The Dead Frontier (22)

"- and well, I survived. I kept throwing myself in dangerous situations but I kept surviving due to a weird twist of fate. I don't know when but eventually I stopped wanting to die. Still, there are days where I wish I had died along with the others in Rionel's keep" said Glen as he reminisced about his past.

Talking about all this felt weird to him. But now that he had shared his thoughts with someone, he strangely felt that a big burden had left his chest. He even felt relieved.

By the time Glen finished his story, it was already dark outside. He wanted to look at Ezekiel's expression to see if he was disappointed with him but he didn't have the courage.

What if he felt Glen didn't deserve to live? What if he decided to leave him?

"... you are like me?" Ezekiel muttered to himself.

"Huh?" Glen lifted his head in confusion. What did he mean by that? He wanted to know more. How could this small kid be similar to trash like himself?

"Can I see?" Ezekiel asked.

"See what?"

"The bullet wound that missed your heart"

Glen found the request a little weird but he still lifted up his shirt with his left arm. Ezekiel was greeted by Glen's body that was full of bullet wounds and scars. His pupils grew in size after seeing such a sight.

Amongst the wounds, he focused on the one that was on Glen's chest. He must have been extremely lucky. It felt like the bullet just missed his heart by inches. If he was not still alive and walking, Ezekiel could have sworn that was right on top of Glen's heart.

He wanted to touch it but Glen pulled down his shirt.

"What are you doing!?"

"Can I touch it?" Ezekiel asked innocently.

"No!"

"But why?"

"I don't know, the idea itself feels weird, so no" Glen emphasized the word no again.

"What about the other ones? Where did they come from?"

"Ugh, let me think. Two of them are from when I duelled Surly Joe, there should also be a couple from when General Gomez had ambushed me... what else? I don't know there are too many to remember" said Glen as he thought back to his life.

He really had too many close calls with death but he had always managed to survive one way or another. But why? Now that he thought about it, any other man in his shoes would have been sent to hell ages ago.

Fate was a weird thing.

"That's amazing," Ezekiel said in wonder. This man was too amazing. He didn't even understand why he wanted to kill himself. In his opinion, he had every right to live. Even when Rionel's Keep was destroyed it wasn't his fault. So he couldn't understand why he was so harsh on himself.

He was also happy that their pasts were similar. Just like how he was the only survivor of his family, Glen was the same. Maybe, maybe Glen would also adopt him like Wiley. Just imagining that was enough to put a smile on his face.

"Anyway, if you are done interrogating me go and eat some food. It should be dinner time now" Glen shooed Ezekiel away.

***

Three days after Glen regained his consciousness, he was already getting ready to leave.

"Are you sure about this? You know you can still rest a little more" said the old man as he helped Glen put on a new black duster.

His name was Levi Wade. He was sent by the church from the mainland as a sort of scout. They were tasked with finding survivor towns and creating a line of communication between them by clearing the surrounding areas.

If they were to come across big hordes, they were to report back as soon as possible.

"No thank you. Just sleeping on the bed without doing anything doesn't suit me. I also need to train from scratch to regain my old aim" said Glen as he put his navy in its holster.

Glen sighed to himself. Aiming could still be trained but reloading from now on was going to be such a hassle. He would not be able to confront hordes of zombies on his own anymore. He didn't like it. He didn't like this sudden feeling of weakness.

"You know, the offer from back then still stands. If you decide to accept, we might even be able to do something about that arm of yours" Levi insisted once again.

Glen shook his head in defeat. He would not accept the offer and the old man knew it as well.

"It's such a shame. You would have been an excellent addition to our pack. Still, keep the letter. If you ever change your mind you can use that" said Levi.

He really wanted Glen. He felt like it was such a shame that it took so long for them to meet. Levi had good instincts so he could tell from their meeting that Glen was born to be one of them. However, if the guy was unwilling there was nothing he could do.

There was still hope though, so he might be pleasantly surprised in the future, who knows?

"Oh, before I forget. Here, take this" Levi pulled out a gun covered in cloth. From its length, it looked like a shotgun?

"This is a new rifle that was recently developed. It has a shorter range than the ones that you are probably used to but I think this will suit you well" said Levi as he uncovered the cloth.

What stood before Glen was a Winchester Rifle. But it didn't look like the ones he remembered from his past life.

"You see, you can load ten bullets inside this rifle with mags of five. Considering your condition, it should be helpful to you. Oh also-"

Levi held the gun in his right hand then he started to spin it. As he spun the gun, Glen could hear the sound of cocking. I mean, even if he didn't hear it, it still should have been obvious due to seeing the trigger guard leaving the stock of the gun but yeah. As long as he did some acrobatics with it, he would be able to use a rifle again.

He was right. This rifle was heaven-sent for him.

As he took over the rifle from Levi's hands Glen thanked him. He was taken in by the gun instantly. It just felt right in his hand.

"Are we leaving now mister?" asked Ezekiel as he burst into the room with a full backpack.

"... excuse me? We?"

"Yes! You didn't think about leaving me behind, did you?"

Glen instantly became flustered since that was exactly his plan.

"Well, I will have trouble taking care of myself so I won't have time to take care of you"

"No problem, sir. I can look after both of us"

"...What?"

"Yeah! I started to teach myself about shooting so I can protect both of us"

Glen started to feel amused.

"Oh really?"

"Yes! I am really good at it" said Ezekiel proudly.

That was when Levi cut in.

"I think you should take the kid along. He already has some friction with the remaining townsfolk. It wouldn't do good to leave him here"

"Fine, but don't touch your gun as long as I don't give you any permission. I don't want to be swarmed by zombies due to your messy 'shooting'"

Glen said as he left the room and mounted Gisebelle.

Ezekiel followed him by mounting a horse he acquired from god knows where.

"Where are we going, sir?"

"To the east"

This was the first day of the duo's journey that would take two years.