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FORTY-ONE

KENJI

THE RECKONING

Day 534

“Can someone explain what the hell happened?”

Theo’s question snaps me back, and a fresh surge of rage courses through my veins, igniting the purpose that brought Adrian and me here at a dead run. For a moment, I'd forgotten it all, distracted by the sight of Farron pinning Trevor to the ground, her boot grinding into his cheek. A burst of heat and satisfaction at the combat knife held in her outstretched hand pointed at Trevor, the most perfect use of my Christmas gift for her. But Daisy’s gasping words from earlier replay in my mind with brutal clarity.

“Farron…You need to help. Trevor cornered Farron behind the barn!” Daisy wheezes out, gasping as she tries to catch her breath. “He’s trying to force himself on her.”

It was all I needed to hear. Adrian and I launched forward without a second thought, and Todd joined us, his expression twisted in fury. I know he loves Farron like she’s his own sister, so I’m not sure what was going through his head when he heard Daisy’s pleas for our help. Does he doubt her words? Or is he, unfortunately, unsurprised by his brother’s actions?

I only know what was going through my head. Rage, swift and unrelenting, was all that I felt at the thought of Trevor laying a single finger on her. The mere idea churns my stomach. It’s Farron’s choice who touches her, who holds her, who gets close. The thought of Trevor trying to take the choice away from her makes me feel physically sick.

Now, with Trevor on the ground beneath her, I narrow my eyes at him. Dirt clings to his bloody face, smeared across his skin, and for a moment, it satisfies me—a tiny, vicious spark of joy. Farron’s voice pulls me from that dark satisfaction, reminding me we’re not alone.

“Sure, Theo, love,” she starts, giving him a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. Her hands are moving along to sign for Theo, and though it’s still choppy, she’s getting the message across. “I can tell you what happened. This piece of shit,”—her boot digs into Trevor’s face with each word—“called me out here because he said he had information about the shed. All he really had was a boner and a pathetic excuse for a plan to trap me. And he thought he could just… take something that’s not his. Something he had no right to take.”

A grumble breaks out among the Rolling Hills residents, who have all gathered around to see what’s happening. But before anyone else can speak, Trevor’s grating voice cuts through. He laughs—a strangled, unsettling sound that skitters up my spine and makes the hairs on my neck stand straight up.

“No right?” he sneers, forcing the words through his bloodied, swollen mouth. His laughter spirals, raw and unhinged, and his voice rises, frantic. “You were always meant to be mine , Farron!”

Theo’s face hardens, and I adjust myself to ensure I’m in Theo’s line of sight and signing as Trevor continues his vile tirade, my hands forming each word with sharp movements. It’s the only thing keeping me from losing control and pummeling the smug grin off his face.

“I’ve had to wait for you since we were kids,” Trevor rants, his eyes wide, darting around madly. “I told myself, I can wait for her—Farron will come around. Eventually, she’ll realize how perfect I am for her, and she’ll come to me. So I let you go to Colorado for school, happy to wait for you to come back. Then, after the zombie outbreak when you came back to Rolling Hills, and you were so upset about your parents, I told myself I could wait for you to get over it,” Trevor says, and I can see the tightening of Farron’s features at the mention of her parents, and the comment about her simply ‘getting over it.’ Whether or not Trevor notices is irrelevant because he continues with his monologue.

“But then you still ignore me and avoid me, only to become a whore for these three guys that just show up out of nowhere?” His comment makes all three of us bristle, but Farron remains unmoving, looking down at Trevor with disgust. “It’s fucking unacceptable, Farron. But fine, maybe you just wanted to play hard to get. Maybe I needed to step up to show you I could be a provider, take care of you. So I tried everything I could to be man enough for you. I let in a handful of zombies to take care of them and show you I could fight them off and protect you…But then Jay and stupid Kenji had to show up and handle them before I could do anything,” Trevor spits out my name with venom, and I clench my jaw, fists curling momentarily.

