In Charge of My Demise Part III

He was surprised how easily the BS flowed from his mouth. Dak knew what the people wanted to hear and he figured if he promised them things along those lines, they would be kept as happy as he could expect.

Maybe being a politician wasn’t so hard, he laughed to himself. 

He finished with a quick retelling of his recent encounter with the series of cloned assassins. The press ate it up. Action and blood sent their fingers rapidly typing over their glowing Personals.

Things hadn’t stay that easy for long. As he expected, he couldn’t escape without a question session. The first dozen or so he fought off with comments about learning more about the perpetrator and other such vague garbage, then a reporter whose face was vaguely known to him broke in.

She was tall enough to be seen over most of her fellows and about a hundred miles from unattractive. Long auburn hair rolled past her narrow, perfectly painted face. Her eyes would have ruined it for him. Where Erin’s were trusting and full of hope, this woman’s were made of gray ice, holding only contempt.

“Hello captain, Lacy Law here,” her terse voice chirped. “What you have said is all very well and good, but what about real changes. Others have spoken out on such ideas as stricter ID enforcement and even setting up checkpoints. We know those Bodyjumpers prefer to possess younger better looking bodies. It has been suggested that such body types receive extra scrutiny.”

“You yourself fit that profile. Would you be pleased to have this additional limits on your freedoms?”

She couldn’t quite keep the red out of her cheeks at the backhanded complement, but quickly recovered. “In order to help keep this dangerous underground behind bars, certainly.”

“It still makes me wonder who you’d be after. The little old lady that had enough money to Jump into a younger body and is just out buying her bread or the trained assassins like the man who attacked me or the crew that gunned down the former Mayor hopeful, Homes. Let me tell you from personal knowledge that man that came after me wasn’t pretty. All I think such policies would do is make it a crime to be attractive. Is this the type of world you would want to live in?”

“Personally, I would expect them both to be locked up. Isn’t that the law Captain Dak or does the man in charge of this new task force think we should be lenient on these lesser Jumpers just because they haven’t used their changes to hurt anyone yet?”

Choosing his words carefully, he said, “As a Public Enforcer officer I have pledged myself to uphold the law. I think you can count on my continued vigilance on this issue. If the amount of crime committed by Jumpers doesn’t decrease over the next year I will hand in my resignation voluntarily.”

Nodding, this finally seemed to satisfy her and he was able to get through the rest of the questions without suffering anything worse.

His office was still in transition and this became a great excuse to go get some air. He ran into Matthews on the way out the building. “You okay Dak? You look a little pale.”

“It all comes with the new position I guess. Can’t say I like talking to the press.” He ran a hand over his brow. “I wonder if I’ll be able to get used to it.”

Matthews brightened. “Oh yeah, congrats on the new position. I guess it will be Captain Dak now.”

“What would you feel about being the first man I hire on?” 

Matthews took a step back. Since he was the only other non-clone working for the Jumpers, Dak figured he would be a natural choice. “I’ll have to ask,” Matthews answered strangely. He soon departed a stiffly and Dak couldn’t help but wonder which Jumper might be holding Matthew’s strings. Shaking his head, he thought he might have the answer. He only hoped he was wrong.

*        *       *

The scent of stale smog burned his noise. Trash blew like city leaves. Even near the PE building bums and dregs fought for a hand out. His vehicle was secured below, but Dak felt like walking. He passed the taverns that most of the PE grunts frequented.

He felt less a part of them than ever. What was he a part of?

Dak really wasn’t a big one for drinking before sundown, but he felt he needed one. He headed into a nicer establishment hoping that he would find it empty. He was right. The sparse patrons lurked in dark corners huddled over tables. Fine suits mixed with low cut dresses. Conversations ran from afternoon affairs to cooperate backstabbing. Ignoring these, he headed over to the reflective plastic bar.

Massaging his temples, he looked down, while he waited for a hopper. “Hard day captain,” it was a voice that had already been haunting him. Opening his eyes, he saw that Lacy Law had helped herself into the adjacent barstool. “Having a drink before two pm. I see that he are off to a great start hunting down the Jumpers.”

