REBORN VOL TWO

Chapter Eight

Chapter 18

Living In Despair

The room was huge and eerily quiet. There was a faint sound of liquid dripping into a puddle far away. Besides boxes and chairs scattered across the wide open space, the room was bare of supplies. It only left an empty shell as to what it once was. A window placed high up on the ceiling shines light from outside. Making the dark room become dim. But even with the light, nothing can stop that eerie feeling of being alone I have deep within myself.

"William!" I call out

There is no response.

I sigh. "William come out! I want to talk with you!"

For the first few seconds, I am again met with that same ghostly silence that enclaves this huge empty warehouse. But that all changes with the sound of faint audible footsteps improving in front of me. Gaining louder for each step it takes. Walking from the dark corner, lies William. A shell of the man he once was. His once clean face is now covered in stitches and cuts. With his left eye almost being completely gone. Only covered up by a stained white bandage. What used to be his clean suit is now filthy. Cuts and rips are visible on both his suit jacket and his long black overcoat. But the dirtiest of the bunch is his white button-up shirt. Blood from the many people he has killed is now stained on it. Splattered across the white shirt like he just got done painting. When I first laid eyes on him, it felt like I looked at a stranger.

"What?" William asks. "Are you here just to demand a plan out of me?"

"No, I wanted to check up on you."

William scuffs

"Well...there isn't much to check up on. Why don't you go out and hang with Brian or Ethan"

I walk towards him

"I know that's not true...and I know you're sad about what happened with Laura. You can talk to me about her, you know that. Right?"

William steps back away from me

"Why do you want to help me? Just go! I can deal with my own shit."

"William you know that's not true. I care for you, I don't want to see you become depressed again"

William pauses, staring at the blank concrete ground in silence. I walk towards him, placing my hand on his shoulder

"Talk to me, let it out. You don't have to go through all of this alone"

Faint tears form in William's eyes as he stands in silence. His mouth trembles as he unballs his hands.

"I loved her. She was one of the best people that could ever come into my life. Out of everybody in this world, she understood me."

"It's not your fault that she died"

"I know. But I wish I could've done more to protect her"

William pulls up a chair and sits down

"You did everything in your power to protect her"

"Like what? Making her tag along with me to gun down a bunch of innocent people."
"You've made mistakes, but you ended up changing and growing from those mistakes. Like when we first encountered Nate and his group. You didn't gun them down, you tried reasoning with them"

"You know all of this could have gone differently if I hadn't kept our supplies. Maybe if I listened to Nate, then we could have gotten off easy"

"I don't think they'd let us off that easy"

William sighs

"I hate being the leader"

"Why?"

He looks at me