Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 286: A Dud

"No, she had to have done it," muttered the wife as she cradled her dead child in her arms and rocked back and forth. "She had to. She killed William; she killed him. I know she did."

Both Dustin and Eric were staring at me, and I let out a sigh. "I told you," I said, looking at Dustin without a hint of remorse. "The price for my lollypop was his head. It’s not my fault that you didn’t listen to me. I was very clear."

There was a long pause as even the other survivors in the line around us were silent, watching how this would play out.

"She has a point," said Eric at last as he pulled me even closer to his side. "She did tell you."

"Dante wouldn’t have let you get away with that shit," sneered Dustin. "She killed my son, and so she needs to die."

"Dante?" I asked, repeating a familiar name. But that couldn’t be right. There had to be at least a hundred Dante’s in this region alone. They were probably talking about another Dante.

Tank placed one of his paws against my leg, and when I was looking at him, he nodded his head. "Dante," I repeated. "Like my Dante, Dante?"

Once again, Tank nodded his head, and I couldn’t help but groan. "I’m going to kill him next time I see him, you know that, right?" I continued to argue with my dog, my eyes narrowing as Tank nodded in agreement.

"You know Dante Leone?" demanded Dustin. "That’s impossible. He’s been dead for years now. Even the Lair isn’t there anymore. I know we went there first."

This time, when the line moved, Dustin and his wife didn’t move with it.

Walking around the newfound family of two, I continued with the line, Tank and Eric on either side of me.

"You know Dante?" asked Eric, repeating Dustin’s question, his eyes searching my face as if to try and find the truth. "He’s still alive?"

"He won’t be when I find him again," I assured him. Letting out a long breath, I cracked my neck from side to side. "I’ll grant you one wish, for free," I bit out, the words tasting horrible in my mouth. "But only one."

Eric couldn’t help but chuckle like he had heard the biggest joke. "I wanted to help," he assured me. "Dustin has been Dante’s cleaner forever, and he is known for not backing down. There aren’t enough of us left in the world; I couldn’t let him take you out, too."

"He couldn’t, even if he wanted to," I assured him, waving my hand. The line was starting to pick up again, and we were getting further and further away from where Dustin and his wife were standing.

"Still, I don’t want to leave you alone to face him inside the Sanctuary. He will seek revenge," warned Eric, and I just looked down at Tank to get his opinion. When Tank nodded, I let out another sigh.

"Should I kill him now, then?" I asked. "Or wait until we get inside."

Eric shook his head, even though I wasn’t speaking to him. "You won’t be able to touch him. The only one who could beat him in a fight was Tank, and I am guessing he is long gone, too."

"Could you stop wishing death on people who aren’t dead yet?" I demanded. "Tank is fine; Dante is fine." We were almost at the front gates, and I could see the guards standing in front of them, ticking off something onto their clipboard.

Great, just what I needed.

"What is your wish?" I grumbled, hating the idea that I might owe this man something. "Hurry up and tell me."

"I wish to stay by your side and protect you," replied Eric, a bright smile on his face. "If you knew Dante and Tank, then it is my job to keep you safe."

The words ’deal accepted’ were forced out of my mouth just as we reached the front of the line.

Fuck my life. How was I going to explain this to the guys once they showed up?

-----

Eric’s arm was still firmly wrapped around my waist as we stepped up to the guard on the left.

"Name, power, rank, and trade," announced the guard, not bothering to look at either one of us.

"Eric Knight, Spirit and Fighting powers, Tier One ranking, soldier, commander, and all-around nice guy," replied Eric. I had no idea what he was talking about; it was like he and the guard were speaking a completely different language.

"And her?" demanded the guard, finally looking up at us. "A dud."

I raised an eyebrow at the disgusted look on his face. "You can come in; she cannot."

"She is my wife," replied Eric, his voice dropping as he stared at the guard. I could feel his power reaching out to touch his mind, but I jerked him back. We were surrounded by guards, and I wasn’t about to let him do something stupid.

Someone, I think he was the captain the refugees were talking about, stepped forward and came to stand beside our guard. "Is there a problem?" he demanded, looking down at me. "We don’t allow animals inside the sanctuary."

"It’s not the dog," replied the guard, narrowing his eyes at Eric. "She’s a dud."

"And you are an idiot, but you don’t see me telling the world," I sighed. "My power just works in tandem with Tank," I continued, making shit up as I went along. Conjuring a ball of fire in the palm of my hand, I threw it at Tank.

Suddenly, the ’harmless’ dog beside me turned into a vicious hound for Hell as the fire spread all over his body, and he grew. Snarling low, drool fell from both sides of his mouth as he stepped forward toward the guard. The ground beneath his paws burned to ash under him as his muscles ripped with every move he made.

"He’s really good at hunting zombies," I continued as everyone around Eric and I stepped back in fear. "In fact, he can hunt down pretty much everything, and he only obeys my commands."