Turning towards his hopper, he took a long pull before saying. “I was supposed to meet a contact here that had a list of known Jumpers, but with a Posher Cleb like yourself around here, he probably won’t show.”

She looked around uncertain. “You aren’t serious?”

“If you had only shown up ten minute’s later you might have had a big scoop.”

She waited until he was looking her way to cross her trim legs. Her gray business skirt did little to hide her looks. Years of police work left him wondering if she was hooked on some type of speed or if it was some fascist exercise routine that kept her body so tight.

            “Perhaps you’ll let me take you out to dinner tonight and you can tell me all about it.” Her manicured nails lightly traced his hand. “You fought back well today. Most men crumble when I go up against them.”

“That must make you very proud,” he said while moving his hand away.

“So what about dinner? No one needs to know.” Leaned forward, exposed more of her toned body.

Staring for a long moment, he then slammed the rest of his beer. “No thanks, I think I’m going to be putting in long hours for quite a while. Her intake of breath was so loud that many of the patrons turned to watch, as he turned his back to her and existed back into the faded sunlight.

Find out more about the Skinjumpers of New Cluster Here!

Yig Nature’s Embrace

I am a Child of the Earth

Let Nature Embrace Me

I live as an Animal

Let the Beasts Embrace me

I am at one with the Forests

Let the Plants Embrace Me

I am a Child of the Sun

Let the Light Embrace Me

I Feel the Freedom of the Bird

Let the Winds Embrace Me

My heart burns with the Fire of the Making

Let the Flame Embrace Me

I Come From the Water

Let the Rivers Embrace Me

I am as one with the Desert

Let the Sands Embrace Me 

Find out how Heroes use archetypes to fight the Darkness here!

 

Four Enclosed Walls

“No free shows, Brownhurst,” Lanna said while observing their reflections through her makeup mirror. “You need to pay a door fee like everyone else.”

Phillip held up his hands, as if in surrender, “What there isn’t a Stalwart discount?”

 

Turning, she graced them with a view of her trim, and just this side of perfect, body. Her waves of golden hair covered more of her than the tiny pink lace bra and thong she wore. “Discount,” she tiffed, which caused her tight breasts to bounce ever so slightly, 

“I should charge you double after all the trouble you and your kind get me into.”

Phillip moved in closer. “It’s not our kind you need to worry about now, gorgeous. The Xemmoni are gearing up to-”

“Who’s your friend?” 

“Oh, this is Jack. A rogue man of Yig.”

Stalwart

She graced them with a smile that could have melted a foot of ice. “I tend to like rogues. Him, I might be willing to give a Stalwart discount to.”

Jack felt the heat rising on his cheeks, but walked forward and tried to keep his eyes on her face while he said, “We’re in a very serious situation, miss. You might want to stop and listen. You may not make it through the night if you don’t.”

“How exciting,” she said, still smiling. “You Yig types are always so full of action and adventure.” She stood up and moved her slim body close enough to his that she was able to reach out a run a hand down his arm. “Am I going to need a big hero to protect me?”

 

His arm tingled at her touch, like she was made of electricity. “Ah… quite possibly.”

“Well why don’t you stay and see my show. If you like it, you can fill me in on all the spooky dangers we all face later on when-”

“That’s just it, Lanna,” Phillip blurted out, “There might not be a later. The Dark Alliance seeks to claim Boston for its own and have demanded that all Stalwarts leave by sunset or be exterminated.”

Lanna almost looked serious for a moment. “I’ve dealt with Xemmoni trying to screw with me before.”

“This is different,” Jack said. “They want to claim this town and I’m sure it isn’t for a good thing. Some evidence we have received points to Boston being special to Vile Darken.”

“What that old boggy man. I doubt he even exists.”

“He does exist. I fought him. Currently he’s the only Xemmoni I have fought that is still alive.”

She eyed Jack again. “You fought him, huh? What are the others saying?”

“There aren’t many of us left,” Phillip said. “Felix seems to think that his healing will keep his safe, while you obvious tend to please in your own fashion. But this time, I’m not sure it’ll be enough.”

