The Desperado Undead

1

Amadeus Wright sat at the table, twirling his fingers, not knowing that he was going to change the course of history just minutes from now.

He sat in a restaurant along Route 66, in the northern part of Texas. It was a 2021 America similar to ours, it was a 2021 world similar to the one we know and...the one we know. Things were different though. The main change was the result of the Cold War, and how in this reality, it led to the beginning of World War III. This would go down in history as the bloodiest war known to man, lasting just five years with a whopping 500 million casualties, civilians and soldiers combined. The superpowers of the world (America, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and Australia) decided to finally end the conflict the only way they saw fit. Combine the worldwide governments into one, the New World Order. While many people were grateful for the end of the war, many were suspicious of the power given to the seven people, named the seven Judicators, who effectively ruled the world. Their suspicions were confirmed. When we join our unlikely hero in the year 2030, the NWO has banned all negative talk of it and its Judicators, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. One of the biggest changes other than the NWO was that, for one reason or another, COVID was never a thing in this world.

The Judicators were seven individuals taken from each of the five superpowers. One from Russia, one from China, one from Australia, and two from each the United Kingdom, and America. Straight from the motherlands of Russia, Judicator Kruschev. A mid-forties, skinny man. He was as short height wise as his temper was. Not to mention his raging alcoholism and his odd addiction to Vodka in particular. Then we have Chenglei, the Chinese Judicator. Quiet, intelligent, and tactical, the one with the brains essentially. From Australia, we have Smith, a cliche name for a cliche Australian man. The Garrison twins are the European representatives, both reserved individuals, called G and GG by the others. Lastly, from none other than our homeland of the United States; Letterman, similar in intelligence and tacticality to Changlei, but able to understand all the others when they speak their native languages; and Dempsey, a nearly painfully cliche marine (naturally, his favorite terms being oorah! And other rather colorful phrases).

But these seven and their world army aren’t worshipped like they wish they were. There are many who silently hate them and their NWO, and soon they would come together, but it all starts with our friend we only just met, Amadeus, and his meeting with a childhood friend.

2

He sat thinking about...well everything. The past, present, and future. What if Jack didn’t show up? Maybe that would be a sign. Bye, bye rebellion, it was nice knowin’ ya! It was a fun idea but now I gotta - as Eminem would have said - snap back to reality!

The bell at the front door rang. Amadeus looked around and saw his old buddy Jack. He stood at a just about laughable five foot seven, with long black hair he let flow behind him. Jack looked around, noticed Amadeus, and waved. Amadeus waved back smiling. Jack walked over and sat down.

“Amadeus Wright,” Jack says, “it has been a minute my man!”

Amadeus nods in agreement, “It has. It really has.”

Jack chuckles, “So what you been up to? Are you and Elana still goin’ strong? How’s Ripley?”

“We’ve been drifting apart lately,” Amadeus said, “ have been for years to be completely honest. And Rip’s good. She’s growing like a weed.”

“Oh really,” Jack asks, “y’know, I knew from day one that Elana wasn’t the one for you. I just hope you figure out what’s best for you and do it, man. Remind me, how old is Ripley?”

“twelve,” Amadeus responds, “She’s twelve.”

“That’s fun, that’s fun,” Jack says, “so uh...you call me here for something specific? you seem like you got something on your mind.”

“I did,” Amadeus responds, “walk with me.”

Amadeus gets up and starts to walk to the door. Jack gets up and follows him. They walk out of the restaurant, through the parking lot, and get into Amadeus’ car.

Jack looks around, “So uh, this is a little weird… what’s up?”

Amadeus looks Jack in the eyes, “Jack, buddy, what is your honest opinion on the New World Order?”

Jack looks shocked, but responds, “I- well that’s an odd...I mean...they’re not the greatest.”

“What do you have to lose,” Amadeus asks.

“That’s weird question numero dos,” Jack says, “but to be honest, nothing. My family thinks I’m a failure and I never got married let alone had kids-”

“I’ve been doing a lot of research,” Amadeus says, “lots of research. I found out that not even a full year into the NWO’s existence, there was a rebellion. They called themselves The Desperado. Jack, I have been thinking about this for...frankly years. If we could re-form this...this Desperado, this rebellion, maybe, just maybe, we could at least try to make a difference! To change things!”

