The Rotting Flesh Book 1: Escatology
Chapter 30: Resolution

The loud slamming of rain on the roof almost made the whole place in audible. However it acted in favor of them because the zombies would not hear them.

“The rainy season has returned again, I feel sorry for anyone out there at this hour” Tanya said trying to initiate small talk

“Why is that?” asked Tom

“Well for starters all your senses are dulled in the rain, sight its hard to see very far with water pouring on you, scent its hard to capture any with many smells being mixed int he air and hearing you can’t distinguish sounds due to the heavy rain pouring down. So basically these undead bastards can pounce on you anytime” she explained

“Yeah that makes a lot of sense, are you ex military?” Tom asked seeing how analytic she was

“Unfortunately no, I am just a farm girl whose life turned to shit overnight” she said with a hint of anger in her tone

“The rain also works to our advantage since most of the noises we would make can’t be easily heard, these zombies can’t easily locate us”

“Who says they work on sound?, what if its scent” she cleared her throat “oh plus the z word is cliché”

Tom slightly smiled. Her remark reminded her of Theresa and for a moment he saw her. His heart and mind were at odds.

“What?” she asked after seeing him smile

“Nothing, you just reminded me of someone I know” he replied

“Owkey” she shifted her gaze back to the window trying to avoid the awkwardness

“Ouch you got me hard, did you play baseball?” Tom said rubbing his forehead

Tanya cringed “i’m sorry it was self defense”

“I hadn’t attacked”

“Come on you know in this world you don’t wait for someone to make a move first thats a death move” she explained “anyway do you belong to a camp?”

“No, do you?”

“Yea but not anymore, everything went to hell when it was overrun by these rotting bastards” she said slamming her fist on a desk “how did you survive without a camp?” she asked now looking out the window

“I had friends so we went on supply runs and trained to defend ourselves”

“I presume those friends of yours are no more, seeing you guys aren’t together” she said turning to him

“Its complicated”

————

Nomatter how deep the wounds time never stops moving. This was something Thomas was very familiar with and he knew the longer he waited the more Theresa might be suffering.

Therry, I wonder what they are doing to her right now his eyes watered as he imagined the worst

Tanya would watch him as he sat there by the window watching the falling rain, she could see his soul was not at peace. Sometimes in his sleep he would continuously say her name. Tears would involuntarily flow down his eyes in his sleep. She could not interferer since it was none of her business but it was getting out of hand.

“When are we going?” she said heading straight into the heart of the story

“Where?” he asked eyes still glued to the window

“To get Theresa back” she said

Her words made his heart skip a beat.

How does she know that name? he tried to think of a time he ever mentioned her but could replace none

“You say her name out loud in your sleep” she read his mind

“She made her choice, I can’t go against it. We weren’t good enough for her” Tom argued trying very hard to keep the tears in

“You know thats not true” Tanya gambled with her response even though she didn’t know the whole story

“You don’t know that” replied Tom

“I do” she said and Tom turned to glare at her and before he could yell she said words that got to him “I’ve seen the way you think about her sitting where you are, the way you, you say her name in your sleep as tears flow down your eyes”

His eyes widened, as he realized how deep his wounds were.

“Tell me, if you didn’t want her back, why aren’t you moving on with your life.“ she said

“Theresa died” he said trying to change the topic

"I don't remember ever seeing the dead make choices" she striked back and he frowned

“From the time all hell broke loose till now, i know you’ve lost a fair share of people. And if there is something i’m sure of is, Theresa is not one of them.”

“Shut up!!” Tom snapped

“No!” Tanya shot back eyes already teary, her reaction stopped Tom in his tracks “when a close one dies we mourn but recover because we can never bring back the dead, but Tom some of us would kill for even an ounce of a second with our lost ones” she wept

Tom stared at her confused by her reaction

“I won’t ever bother you with this but allow me to say this. Don’t make the mistake of seeing the importance of someone after they have left this earth. Forgive the intrusion” she concluded and walked out the room

The room descended back into silence. The rain poured down as Tom stood in the dimly lit room lost in his thoughts.Tom battled with himself. With the way things stood he did not have much time to spare because no one knows what those roughians would do to Theresa. Even after everything that had happened he could not bring himself to abandon her, afterall she was the only family he had. Standing by the window staring at the pouring rain, aside from the undead bastards that crawled outside the scenery was beautiful.

Sitting in the hallway regretting her past actions Tanya shed tears silently when the door to the classroom her and Tom stayed swung open almost startling her. Tom stepped out and looked down at her

There is something different about his eyes she thought

“Obi One in order to rescue my Pado One there is a missing piece” he said in a calm recollected tone

“What?” she said in awe of his sudden shift in character

“Guns Obi One” he smiled "we need guns