Throwing out a hip, she said, “What are you proposing that I pack up a suitcase and move into a van with you two. That might be fun for a day or two, but I get bored quick. Besides I have family to take care of here. People that need me.” 

“We could fight back,” Jack said. “That’s what we should do. But we’ve fought a few of them and they’re powerful. We’d need everyone.”

“Honey, I’m not a charge em, kinda of girl. I like to fight behind the scenes or if needed, shot fish in a barrel. I’d rather not go toe to toe with a bunch of ugly creeps that would rather eat me than kiss me and I don’t mean in the good way.”

“I think you should come with us. No matter what happens we’ll be able to protect you,” Jack said.

She placed a gentle hand on his face. “Oh sweetie, you are still a young one aren’t you? I’m not trying to be mean, but I’d imagine I’d be in thirty times the danger tooling around with you two. But tell you what, do what you need to do and if you’re still breathing find me here after midnight. We’ll compare stories and if I’ve been forced to fight off any Xemmoni I might change my tune and if I’ve just had a normal night, I’ll buy you a drink.”

Jack sighed as they exited the strip club. “We aren’t doing to well, are we?”

“I guess not. As I told you the first day we met, Boston has been hard on its Stalwarts lately. The few that remain all think that keeping a low profile will save them where their brothers and sisters perished for fighting back against the night.”

Jack and Alex

“So where to next?” Jack said without much enthusiasm 

“Blaze wanted us to meet him at a coffee shop not to far away from here.”

“Oh you won’t be meeting anyone ever again, little Stalwarts,” a dry voice hissed from over their shoulders. Turning, they saw six Glooms stood between them and the pickup. Their glowing eyes cut through the gathering fog with would soon conceal the whole scene from the street. “At them and no mercy. Ghost wants them all dead!”

“So much for giving us till sunset,” Phillip said as he drew his cutlass.

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Three Smokes and the End of the World

“Can I get one, Mary?” Cindy asked as Mar pulled a smoke from the pack. Cindy smiled as she dropped her backpack onto the ground, so she could adjust her almost illegally short skirt.

“It’s Mar, now,” she corrected, as she pushed her jet black bangs back behind her ear.

“Mar, oh you’re so Goth.”

 Ignoring her statement, Mar continued, “And if you wanna smoke, try buying your own pack sometime. These cigs are worth like fifty cents each these days.”

 “It’s only because you buy those snob cigarettes,” Jenny said. “Mine don’t cost that much.” She blew out a thin steam on smoke through her trim nostrils and Mar wondered for the three hundredth time if her parents had already started buying Jenny plastic surgery treatments at sixteen, as if being a petite blonde with perfect teeth wasn’t enough.

“And you just smoke menthols, because no one in their right mind wants to bum one of those foul things,” Cindy said.

Mar was just lighting up her smoke when a loud yell cut through her annoying friend’s chatter.

“What the hell was that?” Cindy asked, posing like some fashion model with her smoke dangling. Mar figured she’d be posing even if the end of the world came. When the scream sounded again it wasn’t like a cry for help as much as sounding like someone being torn in half.

“Oh my God,” Jenny said. “Should we call someone?”

“Yeah, do that,” Mar said, as she peeked her head around the dumpster that obscured them. What she saw caused the cigarette to tumble from her mouth. 

Just on the other side of the school’s fence, a woman had been walking her dog. What might have been a homeless guy looked like he was tried to kiss her neck, but as Mar watched, his head came away with a big bloody chunk of the woman’s flesh in his mouth. The woman stumbled away as a torrent of viscera streamed from her torn neck. The dog moved in to protect its master and the grimy, and now blood covered man, reached down, picked up the dog, and bit one of its eyeballs out.

“What’s going on over here…?” Cindy started to say until Mar emptied the contents over her stomach all over her Cindy’s new strapless heels. “I my God! You freak of nature.”

Neither of the two other girls had focused enough to really see what had happened yet and Jenny said, “I’m like trying to call nine-one-one, but the lines are busy. Is that even possible?”

“What’s the matter, can’t find eleven on the phone,” Cindy said, before turning to Mar. “And what about my shoes. You’re going to have to—what’s that man doing to her?” was followed by Cindy erupting into the highest pitched scream Mar had ever heard.

