Jack's Diary - Right isn't Always Right - Day 50

     Julie was attacked later that night, long after I had finished writing so I didn't feel like including it in the last entry. A soulless snuck into her tent, but Mike took care of it (for now on, we're going to have keep our tents tied or zippered shut). Her and Mike still get into small arguments now and then though I know this is only because he cares. When we ran out of gas for the car in the city (perhaps I shouldn't have been in such a rush to get out of the city before), Julie went to loot in a nearby store alone. Mike started yelling at her again, only to end with her calling him an old man. I thought it was funny, but Mike didn't (he just doesn't have my rich sense of humor, I suppose). Though he was right; no one should go anywhere alone, or at least not far, especially her. If she dies, not only would it be sad, we'd have the Valors after us since I don't think they'd appreciate a "dead" package. Even I tell members of the group where I go.
     Anyway, right after the argument, Jess and Victor motioned for me to come to them. We were all gathered in a circle (excluding Mike and Julie). Jess was the first to speak, "We're not really going to hand Julie over to the Valors, are we?"
     "Do you want a war with them?" I asked.
     "She can't be that important to them," responded Victor.
     "She was valuable enough for them to give us a large amount of supplies as a down-payment. What does that tell you?"
     "They handed her to us like she was property, like a slave. It isn't right," said Jess.
     "Whether it's right or not doesn't matter. We're too far from home to start a battle against a group as big as this."
     "You took out the red and blues no problem though," responded Ann.
     "That's because they were small, savage, and unorganized. We know that the Valors have at least three bases. That's at least three times the manpower."
     "Sounds like you're scared," said Victor.
     "I'm not scared for myself; I'm scared for you. If we make enemies with an army out here, we have no shelter to take."
     "Then what if we could trick them or make a trade for her?" suggested Jess.
     "And it's not just about what's right. You've seen Mike," Victor spoke. "I thought he'd never talk again until we picked up Julie. He's already starting to like her. We can't just give her away. Especially not now."
     Julie pushed her way through the huddle. "Are you guys talking about me?"
     Everyone was silent for a moment. Then I sighed. "Let's cross that bridge once we get to it," I said to the others, "There's much more at stake here then just happiness."
     I walked away while the Jess spoke to Julie, probably explaining away or telling her what we were discussing. I lost three people due to a war I brought upon myself. What's worse, the situation is beginning to look similar to it; we're extremely far from where we're returning to, we lost one member and have two new ones with us as well from the trip.
     On to happier things, Victor and I began syphoning cars for gas. Apparently, someone beat us to it, because we had to go through 10 cars before we found two that weren't empty. We have enough to fill up the tank, but I'm going to try and get some more tomorrow morning. Afterward, Victor accompanied me to a couple of building for exploring. We came across a few soulless, but they were nothing a good hit to the head couldn't resolve. In a sense, I was window shopping; not looking for anything in particular, but I was hoping for something useful. I found some pretty good rope, an inflatable raft (it was sitting on the top shelf of a insurance office for some reason), some surgical tools in the local hospital, and two books from the local library: "The Art of War" by Sun Tzo and "Improvised Explosives: How to Make Your Own" by Seymour Lecker. I wish the library back near the Hill had been more extensive. I would have liked to have these before. Victor gathered a few of his own supplies, mainly medical related, back to camp. There was something strange, though. I could have sworn there was someone watching me the whole time from a distance. I didn't see anyone else except for Victor.
     It was pretty dark by the time we got back. Julie approached me when I arrived.
     "Is it true?" she asked, "Am I staying with you guys?"
     "Jess told you that?"
     "Yah, but I want to know for sure. Is it true?"
     "I don't know yet."
     "How can you not know?"
     "Because I haven't decided. There's a lot of risk and why do you care anyways?" I asked.
     "Because I don't want leave."
     "Nothing's for certain yet."
     Julie turned away and went to talk with Jess. She came back a minute later.
     "If you don't help, Victor and Jess will. Either way, I'm staying."
     "I'm pretty sure it's up to Mike and I'm going to have a say in the situation as well."
     "Why the hell can't I stay with you?"
     "I'm done talking."
     I walked away from her, but tried not to alert Mike. I don't think he knows about this, but I'm sure he'll hear about it sooner or later. This isn't something to be decided in secret; this is a group decision. I really don't know which one Mike will side with and either one presents its own downside. I'm done thinking about this for now.

- Jack's Diary