Apocalypse Fighter

Chapter 65: This Is The King!

When Marry didn’t reply to his calls, Richard could not help but assume the worst. Ever since the Doomsday event, a person couldn’t help but be pessimistic. There were dead bodies everywhere, and he had no good reason to hope that his family wasn’t among them.

Nothing like this had happened before, and no one would have suspected it was possible. How could a group of mice mutate and multiply so quickly? – he wondered. He didn’t think that this many rodents had ever gathered in one place and done this much damage, and it worried him to think that this was likely happening all over the world. 

An ironic smile graced his face momentarily as an old R.E.M. song appeared out of nowhere. “It’s the end of the world as we know it,” he sang. “But I don’t feel fine…” The difference between the song and reality was that in the song, the end began with an earthquake, and the Doomsday event had begun with a strange meteor. 

There had been hundreds of mice attacking Richard, but that number had since increased ten-fold, and he knew that even The Eternal Bug could not save him. Not that he cared. He did not want to live in a world without his family. He spread his arms in an act of surrender. He looked up to the heavens, and like Christ on the cross, he shouted, “Into Your hands, I commend my spirit!” 

Then, as his head hung down, he heard Marry’s voice. It was like a miracle or an answered prayer. “Richard!” she exclaimed. “Is that you? Thank God! You are here! We are saved!”

Richard’s eyes popped open, and once he confirmed that his mind was not playing tricks on him, he felt a surge of power run through his body. Marry was in the basement of building number fourteen, and he could see her through a barred window. “Mary!” he shouted. “Are you okay? Where’s Steven?” 

Marry: “Steven is fine. He’s hiding with Tommy.”

“Tommy? Who is Tommy?” Richard asked. Once the question was out of his mouth, he realized that there was no time to waste on such trivial questions. He waved his hands and shouted, “Forget that. Go to the front gate. Let’s get out of here.”

After saying that, Richard ran to the steel gate at the bottom of the stairs. It was thick and stable, which was why the mutant mice had not been able to get through it – yet! All around him, the rodents were patiently burrowing into the gate, and the more of them that joined the effort, the faster the work went. Their teeth were sharper than knives, and it seemed to him that he did not have much time before they would be through.  

Richard gritted his teeth and said, “It’s time to fight back.” He pulled out his knife and began to kill them one after another, and because of his super-speed, it was not long until he had a pile of dead mice that was waist-high. But no matter how many he killed, they kept coming, and as long as the swarm was there, his family could not come out. 

There was a noise at the top of the stairs, and when he turned around, he was surprised to see a little girl watching him. She was glowing yellow, and her hands were held out in front of her. There was something in them, and it glowed blue. There were mutant mice all around her, but none were near enough to attack her.

“What is this?” he wondered. What he was seeing did not make sense to him. “Who are you? How is it that you are still alive? And why are you in my house?”

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman appeared, and she stood behind the little girl. She too was bathed in yellow light. Just two ordinary people – Richard told himself – But if they are ordinary, why aren’t they dead? And what is in the little girl’s hands? He stepped forward to get a better look, and when he saw that she carried a mouse, his eyes went wide – Only a mutant mouse could store as much energy as this one was storing!

As Richard gazed at the mouse, he had thought – Did this mouse accidentally summon all of the other mice? If so, then it should be able to control them. “f**k…” he whispered. “This is no ordinary mutant mouse! This is the king! If he felt threatened, it would make sense for his subjects to come and save him.”

Richard was overjoyed. It was a rule that once the leader of the group was controlled, his followers could be controlled by the people that controlled him. “I must have this mouse,” he said. “I can use him to save my family. If you give him to me, I will give you chocolate. What do you say?” 

Richard took out a piece of chocolate from his bag and the little girl’s eyes lit up. She sighed and said, “It smells delicious. Can I really have it?” 

Before Richard could reply, the woman pulled the girl away and said, “Nancy! Don’t give him the mouse!” Then she looked up at Richard and said, “The woman in the basement is your wife, right?”

“She is,” Richard replied irritably.

“Well,” the woman said. “My name is Sarah, and this is Nancy. We were among those that started the fire outside, but we only did it because we are starving. We did not mean to hurt your wife. This was all Elmer’s doing…” Sarah was hesitant to tell him everything. She had a suspicion about him, and she wanted to know if her guess was right before she helped him. 

He must really care about the woman in the basement – thought Sarah – And once he gets to her, who is to say that she won’t kill me… No man would forgive the people who had threatened his wife and son’s life. But as long as we have the mouse, we might be safe…