Chapter 126：Why?

Tyler got angry when he heard what the man did to his family. They were surprised to see him grab him by the shirt and was about to punch him. Luckily, Veon was quick enough to stop Tyler from doing something rash.

"Tyler, calm down!"

"Why? Why did you do that to your own family? Don't you love them? Aren't you the husband—the father," Tyler shouted and the crazy man just laughed at him.

"It's obvious in your actions, child," the man started and Tyler listened to him. "That your father didn't love you," he added and this made Tyler angry. He landed a quick punch on the crazy man's face and everyone rushed to pull him aside.

"Tyler!"

Tyler grew up having no father. He was left behind, having only his mother and his grandmother to raise him. Whenever there were stories about fathers mistreating his family, he would act aggressively. He despised people who left their families behind—let alone mistreating them. Even though his friends explained to him that there is no such thing as a perfect family, he would not listen to them.

A person who has a broken family but believes that a family can be perfect... how ironic.

The crazy man laughed once more as tears escaped from his eyes. "You won't understand me," he said and everyone's eyes were now on him.

"We won't understand what," Tyler asked and the man looked at Tyler as if there's now a bit of sanity present in his eyes.

"How much I loved my family… and how much I regret doing something unforgivable towards them," he answered and everyone got curious as to what he actually meant.

"Why did you kill your family," Shannara asked and now the man was no longer laughing. He was now crying, breathing in between sobs. He obviously turned crazy because of his depression.

"I love them very much, child… I love them so much," he answered and still the teenagers couldn't get the definite answer as to why he had killed his family.

"But then why? If you love them, why must you kill them," Tyler questioned and the crazy man started telling the whole story.

"I didn't want them to suffer. I didn't want to see them in pain. Since the apocalypse started, everyone started suffering. We didn't have anymore food. We couldn't do anything. We were already poor. I was just a driver of a van for public transportation," he narrated then everyone listened to him.

"We were hungry for a week now. As a father, I was always doing overtime in work for me to get extra income so I could buy food. I wasn't able to let my children finish school because we always prioritized our needs. My wife couldn't even find a job because she had cancer and it was almost her time. I love them, yes, but when I saw the change in my family, I needed to act quickly."

Everyone now felt sympathy for the man as they listened to his sad story.

"Now, the zombie apocalypse happened. I did my best to lock up our house for protection. A week and a few days had passed and during that time, we were so hungry. My wife suddenly turned crazy! Even I, was on the verge of becoming insane because of hunger," he said and the teenagers imagined what could have happened next.

"Because of my wife's hunger, she started hurting our children. She could no longer think straight! She acted like an animal, and started biting our children."

When the man said this, his cries were no longer controllable. Never did they expect that a person could go insane even during a zombie apocalypse. Unexpected things do happen in very unexpected times.

"I heard the deafening screams of my children. They were in pain. I did not know what to do! But I know I must do something and hurting my wife for my children's safety is one of the options. It was a very difficult decision to make… a very difficult one," he narrated and Isobel's eyes started to blur due to her tears.

"I couldn't hold back any longer. Even though it was painful for me to do, I killed my wife. Convincing myself over and over that she had cancer and that she was about to die made me gain the confidence to kill her."

The crazy man covered his face with his hands. It muffled his voice, but everyone could still understand him.

"I killed my wife but what can I do? She was hurting our children."

The teenagers didn't know what to say in order to comfort the man. If they were in his position, they wouldn't know what they would have done. It was really a difficult decision for the man to do.

"My lovely children. There was no day that they weren't crying. Because of what I did, I couldn't even forgive myself. Even my children turned into cannibals! They started eating the corpse of their mother. So in order for them not to suffer any longer, I killed them with my own hands. I needed to put them out of their misery!"

Tyler now fully understood as to why the man killed his family. He had judged the man quickly, and only now that he understood how he must've felt.

Killing your family will surely make you insane.

"I failed as a husband and as a father. I couldn't keep my family alive. I killed them. Even before the apocalypse, I already failed them," he said and Tyler now looked at him with apologetic and sympathetic eyes. "I don't have anymore reason to live," the man added and he quickly grabbed the gun from the teenagers and he pointed its nuzzle towards his head.

"No!"

"Live on, young ones."

He pulled the gun's trigger, the teenagers witnessing his death.

"Damn," Isobel exclaimed and Dannie and Shannara cried as they embraced each other.

"Why should it have to be this way," Tyler said as he leaned on the wall behind him. He cried silently as Veon sat on the floor, in a daze.

The man killed his wife and children. Veon killed his parents. What is more sinful? Killing your wife and children, or killing your parents?

Veon shook his head.

It's the same.

Killing your family, regardless of who he or she is in the family, is a sin.

But now that they are in this situation and that there were unavoidable circumstances, would it still be considered a sin?