I had intentionally hid away a single cantaloupe from the Saviors during a food drop off, because I wanted to provoke the Saviors into killing me. Gavin had promised I’d be the first to die if anything went wrong. I hoped my death over something so petty would motivate Ezekiel to fight the Saviors. Instead, it cost the life of Benjamin and almost mine.

The feeling of Morgan’s hands around my throat as he strangled me still haunt my skin. I was ready die that day. I had been for quite some time. I felt my self fading. My breath becoming shallower until it was nonexistent. My vision became more blurry, unclear, darker. No pain did I feel. I am quite sure I didn’t feel any pain. Then the feeling was gone, and I felt like fish out of water. Coughing and gasping for air.

Feeling the grip of Morgan’s hands around me slowly loosen, and his body weight was no longer weighing me down, I could hear King Ezekiel, the disappointment in his voice, as it distortedly echoed in my head. I was no longer allowed in the Kingdom. I was banished, never to return. Nor was I welcomed.

One single cantaloupe, took a life that was supposed to be mine. It was promised to be me, and me alone. It took away my home, my family, everything that gave me purpose. I sometime wonder, if what I did was worth it. If Benjamin’s life was worth it.

Now I sit in an empty barn, not the most comfortable of places to spend the night but, at least it’s dry, and it will provide me shelter until the storm outside passes. I’m about to make a makeshift bed when the door suddenly opens, making the sounds of the rainstorm more apparent as another person steps inside.

Apparently this barn wasn’t as abandoned as I thought. Standing to my full height, I smiled at the fellow traveler briefly, who’s shelter I had apparently just invaded, with my hands raised. “I don’t mean you any harm,” I assure you as I look into your eyes. “I was just looking for place to stay until the storm passes.”