Thirty Four |

"Jackson and Aaron are currently in the infirmary with quite the injuries," Alana paused to take a sip of her tea, at her side sat Raymond with a health file, "shattered knee cap, ripped tendons for one, and a mouth with lost teeth – which also seemed to shatter severely cutting open his gums, which means if he does not die from infection, he will not even be able to wear dentures. Both boys are under eighteen – tell me, what warranted such actions?"

"Alana," Jax said stepping forward, however she placed her cup loudly down.

"I did not ask you," she replied sharply then turned her eyes onto me.

I swallowed harshly, and looked around the room. Or rather, her office. Fancy, elegant china tea pots and cups decorated the shelves on the walls and where the walls were bare graceful porcelain plates painted with flowers hung.

On one side of the room, me, Jax, Leon and Flynn stood – and on the other stood Landon and Caren. The two goons were still in Raymond's doctor's office recovering, and Cam had been too drunk to remember anything.

Alana sat at her cherry oak desk, reviewing what had unfolded last night – then she would decide our fates. Her eyes held no former warmth as she stared at me. I attempted to try and read her expression but it relayed nothing.

"What did they do to cause such measures?" she asked again.

I licked my lips slowly, "They reacted aggressive to us first. I only acted out of self defense. They walked over to our table when we were celebrating Leon's first task. They instigated the fight."

"That's bullshit!" Landon spat, curling his lips back.

Alana glanced past him, at Caren, "You were there – were you not? Did Jackson and Aaron instigate an aggressive responds from Leon's party?"

Landon spun on his heels, his burning gaze trained on her. However, her own gaze was on the floor – that didn't sooth me. Of course she would take Landon's side – I don't think there was ever a time she didn't.

"How can you ask her to validate Mira's story?" Jax protested, "She'll side with him even if it's a lie. Alana, Mira's telling the truth – take my word for it."

"The same could be said for you," Landon snarled back at him.

Jax tensed, his eyes narrowing at the man. A thick, heavy tension settled in the air as Jax and Landon stared down at each other. Beside me Leon tensed as well, and I wondered what Alana would do if a fight did break out.

"I-It's true," a soft whisper quickly had all of our attention.

Landon snarled at his cousin, "Shut up Caren!"

Her eyes widened as he yelled, and she took a small step back. Causing Alana to sigh loudly, the room grew quiet except for Raymond whispering something into the old woman's ear. I noticed Leon tilted his head ever so slightly, then smirked.

My brow rose at the reaction – could he hear what they were saying?

"Very well. Once Jackson and Aaron have recovered they will have two options – one: leave this town as I do not allow such behaviour," she paused to glance between us, "Or, two: they will be released of their defense duties at the gate, as well as all militia duties permanently. And, they will be sent to the farm for one hundred hours of community service."

"That's not fair!" Landon babbled, shock etched on his face.

She glanced at him coolly, "That is what happens when you break the law, my law. Be glad they began the altercation and not you. Or else I would be finding a new general. Keep that in mind."

His eyes widened, his jaw tensed, "Yes ma'am."

"Good," she replied.

I watched her and Raymond closely. She seemed satisfied with how things turned out, taking another sip of tea before leaning back in her chair. Raymond seemed the same way, pulling the file into a neat stack before closing it.

"You are all dismissed," Alana then said before looking at Flynn, "Flynn if you would please stay. As future doctor, I'd like you to look over your father's file – study it. Perhaps one day the same injuries may occur."

Flynn shuffled nervously, smiling slightly, "Alright."

"And Mira?" Alana called to me as we turned to leave, paused looking back, "I know you refused Raymond's aid for your side. Please be careful that it does not get infected."

"I will," I replied with a forced smile.

Only Leon knew it had already healed.

A week, went by rather quickly – everyone seemed entirely busy. Flynn was put in charge of overseeing Jackson and Aaron's health, which preoccupied almost all of his time. Landon and Caren seemed to be strangely quiet – although I noticed Landon refused to talk to her. Cam and Jax continued to do simple tasks, much like going fishing on the frozen lake yesterday, and finally Leon seemed to be spending a lot of his time at the farm.