Where Mar found the courage to look back at the scene she’d never know, but once she saw what happened there, she would forever wish she hadn’t. The man was on top of the woman, just eating her. His victim’s arms flapped with insane violence, but they had already begun to slow down.

Cindy pushed past her, running toward the school and that was when the fire alarm went off. It could have been the only thing that would have caused Cindy to hold up.

“What now?” Jenny began, but then finally had her eyes leave her cell for long enough to see the man on the street and what he was doing. Her scream sounded girly and cute even at its volume and though her terror, Mar still thought, it figures.

Mar went back to watching the woman. After not moving and looking quite dead, she started to sit up and almost casually pushed the homeless man away. Despite his earlier violent ways and fighting through her frantic struggles, this time he allowed her to move him away and didn’t stop her when she began to struggle to her feet.

Mar felt torn over what to do, but since they were required to enter the courtyard and they were already there, she looked back at the man on the street. And she saw something strange.

Her eyes opened wider and her face clenched with terror. She didn’t even notice that Jenny was screaming again.

Before her eyes, the woman stood up as though having twenty bites taken out of her was just an average day. But what drew in Mar’s gaze was how her bowels and internal organs fell from her torn open stomach. Intestines flopped onto the ground like greasy ropes, but the woman kept walking.

Mar knew she should run, run home and never leave her house again, but something made her watch.

The man joined her as though they had become best friends and both of them lumbered to the fence. The man proved faster, but Mar’s eyes stayed glued to the woman.

Jenny joined Mar in vomiting up her lunch when the woman tripped over her own intestines and fell to the ground. With her right hand, she violently tore away the offending organs and began to open her mouth in the most horrid way. The man had made it to the fence and rattled it while his milky eyes met Mar’s gaze. Then, opening his mouth, he let out a hollow moan.

Soon the woman had joined him as the fence. Jenny tried to shake her and yelled something and that was when Mar heard the first screams come from the courtyard.

Check in next Saturday for the final chapter of Lock Down Bite Down!

You can explore more of the Eternal Aftermath here!

Hecate Charisma Spell

The ways of Chaos and Magick are Great

We seek to mold others so they will aid us in reaching our true Fate

For in the world of competition and Vice

Humans swarm over everything like maggoty Lice

As Wizards we seek to raise above the Others

Yet in a way that will trick them so they think that we are Brothers

Homo-superior is what we Are

And against the rest we do War

We seek to protect this world before the End

Aid stone, animal, and Friend

Yet we need not fight Fair

No we will Manipulate and Coerce with Flair

Like Micaville we plan and Plot

Also trying to better our Lot

So Hecate shine your Power down on us this Night

Let you servants bask in your Sight

Aid us to become stronger and Proceed

Let Magick and Joy triumph over Greed

Enable us, Making us Stronger

And we will be more powerful Servants Forever and Longer

Follow Heroes as they use the Mystic Archetypes

 

Yoda to Host Fashion Reality Show

For more Daily Laughs Check out The Daily Discord

Worries and Fears as Darkness Nears

After their run in with the armored Hyades Xemmoni and the powerful Darcarre, The Baron, Jack and Phillip knew they might be fighting for their lives at any minute and despite their lingering wounds, they needed to act. Also of chief priority was the ultimatum The Baron had given them. All Stalwarts were required to leave Boston by sundown or be exterminated.

 

As they drove to their first stop, in the old pickup, Phillip was the first to break the somber mood. “I figured we’d drop by Felix because he will be the easiest to find and it never hurts to have a healer on board.” 

The silence dragged until Jack said, “I’m still not sure what the game plan is and shouldn’t we figure it out before we see this guy?”

“What do you mean?”

Jack sighed. “Are we going to tell them we should all be fleeing, pile everyone into the back of a big van, and split town and then just leave Boston for whatever foul purposes these servants of Vile have planned? Remember with this Dark Alliance growing, it could be something bad. These guys aren’t just draining bums anymore; they’re trying to overrun the whole Multi-verse.”

“So you’re saying you want to stay and stop them, I take it.” Then lower he added, “You’re more like a Yiggite that you might realize, buddy.”

