Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 117: No Turning Back

Chapter 117: No Turning Back

Walking away from René was a lot easier than Luca had originally thought it would be. He had assumed that there would be some feeling of guilt—like he was betraying a family member.

But then he realized that it was René who had betrayed them first. He and the others stood by his side long after René had determined that Alicia was his future. And that bullshit that she had seen the future with them by his side?

There was no way that was possible. She ruined that possibility for him a long time ago.

"We’s goin’?" asked Dimitri, leaning against the outer wall of the navy building. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, his backpack at his feet as he looked forward to the gate.

"Yup," grunted Luca, pulling his own backpack out of his space. No one outside of his family needed to know that he had a space, and not having a way to carry things would be the biggest giveaway.

"Did ’e fight it?" asked Max softly as he picked up his bag and flung it onto his back. The sun was just starting to set, and soon it would be dark. It probably wasn’t the best time to leave the safety of the base, but at the same time, they needed to cut the string.

Luca turned to face Max. The man was always more sensitive than he should be, and Luca knew how much it was killing him that they weren’t going to stay with René. No matter how many times he had been betrayed, Max would still turn the other cheek.

"He wanted us to stay, said that Alicia had seen a vision of us all together in the future," announced Luca, looking around at the other men. "He said that he wanted us to go back to how we were before that woman tore us apart."

"I’s assumin’ that ’e no be speakin’ ’bout the bitch in ’is bed?" chuckled Ronan, coming off the wall beside Dimitri. "Still delusional."

Luca only nodded his head. "If you want, you can stay here, Max. You don’t have to be part of what comes next."

"’N just what be comin’ next?" asked the man, cocking his head to the side. Without the voice in his head telling him where he needed to be, the decision was killing him. Where was Gluttony when he needed him the most?

"You heard Envy," shrugged Luca. "What comes next is that we make a safe place for Hattie where she can live the life that she wants."

There was silence as the men looked around at each other, each one gauging the expression on the other’s face.

"I believe ’is exact wordin’ be burn de world down," chuckled Dimitri. "Dat be a bit more dan makin’ a safe place for ’Attie."

Luca smirked at Dimitri before he started walking toward the gate and the two people guarding it. "I don’t see much of a difference," he shrugged. "Maybe this world needs to be destroyed in order for it to be rebuilt better. After all, you can’t renovate a house without demolishing it first."

Ronan shrugged his shoulders before he quickly caught up to his brother. Swinging his arm around Luca’s shoulders, he leaned forward. "I’s dinna think you ’ad dis in you."

"Honestly?" mused Luca, looking over at Ronan. "Neither did I."

One after another, the six men walked toward the gate and out of the naval base, but only Max looked back in time to see René standing at the entrance, watching them leave.

----

It didn’t take long for the band of five to find some test subjects to try out their new powers on. Reaching the highway going East, Salvatore spotted the faint glow of campfires illuminating the road.

The sun had just started to set, but that wouldn’t stop any smart person from already setting up camp. They must have been traveling like this since the world ended. Taking a pair of tactical binoculars from his bag, Salvatore scanned the survivors.

There didn’t seem to be more than 30 of them. A large number if each and every one of them could fight, but from what he could see, there were at least a handful of women huddled around the fires, cooking dinner and trying to get warm.

It might not be as cold as it was before, but that didn’t mean a person easily warmed up after experiencing that drop in temperature.

The men were huddled in coats, their shoulders up to their ears as they carried multiple weapons over their shoulders as they paced back and forth. Every so often, Salvatore saw the flash of silver being passed from one man to another.

Burbon was always a good way to get warm. Too bad they weren’t giving it to any of the women. The women were only wearing scraps of clothes; torn blankets were draped over their shoulders as they manned the fire and cooked what little food they had.

"Perfect," smiled Salvatore, passing the binoculars to Luca. "Easy."

Confirming what Salvatore had said, he nodded his head in agreement.

"We’s doin’ dis?" asked Dimitri, cracking his knuckles as he handed his backpack to Luca to put into his space. "’Cause I’s ready."

Ronan yawned, reclining lazily against a rusted car. "They’s look too small fer any real fight. But I’s no complainin’," he chuckled, coming to his feet. Anything to get rid of the boredom... and to bring back Hattie.

"Donna be too sure," grunted Max, taking the offered binoculars. "Dey have weapons, and it donna take a man to pull a trigger." Ronan shrugged his shoulders as he threw his backpack at Luca’s feet. "Either way, it’s better dan just standin’ ’ere with our thumbs up our asses."

Désiré laughed softly as he, too, brought Luca his bag. Letting the flames inside him come to the surface, he stared at his hands. "It donna matter if dere be a lot or a little. Dis be nothin’ more dan trainin’ fer what comes next."

"Don’t wait for the crisis to arrive," quoted Luca, vanishing the backpacks. "Assume it’s already here. What we do by choice today may be a necessity tomorrow."