He Who Fights Monsters
Before Gerard could
utter another word to his father, Forrest and the rest of the islanders
surrounded the both of them. They were armed with the spoils of their victory
that day. Forrest spoke with a new found sense of leadership as well, “What are
you doing with the Butcher, Gerard?”
“That's impossible,
this man is my father. His name is Richard, and there's no way he could be that
merciless maniac,” Gerard insisted as he moved closer to his father, blocking
their line of fire. They would have none of that.
“Move, Gerard!
We lost half our people today because of you,” Forrest demanded as he
pushed Gerard out of the way and pointed his pistol at the Butcher's temple.
Gerard's father acted unfazed by the gun in his face and spoke with a calming
intensity, “Go ahead, I'm ready.”
Forrest stood there
with gnashed teeth, clenching the metal in his grip. “I'll fucking do it, I
swear!”
“As I said before,
you'd be doing me a favor. Considering the hell I've put your people through, I
deserve nothing less.”
This made Forrest
even madder, but he just couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. His bravery
was wearing thin in the face of Richard's stoicism. “Just get the hell out of
here, you monster. And that goes for you too, Gerard,” Forrest instructed them.
They slowly walked
down to the beach under watchful eyes, and Gerard looked back to see Rose
giving him a disappointed stare. This made him feel awful inside. Once they
found two abandoned Jet Ski's with a plentiful amount of fuel, they set off,
hugging the shoreline the whole way.
They had ridden to
the opposite side of the island when Gerard's father finally stopped his Jet
Ski. They came ashore, and Richard pulled out a map from his pack, scanning it
for a location. Once he found it, he put the map away and turned towards
Gerard, “I guess we need to have a talk, son.”
“Is it true, are
you really a murderous raider?” Gerard asked him.
“I'm afraid it is,
I've done awful things that I'll never be able to forgive myself for, but I
never did them willingly. The first few months after my abduction, I was
subjected to daily torture by the hands of Moore's men. Rats were my only
source of food, and brown water was the only thing I drank for a long while.
One day, Moore finally came to me. He took off my chains and served me a
delicious chicken sandwich along with an ice cold beer to wash it down with. I
was a filthy mess, groveling at the feet of my captor. He told me that you were
dead, Gerard, and I believed him,” he clutched his son's shoulder with a caring
hand and continued on, “Moore said that he would kill your mother unless I did
exactly as he said. His raiders were becoming quite the hand-full, and he was
worried that he might soon have a mutiny on his hands. As he handed me the
mask, he told me that I needed to be the most ruthless man that his raiders had
ever seen in order to gain their respect. I accepted, but I don't wear the mask
to make people fear me; I wear it out of shame. Sadly, a few days ago, I
came to find out that your mother has really been dead all along. During the
raid tonight, I was going to slip away and find something to cripple The
Hyperion's engine with, hopefully ending Moore's reign.”
Gerard tried to say
something, but he felt the words seize up in his throat. Tears came rolling
down his face as he hugged his father for the first time in five years.
“Where are we
going?” Gerard asked his father as he wiped his wet eyes with his shirt.
“There's a
residential neighborhood up this hill. I need some parts for my device to work
properly,” Richard told him as they arduously hiked up the incline, watchful
for any feeders nearby.
The house they
entered had a musty smell and looked as though it had been looted 100 times
over. Richard headed to the kitchen and looked for a side door. As he followed
behind him, Gerard saw a picture frame hanging on the wall. There was a mother,
father and two little boys happily smiling, oblivious to their home's state of
decay. It made Gerard long for normalcy.
Inside the garage,
there was 89 Oldsmobile sitting along the wall. Richard felt for the handle and
gently pulled it open. A rotten hand reached out to greet them. This feeder was
partially decomposed and smelled like death. It wasn't trying to bite them
though, so they ignored the pathetic creature. Richard reached inside and
popped the hood open. Before he closed the door, he grabbed the garage door
opener that was clipped to the visor. They left the feeder forever sealed
inside its metal tomb. Once Richard had extricated the car's battery, he
pressed the button to open the garage. With a slow creak, it sprang to life and
began to reveal the outside world.
“What exactly are
you trying to build?” Gerard asked.
“A bomb, son.”
