11 Chapter 9: Infections
John had meditated for a while thinking back to his previous events as they had unfolded. He died and was offered the option to become a god of death, but what did that really incur exactly? This thought had John on the fritz, thinking randomly and at high speeds making sure Dixie had no idea of his doubts about his mission. But those doubts were quickly laid to rest after remembering his hatred for the world that gave him such a shitty hand.
Joseph who had been laying on the ground like sleeping beauty for the past day had raised as if experiencing a bad dream. He looked around in horror not sure what to make of what he had been through. Thoughts rushed through his mind as if trying to find a reasonable explanation to what he'd seen in his dream, but they all went out the window after turning to look at the pitch-black skeleton that sat before with its legs crossed sitting in a meditative pose. Its eyes had two small fire floated in them as if he had will-o-wisp in his eye sockets. To Joseph who throughout all his years a the Secret General had never seen such a spectacle, but the one thing that struck Joseph wasn't the awe of the figure before him but the fear he felt towards it.
Seeing how it didn't move Joseph rose and looked around himself to see the huge circular room he had awoken in. He remembered it as the room that most of the homeless people like him would gather every once in a while to have get-togethers. Although he did attend he didn't mingle with everyone else as most of the time he was reliving some of the horrible things he had to do for his country, his home, the very place he believed he'd become a monster for.
Not seeing much of a reason to stick around he got up and headed towards the exit. Not even a second after he reached the exit to the huge room he was blocked off by two shambling individuals that couldn't have been seen clearly because of the darkness of the corridor. Confused he said, "Can I help you?"
"Indeed you can as soon as you come back towards me Joseph." The Ghastly and grate voice of John said from behind Joseph.
Joseph turned around to look back towards the black skeleton which from his view he could finally see what looked like a little girl laying behind it. He walked back towards the skeleton confused with a hint of fear. Was this an attempt by his former allies and into finally ensuring he was insane? Or was it the other homeless people playing tricks on him? These thoughts raced through Joseph's head as he cautiously walked back toward the skeleton.
He looked around the skeleton and the surrounding area to make sure there weren't any speakers or tricks that he could fall into. It wouldn't be the first time he'd fallen for the childish pranks of some of the sewer children.
"Oh I ensure that I'm very much the one whose talking to you General," said John as he watched his cautious general walk towards him slowly.
John knew that the man with his overtly cautious behavior wouldn't believe him and only see it as another trick by the sewer kids, so John thought for a sec before standing and approaching his zombie general to be. Joseph stopped as he saw the skeleton stand while looking for indications of strings and pulleys, but he saw none as the skeleton began its approach towards him.
Joseph wanted answers, answers to why he in this part of the old sewers, why there are two shambling people in the corridor blocking him from leaving, why there's a black skeleton talking telling him what to do, why is there a girl laying behind the skeleton. So many questions flowing through his head. He stopped at what he felt was an appropriate distance between him and the skeleton since he didn't know what was going to happen.
Almost at the same time as Joseph stopped John stopped as well leaving just a half a meter between them. Just as Joseph was about to ask what John was John interrupted him by saying, "You're overly calm for a man who'd just died a while back. Hmm interesting."
As if something in the back of Joseph's mind had flipped he felt a painful throbbing from the back of his head. It was intense, so intense he fell to his knees and yelled. Joseph had closed his eyes for split second and it all came back to him. His memories flooded his mind like a dam had broken. He remembered laying in the middle of a corridor by himself when he began to hear the screams of fear and agony. It was then that he pulled out the old service pistol he used while he was served as the secret general for the U.S.
After a while, the screams fell silent as he made a slow and steady approach towards where they originally came from. With his back against the wall, he peeked his around the corner to see a sight of horror. Showered with the light from a knocked over barrel that was used to act as a source of heat Joseph saw over 15 individuals biting and tearing into the people who were just screaming their lungs out. For a moment he froze until he heard slightly far off somewhere distant the screams of more people emanating throughout the tunnels. As the fear set in he began to walk backward.
As he was backing away he tripped over a plank of wood he had completely ignored when checking where the screams had come from. As he fell tried to catch himself but failed as he made a loud crashing sound when he landed. Not knowing what the hell was going on he knew better to continue laying on the ground he rose back up and tried to scurry away before those ravenous people came around the corner, but he was too late as he peeked behind him and saw the bunch making their way around the corner. The first of the bunch he could clearly see as the light from the knocked over barrel around the corner revealing his greyed and yellowed flesh along with the rotten and dark flesh from the side of his face that was missing skin decorated by the glowing hazy blue eyes that were hard to ignore.