Jack thinks for a moment, “Like a, uh...like a Desperado Undead? Y’know we’re bringing this group back to life, kinda making it undead.”

Amadeus nods, “wait...we?”

“Of course,” Jack says, “you think I’d let you do something this crazy and exciting on your own?”

Amadeus laughs and hugs Jack from his seat. This, two years before the majority of our story takes place, is the day history changed. The day the world gained new hope.

The day The Desperado Undead was formed.

3

See this, see this very clearly, two years after the events I just described to you, Amadeus lies asleep on his couch, while his wife lay comfortably in bed. Just one house to the right lives Jack, dead asleep in his bed, still alone. Across the street lives Joel Henderson, Amadeus’ chief advisor and third in command of the Desperado. One house over from his lives Amanda Stern, once a simple soldier for the Desperado, now a commanding officer. They all live on Cloverfield Lane in a city filled with five hundred others similar to them. A city inhabited by the Desperado, its civilians, and its soldiers. A city named Staria. The one safe haven for those opposed to the NWO.

Cloverfield Lane is mostly dead, few people awake at three in the morning surprisingly enough, but one teenager is up, has been for two straight days now. Ripley Wright sits in her room, doing God only knows what on her phone. The night is peaceful, the night is cold. Mid-September meant the beginning of declining temperatures, Ripley’s favorite.

Leaving Ripley and the Wright family for a moment, follow me down Cloverfield Lane. Down to where it intersects with Haddonfield Drive. Right on this intersection lives an older couple, Charlie and Charles “Charley” Wong. Many people say they were meant to be together because of their names, and they would tell you the same. They’re a happy couple. They were a happy couple until this night.

As they lay fast asleep, their unlocked front door creaks open as seemingly nothing enters. Their dog, Charles, whines as he feels a cloud move past him. A cold cloud, an evil cloud. He couldn’t see it but he could feel its hunger. Its hatred. It moved past him and through the living room. It flowed down the hallway, the plants Charlie had in her window dying as it passed. It flowed into the bedroom where the Wongs slept. It hovered in the air a moment before moving over Charles’ mouth. He awoke and felt nothing but pure dread. He could look around, but could not move, as though a prisoner in his own body. He couldn’t quite see the black mass above him, more so sensed it. He felt it draw closer...and closer...until eventually entering his body through his throat. He felt the world slip away, he had no control anymore, not where he looked, how he moved, or the noises he made. He had no mouth, and he had to scream.

The demon-possessed Charley sat up in bed, got out of bed almost robotically, and walked to his wife’s side. She awoke and let out a gasp when she saw him.

“Oh dear, Charles, what are you doing up,” she asked.

The Bodysnatcher didn’t respond. Charley tried to scream out to his wife, begging for help, something, but all he could do was watch from the darkest parts of his mind. Charlie knew that physically, it was her husband standing before her, but on the inside, it was something different. The same entity that Charles the dog felt pass him by. The same evil, the same hunger. She watched in horror as what once was her husband began to change. Agonizing moans came from its mouth as it spread into a razor-sharp-toothed grin, ear to ear. It grew tall and lanky, its arms extended and its hands became razor-sharp claws. Its legs grew two feet and its feet became bird-like talons. Its eyes sunk deep into its skull.

The Bodysnatcher in Charles’ body stood hunched over Charlie. She was too terrified to scream. All she could do was tremble and make small, barely audible attempts at cries for help. Her life flashed before her eyes. The earliest thing she could remember, her first day of school, then her parents’ divorce, moving out to Arizona with her dad, meeting Charles, falling in love, marrying him, meeting Amadeus, moving to Staria, and now-

Nothing.

4

Ripley heard something tapping on the window beside her bed. She wasn’t sure what it was but it scared her. It terrified her. She curled up in a ball and tried to leave this place. She tried to mentally go to a better, less scary time.

A memory surfaced, and she let it take her…

Ripley Wright entered her home, located near the center of the city her rebel father, Amadeus, was in control of. He, Along with his childhood friend Jack, Joel, and Amanda ran not only the city but the rebellion against the NWO, the one tyrannical worldwide government. Though they didn’t know it, soon they would gain two new members to that group, but that never mattered to Ripley. Not now, not later, not ever.

