Dmitri glanced at the pile of corpses once again, more questions forming in his mind. Even though the answers had revealed themselves through Tyrus’s words, the mystery just seems to keep on treading deeper into the void.
"What do you know more about the shards?"
Tyrus backed away from Johannes, having no intention to be punched in the face. He fixed his tie and cleared his throat.
"Research begets information," he emphasized. "As I have told you, my words are purely anecdotal. But it does not reject reality, don’t you think?"
Dmitri nodded.
Tyrus motioned to continue analyzing the corpses. At that moment, a Scout approached Dmitri.
"Squad leader, gas and corpses ready. Should we proceed?"
He hinted at Tyrus’s figure.
"Mr. Shearman, my men will light up these corpses," Dmitri warned. "You should take a step back."
"Alright."
Tyrus didn’t argue, nor did he need to. The corpses being research material was one thing—to be infected through prolonged exposure was another.
The world had samples far more than what Pandora could bring.
"My mansion cannot house all of your troops for the evening," Tyrus turned his back. "You may have to freeload on the others."
"Not a problem, but these two gets to stay with you."
Tyrus shrugged on his way out. Surveillance was something he had long expected. After all, who would fully trust a man you just barely met?
"Evelyn, keep watch over him," Johannes stared at Tyrus’s departure. "I need to talk with our friend Dmitri here."
"Okay."
With only the two of them left alone, Johannes approached with a doubtful expression on his face.
"How’s the search going?"
"Your ex-agent is gone," Dmitri frowned.
"No hope finding him now," Johannes internally resigned. "He must have left the city already."
"You sound confident."
"I’ve known him for years, and the city’s got millions of zombies," Johannes paced around. "He wouldn’t risk his life to seek the core area."
"Where do you think he could have headed?"
"That, I don’t know either. Maybe Hawford City to the south, or to the Capital west of Grefort."
"Forget about him, then. What are your plans now?" Dmitri looked upward to the bright starry sky.
Johannes’s steps halted. Indeed, what would they do now?
Hunt Elias? But to where? Ashington was a large country, soon to be burdened by its cold atmosphere in the winter. Such a hunt was borderline meaningless, letting Elias roam free while they slowly kill themselves to death.
Continue laying low? For what reason? The world was changing—rapidly at that. Zombies evolved every passing day, and the threat of a full apocalyptic world loomed over his head. Just the aura emanated by these corpses gave him a chill. If he had to face such a group alone, he could only flee.
His eyes landed on Dmitri, a bold idea forming. The latter caught it as well, but he wasn’t one to advertise for his Commander.
"I’ll think about it," Johannes said after a while. "For now, Evelyn and I will stay here and see what happens. What about you?"
"Pandora District has been our objective from the start," Dmitri partially admitted. "We’ll remain on this area for a couple while. See you around."
As he walked away, the radio crackled.
"Ignition in thirty."
An army soldier grabbed a can of gasoline from one of the mansions and poured it over the pile of corpses.
"Quite a mess this is," he remarked.
"That’s just a part of it," another Army Soldier responded. "Guys at the strike team got pulled over by the medic. Weird stuff going down there."
"What did the medic gal say?"
"Their drums’ almost busted. Body’s hammered in many areas, with headaches going around them."
The Army Soldier who poured the can shivered. His mate stepped forward, carrying a gray metal lighter on his hand.
With a flick, the flame ignited.
"That thing’s serious. Did the medics say they can still move around?"
"Should be. Those meds are in serious business. They’d heal any injured part of us for that sweet star-promotion thing."
The lighter was tossed into the pit.
"Let’s go. Small party over that mansion over there. Platoon leader said..."
Behind the locked window, Yunera watched as the flames danced around the corpses. The figure of that stalker still flashed vividly in her mind.
"He didn’t have to do that."
The hand that suddenly grabbed her, and the pain behind those grunts. She knew that if not for that Scout, the concrete fragments could have severely injured her.
"Sister Yunera, are you still thinking of that?"
Kimmy approached from behind.
"Yeah," Yunera shook her head. "All my life, I was the one saving myself, or others. That was the third time someone saved me on my behalf."
"And who was the first?" Kimmy was curious.
"Old Arthur," Yunera leaned on the wall, tilting her head just enough to spectate the starry skies above.
"I wonder if his soul is at peace right now. I miss that old man so much."
"He is at peace, sister," Kimmy held her hand. "And watching over you now."
"I hope so," a single tear dropped from her face. "Goodness, it’s so hard to live in this world now, is it?"
Kimmy remained silent.
"Not if we are with them," she spoke after a while.
"Them?" Yunera looked at her. "You’re talking about those sweaty, stuffy soldiers that follows orders like a robot?"
"Do you not feel safe with them, sister?"
"Tch, where are you going with this?" Yunera rolled her eyes. "You’ve really fallen deeply to him, haven’t you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don’t feign ignorance with me," Yunera waved her hand, trying to dismiss this little devil. "Okay, stop talking about them. You’re creeping me out with all your words."
Kimmy flashed a subtle smile. When Yunera saw it, she knew she was about to have another restless night.
My ears, she resigned. Oh dear, callouses have already formed...
Their soft conversations flowed deep into the night, letting their eyelids slowly fall into a peaceful sleep.