As he turned around to make a run for it with what speed his aged bones would allow him he turned around just to come face to face with one of these blue-eyed ravenous people. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before as he stood there shocked at how this person or creature in human clothes had snuck up on him from behind. Unlike the others that were now behind him, this one was nicely dressed in a suit as if he was about to attend a funeral or be the centerpiece for one.
Joseph not hesitating for the sake of his survival raises his gun and shoots the creature where the heart should have been only causing it to jerk before it lunges and tears a chunk of wrist off. Trying to pull away from the monstrosity Joseph feels multiple hands all over his body before being pulled into a wave of the creatures.
As if waking from a dream he uncurls from the fetal position he had formed and looked back at the skeleton who now had the young girl who laid quietly behind him before standing next to him holding his right skeletal hand. The girl who was pale as paper stood silently next to it as she stared at Joseph who now remembered what happened clear as day. The little girl gave Joseph a look of sympathy as she knew he had gone through the same thing she had as well, remembering the way they had died.
As Joseph wanted to run but it was as if all but his head was his as he looked at his arms to see the missing chunks from his arm that didn't hurt at all. The first thing that raced to his mind was that he was in hell, but as if the skeleton before had just read his mind it said, "Nah ah ah. We're not in hell just yet, but with your help, this world is going to look like it very soon."
"What...what have you done to me demon?" Joseph said as he began to panic.
Looking at the now pitiful man John felt this man needed a more direct but gentle approach and just like a wise maid Dixie materialized out of thin air in front of the man scaring the man. John wanted her to explain things to him like she did for Joselin, the little zombie girl he had adopted, and gave her back senses and will while like Joseph and the other zombies kept her under his connection.
When Joselin had awoken she too thought it was all dream until she saw John and Dixie. Dixie had told her about John being her new father while sugar-coating her new existence as a zombie. At first, she had cried about her old family but Dixie calmed her down while telling her of the many gods that had chosen John to bring start the world all over while skipping the fact that John had the option to wipe out all of humanity and that being adopted by John was a blessing. Joseline was skeptical of Dixie at first when she explained about the gods as she, like most children, was brainwashed early into believing that there was only one god, but of course that went out the window as the words were coming from an actual fairy, a being that should only exist in fairytales.
While Dixie finished coercing Joselin into accepting her role as the daughter of John, the god candidate, John scrambled his thoughts in order to make note of how skilled Dixie was in manipulation. This only made John wonder if the gods had given her to him for an ulterior motive that they hadn't shown when they sent him back to earth.
Looking back at the man on the ground John said, "You are a puppet just like the rest of the sewer dwellers that previously lived down here with you, but you have a very special role just like my daughter next to me will have when the time comes to advance into the next step of my plan."
Feeling like John had completely botched the whole "get this prick to work for us willingly plan" she got to work coercing him. She even went so far as to point out just how cruel the world had become when she pointed out when Joseph had killed an entire family his superiors told him were supporting terrorists and they had to be disposed of in secret without any evidence that proved their accusations. Dixie had made sure this former secret general fell into her web of deceit and hopefully believed in their cause.
John really didn't need Dixie to convince the old and shriveled former general as he wanted to assess just how useful she was but felt even more convinced that she was meant to pacify him. That when he finally accomplished his quest of reducing humanity to 1 percent of its total population. John felt his anger swelling but had to calm himself as he knew she could feel it as well, but the question remained. "Do I kill her or infect her," he thought while simultaneously commanding his hordes of undead to crawl of the sewer hatches in alleys and by bridges in order to finish adding more of the homeless to his ranks before while he begins development of a magic capable of either stopping worldwide wireless communication or slowing it to the speed of dial-up internet. This way little to no information could be given in time of his mass attack on the world.
His plan was proceeding just as he wanted besides the problem with Dixie, but he also felt something was off then he remembered the bitch who killed him. He didn't want his hordes to kill her, No not at all, Why leave it up to the possibility of his zombies being outsmarted when he could deal with her personally. John just needed a way of finding her without exposing himself and his horde when he spots a rat crawling alongside the wall on the ground. At first, John felt idiotic for not thinking about infecting other animals besides dogs with his curse, but without further ado, he began thinking about the perfect animal to search for his murderer.
