Zombie Apocalypse Blues

"You're a dead woman, filthy Mutant," Slater said, and the tall, silver-haired, pale-skinned man aimed his shotgun at me. At this distance, even an old codger like Slater couldn't miss. Genetic wonder though I might be, I was far from invincible and we both knew it. A bullet to the head does to a Mutant exactly the same thing it does to a normal human. I couldn't run. Even with my speed, I was dust. What's a gal to do in situations like these?

"Hold up," I said, with my hands in the air, for I was honestly out of ideas. I looked into Slater's frosty blue eyes, and saw not a hint of mercy in them. The old man smiled cruelly. I had my rifle at my back and a foot-long curved knife on my waist sash, but I'd be dead before I reached either of them, even with my superhuman speed. He was going to end my life.

Slater ruled these parts and had quite a few men and women under his command. As a Landlord, he didn't get to his position by being nice. Mercy, pity and compassion went out of style ages ago, since the very end of the twenty-first century, which saw the modern world end in nuclear fire, and saw the improbable rise of Mutants...and Zombies.

It occured to me that I was about to die, at the tender age of twenty two, far from home, and at the hands of a frigging Landlord. What's a Landlord? A man or woman who runs or controls a territory, backed up by heavily armed men and women. They're a few sedentary types in a world where most people are on the move, in search of food and water. Some of them are formidable, like Slater here.

Earlier, it seemed like a good idea to raid Slater's compound, since it appeared promising, what with oil canteens, rusty but functioning cars, and a fully stocked wheat field and gardens in the back. In our world, this is considered the pinneacle of wealth. I thought I could take it from him. Now I was about to be dispatched to the next world for my hubris. It simply didn't seem fair...

"There's enough of that," came a deep, masculine voice, and half a second later, Slater suddenly dropped like a marionette whose strings got caught. Standing over him, wearing a bright smile, Antonius Pierre, leader of the Marauders, winked at me. I looked at my savior, and sighed in relief. I went to him, arms wide, and gave him a hug. Antonius gently kissed me on the forehead, and I buried my head against his chest.

"I got your back, Sheliza," Antonius said, and I looked up at him, and smiled. Antonius is six-foot-four, broad-shouldered, massively muscled, with smooth charcoal skin, a thick dark beard and a neatly shaved head. He's human, and originally from the remnants of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan. A place which my kind, the Mutants, consider to be almost sacred ground because so many of us came from that region.

"Thanks big bear," I replied, and Antonius ran his hand through my long, unruly blonde hair, then poked me in the nose. Normally, I would feel annoyed by such a gesture but today I'm actually relieved. For a man his size, Antonius can move with surprising speed and stealth. He'd snuck up on Slater and knocked out the old bastard, saving my life in the process.

"What do we do with him?" came another voice, and I looked past Antonius, at Shoukri Abdi, the six-foot-tall, dark-skinned, curvy young Somali Muslim woman originally from Minnesota. My sister, I thought with a smile. Shoukri smiled back at me, and then gave a swift kick to Slater's insensate body. I smiled with satisfaction as the old buzzard moaned in pain but did not wake up. He would never wake up, I'd make sure of it.

"Problem solved," I said, as I took my blade from its sheath, and slit Slater's throat with it. Blood oozed out of the wound, and in the hot desert sun, the old Landlord breathed his last. I counted to sixty and sure enough, Slater's eyes opened, and a deep, guttural, hunger-filled moan emanated from his mouth. The Landlord was gone, and something else had come to take residence in his body.

I shoved my blade into Slater's skull, and destroyed his brain. Instantly, the Zombie that Slater had become stopped moving. Destroy the brain and you kill the thing, whether it's a human, a Mutant or a Zombie. I killed the old man twice, and felt nothing but a sense of satisfaction. Antonius looked away, but Shoukri Abdi smiled at me, nodding in approval. I returned her smile, and we bumped fists. Shoukri is a killer, like me. We do what has to be done.

"The loot is ours," Shoukri said, and I nodded, as the final member of our group, a young Asian guy named Mario Yan, appeared. Six foot-one and lanky, with dark hair, bronze skin and a jovial, friendly face marred by a few scars, Mario is our little clan's tracker. He can find anyone anywhere. In his hand he held a bloody machete, evidence of a fierce fight against the other members of Slater's compound.

