Immediately I fell back, feeling a shiver run down my spine. Someone's hand was poking out of the bed. Worst: Someone them self, laid hidden beneath the bed. But who?
Under the rusty mattress was all dark. I couldn't see the rest of its identity.
"Rima?" Matt interrupts, "What's wr-"
His eyes too, were cast upon the pale fleshy hand. Quickly, he pulls out a firearm and aims it directly towards the figure under the bed, awaiting any movement that might come from it.
A few minutes passes. But the dead hand lay emotionless. It didn't move one single bit.
Matt then came to lower his rifle, and asked, "What happened before Rima?"
I blinked back to focus. "I was examining the bed, until I saw this. I-it...."
My voice trailed off, leaving Matt to know the rest. Still alert, he starts his approach towards the arm. However, the hand still remained lifeless, deceased as ever.
Once Matt was at a safe distance, he then bends down to examine the hand, usually moving back a few times in case of sudden attacks.
Just before anything could happen, Remember appears right beside Matt, grabbing the hinges of the bed frame and pushes it horizontally, sending the whole bed to go sliding sideways towards the other end of the room: Showing more than enough to reveal the concealed figure that hid underneath.
And thats when the smell of rot hits my nostrils. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was no zombie. It was a human, a dead body-or at least of what remains of it.
It was a man.
He was freakishly skinny with a deathly pale skin color. The clothes he wore were torn in many places, revealing tons of open flesh, bone and blood. The moment my eyes laid into his face, I saw no face; nothing, except a huge pool of blood and pieces of brains sticking out from the wide-open gap. And his jaw was torn right off, too. Maggots infested the open wounds, and I could see his skin moving, from the crawling larva underneath.
Sprawled on the floor, his hand seemed to reached out; out towards me.
At that moment, my heart began to race as I covered my mouth in shock. Instant flashbacks of my home returned: Mom lying there, on the kitchen floors expressionless as ever. Eaten alive by flesh hungry diseased, demons.
They did this. They killed my parents.
"This man's dead." Matt finishes, interrupting my nightmares. He was done examining and was now backing up, waving away the stench of the dead. "Probably died a few days ago. Lost too much blood and such. He was attacked by zombies as well, and could've resurrected. Though as you can see, his brains been blown straight outta that skull of his, so it's gonna be okay."
"Oh." I managed to say feeling my heartbeat return to normal. At least I now know what happened to the man. But still...
"We need to dispose it." Matt declared, having pulled back his sleeves. "Every dead body that is not exterminated can become a health hazard..."
In a split second Remembers figure appears over the corpse, back facing towards us. And even though I couldn't see his face, I already felt his hunger; Hunger for human flesh.
"Remember-" I stepped forward, but was stopped midway by Matt. Looking at him, he looks back at me, shaking his head.
'Let's dismiss it,' He expressed through gestures. 'Besides, at least it'll save us some work.'
Guilt swallowed me. That man didn't deserve to die like this. Killed by a zombie, and then having his whole corpse to be finished off by one?
I tried to protest, "B-but-"
"Not everyone's going to die happy, and you know it." Matt replied. "Just be glad that it isn't you."
I bit my lip, unable to stop Remember now. Instead, I turned, avoiding sight of what was to happen next. Loud crunches, ripping and biting sounds then came from behind, echoing the through walls that surround me, surrounding me with shame.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning I awoke, finding myself alone as I lay in bed. Remember and Matt was nowhere in sight.
But that didn't catch my attention, as I saw something else in sight. A figure was at the doorway of the cabin. Two figures actually. A man and a woman, their backs face at me. Unable to see their faces, I could tell they had brown hair, and wore familiar clothing. Very familiar clothing.
Fully focused, I then came to realize who they were. It was mom and dad!
"Mom!" I cried, "Dad!" And run towards them.
The two figures turned in response, and I was right. It really was mommy and daddy! They came back to me!
As I ran into their arms, they're familiar scent welcomed me. They too, looked extremely happy as they smiled back down at me. "Rima honey, we missed you!"
I cuddled deeper into their arms. "I've missed you to mommy and daddy!" And smiled happily, feeling pride fill within me.
This was the happiest day of my life. I didn't know where or how they came back, but it didn't matter. I no longer worried where Matt or Remember was. I no longer worried about the apocalypse or the zombies. And I especially no longer felt fear or pain anymore. All that matters to me was this moment right here, right now and to cherish it.
But that didn't last long.
Suddenly, I heard a low demon voice reply, "But too bad you couldn't save us Rima."
"Huh?" I glanced back up to mom and dad, but no longer saw them. Or what they even looked like.
Eyes wide, my nightmares had just returned.
Mom and dad were no longer smiling kindly at me. Instead, what looked down upon me were 2 ugly faces of hell.
On the right was mom's face, soaked in blood, flesh and bones sticking out. Most of the blood was oozing out of her empty eye sockets. I was staring eye to empty black eye sockets with my dead mother.
And it got even worse. Suddenly, dad's whole head falls off his body and hits the ground. I quickly moved back watching it fall before me, as I gazed down at in horror.
