Rhys looked at the group of people huddled together from across the hall. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, from their occasional glances in their direction he could guess the topic of their conversation. "Just let them be." Kyle said placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning back against the chair just like his brother. "Just because you glare at them, doesn't mean that they will change their minds and come back to our side."

He snorted in response to that. "Even if they beg to let them back in, they won't be welcome." Kyle glanced at him from the corner of his eye and then ruffled his hair laughing. "You really need to control that personality of yours. I know where you are coming from but not everyone thinks on the same wavelength that you do." Rhys remained silent and didn't answer him. instead he narrowed his eyes as he spotted the group making their way towards them, with that darn Peter in the lead. Rhys decided to ignore them and closed his eyes. Kyle saw them as well and sighed. The group came to a stop before them and an awkward silence filled the air as both sides waited for the other to speak.

"Kyle." Mr Barns said acknowledging him. Kyle just nodded and didn't say anything. A look of annoyance crossed Peter's eyes, but he held it in and replaced it with a smile. "I need to talk to you about something." He said motioning with his eyes to Rhys, saying it was something to be discussed privately.

"Aren't you already talking?" Kyle asked ignoring the signal and adjusted his posture more comfortably on the chair. Rhys smirked as he heard his brother's cheek. Peter's complexion turned dark as he looked between the two for a moment, the anger obvious on his face.

"Fine. I need you to return all the guns." He said deciding not to beat around the bush. A loud laugh followed his words. Few of the others on Kyle's side came over to see what was going on.

"And why is that?" Kyle asked while kicking his brother to stay quiet.

"What do you mean, 'why is that?', of course it is to ensure that the order is kept, and weapons aren't pointed at innocent people. This is my duty as leader." Peter replied in a tone oozing with pride and arrogance.

"Why do you keep calling yourself 'leader'. It's as if you are worried no one would know your position" Josh remarked dealing a great blow to the man. Several people chuckled at that. His already dark face darkened further but a hint of red rose in his cheeks at the embarrassment.

"Enough with the nonsense. Hand over the guns." The ridicule was starting to break his patience. He realised that there was no point in playing nice and directly demanded that the give him the weapons.

"That's not possible Peter." Kyle responded. "Every single person in his camp has a weapon in their hand. You have no right to demand someone's guns from them just because you are the 'leader.'"

"When you were managing the camp all the guns were in your possession and now that the people put me on your seat you are trying to make things hard for me." Peter's face turned another shade red. But this time in anger.

"Back then, only we knew how to use them and not to mention that we were the ones who found the guns." he leaned forward on his chair. "You know what, I will be nice and give you mine, but kids will keep theirs'." Kyle responded unfazed by the words. Several angry words were heard after that. "When Kyle was managing, the camp had 6 guns. Three of which are already in your procession. And Kyle is even giving up his own gun, but you are still being so shameless.

"You should keep in mind that these guns were procured by us in the first place. So, you have no right to them.

"If you want some then go find them yourself."

"We had to risk our lives to get them, there is no way that we are handing it over to you."

Seeing the large number of negative remarks, Peter had no choice but to back down a little. "F-fine, then at least hand me some ammo."

Rhys's eyes snapped open as the man was still hanging around annoyingly. He watched their exchange with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"I thought we just told you that if you want something then you should go find it yourself." Luke hissed and shoved him back with a hand. The man stumbled back a few steps looking surprised. The people behind Peter reacted at the provocation. They stepped forward with angry scowls and sneers on their faces.

"Don't you think you should show some respect."

"you say you will give him 3 weeks to prove himself, but you are not cooperating at all."

"You people are making things difficult for Peter so that he will have a hard time doing his job."

Several angry voices shouted out. The group had their weapons raised and the air was cracking with tension. Finally, Rhys couldn't take it anymore. He stood up from his seat and with one smooth motion grabbed a hold of Peters collar, pulling him over.

"If my memory serves me right, you people didn't follow my brother's words to the letter while he was in charge. In fact, I remember several occasions when you mocked and defied him openly because you didn't agree with his ideas." Rhys voice was a hiss as Peter flinched in his hands. "So, you either leave us in peace or find a way to make us do what you want us to do." With that he pushed the man away from him as if he was trash. Several cheers of agreement sounded behind him. "Now go away and leave me in peace to rest. Oh, also Mrs Nolan said she wants to know how to distribute the tasks. You better think about that rather than trying to pick a losing fight." Rhys fell back to his chair and closed his eyes. "I should also mention that my team won't be going out on raids anymore and risking our lives" another round of agreements followed that.

Seeing that the situation was only getting worse and that the other group had no interest in giving in to their demand, they slowly dispersed shooting them with dead glares. Soon peace and silence surrounded them again.

