Episode 7: The Evil Inside

Part Two

"Hints"

Episode 7

"The Evil Inside"

(This Part of the Story is From Jeff's Point of View)

I walked into the living room, where everyone still was. Jess was telling everyone how she found me when I walked in.

"He was just lying there, I thought he was dead at first." she said.

I stood by the door frame and cleared my throat so everybody saw me, they all looked at me. It was almost like deja vu, just a few hours ago I was passed out and doing the same thing.

"Wow Jeff, I like the new look." Julie said.

"Yeah, the beard had to come off at some point." I said.

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good for almost dying. Thanks for, thanks for saving me Jess."

"Don't forget to thank Terrence and Ryan. They helped too."

"Thank you guys." I said.

"No problem," Terrence said, "I wouldn't wander off into the woods again if I were you."

"So how's Mark doing?" I asked.

"He's sleeping now, but I think he's going to be alright." Jess said.

"He's not infected?"

"No, he still has a fever and his skin is pale, but he hasn't turned yet. I'm pretty sure he would have turned by now if he was going to become a strangler."

"I guess we all got lucky." I said, smiling.

"Everyone, I made some dinner if you want it!" Elise called from the kitchen.

Everyone left the living room and went into the kitchen. It smelled nice, I wonder what she cooked. Before Terrence left the room, I stopped him.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked.

"Yeah sure, what's up Jeff?"

"I'm going to make this very brief. Don't save me again."

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded on what I just said.

"Don't save me again, did you get that? I don't like being here at all, my damn daughter is out there. She is going to die if I don't find her. Hell, she might already be dead. If I leave this house, do not come and get me. I don't like you, or anyone else in this house. The only reason I haven't put a bullet into all of you people's skulls is because I have a little fraction of self control left, and I'm about to lose it. Don't save me, don't do it. Or I will kill you, and your wife."

Terrence looked at me in absolute horror, he backed away from me, and walked into the kitchen without saying a word. I let out a little laugh on how easy it was to scare him. I am pretty hungry, I haven't eaten in a long time. Once I'm done, I'm leaving. I wasn't joking about killing everyone here, even my own group. I've had enough with all these people. It's bullshit. I looked in the mirror, adjusted my hair, and walked into the kitchen acting like nothing happened.

I sat down next to Jess, and right across from Terrence. Mark didn't show up since he was still sleeping. Elise served some scalloped potatoes, and deer meat. I guess hunting pays off, because it was actually really good. Terrence would glance up at me once in a while during the supper, I would look at him too, dead in the eye. To show him I was not joking.

"Excuse me," Terrence said, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "I need to get some fresh air."

"Is everything alright honey?" Elise asked.

"Yes fine." he replied in a very shaky voice.

He slowly got up, he was shaking. He walked out the front door and shut it behind him. I kept eating, but I stayed on guard. I know he wasn't going out there for some fresh air. He was doing something, I don't quite know what yet, but he's doing something. I left my pistol in the bedroom, so I can't use that.

"Jeff, I promise tomorrow we will all go look for Kayla and Brandy? Okay?" Jess asked.

"Yep." I said, trying to hold back some really horrible things I wanted to say to her.

The front door slowly opened, we all looked at it. I was preparing for Terrence to do something. I was right, he was planning something on me. He barged in the room with a rifle pointed at my head. Everyone screamed except for me, I wasn't afraid of him. I was expecting something like this.

"Terrence what are you doing?" Elise asked.

"This piece of shit needs to go!" Terrence yelled, "He threatened to kill all of you people! He can't stay here! He's not who you think he is! He's evil!"

"Just calm down and put down the gun Terrence," Julie said, "Jeff is a very reasonable man. I'm sure it's all just a misunderstanding!"

"The funny thing is that he's right," I said, "It isn't a misunderstanding."

With that, I grabbed my knife from my plate and stabbed Terrence in the thigh with it. He screamed and fell down, dropping his rifle. Everyone at the table got up and backed away, shocked at what just happened. I kicked him over onto the ground, and pinned him down. I pulled the knife out of his leg and put it to his chest.

"Jeff don't!" Elise cried.

"Jeff you are not this person!" Julie cried, "I know losing your daughter out there is horrible, but we'll all find her! Together! You don't have to do this!"

I slowly turned my head and looked at Julie.

"You stupid bitch," I said, "You're the one who lost the kids in the first place! You were supposed to watch them and you lost them! Idiot! After I kill Terrence, you can get right in line, because there are a whole lot of people here I wouldn't mind killing."

"Jeff no!" she yelled.

It was too late, I lifted the knife up, and plunged it right into Terrence's chest. He let out a little cry, then closed his eyes. This was a good feeling, I haven't killed someone in a while. This definitely relieves the stress.

"No!" Ryan yelled, "You killed my dad!"

He ran at me, I turned around and grabbed him by the neck, I put the knife to his neck as well.

"Do you want to be with him?" I asked, looking him straight into his eyes.

"Dammit Jeff!" Jess grabbed her pistol and shot me in the right shoulder.

