Camp - Decision
The closer the woman got, the farther Floyd tried to back away. All these questions were bombarding him, making him feel targeted. The questions were in regard to his health, according to what the woman said, she was a nurse - trained in the medical field. But all this didn't matter to Floyd, his main priority was to get back into that forest and follow the tracks he had been separated from. He noticed how the group seemed to be rather close, observing how the leader reacted to the nurses touch, and how he interacted with the others in the tent.
He remembered that kind of closeness, but avoided thinking about it as he continued to perch away from the lady, forcing himself to get to his feet. On his way to regain balance he answered the woman's question. "I'm fine" he grumbled. He wasn't the kind of guy to accept help from strangers, he did things better on his own. But the truth was, they had saved his life. Even with that, Floyd refrained from showing any gratitude towards them, somewhere in his mind believing he could have protected himself, even with the head injury. He didn't even respond Aiden's question, not wanting to give out anymore personal information.
Once he stood, Hank signaled Heather to back away from the patient. He then turned to everyone excluding DeSean, who was by his side. "Please step outside, we'll handle it from here" he told Aiden, Imogen, and Heather. "If we need anything, we'll call out" he added in a whisper, opening the tent for them to exit. Before the last person left - Heather - he also placed his hand on her shoulder and got close so only she could hear. "Gather everyone at the campfire, we'll be there in a second."
Once they had all left, Hank returned his gaze at Floyd, DeSean still by his side. "Now........" he started. "As you can see, we've got a small group here. A community if you chose to call it. We found you lying in the dirt unconscious, brought you here with good intentions"
"I didn't ask you to" Floyd murmured to himself, maybe a little louder than he thought because both men heard him.
"You ungrateful son of a b-" DeSean started before Hank placed his hand on the man's chest, stopping him from doing anything he would regret. "Calm down. Civil conversation remember" Hank told DeSean. "Now that's too bad, because I don't care if you wanted me to help or not, because I DID! I couldn't leave you out there to rot!" Hank added before DeSean jumped in. "This man and I risked our asses to save you, so maybe you ought to show some gratitude. We have people out here yet we brought you - a complete stranger into our barracks. Now I'm trusting Hank's decision here, hoping to God that we didn't make the wrong choice"
"What were saying here is that we brought you here with the intention to save your life. Now I can't force you to stay, but I think it's in your best interest to do so. You look like you could use some help. We've got food, a cook. Medicine, water. Now I'm not sure if you were alone or not out there, but that doesn't matter to me. When I found you, you were alone, so that's what I'm going with, am I right?" Hank stated.
Floyd thought for a second, thinking what his answer should be. Truth was, he hadn't been alone, well, somewhat not alone. Jess was out there somewhere, the truck's tracks revealed she had gotten away. Abram was also gone, so it was obvious they had left together. But this group didn't know that, and they didn't need to. "Yea, I was alone" Floyd responded and quickly followed up.
"That doesn't mean ima join your group, I'm better off on my own" Floyd responded, fixing his shirt and wiping the sweat off the side of his face. "Alright, that's fine. But right now, I can't let you go, not in your condition. It's onl-" he started, once again cut off by DeSean.
The black man pulled him back so he would face him. "You're just gonna let him go? What if he's lying? What if he's got a group and shows up with them to rob us or something?" he whispered. "We can't force him to stay here D, he's not a prisoner" Hank whispered back, Floyd just standing there, looking right and left. "Then what do you expect we do?" Hank questioned. "What we always do, vote" DeSean stated, crossing his arms and leaving the tent.
