The Rotting Flesh Book 1: Escatology
Chapter 17: The journey begins

The mid day sun beat down on their already soaked bodies. Merlyn, Praise and Desmond had finally managed to flee from the zombies after a long struggle. No one had said a word ever since the last saw Jane, no one had the courage to start a conversation. Merlyn was the most devastated of the lot, she had lost a long life friend in the blink of an eye. Tears silently flowed down her cheeks.

Jane I’m sorry she thought realizing she will never see her friend again

Praise looked at Desmond noticing how distraught their mate was. He signaled for her to go to comfort her.

“How about we take a short break here” Desmond broke the silence

They sat under the trees that lined on the side of the dust road. Praise hugged Merlyn who desperately needed comforting. As she felt Praise’s warm hug she sank into her chest and wailed. Noticing how awkward it was getting Desmond decided to give them space to talk

“I’ll be back I just wanna check the river out” he excused himself

“Praa..iise” Merlyn stuttered

“Yes” Praise said gently

“I’m sorry I I know Im-“

“No love we are in this together, we are your shoulder to lean on” Praise softly assured her she wasn’t a burden

Praise made her lie on her lap and began touching her hair. The crying was reducing with time. Desmond remained seated by the river bank playing with the water.

“You know, i never got to really know her” Praise said trying to start a conversation

“Jane, well she she was amazing” Merlyn replied as memories of their days together came flooding and more tears filled her eyes “I I still remember when we first met” she sighed

“How was it?” Praise asked

“She was new to the force and I was her lead, a soft kind hearted woman. Even though i was in charge of her at first, i felt more like she was above me.”

“A natural leader i presume”

“Exactly, her charisma always had a magnetic effect on people even our superiors. It did not take her long to rise ranks. Even though she surpassed me i was proud to serve under her you know” Merlyn explained

“I noticed you guys had a deeper bond than just commander and surbodinate”

“Yes, she was like my big sister, its funny how i joined the military first but she ended up teaching me more” she giggled

Praise smiled as she realized the more she talked about Jane the brighter her mood became. So she sat there and listened to her go on and on about Jane for minutes until she finally fell asleep on her lap.

“Mother’s touch” Desmond commented as he arrived where they sat

“I am after all a mother” Praise replied

“I’ll watch over you, please rest” he said

In a short while Praise was already asleep. After a while Praise woke up. As she slowly opened her eyes she saw a car coming in their direction.

“Hey Merlyn wake up” she shook her

“What?” Merlyn opened her eyes and as she noticed the car she hoped up and pulled out her gun

Praise pulled hers out too and aimed at the car incase the owners weren’t friendly. In times like these people had a tendency of robbing people or raping since there was no law binding anyone from doing so. So they always had to stay alert.

“Whats that?” Praise asked noticing a white string going around them from tree to tree

“I don’t know, check if we aren’t surrounded but don’t show it. If you see anything unusual fire three times in the air and use the confusion to make a run for the river” Merlyn’s military instinct kicked in

Praise nodded still and began darting her eyes from on point to the other. She followed the rope and noticed it ended in a tree with some cans tied to it. It looked like a manual alarm system. If someone would trip the wire the cans would make noise alerting whoever set the trap.

“Where’s Desmond?” Praise asked seeing he was no where in sight

The car got closer and stopped. The windows were tinted so the driver wasn’t visible. There was a stale mate where no one moved. The women corked their guns and the car door opened.

“Do anything funny we won’t hesitate to shoot!” Merlyn yelled keeping her focus at the car

Someone stepped out but only big black leather shoes and half of the legs were visible the rest of the body was obstructed by the door.

“You see that tree we were leaning on, prepare to dart behind it once the shootout begins” Merlyn instructed

“I guess I didn’t have to worry about you girls did I” a familiar voice came from behind the door

The women’s faces slowly eased.

“My hands are up in the air, please don’t shoot” the man said putting his hands in the air from behind the door

He slowly appeared from behind the door and the women lowered their guns.

“Dude” Merlyn said annoyed

“Tada!! Good morning, how was your sleep?” he said walking to them

“How long were you gone?” Praise asked

“Mmmmmmm about thirty minutes”

“We were sitting ducks out here, what if we were attacked” Merlyn complained

“Thats whats the rope is for, follow it its a manual alarm” he explained “plus you didn’t die did you”

“Whose car is that?” Praise asked

“I mugged some people a few kilometers from here and stole their car.” he giggled

“Well, even though you left us out in the open like fish bait.The car more than makes up for it” Merlyn said smiling

Desmond got back into the car and drove to where they stood triggering the cans.

“You may enter” he said leaning out his window

“Go in the back and rest we’ll take it from here” Merlyn said and took the steering wheel.