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were running them back and forth to our food storage to be canned. We had found a way to work together. A way to make the best of the hand w e’ d all been dealt. All of them were worth protecting. Every single one of us.
    “ Better be careful ,” Kyle said with a stern voice.
    “ Careful about what ? ”
    Pausing for a moment, but still leaning back and staring at the sky, he said ,“ You do n’ t want to get a beard-tan . ”
    Listening to him chuckle under his breath, I could n’ t help but let a long smile grow across my face. He was clearly trying to calm my nerves. At the moment, I really needed the laugh.
    “ What are you two jerk-offs laughing about ?” Mr. Rodgers asked as he walked up behind us. H e’ d been outside checking on hi s“ little pet s” as he liked to call them. Otherwise known as the creatures in the Dead Shed.
    Neither of us responded, not wanting to let him in on the joke.
    “ Fine, do n’ t give a shit anyway ,” he finally sniffed before pulling a lever on his weapon and inspecting the inside of the barrel.
    Rodgers had traveled on his own across the landscape for months before he wound up at Avalon. H e’ d seen many atrocities out there and had stories that we could only half believe most of the time. He often spoke about his daring escapes, from climbing through a series of trees to move above a group of Zs to hiding in a gutter while in the inner city. H e’ d done it al l… or at least said he had.
    Anyway we looked at it, he was a hard bastard, having survived on his own for so long, and we respected him for it.
    W e’ d met up with him on a scavenging run. When we found him, he was half- drunk, sitting on the roof of a supermarket. When we first saw him, he was making a game out of throwing empty beer bottles at the creatures below. I heard him calling out the number seventeen when we found him, seventeen being the number of Zs h e’ d nailed in the head.
    With all his problems, we still felt damn lucky to have him with us. He, Kyle, and I had been making these runs together for months, and he was clearly added value to the team. Like a thick callus on a set of worn hands, the crazy bastard grew on us over time, forming a solid layer of protection that we grew to trust.  Looking up from his gun, he asked ,“ Is it just the three of us ? ”
    “ Nope, w e’ re waiting on one more ,” Kyle replied, still not turning his face from the sun.
    “ Who is it ? ”
    Before Kyle could reply, we heard a cough and turned around to see Avalo n’ s leader, Jarvis, standing behind us. Dressed in the same black body armor that we were wearin g— from the original fallen soldiers of Avalo n— he held a metal spear in one hand and had an AR-15 semi-automatic machine gun in a sling around his back.
    “ Here he is ,” Kyle finally said as he pulled his face down from the su n’ s perch.
    Jarvis reached over and shook hands with Kyle. They had become close in the past months, relying on each other to keep the people going. His background continued to remain somewhat of a mystery to all of us. When asked what he did before the end of the world, he would always respond with the same coy answer :“ Remind me to tell you later . ”
    I had often wondered if he ever let Kyle in on his little secret. If he had, Kyle never shared it with me.
    When Jarvis first started heading out beyond the wall with us, I questioned his actions. After all, he was our leader. I questioned it in the same way one would question why Captain Kirk would leave his ship to head out on the most dangerous missions when he could easily have sent someone in a red shirt.
    Looking back at it, what I’ ve finally realized is that our best leaders do n’ t sit in an ivory tower putting the weight of the world on their people. Our best leaders lead through example, and Jarvis would be the greatest leader Avalon would ever see.
    It made perfect sense for the other three to be the ones to head out into the world,