Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm-Chapter 282 Hungry Sharks In A Sea Of Prey
I used to think that Colin was in the wrong, offering up humans to zombies in order to gain more power, but now that I take a critical look at my actions, could I really say that I was doing anything different?
Yes, I was.
I was not doing this because I made a deal with the zombies to save my own life at the expense of others. Rather, I was powerful enough that I was the Alpha of an entire zombie city, something that no other human (that I knew of) was able to say. I didn't need them to become more powerful. Instead, they needed me.
And that was all the difference in the world.
I smiled as I looked at the preacher in front of me. "These are zombies," I repeated. "Notice the blue and purple hue to them. Not a speck of green to be seen. So, did I lie, or did you?" I continued, stressing the biggest difference between what he said the zombies looked like and what I did.
As far as I was concerned, you (a) couldn't set up a safe zone in the middle of a highway and not expect some resistance, and (b) you couldn't claim to have seen a zombie if you haven't actually seen one. It was a cheat or something. It essentially meant that you had crawled out of the woods somewhere, realized that the world had gone to pot, and decided that now would be a good time to make a place for yourself.
And that was what Father Ezekiel had done. He had probably started his own cult somewhere where the outside world didn't affect him and, upon realizing that his predictions of doom and gloom had actually come true, brought his congregation out to see it for themselves.
Their problem was me.
If they had only let me keep going on my way, this would not have been an issue. As it was now, it was a huge big deal. Not to mention constantly calling me Jezebel. I mean, did they really think that they could just run roughshod over any other human and have it work out? Maybe in the world before the apocalypse, but not now when the strong made the rules and the weak submitted or died.
"You know you are Jezebel, a devil, a fallen woman. There is no hope for you but to repent, and maybe I will take pity on you and bring you into the fold," said Father Ezekiel, trying to gain the upper hand in this situation. The problem was that the only way to gain it was to get me to fall in line. And I wasn't much in the mood to do that right now.
"I would rather be a devil without horns than submit to you," I replied with a smile as I held up my hand.
"Wait!" screamed a voice in the back of the congregation. "Wait!" the voice came again.
I cocked my head to the side as a woman stumbled through the crowd, carrying a bundle in her arms. "Please," she said as she held up a swaddled baby to me. "Please look after her once I die," cried the woman.
I studied her, trying to understand what was happening. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to protect that baby. I needed to protect that innocent soul. But I didn't know if the mother was offering up the baby, hoping that I would spare her in the process, or if she genuinely only cared about the baby.
Then again, she was part of a religious cult, so I didn't think that her scheming went all that deep. She probably truly cared for her child and thought that I would be the best chance of her survival. At this moment, I wished that I could know for sure which one it was. However, because I could only see her soul, not know what was in it, I had to either take a chance and live to regret it or kill them both now.
"Fine," I said with a breath. "You can leave out of the door behind me and make your way into City B. Find the Alpha and let him know I sent you."
"Thank you," she breathed, not once asking if it would be safe to go through the line of zombies that stood between her and the outside. She just followed my order. Clenching the baby tight to her chest, she took in a deep breath. She eyed one male zombie as she took a step toward him. "Excuse me," she whispered as she brushed past him and out through the door behind me. 𝙗𝙚𝒅𝒏𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝙜
I tilted my head towards the zombie. "Follow her," I said, hoping that he would understand. "Make sure she gets to the Alpha." The zombie roared before turning around and left in the same direction as the woman and baby.
The rest of the congregation just looked at each other, and I could practically read their minds. They were looking for a baby of their own to be able to use it to get a 'get out of jail free' card. Unfortunately for them, I was fresh out of those.
I let out a roar, and the remaining zombies descended upon the humans like hungry sharks upon their prey. I watched as the zombies ripped the humans apart in their frenzy to feed. The problem with a newly founded zombie city like City B was that there were not that many humans left to feed on.
I would leave it up to Beta to try and figure out a solution to that problem. Maybe that was where the human farming eventually came into play, where the zombies herded and took care of a large number of humans in a similar way to how humans looked after cattle.
I guess everything really went full circle.
"Jezebel!" screamed a bloody face as it raced towards me, unmindful or uncaring about my men around me. "You are the devil!"
"No," I said with a shake of my head. "That title falls firmly on you," I continued with a smile. "Just think about it. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't be here. If they weren't here, they wouldn't have met with me. If they hadn't met me, they wouldn't be eaten right now. Therefore, at the end of the day, this is all on you for your decisions. Not mine."