After Mike and I had deposited the resources, we gathered at the camp's kitchen. We headed back outside to gather more loot. The guards watched us leave as they sealed the barricade again.

Now, we planned on looting the houses ahead of the one we just looted. I was still shaken by the zombie sneaking up behind me. I didn't think I was that traumatized. I wonder how mom and Lucy are doing. Lucy's a kid, so she must've had it worse than me.

Fortunately, our looting spree went without any encounters with zombies. We had managed to empty out two houses. I tried to find any firearms in the houses, but I couldn't find any. The zombies were far away from us, so we managed to finish up looting faster than I expected.

After we gave the loot to the people in the kitchen, Mike and I went our separate ways. During all of that, I came up with an idea that'll let me arm myself, so I went to Mike to see if he'll join me.

As soon as I neared his staying area, I heard a woman yelling at him, "WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU NEED TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THOSE MONSTERS?!"

"BECAUSE I HAD TOO OR WHAT WOULD WE EAT?! Do you really want to eat that same slop every day?" Mike responded to the lady.

"Umm, is this a bad time?" I asked from behind Mike.

He looked back at me, surprised. The lady seemed to be above forty with a saggy short body; she was wearing an orange sunflower dress that went down to her legs. She had her hair in a bun. She had a worried look on her face, and I could guess why.

"Oh, hey Simon," Mike transitioned instantly into a happy mood.

"Is that the man you've been going with?!" the lady pointed at me angrily.

"Ma, he also wants something good to eat for his family, just like us!" Mike switched back to his aggravated mood.

"US?! I never told you to go risk your life for some goddamn piece of bread!"

"Ma, stop acting like this. I'm going with Simon for a bit." He started walking towards me.

"Fine! Since I'm wrong for worrying about my ungrateful son, go and risk your life!"

"Ma, for the love of God, stop acting like this. You know I'll be fine!" We started heading away from his mom.

On the way, I led him towards the mostly empty building, south-west of the base. The reason it was unoccupied by people was because of safety reasons. Most of the building was outside the camp and therefore out of range for immediate help from the guards. I say immediate because help too late will be of no use at all.

So most of the people unanimously agreed to stick close to the people with guns. The people that were physically normal were recruited by the families as guards; not all of them were given firearms. There were only so many guns to share, and I also looked around the base to find out the reason for the increasing hostility between the Bennett's and Johnsons.

Turns out, it was a battle for power all along. Who wouldn't want full control over the camp and the complete obedience of its people? It just makes sense for the families to be tempted by the potential command they could have if it weren't for each family wanting the same thing.

It's very likely that the base will turn into a slave camp or a bloodbath, and neither seems to suit my taste. Just when I thought we were safe too, realizing this, I've come up with a plan to leave the base and also be somewhat safe outside it.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The question is, will Mike agree with me? So far, it's clear that he doesn't particularly like the guards, but I don't know what he thinks of the families. It only has been one day, but I hope I can trust him going forward.

We had entered the building, and I planned on taking him to the roof. The building was empty beside the guards that were keeping watch outside of the roadblocks on the second floors of the surrounding buildings.

We had made sure to not alert the guards, as they were pretty close to the stairs leading to the upper and lower floors. After we finally got to the roof, Mike finally stopped holding back and

demanded.

"What's up with all of this secrecy?"

"Mike, I think after careful consideration that the camp may not be best for us." He just looked at me.

"But there's more," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I hope so!"

"Will you join me?"

"Firstly, where do you even plan to go?"

"Somewhere that is far away from here, outside of the city and the freaks."

"I don't think with the world being apocalyptic that you'll manage to get a ticket to go to a remote island."

"No! I mean the outskirts of the city, likethe country side."

"How? How are you even going to get there without being eaten alive?!"

"Guns, which we'll get from the families," Mike was bamboozled.

"How?! Don't tell me, you want to become their henchmen or something."

"No, of course not! We'll steal the guns." Mike gave up.

"Look, man, I appreciate you. You're a good friend."

"NO! Listen to me just this once, and if you still decide that what I'm saying is stupid, then I'll leave you alone."

".. Alright."

"The Bennett's and the Johnson's are going to cause a war in the base sooner or later, and they're going to fight to gain complete control over the base, which means you and I. You've already seen how they act; do you really want to be under their thumb just because you don't want to leave the "safety" of this base?" Mike went into contemplation.

"Neither of the families can be trusted; even though they might've been "kind" enough to let us in the camp, that still doesn't mean that they'll all of a sudden start caring about us."

"I see what you're saying, but the risk just seems too much."

"It's either this or slavery, which is it, and don't think about it from your side but about your family as well." Mike took a deep breath.

"So... which family are we going to rob?"

"Glad we're on the same page. We'll be robbing the Johnson's because it seems they have just enough to share with the both of us."

"The Bennett's definitely have guns too, sure not as much as the Johnson's, so what's the reason?"

"Huh, so you ain't just a lumberman; you got brains too?"

"When did I say I was a lumberman, and did you think I was stupid or something?" he responded swiftly.

"NO! I was just trying to make a moment like in the movies. Sorry about that."

"It's okay, I just get angry really fast, man, haha."

Some awkward moments later.

"Anyway, so here's the plan."