System Of The Undead

Chapter 315: Goodbye, Glenn

One of the greatest tragedies befell Rachel and that was the death of Glenn, she didn’t understand why the world kept coming after her but with his death, a rush of emotions overcame her.

She couldn’t comprehend why something this bad had happened to her, she didn’t deserve this much hurt.

She wondered if things would have been different if she didn’t abandon him to save herself but she was also aware that there was nothing she could do.

She had to stay alive for her sister and she knew that Glenn would hate her if she sacrificed herself to save him.

But this didn’t stop her from feeling guilty, there was so much the world had taken from her and this right here just might be the final blow.

She dropped to her knees, helpless as Dimitris kept walking towards the car without saying anything else.

"Glenn... is dead.... Jason is...!" Rachel stopped herself from completing this sentence as the realization that Jason was dead hit her harder than it ever did.

That hope she held onto was extinguished the moment she saw Glenn’s lifeless body.

The reality of the world they lived in gave her a reality check and she began to sob uncontrollably.

Dimtiris looked drained and didn’t have it in him to console her as he had lost something too even though his outward reaction might come off as indifferent.

"Get up, we need to leave," Dimitris said and this sentence was the very thing that made Rachel lose her cool.

"You...! How can you be so cold! DON’T YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING COMPASSION!?" Rachel screamed, throwing caution in the wind as this prompted Dimitris to stop in his tracks.

"Glenn considered you a friend but to you, he is just another soldier, isn’t he!? A tool to use to fight and die? I wish... I wish men like you didn’t exist!" Rachel screamed.

"If men like me didn’t exist, people like you would have been zombie feeder..." Dimitris responded, his voice was cold but she could tell from his tone that he was exhausted.

But there was something sorrowful about it, Rachel realized at that moment that she was being selfish.

She had known Glenn for only a year but there was no way of telling how long these two had known each other.

She didn’t know why she was feeling this so deeply, Glenn was important to her but not to the extent of such a reaction but then it hit her, she wasn’t just mourning Glenn, she was mourning Jason as well.

"Now get up, we need to go," Dimitris commanded.

Rachel knew that it made no sense for him to carry Glenn’s corpse as this would not only slow him down but leave him vulnerable to attacks from zombies.

For him to take this unnecessary risk, it showed that Dimitris didn’t see Glenn as just another soldier.

Rachel felt like a bitch, she didn’t need to say the things she did.

She walked to the car as Dimitris placed Glenn’s lifeless body in the backseat with Rachel taking her place at the passenger side.

But the car wasn’t starting, they both needed a moment to take in everything that they just experienced but Dimitris’ fingers dug into his flak jacket, rummaging through it, resurfacing with a crumbled up piece of paper in it.

"Here..." Dimitris said, handing Rachel the paper in his hand, she didn’t know what it was but she accepted it nonetheless.

She opened up and knew what it was from the very first word, these were Glenn’s last words.

There it came again, the tears came rolling in as she tried her best to hold it in but this was too much for her.

[Dear Rachel, I am afraid I have been bitten yet I am not scared. I thought I would be afraid to die but I am not and that is thanks to you all I have met, I am glad that I willl keep living on in you, your memory. Thank you Rachel, thank you for letting me know you and do not lose hope.. I wasn’t made for this world and I can finally meet my wife to tell her all I have experienced. I once thought this world was full of death but there is hope. Do not lose that hope, do not give up on Jason... Also help me watch over that grumpy old man, would ya? Thank you all but I guess it is time to go see my wife.]

The letter read, it was clear that Dimitris hadn’t read it because it wasn’t his to read.

If anything, he was a man of discipline that wouldn’t trample on his friend’s last wish.

Without saying a word, he stepped on the gas pedal and the car disappeared into the distance as they made their way back into the community.

-

Bella journeyed to the coordinates given to her with a team of three, she was injured somewhat with her ankles sprained but this didn’t mean she was defenseless.

The Specters became ambitious over this past year, expanding their influence with each given a region to make hospitable for others.

In a way, one could say they were creating safe zones despite being heinous people in their past life with no interest at redeeming themselves.

Allison was seen as an enemy because while she was acting under strict orders from the Specters, she had betrayed the same people she was had to protect.

She even manipulated events to ensure that Mariam’s ambition came to pass.

No wonder she was able to get in the first place, it was never because Mariam wished to give her a second chance at life but rather because of her dealings with the Specters.

However, Bella changed the narrative going forward, she knew about the Specters arrangement with Mariam but altered said arrangement.

They would only assist Mariam in protecting the community, not destroyg it so she could rebuild it even though this had already been done.

There was no one that could stand in Mariam’s way as she was just as ruthless as she was beautiful.

But with Bella solely in charge here, every dealings Mariam had with the Specters was directly through her which limited what Mariam could do.

Not that this mattered as Bella had every intention of extending her hand out to her but only when the community needed it, not her, herself.

"We have arrived..." A man said as the car came to an abrupt stop, it wasn’t too far, just an hour or so.

She had something wrapped around her ankles but she made sure that she used crutches as well as to not worsen it.

She needed to be in top shape as fast as she could because health was wealth more than ever.

She couldn’t be a liability to the very people she led or someone would eventually challenge her.

Bella got out of the car and noticed that this was an abandoneded government building that was well fenced so there was no risk of the dead getting in or at least, the less threatening variants.

She wasn’t there that day to protect the community but something told her she wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

The gates opened the moment she got out of the car, they didn’t let the car in but they allowed her alongside her men entry into the building.

It was heavily guarded, one would think after a year weapons would lose their functions as majority lacked the resources to replenish the ammunition they would inevitably exhaust not only fighting the dead but the living.

The men stood outside the building with Bella making her way in, she was anxious because in terms of achievements, she didn’t measure up to any of them.

She walked into the room and noticed that there were only seven chairs, this must mean that only seven were expected to join the meeting which could only mean that three had fallen.

The rate at which they were dying was alarming as each were capable in their own right even though she didn’t know which number.

There were regions that were more dangerous than the one which she managed but that didn’t mean much in this world.

"Am I early?" Bella asked upon noticing it was only one person present here, that was the one who made all of this possible in the first place or rather, his right hand man.

The one with the Roman numerical number, II, he sat on the chair facing the entrance.

He was a man of few words and Bella was intimidated by his mere presence.

She wouldn’t have spoken if she knew it was him but it was too late, the words had already escape her mouth.

The man acknowledged her presence but he didn’t say a word despite it, Bella took her sit.

She couldn’t place her fingers around it but there was something unsettling about this meeting.