“More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”
- Our Lady of Fatima
Chapter 4 – The Sins of the Parents
A ruckus outside wakes up Hagan and Chloe. They quickly head out to see four children with crates. Neither Hagan nor Chloe can sense any kind of infection in them, so they go after the kids and find them in a small storage shed. The kids look at them and put their hands up.
Chloe says, “It’s okay. We aren’t cannibals.”
The kids lower their hands then smile.
One of them says, “That’s a relief! I thought everyone in town was a zombie.”
“What do you have in the crates there?” Hagan asks.
“It’s something important that we need to hide from the CDC.”
Hagan opens the crates to find pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle rounds with the cure in them.
“Why is that?”
“Because if they shoot our family with them then they’ll die. You know if someone who was infected for a long time is injected with the cure then they’ll instantly die.”
“Where did you even get this?”
“From a crashed car that was carrying these.”
“Who was driving the car? Was it the CDC?”
“No, they were just normal people. The zombies ambushed the car but didn’t find the cure in it.”
“The ‘zombies’ don’t bother you?”
“No, they don’t bother people our age. They just act nice. I think whatever is making them sick is lethal to us.”
“Oh, that’s right. I remember that.”
Hagan starts taking the pistol clips that have the cure in them and loads his gun with one of them.
“What are you doing mister? We need to get rid of that so our parents will be safe!”
“How do you know your parents are in danger?”
“The zombies told us that the CDC is coming for a couple. You’re them, aren’t you? I can tell because of your light blue eyes.”
“We are.”
“Please, don’t go to them to be cured. We want to keep our parents alive.”
“I’m sorry, but they’re already dead. We’ll put them out of their misery for you.”
“How can you do that?! The zombies are like normal people.”
“But they eat people. That’s why we call them cannibals.”
“They also eat normal food. They even make people longer.”
“So what? All the cannibals do is lie in wait to trap the next human person to satisfy their cravings. It’s a short-sighted lifestyle that isn’t worth losing all sense of reason and morality for. It doesn’t look like any of this cure has been used. Come here so I can inject some in you, so you don’t become like them.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?”
Chloe says, “Hagan, you’re using a gun on them. They’re probably afraid of being shot.”
“These bullets with the cure in them shouldn’t hurt from what I know. They don’t even feel like normal bullets.”
“I’m still afraid of being shot.”
“It’ll be like getting your flu shot.”
“What’s a flu shot?”
“There we go.”
Hagan turns around and shoots the kids. Three out of four of them shrivel and die after being cured.
“How did you know they were infected?”
“Normal people usually confirm with others that they’re normal by asking them a question about something way in the past. They also don’t know what a flu shot is even though a kid their age should know what one is. It’s weird that we couldn’t sense their infection though.”
“That was smart.”
“Now what I don’t get is you. Stop playing dead.”
Hagan kicks the one kid who is still alive.
“Please don’t kill me!” the kid says while on his knees and his hands covering his face.
“It’s obvious that you were born of two cannibal parents. How come you’re different?”
“I don’t know!”
“Did you do anything that they didn’t do?”
“I never ate people. I only ate regular food.”
“I’ve never heard of a kid of cannibals never eating other people. I guess every not every kid born of those cannibals don’t all become monsters. Life must’ve been hard for you, kid.”
“It was because I couldn’t go a day without craving someone to eat, but for some reason, that craving is gone now.”
“It’s probably because we cured you.”
“It was?! Thank you so much!”
“You should probably hide somewhere close until the CDC gets here. If they see you with us, then they might think you’re our child and we’ve already lost our humanity.”
“Okay, I will! Thank you again!”
The kid heads off to a hiding place. Hagan hands Chloe some of the pistol magazines with the cure in it. He also finds a flare gun in one of the crates with a single shot in it.
“These cure bullets kill cannibals in one shot no matter where they get shot. We’re going to need it,” he says.
After the two head out of the storage shed, they head to the lighthouse to see if the CDC is approaching yet. Along the way, they come across cannibals who don’t engage them or bother with them. Most seem to fear the couple while others mumble behind their backs. The two ignore them for the most part.
Before getting to the lighthouse, Hagan says to Chloe, “Hold on. There’s something in the jewelry store I’ve always wanted to get.”
“Is it really important?”
“It is. Come on, it’s not like the CDC is here already. We would’ve heard fighting and gunshots by now.”
“Okay.”
Chloe and Hagan go into the jewelry store. She looks around the store while Hagan goes directly what he wants for in the drawers and pulls out what he wants and puts it in his pocket.
Chloe turns to him and says, “What are you getting?”
“This.”
Hagan pulls out a diamond knife.
