The Council building stood within the 610 wall at the old River Oaks Country Club. Rows of chairs facing a small stage for the council members filled the ballroom. They've assembled the ballroom every two weeks since Jim's disappearance.  

No one wants to say he is dead, Devyn thought while scanning the crowd with a smirk.  And, no one likes that I'm now sitting in this seat.

Devyn halted the hunts as her first action on the Council.  To say some persons wanted her simply dead would be a significant underestimate of the sentiment felt by some people, but not all.

She recognized the faces of a few Red Eyed Battalion members in the audience but didn't acknowledge them. They were there to make sure she stayed alive. Not to have themselves ousted from society, or worse.

The last six months had been long. Joy and Devyn returned to Jim's house to find it cleaned up.  No one ever told them what they did with the dead body. A letter from a member of the Red Eyed Battalion sat on the counter. It let them know that they would be watching for any further attacks and advised them to get rest.

Devyn didn't sleep that night. Or the night after that. Instead, she sat on the edge of Jim's bed in House D, reading through his notebooks and memorizing each person's information.

Ivory Emerson likes to walk her dog at night to watch her neighbors. She keeps a machete near her backdoor in case of an attack. Ivory doesn't seem to get along with the Protectors of the Living. She has been observed yelling at one of the officers with a glass of whisky in her hand.

Devyn scanned to the find the willowy woman whose thin face hid behind a curtain of graying hair. Ivory's friend, Tanya Harkling, sat beside her. The blonde woman leaned close to her friend's ear to whisper something before straightening up.

Tanya Harkling is friends with Ivory Emerson and will side with her on most matters. She has also shown concern regarding rumors of how red-eyed individuals are treated but does not appear to wish to break from the majority at this time.

A red-head man sat beside Tanya, tapping his fingers in annoyance.  "Do you have something important the council needs to know about?" He asked, turning to look at Tanya.

The muscular blonde woman straightened. "It is a personal matter, Timothy," Tanya hissed.

Devyn smirked at the boisterous man. Off of his chair, Timothy probably stood about 5'5, but when sitting, his muscular build made him almost intimidating.

Timothy O'Riley likes to keep an arsenal of weapons in his garage. He likes to throw weighted balls along the road. Timothy provides scraps for red-eyed orphans and escape routes. He works with RFUPD private investigators regarding the rumored child ring.

An Asian man glared at Timothy from the corner of his eye and muttered. "Does it matter what they are talking about?"

Tanya and Ivory glared at him, and Phil turned his gaze away from the duo.

Phil Wu doesn't like anyone on the Council. He is there out of obligation to his grandfather. Phil has shown distaste for both sides. He has called multiple people extremist assholes. Phil doesn't care about pissing anyone off because he is protected by family connections.

Beside Phil, a thin bald man with dark skin sat tapping his pen in agitation. Kevin never liked staying in these meetings for too long.

Kevin Musa is a member of the Red Eyed Battalion. He hasn't been discovered, but is on alert due to recent assassination attempts.

Another bald man shook his head at Kevin while straightening his papers. Next, he adjusted the pens to be in a perfect line.

Omar Garcia-Perez is someone to be cautious about. He has friends within the Protectors of the Living but does not appear to always agree with their actions. Omar became upset with them after finding the mass grave. He will side with them on matters of the law unless there is a blatant moral issue.

A woman with short curly hair leaned toward him, "are you taking notes again?" Joanna almost scoffed, making Devyn smirk.

Joanna Pearce is new to the council. Her mother made her accept the place on the Council out of fear of losing the family's rightful place.  The Pearce family has historically been very conservative, but no one knows what Joanna will do because it is well known how much she doesn't like her parents.

"It is important to keep track of everything," Omar responded while glancing at the last member of the Council walking through the doors. "Someone has to."

Joanna followed his gaze to a tall, lean man with dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

"I hope everyone hasn't been waiting long," the man stated as he bounded up the last few steps to take his seat in the center of the Council.

Leroy Davis is the son of founder Peter Davis. He will side with the Protectors of the Living and may be on their board. He enjoys going on hunts and has advocated for increasing the frequency of the hunts due to fears of "humanity being overrun."

Devyn's eyes narrowed on the dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes and a sharp nose. Jim and he had an ongoing debate about Leroy in their correspondence. Her brother considered the man one of the greatest assholes to have ever walked this earth. While, she thought he just had the longest stick stuck-up his ass that made him naturally constipated and irritable.  Of course, this is all hidden behind a perfect smile and snake eyes.

Leroy casually placed his foot on top of his knee while leaning back and glancing at Devyn. "Is Councilwoman Devyn Palmer ready to address us with more fantastical information?"

The other seven council members focused on Devyn as she rose to her feet.

"Thank you for the acknowledgment," Devyn said. "I know many of you can recall my speech when I first joined the council regarding Jim's disappearance. I still believe his disappearance is connected to the video showing the unlawful hunts of—"

"Those heroic individuals were already taken care of," Ivory Emerson cut her off, rising to her feet. "You chose red eyes over humanity that day." She sat back down in a huff.