"There's no more of them," Mario said, and I watched him wipe his bloody machete against his coat, and then put it back in its sheath. The four of us, with Antonius in the lead, headed to Slater's compound, to loot the dead man's treasures. It was a veritable treasure trove. Fruits and vegetables, oil for cars, tons of weapons, and domestic animals such as goats and sheep. Slater had been quite wealthy by post-Apocalyptic standards. This was a good raid.

We took about all that we could fit into the back of our Rider, an old Pickup truck that's probably older than me. We set the sheep and goats free, let them roam in the wilderness and find what scarce grass and water remain. If we left them in the pen, they'd get mauled down by any Zombies which happened by, drawn by their scent. In the wild, like any living creatures, at least they'll have a chance.

We Marauders knew better than to stick around Slater's lair. The Landlord might be dead, along with the seven men and three women that were part of his compound, but there might be more of his people on their way back. We got what we needed, plus a little extra, and were on the move once again. That's what it means to be a Marauder.

Now, given the state of the affairs between humans and Mutants in this post-Apocalyptic world, you might wonder what someone like myself is doing with humans. I, Sheliza Hauser, am a Mutant. That's true. I should also tell you that I don't believe genetics are everything. I'm an intelligent being and make my own choices. I'm my own woman. Fate cast my lot with these people, and they're my family.

I first saw the light of day near Detroit, Michigan, in a Creche. I'm older than I look, having been left behind when the First Ones left. You see, many decades ago, when the United States and Europe were duking it out with the Islamic World Powers, they secretly used cutting edge technology to genetically engineer a breed of super-soldiers to fight the battles they never could.

Hundreds of us genetic wonders emerged from these underground bunkers after the Nuclear war devastated the entire world, and rather than fight a war between rival factions of humanity, we became humanity's ultimate rivals. We banded together for survival, forming different Clans, and taking on the post-Apocalyptic world and all that it had to throw at us. We've multiplied while the number of humans went down, and they absolutely hate us for it.

Once upon a time, I loathed the humans with a passion. I saw them as a breed that had seen its heyday, and needed to get out of the way. Like an old boxer who must leave the ring and make way for the new boxing champs, as my Antonius likes to say. I've never seen a boxing match so I'll take his word for it. I've since changed my mind about humanity, though.

Look, I'm not foolish enough to believe that the humans and my fellow Mutants will hug and become brothers. This isn't happening any time soon. We've killed too many of each other's friends, allies and families for that to happen. However, there is a threat that both halves of the Homo Sapiens species, human and Mutant, cannot afford to ignore, lest we all go extinct...

For decades now, Mutants and humans have been fighting one another all over the world. In our infinite stupidity, the breed known as Homo Sapiens, both the artificially enhanced Mutants and the natural-born humans, gave rise to a worst breed, the Zombies. These days, any person who gets bitten by a Zombie becomes one of those slow-moving, non-breathing, flesh-eating nightmares. Doesn't matter if you were a human or a Mutant, get bit and you're one of them.

The way I figure it, it won't be long before both humans and Mutants are outnumbered by the damn Zombies. If we're not careful, they will inherit what's left of the planet Earth long after we're gone. We've had to fight hordes of them, my fellow Marauders and I, in places where foolish people fail to clean up after themselves. We always take care of our own, and we take care of our rivals and enemies too.

In this world, given the way things are, only one rule truly matters. Clean up after yourself. I don't care if you're a goody-two-shoes, or a serial killer, a power-hungry warlord or a die-hard pacifist. Clean up after yourself. If your best friend, lover, family member or worst enemy dies, do the world a favor and destroy their brain before burying or cremating them. Otherwise you're the worst kind of asshole.

We refueled the Rider and even found some spare tires that fit it in Slater's compound. With two extra tanks of fuel, we ought to be good for a while. We returned to our lair, a massive cavern system hidden from view by an endless sea of wind-swept dunes. We barely have to cover our tracks in this area. The wind blows everything away. Nice, huh?

"Home sweet home," Antonius says, and I smile at him as he squeezes my hand. Antonius and I are lovers, but it goes deeper than that, our bond. Prior to meeting him, I hated all humans, just as I figured all humans hated my kind, the Mutants. Antonius showed me that there's room for basic decency in this turbulent, at times terrifying world that we live in...