“If that means I don’t want to let them use Boston as some sort of hub for an evil enterprise then I’ll take that as a complement.”

A minute later they were pulling up in front of Felix’s office. A giant eye stared at them from a dust covered windowpane. “He’s an optometrist?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I guess. Everyone’s good at something.”

It took some time to get a message through the receptionist and Jack felt oddly normal sitting in the waiting room for ten minutes until the current client was finished with her appointment. Phillip leafed through magazines like they weren’t going to be hunted in a few hours and it annoyed Jack when he brought up the most recent celebrity pregnancies.

When at last Felix would see them, he looked more like a computer geek than a warrior. Thin wire frame glasses sat on a thinner face, perched over an even thinner body. Jack must have had a least a foot in height on the man and Felix didn’t even bother shaking their hands before he indicated two low chairs for them to sit upon. 

 

After sitting himself, Felix said, “So what is it, Brownhurst? You coming here isn’t exactly helping my low profile.” The doctor sat quietly while Phillip filled him in on the threats that had been made against them. When the man of Dionysus had finished, the doctor leaned back in his chair and said, “This is all very interesting, but I’m sure it doesn’t affect me in my position. Although it pains me to do so, I have kept the Xemmoni at bay by healing them at times and this has kept me off their hit list. I see no reason to change things now.”

Jack spoke up. “You can’t be serious. They say they’re going to hunt us all down and you don’t care. Even if what you say is true and they spare you, what about the rest of us?”

“If you are worried for your safely you still have time to leave. I see no reason to either uproot myself or engage in some violent conflict where I imagine we’d find ourselves outnumbered ten to one at best. Unlike the followers of the war god Yig, we of Hermes are healers, we embrace neutrality and I see no reason to change my whole life because you two stirred up a hornet’s nest, now if you well excuse me, I have patients to see. Good day.”

Jack tried to argue, but Phillip placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered, “Best that we don’t alienate a healer. One way or another we might need him later and if they try to axe him, he might yet be forced to join with us.” They did manage to at least get the doctor to completely heal them before they left.

Steaming as he power-walked outside, Jack looked toward the sun as it began to dip to the west.

Phillip spoke again. “We maybe have four hours left, be had better get moving. Lanna will be just starting her shift, we should probably check in on her next.”

“Where does she work?”

“Lanna is a stripper.”

“Perfect.”

“Oh believe me, she is.”

Jack just groaned as he followed Phillip to the truck. Neither of them spotted the glowing red eyes that followed their movements. If they had, they would have seen the hooded figure withdraw a cell phone and speak a few quick phrases before getting into a primer colored van and following the pickup out into the busy streets of Boston.

To be continued next Monday

Find out how Jack’s Adventures Started Here!

Dionysus Joy

People of Dionysus search out the Joy

Even if that is what other seek to always Destroy

Yes, it is fun to accomplish and Strive

But if we do not to find Joy why we are really Alive

So please join us now in the day or the Dark

And let Joy find you and leave its positive Mark

Sure we want to accomplish and get things Done

But only so we can enjoy our Fun

Some much bullshit attacks us each Day

We are victims of the Discordic Sway

But we want to take that Chaos and make it our Friend

Ride the maelstrom until the End

So Dionysus bless us this Night

For we know that embracing Joy is always Right

In the end there is no other task for Man

For making people smile when they take Joy’s Hand

So great Baccus listen to Me

Help me find Joy and set my soul Free

Learn more abut Heroes that strive for Humanity and fight the villains that would Destroy it Here!

The Conclusion of Lock Down, Bite Down!!

Dells’ life became a living horror as he and Becca were forced to move to the back of the cell, next to the groaning Mickey, as more of the walking dead pressed against the outer bars. Dozens of arms gasped for them. Bleeding tore faces disregarded all pain as they pressed against the bars and stared at them with milky vacant eyes.

“That asshole,” Becca cried as tears stormed down her cheeks. “Is he ever coming back? How could he do this to his own sister?”

“I hate to say this to you, kid,” Mickey said, as he wiped a hand across his feverish brow, “but your brother is either insane or evil and probably both.”

