Free The Reanimates (Book 3): The Escape by J. Rudolph Page B

sit in front of the house you were thinking of buying and watch the neighborhood. You could Google the schools and the crime statistics and make sure you weren't moving to some psychotic place. Now we have to roll the dice and pray that we didn't just move to the middle of hell."
    "What if we are moving next door to the militia from hell, Derek? What if there is some local band of loons that are going to follow the guys to the town when they get the shipping containers together and hurt them? What if..."
    Derek cut me off there. "'What if' is a dangerous game, you know? You can 'what if' yourself to the point of insanity. Do you really see anything helpful about that? Now this isn't to say that you should never try to look at the big picture and figure out the potential problems and solutions, but if you let yourself go to that dark place where no one wins, all you’re doing is hurting yourself."
    I sat staring at the horizon for a while and watched as the sky glowed in the pinks and purples of the sunset and the stars began to appear in the darkening sky. A soft fall breeze blew by, carrying a few leaves with it. Neither one of us spoke while his words were sinking into my brain.
    "Cal, we'll cross problem bridges as they come up, if they come up."
    "Derek, what if we are leading the group to be slaughtered because we grew tired of living all together under one roof?"
    He sighed. "I know. That thought has been in my head, too. We very well could be. I have to believe though that there has to be more to living through the end of the world that just being on this side of life. What was the point of fighting to survive if we are going to live like rats in a nest, cut off and half starved? What kind of life would I be dooming my kids and grandkids to if we never moved beyond this little place? If we go insane being trapped all together with the sounds of the dead moaning and scratching at the fences, what would the point have been? We are caterpillars in a cocoon right now. Right at this very moment, we need this place. We need the safety of the cocoon, but the time is coming very soon that if we don't break out, we are going to suffocate in it. We knew long ago that this place was not long term sustainable."
    "Derek, you know you and Trent sound alike right now, right?"
    "Yeah, well, what can I say. I raised my kids right." He clapped his hand on my shoulder a couple of times. "Alright kiddo, you go on in and go to bed. You look tired as hell."
    I leaned over and gave him a hug and ducked into the house. I cleaned myself up and changed into my pajamas. I told everyone goodnight before I made my way back to my room and climbed into the bed. I was lying in my bed when I heard a soft knock at the door. I sat up and turned on the light before I called out to come in. It was Drew, looking very tired in his mostly outgrown pajamas.
    "Mom? Would it be okay if I stayed with you tonight?" His voice was soft and shy and very much reminded me of the little boy that he was. I pulled back the covers on Trent's side of the bed and invited him in. I held on to my kid tightly and we were both asleep in minutes.

 
    Houses in Order
     
    For the next several weeks, the wall team shuffled home once a week, trading people in and out so they weren't burning themselves out on the projects. After a month and a half, the first row of shipping containers had been collected and arranged around the town. They were still working on the gates, so things weren't quite ready to bring the others in. However, since it was close, I joined the guys, Matt, Lucas, Tyreese, and Trent on a run out there. I wanted to get a jump on cleaning out the houses that were going to be lived in. Louise and Kristen asked me to keep an eye out for a good place for them and to use my best judgment in picking out their homes. They had only one request; that they were close to the field that they were going to turn into a garden. There were several that fit that request, so that