His words cause horrified murmurs to spread throughout the crowd, realization settling in that Trevor’s actively put people in danger. He isn’t done yet, though, and his eyes flicker with a deranged light as he continues, every word sinking him deeper into condemnation.

“At the potluck a few months ago, I tried again. I thought, if I just… if I did something to scare you, you’d run to me. But no! You weren’t even there , Farron.” His words stab the air, and his face twists with frustration as though we’re wronging him.

Jay’s deep voice slices through Trevor’s tirade, sharp and lethal. “What the fuck did you just say?” He steps forward, his gaze dark. “Did you just say that you let zombies into Rolling Hills on purpose the night my Gramps died? That it’s your fucking fault he’s gone?”

The crowd collectively holds its breath, stunned into silence. Trevor, however, is too far gone to grasp the danger he’s in. Jay’s question only emboldens him, his voice rising in a whine. “It’s not like I knew Old Man Abel was going to run out early and get himself caught,” Trevor sneers, his voice dismissive. “I thought maybe breaking into the shed would work. I could convince you that these three”—he jabs a bloodied finger at me, Adrian, and Theo—“were thieves, the real danger. But I couldn’t even get close enough to you for you to see the truth.”

The air around us thickens, stifling as the crowd stares, horrified, at the twisted man sprawled in the dirt. He’s raving now, his words filled with resentment and entitlement, a sickening obsession with a woman who never had any interest in him that’s left him rotten on the inside. He points at Adrian, Theo, and me, his voice seething. “I just wanted you to notice me, Farron! All you cared about were these strangers, these… these men! You should have seen that it was always meant to be us! And then, after that stupid town hall, when everyone paired up, I knew I had to do something drastic.”

Trevor’s eyes are crazed as he looks at Farron, pleading yet furious. “I never meant for anyone to die. It’s not my fault if your grandma or Eric just… happened to be in the wrong place. It’s not my fault you wouldn’t see it, that you wouldn’t just come to me!”

His last words were the wrong ones to say, because while Farron seems to crumble for a moment at the implications—I know she’s convincing herself that Nora’s death was her fault—Adrian’s rage has bubbled over. He steps up to Trevor and begins kicking him and punching him, letting loose a torrid storm of emotions on the person who’s at fault for so much pain and grief in this community. Even if Nora wasn’t Adrian’s grandmother, I know he loved her and cared for her as if she was. I know she filled a spot left empty by his mom, and I know that pain inside of Adrian must feel ripped open right now.

“You fucking piece of shit!” Adrian screams out as he lands a particularly violent kick to Trevor’s gut. “You selfish, conniving, worthless asshole. You’re the reason they’re dead! And for what? Farron would never pick you.” Adrian punctuates his words by spitting directly onto Trevor, and it’s only then that Theo and I finally move forward to pull him back before he kills the guy. Though he would deserve no less.

As Adrian finally stumbles back, Theo and I steady him, catching our breath. But Trevor, bruised and battered on the ground, only spits blood, an ugly grin splitting his face. His laughter is guttural, a chilling sound that cuts through the night and unsettles everyone in the crowd.

Todd steps forward, a mixture of shock and heartbreak written across his face. His mouth opens, but his words falter as he looks down at his own flesh and blood—someone he’s grown up with, shared countless memories with, someone who’s just confessed to tearing their community apart from the inside.

“How could you?” Todd’s voice cracks, barely a whisper at first, before it strengthens. “How could you do this to us? To this place? To Farron, to Nora, to Mr. Abel, to everyone?”

Trevor just sneers, his laughter stopping as he sizes Todd up. “Oh, please,” he spits out, his voice dripping with disdain. “As if you actually care about any of that. The only thing you’ve ever cared about is Jay over there.” He jerks his head toward Jay, a mocking smirk twisting his bloodied lips. “You’ve been pining after him for years. Congrats on finally getting him, bro. Sometimes you have to be patient, right?”

