Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 500: Mercy, Hope, And Survival

It was almost reassuring that only a few people felt uncomfortable with Rule Number One. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t make it because I was a bleeding heart or anything like that. I think someone said it best when they said that ’abused kids abuse people’ or something along those lines.

In other words, those who have had their pound of flesh taken as a child will almost always make sure that they get that pound of flesh back from someone else. I just don’t want to deal with the aftermath.

"Rule two," I announced, my voice echoing from coast to coast to coast to coast of the western side of the world. "Don’t annoy me."

I could feel the stunned silence coming off the people around me, like they didn’t quite know what to make of my words. But I really thought I had made myself perfectly clear in that regard.

"You heard me," I grinned. "And I meant every word of it. Don’t annoy me. That means no whining, no backtalk, no ’but we didn’t know’, and most definitely, no showing up at my door any time between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. If you don’t want to be turned into a decorative lawn ornament, don’t be stupid, or loud, or clingy... or moral."

I paused for a second, actually enjoying the discomfort of the demons around me. "I am not your mother, your therapist, your god, or your fucking genie in a bottle. I don’t owe you comfort or understanding. In fact, I don’t owe you anything. The moment you think you are entitled to my attention is the moment you lose it."

I was dead serious about this rule. In fact, maybe I should have made it rule number one. People always remembered the first rule before their attention span kind of fizzled off. After all the shit I had been through for the past few years, I was done with playing nice.

And now that I didn’t have a house that was on the side of the wisher instead of me, I was going to take full advantage.

"Rule three," I smiled, making sure that my voice was loud. When I was sure that I had everyone’s attention, the smile on my face dropped. "No one touches what’s mine."

That was a period—end of story rule.

I didn’t need to look behind me to know that my men were standing taller at those words, a shit eating grin on their faces as they basked in their joy.

"I don’t care if it’s one of my men, a demon, a dinosaur, or a houseplant. If it belongs to me and you put your filthy fingers on it, I will flay the soul from your bones and staple it to my wall. Or, I’ll add your head to my shelf of curiosities. I haven’t quite decided yet. But it will be horrific. Once again, let me say this so you can’t claim ignorance. If it is mine, don’t touch." ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

The raptors screamed in the distance, even as the jungle rustled like it approved of my words, and I couldn’t hold back the smirk when my people started to look uncomfortable. When Rexy let out a roar of approval, I could have sworn that more than a few people wet themselves in fear.

"You want to live here? That’s fine. But keep your hands to yourself. My men are not yours. My house is not yours. My kingdom is not yours. You want a throne? Go build one in Antarctica. I feel like I should mention that Hades has already claimed the East, so that option is out as well."

I let that sink in. And then...

"Rule Four: If I am in the mood, and you make it in the golden hour, you may make a wish, but be ready to pay for it." A wave of dread passed through the tether linking me to all the demons in the world. I almost felt bad for the people under me, but given that, at their core, they were demons from hell, I expected them to know better than to push me.

Plus rule number two and all that

"Don’t come crying to me about the price. Don’t try to talk so much in the hopes of finding a loophole in the system. I grant what you said that you wanted, whether that was what you meant to happen or not... well, that’s on you. I am not a mind-reader. Speak clearly and get out of the way when you are done. If you don’t offer a sacrifice, then I will take what I want. And whatever I take in return? That’s the balance. You don’t get to argue with balance."

Tank let out a satisfied grunt. Somewhere in the northern ruins, a man crumpled to his knees, finally realizing the wife he wished for had never truly come back.

"Rule number five, and this one should be easy. No temple, no prophets, no shrines. I am not here to be worshipped. I’m not a queen you kneel for. I will not be granting prayers, mostly because that’s not what I do. And if I want you to know something, you’ll be hearing it directly from me. I’m the storm you survive. Speak in my name again, and I will replace your tongue with snakes and send you home to your mother."

There was no laughter at my little joke. Not in the chain, and not from my men. Only silence reigned as if no one understood what was going on. But that was fine, they had the rest of eternity to learn. Or not. It really depended on them.

"And finally, rule number six. If you want to live in my world, then you need to fight for your place. I’m not running your cities. I’m not feeding your families. I’m not raising your kids. I gave you breath. I gave you ground. That’s it. If you want more, work for it. No one will be held back by anything but your own willpower. But don’t think that just because you are strong, you are stronger than me and mine. I’m not fighting useless battles and refer to rule number three."

Behind me, my men stood like statues. Warriors, demons, sinners, angels. They didn’t flinch because they didn’t need to. They knew I would burn the world down before I let it take anything from me again.

"I am Balance," I said at last. "Not peace. Not order. I’m the still point in chaos, the line between fury and forgiveness. And if you want to walk that line, then you’d better keep your footing."

The pulse of the tether reached its peak, like a drumbeat carved into every soul. A heartbeat. A warning. A promise. "Welcome to the Devil’s Playground, where mercy is a rumor, hope is bait, and survival is the only prayer that matters."