I walked closer to her and looked inside the house.
On the floor was Helen with her broken leg sitted with her back against the wall; while Davis laid on the floor still unconscious, and some feets away, the dead Ping.
"Xender!", Helen said seeming excited to see me. I looked at her in such a state but I still wasn't feeling anything.
Mrs. Ping was still kneeling on the foor and weeping, I didn't know what to say at this point so she could get to work and we can get what we came for.
Looking at Davis, I walked up to him and gave him a slap on his face saying: "Wake up soldier!"
There was no response.
So I walked into the bathroom, luckily for me there was a bucket of water in the bathroom, so I brought it out and poured it on him.
He woke up in a shock breathing heavily.
"What happened?!", he asked as he stood up.
"There's no time for that, get an object we can use to dig quickly!", I commanded.
I could have easily told him that Derick did this but Mrs. Ping wasn't far off. Wouldn't she be able to tell that her husband's death had something to do with Derick?
Thinking of this I decided to be tight lipped about it.
Luckily for me Davis didn't say any more, he got up and began to look around for a object for digging.
Seeing this, I walked back to the weeping Mrs. Ping and said: "I am really sorry Mrs. Ping...."
After saying that, I kept quiet for a short while and added: "On the bright side, these monsters didn't devour him, we can still give him a proper burial; one a great man like him deserves."
Her sobbing eased a little.
Just then, Davis walked up to me with a spade and said, "I found this!"
Mrs. Ping looked up at Davis with the spade and said in a sober tone: "I'll go get a shovel"
On hearing this, I felt a little bit at ease. She stood up and walked inside to get a shovel.
"Oh, I remember, it was Derick!", Davis said with a hand on his head.
"Shut up!", I said immediately, putting a hand on his mouth to shut it.
"Why!?", He asked faintly.
"I'll explain later, just shut up!", I added.
"Here!", Mrs. Ping said walking in.
I quickly removed my hand from his mouth.
Davis seemingly understood and hurriedly took the shovel from her hand.
"Here, I got two!", She said handing me one.
I took it and began to dig with Davis.
While digging, I saw Helen looking at me with an expression of 'why?"
I looked at her and shook my head slightly.
She saw what happened between I and Davis, even though she's not so smart, she could tell something was up.
……
Several minutes still digging the hole Derick previously occupied, Mrs. Ping walked up to Helen and asked: "it seems you've been here for quite a while, so what happened to my husband?"
On hearing her question, I subconsciously stopped digging, staring at Helen about to reply.
She opened her mouth and looked at me not sure what to say.
"He was, he was....", She stammered.
"He was what?!", Mrs. Ping got angry and grabbed Helen by her shirt.
I quickly rushed in to intervene, pulling Mrs. Ping back.
"Let me go, she obviously knows how my husband died!", She yelled crying.
"Stop it! You making so much noise, you are going to attract the zombies. What's your problem, how else do people die in such a place?!", I said aloud trying to psychologically suppress her thinking.
Cases of any other causes of death are very rare in this fort. The usual cause are zombie attack or severe injuries also by zombie attack. So saying that should avert her thinking.
She hurriedly pushed me back and said: "if he died from a zombie attack, why is he still whole?!"
This question hit me hard.
At that instant, I had no reply.
"Xender, what are you hiding from me?", She asked now angry.
Seeing that I remained speechless, she continued, bringing out a cup seemingly having a liquid in it.
"This is the cure refined by my husband, all it needs now, are 3 fresh pairs of eyes from a zombie. But if you don't tell me you are not going to get it!"
As soon as she said this, I suddenly felt the urge to forcefully collect it and take it to Derick, after all now I know how it can be used.
I held my bow tight and looked a her with a fierce look. She seemingly saw this, took a step back and added: "there's a procedure to it, if I don't do it my self, there might be consequences!"
Her words were able to temporarily counter my thoughts of forcefully getting it; but then another thought surged up in my heart again and I said calm and polite manner: "This fort needs Derick cure. If you cure Derick, I myself will tell you the story of your husband's death..."
I dropped my bow on the floor, put my hand on my chest and continued: "....I promise!"
She looked at me, then at her dead husband as two lines of tears streamed down her puffy cheeks.
"Let's get over with the burial!", She said as she wiped her tears.
Davis pulled Mr. Ping into the hole, clapped his palm together and said: "All done!"
Mrs. Ping who had been standing a few feets away from her dead husband, seemingly scared to go close, finally summoned up courage and was about to walk closer.
I quickly rememberes the cause of his death, if he was killed by a zombie, or injured by them they truly wouldn't leave him in one piece; there's supposed to be blood somewhere even. But looking at the dead man, it was obvious he ran out of breath, zombies don't strangle people to death. If she sees this, it might arouse another question I might not be able to answer.
I quickly pulled her by her arm, pulled her closer to myself and hugged her.
She obviously needed this. As soon as we came in contact she broke down in tears and I hurriedly signalled Davis to start covering up the corpse.
"Let's go get some flowers.", I added as I pulled her out.
……
A few minutes after searching the desert like place for flowers, we finally found some and brought it back to the house.
At this time Davis had finished burying Mr. Ping. He stood beside the grave with his arms crossed in front of him, standing at ease; while Helen leaned against a wall just next to him.
Both paying their last respects, I hurriedly stepped forward and did same.
Mrs. Ping at this time held the flowers and walked up to him sobbing lightly.
She knelt down and placed the flowers on top of the grave and said crying with one hand on her belly: "Wo de ai ren, I and your son promise to avenge your death! Even if we loose our lives doing so, your killer will not go unpunished! Even if it's the leader of these monsters, I promise you her head!"
After saying that, she took a bit of sand from the top of her husband's grave, brought out the cup which was sealed, opened the seal and poured it on the sand in her hand.
She stood up, walked up to me and said, "give me your hand!"
I was reluctant, but couldn't refuse her request and so gave her my hand.
She locked our hands together in handshake with the thin layer of sand partially separating both our hands and said with her red eyes looking straight into mine: "Xender, you promised to tell me the whole story, if you miss a detail, just as I have lost the one I love, you too would experience the same fate, in a much more painful way."
To be continued......
Share