Rhys was getting a fuzzy feeling in his head again. Ever since their duel, it was like occasional bolts of electricity was buzzing through his brain. It felt very irritating and uncomfortable. It wasn't helping his bad mood.

"Rhys don't you think we should talk about the zombie woman you found on your raid?" Kyle said returning to his relaxed state with ease as if he didn't have a war of nerves a few minutes ago. "You said Ash was the one who discovered her."

"Yes." At the mention of the boy his gloomy expression intensified.

"He seems to be a very intelligent kid." Kyle ignored the grumpy look on his brother and continued "Did you ask him what he thought about it?"

".... he said it could be from direct contact with an infected person during their incubation period. Like ingesting or touching their body fluids like saliva or blood."

"If that's the case, we have been quite lucky that such a disaster didn't happen with our group. In the future we would have to pay extra attention to quarantining people." Kyle said running a hand over his face.

"Yes."

"Speaking of Ash, I heard he finally woke up. What kind of beating did you give the boy for him to be out for 3-4 days?" He shook his head and glanced at Rhys who remained quiet with a darkened face. seeing that if he pushed him more, the guy would explode, Kyle decided to shut his mouth and leave him in peace.

Several thoughts and emotions were swirling inside Rhys's head. Anger was at the forefront. But guilt was pocking its head out and making it known. 'why do I need to feel guilty. He is the one who tried to kill me. Also, I gave him a chance to redeem himself. The duel could have been his ticket out. But the fool just stood there and took the beating without any complain.' Although he had given him leeway the entire match still left a bitter feeling in his mouth.

He didn't trust Ash anymore. Anyone who had their lives almost lost would not believe in their attacker again. Now that he thought about it, was Mike's death really accidental. Only Ash and Noah were there to see the incident. Noah had already given him a rundown of what had transpired. Ash was the one holding on to Mike. It could very well be that he had let go of his hand on purpose. Rhys's suspicion in the boy increased. Also, he gave him a strange feeling as if more problems are going to arise due to the boy. It made him very uneasy for the past several days.

As soon as this thought entered his mind, his entire body started shaking and an earth splitting headache followed after the buzzing of electricity in his head intensified. It fell and rose sharply making him gasp. It felt like someone had opened up his skull and was pocking at his brain cells with a needle. Cold sweat covered his forehead and dripped down his spine. And then strange foreign images started filling his head.

"Rhys! Are you alright?" Kyle asked seeing him kneel over in pain. His voice was laced with worry and a concerned look filled his eyes as he supported him into a proper siting position.

"I am fine. Just need rest." Rhys was distracted. He was watching with shock every image that flashed in his mind and he didn't want anyone to interrupt him, so he leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes pretending that the pain was nothing. 'he doesn't have any recollection of the things that he was seeing. Most of the faces in these memories were familiar to him. And each memory was like a fresh stab to his heart. They were images of his most painful future incidents. If this is the future that's to happen, then he has to change it no matter what.

--------

(Memories)

Rhys was feeling thunderous inside. he was brimming with anger, hate and lots and lots of pain. He just lost someone important and by the hands of that pipsqueak no less. He was regretting the day that he let Ash join the camp. When he approached them, all scared and shy, he had known at ones that he would be useless on the battlefield. Yet he was blessed with a power so great that his very existence was a blessing for them. Or so he thought. Now he was seeing him as a disaster bringing curse rather than a blessing. Anger again filled every fibre of his body. He hasn't felt so angry since he was 10.

All o f them in the base kept giving him sympathising and pitiful looks. 'Everyone has lost someone Rhys. That's how the world is now.', 'The dead cannot be brought back to life, but we are still alive, and we need you.' All those voices ringing in his head, patronising with him, and trying to console him, were driving him crazy. 'I never took responsibility for any of your lives. It was all Kyle. Not me. So fucking stop putting all your expectations on me. and let me mourn quietly.' He just wanted to scream at everyone so that they would leave him alone. 'you are all just a bunch of strangers who came together because of circumstances, so stop pretending to be my mum.'

'It is all Ash's fault.' He had already vented out some of his frustration before. The boy was beaten and thrown into the dark room. 'But I am still so angry. How is his punishment fair for what he did? 'He is dead so shouldn't Ash also just die?' Rhys grabbed at his hair and pulled. He was really starting to lose his mind. 'I need someplace to vent this pain and anger, or I don't know what I will end up doing.'

The perpetrator was a little bruised but safely tucked away in the room for the past week. 'With his power, the wounds on him will disappear with the flash of a hand. None of the damage done to him will stick for a long time. The power was the reason why I decided to keep him even after he tried to kill me. But now that power is becoming more and more annoying. If he keeps healing, then I need to smash his face in ones more. Let's see how fast you can heal.'