Three years ago, I was a member of a group of Mutants known as the Magyar Clan. The leader, a tall, handsome, charismatic Mutant named Alexander Magyar, ruled the Clan with his sister Rachel Magyar. Alexander was tall, handsome, muscular, with blond hair, alabaster skin and blue eyes. He was a magnificent leader, and his Clan was over a hundred strong, feared by both Mutants and humans.

There are dozens of Clans of Mutants around the world, and we're in competition with other Mutants, and sometimes band together against the humans. These days, we Mutants are a prolific breed. The post-nuclear environment seems to have impacted the humans fertility rates, and their numbers are declining worldwide. By contrast, Mutant females like myself are highly fertile, and the future looks bright for the Mutant subspecies.

I was an Infiltrator, a Mutant female trained to seduce and infiltrate both human compounds and Mutant Clans. Now, I've got other skills and I'm an excellent fighter and a great sniper, and knife-fighting happens to be one of my top skills, but someone felt I'd make a better spy. The matriarch of the Magyar Clan, Rachel Magyar, decided that I'd be a better Infiltrator than a soldier.

Blame it on my good looks, I guess. I'm five-foot-ten, sturdy and curvy, with blonde hair, large breasts and an ample derriere that men and certain women can't stop staring at. I would go out and pretend to be a loner, and meet humans and Mutants, gain their trust, learn all I could about them and report back to the Magyar Clan. Using the information I provided about our rivals strengths and weaknesses, they'd mount a successful raid against them. I was good at my job...until my world changed.

One night, the Zombie horde came, and they happened upon our camp. We of the Magyar Clan fought bravely, but even our superhuman strength and speed were no match for the thousands of fearless, ravenous Undead things which came for us. By morning, most of us had been devoured or infected. Man or superman, one simply cannot hold off indefinitely against the Undead...

I was on a hill, with hundreds of Zombies converging on my position. A woman alone against a horde of monsters, I thought I was dead for sure, and then Antonius and company came. Antonius manned a heavy-duty machine gun he had, mowing them the Zombies, and he and his friends saved me. I was surprised, to say the least, but they saved my ass. I've been with them ever since.

"Back there, that was cold, what you did," Antonius said to me as we lay in bed together later that night. I rolled my eyes, seeing him perfectly well in the dark, thanks to my superior night vision. I bit my lip, wishing that Antonius would let me frigging sleep instead of going on and on about stuff that really didn't matter. What's done is done, dammit...

"Antonius, my love, I did what I had to do," I replied, wishing he'd drop the subject. I've seen Antonius kill before. Last month, we got attacked by a band of Mutants called the Shatter-Star Clan. Back in the day, they'd been rivals of the Magyar Clan, until we grew too big under Alexander Magyar's leadership, and they fled from our superior numbers whenever we ran into them.

Now, you might think that I felt conflicted, as a Mutant woman, about fighting fellow Mutants to protect my human family. I didn't. The Shatter-Star Clan, led by a tall, beautiful, dark-skinned female Mutant named Ravanna Lopes and her lover, Lupita Donkor, was close to a hundred strong and a force to reckon with. I did not underestimate them, not one bit.

As I fired upon the Shatter-Star Clan's men and women, I saw it as doing what had to done, that's all. I don't enjoy killing, far from it. I wanted Antonius to understand that. He's stranger than anyone, Mutant or human, that I'd ever met. A man with morality and a sense of decency who was somehow thriving during the Apocalypse...

"Sheliza, the old man didn't have to die," Antonius said, and I barely stopped myself from scoffing at that. Antonius and his overblow sense of morality. How have you survived so long, you handsome fool? I thought as I caressed Antonius beard. He tensed, obviously he had something else to say, but as I snuggled against him, he didn't rebuff my advances.

"I don't want to talk about it," I whispered, and I pressed my curvy body against Antonius, and he reacted to me. Just like I knew he would. I'm designed to seduce both men and women. My curvy, sexy body makes them wanton desire. I've bedded and killed too many to count. The only difference here is that I actually like Antonius, and prefer that he remains alive, even if he irks me...

"Temptress," Antonius says softly, his voice barely above a whisper, and I draw closer still, and his hands cup my breasts, and proceed to caress them. I'm naked under the covers, the desert heat doesn't completely vanish at night, but actually amplifies, depending on where one is. Luckily, our cave is nice and cool. Antonius grins as I roll on top of him, seeking his heat...

