Rock and a Hard Place 11-The Church of the Dead

Rock and a Hard Place 11- The Church of the Dead-

            Gloria awoke lying on a cot in a candle lit room. Her eyes felt grainy and strained to remain open, fighting against the dim light. Where was she? Her last memory was of chaos igniting all around her when her group’s camp was overrun by walkers.

            How did they get past the patrols? People ran in all directions as a flood of walkers took the clearing. She could no longer tell the living from the dead and simply ran into the surrounding woods. Did she fall and hit her head? Gloria raised her arm to her head and found it bandaged with a splitting headache exploding behind her eyes as she sat up.

            “Shush dear. You need to lie back down, that’s a nasty injury.” A woman’s voice sounded from beyond the edges of the light.

            “Who’s there? Where…where am I?” Gloria asked.

            “You’re safe.” The voice said.

            “Nobody’s safe anymore.” Gloria began to swing her legs down the side and went to stand up but her knees gave out under her weight and she collapsed back to the cot.

            “Stop. You’re not well enough to stand. Lie back down, please.” The woman came to her side. Her clothes were clean and mended. There was no dirt on her face and she had kind green eyes and auburn hair. “My name is Clara. We found you in the woods on one of our runs. I’m sorry about your camp but the dead have taken it.”

            “Where am I?” Gloria asked

            “This is Eden.” Clara said in an airy voice and stood to retrieve a glass of water. “Here, drink this.” Gloria grabbed the glass as a strong thirst suddenly gripped her.

            “It’s cold.” Gloria said with excitement and gulped down the entire glass. “It’s been so long since I had something cold to drink.”

            “We are fortunate here to have many generators.” Clara busied herself around the room after opening a curtain and letting natural light back in. “Please excuse the darkness, with your head injury I didn’t think you could stand the bright light.”

            “Are you a doctor?” Gloria asked still sitting on the cot.

            “Oh know, but I do consider myself a healer.” Clara began to clean.

            “Clara, you said this place was Eden. What does that mean?”

            “Oh that’s just the name of our little settlement. In the beginning we didn’t have as much as we have now but we are self-sustaining and safe from the dead.” Clara spoke with a twinkle in her eye.

            “How are you safe? No one is safe from them. It’s only a matter of time before they get you.” Gloria thought back to Jennifer, her sister. Even with her military training, she wasn’t able to survive a horde finding their small camp.

            “We are. You cannot see it but we are on a small island and completely surrounded by water and since we have yet to see the dead swim, we have never had an incident here. Sleep now, umm well I don’t even know your name child.”

            “Gloria. My name is Gloria.”

            “Gloria, sleep.” She walked out of the room and Gloria heard the sound of a lock clicking into place. Of course, everyone here is safe so what’s the purpose of a locked door. Sleep however came easily and as soon as she closed her eyes, she thankfully had a dreamless sleep.

            “Good morning Gloria. Time to rise.” Clara was back sliding open the curtains.

            “What’s going on?” She rubbed her eyes.

            “David would like to meet you. He’s the leader of our group and he wants to meet any potentials we bring back.”

            “Potentials? What does that mean?”

            “Gloria, this world is no longer safe. Anyone who wants to live in our settlement needs to be screened as to their potential here. What skills they bring, what vices they may have, we can’t just let anyone in.” Clara said with a smile on her face as if she said it every day. Screening survivors before helping them? What happens to those who don’t make the cut? Gloria thought.

            “How do you know I want to live here?” Gloria cautiously asked.

            “I’ll show you.” Clara took Gloria on a tour of the island. She was right, the island was small and surrounded by water. She wondered what island she was on, she couldn’t see any mainland on the horizon. There were about 30 people populating the village including some children and one German shepherd, children and pets, two things she never though she would see again.

            They passed by an older woman moving a basket of fruits. She had splashes of gray in her once black hair and small lines were just beginning to form around her lips.

            “Nicole, please meet Gloria, she just arrived last night.” Clara introduced them.

            “Gloria, welcome. Are you on your way to see David?” Gloria wondered how this was common knowledge.

