The Rotting Flesh Book 2: Deadman’s Wonderland
Chapter 8: Meditation

“Honestly I don’t really think this continuous recruitment of people is wise” Shepherd said leaning against a broken down car as Merlyn, Sofia and Denzel were looking for supplies in the nearby store

“What do you mean?” asked Praise who stood watch with him

“Well for starters check compared with when we were fewer, food did not run out so easily” he replied

“Yes I get you, but these people have no where to go”

“We all don’t have anywhere to go, trust me they were better off without us” he argued “we aren’t doing them any favor”

“I don’t follow” said Praise trying to understand what he was exactly trying to mean

“What I’m saying is they are in more danger with us than away from us” he explained

“Ohw okay I see” replied Praise

“Even though you aren’t giving your true thoughts, I know you know what I’m saying is true” he said pulling out a cigarette out of his back pocket, lit it and passed it to Praise

“So what are you suggesting?” asked Praised as she puffed smoke into the air

“We disband the Soldiers of the old world” he said it bluntly

It did not come as a surprise to Praise because deep down she was not very keen of this whole group thing. From the start she wanted to object but since they had come to rescue her as a group it would seem like she was being ungrateful.

“All I want is to find my daughter” she spoke out honestly

“Do you have any leads?”

“No I haven’t done anything in that regard at all and its not sitting well with me” she confessed

“Okay I see, well you see we are all for searching for something in this world of ours”

“What are you searching for?” asked Praise

“Peace”

Hearing Shelton say this was out of character, he had always seemed like the type who enjoyed violence. She handed the blunt to him

“You know, I lost everything when the apocalypse hit, my wife, daughter and family. I just can’t handle losing more” drew in the blunt finishing and threw the stud down

“I’m I’m sorry about you” Praise tried to console him but was cut off

“I’ve cried so much the tears don’t come out no more” he spoke looking into the clear night sky “knowing the pain of losing a loved one, I really don’t want to be the one to cause another the same pain”

Praise narrowed her eyes, she was lost again “what do you mean?”

“We’ve made some pretty dangerous enemies Praise, staying together makes us easy targets. Remember we might be able to defend ourselves but the majority are civilians” he said and shifted his gaze to her she didn’t look back at him

There was a moment of silence as Praise was looking for the right words to say but nomatter how hard he trued to go around it. The truth came out the same, she too didn’t want any of this

“Its okay Captain you do” Shepherd tried to ease things for her but she began to speak

“No don’t worry, I agree with everything you are saying. Honestly I too can’t handle losing more people too. I sometimes ask myself if this is hell, maybe we are being punished for our bad deeds. Nomatter how we try to look at it, death is better than this. The only thing that really keeps me going is the hope that my daughter is out there somewhere, I’m afraid if I ever lose that motivation, it’ll be the end of the road for me” she said feeling heaviness in her heart

“Whats her name?” he asked

“Theresa”

“What a beautiful name”

✞—---❖---—✞

“Aaaachuuuuu” Theresa violently sneezed

“Woah bless you” said Tanya

“In Japan we believe if one sneezes then someone out there would be talking about you” commented Xin

“Yeah like anyone would ever talk about me” Tanya said

I wonder she thought

It was now the third night from the day of their capture and things were pretty quiet. It was almost as though they had been left alone at the park. Their injuries had finally healed and they were more mobile and active.

“Where is Tom?” asked Tanya

“He went out to take a breather” replied Theresa

“I still don’t get why you guys don’t try to escape when they literally leave our cells open” said Tanya

“We once were twice our current number and the others tried to escape” Xin said standing up “it was a bloodbath” he added and walked out of their cell

Tom stood outside the building looking at the clear sky, so deep in his thoughts he didn’t even notice that someone was now standing next to him.

“You know, I remember star gazing with my mother as a child” Shin initiated conversation almost startling Tom

“Ohw Xin how are you?” Tom said

“The question El is are you okay?” he threw back the question

Tom sighed “I don’t really know” he rubbed his forehead “how did it get to this?”

“Are you afraid?” asked Shin

“Indeed”

“Thats good” he said and Tom looked at him in confusion “there is a famous proverb that says ‘life does not end when we die but rather when we stop fearing death’”

Ohw how I wish it was my own death that I’m afraid of, Theresa, Tanya he sighed I’m sorry

“Ohw I see, what about you, are you afraid?” he asked

“My life ended a long time ago” he replied and smiled “lets go inside, your girls are beginning to worry about you”

They walked back to the cells. Deep in the woods on a high branch in a tree sat a man who had been watching Tom for a while.

El Diablo, mmmmmm interesting he thought and jumped down landing without a bruise from such heights

He took another look back and he broke a sweat when his eyes met with Shin’s. Xin then walked in

This batch, is quite interesting lets hope it doesn’t backfire on us Ceaser he walked away

Two days remained until the hunt.

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