Wither With Me

CHAPTER 27 - AMANDA

"It's been a while since I came to visit you, hasn't it?"

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"I've brought some acquaintances with me this time, I hope you don't mind them."

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"Have you been okay? I know, I know, you're hungry... I wish I could feed you, but that wouldn't be too safe for me, would it?"

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"Everyone has been dealing with a lot of difficulties lately, but we've been pulling through, you don't have to worry about a thing."

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"How I wish I could speak to you again, honey..."

...

The basement was in complete silence, only broken by William's intermittent monologue. His voice came out in threads. He didn't expect a response. He knew there was no response to be had. In a way, he was only fooling himself. Desperately clinging to a phantom of the past, feigning conversation with a remnant of something that wasn't there anymore. He knew there was no point to it. But how else was he meant to keep his sanity in check?

Amanda's vitreous eyes twitched in the relative darkness of the room, staring at him and piercing his soul. Was there anything left of her original self behind that lifeless gaze? Could that thing still be called Amanda?

Her jaw made feeble attempts to open itself, emitting a faint wheezing in the process, almost impossible to even perceive. William looked at the ragged piece of cloth hanging from her neck. He had initially planned to gag her as an additional safety measure, but he gave up midway. He couldn't bear the thought of silencing her. Not her.

A single tear dropped from William's eyes. What a surprise. He thought he didn't have any more of those left. Although, in all honesty, he shouldn't have been surprised. Even if he was a cold and composed man, always keeping his own emotions for himself, Amanda was able to see past his inner walls; she always had a special way of opening him up like a book, reading his contents page after page, and cherishing every single word within.

It seemed like, even in undeath, she hadn't changed at all.

After watching her for a prolonged period of time, memories of the recent past started making noise in his head. Painful memories he'd rather had kept buried.

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The flare emitted a blinding light, enveloped by red smoke. The distant sirens blared endlessly, carrying a foreboding sense of doom. Desmond cried his heart out, crumpled on the floor. William's senses were overwhelmed, overloaded by that sudden influx of information.

Not giving him a chance to collect his thoughts, gunshots came from the floors below, followed by multitude of screams. He didn't even try to apply rational thinking. His legs moved on their own, plunging him downstairs, as the realization of what might be going on started to sink in.

'Shit...! Shit...!!'

His partners, Richard and Elijah, equally flustered, chased after him.

"What's going on!? Where did those gunshots come from!!?" asked Elijah.

"Get your guns ready!! The meeting hall...!!" said William, unholstering his pistol.

The trio hurriedly made their way down to the fifth floor, then to the fourth floor, then into the hallway. More and more screaming and yelling flooded the building, coming from the direction of the meeting hall.

The three of them turned a corner. They froze in place, weapons ready. The hallway was full of people. Unknown faces. Most of them armed with either handguns or bladed weapons, in front of the door leading into the hall. Judging by the noise coming from within, they were inside as well.