Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 199: I Beg Your Pardon?

Chapter 199: I Beg Your Pardon?

Luca sat in the chair as he watched Désiré let out a cloud of toxic mist. The second it touched anyone, their flesh and bones slowly started to liquefy before sliding right off their skeleton.

The humans, the second they saw what was happening to the others, tried to run from the room they were in, only to have Dimitri standing in front of the only door. With his arms crossed in front of his chest, he was better than any wall.

"Well, I guess that brings new meaning to the term toxic love," chuckled Désiré as he strolled back to the table as people continued to scream in fear. "This is fun," he continued as his hand created a ball of flames. "All our powers match with us perfectly. Like this is who we were always meant to be."

"Why are you doing this?" demanded the man, standing off to the side as Salvatore kept him in place. It wasn’t that Salvatore was touching him, but rather, he was holding a gun to his wife’s head. "We didn’t do anything to you to deserve this."

"You didn’t do anything?" asked Ronan as he sipped from the bottle of beer that Luca had taken out of his space. "Are you joking? Or do you just really have that bad of a memory? Because from where I am sittin’, this is all of you. We just wanted a place to sleep for the night."

"Nothing in this world is free," snarled the man. "You are expected to pay for your protection. A little bit of food isn’t that big of a deal. Especially when this one has a space."

"This one?" murmured Luca as he looked at his nails. "It’s been years since anyone has referred to me as ’this one’. It’s kind of nostalgic. Then again, I did slit her neck, so maybe you don’t want to follow her example."

"Her?" demanded the man as he stepped forward. However, the sound of a safety coming undone was enough to freeze him. "You stooped so low as to kill a woman?"

"Yes," nodded Luca, not bothering to give an explanation. She had picked him up out of an entire lineup of foster kids, waiting anxiously to be placed in a good home. The only problem was that she wasn’t going to put them in a good home.

No, she was one of the biggest players when it came to human trafficking, so Luca really didn’t feel bad about killing her before she could take any more kids.

But no one needed to know the reasons... well, if Hattie asked, he would tell her the whole story, but something told him that Hattie would never ask him for an accounting.

"All we wanted was 80% of your supplies," pointed out the wife. The sound of her voice was like nails on a chalkboard, and it was more than enough to stop Luca from going any deeper into memory lane. "It was a fair trade."

Ronan scoffed at that as a plate of chicken wings appeared in front of him. Picking up the first one, he pointed it at the wife. "Do you have any idea just how much 80% is when you have next to nothing? That is four packets of instant noodles when you only have one. And where is all that food going? Into your stomach?"

It took a bit for Désiré to hold back his laughter. The wife was a bit on the chubby side, giving the current world, but at the same time, it showed just how much her husband loved her. While he had a lot of muscles, they were slowly shrinking down.

He gave up his food for her, and yet....

"You have a good husband," he announced. "Too good for you, but you should count your lucky blessings that he is willing to do without simply so you can have more."

The wife gave him the side eye but didn’t bother to say anything.

"All that aside, it was your people who tried to jump us to get out supplies after we told you no," sighed Dimitri, his vice carrying from the other side of the room. "You need better control over your people."

"Everyone is scared," replied the leader of the compound. "It is understandable."

"It was understandable six months ago. At this point in time, this is the new normal, so people should be a lot less scared. Besides, there has been no sign of the mutated zombies lately, and the dumb ones are easy to kill. What is there to be scared of?" asked Ronan, cocking his head to the side as he stripped all the meat off the wing in his hand.

"Hunger," snapped the wife. "Food is running out, and there is no way to get more since the grocery stores are now empty."

There was a long pause as the guys looked at each other. "You are joking, right?" demanded Désiré. "Region L has a nine-month growing season. Grow your own fucking food."

The woman sniffed but didn’t bother to reply.

It really made Luca scratch his head in wonder. Clearly, a lot of people were going to win a Darwin award by this time next year. Oh well, at least most of the stupid people should be killed off by then.

And the Sins wouldn’t have to lift a finger.

"And the meat?" sighed the man, looking like he had aged ten years in a single night. "We don’t have any seeds to plant, nor do we know how to plant them. Plus, with no meat, we’ll be starving to death in a matter of months."

Seriously, only an idiot can starve to death during the growing season.

"Kill a gator," sighed Dimitri as if he, too, was trying to deal with the migraine this conversation was giving him. "De gators have enough meat to last a while."

The woman sniffed before looking at Dimitri. "There is no way I will ever eat a ’gator’. Now, if you are done with this display, please leave."

"No," sneered Ronan as he continued to dig into the plate of wings. "I don’t think we will."

"I beg your pardon?" snapped the woman, clearly expecting a different answer.

"Okay, go ahead. Beg for my pardon. Let’s see if you get it," smirked Ronan, his eyes flashing bright blue for a moment. "I’m all ears."