She walked towards her home after a day with her friends. The things that plagued her mind were the same that plagued that of nearly every fourteen-year-old. She was exhausted, she hadn't slept in days after all. Ripley hoped to just get home and drink some coffee to help her evanescent energy.

It was a beautiful day. Ripley had started this morning terribly depressed for some esoteric reason. But as soon as she had gone outside, the shine of the sun and the eighty-eight-degree weather expunged all of the negative emotions from her head. Finally, she reached home. She opened the front door and walked into her home. She looked into the kitchen and saw her father Amadeus cooking.

“Well look who’s home,” he said, “you hungry?”

“Nah, not right now,” she tells him.

“You sure? I’m makin’ breakfast,” he explains.

“At five in the afternoon?”

“Yeah! Breakfast for dinner y’know?”

She grunts in agreement and continues towards her room. Her mother (who she suspected was cheating on her father) was nowhere to be found. That didn’t matter to her, neither did coffee, sleep sounded better than anything at that moment. She made her way into her room, collapsed onto her bed, and almost instantly fell asleep.

Ripley awoke, or so she thought. She was in a place she had never been before, but it looked and felt so oddly familiar. It was a park. Bushes lining stone paths, a single tree atop a hill, benches scattered along the paths, and a grand fountain in the middle of it all made of some beautiful gem she couldn’t recognize. On one of the benches were two men, one holding an open book for the other, both with blurry faces she could not even hope to recognize. Below the tree was a picnic. A man, his wife, and their child. All blurry-faced, all strangely familiar. These things she saw would happen in this dream-park later, yet it was also happening now. Odd how this world seemed to not care about the rules in ours.

Ripley heard a sound, a sound that brought her joy, a meow. She looked around, and eventually, her sight fell on a pure black cat that sat below a bush along the stone path. Ripley loved cats, way more than she ever cared for dogs. She began to walk towards it, but before she could even walk two steps, it stood up and ran to her. The black cat began to do figure eights between her legs.

“Hi there,” she said in that cliche, high-pitched talking-to-animals voice.

The cat looked up at her. She saw its eyes, and they were beautiful. A deep, amethyst-esc purple. It meowed once. She crouched down and stroked its head. The purring began. Ripley sat on the ground and the cat jumped into her lap.

“Oh, you’re so sweet!”

It purred and purred, rubbing up against Ripley. The deed was done, Ripley loved the cat. She would surely be partially heartbroken when she awoke and realized the cat wasn’t real, but that didn’t matter now, she was dreaming and didn’t know it. She laid on the soft grass and allowed the cat to climb onto her stomach. It layed down and looked Ripley in the eyes. No more than a cat who had found a young girl to love it, right?...Right?

“Ripley,” the cat spoke without speaking.

Ripley jumped up and the cat scrambled off, “What?! Did you just…?”

“My mouth stays still, so do I truly speak,” the cat asks as it sits.

“Well…,” Ripley fails to think of a response.

It gives one chuckle, “I meant not to startle you, Ripley, I simply wanted to meet you.”

“How do you know who I am,” she asks.

“Oh, I know plenty, Ripley. About you, your father, your mother, every citizen of Staria and beyond.”

“You’re…you’re not just a cat…are you,” she asks.

“She’s figured it out,” it telepathically declares, “yes, Ripley, I am more than just a cat.”

“What…what are you?”

“What I am is…complicated, but my name, that I can tell you.”

“...then tell me,” Ripley requests.

“I am Valkyrie, a powerful spirit, trapped in the body of a cat.”

Ripley gets to her feet, “So what? You wanted to possess me?”

“No,” Valkyrie says, “I wanted to help you. Terrible things are on the way not just for your father's rebellion but for you.”

“Like?”

“Find me, and I will tell you,” Valkyrie says.

Ripley tries to ask what he means, but can’t say anything. The world seemingly begins to grow distant, everything getting further away as she falls back into sleep. The dream would she entered the same way Amadeus and Jack would in the coming months slipped away.

Ripley awakes. She rubs her eyes as they adjust to the light, or rather lack thereof. She sits up and realizes she has been put under her covers. Amadeus must have come in and put her under her blanket, she was more out than he thought.

