Chapter 11: Thou Shalt Not Kill, Part 1

We ran back as quickly as we could and told the others, still resting by the river. Within a few moments, we were back at the cave. Everyone was excited as we entered. That is, everyone except for the cheerleaders. They complained it was too dirty and dusty, but even they knew that, although it wasn't the Ritz, it was shelter from the elements, wild animals, and from—although we didn't want to think about it—terrorists.

We spent some time working together, clearing the large room of the cave into something livable. There were branches that had blown into the entrance that we cleared away. We needed lights to explore the rest of the cave system. With all of us working together, the cave was soon cleared, revealing the gray dust floor and pitted stone walls formed over thousands of years.

Then my stomach growled loudly, unable to be ignored. "Now we just have to find some food," I said aloud, kind of to myself, but everyone heard.

Derek nodded, his eyebrows pulling together, and lowered his head, thinking.

"What I wouldn't give for a rifle," Trevor said, shaking his head. "We could go hunting."

"Yeah, we could go hunting terrorists," Scott said mockingly, his smile coming back.

"I was thinking food, but that works, too."

"Yeah, we need a rifle."

Then there was dead silence. Everyone was staring at Trevor, then at Scott.

Scott said, "Then let's get one."

"Now, wait a minute," Derek intervened, holding his hand up slightly. "How do you suppose we do that?"

"Well, the terrorists have plenty …" Scott replied, still smiling. A gleam appeared in his eyes.

"And you think we could just walk right up and ask for one?" Derek asked sarcastically.

"No, but we could take one," Trevor said, looking at Scott conspiratorially.

"Yeah right," I said sarcastically, fearing what they were thinking, trying to lighten the conversation.

"Yeah, we could," Trevor said to Scott seriously, ignoring me. "It wouldn't be hard."

"Not if they were dead," Scott said as shock reverberated around the room.

"Okay, that's enough," I quickly interrupted. "You aren't seriously thinking of killing them, are you? Just to get a gun?"

"Why not?!" Trevor yelled. "They sure as hell didn't mind killing us, did they?"

"We're not dead," I returned, horrified at what I was hearing.

"Well, you know what I mean," Trevor said, pacing away, addressing everyone in the cave. "We can't just sit here, waiting for them to catch us! Waiting to die! And if I'm going down, then I'm going to take some of them with me!"

An agreeing murmur resounded around the room.

"What about the commandment Thou Shalt Not Kill, Trevor? Thou shalt not kill!" I shouted to everyone. "It's what we've been taught. What we believe! And we can't give up on that. We can't give up our beliefs, no matter what they did! We can't forget who we are!"

"So if someone comes in here and tries to kill us, you'll let them?" Trevor's voice shook with fury. He clenched his fists until his knuckles were bone white.

"Self-defense is one thing, but planning murder is another." I returned his glare.

"You mean to tell me that if someone came in here and held a gun to my head and you had a gun that you wouldn't shoot them?" Trevor was an inch away from my face now. Derek was standing on my side, ready to intervene if necessary. Then, Trevor grabbed my face hard by the chin, gritting his teeth, looking me in the eye. "Or what if they were going to shoot you?"

"That's enough!" Derek yelled as Scott and Brolin quickly pulled him off me, releasing his grip on my face.

My face hurt where he had grabbed me. I rubbed my chin, shocked into silence, unable to believe that Trevor was willing to go that far. Jada was on her feet, though, standing over Trevor, ready to take him down again. But within a second, he was back on his feet.

"This isn't over!" Trevor bellowed at me. "Not by a long shot!" Then, he bolted toward the cave exit.

"Wait a minute!" Derek said calmly, grabbing Trevor by the arm. "No one's going anywhere yet. Just calm down." Derek looked around the room and everyone was on their feet, tensed, ready to fight. "Everyone, just calm down. We can't just go off half cocked." He stopped to glare at Trevor, who was glaring back.

The cheerleaders just watched with blank expressions, clearly in shock. At least they stopped crying.

"One thing's for sure," Derek said, "We have to find a way to get some food, and quick." Derek looked around the room, and everyone nodded, then he leveled a glance at Trevor and Scott. "And even if we had a gun, we couldn't use it to hunt right now without attracting attention. Bows and arrows would be better." Derek stopped for a minute to think as everyone waited. "But I agree that we have to do something. I don't want to just sit here either, waiting for them to find us." He turned to look at me, taking in my expression.

From the rumble in the room, everyone agreed.

"But we have to be smart about it," Derek continued. "We have to plan, develop strategies."

"Are you saying that we should fight them?" I glared at Derek. "There's only nine of us and only, say thousands of them, at least!"

"I'm saying let's talk about it first," Derek took a breath, trying to stay calm. "First we have to get some food. Anyone have any ideas?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm tired of berries," Jada interjected, taking a more relaxed stance.

A grumbling agreement circled the room.

"Then we have to steal some real food," Derek said matter of fact. It was true that desperate times called for desperate measures.

Everyone agreed.

"Got any ideas?"

"There's a convenience store across the street from the school," the blonde cheerleader said. It was the first coherent thing she'd said.