After leaving the dilapidated house, Richard pulled out his
binoculars to make sure they didn't have any undead company. He focused on
something out at sea. “I see a ship out there, and I don't think it's part of
Moore's fleet. We should check it out,” Richard explained. They backtracked to
their Jet Skis, and once they were ready, they made their way to the mysterious
vessel.
Luckily, a rope
ladder hung off the side of the large sailing boat, so they carefully climbed
aboard The Selene. Gerard realized that this ship was truly a blessing,
and he pulled out his walkie to try and reach someone. “Hello, is anyone there?
We found a ship. You guys can use it to slip past Moore after we destroy The
Hyperion's engine. I'll signal you guys with a flare tonight.”
“I can hear you,
Gerard,” Rose answered him.
“Did you hear my
plan?” Gerard asked.
“Yes, were just not
sure if we can trust you or not,” she admitted.
“You must. This is
the only way we can get everyone off this island. I only want what's best for
your people. The Selene is anchored out at sea near a neighborhood named
Legacy Estates. Please be on that ship tonight, Rose.”
Rose didn't answer
back. Gerard and his father climbed back down to their Jet Ski's and finally
headed for Moore's fleet.
It was nearing
dusk, and Gerard was getting quite cold. They were about 500 yards from the
fleet at this point, so Richard idled his Jet Ski to talk with Gerard. With The
Hyperion looming in the distance he began to speak, “To board the Hyperion, we
have to ascend a wooden platform suspended by ropes and pulleys. There are
guards at the top who will question us upon boarding. For this to work, you'll
need to ditch your Jet Ski, and we'll have to pretend you're my prisoner.” He
pulled out his Butcher mask and placed it over his head. “It's the only way,
Gerard.”
“Okay, I
understand,” he answered with unease. They set off after Gerard climbed aboard
his father's Jet Ski and handed Gerard ropes to restrain himself with.
The sturdy wooden
platform safely lifted them to the stern of the massive cruise ship. “Who ya
got there, Butcher?” one of the guards asked.
“Some piece of shit
that Moore wanted all to himself,” Richard said as they all laughed.
“Alright, Butcher.
Yer good to go. Tell Moore I want my overtime food credits when you see him
though,” the guard in charge told him.
“Will do,” he said
as they walked away.
“Hey!” the
man yelled. They both froze in place. The guard bent down and picked something
up, “You forgot your backpack over here.” Richard went to collect the pack with
his IED inside of it. The guard unsuspectingly handed it to him without
incident, so Gerard and his father continued on with their mission.
The engine room
looked devoid of any people, so they silently crept towards the massive amount
of machinery tucked away in the back of the room. As they rounded the corner, a
man stood before them with a toolbox in his hand. Gerard recognized this man.
His name was Spades, and they had played a few games of poker one night with
mutual friends. He seemed like he was a good guy with a cool head on his
shoulders, never getting mad when he lost a hand. Richard pulled out a pistol
and pushed Spades into the wall, pointing a gun at his throat.
“Wait!”
Gerard demanded. “You can't kill this man, I know him. He's a friend of mine.”
“He's seen us, son.
If we don't kill him, he'll alert the guards,” his father threatened.
“I didn't see
anything!” Spades told them.
“Just get off this
ship, Spades. And don't tell anyone that you saw us either,” Gerard said once
he carefully grabbed the pistol out of his father's hands.
“Thanks man, I
won't forget this,” Spades told Gerard as he hurried away.
Richard pulled out
the components of his IED from his pack and began assembling it. Gerard asked
if there was anything he could do to help, and his father looked up at him with
bewildered eyes as he placed the bomb where it would cause the most
destruction. “Honestly, I never thought I'd make it this far, Gerard. You see,
the signal from the garage door opener isn't that strong, so I'll have to be in
the room in order to detonate it.”
“This was a
suicide mission all along? Why would you want to kill yourself? We just
found each other again!” Gerard asked as he began to sob.
“I'm
sorry, Gerard, but I can't live with what I've become. Did you see the way I
was with your friend back there? I was ready to kill him without a second
thought. Moore made me into a monster. Once everyone is distracted by the
explosion, make your way to the captain's chambers and kill that rotten
bastard. Use this to get by the guards,” Richard told him as he handed him his
Butcher mask. They hugged and said goodbye for the final time. Gerard was half
way to Moore's room when he heard and felt the massive explosion rock The
Hyperion.
Special Guest Writer- Alex
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