“Oh, I remember that.”
“You remember it too? The owner used to take it out a lot to show it off and intimidate possible robbers. He used to show me how easily it cut almost anything.”
“Where is he now? I don’t think I saw him get killed or infected.”
“I think he left a week or so it began and is vacationing on an island somewhere. Lucky guy that he is.”
“Did we really come in here for just that?”
“Yup.”
Chloe sighs then walks out of the store.
“What? It’s a cool knife! Useful too.”
Once he gets what he wants, Hagan and Chloe leave and go to the lighthouse. They head up to the very top and wait while looking out for any sign of the CDC.
“Do you remember the first time we were up here?” Chloe asks.
“Yeah. We always used to imagine the things that were out at sea. I remember thinking there were magical lands out there to explore with dragons and treasures.”
“Besides that.”
“I remember thinking about all of the sea monsters that were in the water depths. Remember the time I thought I saw Cthulhu? I read all about the different real and made up sea monsters. They made me want to stay on dry land.”
“What? No, besides that.”
“Lighthouse ghost stories?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“You promised me you’d be with me forever here.”
“I know I did.”
“Then why didn’t you mention it?”
“Because I’m fulfilling that promise right now.”
“Oh. I thought after you were dated Brandy that you meant that you’d be with me forever as a friend.”
“I actually meant as a girlfriend when I said it, but then things got complicated.”
“Complicated how?”
“You know, Brandy kind of took my attention away from you and ummm. It’s a long story.”
“You’re going to have to tell me when this is all done.”
“Oh boy.”
“Oh boy is right. You’ve got some explaining to do mister.”
“Hey, do you see that in the distance?”
“If you’re joking, then you’re going to have explain yourself in front of all the cannibals.”
“No, look!”
Using their binoculars they found in the lighthouse, Hagan and Chloe see three APCs heading into town with the CDC logo on them. Chloe and Hagan smile at the sight of the cure to their infection. Hagan shoots off his flare gun, so the CDC know where they are. Several cannibals head to the lighthouse to force the couple to do what their family and friends tried, but the two manage to hold out until the CDC arrives. Three teams of people in SWAT gear and gas masks get out of APCs and secure the area.
One of them approaches the couple and asks, “We’ve come to pick you up and take you to our camp outside of town. Please, come with us.”
Once they get in APC and drive off, Hagan says to the man, “Will we come back to the town?”
“We plan to clean it up then see what we can do from there. Were you two born here?”
“Yes, we were.”
“I understand that you want to revive this place to bring it back to the way it was. It looks like this’ll be a good place especially since it has its back to the ocean. We’ll consider it after the clean-up.”
“Thank you. There’s also this kid in the town that we need you to find. He’s already cured and found a few crates of bullets with the cure in it.”
“Three crates specifically?”
“Yes.”
“Then he might’ve found three stolen crates that we were looking for. He must be a special kid to find them by himself.”
“He sure is.”
Hagan and Chloe are taken to a small campsite where the CDC have tents and small defenses set up on a small hill. They are given a different version of the cure not found in the bullets to cure them of their condition. Once cured, their skin gets back its color, their eyes turn back to their normal colors, and Chloe’s lips turn back to normal. They kiss each other once they are allowed to be with each other again.
Hagan then says, “So…the diamond knife wasn’t the only thing I got in the shop.”
“It wasn’t? What else did you get?”
“Uh…this.”
Hagan gets down on one knee and shows Chloe a diamond wedding ring in a small golden box. She gasps and covers her mouth in shock.
“Wi-”
“Yes!”
“I didn’t even finish-”
Chloe kisses Hagan and pushes him to the ground.
Hagan then says, “I told you I’d marry you.”
“You did. I love you, Hagan.”
“I love you, Chloe.”
The people at the CDC can’t help but get emotional and clap for the couple. After that, Hagan explains to the CDC why they should immediately go back to rescue the cured kid, and they do that. The blood from the child of the cannibal’s results in a better form of the cure that requires a lesser dosage and ends up creating an airborne form of it. When the airborne cure is tested on the town, it results in the immediate death of the cannibals and the curing of those who weren’t too far gone. Not long after that, Hagan and Chloe are properly married and get the town back to the way it used to be with the added purpose of being a settlement for those looking for shelter in the new world. The airborne cure is spread throughout the country and more and more people are cured while the cannibals start to finally die off. The future finally looks bright after months of loss because of two people who were able to control their desires.
The End
Why not finish this story with a metal romance song. This is Still Small Voice by War of Ages. I think I used this song or a different one in the same album for Decaying Kingdom, Everlasting Love, so this is just a reminder to check out this amazing band.
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