His face was in the same state as moms. A huge gush of blood is slowly leaking out from his open neck. His mouth seemed to move along with moms as they spoke harshly:
"Why didn't you save us Rima?" They moaned repeatedly. "Why?"
I stood there in cold feet, taking steps back as the corpses begin to walk unsteadily towards me. They're arms reached out to me, as they continued to moan, "Why couldn't you save us Rima?"
The whole surroundings became pitch black, making them stand out even more.
"Why didn't you save us Rima?" They continued to repeat in a chorus. "Why?"
I then froze, unable to move. My eyes couldn't tear away from them. They were getting closer and closer as I tried to speak.
"I...I..."
"WHY?????????????????????" They screamed once more in a high pitch wail, just before dashing towards me at full speed.
Screams in the dark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I awoke screaming, finding myself jerking up and out of bed. Out of breath, I hopped straight off bed but just then I could hear a cry "Rima!" As two arms grab me by the sides of my arms.
I yelped, hoping it wasn't the 2 deceased figures as it forces me to turn to face it.
"Rima, calm down!" The voice managed to say through my screams of horror. "It's just me, Matt!"
At that moment I stopped. "M-Matt?"
Finding my face soaked in tears; I slowly looked up and saw Matt. It was just Matt. It wasn't mom or dad. It was all just a dream.
He nods. "It's just me, Rima. You must've had a bad dream."
I looked away, still finding myself in Matt's embrace. More like nightmare. They blamed me for letting them die. They hated me.
Soon, the weeping returns. It was all my fault.
As I stood there, quietly weeping over my parents death, Matt still had his arms around me, as he gently rubbed my back comfortably. Once I stopped did Matt begin to speak.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Matt asks softly.
I bit my lips, urging myself not to tell. It sounded childish, foolish and immature of me, especially during a time like this. But my body kept on trembling, seeing my hands shaking madly, unable to erase those disturbing images in my head.
"Please tell me, Rima." He asks, softly. "You know I don't like seeing you upset like this."
"What was you dream about?" He asks once more, more directly this time. And this time I had to say it, I had to reveal it-One way or another.
"M-mom." I replied, eyes still watery. "D-dad, they hate me."
His eyes widened. "They hate you?"
I nodded slowly, just before a long explanation of what I saw and felt in my nightmare. Matt listens, eyes filled with horror from when I described how I awoke in bed to my parents screaming at me before killing me.
"T-they hate me for letting them die. It's all my fault." I finished, sullenly.
At that moment, nothing but more painful guilt overwhelmed me. I knew it was my fault, mom and dad died. Even though I wasn't the one who killed them, I knew indirectly I have just by watching them. I didn't help them, didn't try to save them; And that made me a coward, a dumbass, a fool.
I was only 8 that time. Why did I have to be so young, hopeless-And most of all, useless.
My hands began to grow blurry, as more tears begin to form. It was my entire fault. What was I thinking? And now, I had to wonder, why was I putting myself through this, when I already knew the outcome?
I then felt two firm hands placed on the sides of my shoulders.
"Rima," Matt says. "Stop hating yourself. Stop blaming yourself for everything that happened. I know it must be really tough for you... But, you have to move on. You know that, don't you?"
"How," I interrupted, stopping him from continuing any further. Both eyes are raised to Matt's showing nothing but pure guilt and regret. "How can I honestly move on after what happened to them?!"
"Th-there were so many moments.... moments that I could've died? Time, after time after time...." I looked regretfully into his eyes. "Yet, I survived, and for what? Why do I deserve to live, when so many others died-when it's my fault mom and dad was killed."
Matt too, returns a sorrowful look down to me. However, his expression soon changes into a strong serious tone as he says firmly, "Stop blaming yourself for every accident Rima." You can't keep going on like this..."
Before I could question his answer, he continues. "Look, I may not have been there to witness it or even know how you lose your parents. But believe it or not, I know how tragic it must've been, how it must've felt; losing people who are important to you."
"It's just like how I've lost both my friends." He shrugged. "It really screwed me up. Even after being conserved from the infection, the only thing that I kept on thinking of, were Allen and Brian. How they've died because of me. You saw how upset it made me, just by reminiscing it."
"At those times, I was strayed from all hope. I felt so lost, so condemned and crestfallen from that tragic incident--and blamed myself for it too. It was undoubtedly, the biggest failure of my entire life."
He exhales deeply. "I was even depressed to the point where I was ready to give up; not to the virus, but to life. I've fallen into the darkness, bottomless pit of defeat."
"And even if I did land at the most bottom, it still didn't hurt at all. Besides, I've already experienced the worst of the worst, in my life; watching your friends die before your eyes. I adjusted into these deep feelings of falling, to the point where I didn't even care. Heck, I even got used to it. Everyone's bound to have an equal chance in dying in this apocalypse after all, right?"
"But you know what?"
"I won't." He simply declared. "Because, I know that wouldn't be right. That wouldn't be what Allen or Brian wanted either. I have to continue on, even if it kills me."
"I had to pull myself together. Tell myself 'Matt you idiot, what are you doing?! Don't go f*ckin your life up, just because of something like that!' It's inhumane you know?"