This also meant I was alone most of the week. I didn't mind that much, I busied myself by cleaning the house and shoveling snow. Which, due to the constant storms, seemed to be every day. By the end of the day I was sore and tired, soaking in a hot bath for what seemed like hours.

Someone briefly rapped on the door, "Mira? It's getting late – are you ok in there?"

Cam.

I sat up in the tub, causing water to slosh over the edge. The water seemed to have turned quite cold, so I pulled myself up and out of the tub. After wrapping a towel around my body, I unplugged the tub and opened the door.

Cam looked at me mildly surprised, but quickly recovered.

"Uh," his cheeks turned red, "Alana gave us a task, she said she'll have your pay from last task too. I mean, unless you're busy – I think, I can do it alone."

I rolled my eyes, "No way. Let me get dressed and I'll be ready."

He coughed awkwardly, "Right. I'll leave you to that then."

I bit back a laugh as he quickly turned around. Waiting a moment until the coast was clear, then my feet moved quickly into my room – Jax's room. I let the towel fall as I searched the room for a pair of suitable attire.

Quickly, I pulled on my bra, panties, a pair of dark, black jeans, a long sleeved black, mesh hoodie then finally socks. I slid my butterfly knife into my back pocket before pulling my light brunette locks into a pony tail and stepped back into the hall.

I found Cam in the living room on the couch cleaning out a small, revolver. I cleared my throat as I stepped into the room, and his head lifted. He smiled brightly as I pulled my boots on and shrugged on my jacket.

"That was fast," he laughed shoving the gun into the holster strapped under his armpit.

I rolled my eyes, smirking, "Next time I'll take longer just for you."

"That's very thoughtful of you," he teased nudging his shoulder into mine before pulling on his own boots and his winter coat.

We stepped out onto the porch and I breathed the brisk, fresh air in. The sun was shining today, the snow was melting only slightly. It was a nice day out, besides the layer of slush on the pavement, and occasional puddle.

"What's the task?" I asked Cam as we began the walk towards the main gates.

"Cleaning the fence. Apparently a pair of zom came from down the river and when they got out of the water, they froze to the fence near the apple trees outside of town."

"Does this happen a lot in the winter?" I gasped mildly surprised.

He nodded, "Every year we always have ones either froze in the river or once they leave the river. Bright side, being frozen makes them super slow – once one was so frozen when Jax hit it the thing shattered!"

That was something I'd like to see.

Dad and I tend to stick to buildings in the winter – it was too cold to be outside and besides the crunching of snow it was hard to listen for them. Back then it was the only time we were around buildings. Although, every year we'd tend to stay in the same building – it was an old community center with its own crank generator and water tank.

In the fall Dad and I would fill the tank and get the generator filled with oil, not to mention make sure all the windows were boarded up. Come winter, we had heat and running water. Sometimes it was hard, we would have to search the place top to bottom every day to make sure it was safe.

That seemed like forever ago now.

"We should take the horses," Cam said suddenly, drawing me from my thoughts.

I looked up to see we were already at the entrance point. My head jerked, nodding at him as I agreed. The horses would also help to keep an ear out for danger. Horses could definitely hear much better than any of us.

"We'll take Baby? Unless you want your own?" he asked as we got to the stables.

My eyes grew as I shook my head. There was no way I was riding my own horse – I still hadn't learned how to tame the massive, gentle beasts. Cam laughed then walked off leaving me at the entrance by myself.

"Mira – what are you doing here?"

I turned to face Caren with a scowl. Definitely wasn't expecting her to be here, but now that she was I realized I had nothing to say to the woman. It was true that I was grateful she had gone against Landon with the whole 'Jackson and Aaron' issue but that was only the truth.

I would not be thankful for her being a decent human being.

"I don't owe you any explanation," I replied in a clipped tone.

Her eyes widened, as her back straightened, "I'm still assistant general – when I ask a question you must answer. That's how it works, especially when you walk into my stable."

My eyes narrowed as I stared at her. The longer I looked, the more her hard resolve broke down and her eyes darted down to stare at the floor. A tang of guilt hit my heart and I found my mouth opening to, perhaps sooth her.

