Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 43: The Mansion

Chapter 43: The Mansion

Once Isaac and his brothers were done eating their breakfast, it was time to get going. Elizabeth had told me to stay sitting down while she and the other women got everything together. Within minutes, everything was packed up, and the women were once again tied up.

"I’s you gonna walk with us, o’ yous gonna be tied with de rest?" asked Isaac, his body odor giving away his approach.

"Whatever you think is best," I replied, tilting my head up so I was staring in the general direction of his face.

It wasn’t like I was going anywhere. I had three deals made with the potential for even more. Why would I leave the humans I was currently with on the off chance that I could find more on the road?

That just seemed stupid.

"Such a good little girl," purred Jeremiah as he came up to my side. I felt his fingers gently caressing my cheek, and I made sure to put on my best smile.

"I like being a good girl," I assured him with a nod.

"Den yous can stick close to de womenfolk," grunted the third brother, the only one whose name I didn’t know.

Nodding my head, I turned my smile on him. Making a grand spectacle of my stick, I swung it around, taking some satisfaction as the men had to quickly dodge the bottom for fear of me hitting them with it.

Finding my way to Elizabeth, I took her arm in mine, ignoring the fact that her hands were tied in front of her, and held on.

"You are getting attached," muttered Greed, his peppermint breath drifting over my face. I don’t think I’d ever be able to smell that scent and not feel safe.

I nodded my head but didn’t respond any other way.

"I don’t like you getting attached to people," he continued. "You are supposed to be ours and only ours."

’You didn’t seem to mind the guys holding me all the time,’ I pointed out in my mind as I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

"That is different; they are different," growled Greed, clearly not impressed with my newfound attitude. "This woman is a weakness. And right now, you are completely defenseless. You can’t afford any weaknesses."

Letting out a humming sound, I ignored Greed.

I knew that he was only looking out for my best interest. I tended to develop attachments easily, and I could only guess at how I would be in the future when Elizabeth wasn’t around anymore.

But Greed didn’t understand. To him, life was infinite. There was no end in sight, and unless the relationship benefited him in some way, then it was useless.

Sometimes, I got scared that if I was no longer useful to the demons in my head, if they would leave me, too.

But life was short, so it was important to fill it with whatever made you happy.

For the first time in my life, I felt the love of a mother.

Would it crush me when I had to leave her? Yup.

But I was already broken; what was one more crack in my head or my heart? At least I would know the feeling of being loved, even if it was for only a day.

To me, that was a price worth paying.

We continued to walk, never really stopping for more than a few minutes at a time and only for the men to relieve themselves in the woods.

The women were expected to hold it, I guess.

Occasionally, I heard a scream coming from one of the girls before a bullet echoed around me, and I could only assume that there were more of the dumb zombies around. Still, other than that, I was completely oblivious to my surroundings.

What was the point? Everything was a game of chance anyway; I might as well go with the flow.

"Where de fuck did dat come from?" grunted Isaac, stopping so suddenly that Elizabeth practically fell over trying to avoid running into him.

Grabbing her arm tighter to keep her upright, I used her eyes to see around us.

Just off to the side of the driveway was a beautifully paved driveway, complete with iron gates and a massive mansion just off in the distance.

The house practically towered over the trees, its white exterior a flashing symbol of safety amongst the green oak trees.

"No’s idea," grunted the third brother.

"We’s be kings dere," added Jeremiah as he shared a look with Isaac. "Game in de woods ta trap."

"Close ta water," agreed Isaac. "Probably gots a boat or two in dere."

"A gate ta keep everyone out..." The way these three men were salivating over the mansion made me want to chuckle.

It was like offering a pillow to a tired person. There was no way they were going to turn it down.

"Do you think it’s on a cliff?" I asked, my voice soft as I spoke to Elizabeth. I could feel her eyes widening as if they were my own when she heard what I said.

She didn’t reply, knowing that Isaac would hit her if she spoke out of line, but I could feel her trembling under my touch.

"Stupid humans," sneered Gluttony, and I felt his arm resting on my shoulder as he stood by my side. "Don’t they realize that nothing comes free?"

’Does it matter?’ I replied. ’After all, a wish is a wish.’

"And you are my good luck charm, aren’t you?" purred Glut as he kissed me on my cheek before disappearing again.

"Wadda we do if dere’s someone dere?" asked the third brother. If I stayed with them much longer, I was probably going to have to learn his name. I knew he was the one with the red hat and less than a full mouth of teeth, but that was about it.

None of the brothers replied, but they all shared the same smile as Isaac started whistling. Putting his hand on the gate, he pushed it open and walked in like he owned the place.