Chapter 21

"...Thank you" Maya said as she hugged me tighter for a bit.

A minute later, we released each other, and I patted her head softly.

"Shall we go to sleep now?" I ask her.

As I get under the blankets, I hear her say something. "Um...I...need to.."

"Huh? I can't hear you." I say as I bend forward to catch what she's saying. I can see that her face is getting a bit paler, so I get a bit worried. "Are you feeling sick, honey?" I say as I get out of bed, and go to her to put my palm on her forehead.

"N-no. I just...I need to go to the b-bathroom."

The realization hit me then that I didn't tell her how and where she can relieve herself.

"Oh! Sorry about that. Come with me then." I tell her as I go toward the door. I also picked up my jacket from the armchair and put it on.

"I also forgot about this...damn." I say as I squat down to the chest and take out another hoodie for Maya. As I don't have a jacket small enough for her, I guess it's good enough if she's wearing two hoodies. "Honey, bring the baby wipe, and put on this hoodie. It's cold nowadays." I tell her as I give her her hoodie.

While she takes out the baby wipe from the drawer, I put on my jacket and pick up my axe.

She's ready to head out, so grab her hand and leave my room. I take her behind the motel, and open a discreet door on the fence, which leads us outside the camp. Out there, a few meters away, there is a pit latrine which we built not long ago.

"It's kinda smelly inside, but this is the only way we can relieve ourselves. Do you know how to use it?" I ask her with a teasing smile.

"No..." unexpectedly she says.

"Seriously? Okay."

I open the door for the pit latrine, and the smell of faeces from down below starts to come out.

"Ew..." she mutters.

"Yeah, I know. But it's better than just doing it anywhere and risk some kind of illness." I say. "So all you have to do is to sit down on this here, and do your thing. That easy." I tell her as I point on the wooden seat we made; it has a hole similar to a toilet's.

"...okay." she says with a small frown. She heads inside, and closes the door.

Meanwhile I stand outside, close to the pit latrine, looking out for walkers.

A few minutes go by while I wait patiently. I look around, not minding the smell anymore as I got used to it; that's when I heard a sound coming from inside the pit latrine.

"Pfft...what's happening in there? Motorcycle race?" I ask her while holding in my laugh.

"...be quiet please. I'm concentrating."

"On...pfft. pooping?" I ask her as I'm still holding my laughter inside.

*groan* *groan*

My smile fades away as I hear two groans coming toward us. I grab my axe with both hands; I also heard Maya get scared.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of em."

Soon, I see two coming to where we are; so I wait a bit for them to come closer.

Making my move, I step forward, and smash my axe inside its skull. Kicking the limp body away, my weapon comes free, and I immediately slash it sideways to the head of the next and last walker; ending its existence instantly.

"Whoo." I wipe my cold sweat away from my forehead with the sleeve of my jacket.

Then I hear the door creak open behind me. I look back and see that she finished. "Finished already?" I ask her.

"...I-I got s-so scared that...I-I finished fast." She said as she looked down on the ground. She didn't blush or anything, but from her eyes I could tell that she's embarrassed; probably from my teasing as well. Haaa....It's fun to tease kids.

"Have you cleaned yourself properly?"

She nods.

"Your hand as well?"

She nods again.

"Okay, let's go back." I say as I grab her free hand.

We get back to our room, and we take off our shoes, jacket/hoodies, and I also took off my jeans and put on a sweatpant. I usually sleep in my underwear, but I can't really do that next to a child, now can I?

We get under the blankets, and get ready to sleep. I check the time on my wristwatch and it is 10:34pm. I put the watch on the nightstand, and lay down.

"You comfortable, Maya?"

She nods as she comes closer to me.

"Alright, good night." I tell her as I close my eyes.

"...g'night." She says mumbling and hugs my arms tightly.

I turn on my side, and hug her small body, and I instantly felt that she become more relaxed than before, so I continued to hug her as I fell asleep as well.

.....

Tonight I had a dream. It was...good. In fact really good, honestly.

What it was about?

Well...it's kinda embarrassing to tell, though I don't even know who I'm telling this to. Sometimes I have inner monologues.

In this dream I was older. Around 32 years old. I had a nice dreadlock, which I always wanted to get, with neatly kept beard. I was living in a nice 2-floors house.

I was married to Carley, who was 41, but still fit, age barely noticeable on her.

Maya was living with us, aged 16, having a bright smile on her, able to show her emotions more clearly than now. She looked beautiful. She called me dad and Carley mom.

There were also two kids running around in the house, aged 5 and 3. My children with Carley.

We were living with Lee, Clem, Kenny, and the others in a beautiful rural place, surrounded by sturdy walls.

I love this dream. I really hope it will come true.

A lovely marriage, family, good friends. Peace.

I don't know why I dreamt this. Either a hope or false hope. Either way, I'll do my very best to achieve it.

After this dream, I realized one thing. And that is that I need to start planning. Planning to get that peaceful life.

I'll get that life for us; even if I have to be ruthless to achieve it.