Hololive English: The undead timeline

10 - Execution

Amelia's pov

I wake up to banging on our cabin door. Irys gets up and opens it.

Irys: Can you chill out?

There's a guy there. He looks like a guard. He doesn't look too happy.

Guard: Enzo wants everyone out of bed and to meet in the middle of town right now.

Irys: Can you give us a minute? You just woke us up.

Guard: No. Get there now.

He walks off.

Irys: Jerk.

I get up and stretch. Gura also gets up.

Gura: This place sucks but at least they have beds, even if the beds kind of suck too.

Amelia: There's not a bathroom in here is there?

Irys: Nope, well I mean there is but nothing in there works.

Amelia: Yay.

Irys: Well, let's go. Enzo has little patience and by the sound of it, he's already pissed off.

Amelia: Yeah, better not cause anymore trouble.

We head out of the cabin. Irys leads us to the middle of town. There's a small crowd. Enzo is there. He's standing next to a pole, there's blood on it and on the ground around it.

Enzo: For our newbies, let me explain what happens here. For those who break our rules, we give punishments. There's three strikes. Strike one, you get a beating, strike two, you lose half your food and water rations. Strike three, we execute you. We tie you to this pole, you say your final words, and we shoot you. I say there's three strikes but in some cases, if the crime is bad enough, we don't give you three strikes. We just execute you. Last night, someone murdered one of our guards. Our guards risk their lives every night to keep us safe. They stay up all night patrolling the village and the area around the village to make sure no zombies get in. They could die at any moment, yet they still do it for your safety. Someone thinks the way you repay someone for their kindness is to kill them. We don't know who did it but if we find out, they're going straight to the execution pole.

I look at Gura. She seems nervous. I whisper to her.

Amelia: Keep a straight face. Don't look nervous or they'll suspect it was you.

Gura takes a deep breath to calm herself down.

Enzo: Murder and assault of our fellow lions will not be tolerated.

He looks at me.

Enzo: At the crime scene, we found patches of dirt in the grass field like someone was digging around there. I have no clue why they could've been doing that but right now I'm not worried about that. Amelia, your clothes are dirty. Like as if you were digging up dirt.

Amelia: I tripped and fell in the dirt around my cabin.

Enzo: I see.

I can see that's he's suspicious of me.

Amelia: I didn't have time to clean myself because I had to come straight here.

Enzo: Well, anyway, today we have an execution. Guards, bring him forward.

They bring an old man up to the pole and tie him up. He looks like he's in his 70's.

Enzo: Now I'm sure you all know Rojin. He's been here since the beginning. However, because of his age, he's unable to do most tasks I give him. Now, since he's been here since the beginning and has been loyal to me and done so much work for the village, we'll make this quick and painless. One shot in the head. It'll be over in an instant.

Rojin: Enzo have some mercy. I'm old but I've done so much for the village and this is how you're gonna repay me?

Enzo: I am giving you mercy by giving you a quick and painless death. Remember, you have to carry your weight around here, and you simply can't do that anymore.

He loads a pistol. I look on in shock. I clench my fists. One thing I can't stand is innocent people being killed. I look on as he's getting ready to shoot. It reminds me of why I became a detective in the first place. I want to save him but I can't. There's simply no way. I'd get myself killed and he'd still die. Enzo shoots.

Enzo: All done. Now, get to work everyone. Newbies, meet at the grassy field near the village, you'll be assigned your jobs there.

Everyone leaves besides me, Gura and Irys. I look at the body. I have an overwhelming feeling of sadness, anger, and grief.

Irys: It's hard to watch huh. Luckily they don't execute people everyday.

Gura: Are you okay Ame?

Amelia: Yeah... This just reminds me of why I became a detective.

Gura: If you don't mind me asking, why did you become a detective?

Amelia: We don't have time for me to explain in detail so I'll make it quick and tell you the story later. Growing up, I was very close to my grandpa, he took me everywhere, hiking, fishing, movies, places like that. One day he took me to a bank, robbers came in and ended up in a stand off with the police. They took hostages, me and my grandpa were some of them, things escalated and one of them shot my grandpa. Soon after that, they fled. They were never caught. All because there weren't enough detectives and the detectives they did have just weren't that good. So, I became a detective myself.

Gura: I see...

Guard: Get going.

We start walking. No one says a word. Eventually we reach the grassy field. Enzo is there.

Enzo: Amelia and Gura, your job today is to hunt and gather food. Irys will be assisting you. Gura, since you're good at gathering fish, you'll be fishing in the river. Amelia, you'll be hunting around the river for animals like deer, or rabbits. Irys, you'll be assisting them, it's important to stay together. I'm sure you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by zombies, especially the unique ones. Now get to it. Irys, lead the way.

He hands us some guns, a crossbow and a spear.

Enzo: Use the crossbow on the animals. It's quiet and doesn't waste ammo. Gura, use the spear on the fish.

Amelia: Okay.

Irys starts walking. We follow. She leads us to a forest, before we go in, Gura stops.

Amelia: Gura?

She looks hesitant to go into the forest.

Amelia: Are you okay?

Gura: Yeah... I guess I'm just hesitant to go into the forest with you. It reminds me of what happened to my Amelia.

Amelia: I'll be okay, there's no traps or anything, we're just hunting with weapons.

Gura takes a deep breath.

Gura: Okay, let's go.