System Of The Undead

Chapter 312: Lillian’s Remorse

The night was chaotic in some parts of the world but this wasn’t the case in other places, especially the community.

Since Dimitris and co left, Mariam issued a lockdown to prevent anyone or anything from getting in as their security wasn’t close to full strength.

She knew that there might be a few lurking and the party sent to scout might be a decoy for this same result.

"Miss Mariam, you have a guest," One of her guards informed her through the door.

The protocol was to set an appointment if they wished to see but once in a while, emergencies occurred that made people bypass this altogether.

Mariam was curious to see who and permitted the person to come in only to see Lillian.

Lillian has never come to see her alone ever since settling here so this was a first hence only increasing Mariam’s curiosity.

"Oh, it is you, Lillian, what can I do for you?" Mariam asked.

Lillian felt alone, even the boy she had tried to befriend a year back was one of the casualties during the attack.

Carl had become somewhat scarce as well, he was in and out of it since Jason’s presumed death.

He focused on getting strong and this included his physique as it was one of the few things within his control.

If he was strong enough then Jason would still be here, and Jack wouldn’t have had to die.

None of this would have happened but some things were out of his control; he took responsibility for every single thing that happened.

This was the single thing that fueled his drive to get strong and he remained here to protect the community in their absence.

He heard of his mother’s decision to eliminate the threat and he supported it, humans were bigger threats than zombies.

They couldn’t risk it or bring any harm to the community, he had lost the man that George had cultivated and slowly became the man his mother wished George was.

He happened to walk into the office a minute after Lillian, Lillian was stunned by his physical appearance; he had the physique for quite some time but it was hidden under the clothes. However, on this day, he wore a sleeveless shirt that brought out his biceps.

"Oh Lillian, you’re here," The light from his eyes had disappeared and Lillian didn’t know what to say but luckily, she didn’t need to say anything.

Carl’s attention was fleeting, he barely paid her much attention except for the initial acknowledgement.

"Are you busy?" Carl asked his mother but she didn’t know how to respond to this considering Lillian was yet to say why she was here but she also didn’t know what her son wished to tell her and if it was better said in private.

"I will speak to you later..." Mariam told Carl; because she wanted to give Lillian her undivided attention.

Carl didn’t make a fuss and simply exited the room, nodding at Lillian.

He didn’t feel like the awkward person he was a year ago and that was the effect of this new world.

It forced everyone to grow up, if they didn’t, they would die. It was that simple as even Lillian had done some growing of her own.

She was strong enough to stand on her feet, ready to take the world for a ride but she had also gotten too comfortable despite this place not being one that you could let down your guard.

"Now that it is just us, do you want to tell me why you are here?" Mariam questioned but Lillian didn’t speak.

It was like she had forgotten why she came here but she powered through the initial nervousness as she had questions she needed answered.

Questions only Mariam could provide an answer to and for this reason, she did something she hadn’t done since coming here and that was meeting Mariam.

"I need to know...Is Jason dead?" Lillian questioned, her voice was mixed with emotion but it was hard to deduce if it was sorrow or anger.

Mariam realized what this was, Lillian didn’t believe her sister nor did she truly believe herself either so she needed to hear it from the one person that had no reason for lying.

That was Mariam, logically, it would make sense to assume that he died but the zombies’ disappearance alongside Jason couldn’t be a coincidence.

And Lillian was no fool, she tried her best to recall the strange behaviour that Jason exhibited in the past.

"I am afraid I cannot answer that question. If that is why you are here, I am sorry to disappoint you," Mariam responded sternly.

Lillian’s eyes flickered, she didn’t know how to process this information as Mariam simply said what everyone had been saying since Jason went missing.

"You know... He killed a kid..." Lillian blurted out, she didn’t mean to but her words simply left her lips.

Mariam realized she was here to vent, not necessarily seek answers for where he might be but this was new information.

She wasn’t aware that Jason killed the child as his disappearance was attributed to being one of the many casualties.

However, she didn’t know what else Lillian knew but she was going to keep quiet to give her a listening ear.

"I thought he killed him for no reason at all but I forgot that Jason always looked out for me so he had to have a reason..." Lillian muttered.

"The more I thought about it, the less it made sense but how did the zombies find me? Out of everyone in the community, why was I specifically targeted? I didn’t even realize that they had intelligence! How stupid was I?" Lillian asked, she was looking right through Mariam like she wasn’t even there.

"I heard he survived on his own for so long and suddenly the dead show up right at the community a few days before an attack happened...? I wanted someone to blame and Jason’s last thought would have been of me hating him..." Lillian said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I didn’t hate him... I never hated that dipshit but he would never know that now..." Lillian began to sob, she was aware that the child had a hand to play in Glenn getting better as Rachel was transparent with her.

Rachel kept nothing away from her younger sister regardless of how bleak the news sounded. Although, she toned down the details; Lillian had a general knowledge of what was going on.

She didn’t know how a kid could help but Rachel told her he had a special pill that allowed him to help out.

But with recent developments, it wouldn’t be a far stretch to say the boy was influenced by Chronos, there was no other reason why the variant of Chronos within Jason assumed he was a threat.

That had to be the reason but at the time, everyone was oblivious as it looked like cold-blooded murder.

Mariam got up to her feet and walked towards Lillian, placing a hand on her back, and slowly stroking it.

"I’m sure he knew how much you loved him, I don’t know what happened between you both but Jason was a hard man to change and I truly believe whatever he did. He did it for you, he did it for us..." Mariam said, drawing her close as Lillian sobbed uncontrollably.

She was right, Jason was selfless, and he has been since the beginning of the apocalypse but no one ever did the same for him.

Now, he was lost and almost everyone had given up on him as they thought he was dead and in turn, giving up on him.

-

Carl stood at the door, listening to the pain coming from Lillian and felt responsible for it. If he wasn’t so weak then maybe Jason would be here today.

He kissed his teeth and left the building, he was angry with himself and needed something to take the edge off.

Carl noticed Shantel was seated outside her house and her eyes met his.

She was one of the most beautiful women he had seen in his life but he knew that women would serve as a distraction if he indulged in that act.

Besides, she was a lady that many men desired but none could have.

She was more than her body and Carl knew this, he knew that Shantel was an exceptional woman with brains that made her great with numbers, whatever she was in the world before it fell must have been impressive as numbers came easy to her like words were to a poet.

Shantel waved at him and he waved back, everyone needed someone they could talk to and Carl had been bottling everything inside for years.

Carl knew it couldn’t hurt to talk to her and this was the sole reason he approached her.

There was no other reason to, she was attractive but he wasn’t some horn dog that couldn’t control his hormones.

If anything, sex was the last thing on his mind and this was our Carl and Shantel’s friendship began.

They were both lonely souls in need of human companionship in a world where responsibility and bias shaped people’s narratives.