This is the sixteenth chapter of Wake of the Undead.
Four figures stepped out of the car. The driver was a tall, slightly muscular man. He had shaggy black hair, wore a leather jacket and jeans, and looked very stressed. The passenger was a shorter woman. She had long, blonde hair, wore a pink jacket, black pants, and boots. The two back passengers were another young, African-American woman, with short black hair and a white jacket, and a tall, scruffy, muscular man who wore a black sweater, black vest, and a gray hat that covered his hair.
The figures walked up to the gate, and the two groups stared at each other.
"H-hello," the driver said. "Can we...come in? Please, I beg you." Victor looked at Leroy, and then at Reuben.
"Let them in, Leroy," he said. Leroy ran up and opened the gate. "Follow me." The four, along with Reuben, Leroy, and Stephen, followed Victor into the lab. Ron and Theo ran in after.
"My name is William," the driver said. "This is my daughter, Quin, her friend, Hannah, and my friend, Caleb." He pointed at the front seat passengers, and the two back seat passengers respectively. "Our group was recently attacked by bandits. We were the, uh, only survivors."
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Victor told them. "I assure you this place is very safe, you make yourself at home. But, uh, first I'm going to need to get to know you all better."
"I used to sell cars," William stated. "I also used to build houses, but I haven't in a long time. Most of my family is dead; my wife, my brother. All I have left is my sweet, sweet little girl, Quin, here. I'll do anything to keep her safe." William and Quin smiled at each other.
"I'm just a regular teenage girl," Quin said. "I like shopping, I like music, I hate school, et cetera." Victor laughed.
"I'm pretty much the same," Quin proclaimed. "Except I belong in this world. I like killing zombies, I don't care if I die. It's not like this world will go to normal, there is nothing to hope for." She looked around nervously.
"I was arrested a while back," Caleb said to everyone's surprise. "I was put in jail for murder. But I had a good reason. For years, I was being followed by this strange man; said he knew me, but that was bullshit. He kept harassing my family, so we moved away. He eventually found us, and within a year was at my door again. He had a gun, and threatened to kill me if I didn't give him 10 grand. I beat his face in, got 12 years in prison, and got let out about 3 years ago. But I'm not like that anymore, I swear, I regret what I did. I just snapped, I was scared for my life, and the lives of my wife and son. I didn't have that kind of money. Doesn't matter anymore, though, they're dead."
Victor looked at Reuben, Stephen, and Leroy cautiously. He told the newcomers to go out and visit people, and they left.
"I don't trust these people," Reuben said. "Especially mister murder here. He's a danger, I say we kill them all."
"Hey, just wait a second," Theo interrupted. "There are two little girls there, and a depressed man. Just because one person was arrested 15 years ago doesn't mean they should be killed. He could be an asset to our survival."
"Theodore does have a point," Victor agreed. "But I still don't trust them. Theo, you have children in your group. That Cleo girl, and little Megan, is it? My group has children, too. I say we isolate them in the other end of town. Theo, Ron. How many zombies were left?"
"I don't know, about 30?" Ron informed them.
"Perfect. Theo, gather your people. Leroy, Reuben, go with them. Clear out another section down there. Block it off." Theo, Ron, and Reuben left, but Victor held Leroy back.
"Kill the convict," Victor muttered into Leroy's ear, and he left.