REVIVAL by Nick Venom (great book club books .TXT) 📕

“We’ve taken their home. Bring them to me, alive!.”

#TZC: C1

TBC…

“Fall back to Checkpoint Alpha! Over,” Blackhawk ordered over the radio. Scout followed his order and dashed towards Checkpoint Alpha where a chopper was waiting for the team. “Report on Rex? Over and out,”

“Archer reporting in, Rex has been rendered motionless. She has no pulse. I’m declaring her as KIA, over and out.” Archer declared. Silence overtook the radio, leaving Archer without a response for a minute.

“Cause of death? Over,” Blackhawk asked.

“If these people are zombies, then she’s infected. One of the people… zombies bit her. Oh, and there’s a bullet in her head, over.” Archer reported in.

Meanwhile, Scout made it to Checkpoint Alpha---which was fifty meters from his original position on the wall---and noticed Blackhawk waiting outside of the helicopter while Dawn sat in the pilot’s chair. By the time that Scout made it to the helicopter, Blackhawk heard the cause of Rex’s death, burying his eyebrows further into his head and contemplating the response. 

“Report to Checkpoint Alpha immediately. If this is a zombie virus outbreak, then you’re free to engage.” Blackhawk ordered. “Gather all of your equipment and head to Checkpoint Alpha, out.” He repeated. 

“Copy, heading to Checkpoint Alpha, over and out,” Archer reported. Rogue was with her, but she maintained radio silence. She was scared that what happened to Rex would happen to her.

Even so, every remaining soldier in the outpost made it to the checkpoint. Following them was a horde of zombies, scratching and grabbing at them. Fortunately, Dawn packed the soldiers into the cramped helicopter, lifting the helicopter into the air.

A zombie jumped and grabbed onto the helicopter’s landing bars, but was thrown off within a second, allowing Dawn to regain full control. The soldiers glanced at the outpost as it was being overwhelmed, realizing the full horror of their situation. “It’s confirmed, they are mindless zombies,” Scout muttered.

“Our old world is gone,” Blackhawk whispered.

“Where to, sir?” Dawn asked 

“As far as you can take us,” Blackhawk responded. The other soldiers nodded, agreeing with the plan of abandoning the outpost and entering the new era of the world. With no place to defend, nothing to protect anymore, no connections to the government, and no chain of order to recklessly order them to their deaths, they were now on their own. They were by themselves.

A guy in his mid-forties with a clean-shaven face glanced up into the air. Overhead flew a helicopter. The guy glanced at his two-story house before looking at the helicopter. He then dashed into his house and rummaged through it, bringing a rocket-propelled grenade launcher from a hidden compartment in his bedroom. He pointed the gun at the helicopter, and with a deranged smile, pressed the trigger and let out a rocket. The rocket flew quickly through the air like a dog without a chain. 

The guy wore a military outfit along with a dog tag that read ‘Pvt. Yeget’.

TBC…

Zaken woke up while bound to a chair. His hands were tied behind the chair. Zaken looked down at himself and noticed that his gear was nowhere to be seen. For some reason, Zaken’s clothes---a black cloak, solid black tee shirt, solid black jeans, and a matching pair of sneakers---were still on him. The clothes were modified to ensure an assassination wouldn’t be ruined by them. 

While Zaken was in his thoughts, a man dressed in all black----with a hood that covered his face---walked into the torture room. “Good morning, sweetie.” The man said while wielding a menacing battle-ax. “Sit down and get comfortable. We’re going to be here for a while.”

“What do you want?” Zaken muttered while shooting glares at the man.

The guy smirked before pointing the ax at Zaken. “They call me the Torturer! You wonder how I got this name?” Zaken didn’t respond, instead, focusing on untying his binds. The rope was too tight, burning into his skin. “I am the royal torturer. I have a passion for one thin---can you guess what?” He asked, acting obnoxiously, leaning in closer to Zaken. He could smell the rancid eggs that stained his breath. He then turned his head to avoid the smell, but Torturer corrected him. He grabbed his head in one palm and forced him to look straight. 

