Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 479: Not My Place

"Destruction," muttered Papa Khaos, nodding his head as he looked Eric up and down. "I can’t say I saw this coming."

"Seeing as I didn’t even know about the Original Gods, I never saw this coming either," smiled Eric, stretching his arm out like this was his house and he was inviting a guest to come sit. What the hell happened to the plan of naps and handcuffs?

Feeling gypped, I glared at Eric’s retreating back.

"How is the Creator?" continued Papa, becoming animated the more he spoke to my husband. "I haven’t seen him since he imprisoned me."

"Well," purred Eric, clasping Papa on the shoulder. "Seeing as I have never met the god myself, I think you would know much better than me."

Papa hummed as the two continued to walk away from me. "What is going on?" I asked, looking up at Ronan. "I just wanted a nap, is that really so wrong?"

"Of course not," purred Sloth, picking me up into his arms. "In fact, what Eric is doing is guaranteeing you a nap. With Papa Khoas being distracted, you have all the time in the world to sleep."

Letting out a long yawn, Ronan carried me up the stairs as the rest of the guys waved us away. "See, they’ll keep everyone busy, even the fucking house if they have to. You are getting a solid eight-hour nap, even if we have to kill someone."

"You’re so sweet," I replied with a yawn of my own. Before we even managed to reach the bedroom door, I was fast asleep in his arms.

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The dream started off weird in the way all dreams do. I don’t remember how I got here, or even where here was, but I knew this wasn’t going to be a good thing.

Looking around, I couldn’t see anything but darkness. However, the longer I stood here, the more I could hear. The clicking of mandibles and the sound of millions of sharp feet scratching against the floor was enough to send shivers down my spine.

I really hated bugs.

"You’re here," came a female voice as she stepped away from the darkness and came to stand in front of me. "I didn’t think you’d come."

"Seeing as my body is still asleep in bed, and I have no idea where this place is, I wouldn’t say that I came so much as you dragged me here," I said, staring at the girl.

She was pretty in a mousy way. Taller than me, maybe 5,6" with brown hair and brown eyes hidden behind massive glasses, she didn’t really stand out in a crowd. Even her movements were suppressed, like she was worried about what would happen if she moved an inch in the wrong direction.

"I didn’t mean to," replied the girl, her head high. "How do I send you back?"

"What were you thinking about before I showed up?" I asked instead. At least my body was asleep, even if my mind wasn’t. I guess that was an improvement. Right?

"I wondered why I was chosen," shrugged the girl. Holding out her hand, a centipede scurried out of the shadows behind her and curled up on her palm. "He’s scared of you."

"Is that your way of saying that he’s more scared of me than I am of him?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Because if it was, I can assure you that is not the case."

"They look to me for protection," continued the girl, her voice taking on a dreamy quality as she looked past my shoulder. Staring into nothingness, I could only assume she was having a conversation in her head.

"Congrats," I shrugged. As far as I was concerned, those things didn’t need protection from anyone. However, now that demons were awake enough to kill them, I guess there was some need. But even then, why take a human?

"I’m not fully human," continued the female, still out of it. "I remember dying, and the next thing I knew, this little guy came to me and offered me the world. I didn’t want to die. Who would? So I agreed."

"And now you are their queen?" I assumed. I mean, it seemed like there were more queens in the world than there were normal women nowadays. Not like there was anything wrong with that.

"They call me their Empress," shrugged the girl, a smile starting to form on her face. "I always loved entomology. I have spent ten years of my life studying the biology, behavior, and ecology of insects. Now I am one of them."

Fighting back my shudder, because it took all kinds for the world to go ’round, I nodded my head. "Then maybe that was why you were chosen. You would know more about what they needed than anyone else."

Finally blinking, the girl turned her head toward me. "I want the insects to thrive," she hissed finally. It was the first time that I could see the teeth inside her mouth were sharpened to points, and her lips had a tinge of black to them.

"Well," I sighed, wondering just how that would work out. "I grant wishes. You just have to be willing to make a sacrifice."

"I would never sacrifice my babies," hissed the woman, her eyes taking on a light yellow shine as her pupils elongated. "I refuse to sacrifice them."

"No one was asking you to," I pointed out. "I just said you had to make a sacrifice. If you aren’t willing to pick something, then the magic will automatically take what you treasure the most. I suggest that if you want to beat the system, you figure out what you are willing to sacrifice."

The girl closed her mouth, her face going blank again as she stared off into space. "I am willing to sacrifice my humanity," she finally announced. "I wish that me and my babies have a place to call our own. A safe place where no one is trying to kill us. In exchange, I will sacrifice my humanity. I will become whatever I need to in order to protect them until the end of time."

For a moment, I wondered if she knew that by sacrificing her humanity, she had already guaranteed herself immortality. After all, in this realm, only humans could really die and stay dead.

"Deal accepted," I said with a shrug. It wasn’t my place to figure out the details or wonder about the consequences. All I had to do was grant her desires.