"Mira!" Cam called suddenly. I turned, to see him walking towards us with the spotted horse's reins in his hands, "We can head out now."

I smiled at the gentle beast, she wore wool leg warmers above her hooves, with some sort of wool horse jacket under her saddle. No doubt the horse was nice and toasty, not to mention very fashionable.

Cam walked over, spotting Caren before stopping beside me to stare at Landon's cousin, "We have Alana's clearance – is there a problem?"

His cool tone surprised me – for a brief moment he reminded me of Jax – his eyes hard as he stared at Caren. She looked at him, her own gaze equally as icy then shook her head. I turned my body no longer feeling any threat and ran my palm down Baby's muzzle.

Her ears twitched, and she blew out a gust of air from her nostrils into my face. I giggled, moving to her side to run my palm down her mane then to the spot just under her jacket – right above the top of her ribs. The thick, shot haired skin expended as she breathed, it was a calm motion definitely.

"I'll get the gate open then," Caren muttered, reminding me of her presence.

My head tilted up to Cam who nodded tightly at her, "You should do that."

In Caren's absence, Cam turned to me, running a hand through his hair before giving me a dazzling smile. I couldn't help but return the smile and take a step back. He grabbed the knob at the front of the saddle – hoisting himself onto her back before his hand stretched out to me.

"Ready to roll?" he teased.

I rolled my eyes, taking his hand as he hauled me onto the horse – moving back slightly so I sat in front of him. Like I had done with Jax, I squeezed my thighs tightly around her ribs and wrapped her wild main around my hands to keep from falling off.

Cam tugged sharply on her reins, and Baby began trotting forward. Just as Caren had said, the gates were already open. In front of the road outside the open gate, a single zom stumbled forward before falling to a guard's riffle.

"You're clear!" The guard shouted to Cam before turning back to the snowy road.

Cam nodded, "Alright. Let's get this over with. Annie invited us over tonight for soup – are you down Mira? No doubt Leon's helping her make it as we speak."

I laughed as the horse began jogging out the gate then along the fence. Of course Leon would be with Annie. The two had gotten much, much closer lately. I wondered briefly what Noa thought of it. However, I'm sure Leon was pulling his weight on the farm and, with the season that was definitely appreciated.

"Annie makes some really good soup so I can't say no," I chuckled, tilting my head back slightly to glance at Cam's face.

He grin, glancing down at me, "You think Leon will move into the farm?"

I paused, turning my head away from Cam to focus on the trees in front of us. I could say nothing because I hadn't told him or Jax that Leon and I would be leaving soon. I had promised Leon my assistance – I couldn't break that promise and I knew Leon could not stay here forever.

It was too dangerous for the town.

Lucky for me, I didn't have to say anything as we had hit the bend of the river where it cut through the town's fence and broke off towards the town's water wheel. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and gave the reins another tug before Baby slowed into a trot.

If the river had been frozen before – it was not any longer, churning with cold water no doubt. Baby however, didn't give any sign of this bothering her as she walked through the shallow river to the patch of apple trees.

There, stood one zom who seemed to have part of it's leg frozen to the fence. Cam pulled on Baby's reins hard now, before all but jumping right off her back. I watched him with confusion and worry as his head swung panicked.

"What's wrong?" I asked sliding off Baby's back and stumbling to stand on my legs.

He blinked over at me, "Can you get the one at the fence? The other must have broken free – I have to find it before it does any damage."

I nodded with wide eyes, "Be careful."

"Of course," he laughed before turning towards the lake and taking off.

I pulled Baby's reins over to a tree before tying her loosely to the trunk before turning my attention back to the fence zom. He wasn't as grotesque as he could have been – his body was pale with a faint tint of blue no doubt from the cold.

He wore khaki shorts with a black tank top – one eye was gone, and he had a long gash down his front where his organs seemed to hang – now with little icicles attached to them. His bare foot was frozen to the bottom of the fence – a layer of ice seemed to cover his entire body, and his foot was no exception.

I sighed softly, the sound caught the zoms attention as it turned slightly – slowly, and raised one arm towards me. It's jaw opened then shut in a distorted manor yet it made no noise. I realized, this might be due to the cold – maybe it's tangled voice box was frozen solid?

