“Rise and shine, Campers, welcome to Charles Pinckney Plantation! The National Historic Site turned into a safe haven from the zombies. We hope that you all will enjoy your time with us.” Neo pattered around to the back of the truck and opened up the tow bed. Emery sat up and scooted off of me. I sat up and saw Jay try to wake up Bob, who was snoring and drooling on Jay’s shirt. Emery jumped off the truck bed and ran over to help Roy get Joey out of the passenger’s seat. I grabbed the coats and took Neo’s hand. I slide off the tow bed and when to help get the pile of grumbling people out of the middle. Jerry was the first to come out, then Jan, who was followed by Rosie and Jack. Margaret had gotten out on the other side to help Emery and Roy with Joey. Joey was dead to the world, the stage of slumber he had entered was so deep, I was a little worried that he would not be able to become completely unsubmerged. Emery didn’t seem that worried, so I felt a little bit at ease. Rosie bounced Jack up and down a little. Jan was resigned to staying against the side of the truck until told to do otherwise.

“Jerry, can you help me and Neo get the stuff out of the truck bed? We have a lot of stuff that I feel like would be rude if we made Neo do all of the work,” Jerry nodded and followed me to the truck bed. Neo was on the bed, scooting everything towards the edge so we could put the bags on our shoulders or take it out of the truck. Once everything was taken out, Jan and Rosie had come over. They each grabbed a few smaller bags and started heading towards the gate. Emery, Roy, and Margaret were carrying Joey. They all started shuffling towards the gates. Neo grabbed the last of the supplies that Bob, Jay, Jerry, and I weren’t able to get. He dashed to the front of the pack and started leading us to the inside. Neo had parked across the streets in the middle of some trees, maybe trying to keep the location of his beloved truck hidden from people passing by. A young man was standing at the gates, he was wearing a bulletproof vest and had the pockets of his cargo shorts bursting full with stuff. He smiled when we saw Neo.

“Neo! You brought some fresh blood with you? I didn’t think that there were any normal people left. Congrats, man. I think that the boss man is gonna be happy with you.” Neo stuck out his free hand and shook the guard’s firmly.

“He better be, he sent me out to do what I do best. Talk to people and give them a little hope.” I smiled at that statement. Neo was doing what he did best. “Hey, do you think that we could have a little help with sleepyhead over here? He lost a lot of blood, but I was able to stitch him up. He still might need a blood transfusion, though. Do we have the kind of stuff for that?” the guard shook his head.

“No, Boss Man stopped having us store blood because the smell just brought more of the freaks closer. We might have some stocks left in the back because it’s not like we could give it back, but I doubt it. I can help you guys bring him back, though. My shift is almost done, and once I close the gates again, nothing can get in unless someone lets them in.” Neo shrugged and let the guard walk over towards the trio holding Joey up. The man held Joey behind the knees and the back and lifted him up bridal style out of their arms. Roy looked a little worried as the guard started stomping over towards the door, but Emery gave him a reassuring smile that everything was going to be ok.

We followed the guard inside of the gates. The sun had set, so everything was dark and eerie. Lots of tents and houses had been put up over where grass used to be. I tried looking for the garden that my family would always stop by on our yearly trip to the plantation, but I couldn’t find anything in the inky blackness spreading over us. Emery found her way next to me and picked some of the smaller items resting on top of the mound in my arms. The gates closed behind us with a metal screech, and I could see the lights in some of the houses turn on. It must not be often that the gates are opened and closed. I think some people even came out of their houses, but we had no light to illuminate our walking. I squinted over at a little cluster of houses, and it looked like a man with a shotgun was marching towards us. I stopped dead in my tracks and Emery grabbed my arm. The guard carrying Joey turned around when he heard the sudden stop.

“Guys, what’s wrong?” He saw where we were looking and turned around. Neo was one step ahead of him.

“Arthur, is that you? It’s me, Neo! I came back from my scouting trip and brought back some new people, one of them is hurt so I got Blake to carry him to the medical ward for me. Please don’t shoot my new people, I actually like most of them.” Arthur laughed and let the point of his shotgun fall to the ground. Neo had spoken loud enough that most of the people heard him, and those who didn’t were getting filled in from the people who did.

