Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 266: Place On The Food Chain

Before Luca could reply, Gideon’s anguished cries broke through the tension Mad Dog’s words had caused.

"Harper!" Gideon called out, putting pressure against the leg wound of one of his soldiers. It was the guy who had moved himself to the wall, but I hadn’t realized at the time just how much blood he was losing. Based on the puddle around him, I would say that he had more blood out of his body than in it. "Shit. Harper, stay with me," Gideon continued, his growl turning more into a desperate plea.

And there was nothing I enjoyed more than a desperate person with a simple wish on their lips.

The man, Harper, simply looked at Gideon like he was stupid. "It nicked an artery," he said, his voice sounding much more reedy than before.

"You’ll be fine," grunted Gideon, ignoring Harper’s comment. "We’ll get you back to base, and the healer will take care of you. You’ll be fine."

Turning my attention away from Luca’s and Mad Dog’s staring competition, I walked over to where Gideon was now kneeling in his friend’s blood as he tried to tie off a tunicate with trembling hands.

"He doesn’t look fine," I said, crouching down so I could get a better look. And it was true. Harper was now turning a greyish white shade as Gideon’s hands slipped for the fourth time as he tried to cut off the flow of blood. "If you tie that too tight, it will cut the leg off, and your friend will have a peg leg like a pirate."

I chuckled softly at that picture, but Gideon clearly didn’t appreciate my sense of humor because he snarled at me, never taking his eyes off his task. "Are you going to help or just make commentary?"

"Leave her alone," grunted Harper, sending Gideon a death glare. "She’s just a kid. What help can she give?"

"You don’t want my help," I replied, looking seriously at the dying man. I had never really spoken to him before, but he had still taken my side in an argument against his Captain. For that alone, he deserved to live. "But that doesn’t mean I can’t help."

"Fuck off," grunted Gideon, finally able to tie the rope soaked in blood around Harper’s leg. He sat back on his heels and studied his job. It was shit, and in any other circumstance, it would have resulted in Harper dying. He didn’t have enough blood left in his body, even with the tunicate slowing down the bleeding. "Everything is fine now; I’ve stopped the bleeding."

No, I wanted to say, the lack of blood stopped the bleeding. You just managed to make yourself feel better.

Deciding to ignore the prick lost in his own world, I turned to Harper. "Do you want to live?" I asked, my gaze serious for a chance.

"Price?" gasped the man, his lips losing even more color.

"You are now one of my men," I answered. That wasn’t what I had originally planned, but as soon as the words escaped my mouth, I felt the rightness of them.

My men around me stiffened as even Luca broke away from Mad Dog and turned to look at Harper as if studying a bug.

"No, not that type," I sighed and rolled my eyes. "None of you pull off the color green nearly as well as Luca does. You will be my man here in the city. I’ll give you everything you could possibly want, and all you have to do is call my name when you are in a bind, and I’ll come save you."

"That’s it?" gasped Harper as Gideon’s head snapped towards me.

"The city belongs to the Blackguard, and we belong to Commander Raines. You are in no position to promise Harper something that you can’t deliver," said Gideon, his eyes narrowing on me.

If looks could kill...

He probably still wouldn’t be able to kill me.

So much for protecting me with his life.

Ah, the lies we tell. freeweɓnovel.cøm

"I think you are very much mistaken when it comes to your place on the food chain, dear Captain," murmured Mad Dog, his accent so contrary to the rest of him. "The Scavengers rule L City, we just let you live in it."

Now it was Mad Dog’s turn to receive Gideon’s glare, but like me, Mad Dog didn’t seem to care in the least.

"Yes," hissed Harper, breaking me away from my thoughts and back to him. "Save me."

"Don’t like," growled Salvatore as he walked over to where I was standing.

As much as he might have protested healing Harper, he never actually argued with me about it.

"Move," he growled at Gideon, pushing him out of the way so that Salvatore could untie the tunicate.

Looking up, I caught Désiré’s eyes and motioned him over. "You needin’ somethin’, Pet?" purred Désiré just as the healing white mist started to float over Harper’s body.

A plan was starting to form in my head, one that I had never really considered before, and Harper was going to play a big role in it.

"I need him to live," I answered. "If Salvatore doesn’t have the power, I need you to take over and finish the job."

Salvatore shot me a look that was somewhere between amusement and anger over the idea that he couldn’t get the job done alone, but Désiré simply smirked at him. "Don’t worry, Pet," he continued, walking over to this friend. "I’m always willing to step in and make sure that you are satisfied if one of my brothers drops the ball."

Luca and Dante snorted for a moment before turning their attention back to Mad Dog.

"I think you need to be a bit more concerned about your place on L City’s food chain," smirked Dante as he egged Mad Dog on.

"Holy shit," grunted Gideon as he watched Harper come to life under his gaze. "You have a healer."

"She has two," smirked Désiré. "An’ a whole lot more dan dat."

"Healed," grunted Salvatore, walking back to my side.

"You’re the best," I smiled at him. Pulling him down to my height, I have him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."