ethanfeld t1_j9kn8u9 wrote on February 22, 2023 at 5:55 PM

Reply to comment by ethanfeld in [WP]After zombie apocalypse wiped the most of humans, governments struggle to keep everything under control. That is until a new military unit emerges and finally seems able to make a difference. You are assigned to it and realize it consists mainly of monsters that need humans as their food source. by creative_toe

PART 2:

It's called a P90, and it's a weirdly shaped gun, all things considered. It's bizarre straight from the factory-- short-muzzled and curled at the grip with a long bar to load the ammunition.

This one isn't straight from the factory, either.

I've modified it quite a bit. I'm a decent shot. More than decent. But the reason I'm here is ingenuity and engineering.

When the world turned upside down, Zombies took over, and words like "Necromancer" and "Vampire Lord" became common place, I discovered a few talents I'd never known I had, and had no reason to have to know.

The slide bar that holds the ammunition is clear on the left side so I can reload. The right side however is no longer accessible, due to the glass bar of anointed holy oil that slides against the side of the bullets with each new load.

The grip is still the circular shape, but I've stuck a rotary-style whirring mechanism within. The mechanism spins as I run and move, like one of those self-charging watches. The power then feeds into a focusing crystal underneath the stock. With a gesture of will I can power the crystal to release a hyper-focused beam of fire. It's thin as a needle, and if it pierces a brain it might as well be the size of a softball. It's lethal.

Oh, and I've got three scopes, both iron sights. Black iron, specifically. First is a Star of David, and inside a cross to serve as the sight itself. Then I've got a half-moon on the side of the sight, and the star to the right lines up with the center of the cross.

Hey, might as well hedge my bets. I've got other modifications, but those are the main ones.

Every square inch of my body that can take it is covered in ammo. Otherwise, I've got a shortsword from the finest of Greek relic-hunters if things get hairy.

Speaking of hairy, Wolfe signals we're ready to go.

"He knows we're here," the wolf-man says, referring to the Necromancer. "He's probably holed up in there nice and good. We're going to break down the door, find him, then take him out."

Ssu rolls her eyes. "No subtlety, then."

"No," Wolfe says, either not catching her tone or deliberately ignoring it. "The library itself is a vertical stretch. A giant rectangle. If I'm the Necro, I'm at the far end, and the best undead I can raise are standing between me and anything else."

I nod-- I agree.

"Markus, you're first in the breach," Wolfe says.

"Of course, who cares about pain when you can't die?" Markus drolls.

"Agreed, completely," Wolfe says.

Deliberately ignoring, I decide.

"Then I'll come in with Ssu. Markus and I will take care of the undead. Ssu goes for the necro."

The three of them nod, and Wolfe throws open the rear doors of the SUV.

"What about me?" I call after.

Wolfe takes a distracted look back. "Oh," he says, "You can--"

Then something moves through Wolfe's brain.

It takes me a moment to register.

It's a fingerbone.

A three-meter long, skinless, greenish-pale fingerbone.

It slides out of Wolfe's brain with a sickly, sticky sound.

Our leader sinks to the ground, dead.

I gaze down at him, then up at the courtyard outside the library in horror. I find the owner of the finger.

The necromancer is not waiting for us inside.

ethanfeld t1_j9kovum wrote on February 22, 2023 at 6:05 PM

PART 3:

"Spread out!" Ssu screams in her di-tonal voice as a mass of undead bodies stagger towards us.

The necromancer throws his hands up towards us, and I get a good look at him.

He looks to be in his sixties, for the most part. Except his eyes, which are sunken too far back into his head, and surrounded by black and blue flesh it looks almost bruised. His skin is surprisingly pale, and a close crop of silver hair holds fast to his head. It's a CEO haircut.

I don't know why that strikes me as so strange and off-putting, but it does.

Wolfe is dead.

No more time.

The fingerbones extend again, ripping straight from the Necromancer's hands and plunging down the boston street towards me.

Markus blurs and is in front of me in an instant.

The fingers plunge into his abdoment and chest, and I hear ribs crack. Two of the fingers pierce over his heart.

Thankfully, the organ there is already black, and still.

When I finally kick into gear, the Necromancer is already striking out.

I dodge to the side at a roll and release a burst of bullets from the P90.

Two 3-bursts. Two shots go wide. The other four slam against the Necromancer.

Yes!

Except...

Sparks shower from his chest as my bullets tear through black fabric and slam into his ribcage. His exposed ribcage. No skin.

They spark off, and we're already on the move.

"I'll take care of the bodies," Markus says, drawing a rapier and dagger. Then he's a blur again, lunging and almost flickering between targets. The thin blade jabs out in bright bolts of steel. That's all my eyes can track, at least.

Ssu is going straight for our target.

She reaches him in an instant and swipes out with one hand. The skin on her arm, dark brown and very much human, morphs mid-swing into golden fur, and metallic brass nails. A lion.

Ssu-- Lamassu, misses by inches. The Necromancer flickers back in a cloud of black smoke. Wings sprout from Ssu's back for a brief moment as she clears the distance between them and gives chase.

What do I do? What do I do?

creative_toe OP t1_j9l63qv wrote on February 22, 2023 at 7:50 PM

That's so cool. Thank you for writing this. I'm really glad you seemed to have a burst of creativity and wrote 3 parts.

Also, I like your choice of "monsters" very much and the description of Wolfe's death. I was startled and I feels that's the same reaction the main character had in that moment.