"Just simply inhumane," He shook. "Right then I knew I had to get back up. Sure it was a long climb, but I'm bound to reach the top once again. It's easy to give up you know-so easy to fall, yet so hard to climb back up; but, the hardest part is trying to maintain back at the top."
I could only stare speechlessly at him, the last few sentences echoing within my mind.
"Sure it's hard to take in the death of your parents. But suicide is not the solution, Rima. You need to escape those negative thoughts; climb out from the fall, and back up to life and its success. I mean, think about the amazing things you've done!"
"To be honest, I don't think your parents hate you. They couldn't have. It's your guilt that's making you think like that. You're letting all that depression stored up in you gets the better of yourself."
I tried to protest. "But I....I...."
"Don't worry about it Rima. I understand that you must've been through a lot. It's even a little surprising, how you've managed to hold-up this far too. And besides," He smiled. "I find it hard for anyone to hate you. Your so kind, caring and not to mention selfless sometimes, as well."
"S-selfless?" I gawked. "How???"
"You're blaming yourself for your parent's death. Plus, you've been travelling these damned lands for at least 2 weeks already! Wanting to meet your uncle and at the same time, deliver some special letter as well. And most of all, you have the passion to get the job done, no matter what."
He pats me lightly. "Your very brave, Rima-you should know that."
"Not to mention, you even befriended a zombie." His voice then grows serious, "Which explains something."
"It explains something? What do you mean by that-?"
Just then another question hits me before I could finish. Speaking of Remember, where is he?
I glanced around. Matt sees my expression, and somehow knew immediately who I was searching for.
"He's outside." Matt sighs, turning around.
"Remember?"
He nods, silently walking back to his bed. As he bends to sit down and polish his firearm, he also adds, "Near the back. He's taking care of the body."
"Oh, ok! Thanks." And with that turned and walked out. "Be back in a few."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It didn't take long until I found Remember standing out in plain sight. He wore back his old clothes, still tattered and torn as always. But now in was much cleaner. And in addition, the smell of death no longer lingered around him (not that it matters though).
I heard digging sounds, as his back was faced to me. He was crouched over on the ground, seemingly like he was coating something in the ground dirt. My eyes lay upon the pile of dirt beside him, as his large clawed hands continued to move the dirt over to cover whatever was in front of him.
What was he burying? I wondered, with a gulp. I cautiously took a step forward.
"Remember?"
The burying sounds then stopped. And with that Remember rises, moving to the side to reveal what he was doing.
As for me, I found myself stumbling back. Beside him, was a dug out shallow hole (which could explain the pile of dirt that neighbored it). And within the shallow dug out, was a something.
Squinting to get a better view, I then realized that it was a corpse. The same one we saw from last night in the cabin. He was burying it?
He turns and sees my reaction, but plainly turns back to the corpse again, continuing to bury it.
I found the courage to walk up to him. "It's a beautiful day today."
"W-what are you doing?"
"Burying it," He replied, his voice quiet and slightly deadly, as usual. "Isn't that what you wanted?"
My heart leaped. He was doing this for me? But how did he know that that was what I wished?
"B-But I thought-"
Remember then shakes his head. "No. I just smashed a whole in his head, to prevent 'resurrection'."
An exhale then escaped my throat.
He was already more than half-done engulfing the corpse with soil, but I decided to help anyways. As I approached beside him (ignoring the disgusting smell the dead body released), I too, began to help him with my bare hands. My arms soon became stained with dirt, but I didn't care.
Unexpectedly, Remember stops. I too, stopped as well.
He then turned to me. "I thought you were mad at me."
My stomach churned. Mad?!
"M-mad?" I shook. "No. What makes you think that?"
His gaze then directs at the ground, hair hiding his face. "Because," he grumbled. "I wanted to eat him."
"Well...." I tried to say back, "You were probably really hungry. A-And zombies are supposed to eat human flesh too, r-right?"
My words eventually shivered in fear as I said 'human flesh'.
Pushing some hair behind my ears, I also said, "Th- there's nothing to be mad at, Remember."
Remember then goes back to coating the man with soil.
"I ate a lot of him." He replied. "And that didn't make you happy."
At that moment I too, felt his guilt, but shook in denial
"It's not your fault." I stated softly. "P-please, don't blame yourself."
He still didn't look convinced. So I continued, "At least you've stopped. You're burying him now as well, right?"
I paused, just before saying, "And that's one of the most human-like thing I've ever seen a zombie do."
"Human..."I then heard him mutter.
I smiled back at him. "Yes, that's what I think of you."
That seemed to light him up, as he then continues to bury the man.
_ _ _ _ _ _A few minutes later_ _ _ _ _ _
The man was completely buried now, the corpse laying 2 meters below earth. Not how a corpse is supposed to be properly buried, but still good enough I guess (Especially for 2 kids like us). I noticed a few wild flowers near us and replaced it upon the man's burial.
Crouching, I clasped my hands together as I said a small prayer
"Rest in peace," I though aloud, before leaving the man's burial site.
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Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Please give a vote & comment if you did ^~^