“I didn’t even know that you were out on a trip, do you need help getting their stuff put away?” Was everyone in this gang nice? What was the catch here? I may have been thinking too loud because Emery kicked me lightly in the calf. I tried thinking quieter after that. Neo and Arthur started chatting, Arthur taking the things that were in Neo’s arms and Neo taking things out of Bob’s arms. Blake, the newly named guard, squirmed around a bit from having to stay in one place with a Joey in his arms. I felt incredibly rude for interrupting the catching up time, but If Joey was dropped in the slightest, Roy would have a meltdown. The last thing I wanted was for there to be another meltdown today.

“I am so sorry to interrupt, but I would really like to get my friend to your hospital. We’ve had a bit of a rough day, and I think it would take the edge off if we could get him to the med ward,” Arthur nodded so hard, I thought his neck was going to snap.

“Oh, of course. Lemme walk with all of you,” The pack of us continued our venture to the medical ward. Joey was starting to stir from his slumber, and he didn’t sound like he was having a good time. Roy started getting closer and closer to Blake, staying close. It was strange seeing Roy so protective, Roy normally tries to stay away from everyone, but it’s always been clear that he tolerates Joey. Once we were inside of the med ward, I didn’t think that I was going to be able to get Emery out. It felt like they had everything there. Actual beds, cabinets full of supplies, IVs with saline, it even smelled like a hospital and had that white-yellow glow to it. Emery was almost bouncing up and down in excitement at seeing everything. My arms were aching and my hand was throbbing, but I almost forgot about my woes looking at her. Blake set Joey down in the bed a nurse instructed him to, Roy immediately rushed to Joey’s side. None of us said anything, but when Roy took Joey’s hand, we all paused. I looked over at Rosie and Jay, they looked back at me just as surprised. Emery laughed a little next to me.

“I knew that he liked Joey, I just didn’t think he liked Joey that much,” I laughed a little too, but I tried to be quiet enough that Roy didn’t hear. I knew that he wouldn’t like it if he knew that we were all staring, so I cleared my throat.

“Now, I would like to donate our supplies to your group in exchange for becoming a part of it. I’m sure that my friends would like to ask for the same thing. What should we do now?” The nurse who was hooking Joey up to an IV piped up.

“It’s too late to talk to Kahale, so I suggest that they get put in one of those new buildings or in the underground section. Send the stuff to the shed and talk to him bright and early. He normally makes midnight rounds, so I’ll bring it up that there are new people, but they needed some sleep.” Neo nodded and Blake gave a tiny salute.

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Emery let out a tiny squeak next to me. Her face was tinted pink. I wanted to squeeze her shoulder to tell her that she was doing great, but my hands were full.

“Oh, honey, call me Maribelle.” Maribelle smiled and went back to checking over Joey. She didn’t seem to mind that Roy had Joey’s hand in a vice grip, and I was grateful for it. Blake said something to Neo about going back to his quarters, but I wasn’t paying enough attention to hear exactly what he said. The effects of the day were starting to catch up to me, and my knees were starting to feel like Jello. Everyone else started following Neo, so I was to follow. We were a decent way outside when I realized that Emery wasn’t with the group. I shouted that I was going back to the ward to see if Emery was still there and that we would catch up. I entered the ward again, and I saw Emery talking to a male nurse. She had a black piece of fabric in her hands and a smile on her face. The nurse had a bottle full of liquid in his hand, and he looked like he was about to give it to her when he saw me. He looked shocked and Emery turned around to see what he was looking at. The smile on her face wavered for a second and she said a quick goodbye before walking over to me. The black piece of fabric she had was back into the nurse’s hands.

“I was just making sure that Joey and Roy were going to be ok.” She walked past me and started heading out of the ward. My nose scrunched up, and I felt my cheeks get hot. Was it jealousy panging in my chest? Why did she look upset to see me? Why did the nurse look like he had been caught doing something wrong? What was Emery doing? I followed after her, and we caught up with the group. Neo led us to the storage shed where we all put back the supplies, save for our personal items.

“Ok, so now that’s done, I can show you guys where you all are gonna sleep. I do have to get everyone up early so Nestor can talk to-”

“Who’s Nestor?” We all turned to Jay. He seemed confused, and to be honest, I was just as confused.

“Oh, Nestor Kahale is the Boss Man. He’s the gang leader and in charge of everything.” All of our heads seemed to nod at the same time. It was comical how in sync we were. “Yeah, anyway, we got to talk to him early, so I suggest that you all sleep as soon as you get in your rooms. We can get clothes for everyone in the morning, so I hope that you call don’t mind sleeping in your day clothes. I laughed. It was a miracle that we were able to wash the clothes that we had, no one had clothes to change in and out of. Neo laughed too and started leading us towards the housing.