Ripley throws the blanket off her and stands up. She stretches while taking note of the fact that it is now night. She hasn’t felt this refreshed in months, it had been no more than four or five hours, but it was a contender for the best sleep of her life. Ripley left her room and went to the kitchen, she was wide awake and starved.

Her plan was to go to the fridge, but that wasn’t necessary. A plate covered with aluminum foil sat on the dining table that sat opposite the fridge in their home. On it was a note. Ripley walked to it and read it.

For when you wake up, Rip, because you know as well as I do the first thing you’ll do is head for the fridge haha. Heat up for 1 or 2 minutes in the microwave.

Ripley smiles. She had a bit of a tendency to be a brat, even downright annoying, but at the end of the day, Amadeus always made sure to express his love for her. She couldn’t have asked for a better father, and Amadeus couldn’t have asked for a better daughter. She lifted the foil off of the plate, revealing the eggs, bacon, and waffles he had made for her hours prior. She took the plate to the microwave, put it in for a minute and a half, and ate. As always, Amadeus had cooked a phenomenal meal.

The white plate with nothing but crumbs and her plastic fork left on it sat before Ripley as she thought what to do now. She felt as though she had enough energy to go without sleep for weeks!

Something called to her though. The park in Staria. She had no reason to want to go at ten at night, but it’s what she wanted. So, she put her pure black shoes on, grabbed her phone, and quietly left. As she walked to the park, an image remained in her head. She wasn’t sure, but she thought it was something she had seen in the dream she couldn’t really remember from her earlier sleep. The image of a black cat on her stomach with beautiful purple eyes looking down at her.

Ripley wished she could find that cat in the real world. She walked into the park and just walked along the paths. Letting her hands brush up against the rose bushes and her hair flow in the slight summer breeze. She stopped. Her eyes were closed and it was dead silent minus the barely audible sound of the wind and things blowing in the wind. Something felt off…as if she was being watched. She opened her eyes and saw a black cat. The black cat.

It stared at Ripley and Ripley could feel its eyes piercing through her. Its eyes…its deep, amethyst purple eyes. She had expected to love this cat, but fear shot through her at the sight of it. What came next should have horrified her, but she oddly expected it.

“Ripley,” Valkyrie said, “hello.”

Ripley was frozen in fear.

“What? Cat got your tongue?”

Ripley turns and runs, runs as fast as she can, runs through the same parts of the city she just walked through, and all of the way home. Valkyrie remained where he sat. A demon-god, stuck in the body of a cat, not able to unleash himself unto the world he saw through the eyes of his feline friend. He would have to try with another soul, another time.

4

The demons multiplied, spread like a virus. After taking those of the Wong residence, they moved house to house, killing, body-snatching.

Amadeus awoke to the sound of screaming. He sat upright in bed and noticed Elana was gone. Not good. He got up, threw on clothes, and grabbed his .45 from the holster attached to his bed. He made sure it was loaded and there was a bullet in the chamber then ran out of the bedroom, through the house, and out the front door. He looked around and saw multiple houses with broken windows. Gunfire came from Jack’s house and Amadeus sprinted over as fast as he could. He approached the door as Jack opened it shirtless with an AR-15 style rifle.

“What in God’s name is going on,” Amadeus asked.

“Bodysnatchers,” Jack responded, “I don’t know how many there are right now but I just called Joel and Amanda, they’re both fine and killing any they see.”

“Okay, okay good,” Amadeus says.

Jack looks around, “Go make sure your wife and kid are okay, I’ll do what I can out here, it seems like a small attack.”

Amadeus nods and rushes back to his house. He runs through the front door and to Ripley’s room. He knocks on the door...no response. C’mon, he thinks, open the door or so help me...He knocks on the door again, praying to a God he doesn’t believe in that Ripley is ok.

“Rip,” he yells, “Ripley, honey, I’m coming in!”

