone else would know. She was scared, not of what he had done to her, but of what people would think. She didn't want anyone to see her as if she had been violated, and the way she said it made me realize her pain, her desire to protect her dignity. In a world where hope was fading, she was clinging to her reputation.
As we entered the cafeteria, the sound of chatter and the smell of food almost seemed unreal. It was a completely different world from the warehouse. And then, I saw her friends. They were sitting at one of the tables, their faces tired but relieved to be safe. When they saw her, they jumped up.
"Alice! You're alive!" Brody yelled, and they ran to hug her.
The tension she had been carrying all day finally broke. The tears she had been holding back now streamed down her face more fiercely, her sobs shaking her entire body as her friends comforted her.
I stayed a bit on the sidelines, my heart shrinking. I saw her friends tell her how worried they had been about her, they asked if she was okay, and they told her they would always be friends, no matter what happened.
The reunion was so emotional that I felt the need to leave them alone. I discreetly walked away and approached the table where Amy, Yuki, and George were. They had already seen the young girl and looked at me with worry on their faces.
"What happened to her?" Amy asked, her voice soft and full of anguish.
I sat down and sighed, feeling the exhaustion of the last 24 hours. "Luckily… it was only one day. The teacher just… touched her. Luckily nothing worse happened."
George reacted first. His face contorted with fury, and his fists clenched.
"Bastard! If I ever see him, I'll kill him!" he said in a low voice, but with a contained fury that surprised me.
Yuki, on the other hand, seemed terrified, her eyes were big and round, and she shivered as if she were feeling a chill. Amy remained a bit dismayed, her eyes sparkling with rage and sadness.
"How terrible, Emily," Amy murmured. "I thought the teachers would protect us…"
"Some of them do," I said, looking at the teachers who were with them in the cafeteria, trying to keep hope alive. "Tim… Alex… and the teachers, they're doing a good job."
We were in silence, each lost in our own thoughts, when Tim appeared. His face was tense, his brows furrowed, and his eyes still dripped with fury. He looked like a whirlwind, a disaster about to explode.
"What's wrong, Tim?" I asked, and my voice sounded calmer than I expected.
"Alex decided," he said, his voice was strangely loud. The sound of his voice made everyone in the cafeteria fall silent. All eyes were on us. "Alex decided to kick the teacher out! He won't kill him; he'll just throw him out of here!"
The murmuring of the people started to sound around me, some sounded angry, others relieved. I looked at Tim, who was visibly out of his mind. It wasn't normal for him to speak with so much rage and so loudly. Something was wrong.
Then, Alex's mysterious look in the gym came to mind. He hadn't hesitated to abandon the teacher, but he also hadn't made a drastic decision. Expulsion wasn't that simple. Alex wasn't being merciful.
Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine. Alex hadn't made the decision to kill him because that man's life was now much more valuable outside the high school than inside it. The teacher's life, the punishment that awaited him, would be much worse.
Alex wasn't going to kill him. He was going to condemn him to a certain death in a world full of zombies. And that thought made it difficult for me to understand Alex, his pragmatism, more and more.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
This is a long chapter again, but only because it's the weekend. During the week, it will be shorter since I'm exhausted after a day of work.
This chapter is a bit complex because I had to show a bit of rationality in a very tense moment. The situation had to show that only 24 hours have passed and that difficult decisions won't be made so easily.
By the way, for those reading both novels, the incomplete chapter should be fixed today, so stay tuned for a notification.
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Read my other novels
#The Walking Dead: Vision of the Future (Chapter 78)
#Vinland Kingdom: Race Against Time (Chapter 87)
#The Walking Dead: Patient 0 - Lyra File (Chapter 9) (PAUSED)
You can find them on my profile.]