Chapter 6

As witnessed by Jenna Pitman

It's been a long time since Kathy died.

I feel drained and depressed, like I've reached a breaking point I didn't even know existed. It would be one thing if this was all because she's gone but it's so much more than that. It's because of Harton and the conniving plans that bastard has in store for Haven.

He came to visit me the day after. I was out in the pit again. I hadn't heard from him at all since he told the crowd what a hero I was. I was feeling pretty awful about giving him my word without even knowing what he wanted of me. I had to keep telling myself that it was for the best. I had seen the frenzy he had stirred up after the last "incident" with security. I'd seen the results. I might be mostly ambivalent to many things but that's not the way I want to die. It's not what I want to go through. So when he finally made his way out to see me, I'd worked myself into a panic about the entire encounter. Maybe he knew that was going to happen.

"Hello," he said, startling me with a crunch of gravel. The dogs around me stiffened and my hand reflexively reached for my rifle.

"Oh, changed your mind have you?" he laughed, misunderstanding the gesture, "I wouldn't advise such a move, pitter. Things would end badly for you, even if you did manage to knock me."

By now I was facing him, and I could see that he had brought his son and the two other men that always shadowed him along for the chat. For a moment I debated protesting my innocence but then thought better of it. This was a shrewd bunch, with more experience than I at dealing with fellow humans. For all I knew my words could easily work against me. I kept my mouth closed.

Harton squinted at me then nodded, as though he had arrived at some sort of conclusion. Then he explained that all he wanted, for now, was for me to look the other way while he and his boys left the confines of Haven from time to time. It seems they've been feeling too cooped up lately and a stroll among the trees might do them good. He also told me that one of his lackeys, a skinny one named Jared, needed some daily chores. He thought I should tell the task masters that Jared should take Kathy's place now that she was gone.

I suppose it might seem reasonable. Most of us have felt the strain of staying in this place for so long, no contact with the world outside save the occasional Walker that shuffles by to remind us why we must keep ourselves imprisoned. But Harton was one of the few who had pushed for the impenetrable ninth wall. He'd claimed it was dangerous to have a gate from the moment he arrived. Even before They had breached it. From him the request was suspicious at best.

But what could I do about it? I had already told him I was on board for whatever it was he had in mind. To renege on that now was foolish. If I was lucky they would kill me here... Though even that had a down side. So I agreed.

Jared started working with me. The silences in the pit are no longer comfortable. They are tense, foreign. He's not as good with the dogs as Kathy had been, they don't feel at ease enough to romp anymore. He leaves the compound once a day through a hidden door he fashioned the first day out there. His outings place me in a tremendous amount of peril. Yet that's the time of day I feel the safest. I suppose it says something about my situation that I would rather face an army of Them alone than stand behind these defenses with a member of my own species.

Sometimes others file through the pit. It always shocks me to have someone come through the eighth gate unannounced. No one ever used to visit us out here; it is part of why I enjoyed the job so much. But now, several times a week, people will make their way to that new door. The one that compromises us all.

Usually it's Harton's kid, other times it's the second yes-man of Harton's. The Big Man himself comes every now and then, though not frequently. He doesn't want to get caught taking such a risk. But there's often another one or two individuals being escorted outside. People you would never expect, like Andrew the manager or Sandra the baker. I don't know what they do out there. They never say anything when they see me. Almost everyone looks away. They know better to trust me with their secrets.

Then today something shattered that silence and they asked something of me I don't know if I can live with. Today they brought a body through the door. Back in. From outside.

The Beginning - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - The End