"Reed's Rules" (Nature)

=Chapter 3: Reed’s Rules= Due to Elliot’s absence, the belief that Gwen had died, and Annabelle’s departure from the camp to find her stepbrother, Reed was now in charge of Camp Hackley. Several residents had joined since the knife war. The place was now far more welcoming and open, unlike when William ruled over it.

Reed paid a visit to the marquee hospital, “Morning Erica. Morning Tina.” He nodded at the two women, but they were busy treating patients. “Excellent work ladies, I’m proud of you two. Keep it up!” Reed left the marquee again, leaving the nurses to do their jobs. He took a deep breath and a sip of his fresh brew, as he watched the twenty or so camp residents working together. Some were constructing a house, others were constructing a market stall, while some were planting vegetation in the area which had been reformed into an allotment.

“Good morning sir!” The latest resident to join the camp, Jacob, walked past, carrying a log over his shoulder. “Morning Jacob!” Reed nodded at him, as Jacob headed towards the house.

“A very good day to you!” Another newcomer, a French man called Arthur, greeted Reed as well. “And to you my friend! A very good day indeed!” Reed held his mug out in a gesture of ‘cheers’, as he watched Arthur head towards the house as well, joining the construction team.

“Morning honey,” A woman with a Spanish accent walked over to Reed, kissing him on the cheek. “Oh come on, Agnes, you know there’s nothing wrong with calling me ‘babe’ anymore,” he smiled at his girlfriend, kissing her affectionately on the lips – they held the moment for several seconds, enjoying it. Agnes pulled away from him, “I would love to do this all day, babe, but I’m going on a supply run, remember? With Zach, Celeste, and Peter.” She turned to face the allotment, looking at Peter, a young lad who was maintaining plant growth, “Poor guy. He’s never been the same since the death of his Madre.” She felt sorrow for him. “Hey, one smile from you, I think that’s enough to make anyone feel good again.” Reed smiled suggestively at her. “Oh, you,” She laughed with him, “You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met.”

As Reed pulled her in for another kiss, she walked off, “Supply run, babe!” He felt slightly ‘betrayed’ by the lack of a goodbye kiss, but also felt better by the use of the term ‘babe’ towards him.

Reed looked back at the house, sipping his fresh brew once again, admiring the collaboration amongst the hard-working residents.

In the embassy, Monday was speaking to another man via a walkie talkie, whilst writing several things down on a notepad. “But sir, Sullivan is not a useful asset to us. I’ve witnessed many more capable survivors whom I believe would do a far better job in the empty space which he has left behind… Yes, sir… Well, Gwen for one. Along with her daughter, and also –” He cut himself short upon remembering Elliot’s value. “Nothing sir… No sir… I’m sure sir… Annabelle and Gwen… That’s correct… Yes, sir, far more capable than Sullivan ever was… Well, Gwen is a fighter from what I’ve seen… No, but as long as Annabelle is here, there’s not a thing Gwen wouldn’t do to keep her in a safe haven… That’s where my plan comes in sir… Everyone knows about the Reapers… That’s right sir, we can use them to ransack Camp Hackley and drive out all the residents… We’ll eliminate them one by one sir… Yes, sir… Thank you, sir… Oh but sir, I couldn’t possibly… Alright then, Leroy,” Monday had been given permission to refer to his boss in an informal manner. He looked outside his window, noticing drops of rain hitting the glass. “I’ll call you back sir… I mean, Leroy. My apologies, sir. Have a good night… Yes, sir, I’ll come back to Camp Leroy as soon as I can…”

Monday rose out of his seat, and headed over to the window. On the horizon, the evening sky presented a dark grey cloud, headed in the direction of Camp Hackley…

“Thank you,” Reed nodded appreciatively at the guard outside of solitary confinement, before entering the cell. Inside the compact and claustrophobic room, there was a middle-aged man, hunched up in the corner.

“You know; I remember the countless amount of days I spent in here. I was on a diet of basically nothing. I drank basically nothing. I was basically nothing… Truth be told, I honestly thought that I was gonna die in here…” He brushed his hand along in the wall, looking at it, as though he was mocking the hunched up man due to his freedom.

“But you see, that’s the thing about the guard I had.” Now, Reed turned to face the man, “An evil man used to run this place. His name was William. He’s dead now. As is his son – a kill which I take full credit for,” Reed proudly put his hands on himself in a sadistic-sarcastic manner.

“But here’s the difference between the time I spent in here, and the time you’re currently spending in here, Sullivan… My guard only knew how to torture me to the extent that I’d still be alive… Your guard on the other hand knows how to torture you to the extent that you’ll still be alive as well as making you regret every life decision you ever made… All the way back to the moment your pathetic soul was even birthed into this world. Honestly, within a couple of days, you’re gonna wish you could just climb back up inside your mother’s cold rotting dirt-covered womb…” He teased Sullivan in an attempt to get a reaction, but he simply was not responding.