Kevin scoffed and rose to his feet. "The council chose to recognize all of humanity that day when they stopped further hunts until an investigation into the treatment of red-eyed individuals is completed. This council owes survivors an educated vote." He sat down and motioned for Devyn to continue speaking.

Devyn nodded her head and cleared her throat. "As I was saying, I was tasked with gaining more information due to my background in research."

Leroy snorted while making eye contact with Ivory and then turned his gaze to individuals sitting in the pews.

"My results show that red-eyed individuals meet the minimum requirement to pass into the city. They also passed all scans to indicate their brain function is healthy," Devyn firmly stated. "The complete findings are in this report that I'm about to hand you."

A murmur began amongst individuals in the crowd. Devyn picked up a stack of papers and began to hand them to the other council members.

"I do believe that we can stop the hunting and persecution of red-eyed individuals based on—"

"But," Leroy cut in. "Are you sure this is accurate? We don't want to have another outbreak. What if they create new zombies? We can barely handle the P3 zombies that hunt us in the forest."

"There has been no evidence of—" Kevin started, but Tanya cut him off.

"I've seen the videos!" She shouted. "Living people shot down in the forest by undead vermin!"

Phil raised his eyebrows and scratched the back of his head. "Where is the video?"

Tanya pressed her lips together and glanced at Ivory. "She saw it too."

"Okay," Phil shrugged. "So, where is the video?"

"Ivory, do you have it?" Tanya asked, looking at her friend who shrugged. "Omar?"

Omar glanced up from his writing and shook his head. The blonde cursed softly under her breath before taking her phone out to scan through it.

A murmur continued through the crowd as the backdoor to the hall softly opened and closed. Devyn looked up to meet Joy's gaze. Her friend gave her a small wave before sitting down in the back row.

"Y'all really should come prepared if you're going to toss around allegations," Timothy muttered while scanning over Devyn's report. "There is a lot of good data in here, Palmer."

"Thank you," Devyn responded with a half-smile.

Devyn watched in shock as Joanna read through her report for a few moments before throwing it on her desk and leaning back.

"Did y'all find the video yet?" Joanna asked. "I'm getting bored, along with about 80% of our audience. People came here for a vote. Not for more allegations and to watch council members read."

Omar sighed. "We know, but they do have the right to voice their opposition. Both sides need to provide their arguments for this to be an educated vote."

"This is just stalling," Timothy responded, rising to his feet. "We know what their votes are going to be. Does this video even matter? I doubt it is even real. Who do they know that goes beyond the wall?"

Kevin nodded in agreement, "I doubt they've left the 610 loop."

Devyn opened her mouth to speak but stopped her by Joanna standing up.

"The council members need to be reminded that our votes are not for sides. Our votes are to be a guiding light for what remains of humanity," Joanna met the gaze of her fellow council members as she leaned forward. "We would not do these people justice if we voted based upon personal views. Our mission is to keep those considered human safe."

Devyn's eyes widened, "What is considered human?" She cut in, making Joanna pause and look at her.

"What?" Joanna asked, sitting down slowly.

"You said that our mission is to keep what is considered human safe. What do we consider to be human?" Devyn asked. "We have talked about the living, partially undead, and undead. We have never made a case for what defines 'human.'"

"Your report is making a case of humanity, is it not?" Joanna responded, motioning to the papers.

Devyn shook her head. "I looked at this based on what would not harm the living."

"We are all human," Kevin cut into the conversation.

Leroy scoffed, "a person with the ZT virus is no longer human. They have become something else. An animal. A vermin."

"From what I remember, the released video showed partially undead beings living in camps. That seems like human activity to me," Joanna commented.

Phil nodded. "It did seem like they created a community in the forest. Perhaps, we shouldn't rely on videos for this." Phil rose to his feet. "I move that we create an expedition team of volunteers to go into the forest and study the undead and partially undead beings. Does anyone second this motion?"

"I second the motion," Joanna responded, standing.

Kevin, Devyn, and Timothy agreed to pass the motion, causing a soft murmur to float amongst the crowd. Omar continued to document the meeting. No one noticed his finger go up at the final vote. So, he happily added himself as a silent sixth vote in favor of the expedition. 

  It isn't like anyone else would be reading this, he thought while moving on to the next page.

The movement to send the living into the forest passed with a 6 to 3 majority.

***

Joy adjusted the camera with both hands before smiling and waving into it. She sat four tiny dolls with blonde hair in a line in front of her then motioned to each doll's hair. Joy then made a thoughtful looking face before her mouth fell open and she raised one finger in the air. I know, filled the top of the screen in pink glittery letters.

Joy pulled out a red, blue, green, and yellow food dye and small bowls of water. She opened the first and turned it over. A small drop falls into the water and the water turns a dull red. Joy tried again, nothing. She grabbed a spoon.  Her hand moved in swift circles around the bowl. It remained a dull red.

Joy pressed her lips together and moved to the blue bottle. She turned it over.  Squeezed. Nothing.

"Fuck this," Joy muttered and turned the camera off.

***

Chapter WC: 2,057

Total WC: 13,653