Having made up his mind, Rhys picked up his pace and started walking in the direction of the detention room. It was a building separated from the rest by quite a distance. The rooms there were dark and gloomy. Any sharp sounds that came from there would be muffled out by the distance so that the residents didn't have to be disturbed by any screams. Ash was the only one kept there at the moment. He knew that several people have constantly gone over to torment the little monster every time he got detained and Rhys had obviously turned a blind eye to it. It's what the boy deserved after everything that he had done, he didn't deserve any sympathy from him. Ash has quickly turned into the outcast in the base. As he approached the building, it was eerily quiet. It made him guarded at once.

Suddenly he heard a pained shout and a thud as if something fell to the ground. Alert, he quickly rushed forward and slammed the door open. The sight that met his eyes shocked him to a stop. His vision darkened on the pool of blood on the ground, then it flickered to the unconscious body on the floor. It had its eyes wide open in shock, a deep stab wound near its heart and no breathing. He rushed towards it recognising the figure and placed two fingers under the nose. Indeed, he was dead. He heard shuffling footsteps and his eyes snapped to the direction.

Ash stood there. His pale hands were dyed in red clutching a knife tightly in a defensive position in front of him. He had a dishevelled appearance as if there was a hard struggle before he stabbed. Bruises old and new covered his face and body. He was breathing heavily with a sharp glint in his blue eyes. At that moment he looked like he had lost all his reason and had turned into a rabid animal.

*

They were being attacked. This time it wasn't zombies though. Humans were against humans. The apocalypse makes everyone's heart dark. Not many had anymore problems killing. Zombie. Human. It made no difference. All of our hands were stained.

Gun shots rang loud and clear. Unlike the other times, this time they came with a purpose. Ash. They wanted him. they were babbling something about, a science lab, human salvation, cure and sacrifice. Rhys personally didn't care. He didn't mind handing over the boy if it meant a vaccine could be found. His nature wasn't like this originally, but he has already suffered a lot of losses under the boy's hand. There was a limit to his tolerance.

The question was, 'Are these people really send from the SAGE?' although he didn't really like Ash, he was still very useful. In the past month, he was able to save two out of 20 people who were infected. Although the rate was low, it was still something compared to the previous 100% death rate. Now the question is whether another base was just trying to steal Ash for their own purposes or if the were really here to collect Ash under the SAGE's instructions. If they weren't from the SAGE, he had his own use for Ash, as such there was no way he would hand him over.

Since they refused to prove their identity, Rhys obviously rejected their demand to hand over Ash as well. Thus, things escalated at ones to gun shots. in the midst of it, Rhys saw the boy being pulled away to safety by one of their own members. The opposite group was showing no signs of retreat. Even though both sides were starting to get injured, they still kept at it. From the corner of his eye he saw several of the other group sneak after Ash.

As soon as he got a got a chance, he went after them. But he arrived too late, yet right on time to witness yet another betrayal form the person he was trying to protect. Ash had his hand tightly griped on the sleeve of the man who was rescuing him. A gun shot rang loud and clear. The hand on the sleeve tucked. And the bullet aimed at the boy was intercepted by a flesh wall. The bullet penetrated deep into his chest and blood seeped out, staining the lemon-yellow t-shirt red. A soft groan left the paling lips.

The man had a pained expression on his face. He turned to look at the boy who stood rooted in spot before softly falling into his arms. There were stains of red on his face which splattered on him from the other. He hesitantly raised his free hand and wiped at his face, smearing the spots of red. He had the look of a serial killer who finished off his most recent victim.

*

It was very loud. Just morning and everyone was already making a huge ruckus waking him up from a rare good sleep that he had. "What's all the noise?" Rhys asked. No one heard him so he didn't receive a response. Groggily he stood up from his spot and walked towards the centre of the mess. There stood Ash. He looked very exhausted and sick. He was slightly swaying on his legs as if the room was spinning. He had heavy dark circles around his eyes, and he smelled of booze. 'Was he having a hangover?' but why were these people getting agitated about that. In the beginning, they had distributed the wines and heavy alcohol, one each to every adult. Who didn't need a break once in a while? But there were a few bottles left and they were kept in storage. There would be always that 'occasional someone' who came over and asked for a bottle or a glass.

So, it wasn't uncommon to see someone who had a hangover after some drinking the night before. While he was still pondering about the issue someone stepped up and shouted at Ash. "Now what do you expect us to eat? Grass?" the man grabbed Ash by the collar and was shaking him hard. After several more similar protest arose, Rhys finally pieced together the puzzle and realised what was going on.

Last night, Ash, who was in charge of the storage, invited a few people over and had a little drinking party. The group ate up several packages of dry food while they were smashed. While they were passed out, someone people sneaked in and stole another large portion of the reserved food. In the morning the storage was almost cleaned out and the people were hungry.

