You Won't Survive Without Me

It was the morning. A cool breeze swept through an open window of the building in which I had slept.

I got up off the couch and walked up to the window. Looking out I could see a beautiful sunrise. It seemed like today would be a good day.

Opening up my bag, I pulled out a can of peaches amongst 20 other similar cans. These were from the grocery store. I pulled back on the tab and opened the can, the fruity sweet smells reaching my nostrils in a second.

I was hungry and so I began to eat. "I wonder how I should approach this," I asked myself internally. If I wasn't careful they may not follow me.

The peaches were a good choice. Not only had they satisfied my hunger, but were also delicious. Now I could leave.

I stood up and packed my things into my backpack. I then left the office area and walked down the stairs. When I opened the front door I was met with a zombie leaping towards me, mouth open and ready to kill.

It had taken me completely by surprise. With reflexes alone, I swung my fist at the undead's head.

*Crunch*

A loud crunching sound could be heard coming from the undead. Its neck had been broken and its head was hanging on by mere strings of flesh. Pulling out my knife I quickly ended the walking corpse.

"I think I know what comes first haha," I said out loud with a small giggle.

The best plan moving forward would be to clear out the remaining undead before anything else could happen. I hadn't seen many in town because of the Americans but it would be best if it was dealt with.

I continued to walk out of the building as I put away the knife I had just used. The streets were empty with only abandoned cars and rubbish which blew in the wind.

...

I could see the store just around the corner. It seemed as though everyone was awake already. Inside the building, people were moving around and eating.

I approached the door to the building. before I could open it, Zhang Li's face appeared in the glass.

He opened the door and immediately greeted me, "Good morning Crow. We are ready for you. The old man told us everything last night."

It seemed he had done it. The old man had done well. Hopefully, everyone else was as ready to listen to me as Zhang Li was.

"Ok Gather everyone at the entrance. I will begin in five minutes" I stated while leaning my bag against the door to keep it open.

If everything goes well, I should be able to build up this town's defences in a month or two. Everything required to do so was already in the town, all I needed was for everyone to follow me. This place would surely be a great place to retreat back to if I ever needed.

Soon people began gathering at the entrance to the store. They whispered amongst themselves, still not fully convinced of my abilities. This wasn't unexpected, however, as I am just a young person and in the crowd were multiple elders and adults.

"It's only natural I guess," I thought to myself as I overheard the people talking about me.

After five minutes everyone had gathered. The whispers had grown louder as the crowd had increased. In the distance, an undead had been alerted from all the noise and began to run towards its next prey.

*tap tap tap*

The undeads bare feet tapped on the ground as it ran towards the store. Before anyone could warn me, the corpse was far too close. It was surely my end, there was no chance for a normal person to react in time.

That's exactly what I wanted. I had hoped that the false sense of security would cause them to become louder. In turn, attracting an undead

In a split second, I swung around with my fist and sent its body flying. Its head had been turned into a bloody pulp on the concrete floor beside me. Seeing this, everyone became silent. It worked.

"You are not safe and without me, you never will be. I know what you are thinking. Why should I listen to this kid? Because I am the only one who can keep you safe. The simple fact is that you won't survive without me. I've proven myself to you twice. I want to help you, but I can only do that if you help me. Follow me, and we will not only survive. We will thrive." I stated with confidence.

Chatter broke out among the crowd as each person spoke their minds. The majority seemed to agree to follow me, but as expected some didn't. Among those were mainly the older ones who still believed they should have authority above me.

"I will let you all decide on your future now. Remember this choice determines your future " were my last words to the audience as I walked off to talk to the old man, Chao Chen.

As I approached the old man he gathered the three other men beside him. "These are the people who I trust the most to help you."

"Hello, you probably already know my name so may I ask for yours?" I asked with my hand put forward.

"I am Wenyan Huang, the towns head of police. This man is Feng Sun, the local head doctor, and finally, Fu Xiao is a trusted local fisherman." Stated a tall well-statured man.

While Wenyan Huang was tall, middle-aged and slightly muscular, the doctor and fisherman were older men who had begun to develop grey hair.

I analysed the three men which the old man had presented me. "Join me in the next room. We need to discuss things."

The three men and the old man all followed me to the nearest room. It was here where we would discuss the future of this town.

We all entered the room and sat around a large wood table. This must have been the employee meeting area.

Once everyone was seated I began, "Firstly I need to know more information. How many policemen, doctors and engineers are still alive, what's our resources looking like and what's the number of residents able to work?"

The men looked at each other and began taking turns answering. In the end, I found that there were six policemen, three doctors, two engineers, a total of 62 men and 67 women who could work. The rest were children and others who couldn't work. Not to mention enough supplies to protect this place.

Wenyan Huang looked towards me with a worried expression evident on his face. "Now that we have answered these questions, I must ask something?" he questioned.

"Of course," I quickly replied.

"Then what are your plans for our people? why did you need this information?" he asked.

"I plan to make this town a safe haven. a place where its residents won't have to worry about getting eaten 24/7. Think about this, we have all of the supplies, we have the people to do it, we have natural resources and a natural defence given by the river and endless grass planes which surround us. I will give you basic tactics while the engineers do the rest.

The three men and old man all shook their heads in understanding.

"Will you not be staying? is that why you aren't taking any larger roles in this? Asked the old man, Chao Chen.

"Ah, you saw through me. I will return once you are done, until then I will be out in the world sending people back here to help. Now does anyone have anything that they disagree with? I asked.

They all nodded no. My plan must be decent if all four are happy with it.

"Then let's go over the rest of the plan now."

This conversation lasted at least two hours. In the end, we were all on the same page.

...

Walking out of the room, I headed for the exit to the building. While I am gone, they will finish what I have asked and hopefully even more.

"I can only wait in anticipation for now. On the other hand... Yes, that's what I'll do." I thought to myself with a grin.

Walking through the streets I came to a car. It looks to be in almost perfect condition. Looking through the window I could see keys still in the ignition.

Opening the door I was more than happy to see an assault rifle on the back seat. Beside it were two magazines full of ammunition.

Sitting down in the driver's seat I giggled, "Haha what are the chances of that. Off to meet the president we go."

It was time to ally with someone powerful. The reason? They have something I want. Weapons and vehicles... military grade. With my help, they would be able to once again regain their strength and in return, they would surely give me what I wanted.