To Kill a Cactus - The Beginning of The End part 2

The Beginning of The End part 1: HERE

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I could feel myself get more anxious by the minute, when I realised that there were no noises coming from the ground on top of us, I had heard Ash and Cecilia talking when they first buried us, but now there was nothing, I tried to tell myself that everything was going to be fine, that they were just giving us extra time, but I could sense that there was something wrong.

"How deep underground are we?" I asked Christopher, who had closed his eyes and almost looked dead.

"Exactly 43,4 cm of soil is on the casket plus the lid of the casket itself, I could probably lift it off of us, but I'm not sure what's waiting for us when we get to the ground," he answered and started rolling up his sleeves.

"What do you mean?" I stuttered and looked at him in astonishment.

"I can hear at least three people breathing on the ground, last I counted there were only two of them there, so I hypothesize that we have been found,"  he answered.

I looked at him as he took a long breath in and pushed his hands against the lid of the casket, it began the tremble, I could hear the hinges break and the soil around us crackle, with one swift move he threw the soil and the lid up grabbed me and jumped to the ground just in time to see the lid fall back down and the soil right after it. It seemed like a haze to me, everything moved so fast and then we were back standing.

Around us was a mass of people, most of them undead, I could sense. Laylah sat on the ground. It seemed so odd to see her in her long gown, sitting there like a grumpy toddler, her eyes fixed on me.

"Nice to see you back among us, I was thinking of letting you lay down there for a little while longer, but I guess you got too impatient," Laylah said while smiling, but there was no laughter in her voice.

"What do you want, Laylah?" Christopher asked. I could see that his eyes were quickly scanning the mass, searching for his sister and Ash, they were tied up and kneeling on the ground, I could see blood, but both of them seemed alive.

"The girl, give her to me and all of you are free to go," she answered.

Christopher shook his head, I could see the dilemma in his eyes, he should've chosen his sister, it was the right thing to do. Of course, I wished for him to magically save us, it was my first instinct to wish to live, but I also knew that I had been running for far too long and it was exhausting, I just wanted it all to end, for there to be closure.

"Fine, I'll go," I said to Christopher quietly.

I could see a smile grow over Laylah's face.

"No!" he shouted, almost sounding scary, the lines of his face seemed sharper than ever, making him seem older, wiser and a lot more powerful than I could imagine.

"Oh, then take his head, boys," Laylah said rolling his eyes.

All of the men around her lifted their weapons and I could swear I could see bullets flying through the air, I just stood there in shock, not knowing what else to do other than reach out for him to pull him away from the fire, but he stood there so calmly as if he was ready, his hand reached out to mine and dropped something in my palm, it felt cold at first and then it melted into my skin. I held onto it, squeezing my hand into a fist as if that could save him, but it didn't. Bullets flew straight into his skull, the dark red zombie blood that he had was everywhere, I closed my eyes I didn't want to see it him falling down, but I could feel his weight landing on the ground and I just fell with him. There were tears running down my face and I kept repeating to myself that this couldn't have been happening, he had to stand up and fight, but he just laid there, blood on his face, his eyes wide open, unafraid, but dead. 

"Please, wake up, please wake up," I kept whispering, but there was no answer, a sharp pain ran through my chest, I had killed him, I was responsible for another death, maybe I was the cause of the end of the world, maybe I was as evil as everyone believed me to be.

The image of his face has been burnt into my mind ever since, how could he so calmly welcome death, how could he die. Every time that I close my eyes I see him looking back at me. I wished I had known his plan, I wished that I could've asked for an explanation one more time, I wished for anything, just to bring him back. It felt like forever, that I lied there beside him, but in reality, it was just a few minutes, then I came back to the real world, I could hear the men laughing and clapping, Laylah giggling to herself like a child and in the distance, Cecilia crying out for her brother. The man holding her laughed and hit her with his heavy boot, leaving her on the ground sobbing and holding on to her insides as if it was all about to fall apart. I felt like it was. It was.

...

To Be Continued