Into The Aether

Chapter Four: Comrades

Dempsey and I made our way across the grounds towards the building opposite. Suddenly, his strong strides suddenly stopped. Surprised, I took a second longer to realise before I stopped as well and turned to see what was wrong.

"I got so caught up in savin' ya I haven't even asked you your name! What's your name, sweetheart?" Dempsey said jovially as he let out a deep laugh.

He always seemed so upbeat - especially in the face of his predicament.

"Kiana", I replied quietly.

"That's a pretty name, so how'd you get here?" Dempsey bellowed in his deep voice; every question was so enthusiastic.

Oh great, I thought. If the doctor is not going to understand then how can I hope Dempsey will?

"Um, I don't know to be honest. The doc said I have a concussion and it has affected my memory or something", I said; inwardly praying that he would buy it.

The look on his face suggested he did.

"Well, Kiana. You're more than welcome to stay with us until you get your memory back. I'll protect ya!" Dempsey sang as he gave his signature cocky grin.

"Thanks", I said with a smile.

"Have you seen the freakbags yet?" Dempsey asked.

I frowned, I had forgotten all about the undead to be honest. Thinking about it, last night passed without a single one; surely we should have seen at least a couple? Was that normal, I wondered?

"Freakbags?" I feigned ignorance hoping he would put it down to the concussion.

Dempsey's eyes widened with shock,

"You mean you've made it this far without runnin' into one of those things?! Damn, but you're gonna have to fight them eventually. Do you know how to defend yourself?" Dempsey asked, genuinely concerned.

To be honest, I did not really know what to say because I thankfully never found myself in a situation where I had to. How do you actually fight a zombie? My mind went blank. This was so much more different than the game.

"Not really", I replied.

Dempsey quietly nodded as if I confirmed his suspicions.

"So I guess you don't know how to use a gun too?" He followed up his previous question with another.

Guns are not legal in my country so there were little to no opportunities to learn. Trying to gauge the best response, I just replied honestly.

"Guns aren't legal in Scotland, so no."

Instead of another somber nod, Dempsey looked at me with a big grin. He was such a big kid.

"I'll teach ya! You'll be killing marrow-maggots in no time! I can keep ya safe in the mean time too... oorah!" He finished his sentence with a wink and I laughed to myself that Dempsey still managed to get a flirt in somewhere.

I suppose it was going to start sooner or later.

"C'mon", Dempsey said as he offered his hand again.

We began to traverse the grounds of the facility as Dempsey led the way. After a few minutes, we made it to the other building where the other two men where sitting. Dempsey burst through the door excitedly as if he was eager to show off his new toy. Great, he thinks he has a girlfriend, I laughed as I rolled my eyes. The first man turned to me and bowed gracefully.