He kicks the door open and sees Ripley in the claws of a bodysnatcher. She is alive but seems to be in a sort of trance. Amadeus curses and kills the bodysnatcher with a well-placed headshot. Its grotesque body falls to the ground, dropping Ripley next to it. He rushes over to her and checks her pulse...it’s there. Good, that’s good, he thinks to himself. She awakes in his arms and looks him in the eye. He smiles at her...but struggles to do so. He sees something in her eyes he doesn’t like, almost as if it isn’t quite his Ripley. He pushes the thought away and tells her to hide under her bed. As he leaves the room he notices her do nothing, she sits perfectly still where he left her. Probably just in shock. He slowly walks through the house, pistol drawn, searching for Elana. Bedroom? Clear. Bathroom? Clear. Living room? Clear. Kitchen/dining room? Clear. There’s only one more place she could be.

He slowly opens the basement door. He immediately feels the cooler air of the basement rush over him, he silently says another quick prayer, hoping it isn’t a bodysnatcher. He walks down into the cold, damp basement. The floors and walls are concrete, against the back wall is a boiler, and behind the stairs are some boxes of random, old things the Wright family has. Other than that, the room seems empty. He sighs, good riddance, maybe now Ripley will start talking to me agai-

Elana comes around the stairs and throws herself on Amadeus. She sobs and buries her face into Amadeus’ chest. He lightly pushes her off of him and tries to console her.

“What? What’s wrong,” he asks.

She tries to say something but it just comes out as empty, horrified sobs. He thinks for a moment, then leads her upstairs and into Ripley’s room.

“Both of you just stay in here and stay safe,” he tells Ripley and Elana, “I’ll be back soon. Elana, there is a gun in the safe in her closet, the combo is 11-27-15, grab it and only use it when need be. I love you both.”

An empty, robotic look from Ripley and incoherent sobs from Elana. He nods and rushes out of the house to find Jack. When he runs outside he realizes how much has gone on in the no more than five minutes he was inside. The house to the left of Joel’s is on fire, There are bodies in the streets, and people (including Jack himself) are gunning down bodysnatchers left and right. Amadeus counts thirteen of the demons in the street. He joins the gunfight against them, killing three in total. Jack and his gang of seven other men kill the rest. They all shout their various forms of celebration including Oorah! And the ever-popular Yippee-ki-yay mother-(take a wild guess)! Amadeus runs over to Jack.

“What just happened,” Amadeus asks, panicked and confused.

“I feel like it’s pretty obvious,” Jack shouts, “We got attacked by the Devil’s closest friends! If it weren’t for the fact that we’re also at war with...well the world, I’d be a bit more excited about this!”

Amadeus shakes his head, “I know what happened, I want to know why it happened.”

Jack thinks for a moment, “Couldn’t tell ya for sure, but the fact that the NWO has been messin’ with all sortsa black magic crap lately I wouldn’t be surprised if it was them.”

Amadeus considers this. A terrifying idea really; nuclear, chemical, biological, they are all terrifying forms of warfare, but religious warfare? Using God knows what kind of ungodly artifact to literally open a portal to the lake of fire and use its inhabitants to remove your enemy? Smart, yes, but terrifying to be on the receiving end.

“Well, what can we do,” Amadeus asks.

“I was thinking about that,” Jack says, “me and the boys here, we messed up the bodysnatchers pretty badly. So maybe, stick with me here, we have some people, whoever volunteers, who are part of a division of our army that specifically deals with bodysnatchers or even just supernatural threats in general!”

Amadeus thinks about it. It would help yes, but could they sacrifice the manpower going towards the fight against the NWO? Amadeus thought so.

“Well,” Amadeus finally says, “I think it’s a good idea and...oh screw it, go ahead. But you gotta give me a name for it right now.”

“Ah crap,” Jack says, “really putting me on the spot here...how about...The Dreamcatchers?”

Amadeus shrugs, “works for me.”

Jack cheers and runs off to tell the others. Amadeus returns to his house knowing full well that once Elana snaps out of her emotional breakdown, he was going to hear all about how he is such a bad father, a terrible husband, and a terrible leader, and he should have been replaced long ago.

As he walked back he wondered how much longer he would be able to stand it. How much longer would he be able to be constantly pestered and insulted by his wife who he suspects is cheating on him? Probably not long, probably not long at all.

During all of this; the attack of the bodysnatchers, the forming of the Dreamcatchers division, and the close call with Ripley, Joel did nothing. He cowered behind closed doors with a 12 gauge locked and loaded in his hands. He begged God not to allow any demon to come for him, he didn’t think he could kill anyone. He was an advisor for Christ’s sake, not a soldier! This time, just this time, God answered his cowardly prayer.