Todd’s face goes ashen, and he stares at his brother on the ground, looking at him like he doesn’t know the person before him at all. Todd and Jay haven’t exactly been hiding their relationship, especially not around the four of us, but now Trevor has decided to take the choice away from his brother about coming out to everyone else. He takes a shaky breath, glancing over at Jay, whose gaze is as hard as steel, his jaw clenched tight. Their eyes meet, and I watch as Jay looks away from Todd, focusing instead on something in the distance.

Nearby, Daisy’s sobbing cuts through the tension. She’s cradled in Peter’s arms, her face red and blotchy as she chokes out cries. Peter’s expression is dark with anger, and Jasper’s fists clench beside him, his face a mask of fury. They’ve lost Eric. Daisy’s husband, their friend. They’d thought they were safe here. But it was Trevor who shattered that illusion, who stole Eric from them and left Daisy to face having her child alone.

Farron, trembling with a fury barely contained, glances back at me. Her face is tight, her eyes blazing, but her voice is even, controlled. “Kenji…hold him down.”

I don’t hesitate. I walk over and grip Trevor’s shoulders, pressing his sorry ass into the dirt, relishing the feeling of him pinned beneath me. His struggles are half-hearted, his eyes darting frantically but finding no sympathy among the crowd gathered around him.

Farron steps away, crossing the short distance to Jay, and as she reaches him, they fall into each other’s arms. They hold each other tightly, two people bonded by their shared pain, their losses. Jay’s shoulders shake, and Farron’s face is buried in his shoulder, her body rigid as if she’s holding back a tidal wave of grief and rage.

After a moment, she pulls away, lifting her chin as she turns to face the crowd, her face resolute.

“We need to figure out what we’re going to do about this,” she says, her voice firm and clear, carrying across the gathering. “Trevor…he’s beyond unstable. It’s his fault that so many are gone. That we’ve lived in fear, wondering if someone was watching us or planning to come after us.”

Her words hang in the air. There’s a murmur of agreement, nods, and angry glances shot Trevor’s way. Everyone knows she’s right; they can’t ignore what he’s done.

Jasper takes a deep breath, visibly bracing himself before he opens his mouth to speak. “We can’t just throw him out. If we send him off, he could lead others here. He could bring back outsiders or worse. We can’t risk it. He’s a danger to everyone.” His voice shakes as he forces himself to continue, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “As much as it hurts…I think we have to kill him.”

A stunned silence falls over the crowd. Jasper’s words linger in the cold evening air, and I can feel the weight of his resolve as he looks down at Trevor, his expression a combination of anger and unbearable sadness.

I glance around at everyone before my eyes fall on Todd and Jay—there’s a tension simmering between them, unspoken but obvious. They’re both rigid, their gazes occasionally flitting toward each other before darting away. It’s like an invisible wall keeps them apart, a barrier reinforced by Trevor’s cruel words, by his unforgivable actions. I wonder if his twisted revelation has cracked something between them, if his poison has spread further than anyone realized.

Farron stands tall, her voice unwavering but low, like the calm before a storm. “We have a decision to make, all of us,” she says, her gaze sweeping across the crowd, pulling each of us into the weight of her words. “This is our home. And if we’re going to protect it…we need to decide, together, what that means.”

A hush falls, and the only sounds are the shuffling of feet and the quiet murmur of whispered thoughts. There’s a shared fire simmering in the faces of everyone around her—the kind of fury that unites, that binds in the wake of pain. Because what do you do when one of your own has betrayed you? When someone you trusted, someone who shared the same air, turned against everything you thought you knew?

The silence stretches, heavy with the collective hurt and betrayal. It’s Todd who breaks it, clearing his throat. “We can tie him up,” he offers, the words falling like stones. “I’ll watch him through the night. Tomorrow, we’ll gather as a community and decide his fate.”

A voice cuts through the crowd, sharp and unforgiving. Jasper. He steps forward, his face a thundercloud, and his words strike like lightning. “How can we trust you?” The bitterness in his tone is both justified and pointed, and his arm wrapped protectively around Daisy. She’s leaning into him, tear-streaked and weary, clutching the small swell of her belly that carries the child Eric never got the chance to meet. Jasper’s question resonates, pulling everyone’s attention back to Todd. It’s a question that isn’t only his—it’s one that everyone gathered around wants an answer to.