            “Yes, I guess so.” Gloria answered.

            “Such a nice young man, he saved my life. He saved all of our lives, we owe him so much. I only hope I can be useful to him.” That seemed like an odd statement to Gloria but she let it go as they continued on.

            It was tranquil here. They went about their chores, some were mending the small houses others were tending a garden and so on. No one looked haggard or weary from running and fighting to live. Oddly enough, Gloria saw mostly women and girls in town. Probably the men were in charge of weapons and protection while the woman did the laundry and cooked; sexism in the apocalypse.

            “We have a garden that yields fruits and vegetables, there is a small hospital with our own doctor; she bandaged your head. This island was used as a small resort back when the world was different so it has a fresh water supply with an underground pipeline that’s fed from the mainland. We have raised a few goats for milk, wool, and meat. We have been fortunate in finding this place.” As Clara spoke, Gloria found it hard to believe that this place could even exist but it’s what most people in her decimated camp dreamed about.

            An isolated land with natural protective barriers and fresh water? Almost too good to be true and there always has to be a catch. Gloria looked around at the scenic beauty of the island and wondered if she really died in that walker invasion.

            “How many people live here?” Gloria felt the need to ask.

            “I’ll let David answer the rest of your questions.”  Clara didn’t divulge any more information.

            David the leader, lived in hut on stilts at one end of the island. It was moderately sized and there was even a pool on the deck. This must have been the main resort housing that David happily took for himself.

            The main lodge was richly appointed with expensive looking rugs on bamboo floors, fine paintings decorating the walls and inviting sofas with colorful pillows graced the sides of a free standing fireplace. From the looks of this home, you wouldn’t think the end of the world happened at all, in fact it looked like this room was ready for a photo shoot in Homes magazine.

            “You must be Gloria, welcome to our home. Please, come sit down.” David sat on the main couch, he had coffee colored eyes and dirty blonde hair that was styled in a way that male models would envy. His clothes were free of stains, rips, and blood which is the uniform of the day currently. Gloria was grateful for her change of clothes as she would feel completely underdressed but a thought struck her, why was she worried about how she was dressed at all. Seems like an inconsequential concern now.

            “Have you toured our island?” He asked.

            “Yes, it’s amazing. And you’re able to survive here without any problems?” Gloria asked.

            “No, not survive, live. We live here without any problems. We grow our own food, have our own water supply, we have the protection of water on all sizes but we’re close enough to the mainland to make runs if we need to. We maintain a form of government with our laws and regulations to keep order and everyone has a job to do. It keeps everyone busy and our little world functioning.”

            “Laws? What kind of laws?” Gloria was intrigued.

            “You know, the kind that protect us all. Things like not going out after a certain time, no going to the mainland on your own without permission...”

            “Permission? And what about my weapons, they were taken…”

            “Yes, another regulation is no weapons on civilians, only those charged with guarding the island. It helps to prevent unnecessary violence.” David said all this with a smile but he was tense as if he’s not used to being questioned so much. Gloria felt uneasy and was starting to feel trapped.

            “Personally, I think to go without a weapon can do more harm than good in this new world.”

            “This world is what we make of it. If we want a world full of violence and death, that’s what we make for ourselves. Personally, I want a world of life and peace.”

            “But my weapons are …”Gloria stood up.

            “You are safe here, Gloria. You have no need for your weapons unless you are on guard detail which we have plenty of at the moment.” David stood up also and faced her. He stood a full foot over her.

            “I’m sure you’ll want to do all you can to become a part of this community. Going against the rules is a sure way of finding yourself back on the mainland, fending off walkers alone. You don’t want that life, do you?” He was still smiling, Gloria wanted to wipe that smug look off his face but the thought of being alone surrounded by walkers was terrifying enough to hold her tongue.

            “I’m sure we can find a place for you here but you have to want to be here Gloria and follow those rules. Can you do that?” Gloria said nothing instead following Clara back out of the house. When something is too good to be true, it usually is. Gloria thought.

            To be Continued….