During the apocalypse, food was something that no one compromised about. Anger was clearly written across everyone's faces. Ash himself didn't know what had happened. Although he tried to deny it, the fact remained that he was in charge, drunk and that the goods were lost. No one admitted to the theft. Either it was done by a very large group or no one saw the sneaky thief. Either way all the blame was placed on Ash who didn't do his duty properly.

*

The horde of Zombies were after them. Rhys was running with his team he took out to raid. they were almost near the base. Once they managed to get through the gates, then they would be safe. The new base was secure and strong, so they could afford to lock out the zombies and not worry about a caved in wall. After running for ten minutes and fighting throughout the way, he finally spotted the outline of the wall in the horizon. 'Almost there.'

As they got closer, he spotted several people atop of the wall with their guns aimed. He breathed a sigh of relief. Now the sniper team will take care of the closing in zombies so his group can just focus on running. He picked up his pace and soon made it through the gates. His team was still several meters behind. He noticed that the sniper team couldn't keep up with the number of zombies and they were starting to close in on them. Rhys turned around and took up a firing position and aimed. Shot after shot left his gun and hit accurately at the moving targets behind them. Everyone on the wall followed his lead and continued to shoot.

But it was still not enough. The snipers on the wall were completely outnumbered by the Zombies. the runners had to stop and turn back to fight several times so that they wouldn't get bitten or scratched. They were not making much progress towards the gates.

Suddenly Rhys saw someone in the group get hit by a bullet. He hurried to look who it was, and his heart froze with fear. 'NO!' without a second thought he rushed back outside and started fighting. The one who was shot had already fallen to the floor. Right before zombies were about to swarm and bite him, Rhys arrived there and started utilising every combat move he ever learned. Once he got a bit of breathing room. He kneeled to the floor and picked up the man. His heart dropped further as he saw the clear bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. A HEAD SHOT. There was nothing more he could do. Without knowing tears pooled in his eyes. He picked up the corpse and carried it on his back as he ran back to the gate. His face was ruined by the tears streaming down his cheeks.

As soon as everyone entered the gates, they were slammed shut. "Who was it." Rhys roared as he marched forward with red eyes and a corpse on his back. "Who the fuck shot him?" everyone held their breaths as no one answered him. his anger peaked at the silence.

Before he could explode, someone came forward dragging a person by the hand. She tossed the person forward and he landed on his knees with his head down. Rhys's eyes darkened at the familiar mop of hair and swimming blue eyes.

----------

Rhys gasped again. All those memories showed him losing someone important and each time the perpetrator was the same person. A boy with fair skin and blue eyes - Ash. His memories felt like they didn't have any continuation. Rhys didn't know which of them happened first and which later. Moreover, he couldn't see the faces of the people that had died. All he knew was that the emotions he felt while he saw them die was very extreme. Every single one of them was a close acquaintance of his. He didn't even know if these images could be trusted or if those were just scenarios his brain created due to his anger towards the boy. With his current state of mind, he would place all and every blame on Ash in order to vent his frustration. Most probably that was the case. He has been very tired recently since he could hardly catch any sleep, the exhaustion must be starting to make him see hallucinations.

One thing he noticed though is that the buzzing he had been feeling for the past several days was completely gone without a trace. 'I mean just look at the boy, he hardly has the strength nor will to even kill a chicken. How can he be the cause for all those big shot fighters' deaths? And what's this thing with a power? He let the boy be after the duel because Ash had powers. Utter nonsense. The boy had no such abilities.'

His eyes flitted to the boy in question who was accompanied by Jule wandering around the halls in search of something or someone. Suddenly he sat up, "Who let him out?" He asked with surprise written all over his face. he had been so focused on his visions, that he was completely oblivious to what was happening outside.

"Peter called him over. It seems like its judgement time. Ash will be his first case after he took office." Kyle responded with narrowed eyes.

"He was already judged and given punishment. What more is to be done." An icy frost entered his tone. His focus completely shifted from the memories he was brooding over to the wimpy looking kid. All that he had seem a moment ago was immediately forgotten. It was all pushed to the back of his head, after all he still didn't know if they were actual events about to happen or his subconscious mind playing tricks on him.

"Well that was judgement based on the camps old rules. That's what he was dissatisfied in the first place. Of course, he is going to change things now." Kyle responded while giving Rhys a glance of surprise.

"Bullshit. That's utter nonsense. How many times does someone need to be punished? I already gave him the biggest punishment what else can he give him.?" Rhys looked like he was about to jump out of his seat and rush over there.

Kyle bit his lips holding back a laugh and then turned serious at once. "He could throw him out."