Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 267: One of Those

I could feel both Mad Dog’s and Gideon’s eyes on me as they realized that I had two healers in my little family.

And that was what the guys were, I realized for the first time ever... my family.

I... Hagatha Lucinda LaRue... had a family.

"No," I replied, still reeling over the fact that I had made my own family. "I don’t share. You don’t get them."

"Well, Princess," murmured Mad Dog, his voice a soft purr as if he thought that that would be enough to sway me to his side. "If those are your terms, then there are only two paths for you going forward," he continued like he was a king on his throne. "The first is that you join the Scavengers so that you could be with the two Healers, or I can kill you now and just take them. That way, you no longer have to worry about sharing."

I blinked at him, trying to process his words. I got it; I didn’t look like that much of a threat, but how far up your ass did your head have to be to think that any of that would work?

I opened my mouth before quickly shutting it again and cocked my head to the side as I studied the man in front of me. "Um..." I started, my eyes furrowing. "Neither one of those options works."

"What can I say? I like to be forward so that everyone has a reasonable expectation of what will happen going forward," shrugged Mad Dog like he seriously thought that he was going to get his way.

"And I like to be contrary," I smiled back at him, shaking off the confusion. I was giving him more credit than I should have, but I think he was the first one to come out and speak to me like that since the apocalypse happened.

Salvatore and Désiré came to stand on both sides of me, their arms crossed against their chest as they stared down Mad Dog. They were showing where their loyalties lay, not like there was any question, and they weren’t budging.

While I had assumed that we had figured out both the problem and the solution, Mad Dog decided to add something extra to the equation. Stepping forward, he leaned toward me until his face was directly in mine.

Holy fuck did someone need a breath mint and fast.

Pulling a piece of gum from out of my space, I waited for him to open his mouth so I could stuff it in. There was no need to ramp up the level of torture I was currently experiencing. The lime green suit was assaulting my eyes so badly I was praying to be blind again, and now the stench coming off him was enough to make me lose my lunch.

"Oh," he whispered so softly that I had to strain to hear his words. "You’re one of those..." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"One of what?" I asked, once again completely confused about what was going on. In fact, I was so confused that I completely forgot about my plan to deliver fresh breath to him.

"One of the ones who don’t know when to shut the fuck up," Mad Dog sighed. Straightening up, he looked down at me like I was shit he had stepped on that just wouldn’t get off.

I stiffened at his words, all laughter and innocence gone from my face as the very air around me stilled.

"It’s a damn shame," continued the idiot as he walked away from me, letting everyone in on our conversation. "You have a gorgeous bone structure. Those cheeks and eyes would sell for millions on the black market as a little fuck toy. It is such a shame to see it get ruined. At least whatever my men have in store will only be an improvement. Maybe they can pluck those staples out of your face... One. By. One.

That did it.

Before any of my men could react, and trust me, they were reacting. I held up a single hand... and time itself stopped.

The world around me froze, and not a single creature was moving. Even the flies that have been buzzing around unnoticed until now completely stopped.

Shit. That would be a handy trick if only I knew how I managed to do it.

"I had nothing against you," I sighed, walking forward, pushing flies to the side so they didn’t hit me in the face as I approached Mad Dog.

While his body might have been frozen, I could see by his eyes that he was well aware of what was going on around him; he was just unable to react.

Ooh, this new upgrade was getting better and better.

Stopping until I was right in front of him, I stuffed the piece of gum into his mouth before shutting it. "I had nothing against you," I started again, looking around the mall and all the players in it.

"I was more than willing to let you all play like the little ants that you are. Scurrying around, trying to take over cities that are nothing more than a pile of rubble. You think you are so special, and yet, you are nothing in my eyes."

Reaching into my space, I pulled out an oversized black chair, sat down, and got comfortable. I didn’t know how long the freeze would last, but I was going to take advantage of it. I was tired, hungry, and more than ready to find a door and go home.

"I was going to let you and the Blackguard have some type of showdown. Maybe, hopefully, ending in lots of death and mayhem. But then you had to go and make it personal. You really shouldn’t have done that."

It wasn’t like I cared about him talking about ripping out my staples or selling me to the highest bidder... none of that mattered to me. But he was trying to take two of my men... two of my sins from me...

And that was something that I was not about to forgive.

"I was thinking about ripping you apart, piece by piece, of peeling your skin off, breaking every bone in your body until your vocal cords broke under the strain of your screaming... but truthfully, that seems like a shit ton of work. Maybe I have more Ronan in me than I originally thought... but I don’t want to waste my time and energy on you."

Ever so slowly, Mad Dog’s mouth moved like he was trying to speak, but he couldn’t. "Speak, puppy. Speak and be heard."