"Whatever, you know you want this body," I reply, smiling as I straddle Antonius. I feel him harden under me even as he continues to caress my breasts with one hand and my big round buttocks with the other. I yelp as he playfully slaps my derriere, and just like that, the fun really begins. Woman and man, dark skin and pale skin, we all need each other at the end of the day...

"Shut up and ride me," Antonius says in a commanding tone, and I grab his manhood, which is long, thick and dark. I stroke him, then rub his dick against my vagina. With a swift thrust Antonius enters me, and I start riding him. I welcome his manhood inside of me, and moan deeply while my vaginal muscles grip him. Oh it's on, I thought, as Antonius began to fuck me silly.

There's something unique about making love like this, barely removed from the rocky floor thanks to our bed of furs, and I relish it. Antonius fucks me with deep, passionate strokes. I ride him, my breasts swaying this way and that, and I welcome the deliciously hot pain I feel down below as he fills me with his manhood.

Prior to meeting Antonius, I found human lovers, female and male, to be subpar, though a number of us do try. They simply cannot match a superwoman like myself in stamina and passion...or so I thought. Antonius is blessed with a long, thick member, and he knows what to do with it, believe me.

"Fuck me silly," I squeal, a little while later, as Antonius takes me on all fours. Face down and ass up, I cry out as he drills his dick into me. He grips my long blonde hair and yanks my head back as he fucks me. He smacks my thick ass, and fills my pussy with his huge member. I grind my ass against him and sass him as he fucks me, and he answers in kind. I surrender to my dark prince, and he takes me to the edge of passion...and beyond.

"Sheliza, how do you feel, darling?" Antonius asks me, and I purr like a kitten and smile at him instead of answering with words. I rest my head against his chest and listen to his rhythmic heartbeat. My body is pleasurably sore, especially down below, thanks to the pounding I just received. I'm a happy woman as Antonius falls asleep with his arms around me...

"I feel wonderful, my love," I reply at last, as Antonius starts to snore. I roll off of him, and lie next to him. A slight breeze blows through the cavern. The others are fast asleep. We sleep in shifts, with one of us on guard duty at all times during the night. Usually, I do more guard duty than anybody else, but lately, I haven't felt up to it. Unable to sleep, I grab my clothes, gently kiss Antonius on the forehead, and go for a walk.

"Salaam, sister," Shoukri Abdi says, and I smile at her. The tall young woman stands guard, rifle in hand, machete on a sheath in her waistband. I cautiously approach her, and we shake hands. Shoukri looks me up and down, and her eyes narrow, focusing on my midsection, and her smile vanishes, then she meets my gaze questioningly.

"Salaam, Shoukri, and yes, you are right," I whisper, as I rub my belly, which is still mostly flat, and Shoukri smiles and nods. Certain things women are the first to know, whether artificially enhanced or regular. We differ from men in fundamental ways, and that's the way the Universe intended it. I return Shoukri's smile, and she draws closer, gently touching my belly.

"Does Antonius know?" Shoukri asks, and I shake my head. I haven't told Antonius yet. I've been waiting for the right time to tell him. Life is hard out here in the desert, under radioactive skies, in a landscape teeming with danger. What kind of a world am I bringing my son or daughter into? Antonius and I will have our hands full, that's for sure.

"Waiting for the right time to tell Antonius," I reply, and Shoukri smiles, nodding understandingly. Genetic differences between ordinary humans and the artificially enhanced ones like myself are slight, but people are dying all over this Nuclear-ravaged planet because of those slight differences. The arrival of a half-human, half-Mutant offspring might upset a lot of people on both sides...

"Congrats to you, Sheliza, and to Antonius too, I guess," Shoukri says, and I smile and give my friend a hug. We are quite alike, Shoukri and I. Women who have to be ruthless to survive in a harsh world, but we care about our friends and loved ones underneath it all. Women are the backbone of every Clan, human and Mutant alike. This isn't going to change anytime soon.

Soon I will reveal my pregnancy to Antonius. Nothing's going to be the same, for any of us. Change is the only constant in our Universe. Looking at the sky, I notice a few stars, barely visible among the dour radioactive clouds. I silently pray to a Supreme Being I'd never truly put stock on in and plead for a better world for my son or daughter. Together Shoukri and I watch over the others until dawn...