Dempsey and I made our way across the grounds towards the building opposite. Suddenly, his strong strides suddenly stopped. Surprised, I took a second longer to realise before I stopped as well and turned to see what was wrong.
"I got so caught up in savin' ya I haven't even asked you your name! What's your name, sweetheart?" Dempsey said jovially as he let out a deep laugh.
He always seemed so upbeat - especially in the face of his predicament.
"Kiana", I replied quietly.
"That's a pretty name, so how'd you get here?" Dempsey bellowed in his deep voice; every question was so enthusiastic.
Oh great, I thought. If the doctor is not going to understand then how can I hope Dempsey will?
"Um, I don't know to be honest. The doc said I have a concussion and it has affected my memory or something", I said; inwardly praying that he would buy it.
The look on his face suggested he did.
"Well, Kiana. You're more than welcome to stay with us until you get your memory back. I'll protect ya!" Dempsey sang as he gave his signature cocky grin.
"Thanks", I said with a smile.
"Have you seen the freakbags yet?" Dempsey asked.
I frowned, I had forgotten all about the undead to be honest. Thinking about it, last night passed without a single one; surely we should have seen at least a couple? Was that normal, I wondered?
"Freakbags?" I feigned ignorance hoping he would put it down to the concussion.
Dempsey's eyes widened with shock,
"You mean you've made it this far without runnin' into one of those things?! Damn, but you're gonna have to fight them eventually. Do you know how to defend yourself?" Dempsey asked, genuinely concerned.
To be honest, I did not really know what to say because I thankfully never found myself in a situation where I had to. How do you actually fight a zombie? My mind went blank. This was so much more different than the game.
"Not really", I replied.
Dempsey quietly nodded as if I confirmed his suspicions.
"So I guess you don't know how to use a gun too?" He followed up his previous question with another.
Guns are not legal in my country so there were little to no opportunities to learn. Trying to gauge the best response, I just replied honestly.
"Guns aren't legal in Scotland, so no."
Instead of another somber nod, Dempsey looked at me with a big grin. He was such a big kid.
"I'll teach ya! You'll be killing marrow-maggots in no time! I can keep ya safe in the mean time too... oorah!" He finished his sentence with a wink and I laughed to myself that Dempsey still managed to get a flirt in somewhere.
I suppose it was going to start sooner or later.
"C'mon", Dempsey said as he offered his hand again.
We began to traverse the grounds of the facility as Dempsey led the way. After a few minutes, we made it to the other building where the other two men where sitting. Dempsey burst through the door excitedly as if he was eager to show off his new toy. Great, he thinks he has a girlfriend, I laughed as I rolled my eyes. The first man turned to me and bowed gracefully.
"My name is Takeo, warrior of the Emperor", Takeo said politely.
I smiled and told him my name earning another bow from him.
"And I am Nikolai! Is nice to see you survived the night small woman!" The Russian slurred before taking another swig of his vodka.
It was funny to see Nikolai was just like his in-game self but sadly the smell was not as amusing. Takeo drew him a look of disgust,
"Your stink is offensive to our new comrade, Nikki. You bring much dishonour!"
"Ah, shut up", Nikolai said before turning back to his vodka and flashing me a drunken smile.
"Yeah, I don't think I'll forget how USELESS you both were last night. Especially you, Takeo, I expected better", Dempsey lectured, narrowing his eyes at Takeo.
"We need to look out for Kiana. She doesn't know how to use a gun yet but when I'm done teachin' her she'll be a great shot!" Dempsey mused smugly.
The other two men gave me a look of surprise as, they too, likely wondered how I had made it this far without being able to defend myself. And then the anxiety hit me. How the heck was I going to kill someone? The zombies were still people after all. I felt nauseous at the thought of having to kill in what was no longer a video game but now reality.
"You okay, hun?" Dempsey turned to look at me while the other two men had gone back to their previous tasks.
"I'm fine", I managed to say though I was unable to hide how I felt.
"You'll get used to it" Dempsey said as if he knew exactly what was troubling me.
"I sure hope so", I sighed.
We spent the afternoon cleaning out guns and sorting rounds before Dempsey turned to me and said.
"Are ya up for helping me find some grub? I have to do all the cooking and I bet you're pretty hungry by now!" Dempsey grinned as he saw the smile creep across my face at the mention of food.
"There's a canteen on the west side and everyone's getting real tired of my bad cooking. Think you could help me make something good for once?" Dempsey said excitedly at the thought of a decent warm meal.
"Do you think women are good at cooking by default?" I said sarcastically before laughing to let him know I was just pulling his leg.
