Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 138: Some Things Don’t Change

Chapter 138: Some Things Don’t Change

Dante stared at the man in front of him, his ripped, blood-covered clothes a stark contrast to the pristine environment of his office. "You are brave, coming here," he stated. "Or stupid. I just can’t figure out which one it is."

The man stiffened, his chin jutting up slightly as he looked down his nose at Dante, who was sitting behind his desk.

But Dante had long gotten used to that look. When you reached the top, there were always people who thought they could do the job better than you... and this man was no different.

He stood at military attention, his arms behind his back, his legs spread out at perfect shoulder width apart. Even his light blonde hair was cut close to his head. If he hadn’t still been in the military when the apocalypse came, he wouldn’t have been out of it for a long time.

"You are the only one with supplies," stated the man, rolling his shoulders slightly to bring Dante’s attention to the fact that he had more muscles than him. "And we need supplies."

"And as you pointed out, we have the supplies... food, guns, clothing, showers, running water..." His voice trailed off as he remembered the girl who had given them all that and more. "Which brings me back to my point where I don’t know if you are stupid or brave, but please, continue."

The man gritted his teeth so hard that Dante wouldn’t have been surprised if he cracked one. "We have women and children to feed and clothe."

"Seems like a you problem. I have managed to provide for those under my authority; it’s not my fault that you haven’t been able to do the same," shrugged Dante as he went back to paying attention to the paperwork in front of him.

When those guarding the gates had said that a leader from one of the other compounds wanted to see him, it had intrigued him.

And had given him a few ideas on where to go next.

But so far, he was more than a little disappointed.

"In case you have missed it, humans are now at the bottom of the food chain," sneered the man, his stance loosening as his temper continued to grow. "Everyone needs to help out where we can. Otherwise, we are all doomed."

"What’s your name?" asked Dante, putting the folder to the side as Tank entered his office without knocking.

"Cameron Garner," replied the man, staring over Dante’s shoulder as Tank took his position beside him. "I was a commander with the Country K Army."

"So I could tell," returned Dante. "But let me explain something so clearly that even a jarhead like you can understand. I don’t run a charity, as far as I am concerned; if you want something from me, you need to come to the table with something of equal value. Until that happens... then don’t expect my help or my sympathy."

"Evil wins when good men do nothing," sneered Cameron. "And I’m not a jarhead... they are the Marines."

Tank snorted but otherwise bit his tongue, letting Dante handle the man in front of them.

"Want to know a secret?" whispered Dante, leaning forward. "Evil wins. Period, end of story. People like you with bleeding hearts are part of the reason why humanity has come to this point."

"You are a sick bastard. Don’t you have a heart? Only caring about what you can get out of something?!? That’s just wrong. As a human being, it is your responsibility to help others less fortunate than yourself."

"See, that’s where you are wrong. I think humanity needs a bit of a wake-up call... don’t you? I mean, the powers that be seem to think so. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be going through the apocalypse now, would we? Survival isn’t a gift- it’s a debt paid in sacrifice. So, Mr. Garner, what are you willing to sacrifice?" asked Dante, cocking his head to the side.

When Cameron didn’t reply, Dante let out a snort and waved his hand in dismissal. "Come find me when you’ve figured out that answer."

With a low growl, Cameron spun around, storming out of the office, only to run face first into the guard waiting for him. "I’ll escort you to the gate. I would offer to let you use the elevators... but that’s only for Family."

----

Dante watched as the military man slammed the door behind him, causing the pictures and mirror on the walls to rattle.

"What do you think?" he asked Tank, leaning back in his chair.

Tank shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t think that it will be that big of a deal to ’help’ them out to the best of our ability."

"And the women and children?"

"They didn’t care about my woman; why should I care about theirs?" That was the thin line that Tank was currently dancing on, and Dante didn’t know how he felt about it.

Instead of just blaming the three responsible for Hattie’s attempted murder, Tank had shifted the blame to every person except Dante. While it meant that Dante was keeping a killer on a tight leash, it also meant that everything was running a lot smoother than it ever had.

His own men were terrified of Tank, let alone the few civilians who had managed to find their way to the Dragon’s Lair. But as long as everyone did what they were supposed to do, Tank didn’t even look at them.

"Ours," corrected Dante, picking the folder back up and opening it again. While supplies were coming in, they were coming in much slower than they were going out, and that was going to have to change fast.

Tank looked down at Dante for a moment before slowly blinking and returning his attention to the office door. "Our woman."

Dante let out a grunt before nodding his head. "Let him get home first before you show him what we are willing to bring to the table."

"It’s almost comforting to know that even in these end of days, some things don’t change," chuckled Tank as he cracked his neck back and forth to loosen up the tight muscles.

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