“You can play the big man all you like, but this room will break you eventually. When it does… Oh, when it does, I’m gonna be the first face that you see. So take a good, hard stare at this face, because you’re gonna remember every single detail of it. Every strand of facial hair, every blackhead on my nose, every lash on my eyelid, everything… Have you nothing to say?” Again, Reed tried to provoke him.

“Are you a comedian, by any chance?” The man unexpectedly responded with. Reed turned around to look at the guard, nodding at him – unnoticed by Sullivan. “Alright then, I’ll bite. Yes, sure, I’m a comedian.” Reed egged him on.

“That makes sense, because… Well, you’ve got some really good jokes. You truly think you’re a better man than William ever was? It’s because of your group that the ceasefire between my camp and yours even broke down. So, you pretending to be modest, now that really is stand-up comedy worthy.” Sullivan remained hunched in the corner, staring at the wall, despite scolding Reed at the same time.

“Oh, you blame my group for what happened between Camp Leroy and Camp Hackley? Because that was nothing to do with us. No, that was all to do with William and Leroy’s pathetic feud. You had a weak ceasefire to begin with. Expecting such a futile truce to last…. Well, are you a comedian then?”

Sullivan smirked, and laughed lightly in a mocking way towards Reed. “You’re blind. All of the people here are blind. The Reapers… Think about it, why are they called such an absurd name? What are the connotations of a ‘Reaper’? I’ll give you ten seconds to get the golden answer!” He wasn’t taking the situation seriously; a vast contrast to Reed’s approach.

“Nothing? Fine then. I could give you another ten seconds but, I have a feeling silence would be your answer once again. Alright then, here’s the answer you should’ve found: The Grim Reaper is a symbol of death. It’s a superstitious belief shared by many people. It is alleged that the Grim Reaper collects you at the end of your life, taking you to a far worse place… In effect, it’s not just a superstition anymore. The Reaper drones… Well, they are the true Reapers in effect. Think about it. They can do absolute overkill. Being armed with rockets and bullets alike. It would be the same as the Reaper clawing you all the way to hell with its’ scythe. You end up in the same place either way. The Grim Reaper sends you to hell, the Reaper drone sends you to hell. You can’t out run either of them, Reed. Believe me, the Reapers are coming. Wait for the storm, wait through the storm, then hear the real storm. That low rumbling, it’s not the sound of thunder, it’s the sound of the Reapers!” Sullivan jumped out, throwing his hands out – only slightly startling Reed, but not very, as he already felt as though Sullivan was crazy.

“You’re a nutcase Sullivan. No wonder you came from Camp cuckoo.” He did the crazy gesture by twirling his finger next to the side of his head.

Sullivan began laughing maniacally, “Call me crazy all you like. Crazy! Ha!” He was going mad, indicating to Reed that ‘visiting time’ was over.

“I’m not crazy! I’ll tell you what crazy is! Shall I do that, Reed? Crazy is thinking the real storm is just rain and clouds! No, the real storm is Death! Death is coming for you! It’s coming for all of you!”

The cell door shut, as Sullivan’s maniacal voice echoed down the hallway outside. Reed nodded to the guard, who locked the door with his keys. Reed then headed back up to his trailer…

In Reed’s office-trailer, there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Reed unenthusiastically answered. The door opened slowly, as Agnes entered. Reed’s face lit up as his enthusiasm returned once again. “Agnes! What a delightful surprise!” He walked over to greet and then kiss her.

“Please, sit down,” he gestured to the chair opposite his desk, but Agnes shook her head, “Still haven’t been on the supply run I’m afraid.” She laughed, but Reed was upset that she had to go outside the camp, “Look, I’ll be back, ok? I’ll be back before you can even miss me! I just thought I should give you your goodbye kiss. I know how much you love those!” Her ability to remember things made Reed smile warmly at her. “Good luck then dear,” he gave her one last kiss on the lips, before she waved him goodbye and left the trailer. Looking outside, Reed noticed Zach and Celeste waiting outside. He mimed to Zach, ‘Look after her’. Zach nodded back at him in affirmation of this request.

Reed closed the trailer door, before turning back around. He squinted his eyes several times, before covering them with his hand – the last time he had stood in this spot, one of his friends was just minutes away from dying.

He looked to the left, noticing the bookshelf which Elliot and Olivia had used to barricade the door during the knife war. Moving over to it, he pulled it out slightly to examine the far side of it – there was a dry blood stain on the woodwork; presumably from where Olivia had pushed against it.

Reed brushed his hand over the dried out blood, before looking at his fingers. “Death… the real storm…” He had begun to take Sullivan’s words to heart.

Outside, he heard a gentle tapping against his door. Opening it, he noticed rain droplets occasionally dropping everywhere. “The storm, it begins…” Now, the meaning Sullivan’s superstitious warning had become clear to Reed…

-This is the first chapter in which the title directly mentions a specific character. In this case, the title is directly referring to Reed himself.

-Reed and everyone at Camp Hackley believe that both Gwen and Elliot are in fact that dead by this point, hence why things have moved on so quickly and why Reed is so unconcerned with the whereabouts of his friends.
 * This means Zach, Celeste, Erica and Tina also believe Gwen and Elliot to be dead as well.