After all was said and done, Amanda knocked on the door.

“Joel,” she said, “Joel buddy it’s all clear.”

He came out, shotgun in hand, trembling a moment later. He looked her in the eyes. She saw such pathetic fear in him that she almost felt bad for him. His cloudy gray eyes were watering and you could feel the horror radiating off of him. It was as if some Love craftian horror had paid him a personal visit. As if Cthulhu himself rose from the depths of the Pacific specifically to confront Joel.

“You sure,” he asks.

“Yes,” she responds.

He nods and goes back into his house to do who knows what. Amanda surely didn’t.

5

Jack decided there was only one good way to celebrate this absolute win, by going to the only bar open in Staria all day and all night, Paddy’s Pub. It was a very average bar on the outside, with a neon green sign displaying the name PADDY’S PUB with a four-leaf clover next to it. On the inside, the Irish inspiration was even more clear. Green everywhere with plenty of clovers painted onto the wall and the bar itself. Not to mention the ‘pots of gold’ that served as trash cans. He sat at the bar, three drinks in, and he’d been there no longer than half an hour. He wasn’t even tipsy though, he had built up such an immunity to alcohol it took an entire bottle of hard liquor drank in an hour to get him feeling any sort of way.

But still, he sat, having a blast, celebrating in the just about empty bar. The only other people in the bar were the two people working, a woman in the seat next to him, and two guys passed out at one of the tables. Eventually, the woman turned to him, she was around the same age as him, early thirties, she had long, curly-ish blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She was also very short, Jack guessed no more than 5’ 3”, and Jack thought she was beautiful, not conventionally beautiful, but something about her, he couldn’t quite place his finger on it.

“What’s got you so hyped up tonight man,” the woman asks Jack.

“You probably heard the gunshots,” Jack says, “we had a bit of a bodysnatcher attack down by Cloverfield Lane and Haddonfield Drive, the other side of the city.”

“Really,” she asks, clearly shocked.

“Yeah,” Jack responds, “but I think we can get the bodysnatchers under control. Amadeus - the one in charge here y’know - just let me create a branch of our military specifically for these things. The Dreamcatchers we’re called.”

“Wow,” she says, “that’s awesome! Hey, what’s your name?”

“Jack,” Jack reaches his hand out, “Jack Taylor.”

She takes his hand and shakes it, “Anne-Marie Trips. I prefer just Marie though.”

“Got it,” Jack says, “Marie Trips.”

She chuckles. There it was again. Something that made her the single most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, but what was it? He didn’t know yet. But he hoped to find out.

6

The following day Amadeus called Jack, Amanda, and Joel to what was essentially the Desperado’s HQ...in other words, Amadeus’ basement. They showed up, one after another. Joel, then Amanda, then Jack, but Jack brought someone Amadeus had never met before. A woman. Amadeus didn’t like the idea of a stranger not only in his house but at their meeting. He stopped the two.

“Jack,” Amadeus says, “who is this?”

“Her name's Anne-Marie, or just Marie, she’s cool,” Jack responds.

“I don’t care how cool she is, I’ve never even met the woman, and you want me to bring her to a meeting between us,” Amadeus asks, “have you lost your mind? Because, so help me God, I will help you find it!”

“Amadeus, jeez, calm down,” Jack says, “when have I ever let you down?”

Amadeus considers this and reluctantly allows Anne-Marie in. They all go down into Amadeus’ basement. He flicks on a light.

“Alright boys and...girls now,” Amadeus says, “we, by that I mean some of our troops over in China, have located Chenglei’s location, supposedly he’s got a nightclub to himself tomorrow night, and I’ve ordered an attack on him. Plan is, twenty soldiers go in, I don’t care who walks out as long as Chenglei doesn’t. Any comments, concerns, problems?”

Everyone looks at each other. Anne-Marie raises her hand.

“Marie,” Amadeus says.

“We’re talking about Judicator Chenglei, right? Like tomorrow night the Desperado Undead is going to finally assassinate a Judicator,” Anne-Marie asks.

“Yes,” Amadeus says, “anything else?”

