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UNDEAD DIARIES
Chapter 8 text by Jenna Pitman - photo by Donald Holman
I’VE HEARD IT SAID that the right people will tell you everything you need to know. Unfortunately that means you have to know who those people are. I tried digging for the truth for about two weeks. I didn’t find anything of interest. Well… there were some random snatches of conversations but the biggest thing standing in the way of me finding out what I want to know is, well, me. I’m not exactly a good actor. Harton and his crew couldn’t find it in themselves to trust me. Guess I can’t blame them. I keep thinking that maybe it would be better for everyone if I just snuck in and killed them all. But that’s just the thing. I don’t know who “them all” includes. Sure, I might get Harton and his thugs, I might kill whatever Walkers they have trapped out in ring five, but what about the rest? Who is a victim, like me, and who is really helping them because they think they have something to gain? And how deep does this go? For that matter what is the “this” that they’re all concerned with? Obviously it has nothing to do with what is best for Haven since no one will talk about it. Fuck, we have Walkers within our walls and no one seems to care! What the hell is going on here? So today I tried something different. Today I went to the man who beat Harton in our election a year ago, when things started to go south. Last year, after They got in, after the mob scene finally calmed, a bunch of people began to demand that we have a real leader. Someone to keep us organized and to whom our security is top priority. More importantly, someone to whom we can pass the blame if anything goes wrong. Of course that meant elections and all the bullshit surrounding them. There were four groups, all fighting for control. Don’t ask me what those jackasses thought they were going to control or why they would want such a thankless job so soon after what we had all done, but they fought as vehemently as any slick Washington politician ever did for the simple privilege of keeping us safe. Harton founded his entire campaign around the idea of a ninth, impenetrable wall. They didn’t win but their idea was pounced upon by everyone and was realized shortly after the election was over. Of course the fragile trust we built our lives upon has been shattered, no one quite knows what to think. You sort of have to pity this man who has agreed to claim responsibility for us all. He’s agreed to step up and try to give us what we’ve asked for but none of us are willing to come forward and along with one another again. We’ve all pulled back in, like we were when we first arrived, so terrified of Them and what we’ve seen… It’s so hard, we’re the biggest danger to ourselves, you know? If it’s not because of the stupid things we do to compromise our own safety it’s because They are us. People can save you but they’re also your biggest threat. The man we chose to take up this burden is named Burke. He never gave us another name, which isn’t too unusual around here. He says that before the outbreak he lived south of here, on the coast. Even I can’t hold his ex-flatlander status against him, he proved to be an excellent tactician and survivalist. He might have lived on the coast but it was obvious he had spent time in the mountains. Most importantly he can make people listen to him. Since that’s what he’s doing here to earn his keep it’s pretty lucky for him that he can. He’s doing a pretty good job, all things considered. As best as can be expected. It was hard to find time to meet with him. He’s always somewhere, always doing something, talking to someone, always busy. It’s what he’s supposed to do but it makes secrecy hard. He did make time for me though. He listened to what I had to say. “In the fifth ring, you say?” he asked me quietly, as we sat in his new office. It was on the forest floor of the first ring. The tree houses are just for sleeping. “Yes, sir,” I answered just as softly. Already I knew that this was the right thing to do. Burke sighed then stood up to look out the window, “Harton is a dangerous man, I always knew we couldn’t trust him. But to bring Them, here, in these walls? That’s madness. Leaving through the ninth wall is a crime in and of itself as you well know. As is aiding criminal activity.” He gave me a long hard look next. I don’t think that it was a warning for me, I think it was meant for the people I’ve watched slip outside with Harton. But it’s not my problem. Burke said he’d take care of it. He will. |