"Let's goooo!" Dempsey sang as we marched happily to our cooking duties.
As we made our way there; I looked around at the run down buildings which made up the facility. The barriers from the game were all there in their usual place. It was exactly like Der Riese. It felt like I had already been here - albeit in the game. I saw a familiar green glow as we turned the corner to be met with the Speed Cola machine. It was such a welcome surprise. I had forgotten all about perks; it really was just like the game. Dempsey saw me staring at it so he took me over to show me it.
"Yeah, so we found these machines that dispense drinks. They all do different things. This one helps you reload faster!" he explained.
I touched the machine and felt the cold metal as it whirred and hummed away.
"You know what? Let's take a detour and I'll show you my favourite one", Dempsey said with an excited grin.
I already knew it was going to be Juggernog but I was still excited to see it in person. We made our way up the stairs and over the catwalk to its usual place. I noticed the bouncing betties on the wall as we rounded the corner before seeing the familiar red glow. Dempsey stopped to show me them.
"Oh, these are a good time! Just plant one and when a freakbag gets close it'll explode!" Dempsey was like a kid in a candy store and I could not help but smile watching him.
We then continued to the Juggernog machine, Dempsey came close to the machine before a bottle suddenly dropped. I jumped at the sudden clank of the glass as it made its way out the machine. I had no idea how Dempsey did it; he did not insert a coin or anything.
"Yeah, I dunno how it works. I just come up to the machine and it's like it knows I want a drink. Kinda neat but also kinda creepy", Dempsey explained as he reached down to pick up the bottle.
He knocked off the top and passed me the bottle. I happily took it as I was definitely very thirsty by now.
"Thank you", I said as you could hear the satisfaction in my voice after having a cold thirst quenching slug.
Suddenly, I felt much more stronger and less fatigued. I felt totally empowered!
"Heh, it's pretty neat isn't it? That feeling never gets old", Dempsey mused as he picked up on my newfound strength.
I finished the drink and we made our way to the canteen. Once we got there, the kitchen was old and dirty. It looked horrendous to be honest. I did not know where to start - everything needed scrubbing!
Dempsey watched as I went into chef mode and clocked the food cupboard. I entered and began looking at the tins. My shoulders slumped after realising they were all in German.
"I like to think of it as a lucky draw!" Dempsey said trying to remain upbeat.
I knew such tiny amounts of German but I managed to pick up tins which were more or less suitable for a meal. Dempsey began to scrub some pots and pans while I searched for a can opener. It was approaching evening as the sun had long since reached its peak. I took note that dinner time was fast approaching and we would have hungry bellies waiting.
I opened the first tin which contained chicken - the meat of the gods! For tinned chicken it smelt wonderful. The next tin contained carrots as 'karotte' was fairly simple to understand. Once I got to the third tin I prayed it would be good like the others as I had no idea what 'kartoffel' was. The can opener expertly cut through the metal to reveal boiled baby potatoes. I could not contain my excitement as Dempsey turned to see what was in the tins. When he saw their contents he looked as excited as me.
"You did great!" Dempsey sang as he grabbed me and picked me up.
We were both so happy to see some nice food. He spun me around before letting me down and hurriedly went back to cleaning the pots so we could get started cooking. I went back to the food cupboard and decided we were going all out tonight so I told Dempsey we needed some green peas. I made my way back to the cupboard away from where Dempsey was at the sink and began trying to decipher the German.
"Grüne erbsen", a voice spoke gently - giving me a fright.
I ended up knocking over a couple of cans before turning to the source of the voice. Richtofen was sitting in a room on the other side of the wall. There was a large hole in the wall away to the left which was now illuminated by the light from the neighbouring room. Strangely, the area had been previously pitch black and I was too scared to investigate it earlier. Was he there the first time I came in... just without the light on, I wondered? Was he just standing watching me in the dark? A shiver ran up my spine as I tried to bury the thought.
I stood up and peered down. He was seated at a desk in a room full of paperwork. It must have been some kind of records room. The facility was quite packed together so I suppose I should not have been too surprised. However, I was a little weirded out that he had called out to me without even turning to look at me. It was like he knew I was now alone.
Richtofen was completely buried in paperwork as piles stood tall in stacks around him. He must have heard Dempsey and I in the kitchen - I tried to tell myself. He must have arrived after we were in here the first time. I gingerly picked up the tins I had dropped and picked up the correct one. I kept looking at Richtofen's back as he flicked through papers like I was not even there.
"Thanks", I muttered a bit shakily before he gestured, again, without looking around.
"Not at all", he said - still engrossed in his work.
End of part four...