That was an entertaining thought.

I moved towards it quickly, shoving my hand into my back pocket to withdraw my knife before unsheathing it and digging the blade into it's forehead. The jaw jerked once, then twice, then the zom slumped onto the frozen ground – it's foot still stuck.

Satisfied by how easy it was, I brought my own foot down to stomp heavily on it's frozen limb. Sure enough, the ice cracked then shattered – allowing me to dig my knife in between the metal fence and the foot.

As soon as it came loose, I dragged the body away from the fence before standing with a frown. The ground was obviously too frozen to bury the body but I felt...dissatisfied with just leaving it on the ground.

Unfortunately I had no other options.

"Mira!" Cam called, I looked up to see him dragging his own dead zom – his a short woman dressed in jeans and a simple, dirtied tee – then place the body with the one I had de-stuck, "We should leave them here and tell the base where they are. They'll dispose of them tonight."

"Tonight? Why tonight?" I asked confused.

Something flashed through his eyes, before he spoke softly, "So no one will see the smoke."

The smoke?

Oh.

Oh!

A wave of nauseous hit me and I forced it down. I know it made sense – yet... such a thought just didn't sit right with me. The ground was too frozen to dig so burning the bodies was a logical idea. Logical yet... grotesque and smelly.

He cleared his throat, making me look up at those warm, hazel eyes, "We should head back."

I nodded, gulping down the lump in my throat. I untied Baby's reins as he mounted the horse before he held his hand out towards me. Smiling thankfully, I grabbed it and he pulled me up. He pulled on the reins and we were moving – back towards the main gate. Which was a good thing, despite the clear sky and radiating sun, it was still much too cold.

Lucky for us, Baby seemed also wanting to return to the warmth of the stables, as she definitely moved faster to get home than to gallop towards the fence. We made it back to the main gate in only a few minutes time and soon we were awaiting the gate to reopen.

It swung open in a moment, before a guard stepped forward, blocking our way. Cam pulled Baby to a stop to peer down at the guard with a puzzled expression. The guard seemed to give Cam an apologetic smile before moving slightly to the side of the gate.

"You'll have to unmount here. We have direct orders to escort to you to the base for physical examinations," the guard said.

Cam frowned, "What? Why?"

"Someone claims they saw Mira tussle with a zom – they think she might have been bitten. Since you're with her, you both need to be stripped," the guard replied looking us over.

Cam sighed, sliding off Baby, "Let me guess – you can't tell us who made such a statement either?"

"Sorry Cam."

"Its fine, we have no bite to hide," he grumbled obviously annoyed.

I frowned but followed suit sliding off Baby's saddle. Lucky for me, it would seem I was getting better at getting off the gentle beasts. I barely stumbled as my feet hit the ground and hid my grin as I followed Cam who followed the guard.

Two other guards stepped out to flank me and Cam while another stepped past us to grab Baby's reins. True to his words, we were escorted silently into the base tent where we were separated into two separate quarters.

The guard who had escorted me gestured to the cot and I hesitantly sat down before he left – pulling the curtain around the section as if to give me privacy. Once he did that I untied my boots, letting them fall onto the ground then reached to pull my jacket and shirt off.

The curtain moved as someone entered the room and I sighed, "Raymond I don't think this is necessary. Honestly the zom was stuck to the fence – there was no scuffle."

"I'll be the judge of that," Landon replied smugly.

My head shot up as I moved to cover my chest with my discarded shirt, a glare growing on my face, "Where's Raymond?"

"Seeing to Cameron. Funny how things work out," he replied.

I sighed loudly, "Why are you so antagonizing? Fuck off, like do you have nothing better to do? Let me guess, you also made the comment about the scuffle? How creative."

His eyes narrowed and he darted forward to grab my chin, "Listen here bitch. I've worked as hard as everyone else here – I deserve my position and I won't have you ruining that! First Alban wanted Jax to take over for him. I deserved that spot not Jax. You know how much it killed me to kill him? He was like a father to us!"

"You're a damn coward," I replied coolly.

Pulling my face