(Book 3) Left 4 Dead 3: Dry County

Chapter 2: Junction

The huge, giant fireball in the sky greeted the world good morning; but the Earth begged to differ. There was nothing good about this morning. No matter how elegant this daybreak is, it still wouldn't change the fact that the world is on the verge of destruction. Feeble rays of light gradually filled the darkness of the place, revealing the bland and dreary desert around them, exposing the dry maelstrom that the infection had inflicted. It was everyone's first winter dawn.

Dwain was lying down on his side as he slept on the roof's floor. He seemed at peace, drifting around his dreams, undisturbed, until he felt a warm sensation palm his ebony face. His forehead crumpled, his eyebrows knitted. With his sleep now distorted, he rolled over to the other side and laid on his back, and then he opened his eyes. His vision was welcomed by a splash of blue and orange. It was morning already.

The man rubbed his eyes and got up, he leaned his back against a nearby post. After that, he caught Brenan in sight, sitting against the sandbag wall, and he was...smiling? What was it that he's happy about? At least it wasn't directed at him, otherwise it would've been...weird and...creepy.

Lines formed on Dwain's head and asked, "Whatcha' smilin' about?"

Brenan shot him a glance and replied "Look," as he jerked his head forward.

Dwain turned in the direction the medic was staring at. He narrowed his eyes and zoomed his vision. It was Jess, sitting on a chair beside Daeshim, she seemed to be silently reading a small book. But what caught him was Daeshim, still tied up on the chair, stretching out his neck towards the nun, but he was not trying to bite or attack her in any way. Rather, he looked more like trying to read Jess' book as well. That bothered him. He wondered what she was doing. Was she teaching a zombie to read or something?

"What the hell?" Dwain muttered and immediately got up from the floor. He approached them with a keen motive, confusion painted on his face.

Daeshim's glances met Dwain's. Instead of death, his eyes were glimmering with euphoria. The Korean cackled as he watched the man approach him.

"I'm no zombie!" He said with a joyful tone.

Dwain halted, he was shocked when the Korean talked. He didn't understand. He was supposed to be infected by now. He didn't know what and how to feel. He felt every kind of emotion all at the same time.

"Yeah, I can see that pretty clear!" He replied, then brought his dumbfounded expression back to Brenan.

"It's a miracle!" The medic hollered as he walked towards them.

"Or... Maybe the virus isn't kicking in, yet," Jess dismissed, eyes still glued to her tiny book.

Dwain dragged his crumpled face towards Jess. Woman had always been filled with pessimism. She always had a say about everything, and it annoys him.

"Thought yo' holy ass left," he taunted.

The nun finally closed his little book and replied. "I was gonna prove you my point, and then just leave." Her eyes directed at him as she shoved the book into her pocket. "But obviously, it backfired on me," Jess added as she stood up. Dwain eyed her as she passed by him. The morning wasn't fully ripe yet, and she's already ruining the day.

Jess then halted and turned back to him. "Happy?" She added with a caustic tone, a mockery in a form of question. Her eyes flickered in a contemptuous manner as she walked away.

Dwain condemned the nun's arrogance, he still hated that she returned, but part of him was somehow relieved that she was safe and sound.

"Huh. Well, that's a start," Brenan uttered.