Chapter 121: Burial
"After Jacob killed the zombie, the room went into a panic. Everyone were unsure about the infected and they all began to target the last infected, who went into hiding." Andrea said slowly, her arms still wrapped around him.
Her frame trembled slightly against his solid chest, the lingering adrenaline of the standoff only now beginning to bleed out of her system.
Reaching behind her waist, she pulled the heavy pistol free from her waistband. Her fingers hesitated for a split second before she pressed the cold metal frame firmly into Fredrinn’s open palm.
"Also keep this on you. When the chaos was there... I tried to use it, and due to the threat of the gun, no one antagonized us. However... I realized that I really am not ready to use it... Not yet."
Fredrinn chuckled warmly and took the gun, storing it behind his back as he stroked her hair.
She nuzzled in his hand, letting out a soft, shuddering breath as the tension in her neck finally eased under his gentle touch.
"The infected guy told everyone that he really was fine, that he wouldn’t turn, but after everything that happened, how could everyone trust him?" Andrea sighed, "I, sis and Naomi all stayed behind and let others deal with stuff."
"Good." Fredrinn nodded, appreciating that they didn’t waltz into danger for no reason.
In a confined space turning into a mob-fueled bloodbath, backing into a corner with a drawn firearm was the smartest move they could have made.
She nodded back, continuing, "They didn’t trust him at all... Jacob tried to defend the remaining infected, but Maya, Toby, Clara and especially Harry, everyone felt reluctant."
Andrea was speaking in low volume intentionally, to avoid the others from hating her. After all, in one way or another, she was technically snitching them onto Fredrinn, a significantly higher posted and influential person.
When he first arrived he was a loner who only hung out with the women, but as the difficulties began to arise, his strength came to light and his respect grew.
He was no longer just an eccentric drifter drifting through their shelter; he was an apex survivor who held the absolute balance of power in his hands.
And although his reputation was that he still hung out with women, no one would dare to call him out about it. Mocking a man who could tear through mutated horrors with his bare hands was suicidal.
Fredrinn could guess somewhat about what happened next.
It was common knowledge that a cornered rat would always try to fight till the bitter end...
He sighed as he rubbed Andrea’s head, making her sigh and hug him tighter.
"Then the infected guy ended up killing someone from the crowd as self defence and also died in the fight?" He guessed.
Andrea nodded against his chest, "Sarah." She said, confirming his doubts.
In a distance, he could see that Jenny and Rose both were staring in his direction.
Jenny didn’t show much of a reaction mainly because she already knew of his relationship with Andrea.
She leaned against a row of dented metal shelving, her arms crossed beneath her chest as she watched him comfort the petite girl.
Although they were far, she knew that he would soon get together with Andrea and she would be added onto his growing harem.
It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.
As for Rose, she removed her gaze after a few seconds of looking.
She could see that her husband really cared about that short and busty girl, so as a nice and good wife, she could do nothing but accept it.
Her newly sharpened intellect reminded her of their agreement: more partners meant more strength for Fredrinn, and a stronger husband meant safety and prosperity for her.
And, she already had a timepass for her.
Her crimson eyes drifted down toward Maya, who was still standing rigidly nearby. The armed girl hadn’t moved an inch, staring at Rose with absolute, wide-eyed terror and total submission.
Rather than worrying about her husband and feeling jealous, Rose realized that she may as well distract herself with something more fun...
She offered the trembling woman a thin, wicked smile, savoring the way Maya’s knees threatened to buckle under the weight of her gaze.
Soon, the remaining crowd of the storage room was shifted into the bus, the mood somber and depressed.
The edibles were loaded into the trunks and on the roof, carrying as much as possible.
Jacob also kept up the appearances by acting depressed as he led the people, walking with slumped shoulders and a grim grimace.
Yet beneath the mourning act, his sharp eyes scanned everything, thoroughly surprised to find out about the survivors from the school and the large bus.
But more than that... He was more surprised about the demonic, undead looking Charlie and Selene who was sitting besides the bulky man.
Both of them looked like an impossibility in reality, something that shouldn’t exist. A hulking brute with grey skin and blank eyes, paired with a delicate schoolgirl whose veins hummed with unnatural, restrained vitality.
However, Aadav came to the rescue as he explained everything and also told everyone not to feel worried about Selene or Charlie. They were under the control of Rose.
Though Rose’s mention was more scary than putting their hearts at ease. The memory of her plucking a high-velocity bullet from her bare palm and closing the wound in seconds was far fresher than any vague assurances Aadav could offer.
Before the wheels could roll, there were final debts to pay to the dead.
Max, Jenny, Jacob and several others personally walked to the backyards, finding a damp patch of earth as they began to dig using makeshift tools. Shovels, crowbars, and flat iron bars scraped through the compacted gravel and soil under the sweltering heat.
In no time, 4 graves were dug.
Christine, Eddie (The man who died by Rose’s heel long ago... whose body was in the Camry’s trunk), the unnamed infected and finally... Sarah.
Max stood over the open pits with bloodshot eyes and hollow cheeks. When the task was nearly done, he flatly refused to give a proper burial to Dickens.
The body that had torn Christine apart was left discarded like garbage near the dumpster. Harry tried to oppose the decision, citing ethics and the fact that Dickens hadn’t asked to be turned, but against a strong awakener’s will... no one cared about the woes of the poor engineer.
One glare from Max’s crackling, lightning-tinged eyes silenced the man entirely.
Fredrinn watched over the ongoing process, feeling detached as he saw the bodies getting buried under the grey earth.
In Apolasia, he had gotten too used to death to care. There the burial and respect was only given to corpses who were worth something...
For the rest, they were thrown off for the nature or often incinerated to reduce the filth. Four shallow mounds behind a commercial warehouse were nothing compared to the ash plains of the foreign realms he had walked.
Rose was similarly disinterested, leaning lazily against the bus’s painted yellow chassis, but she would never refuse to accompany her lover.
After wasting 10 minutes over the formalities...
Aadav climbed into the drivers seat and everyone else found their own seats. The bus shuddered as the heavy transmission locked into drive, the engine rumbling with steady, mechanical intent.
The destination was obvious... The Ohio base.