Free DEAD (Book 12): End by TW Brown

needed to be done in order to keep the peace.”
    “That’s bullshit. You put bands on people’s arms and have passed laws where they can’t own property.”
    “We are the only community in the area that allows their kind to live within the protective walls—” Dean started, but Catie cut him off.
    “Their kind?” She struggled to keep her voice under control. If she could do this without having to start her “reign” with a war, that was absolutely preferable. Still, she also knew the value of bargaining for a position. Right now, she was establishing her place in this man’s eyes. “Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?”
    “The immune are a threat to anybody that they come into contact with,” Dean shot back. “They are walking biological weapons.”
    “And I have no issue with making the public aware of who is and who is not immune, but to basically turn them into indentured servants, stripped of any position of authority—”
    “You cannot put those people in control. If you met with Elliott, then you understand why.”
    “I understand that he was the flip side of the coin to you. Both of you want to force the other side to take a lesser role. How can you not see that there does not need to be anything of the sort? The immune offer an advantage in this new world. But if they are going to be the ones put at risk, then is it not only fair that they be compensated?”
    “I see you have been digging around in things from the past.” Dean stepped just a few inches closer, but the threat was obvious in the gesture. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I suggest you let those sorts of things be.”
    “You were one of the names Sandy Bennett was going to reveal.”
    Dean stared for several seconds before a smile spread across his face. His smile changed to a chuckle.
    “Nothing quite so sinister, I’m afraid,” he finally said. “Although I do suspect a few people that might have been about to be exposed.”
    “So you had nothing to do with her mysterious death?”
    “I don’t think there is anything mysterious about it. She was going to rat a few people out and they shut her up before she could say their names and change their positions.”
    “But that is part of the problem,” Catie insisted. “The fact that they had a status to lose…” Her voice trailed off when he raised his hand to interrupt once more.
    “Listen, unless you can give me something that I can take to the people inside Montague Village, I believe that we are done. You have two choices from this point. You can either bring your people in and join this community, or you can walk away and be considered outlaws.”
    “Outlaws,” Catie laughed.
    “Nobody will trade with you, nobody in this area wants anything to do with your kind. You are pariahs.”
    “Now I am going to give you a choice,” Catie said with her voice calm, but brimming with her confidence. Dean started to laugh again, but her hard expression killed it before he really got going. “You can let all the immune leave with us, and I will give you an hour to remove their bands and send them out the gate. If you decline, then we will consider you and your community hostile and act accordingly.”
    “Accordingly?” Dean laughed, it sounded cruel and bitter. “I happen to know very well the people that Elliott had living under his umbrella. They were outcasts, weak and cowardly. Why do you think he never tried to attack me before? He knew that his people were not fighters. Maybe it is something in the genes. Perhaps the same thing that gives immunity is the same gene that makes people nothing but a bunch of pacifist pussies.”
    Catie took a step back and raised her hand. “Be sure, because I won’t give you a second chance.” She watched as Dean’s gaze drifted past her shoulder. She felt her stomach tighten as she hoped that he was seeing what she wanted him to see.
    “I seem to have underestimated you,” Dean finally said, his gaze drifting back