Necrocide

Chapter 3

Static blared out of Commander Shaw's walkie-talkie as soon as Ratliff finished offering his last words. After that, he completely snapped and swore at the top of his lungs.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" he exclaimed, punching the wall of a nearby building.

"Bloody hell," Jonah said in shock. "An entire squad killed by one Deadman."

"O'CONNOR!" Shaw roared again.

Aaron slowly approached Shaw. He was already intimidated by the man even on his better days, but things went to hell as soon as he gets pissed. And like a natural disaster, everyone he'd encounter would endure his wrath.

"You called, sir?" he asked.

Shaw quickly slammed his walkie-talkie across Aaron's face, knocking him to the ground. Blood leaked out of his mouth and his nose. Kat and Jonah normally would've helped, but even they knew they couldn't get involved in Shaw's rage.

"Ten of my best soldiers are dead, O'Connor! Because of you!"

Aaron spat out some blood and stared up at Shaw with anger. "My idea was a suggestion, not an order! Being a dictator is your job!"

Shaw whacked Aaron upside the skull again with his walkie-talkie before kneeling down on his chest to shut him up. "Listen up, O'Connor," he growled. "I take my job very fucking serious. Every death in my squad means more meals for the Deadmen, more delay in human reestablishment, and more poor souls to abduct and force out into this ravaged world. Every wrongdoing has a punishment, and in this world it seems to affect everyone."

"I can see that. My entire life has been nothing but a punishment, so I can relate."

"Shut it, O'Connor!" Kat shouted.

"Stay out of this, Mathis!" Shaw shouted. He returned his stare back to Aaron. "If you thought your life was a shitstorm before, then wait 'till this mission is finally over. The total body count will equal the amount of times I beat you to the ground."

Aaron swallowed back his fear. "G-Got it, sir."

Shaw turned his view back to the road in front of him and continued walking. "Fucking disgrace," he muttered under his breath.

Jonah ran over to Aaron and helped him up. "How's your noggin holding up?"

"He might as well have beaten me with a goddamn hammer," Aaron replied with his hand on his head. "That hurt like hell."

"Don't worry, bruv. Pretty sure you'll be able to redeem yourself sooner or later." Jonah leaned in closer to Aaron. "But we seriously need to make sure no one else dies. Otherwise, and I hate to say this, you're toast."

"Thank you, Jonah," Aaron replied with an eye roll.

The DZI continued trekking down the street. Aaron kept peeking toward Shaw, only to find him staring back with pure rage. He looked like he could jump out and strangle him to death any minute. To avoid that, Aaron kept studying the abandoned homes around him, still intrigued by how stable they looked. Most of the cities and towns he's been to were full of destroyed houses and craters.

The entire street was surrounded by two long rows of grey houses, almost as if the houses were all just one long building. The most damage done to the street were cracked windows and a few scattered sheets of paper, most of which were just newspaper articles from the time of the outbreak. The only Deadmen they could fine strolled along the street like average citizens.

They turned at a corner and continued down a new street, this time passing by an abandoned school and a clinic. Greenery had overtaken the buildings, the windows curtained with moss and leaves. Once again, no damage was visible on either of the buildings' exteriors.