Ahhh… what next?
People die...
Under the hands of two desperate children.
Carter's body was left behind. Aman and Mei Lian didn't want to deal with it.
They were scared and for Mei Lian, it was worse.
Now the pistol was with Aman, but the way Mei Lian's hand moved, it still looked like she was the one holding the gun.
They walked away, leaving Carter's body there. They didn't bother to bury it or anything.
Thinking back, no one was going to be surprised, right? If someone found a random dead body in the middle of the woods during these times...
But for now, Mei Lian seemed... different. She smirked a little, somehow.
She hadn't lost it.
She was still fully conscious of what she'd done.
Aman gave her something to eat, and Mei Lian just accepted and ate it. She still had an appetite, even after that.
Aman didn't care much about Carter being dead. He was more concerned about Mei Lian's mental state.
That was the first time she had killed someone but she was trying to murmur something to herself.
"It's okay... it's okay... he was a bad guy... right?" came out of Mei Lian's mouth.
Aman looked at Mei Lian. "You did what you needed. It's okay... Carter deserved that."
Mei Lian looked at Aman and smiled. Now both of them walked together.
That was... kinda easy.
Aman checked the chamber of the snub-nose revolver four bullets left. Inside the sling bag, there was a box with seven more.
A total of eleven bullets.
Not much, but better than nothing.
They couldn't find anything back in Kampar that would fit the revolver. That was all they had.
What they needed now was a way to get to Kuala Lumpur their next destination.
But first, they had to pass Slim River. It was now the 3rd of January. They could probably reach Slim River in a few days.
But for now, they needed some kind of transportation.
The journey could take a few days if Aman weren't injured and Carter had given him a hell of a beating.
Funny enough, Aman could still walk just not at a fast pace. His left eye was completely ruined, and he didn't even care enough to cover it.
It was Aman's job to hunt anyway. Mei Lian was still traumatized after killing Carter. Asking her to kill something now seemed wrong.
"Here," Mei Lian said. "We're kinda running out of supplies, right?" she continued, handing a few dead squirrels to Aman.
...Huh?
"When did you…" Aman stopped himself right there. This was the same girl who couldn't even watch him kill a few birds before.
"I used Carter's knife. It's pretty sharp, to be honest. The squirrels didn't feel pain they died in one swift slice," said Mei Lian.
Aman stared at her. He hadn't even noticed when she killed them.
But he didn't complain. In fact, he didn't even talk about it.
Mei Lian seemed to be getting over whatever she did to Carter. That was good but also, somehow, too fast.
...
Mei Lian was the one who ended up cooking the squirrels.
She gave some to Aman, and both of them ate.
Aman looked at Mei Lian. She seemed normal now. That was good, he guessed.
As they ate their lunch, Aman looked at her again. He wanted to ask but he knew it was probably wrong to.
"Hey," said Aman.
"Yeah?" Mei Lian replied.
"Actually... how did it feel?"
"Feel?"
"To kill."
Mei Lian looked at Aman. She put the food down.
"I don't know... It felt bad at first."
"You seem to have recovered from it too fast and... wait, what do you mean 'at first'?" Aman looked at her, demanding an answer.
"You care about that, huh?" Mei Lian asked. "Well, I wonder if I didn't pull the trigger, would you be the one who ended up killed by him?"
"There's like, I don't know... another way? Hit him hard in the head or something... but you went straight for the pistol and shot him."
Mei Lian looked up, processing what Aman had just said. "But... if I did that if I let him live you know he would've come back. Hunted us down. Sometimes, it's better this way."
Aman looked at her. His face didn't show disgust, concern, or even shock. Just his usual blank expression one that made Mei Lian question herself. He wasn't easy to read; his face lacked emotion.
"Hm. So there's nothing to do, huh? Well, the guy's already dead, and you've already coped with it. Why should it be a concern now? He's dead," said Aman.
Mei Lian stared at him. That was a very unexpected answer casual, almost too casual.
"Yeah... he's already dead. Why should I care? Why should I bear the feeling of guilt?" Mei Lian replied.
"Yeah... guilt. It's useless in times like this. Plus, you seem okay already."
They both continued eating their lunch, and now they had one clear goal:
Get to the south quickly.
Their next destination was Slim River before continuing on to Kuala Lumpur.