Zen's War: Captivity
Chapter 48: Dust to Dust

Pablo lay on the ground, dead; a victim of needless violence. Aside from the Colonel and Zen and Aurora, Hector and Derek had never seen someone they were close to killed. They had seen the Nocturne killed, but it was not someone that they had spent an extended a period of time around.

Aurora was the only one of them who could say she knew him. Looking down on the ground at Pablo her eyes began to fill with tears. Hector and Derek did not cry. They were still in shock at what they had just witnessed.

Seeing Pablo lying there, Zen realized that he had really hardly knew him. He felt a mixture of emotions. The two overriding emotions he felt were pity and regret. It was strange that anger and hatred were not his paramount emotions. He did not have an overwhelming urge to seek revenge. The pity he felt was for Pablo and the fact that he had suffered such a pointless death. He regretted that he had ever invited Pablo to join the search for Sahara. Still, regret would not change the course of events that had transpired. That truth however did not make him feel any better.

“What was he thinking? He’d still be alive if he hadn’t interfered,” Aurora commented, with her eyes red from crying.

“It wasn’t his fault. He saved my life. I will be eternally grateful to him for what he did for me,” Derek said, in response to his mother’s comment. “The thing I don’t understand, is why you let his killer go.”

“What should we have done?” Zen asked.

“Let the Colonel kill him,” Derek answered, with tears in his eyes.

“What good would that of done?”

“He needs to pay for what he’s done,” Derek responded.

“Killing him wouldn’t have helped anything. He has no water or food. He is as good as dead. Believe me, he’s paying for what he did.”

“You two are busy discussing what should be done about Pablo’s killer. What about Pablo? We can’t just leave his body lying here,” Aurora commented.

“She’s right. He needs a proper Christian burial. His soul cannot rest until he is properly buried,” Father Valencia said in agreement.

Hector and Colonel Krakowski had agreed to carry out the task of digging a grave for Pablo, taking turns with a shovel that Father Valencia had in the back of the wagon. After around half an hour a grave had been dug beside the rest-stop. The grave was not exactly six feet deep, but was close enough. Hector lifted Pablo’s legs and the Colonel lifted him from under his arms. Together they dropped his body into the grave. It was more difficult for Hector than for Colonel Krakowski to handle a dead body. The Colonel had witnessed death on the battlefield, but Hector it was something new.

After the last shovelful of dirt had been poured over Pablo, Father Valencia stood ready to deliver a eulogy. “It’s difficult for me to talk about Pablo, having not really known him. He seemed from what I could tell to be a lost soul. Hopefully he will find the serenity in death that he could not find in life. One thing I do know is that he cared for his fellow man. In a way he sacrificed himself. He may have not known that he was going to die, but his death occurred in defense of someone else.” He then turned, looked at the grave and spoke, addressing Pablo. “May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you; and by His authority I absolve you from every bond of excommunication and interdict, so far as my power allows and your needs require,” he said, making the sign of the cross. “Thereupon, I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

The only other person to cross himself was the Colonel. Colonel Krakowski wasn’t a Catholic, he was raised Baptist, but he still felt a need to cross himself. The entire group was incredibly despondent. In the last twenty-four hours they had come up against many obstacles. This however was a worst-case scenario. When Pablo had grabbed the gun the outcome could have been so easily avoided. Zen did not believe in fate. It would have been easier if he had. He, like the rest of them, would simply have to accept that Pablo was gone.

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