Army of True Salvation - Chapter 75：Shannara

Sheloah arrived at the cemetery’s gate and remembering Geof’s story, the location was indeed foggy in the evening. Sheloah got scared for a moment when she remembered that there was a woman walking and singing in the cemetery.

Sheloah took a deep breath and released it. She looked at the gate before she opened it. She had already decided that this would be her training. She looked at her gun that was tied to her thigh to see if she had brought her gun for emergencies.

She opened the gate and entered slowly. Suddenly, something had gripped Sheloah’s ankle and she almost shouted loudly. She looked at it and she saw a hand from a grave, holding her ankle tight. She got her katana and cut off its arm. She shook her foot to throw off the hand that was touching her.

The moment she looked back, she was taken aback when she saw a zombie in front of her. She tightly gripped her katana and forcefully cut off the zombie’s head. The zombie’s body stumbled on the floor and its hand was still moving. Suddenly, a centipede-like creature came out from the zombie’s neck, making it its new head.

She now remembered what Geof told them and it was indeed true! Now Sheloah witnessed this and got scared but she controlled her fear. She knew that she had to overcome her fear because she wanted to take the risk and train.

Sheloah furrowed her brows as she attempted to slice off the zombie’s new head, but nothing happened. Sheloah quite panicked as she got her gun and shot the zombie’s head twice. It seemed to have an effect as it now stopped moving. Sheloah kicked it just to make sure, and she had already validated that the zombie was dead.

When Sheloah looked around, she noticed that there were already quite a number of zombies surrounding her. She got scared and she quickly sliced off every zombie’s head but she realized that what she did was wrong.

Now all the zombies regrew their heads as their bodies were twitching—as if it was adjusting to the new speed they have acquired. Sheloah panicked and she decided to run away from the horde of zombies.

She tried shooting them as she ran but she noticed that as she went on, her bullets ran out. She was about to reload her gun, however, she remembered that the bullets were left behind with Tyler and Geof.

“Damn it!”

Sheloah continued running with her katana and gun in hand. But when she took a sharp turn in one alley, she suddenly tripped.

She couldn’t stand right away because one zombie from a grave suddenly held her ankle in place. Now Sheloah felt a little bit guilty.

She now knew that she was really reckless. She realized that she was too impatient. Sheloah now thought that maybe this was her last day because of her hard-headed attitude.

She sliced off the zombie’s arm and she stood up. Seven zombies had caught up with her and now she tried her best to kill them off without the use of her kanata to hit the zombie’s centipede-like head, but nothing happened.

Sheloah was about to run towards them when she noticed that they were being hit from behind.

‘What the…’

Someone was shooting the zombies from behind. Sheloah heard some gunshots as well. She saw a silhouette of a girl in the fog and she remembered what Geof said. He claimed that he heard and saw a girl in the cemetery.

‘Is she the one? Isn’t she a ghost?’

Sheloah just stood there in a daze, shocked. Now there were no zombies seen around her. She started assessing the place when suddenly, someone pulled her arm away, making her shout but was suddenly stopped when a hand covered her mouth.

She noticed that she was being pulled away towards the cemetery’s exit. Sheloah was struggling but when she realized that she was released gently by the one who pulled her away, she got curious as to who had saved her life.

They were already outside the cemetery and Sheloah now confirmed that it was indeed a girl who had saved her life. She saw her black, straight hair as she was closing the gate. Sheloah just looked at her savior, in a daze with curiosity.

Basing from her uniform, she isn’t a part of Army of True Salvation or Weapons of Massive Destruction. Sheloah looked at her closely and she realized that she had two guns with her, indicating that she is a dual wielder. Knowing this, Sheloah knew that the girl in front of her was skilled in combat.

The girl was now facing the girl in front of her and it had taken Sheloah aback. She met her eyes and then she spoke.

“Thanks for helping me,” Sheloah said and the girl nodded at her, not saying anything. This made Sheloah feel awkward.

“Are you always there in the cemetery,” she asked then the girl answered in her raspy voice, as if she hadn’t spoken for a very long time.

“Yes. I hide all the time in one church there,” the girl said as she pointed at the direction of the cemetery. Sheloah nodded at her and the girl now smiled at her, asking a question.

“What’s your name?”

Sheloah smiled at her when she felt warmth from the girl. “Sheloah. And yours?” She stated her name and had asked for her name as well. The girl in front of her fixed her hair as she extended her hand for Sheloah.

“Shannara. Nice to meet you.”

The both of them shook hands and Sheloah suddenly shot a question at her.

“If you don’t mind me asking… how did you survive for how many days at the church? I mean… you’re all alone!”

She was curious and astonished to know that Shannara had survived this long alone. Sheloah observed Shannara as she got a necklace that was hidden inside her school uniform’s blouse. It was a metal rose kind of necklace, and its chain were little metal thorns. It gave off a gothic vibe. Was it like a lucky charm?

Shannara smiled at the necklace as she held it, her eyes showing warmth. “His gift has protected me,” she said then the wind suddenly blew.