They all exchange glances. No questions. Good, that makes things much easier. Amadeus dismissed them and they all went to their respective homes. Amadeus shuts off the light, walks up into the living room, into his and Elana’s room, and sees Elana sitting on their bed with her arms crossed.

“What’s up,” Amadeus asks.

“What in the good lord’s name is your issue,” Elana yells.

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean! You have dedicated your entire life to this stupid rebellion! It needs to be done, I know that, but you haven’t spent any time with your family in two years!”

“Look, I understand why you’re mad but-”

“Well then do something about it! Get to know your kid, do something with me, your child never speaks to you, Amadeus!”

“That is your fault! You have lied to her time and time again telling her that I am this evil psycho killer! Maybe if you told her even a sliver of the truth she would at the very least respect me!”

“I have never done that, you lying son of a-!”

She stops mid-sentence, looks to the doorway and sees Ripley standing in it. Elana sighs and walks over to her. Elana hugs her and Ripley just stands there.

“How much did you hear,” Elana asks her.

No response.

“Hun?”

Nothing.

“Ripley.”

Nothing. Elana sighs, rolls her eyes, and leaves the room. Amadeus stands up, walks over to, and closes the door.

“Ripley daddy loves you, baby, okay? Your mother might say some things sometimes...she might tell you I’m crazy. But one day, you will really, truly come of age and realize we’re the same. And maybe baby, just maybe, I’m not as messed up and crazy as she makes me out to be every single day of my life. Do you understand what I’m telling you,” Amadeus tells her.

Still nothing. Oh boy...that is...that is frustrating. I just poured my heart and soul out to her and this is what I get? No response?! Has Elana put that many bad thoughts into her head about me? Of course she has, what else would she spend her pathetic, worthless existence doing? Y’know, I should do the world a favor. Just take the pest out. One bullet. That’s it. Boom. Gone. I-

His train of thought is cut by his phone ringing. He opens the door, Ripley leaves the room. He closes the door again and picks up the phone.

“Hello,” he asks.

In a heavy Asian accent, the other person responds, “Hello sir. This is Shang-Woo, I am General in control of Desperado Undead division out here in China, yes?”

Just swell English, he thinks, phenomenal, absolutely superb.

“Understood,” he responds.

“Well,” Shang-Woo says, “we got dates wrong. Chenglei is in nightclub tonight. Two hours exactly. I imagine we attack now, but felt I should confirm with you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Amadeus says, “the sooner the better, that’s one less Judicator.”

“Okay,” Shang-Woo says, “You will be satisfied.”

Amadeus chuckles, says he hopes he will be, and hangs up. Chenglei dead a whopping day early? Not much of a change, but hey, like he said, the sooner the better. He leaves the room and walks to the kitchen. On the counter is a note from Elana.

I went out for a bit. Dropping Ripley off at a friends house,

Then doing some things that need doing. I’ll be back eventually.

Whatever, let her cheat. Her loss. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll get catfished and killed. HA, oh boy wouldn’t that be something else. He can only hope. He goes to the living room. Sits on the couch, and flicks on the news. A breaking story, oh this should be interesting. The reporter comes on screen, looking concerned, even frightened. It reminded Amadeus of how he imagined the reporters must have looked on the day of those attacks on the twin towers he learned about in middle school...before of course the teaching of 9/11 was banned.

“A horrible, tragic, and terrifying terror attack on the NWO today. None other than Judicator Garrison, one of them at least, assassinated by an unidentified individual, who is currently on the run being chased down by the police. He was last seen right outside of twenty-nine Palms California, towards Joshua Tree World Park. If you have any information on the individual, please contact us at this number,” a number appears on the bottom of the screen, “or report them to the local police,” The reporter says.

Amadeus stares at the TV for a moment in pure shock. After a few moments, he implodes into an extensive fit of laughter. After finally gathering his composure after a couple of minutes he gets up off the floor.

“Crikey,” he says, “who in God’s name did that?”

His phone rings.

“Jack!” He says after picking it up.

“Amadeus,” Jack says, “did you see the news?!”

“Yessir, I did! What kind of absolute mad lad did that?”

“I dunno but we have to get our hands on him!”

“Amen brother..amen!”

