Hadji the Great was speaking to his followers. "My brother's and sisters, will we allow the carelessness and negligence to continue destroying our environment?"
The crowd answered, "No!"
"Will we allow the love of money to continue ripping this world apart?"
"No!"
This had been going on periodically on the cross-country reign of terror that Hand of Karma had waged against the evils of humanity. Roger Titian and his wife, Paula were shouting out their agreement with Hadji's tirades, but Paula was just a little less passionate. The two of them had started following Hand of Karma immediately after their house had gone up in flames. They didn't know who Hadji was, but they had nowhere else to go. They had not yet participated in one of Hadji's raids. Roger noticed Paula's expression of unhappiness.
"Sweetie pie, is there something wrong?" he asked.
"We've been following this guy since this morning, but he hasn't mentioned helping anybody or saving people's lives. We've left our home town and I don't even know where we're going. I thought the zombies were the problem these days, but we've got zombies all over the place within our group."
"Yeah, I've noticed that too. Maybe the zombies carry out his wishes," suggested Roger.
"Zombies do one thing and that is kill and eat people. If those are his wishes, I don't want to follow him."
"But he does have a lot of good points."
Paula shuddered. "Yes, that's what makes it so easy for these people to follow him. He does have many good things to say, but the solution isn't to kill the people we don't agree with."
"We're not killing anybody, the zombies are."
"But we're on the side of the zombies."
Roger was bipolar and struggled with grandiosity. "Don't think of it that way. Think about the fact that we're on the side of righteousness. When you're right, nothing else matters."
Paula knew the signs when Roger was in a manic episode. At those times, he had no access to the pre-frontal lobe of his brain which controls cognitive reasoning. This meant that he was not able to process the consequences of his actions or words. He had lost view of the big picture, so to say. She knew that there was no reasoning with him. His medication and perished when their house burned down earlier that day.
The group was advancing toward Yuma, Arizona where there was a reported safe haven. Paula had no idea what to expect whenever they would arrive at Code Gray.
Up ahead, it looked like there was a military base of some sort. Hadji was giving orders. As per orders, various groups were storming the gates of the base and others were looking for other ways in. As soon as the gates had been broken down, Hadji sent in the zombies.
Paula stood back and watched in horror as she heard screams of agony emanating from within the walls. She wanted to be able to stop the madness and help those who were in danger from being killed. As she grew more and more hopeless, some of the zombies were beginning to pay attention to her.
One of them grabbed her by the hair and sank his teeth deep into her jugular. Roger had been holding a gate open for the zombies to enter the military base, but he started to come to help his wife when he saw what was happening. He went over to the zombie, grabbed him and growled primally in his face. Seeing that his prize kill had a stronger competitor contending for it, the zombie let go of Paula and stumbled toward the gates in search of fresh meat he wouldn't have to fight for.
Roger collapsed to the ground, holding his wife in his lap. "Sweetie pie, you can't leave me now. We're supposed to grow old together. Til death do us part."
Paula's eyelids fluttered weakly as she tried to look her husband in the eyes one last time. They locked eyes and then she let out one last breath. After that she became still as death. Roger just held her there, rocking back and forth in the sand and gently weeping.
Moments later, focus came back into Paula's eyes. She sat up and looked around. Roger stood up as well. By then his tears had been dried by the Arizona sun. Together they approached Code Gray. Now, as a couple they would follow Hadji everywhere he went. Hand of Karma had two new devoted fighters in the battle against the evils of humanity.
The crowd answered, "No!"
"Will we allow the love of money to continue ripping this world apart?"
"No!"
This had been going on periodically on the cross-country reign of terror that Hand of Karma had waged against the evils of humanity. Roger Titian and his wife, Paula were shouting out their agreement with Hadji's tirades, but Paula was just a little less passionate. The two of them had started following Hand of Karma immediately after their house had gone up in flames. They didn't know who Hadji was, but they had nowhere else to go. They had not yet participated in one of Hadji's raids. Roger noticed Paula's expression of unhappiness.
"Sweetie pie, is there something wrong?" he asked.
"We've been following this guy since this morning, but he hasn't mentioned helping anybody or saving people's lives. We've left our home town and I don't even know where we're going. I thought the zombies were the problem these days, but we've got zombies all over the place within our group."
"Yeah, I've noticed that too. Maybe the zombies carry out his wishes," suggested Roger.
"Zombies do one thing and that is kill and eat people. If those are his wishes, I don't want to follow him."
"But he does have a lot of good points."
Paula shuddered. "Yes, that's what makes it so easy for these people to follow him. He does have many good things to say, but the solution isn't to kill the people we don't agree with."
"We're not killing anybody, the zombies are."
"But we're on the side of the zombies."
Roger was bipolar and struggled with grandiosity. "Don't think of it that way. Think about the fact that we're on the side of righteousness. When you're right, nothing else matters."
Paula knew the signs when Roger was in a manic episode. At those times, he had no access to the pre-frontal lobe of his brain which controls cognitive reasoning. This meant that he was not able to process the consequences of his actions or words. He had lost view of the big picture, so to say. She knew that there was no reasoning with him. His medication and perished when their house burned down earlier that day.
The group was advancing toward Yuma, Arizona where there was a reported safe haven. Paula had no idea what to expect whenever they would arrive at Code Gray.
Up ahead, it looked like there was a military base of some sort. Hadji was giving orders. As per orders, various groups were storming the gates of the base and others were looking for other ways in. As soon as the gates had been broken down, Hadji sent in the zombies.
Paula stood back and watched in horror as she heard screams of agony emanating from within the walls. She wanted to be able to stop the madness and help those who were in danger from being killed. As she grew more and more hopeless, some of the zombies were beginning to pay attention to her.
One of them grabbed her by the hair and sank his teeth deep into her jugular. Roger had been holding a gate open for the zombies to enter the military base, but he started to come to help his wife when he saw what was happening. He went over to the zombie, grabbed him and growled primally in his face. Seeing that his prize kill had a stronger competitor contending for it, the zombie let go of Paula and stumbled toward the gates in search of fresh meat he wouldn't have to fight for.
Roger collapsed to the ground, holding his wife in his lap. "Sweetie pie, you can't leave me now. We're supposed to grow old together. Til death do us part."
Paula's eyelids fluttered weakly as she tried to look her husband in the eyes one last time. They locked eyes and then she let out one last breath. After that she became still as death. Roger just held her there, rocking back and forth in the sand and gently weeping.
Moments later, focus came back into Paula's eyes. She sat up and looked around. Roger stood up as well. By then his tears had been dried by the Arizona sun. Together they approached Code Gray. Now, as a couple they would follow Hadji everywhere he went. Hand of Karma had two new devoted fighters in the battle against the evils of humanity.
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