The aftermath of the battle was the worst thing Xiaoyun had ever seen.

Zombies bodies were piling from the ground all the way to the wall that is nine meter tall (thirty feet).

The smell was even worse as it smell like rotten fish. Thankfully it was already night time so it didn''t rot as badly if it was in the sun.

"What should we do with the body?'' Yezi asked.

"There''s no practical way for us to remove all the bodies here... it''s almost like fifty thousand." Xiaoyun replied back.

"Yeah, it''s around fifty thousands... I think we should just burn it all." Yiming suggested.

"Would the zombie bodies burn? Do we have the fuel for all these?" Xiaoyun thought about the fuel needed to burn the zombies.

"I''m sure it will burn... The cloths on the zombies and their bodies doesn''t have much water." Yiming thought back to the battle back when they were still a small town.

"Well then look like we only got one option... but how about the forest? Wouldn''t we accidentally burn that too?" Xiaoyun pointed at the trees.

"We don''t have a choice. If we try to move them away from the forest, its going to be already in the morning... The longer we wait, diseases is going to start spreading." Yiming argued back.

"He isn''t wrong. Bodies are like one of the biggest cause for disease outbreak... the forest won''t burn here since we got an entire wall anyway." Yezi reassured Xiaoyun.

"Fine, then we can burn it." Xiaoyun gave in to the two.

---

Xiaoyun decided to stay to direct the aftermath while Yezi and Yiming went back home to rest.

The burning lasted much longer than what everyone expected.

The smell disappeared as all the bodies started burning, but the smoke was so bad that anyone who stand near the wall had to hold their breathe.

Fortunately the wind was blowing in the other direction so the smoke wasn''t being blown toward Luoping.

Just as Xiaoyun was standing at the bottom of the wall redirecting the soldiers to carry back the ammo box to the warehouse, someone tapped him in the back.

Xiaoyun turned around, only to see it was Yuqi who tapped him.

"Mom sent me to check if you are okay. Look like it''s all done..." Yuqi looked at the soldiers going down the walls.

"Yeah, now just cleaning the bodies... hey Yuqi can we build a graveyard? Like right in the center of the city."

"Um, sure... but why in the center?" Yuqi asked curiously.

"I just want everyone to remember all the soldiers that died for the cause... I-I''ll be back home later, y-you can go back first." Xiaoyun left before he couldn''t hold it anymore.

---

Xiaoyun went inside a nearby public restroom and washed his face.

"Why am I feeling so sad? Yezi and Yiming is right. People are going to die no matter what... I need to stop blaming myself. I already tried my best." Xiaoyun looked himself in the mirror.

The guilt was getting worse as he thought back earlier where a soldier was looking at him and having to shoot himself after being bitten, with his final words asking him to taking care of his family.

"Fuck! I need to calm down." Xiaoyun banged on the sink in frustration.

"Me?"

"Yes you... when me and Shuli were in the city going to one survivor group to another... We made some friends but all of them eventually died one way or another.

It took me a long time to get over it, but I kept going because I needed to protect Shuli... and she was the best thing that had happened to me." Wuli let out a sigh.

"At some point, both of us just got used to strangers and friends dying..." Wuli stood back up.

"But thankfully, we found you and you were able to guide us to safety. You really should be proud of that. Just Look what you had created." Wuli pointed toward the inner wall blocking the city inside.

"I know you are the commander and you might feel guilty about soldiers dying, but everybody is thankful to you. Even the soldiers that died, they are happy to being serving to protect this city. Everyone still need you." Wuli lend Xiaoyun a hand.

"You''re right... We still have a lot of things to do." Xiaoyun accepted Wuli''s hand and got back up.

"That''s the mayor I know." The two held hand and walked back to the command center.

----

When it was nine o''clock in the morning, the bodies were still burning outside, as well as the forest in the front had also completely caught on fire.

Wuli went back home as her shift ended alongside other soldiers who had been on the wall for last few hours.

Xiaoyun didn''t return home after finishing directing the cleanup, instead opting to just take a short nap in the command room as he was too tired to walk back home.

"Sir the burning is almost done." A soldier walked in and reported.

"I''ll go check now." Xiaoyun yawned and got up from the table.

As Xiaoyun stepped out of the command room and walked toward the walls, he could see the smoke outside going up to the sky.

"I really hope this doesn''t attract too much attention... of course it''s going to attract attention." Xiaoyun let out a sigh as he got up the wall.

The entire area in front of the wall was on fire still, but the bodies next to the walls has mostly burned into ashes and blew away by the wind toward the other direction.

"After those bodies are finish burning, you guys can go put out the fire." Xiaoyun directed the new soldiers that just got here for morning duty.

"Yes sir!" All of them saluted as Xiaoyun left the wall.

"I''m so hungry and sleepy... I really pull an all-nighter." Xiaoyun yawned as he walked back home.

People were already walking to work on the street as Xiaoyun got back to the temporary house.

Xiaoyun opened the door and went inside.

There were a sticknote on the table next to the food.

"We''re in the office, the food is for you! 3 to you by Leyan."

"Look like they are all in the office... oh right they probably still dealing with the four thousand people." Xiaoyun noticed they even brought their babies to work as the crib were all empty.

"I need to go to the office later... or maybe I just go tomorrow." Xiaoyun sat down and devoured all the food in seconds.

Then went to the couch instead of the bed as he was tired to take a shower and didn''t want to make the bed dirty.

Soon Xiaoyun fell asleep just laying on the couch for a minute as he was simply too tired to even open his eyes.