[b]Outpost[/b]

The council had a community meeting soon after Reggie stormed out of the office. The community was abuzz with excitement about the sudden meeting. Could it be that the wall expansion was to be built after all? Perhaps the biter horde had changed its direction? With the fanfare that occurred when the scouts arrived earlier in the day, the citizens of Outpost were enjoying a fun break from the usual monotony. Everyone showed up for the meeting and even the slower members of the community showed up on time. The crowd talked over each other, chatting about what the meeting was for. Some were hopeful and spoke brightly of Outpost's future.

All went silent when Sarah and Derick stepped on the dais calling for everyone to listen carefully. It was usually Myriah or Reggie who spoke during these meetings, so the presence of neither was felt by everyone. Sarah waited a few seconds before she spoke, but it felt a lot longer to the people watching her. She began to explain that something terrible had occurred within their walls. The life of a young girl, Samantha Baxter, was ended by an unknown assailant. The crowd's silence turned into a harsh buzzing at the news. No one could believe what they had just heard.

Sarah went on to explain that they would take every effort to find who did this. She told the crowd that no one was to leave Outpost under any circumstance until further notice. She urged everyone that if they had any info that they believed relevant to come to the council with it. Then she was done, and Derick took her place. He began to lay out the details for how Outpost would be locked down and how his builders would act as guards. The crowd was barely listening at this point, too shell shocked by this information. One man yelled out, "Where's Myriah?!" Then another man echoed his call, causing a chain reaction of people yelling over each other. The crowd began to move restlessly, some of them attempting to get closer to the dais. It wasn't long before everyone was pushing and shoving at each other. No one could be trusted now.

Then, shots rang out. The crowd panicked and a large number of them dropped to the ground and covered their heads. The yelling continued, but this time out of fear.

"QUIET!" someone yelled. "Everyone [i]shut the fuck up[/i]!" It was Reggie, his rifle pointed up into the air. "All of you listen to me right now! What we have on our hands is another mutiny attempt! Myriah is alive, but Samantha lost her life today, so every damn one of you better give her the respect she deserves!"

Silence had fallen over the crowd again. Some of them looked absolutely bewildered. "We will behave," Reggie continued. "And we will all act like rational human beings. Today is a day of mourning, people."

Reggie then turned around and walked away, leaving the crowd stunned. They were all silent as they slowly returned to their cabins.