Zaken resisted his grip and was able to steer himself away from Torturer’s rancid breath. Torturer, who was slowly getting irritated, curled his fingers into a ball and formed a fist. He then winded a punch and fired it at Zaken, who dodged the punch by moving his head while the rest of his body was restrained. Torturer reeled the punch before aiming the second punch at his stomach, with full force. The punch managed to break two of his ribs and earn a spit of blood. Torturer chuckled as he dragged his ax to the other side of the chair. “Mind if I cut your hands off?” A rhetorical question that received no response from Zaken. Torturer shrugged his shoulders before bringing up the ax.

“That’s enough!” A familiar voice shouted from the doorway of the room. The voice came from Mary Jane Moon, or MJ Moon for short. She appeared at the cold and rusty jail cell with her father in tow. “Leave,” she ordered while glaring at him. Torturer ignored her glare, muttering something under his breath, before heaving myself away from the jail cell, leaving the king and princess behind.

As soon as Torturer left the room, five guards rushed into the room and surrounded Zaken. “You are my daughter’s savior?” The king asked him, Zaken, however, didn’t intend on responding to him, keeping the glare up. “I’ll take the silence as your answer.”

“He did save me! He caught me as I fell out of the building!” MJ shouted.

“I’m conflicted on how you feel, but that’s a different matter.” The king stared. His stature was large, almost intimidating, along with his long gray goatee that went over his chin by a couple of inches. He wore a black and gray suit along with a yellow cross painted in the middle and had scattered blobs of red on his pants. 

“If I can speak,” Another familiar voice muttered. Zaken turned towards a dark corner, detecting the presence of an assassin. A man, the royal assassin Mind,  emerged from the darkness of the corner. He walked into the light, illuminating his unkempt green hair and mystery brown trench coat, which hid his weapons of choice. Mind spoke in a quick-tempo and sloppy voice, unlike the slow and clear tone that the king used to deliver his message.

“You may,”

“I suggest that we do a search for nearby assassins.” Mind remarked before walking to the only window of the small and cramped jail cell, which brought the only light into the room. 

“Why?” MJ asked.

“Because we have one of their own captured here. They’re going to need to silence him… permanently.” 

“Okay, grab Blint and Iz and look for any assassins.” The king ordered. Mind kneeled before nodding.

“It would be my honor,” He said before disappearing into thin air. Zaken was taken back by the vanishing act. No matter how infamous he was, Zaken was only a rank 3 assassin while Mind was at the peak, reaching rank 1. 

While orders were being given out, Zaken sensed a bullet and moved his head out of the way. The sniper bullet entered through the small barred window and ricocheted off the jail and walls and hit the guard who stood next to Zaken. The king panicked and ordered the remaining soldiers to send out the royal army’s strongest platoon. “Send out Squad One!”

TBC…

A power is granted to one human every century to create a God’s Champion. A Champion’s power has been enhanced after its use and passed down while becoming stronger. The human who receives the power is enhanced by it. If the human uses it for good, then the power continues to grow, but if its use for bad, then the human is exterminated by God.

Every person who receives power has one thing in common; they have been bullied or treated like garbage by family, friends, teachers, or classmates. This separates them from those who are more fortunate than others. These bullied kids often use their newfound power to take revenge against their bullies and begin their new life. Once their life ended, the power returned to God who waited until the next century to grant their new person the power of a demi-god.

Santiago, a young boy of sixteen years, was knocked unconscious by his three bullies. Alpha dog Alex Hell and his two henchmen, brothers Eddie and Jerald Eriland. The three bullies pushed the line by getting Santiago hospitalized multiple times, which never alerted his parents who had little interest in him. However, his parents loved the first child, Marie, who was a genius and always given everything, unlike her sibling. Santiago was treated like he was non-existent. 

While at the hospital, Santiago peeked into consciousness before launching himself in a coma. His soul was ripped from his body and sent to heaven where he met with God.

“Welcome,” God announced.

Santiago looked around the heavenly scenes of clouds before focusing his sights on the being that stood in front of him, his face masked by the clouds. “I’m dead?” He asked God. God shook his head. “Then how am I here?”

“I summoned you to become my new Champion.”

“Champion?” Santiago asked, scratching his head.

“If you take the title of God’s Champion then you will receive strength enough to topple the world. You can take your revenge and establish a new and even peaceful life.” Santiago shook his head and demanded his