Todd flinches, visibly torn, but he remains steadfast when he opens his mouth. “I get it, Jasper. I do. But I won’t let him go. I’m as furious as you are.”

Jay steps forward then, stiff and silent until now, his gaze averted from Todd’s as he speaks. “I’ll go with him,” he says, and his voice is as cold as the night settling in around us. “I have no empathy for the man who killed Gramps…or who put the whole community in danger.” His gaze remains fixed on the ground, and I can feel the rift widening between him and Todd.

Farron decides on a time for the town hall as Peter jogs to the barn and returns with rope. Together, Jay and I secure Trevor, his wrists and ankles bound tight. He struggles against us, his mouth curling in contempt as he spits, a fleck landing dangerously close to my cheek. My patience snaps, and I drive my knee hard into his groin, catching him off guard. His body buckles, and I seize him by the hair, tilting his face up so he’s forced to meet my gaze.

“That was for trying to force yourself on Farron,” I say, my voice low, barely restrained. “Nobody messes with my girl.” My own spit lands on his face, and I watch as he sputters, the helpless rage in his eyes feeding a dark satisfaction in me.

With Trevor securely tied, Todd and Jay each take one side of him, guiding him toward the Davis farm in tense, strained silence. I can feel the sharp edges of their anger even as they disappear into the shadows, their bodies stiff. I wonder if something’s broken between the two of them now. If they’ll ever be the same again.

As the crowd begins to disperse, it’s clear the potluck is long over. I turn, searching for Farron, and find her standing a few steps away, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion. Her face is set, her eyes distant, like she’s bearing the weight of the entire community’s hurt.

I approach, meaning to tell her to head back with Theo and Adrian, to let me handle the cleanup. But she shakes her head, her voice soft.“I’m going to find Pa,” she says, her gaze drifting to the barn where so much laughter and warmth once filled the air. “He…he needs me tonight.” She takes a steadying breath, her eyes meeting mine. “I’ll meet you back at the cottage later, okay?”

She’s trying to be strong, to hold herself together, but I can see the fragility in her stance, the weariness etched into every line of her face. The fire and fury she’d wielded just moments before has drained her. But she’s not weak. Not even close. Farron could be exhausted and battered, but she would never break. And that strength only makes me love her more.

I step closer, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, lingering just long enough to let her feel everything I can’t find the words for. I need her to understand, even in this fleeting touch, how much she means to me, how deeply she’s rooted herself in every inch of who I am. She offers me a faint smile before turning to say goodbye to Theo and Adrian.

Loving Farron is like being drawn to a wild, consuming flame—a blaze that’s fierce, untamable, and impossible to resist. She’s fire, warmth, and light, and I can’t imagine my world without the way she fills every shadowed corner. Every wall I’d built, every barrier I’d convinced myself I needed, she’s shattered, one by one, until I had no choice but to stand bare before her. I knew from the start she’d change everything, that she’d carve a space in my life, I’d never be able to fill if she left. And now, the thought of a life without her feels like a plunge into a darkness I’d never escape.

I’d always believed that caring too deeply would make me vulnerable and that trust was a luxury I couldn’t afford. That’s what years in foster care taught me, and it’s why I never forged any real relationships past my family with the guys. But Farron made me question all of it. She opened doors I’d kept locked for so long, revealed pieces of me I’d hidden even from myself. She’s everything I didn’t realize I was missing, and now…there’s no version of the future I can see that doesn’t have her in it.

She’s my reason now—my reason for fighting, for enduring, for believing there’s still something worth protecting in this broken world. As I watch her slip into the night, my resolve hardens. I’d do anything to keep her safe, anything to keep this fragile community together, if only because it’s what she believes in.

Every word I sang to her tonight was true. I love her with every part of me, with every breath and every heartbeat, and I’ll spend whatever time I’m given proving it to her, no matter what this world dares to throw our way.