I dropped Ryan and backed up, holding my right shoulder. Jess kept the gun trained on me, while everyone else was still trying to process what just happened.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jess asked, "You asshole! You were once a great leader to our group, now you're this? We all trusted you here! You betrayed us!"

"You guys all think this is about trust?" I yelled, "You're all delusional! My daughter is out there, and all you guys can do is sit here, and eat, and take your time in finding her! I went out there, and you brought me back! You people are all selfish. I hate every single one of you, and I want to kill all of you, I've wanted to for a while now! You people can all stay together, and live your fantasy in this cabin! I need to go."

"Leave," Jess said, "And never come back. I've had enough of your shit Jeff. I don't want to ever see your face again, or I won't hesitate to kill you next time."

I was quiet for a second, kind of surprised on what Jess just told me.

"Take your shit, and leave." she demanded.

Julie ran into the bedrooms, and came out with a backpack. She started putting stuff in it, my pistol, some ammo, and water. She was about to put some food in it when Jess stopped her.

"No," she said, "He doesn't deserve any. He's lucky we are even giving him water."

I took the backpack, and headed out the front door. I knew I was never going to see them again.

(This Part of the Story is From Kayla's Point of View)

I followed Stan through the forest, Doug was shivering a lot, I hope Stan has dog food where he lives. Although I'm sure Doug can eat people food too, so far he has. He's almost eaten more than us. I reached into my backpack and handed Doug the last granola bar. He ate it pretty quickly.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Brandy, who was walking beside me holding his arm.

"I'll be fine, I'm sure Stan can fix this." he said.

"Don't worry young man," Stan said, "You'll be just fine, it looks like I found you three just in time."

"I'll thank you when he is saved, and I know this is all legit." I said.

"I understand, you're a very strong person Kayla. I'm surprised you people have made it this far on your own. I've never seen anything quite like this."

"So how much further?" I asked.

"Just past these trees, if you look hard enough, you can see my mansion overtop of the trees."

"Mansion?" I blurted out.

"Yes, I was a very rich farmer before this all happened. It pays off, since no stranglers can quite get in. Even if they do, the mansion is big enough to hide in. The stranglers will get bored and leave. I just hope no bandits or anything shows up."

"If they do," I said, "I'll kill them, don't worry."

"I like your imagination." Stan laughed.

"I'm serious, I killed those two bandits back there didn't I?"

"Well I actually killed Blake." Brandy chirped in.

"You get the point."

I looked in closer, and I actually did see a rooftop over the trees. It was nice looking, I was getting really excited each step we took. Stan didn't seem too dangerous to me, so I was starting to feel better about this whole situation. I think Brandy even looked a bit better, he looked like he had hope. For once in a long time. After a little bit more walking, Stan pushed through some last trees and the mansion was revealed. It was a nice big yard, and a big brown mansion in the middle of all of it. The grass was all covered with snow, but some grass was peaking out of the snow, because the grass was so long. Nobody has been worrying about cutting grass ever since the end of the world started. The mansion was huge, it had one big part to it, then two other smaller parts on each side of it. There were windows everywhere, and I had the feeling it had a lot of rooms.

"So it's just you?" I asked him, "Living in this whole mansion?"

"Well actually no, there is one more person living with me. Her name is Bay. I found her trying to rob me before this all started, I felt bad for her so I brought her in."

"You let a bandit in your home?" I asked.

"She's not really a bandit," Stan said, "Just a teenager looking to survive."

"Can we hurry up." Brandy shivered.

"Sure, let's walk faster."

We finally made it through the long yard, and to the front door. Stan opened the door and I walked in. I got a blast of heat and I automatically felt better. The mansion looked amazing in the inside. There was a big spiral staircase in front of me, and to the left of me was a dining room with a big table. On my right there was a living room with a flatscreen television. The T.V was playing a movie. I looked behind me to see Brandy, his eyes lit up. He was so happy. Doug even looked happy. A teenager walked out of the living room, she was really pretty. She had long blonde hair, and brown eyes. She was wearing a leather jacket and jeans.

"Who are these people?" she asked, pointing at us.

"These are some kids I found in the forest all by themselves. I decided to bring them in." Stan said.

"Cool." she said, she walked back into the living room and continued watching her movie.

"She's friendly." I said.

"She just has trust issues," Stan said, "She went through a lot before she got here. She doesn't like to talk about it much."

"I understand," I said, "There is a lot of shit that we've been through too."

"Can you fix my arm now?" Brandy asked.

"Oh sorry of course!" Stan jumped, running into another room.

He then came back with a first aid kit and some antibiotics.

"Take these." Stan handed two pills to Brandy.

He popped them without hesitation.

"Take two of these every day, we need that infection to go down."

"Come with me to the bathroom and let me clean out your arm, it may need stitches too."

Stan headed into the bathroom with Brandy, I was left alone with Doug. I decided to walk into the living room where Bay was. I sat down next to her, Doug sat on the couch next to me.

"Hey." I said to her.

She ignored me.

"Okay." I said to myself.

"I know who you are," Bay blurted out, "It's not practical for someone to just stumble across some kids lost in the forest. You are spies sent from Ryder. I know it."