Fred stared at the man before him, unflinching. "You will introduce us to Enoch. We'll talk to him and make a deal. Is that clear?"
The man sneered, ignoring Fred's demand. Harrison stepped forward and pulled Fred aside. "Let's try to talk this out differently, what if this Enoch is a monster?" Harrison suggested in a low tone.
"I don't give a fuck!" Fred responded.
"Fine then! But think about it," Harrison said.
Fred sighed, then nodded. He turned back to the man. "We're leaving tonight. Get ready."
Fred, Margaret, and Harrison prepared themselves for the journey. They left the others behind and approached the gate to Harrison community. Immediately they arrived to the community, that Man who stand at the entrance smirked. "It's not too late to turn back, you know," he said mockingly.
Fred raised his gun and pointed it at the Man's head. "Move, or I'll blow your brains out."
Harrison leaned in, attempting to ease the tension. He look at the Man, "What's your name?"
The man chuckled darkly. "Family Number 20."
Harrison raised a brow. "Seriously? Is that what they call you? Damn, man, that's meaningless! I mean tell me your real fucking name."
The Man look at Harrison and say, "That's my name!"
Fred didn't waste time. "Open the damn gate," he shouted.
Instead of complying, the man began whistling. Margaret snapped, "What the hell are you doing?"
A voice came from behind the gate. "Family number what?"
"Number 20," the man replied. The gate creaked open.
As soon as it did, Fred pointed his gun at the gatekeeper, who raised his hands in alarm. "What's going on? Why'd you bring strangers here? You known it's not allowed."
The man they'd captured shrugged. "They want to see the head of the family."
"Enough talking!" Harrison barked. "Move!"
Fred raised his voice. "Everyone here, drop your weapons! Any funny moves, and I'll blow this entire place to hell. Bring out your leader now!"
Inside, the head of the family, Enoch, heard the commotion. He paused the music he'd been listening to and stepped out of his room. His guards' weapons trained on the intruders. Enoch, a striking yet intimidating figure with a lean build and piercing brown eyes, surveyed the scene.
"Family Number 20," he said, his voice calm but laced with menace. "Why'd you bring these ants into my home? You know I hate visitors."
Fred didn't flinch. "Let the captives go, and we won't have to fight. Who knows? The ants you hate might just bite you."
Enoch chuckled, an ominous sound. He gestured for his guards to clear the intruders, but Harrison held up a bomb. "One wrong move," Harrison warned, "and we're all going down in flames."
Enoch sighed, snatching a gun from a guard. Without hesitation, he shot Family Number 20, which surprised Fred and others. "As you can see, I'm not scared of anyone! I love your courage, so, I'm inviting in, come with me," he said, motioning for Fred and his group to enter his office.
Harrison look at Fred and Margaret, then say, "I don't trust him, he just killed one of his followers."
"I don't trust him either, but let's follow him and be on guard." Fred said, as they followed Enoch to his apartment.
********************
Meanwhile, Jane and Cassandra arrived in Helen town. The streets were eerily silent, littered with corpses. Broken bodies, splashes of bloods on the ground. Even the air reek of blood.
Jane froze when she spotted a familiar face—a man shambling toward them, clearly turned. "Fred's uncle, Noa." She muttered.
Cassandra, unfazed, eyed a hand-band on the man's wrist. Without hesitation, she shot him, snatched the hand-band, and slipped it on. "We can't stay here," Jane urged. "We need to go!"
As they drove out, they nearly hit a boy, no older than 14 years, carrying a gun and a school bag. He look rough, and not scared, walking freely without minding been attacked by zombies. Jane braked hard. "Are you zombie?" she wondered aloud.
The boy look back and shake his head, Jane wave hand to him to come closer, and the boy approached them.
"Where are you going?" Jane asked.
"I don't know," he replied. "Just looking for the zombie in black that bit my mom. I want to kill him."
"That's craze boy! Those monsters are brutal they will kill you or turn you before you kill them." Cassandra said to the boy.
"She's right, you need to be careful." Jane back Cassandra up.
"Fine, but I still want that particular zombie dead." The Boy replied Jane.
Jane and Cassandra exchanged glances, stifling laughs. The boy piped up, "Can I ride with you?"
Jane look at him from head to toe, "Get in," Jane sighed after unlocking the car door. The boy was happy and jump into the car then close the door.
"So, what is your name?" Cassandra asked, looking at the Boy through the front car mirror as she was driving.
The boy introduced himself, "My name is Michael Hills, a high school student before this tragedy happened." He recounted how his military father had taught him to shoot, though he'd never been good at it. But one fateful night, he'd been forced to learn fast when zombies overran his community, killing his parents.
As they drove, Michael shouted, "Stop the van!"
Cassandra slammed the brakes and Jane asked. "What's that?"
Michael quickly open the car door and jumped out, aimed at a zombie in a black shirt, and shot it square in the head. Jane was amazed at Michael skill.
"Wow! Good shot," Jane praised.
Cassandra rolled her eyeballs. "Can we go now?"
Michael get back into the car. "Sorry, about that," he mumbled.
"Whatever! But stop jumping out of the car anyhow, if you don't want to get yourself killed!" Cassandra sad and speed off.
*****************
Back at the community, Enoch leaned back in his chair. "What do you want?" he asked. "Why are you interested in the hostages? Why should I let those people go? They're the reason for this mess. The zombie outbreak started in their town."
Fred spread his hands in the air. "Okay. Family Number 20 already told us. But blaming them doesn't solve anything. Torturing them doesn't stop the zombies outside. We need to figure out the cause and fix it. Beating them up? That makes you no better than the monsters."
Enoch narrowed his eyes. "You want me to release them? Fine. But only if you find a solution. Bring me a cure, otherwise, leave my community and never come back. Because if you do, you won't like what happen to you!"