Day's End

Three Spires

"I think we should kill her," was the phrase that only earned a whole-hearted slap across the face and a nasty look from Sidney. Hailey wasn't phased in the least and attempted to justify his rash proposition. "Listen, Sidney, I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that she's gone crazy." 
"What will we do without her? If she dies, and we find out that Lea is dead, who will know what to do with the cure? How to make it?" Sidney shot back. "I'm tired, okay? Let's just take Jenna back to her group and get moving to New York."
"You at least see what I mean, right?" 
        Sidney looked down and walked away, offering only that in response; they knew that Ren wasn't okay, but they didn't think they could go through with another one of them dying- not if they could help it. Sidney could handle Joseph; Maria they could just barely get over; Kegan choosing to leave them crossed the line, and Rose really hit them hard. Just thinking of those names made them want to fall to their knees and sob, but they knew they shouldn't. "They should be coming back soon," Sidney spoke up. "Get ready to leave." 
        Ren had taken Jenna hunting; she was really hell bent on not taking her eye off of the girl. Sure, they'd been together for nearly a month, but Ren still didn't trust her. All she wanted was their supplies; that was all she needed. Of course, if they refused, she wouldn't hesitate to use force. She didn't feel guilty; she shouldn't feel guilty. It was what she needed to do. 
        Dwelling on thoughts of their home always brought a deep, hollow feeling in their chest, which Sidney guessed meant they were homesick. They'd never felt homesickness before, not until they actually had time to think about it. They didn't bother when they were with Rose, but now they felt like they were surrounded by strangers and would do anything to get away from the reality of their situation. Sidney didn't want to go to New York. They didn't care if Ren would eventually save the world and they would miss it. They didn't care if they would die along the way. They wanted to go home. "Hey, Hailey?" Sidney borderline whispered. 
"Something wrong, Sid'?" He asked.
"I was thinking about what you said earlier. I don't think we should kill her, but I think we should just leave," they admitted, nervously keeping their gaze focused on a centipede that had crawled up on the log they seated themselves. 
"That's better, eh? Now?" 
They thought, deeply but quickly. "Yeah.. Now." 
        No one would hit a kid, so Hailey was the chosen one for the brief wrath of Micheal's bat. To Sidney's surprise, Micheal hadn't erased their drawings at the very back of the writing pad that they had scribbled down so long ago. They were so happy to see Micheal again that they had nearly tackled him in a hug that would've knocked Sidney themselves to the ground. After a short while of being in each other's embrace, they both took care of Hailey's unconscious body, which Micheal apologized for in a hastily, sloppily written, 'Sorry'. And then, finally, he asked the question. The question being, of course, 'Do you know what happened to Lidia?' Sidney didn't hesitate to spill the story of everything that happened; his father, Rose, Dr. Winters, the Phoenix, stealing the horse, Jenna, running away from Ren; everything. Sidney ended up snuggling up to Micheal next to a fire they had started, although being next to Micheal in the spring weather was quite warm enough. 
        Hailey awoke only ten minutes later; at least, it felt like ten minutes to them, what with spending most of their time catching up with Micheal. "A community?" Sidney gawked. "You mean, people? Where?"
Micheal smiled and scribbled something down on his pad. 
"Three Spires? What a name. How far away is it? How big is it?" 
He held up his pad to show the newly etched words.
"Damn. Are you, y'know, a member?" 
Micheal nodded. 
"Can you take us there? How many people live there?" 
Micheal grinned and nodded, again holding up his notebook.
"Twenty people? I don't know if that's a lot or a little compared to how things are now, but I'd like to be a part of that. Is it safe?"
'It's pretty safe,' Micheal wrote down. 'A makeshift wall marks the border and circles the community.' After a pause, he continued, 'Though it's not much to look at. Just enough houses for all of us to share, a garden, and a place for livestock. The rest of the territory is uncharted parts of the city.'
"How soon can we leave? You wanna go too, right, Hailey?" Sidney looked over at the drowsy man. 
"Yeah, yeah. It'd be nice to finally meet some more people, and a community definitely sounds nice, eh?" Hailey offered an obviously fake smile.
"We still have plenty of daylight left, so it should be okay, right?" Sidney asked, energized by the thought of something new. 
"Yeah, but your friend here will have to lead the way. What's your name?" 
"His name is Micheal," they added. "He's mute."
Micheal simply smiled.
        The trek there was far from peaceful. Walkers littered the area; at every turn they were there, eagerly waiting to sink their teeth into the warm flesh of the living. Micheal explained that the community did this to scare or kill off any potential threats. However, any potential allies might also be killed, which was a downside he said he greatly disliked.
       Sidney had their doubts about leaving Ren behind and almost wanted to turn back and run to her, but they knew that it was too late. They were too far away, and they doubted Hailey would go with them. As harsh and as cold as she could be, Ren was still a survivor.
        Apparently, Three Spires was settled in the direction Sidney and Hailey had already come from, which Hailey expressed some frustration at. However, Sidney was too hyped up on the idea of a community to be disappointed at such a small thing as that.            
        Sundown is when they finally arrived at Three Spires. The entrance wasn't immediately visible, as the community was built further in. The trail to the wall, Micheal informed, should be safe; trained members of Three Spires were chosen to clear the area immediately around the path every once in a while. Still, he cautioned, they should watch for any stray walkers that lingered. When they really reached the entrance to Three Spires, the sight was almost more that what Sidney expected. A wooden wall, crude and uneven on the top, stood as a barricade to outsiders. Sharpened sticks stuck out from the ground to impale any dead that wandered too close, giving it more than an unwelcoming appearance. A man and a woman guarded the outside of the gate; one wielded a knife, and the other held a machete. 
"Hey, is that Micheal? Micheal!" The woman yelled over. "Welcome back!" 
Micheal waved back at the two guards. 
"You brought friends, did you? Who are you?" She addressed both Sidney and Hailey.
"Sidney," they simply responded. 
"I'm Hailey," he smiled. "A community really is a nice sight."
"Do you know Micheal?"
"I do," Sidney quickly put in. "I knew him long before he knew you or Three Spires."
"Well, you'll have to talk to Alexander about getting in, but he's speaking to someone else right now. Don't know how long that'll take." 
"And who's that?" they demanded. 
Micheal put his hand out in a gesture for them to calm down.
"His name is Andre. He's the leader of another community that we trade with. They're brothers." 

"No, I wouldn't ever go back to that place. Why do you care?" Ren spat, slicing open the deer's soft underbelly. 
"We've encountered the Phoenix a couple times, too. What did they do to you?" Jenna asked.
"The burned down a forest and killed almost half of our group."
"But what about the community you were in? Why are they so bad?"
"I left Three Spires because I thought I was actually helping by leaving, but then I figured out what Nicholas was really doing. I left altogether because both of them are- They're not good. Now that Andre leads the Phoenix, I doubt they're going to split up anytime soon. We're not going, if that's what you're thinking. We're just about as safe out here as we are in there. Three Spires is dangerous. They're madmen."