Chapter 2

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FBI Agent Russell stared at the screen in disbelief. What a crazy world? During his career, he has seen many psychos and degenerates, but this is the first time in his memory.

A dozen different psychos walked the streets and killed people devouring them alive. Their terrible appearance resembled the living dead, among them there was even some kind of skeleton ... He began to doubt his sanity looking at such a picture. Is this some kind of disguised nutcase?

People nowadays watch a bunch of all sorts of rubbish on TV, or read all sorts of nonsense, and then go out into the streets and do such crap ... Those people just going out of control. The skeleton certainly looked suspicious, but apparently he did a good job when creating his supervillain costume. The ultimate psycho.

The police could not deal with these insane, so special troops and a military helicopter were called in. The troops kept their distance, the order was given to keep the situation under control and wait for the helicopter. They didn't want to lose more people. After all the people and policemen who have already been killed, in any case, more than one head of various departments will be dismissed in disgrace. Or maybe the hype will be worse ... Even he will most likely get it ...

Finally, the Combat helicopter aimed at the target and fired missiles, all targets were within range and they were blown apart. Of course, the special troops cordoned off the territory long ago and stayed away themselves, so there were no more casualties.

But even so ... Where is this world heading to?

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Lebowski was homeless, but he didn't feel bad about it. All the same, he lived in America, so he coped quite well. He laughed at the little people around him and looked at them with contempt. These stupid people ran somewhere every day, worried about something. They had to memorize a bunch of names, phone numbers, accounts and an endless amount of other information. They did not really live, but were slaves to the system. But Lebowski himself was sure that he had comprehended Zen. He was a smart man and had long ago attained enlightenment and nirvana. He understood the essence of all that exists and was a supreme being. He was free from all earthly shackles, worries and bothers. He was the enlightened sage Lebowski!

- Ahahahahah! - He laughed again with self-sufficiency, looking at these unhappy lost souls around.

- In any case, it's time to neigh something. - He continued to rummage through the trash can, looking for some half-eaten hamburger. Coca Cola would be great too.

He was a chubby man in his 40s. Disheveled hair and beard reliably hid his wise face. Well, a little dirt and ketchup only complemented his image. With his oily hands, he patiently rummaged through the trash can for the treasure.

It was quite noisy today, the pitiful people decided to protest or something? In any case, he finally found what he was looking for and went towards the park, eating the gifts of nature with pleasure. He sat down on a bench in the park and looked at the losers around him. He, in turn, was also bypassed, all the same Lebowski did not want to stand out. Even though he achieved enlightenment, this does not mean that he was going to share it with others. He was fine with this feeling of superiority.

Soon he heard noise and gunshots. Well, no wonder, these rich people kill each other for any reason, suicides jump from high-rise buildings because something went wrong in their imaginary limited consciousness. What stupid creatures ... Lebovsky sighed again, once again convinced of his superiority.

Lebowski leisurely enjoyed his meal, pondering the true nature of things.

Nearby, some kind of noise began, sirens howled, and even an address was heard over the loudspeaker.

- Immediately lie down on the ground and put your hands behind your head!

He rarely witnessed such events, it seemed to him rather funny. Although when he saw how some skeleton smashed the head of a passer-by into meat, his hamburger was slightly stuck in his mouth.

- Holy shit, this is what life in chains leads to ... Sigh. Surely these poor fellows developed claustrophobia from such a life, so they completely lost their minds.

Well, not that he didn't give a damn, the picture was certainly unpleasant. But in general, he did not have a high opinion of society, so he was not too surprised by what he saw.

Soon a helicopter flew in and opened fire, then Lebowski completely shook up and fell to the ground. He was certainly not too close, but this is no longer a joke. Was it really necessary to shoot this couple of psychos from a helicopter? The authorities have completely lost their conscience. You would also give out RPGs to policemen? ...

In any case, he didn't want to stay here anymore. Lebowski had his caches on the streets. He even set up something like a headquarters in one of the abandoned buildings of his quarte. Better to sit there for now.

For a second, he seemed to feel something inside himself, but then he immediately understood. Most likely, he just felt a little of the sage's energy. In any case, he went to his most reliable hideout, chuckling to himself at the crazy people around. There will be enough food for him today, but tomorrow he will find more.

Well, in fact, the remnants of mana from the torn skeleton went exactly towards Lebowski. Sensing his enlightened nature, mana reached out to him and was consumed by his body.

Returning to an abandoned building in a disadvantaged area, he climbed into his royal chambers and fell asleep.

While Lebowski slept peacefully, dark mana did its dirty work. Mana collected all of the body's information, including brain functions, for transformation. At the same time, she mortified Lebowski's body, getting rid of everything that was not needed by the new lich. The process was painless, so Lebowski died in his sleep ...

Another beautiful morning of the sage Lebowski.

I woke up, but decided that it was worth a little more lying around. It was a strange feeling. And the bed was pretty sticky ... And what is that smell anyway? In any case, drink hunting. I reached for the bottle of Coca Cola I had stored at my side, but only when I stretched out my hand, all the flesh fell off my hand, only a bony palm remained ...

- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!!

I started shaking my hand like crazy and screaming. What the hell? My hand ... Stop my body ... Continuing to lie on the bed, I looked at my makeshift bed under me and was shocked by what I saw. Is this a bad dream? But I can't even pinch myself, there's no fucking anything to be pinched, what the hell?

All the skin from my body flew off, I lay in a heap of my own flesh and blood. I felt a terrible nausea, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't vomit. I quickly got up and walked away from the remains on the ground. The remnants of flesh and blood were still falling from my body. My body ... How am I even alive? What it is? Has the apocalypse really begun and some kind of virus swallowed me? I got infected from yesterday's psychos?

A lot of questions were spinning in my head. I looked at my bony arms and legs and for a long time could not believe what was happening. But in the end, I have to accept a new reality. All the same, I'm the sage Lebowski, I need to calm down and think.

I rushed to my drinking water supply. Taking a rag in my hands and pouring water on my bones, I washed away the dirt and blood with great care. The strange thing is that I still felt my own touch and water, although there was no pain. How can a skeleton even feel? Although now this is not the main thing. I dug a small mirror from the garbage dump at my base and looked at myself. Completely black skeleton ... Don't humans have light-colored skeletons? Well, mine is clearly blackened. I saw something strange in my black eye sockets, I pushed the mirror closer and took a closer look. Two pale gray lights burned in the eye sockets, but they burned hardly a suitable word, if you do not look closely, it is very difficult to notice.

- Holy crap!

This will not work, I cannot be seen by others in this form. I started rummaging through all the junk I have. For the winter seasons I had a not too shitty raincoat tucked away, of course it was worn and a little torn, but it was long enough and with a hood. I pulled it over myself and put the hood on top. Looking in the mirror, he began to consider himself from the point of view of others. Well, if you hide your feet with shoes, then it will do. It is unlikely that many will pay attention to the face of the skeleton, now these cosplayers and informals walk the streets immensely. Even that psychopath yesterday walked in a skeleton suit, for sure now there are many imitators. Stop ... A psychopath in a skeleton suit. Costume. I am the sage Lebowski, how can I miss such obvious evidence. Now everything is clear, I definitely got infected just then before leaving ...

Well, in any case, my skeleton does not look natural, not that I often examined skeletons in detail, but the sage cannot be fooled. The skull seemed somehow artistic or so, not entirely natural. This black color seemed to even light up slightly. I kept looking at myself and even touching myself. How strange, I felt my touch all over my body, though I didn't have this thing anymore ... It's pretty sad. On the other hand, I have comprehended Zen, I will survive somehow ... Probably.

As Lebowski tried on his coat and looked at himself in the mirror, some guy of about twenty was staring at him out the window. The window was closed and covered, but a small part of it still remained uncovered. The boy's mouth was wide open, so he hung.

All the same, Lebowski was too shocked by everything that happened, and completely forgot that he recently screamed like a pig. Of course this place was abandoned, but this does not mean that no one heard it, and one even decided to take a look ...

Suddenly Lebowski looked closely into the mirror and saw someone's eyes peering through the crack in the window.

I screwed up! How much did he see? Damn it, if someone finds out about me, they'll let me in for experiments. I will be closed for the rest of my days somewhere at the end of the world. But I can't do anything anyway, he doesn't have a phone, so he can't prove anything. Rather, he will simply be considered a nutcase. But in the future, you should be careful.

Lebowski was not a killer. So the thought of killing a man just for seeing him essentially did not occur to him. He considered himself a wise and sane person, and not some kind of psycho and a slave to his desires. While he was thinking to himself, the guy's eyes disappeared from the window, but soon he heard a knock on the door ...

What the hell does he want? Blackmailing Lebowski? I won't give in so easily, I will deny everything, and if that not gonna work then I will run away. Okay, we'll find out now. I went to the door and opened it. I never covered my face, but the guy had already seen him, so it doesn't matter. As soon as I opened the doors, the guy knelt down and said:

- Oh great immortal overlord! My name is Kurt, let me serve you faithfully. I am ready to praise your name in the light or act on your behalf in the dark. Please accept me as your servant!

What the fuck is this? Of course I knew that society was degraded and all that ... But what the heck is that so? What the fuck is an immortal overlord? Children in our time have completely lost their minds, just where this world is heading to ...

Looking at this guy i was pretty shocked. He was nothing special, just some random guy with short brown hair and. He was literally casual guy you can see everywhere around. But right now he was standing on his knees slowly crawling towards Lebowski. His eyes had fanatic expression, he basically trembled a bit from excitement leaning his hand towards my skeleton feet. Holy crap! I am supposed to scare people right now. But at this moment i really got a bit scared by inadequate behavior of that guy.

- What the heck is your problem? I am just getting ready for a movie casting. Hey! Do not touch my costume dude!

I had to step away a little because of the fact that freak was trying to reach me. But after i told him to stay back, he just got up and got inside my flat instead. What the hell, this is my private territory. Well not mine exactly, but its mine right now, that was pretty rude.