She tried in vain to wipe back the tears. “The sad thing is, I can’t even argue with you.”

“Let’s not give up hope here,” Dells said, although the words sounded hollow to his own ears. Forcing himself to go on, he said, “I still have a gun and ammo. We aren’t helpless.”

Becca looked like she hated herself for her words, but said, “But will that matter if we’re locked in here and my brother has the keys?”

Having the young girl witnessing his disgrace only made things worse and knowing that she and Mickey still counted on him to keep them safe when he felt so helpless was like a dagger in his guts.

Screaming Zombie

Mickey shuddered and rolled over on his side with a moan.

Dells looked the man over. Sweat poured off him in rivers. His flesh felt so hot that Dells sensed the heat five inched before he placed his hand on the injured man’s forehead. With a motion of his hand he drew Becca to the side of the cell away from Mickey.

“I’m worried about Mickey. What if what your brother says if true and he will become a zombie?”

“But my brother doesn’t seem to be about to become one.”

“He might end up as bad off as Mickey… who knows. Maybe the bites affect people differently.”

She looked doubtful. “Even if he does or the zombies start to notice him. It won’t help us any. We’ll still be locked up in here.”

“Maybe I could shoot the lock off.”

“Let’s wait to see what our future holds before we waste any of the bullets you still have, please. Maybe my brother will somehow come through in some way.”

Again Dells wondered why he was taking advice from a teenager, but regardless of her age, the advice seemed sound and he sat down on another bed and became a bit surprised when she joined him. He smiled her way, but that was the best he could do.

At the car window

*         *         *

Several hours passed and despite the constant horrid moans, Dells had begun to nod off. Becca had curled up next to him and he had placed his arm around her shoulders. He tried to tell himself it was just to keep her warm.

He leaned back against the wall. Again he tried to fight it, but sleep began to cling to him again. He had just entered the stage where you think you are awake, but you were actually unconscious when he heard Becca screaming.

“No, no! Get off!”

He awoke with a start. Mickey was tugging on Becca’s arm. Blood stained teeth were only inches away from biting her.

Without thinking, he grabbed his pistol. Mickey had become mad with a sick bloodlust and Dells knew he was gone. His law enforcement training kicked it and he took aim.

The shoot sounded impossibly loud within the close confines of the cell. Mickey fell back in a bloody mess. Becca looked at him for a moment and then rushed into his arms and wept. He held her for a very long time.

 

*         *         *

“Oh isn’t that special,” Henry’s snide voice called out to them.

Only when Dells had regained consciousness, did he notice the distant screams. The screams registered first, but the pleading weren’t far behind.

Looking up, Dells saw that Henry had two hostages positioned in front of him. The station had been cleared of zombies and the screams gave him a good guess to how this was done.

So the kid’s become a murderer, was the first thought to pass though his mind.

“Sheriff, can you hear me?”

“Yes.” Even though Becca was his sister, Dells stood in front of her. Despite the distance, he could tell he had a rifle pointed at him from between the two prisoners. He recognized both of them. One was the high school teacher, Fosters. The other was this year’s high school homecoming queen, Anna. Both were tied and held close to Henry.

“Okay good. Throw your guns through the bars and no one will get hurt. If you don’t, I’ll shot these two, then Becca.”

“You sick puke. You’d shoot your own sister?”

“Or maybe I‘ll just shoot into the cell and see what happens. I could just wait for four days and starve your ass and them come in there and kick the gun out of your hand, but I’m more of a get things done now kinda guy.”

The girl was whimpering and the teacher was wide eyed with terror.

Sweat poured down the sheriff’s face. He considered many things, but most of them were too risky.

“Come on Sheriff. The zombies still ignore me. You need me. I can help you, but since they ignore me, that means I’m in charge. Throw me your fucking gun.”

The gun made a loud rattle as it skidded across the tiles.

Henry chuckled.

“Good, now we can really have some fun.”

 

To be Continued…

Thank you for reading Lock Down, Bite Down

You can learn more about what happens to Dells and Becca here!

Check in next Saturday for a new adventure in the Eternal Aftermath!

Zombie March