096. Decision, 5
It feels warm. The oven works. Ann is sleeping against me. I would to move but she still stops me when I try, even now. It’s the first time I feel skin against mine at night. It feels too warm, but it doesn’t feel that bad.
And I did remember feeling pretty cold lately, so it isn’t that wrong.
I want to go home...
~
She tells me that I probably killed the last ones that were after us. She thinks so because everything is peaceful again now. Though she had not met any other living being either over the past few days. It seems I’ve lost track of time for a day or two.
I feel more sore than I’ve ever been, but I can move by myself.
As for my left arm... She tells me that she cauterised many wounds with burning iron. I didn’t feel a thing, but this explained a bit the strange smell over everything I ate lately.
I’m covered with more scars than a war hero, and burns here and there. At least my left arm looks better now. Well, it doesn’t look like it’s rotting at least. I can even move what’s left of my fingers a bit.
Ann is lightly dressed now that she spared a lot for my own clothing and numerous bandages. I even have one over my head. I had forgotten but the manly beast did hurt me pretty hard on the head too.
Before we try to leave, I tell her I’m sorry for her daughters. I truly am.
She looks at me as if she doesn’t understand what I’m talking about. Has she forgotten them? No, she does look pained. She doesn’t reply, and starts to pack.
What did I expect her to reply? I’m stupid.
We walk outside. She carries a bag. I think it’s mine. As she closes politely the door, she tells me that she also had a baby with her in the train. A boy.
I understand a little better and feel sorry for her. She has lost all her family so suddenly...
A bit like me, only far worse.
She has no one left. I still have someone at home at least. Cursed, but alive, awaiting my return...
Ann gave me a cane, and we began to walk away.
A few days already since she last saw any monster or other human being. Are we safe? Is this over?
I’ve killed a boy and a girl, twice each... I saw his chest. I just didn’t think about it until now. It was Alan, or what he had become.
Why did they become like that? What happened?
Who knows?
We walk on a deserted and quiet road. For ever.
I wonder how the country reacted to what happened here. Has the problem been solved? Or has the plague destroyed the country as well? Probably not.
Are we finally free and escaping? Or just entering a new world? One where this would never stop?
So far at least, it’s peaceful. But I can’t help but wonder about what happened, and where we are now...
I don’t know why, given the state I’m in; but I feel pretty confident about the future now. Whatever ir is that awaits us ahead.
We have our strong differences Ann and I, but perhaps we make a good team in the end?
Despite everything wrong that happened for us and between us, we’re walking in the same direction and at the same pace.
There are too many things I don’t like about her, and went wrong with her. But I think I’m too harsh. And hopefully my reason knows better in the end. Maybe I helped her, and she certainly helped me. That’s enough to make us friends I guess, even without the current situation.
She looks at me with some confidence too for some reason. There’s a town ahead.
A – We made it...
She says with a kind smile.
I’m still cautious.
The sun is bright. The weather is warm. We’re reaching the town. Will it be the end of this nightmare? Or perhaps the real beginning of our war? I grin. The first thing would sooth me and make me happy. As for the later... My heart beats faster, and my left hand hurts me. But I grin. I can’t control it.
Let us see what the world still has to offer.
~