Hank then turned back to Floyd, licking his lips in response to his stress. "Alright......Floyd. I need you to understand that my group's safety, their well-being is my number one concern.........always. The reason were still alive isn't because of me, it's because of everyone's contribution. Everyone does a little something that allows us to go on, even if it's for one more day. So I hope you understand when I say this: You joining us, or even leaving puts us at a liability. None of us know you, we don't know if you're dangerous or not. You haven't done anything to prove hostility, so I have no reason to believe you are. But even with that said, if you leave, I can't prove to these people you won't return with a group to take our stuff or even murder us for it. Right now I need you to think, think! Think of your survival rate out there on your own. Think about it Floyd. What are the chances you'll live? What? Are you going to live off the wilderness? Like a caveman? It would seem that last time you tried that, you ended up in the dirt, unconscious. So tell me what would be the reasonable choice? Stay here with us, prove yourself to these people that you can be an asset, or...............go out there on your own and end up dead in a ditch" Hank paused, allowing Floyd to take everything in.
The redneck had remained silent the entire time. He had his arms crossed with his eyes squinting. From time to time he would sway in horizontal directions. "Now, like all our decision, I will make them with out group. Were going to decide if we want you to stay or not. But I need you to give me an answer now! Am I wasting my time asking these people what to do? Are you going to just leave regardless our choice or are you willing to survive with us? What's it gonna be Floyd? Right here, or out there again?"
Floyd seemed to have spoken, but nothing came from his mouth, just silence. He seemed to be having a difficult time deciding. If he didn't go back out there, there would be not possible way he'd find Jess again. In addition, he doubted these people would risk their lives for another stranger, even if they knew she was pregnant. But it was true what Hank was saying. Going out there was suicide, especially with the ground he had to cover to return to the house in order to follow the tracks again. And it had been about two days or so, the tracks could have faded by now, making them harder to read. The possibility of finding Jess was unlikely. In all sense and honesty, she was basically entitled dead by now and Floyd would have to understand that.
"I..........I'll.........stay" he forced himself to say, watching his hands shiver a little as his spine felt weak. His head started to pulsate fiercely, irritating inside. His blood boiled with anger as he felt the pain of loosing someone. Hank nodded at the answer and left the tent to meet everyone at the campfire. Aiden, Imogen, Seth, DeSean, Jenny, and the others were all sitting in a circle, awaiting Hank.
"Everyone. We have a decision to make here, one that every single one of us is involved in. As you all know, yesterday we brought a stranger into our doorsteps. A survivor. Now, I understand how uneasy that must feel. Knowing there is a stranger sleeping just a couple feet from you, I get that, I slept with my eyes open too. But that man in there just told me he'd like to stay. That he would contribute just like everyone else. I know that this may be a hard decision to make, but we need to do this. Remember, he's just like us, a survivor, a human being in need of aid. Me, DeSean, Jenny and Seth took all of you in as well. Now I'm asking that you give this man a chance too. I know we don't know anything about him and his appearance may be a little striking, but I have a gut feeling he isn't a bad man. He didn't attempt to strike at us when we cut him loose, that has to stand for something"
"We had guns pointed at him Hank" DeSean returned.
"Oh yeah, well that says a lot about us too doesn't it D. Maybe it's best we start being more civil around each other too. Why carry guns when were all together. I understand that anything could happen at any time, but we have the cans hung up all around camp. When we hear it, we'll just get our weapons then. We don't- Never mind, I'm getting off topic. Point is, the choices are these. Either we let him stay with us, allow him to become an asset to the group, or we kill him. We don't know anything about him, if he was with a group or not, so we can't let him go. Anyone want to say anything before we decide?"
"I think we take him out right now. We don't need a more hands around here, were fine on our own. Like you said, we don't know anything about this guy, he could be a bandit, a thug, a prisoner, who knows. I mean, look at him! He's an animal that guy. I don't know about you, but I ain't bout to put my wife in danger because you think it's best to have more helping hands. That's just another mouth to feed. We take him in, were not sleeping anymore" DeSean stated, Jennifer by his side the entire time, agreeing with her husband's decision.
"Seth?" Hank asked, turning towards one of his childhood friends. "Ummm. I mean, I get what D is saying, but I think your right Hank. This guy can help us out, better protection. Who knows, he might be a valuable asset. He might know things we don't. I say we give him a chance"
"What do y'all think?" Hank asked everyone else.
