Chapter 98: 98
“You’d only hear me say that once.” He said.
“Well, I never really asked for anything. Just a simple head nod or a tap on the shoulder is fine.” I said.
“Haaaaa~ I’m not really used to do that but my wife asked me to. But she’s right, we can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for my daughters.” He said as he rubs the back of his neck.
“I thought you’re only gonna thank me once? Is that a second time?” I said as I smiled.
“Can I ask you something?” he said.
I just raised my eyebrow and he continued.
“Why did you decide to do all of this?” he asked.
“What do you mean why? Isn’t it obvious?” I answered.
“If it was me on your shoes, I would’ve taken only my family and moved somewhere safe. The way back here… it… it was a harrowing experience.” He trailed while looking at the sky.
The clouds are moving in a slow pace though the wind would occasionally blow a strong gust.
“What happened on your trip? I calculated that you would be arriving here in less than 3 days after it started. Your daughters are starting to worry about you two especially Olivia. Kaley is staying strong for her and we could only do so much to busy ourselves to not think of what might have happened.” I said while I laid on the floor, staring in the sky.
“Did you tell her?” he asked with a worried look.
“…” I was silent.
“Look at me, did you tell her?!” he bellowed.
“I didn’t.” I replied with a frown on my face.
“I’m sorry. I never believed you when you sent the email before. I really thought it was a joke.” He said with a disgruntled expression.
“It was a good thing that she didn’t ask the right question, she’d found out if I lied. What she asked me before is if I’ve sent her the email. If she asked me if I ever emailed you, I’ll get busted.” I replied.
“Bah! Those two women must be psychics or something…” he said with a bitter smile.
“Olivia’s not the same as them though, I think. Anyway, don’t get befuddled by not believing me, I would’ve still come to your place when the shit hits the fan.” I replied.
“You don’t understand, I’m their father. I should’ve at least tried to listen to what you had to say.” He said while he clenches his fist.
“To be fair, it was around this time when I sent you the email. It’s just after Halloween so it’s underst-”
“NO! I almost got them killed! I shouldn’t be away with my wife camping happily in the mountains! F.U.C.K! Did you even know what I did just to get here?! I had to kill people with my own hands! PEOPLE! Not those dead ones, those are alive! PEOPLE!” he shouted but it’s not enough for the people below to hear us.
“If it’s to protect your own, that is a valid reason. You ‘had’ to you said, you’re an idiot if you let something happens to your family and you’re too late to save them.” I replied solemnly.
“Hah! What would you know about that feeling huh?! It was either them or my wife! But they’re still people dammit!” he exclaimed.
“I’m the idiot who was too late.” I said.
“…!” he stopped.
“You asked why I did all of this? It’s because I know. I know that feeling you almost had to feel. To be honest, it f.u.c.k.i.n.g sucks. I’ve killed before this thing started and ‘had’ to defend myself once and ‘had’ to kill someone about to turn when we’re in here. However, the purpose back then was for vengeance, not to protect someone.” I said.
I told him the story I told Kaley before. How my parents were murdered, how I reacted, everything. Surprisingly, my chest feels light now.
“Is telling it to Kaley before?” I said to myself.
“…” he was speechless.
“I’m an idiot right? If only I checked the commotion myself, if only I didn’t hesitate, if only did I do what I should’ve done at that moment… they would still be alive. So, don’t blame yourself for doing something you think you shouldn’t have done but blame yourself if you didn’t do something that you should’ve done at the moment.” I said while I got up and looked at him seriously.
He looks at me with a pensive and complicated expression. I could feel sadness from his eyes and he seem to understand what I’m saying. He removed his hat and I could see the gray hairs near his temple.
We just stared off the distance and I saw Jared from below waving at me.
“I’m going down now for another run outside. I’ll leave you here for now yeah?” I said.
Kaley and Olivia are still in the room with their mom and when I rode the truck I looked back at the rooftop. He’s still there staring in the distance.
“Where are we headed now?” My uncle asked.
“Hmm, let’s just go a bit further on the right and let’s go to a restaurant near the place where we got the propane tanks. It’s near to a feed shop as well and if they are not looted yet we could haul a bit more food.” I said.
We headed near to the last place that we looted to a restaurant called Pixels. I held my katana and did my work. The glass doors are locked from the top and lower part but when I was about to pull out my lockpick, I found out that it was open already.
“Jared, with me.” I said.
I pushed the door open and I drew my pistol. He drew his pistol as well and we headed inside.
“Someone has been here already? Why are we going in here?” he said.
“We don’t know that yet. It’s just open, there are many things to explain.” I said as I moved past the counter.
We went inside their kitchen but no one was there. The kitchen still has their utensils inside though some of the food was taken from their pantry and freezers.
“This is still plenty considering the circ.u.mstances. Let’s grab them now, it can be all taken with one trip. Grab the spices and the sauces as well, people always left them behind. Oh, some of the cookware here is top quality too. Let’s take those as well with this stove.” I said as I headed to the second floor.
I opened the small cabinets and I smiled faintly. There were a few miniatures inside neatly placed on a case and I placed it in my bag. A few were too big so I just carried it with my hands.
“Hey~ I remember those, we used to play that before, right?” Jared said as he saw what I was carrying.
“Yeah, I taught the owner how to play this and she got addicted and bought a lot of this stuff. I guess we could use this thing every week again.” I said while I reminisce.
“Why did we stop playing though?” he asked.
“Really? DM burnout is a real thing you know? I’ve been doing it all!” I exclaimed.
“Oh, right. Ahahaha…” he replied weakly.
“Well I hope I could play at least once. I’m thinking Rin could be a Dungeon Master. I’m itching to play my 200 characters that never saw the light of day.” I said laughing.
“Is that the pile of Character Sheets on that huge envelope?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s sad but I still like to create my own characters in my spare time.” I said.
Dong and Mark hauled the supplies while I cleared the next-door lot where the place that sells feeds is located.
We hauled everything we could and we also took the bottles of medicine for animals in the counter.
After we loaded a few, the truck has still more space since a quarter of it is still empty. We decided to head back to the bike shop to get 5 more regular bikes with the baskets at the front and several helmets.
I was staring into the distance then Tatiana nudged me.
“Something is in your mind, correct?” she said.
“Dammit! Why did you talk to me?!” I exclaimed.
“What?” she was confused.
“I was about to yawn… and it disappeared, the sensation that I was about to yawn.” I said.
“Oh, sorry.” She said as she chuckled.
We reached the compound while I saw them busy filling the containers with gasoline. We parked the truck and started on unloading it.
I saw charlotte with Chris carrying a few cases with little cups where a small seedling is growing. They headed outside to the farm next to our walls and they just waved at us when they passed by.
I helped with unloading the trucks and Rin followed to make an inventory from everything that was added. Demi and Bobby are helping her now and she’s the one giving orders on where to place everything to maximize our storage.
I then saw Matthew cleaning his camper and scrubbing it all over. Olivia is helping him though I don’t see Kaley anywhere.
I asked Olivia where she is and she said that her sister is in her room with her mom. The door is ajar and I slowly opened the door.
“Kaley…?” I said softly.