They say goodbye, and hang up. Amadeus wipes away tears of mixed joy and laughter and sits back down on the couch, in pure disbelief. If his Chinese crew succeeded, that would be two in one day! How could it get any better?

Amadeus doubted it could.

7

Shang-Woo Sat in the van piloted by his brother, surrounded by ones like him. The two vans following him were the same. Filled with eight Desperado fighters each. Twenty-four in total, Shang-Woo felt confident it should be enough. They were armed with various guns. AKs, M16s, Bennellis, SCARs, and Shang-Woo had his personal favorite, a Kriss Vector chambered in 9mm. One weapon was consistent between them all, they each had a .45 caliber Glock-19. Not to mention they used exclusively hollow points in the Glocks, much better at getting the job done.

Shang-Woo knew they would be able to do it, but he didn’t know how many casualties there would be, he thought he had a good idea, but what he didn’t know was that his idea was very wrong.

They finally pulled up to the nightclub Chenglei had all to himself. 醉酒的龍 it was called. In English, it was The Drunken Dragon. The vans stopped and all twenty-four of the men piled out one by one. Two went to each of the alleyways between the building just to be safe. The other twenty crowded around the door. Shang-Woo was the one to kick in the door. He went in, firing his weapon at anything that moved. It was sensory overload at its finest. Bright neon purple, red, blue, and green lights flashed every which way. Smoke from both smoke machines and whatever Chenglei was smoking filled the room. The bright designs of dragons popped off of the walls. Not to mention the 20 guards that immediately started firing back. They all had M4A1 rifles, chambered in 5.56, and Shang-Woo died almost immediately on entry. A bullet to the left lung, right leg, and right between the eyes ensured he was done for good.

The rest of the Desperado troops piled in, them and the NWO forces trading shots and lives. A guard took a bullet to the heart here, and some random Asian man who had only learned to use a gun three months ago took five to the stomach there. Sadly, the bartender was caught in the crossfire, his life disappearing in a flash, along with all of his hopes of someday moving to what was once The United States but is now just America. More guards and Desperado ‘soldiers’ die, eighteen guards in the initial firefight as well as sixteen Desperados. Who would have guessed, these nobodies slaughtering highly trained military personnel. Two guards were able to get out the back door with Chenglei though, but still, they made one fatal mistake.

They underestimated the Desperado Undead. The soldiers led Chenglei into one of the alleyways. The two Desperados in it immediately took out the guards like it was nothing, but Chenglei managed to slip away. He runs across to the other side, praying they didn’t put troops there. But they did, and as soon as he walked into their sight, the two soldiers immediately reacted by both unloading their 30 round magazines into him. One night, two assassinations. Sucks to suck as Jack would have said. He had a wide array of colorful phrases such as this, many being much, much more profane.

The two who killed Chenglei would become legends in the years after, being loved by friends and family more so than ever before. Strangers even occasionally ask for autographs. But the effects on them would be worse than they expected. Dreams, every night, seeing a man become a red sponge before them. He might have been awful but they never got over what they did. One of them, Chi-Lin, would even begin to have visions of Chenglei’s brutalized body in his day-to-day life; it haunted him to the point that he took his own life exactly six years after killing the Judicator.

It is an awfully sad part of our story, a sad prospect you may have never thought of if I hadn't brought it up, but it’s an important part nonetheless. These are people, and their actions take a toll on their lives. But it’s for the better of humanity, never forget that.

It’s all for the best.

8

Amadeus stood behind the stage, five minutes before the speech he was to give regarding the assassination of Chenglei and one of the Garrisons. Those five minutes and the main part of his speech were all a blur, even an hour afterward, he couldn’t quite fully remember any of it. He wasn’t sure why, but it happened just about every time he did a speech. But he could remember the end.

“FIND FAITH IN MY EXISTENCE, I AM THE RESISTANCE,” he screamed.

“FIND FAITH IN OUR EXISTENCE, WE ARE THE RESISTANCE,” the crowd of all 2,357 residents of Staria screamed back.

He was tired of being sick and sick of being tired. He had a broken body, he was barely breathing, and he had a bleeding will to inspire. But this was true. They had to have faith in him because he was the resistance.

And he had to have faith in their existence because They were the resistance.

He was the Desperado, and they were The Desperado Undead.