Apocalypse Fighter

Chapter 63: Richard Disappears Into Thin Air

Kevin found it difficult to read Richard. He seemed kind and gentle when he was calm, but when a threat presented itself, he had seen the man execute a fellow human being. He thought - Maybe Richard is crazy.  He had heard that people like him were hard to get along with – But is he safe to be around? “What do you want me to do about the vacant house on the west side of the island?” he asked nervously.

Richard: “It is fine if you want to move your families to the west side of the island, but then you will be expected to stay there. Before you go, though, I would like you to round up several women in their thirties? If they just gave birth and are still breast feeding, that would be better. The bigger their breasts, the better.”

When Kevin heard that, he was shocked. It was normal for men to have types. Most men liked their women young and pretty. Others like them chubby. But a fetish for human breast milk disgusted him. What if Richard takes a liking to my wife? – he worried. His wife was over forty, but he was still nervous. He was almost always anxious about something.

Richard gave Kevin a dirty look. “Are you even listening to me?” he asked. “Is there anything you want to say to me?”

“I didn’t expect you to kick me out…” Kevin admitted.

Richard scowled. “You misunderstand my words,” he said. Kevin was really irritating him. He was a good companion, but he was too timid, and his worries held him back. There was no plan to kick him out, though. He was not a good fighter, but he could still be useful.  

When it came to building a community, Kevin was the one person that Richard felt he could trust as the sole organizer. Furthermore, he knew how to motivate people and get them to work together towards a common goal.

“I’m not kicking you out,” Richard continued. “You worry way too much.”

Kevin sighed in relief, then he opened his mouth to thank Richard. Before he could get a single word out, though, one of the men came running down the hall shouting, “Kevin! Kevin! F – F- F – ”

“What happened?” asked Kevin. He was embarrassed by his companion’s panic. The man continued to stutter breathlessly, and Kevin slapped him across the face to get him to calm down. “Slow down!” he hissed. Was there a mutant animal attack on our people?”

“No!” the man exclaimed. “There’s a fire! One of our men went home to see his family, and when he got there, he began to freak out. Building number fourteen was engulfed in black smoke.”

Richard: “Are you sure that it was building number fourteen? Mary and Steven are in building number fourteen!”

“I am sure,” the man replied.

Richard: “How did the fire start?”

“Someone deliberately started it,” the man replied. “But I don’t know who…”

Richard was overwhelmed with fear and guilt. Why would someone start a fire there? – he wondered – My family must have been discovered… If the fire started outside, though, I may still have a chance to save them.

Without saying another word, Richard took off running, and with his super speed, it appeared as if he had vanished into thin air.  

***

The house fire was a concern for the whole community. If it went unchecked, it could easily take out all the houses in the area. Thus, the people that lived in the neighboring houses had nervously gathered. The smoke was terrifying, and doubly so now that there was no fire department to come and save them.

“Those people are idiots!” exclaimed a short man with a mustache.  “What were they thinking? How could they be so careless?!?!”

“Maybe they are using the fire to fight mutant animals,” one woman suggested.

“That’s bullshit,” the man replied. “You have seen how fast those mutants run. A fire couldn’t even catch a mouse!”

“Maybe they are doing something with the smoke,” the woman said. “Anything is possible…”

Meanwhile, Elmer and Mabel were throwing wet wood into the fire. After throwing the last chord, Mabel stretched and said, “I think that is enough. If she dies down there, there won’t be anyone to open the door for us.”

Mabel had brought her companion, Sarah Costin, with her, and she was not happy. Sarah had never imagined that she would be a part of such a heinous action. She knew that she had no other choice, though. Her ten-year-old daughter, Nancy, hadn’t eaten in over a day, and she and her husband were practically starving.

  This is all Reed’s fault – thought Sarah. If he hadn’t tried to rob Tommy, they wouldn’t be in the mess that they were in. She looked at him and scowled. At the moment, he was still feeding the fire, and it seemed as if he cared more about killing the woman than getting the food. It was hard to believe that in his life before the Doomsday event, he had been a good lawyer, a fighter for justice.

The fact that Marry had as much food as she did but had refused to share it did not sit well with Sarah. This was not the kind of world she wanted to live in. The woman was selfish, but she didn’t deserve to die. With that in mind, she grabbed Reed by the arm and said, “That’s enough. Stop! I will check the basement door. Maybe I can persuade her to open it up. And if she does, we are only taking sixty percent of her food. Is that understood? We are not going to leave her to die!”

Elmer nodded. At this point, he would have agreed to anything if it meant getting his hands on the food. One thing nobody knew, though – not yet at least – was that his word was worthless. He would turn on Sarah, Marry, or Mabel in a instant. He could kill any one of them in a heartbeat and not feel one iota of remorse. The only one that he had any real interest was Nancy, Sarah’s ten-year-old daughter. That is one pretty girl! – he thought lustily – And she will only get sexier as time goes on…