Chapter 150

The Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh - 9:06 AM

The wheels of the golden chariot easily cut through the snow on the streets. It was a surprisingly smooth ride for such an outdated mode of transportation and we made good time despite the road’s conditions. Corwin kept up the whole time, having an absolute blast running beside us.

Every so often we would run into a small horde of zombies. They were far beneath our level, however. It took some doing, but I managed to convince Jeff to sic the Evolution Hound on them. They were weak this early in the scenario and he had no problem ripping them to shreds after transforming.

While Corwin was usually a golden labradoodle, his Black Dog form was closer to a mastiff. His curly, yellow coat became short and coarse, and his brown eyes turned red. In addition, he grew nearly half again his original size and ash came out of his mouth when he breathed. That was thanks to the Bodily Inferno Compilation that had been fed to him, giving him things like flaming armor and fire breath.

“Just about there,” I said as Corwin happily rejoined us after going after a hoard, and I slowed the chariot down. “Keep quiet for now, and we’ll approach on foot.”

Once we stopped, Kayla and Jeff stepped off before I reverted the Kedjen’s Khopesh back to its sword form. With a gesture, I started leading them to the cemetery, though we didn’t get close. Instead, I stopped behind a line of cars so we wouldn't be easily spotted.

The Homewood Cemetery and Smithfield East End Cemetery had been essentially connected, though they weren’t one huge hole in the ground. The road between them and the concrete paths that allowed everyone to walk without disturbing the graves still existed, and there were several pits between those. They came in many different shapes and sizes, but everyone would have preferred it if they were one big pit.

Even with the sidewalks for people to walk on, most of the fighters here stayed on the outskirts of the cemetery. Hoards of zombies continued to crawl out and head right for the living, who were doing a fairly good job of keeping them back.

Standing in the street behind the various groups were Greg Davis and Olivia Hunt. They watched everyone else work while he gestured towards people who were doing well. I knew that their guild was already up and running, though they were the only two that were in it. The MVP threw his weight around and was using this as a tryout for those who wanted to join.

No longer in the same casual gear as before, Greg had donned polished silver armor from his shoulders to his shoes. This particular protection didn’t look like it would be very useful, however, as there were several holes that were practically begging for a sword or arrow to pierce through. Small streams of smoke came from each of them, giving him a somewhat hazy look, and he had another cigar in his mouth.

Olivia had changed into equipment suited for combat as well, though from here all we could see was an orange robe. There was a large patch on the back, but it was mostly obscured by her long red hair. She held her hand away from herself with a single extended finger, which ended in a small blue flame like that of a blow torch.

“Those two are the ones in charge?” Jeff asked, gesturing towards them.

“Olivia may be Greg’s deputy guildmaster, but don’t assume that she has any real power,” I said with a frown. “Alright, so there’s a bit of backstory here that I need to fill you guys in on. You both remember Pustibule?”

Jeff scoffed. “Kind of hard to forget.”

“You found him in the medical center when you went to get Jeff, he corrupted Amlex, and transformed a guy named Jeremiah Wilson,” Kayla listed. “Also, he killed himself when your girlfriend came to visit.”

“Which was understandable,” I said. “I could have easily asked her to take care of him and he wouldn’t be able to come back. Of course, my plan was way more complicated than that, but there was no way he’d know. Killing himself was an unnecessary panic move.”

Kayla sighed. “Well, if he died in Stanley and died in Etson, I’m going to assume that Hell has a revolving door for Demons and guess that you’re talking about him because you’re expecting him to show up.”

I nodded confirmation. “You’re right on that. One of the reasons I let Manny take off my arm with his axe was-“

“You let him do that?” Jeff asked.

Hesitating, I nodded again. Kayla reached up and flicked my nose. I blinked and recoiled before frowning down on her. “The Hell was that for?”

“First, because I wasn’t able to chastise you for hurting yourself back then, which we discussed back in Cordele,” she answered, clearly disappointed. “Second, because it was apparently something you planned on doing.”

“I’m calling foul on both of those,” I said. “I had to do it, and I’m about to tell you why.”

Kayla and Jeff both crossed their arms at the same time. “Alright, let’s hear it, Ant,” Jeff said.

“Y’all are something else,” I said, snorting in amusement despite the mood. “Zalzarog the Soul Drinker usually puts out a hit on me. Powerful player, multiple MVPs, the whole nine yards; I'm irresistible. Most of the time, it’s so points come to me and I get enough Demonic loot that my trip into Hell is easier. Not to become one, of course, but to convert it later. That’s off topic, so I’m going to leave it there.”

Putting my hands on my hips, I looked away from them towards the cemetery. “My goal was to have Pustibule take the bait and come after me. Figured he wouldn’t be able to follow me right away considering the speed we left Etson, but I want him focused on the object of his twisted new obsession rather than running off to cause all sorts of trouble.”

“You mean you, don’t you?” Kayla asked. “Are you sure he’s actually going to be obsessed like you believe?”

“That’s the thing about Demons, Kayla, they can’t help themselves,” I answered confidently. “I wasn’t completely sure until the Vespae hive, but I had a real strong inkling that he wouldn’t be able to leave me alone after I learned about Jeremiah.”

“And now you’ve basically invited him to come find you,” Jeff stated.

“Basically,” I said with a nod. “When I was talking with the Dealer yesterday, he said that the hit was placed but got rescinded a little later. Now, that hasn’t happened before, and the only Demon I’ve tangled with is Pustibule. I’m making an educated guess that he’ll be here eventually. The good news is, the scenario boss is sealed and will be for a while. He won’t be able to pull the same shit here that he could with Amlex.”

“Small favors, I guess,” Kayla muttered. “But?”

“But, Pustibule has already shown an inclination of wanting to make deals with Humans,” I sighed. “He tried to negotiate with me before I killed him, and he obviously did something to Jeremiah. Convinced Amlex to let him experiment on her, too, so that she would have a better shot at killing me.”

Kayla gestured towards Greg. “So you think this guy’s going to be the one Pustibule approaches?”

I watched as one of the people fighting zombies approached him and Olivia. He started saying something, and after a few moments Greg smacked him in the side of the head and started pointing back towards the hole. The man bowed, but did as he was ordered.

“Yeah, he's the most likely candidate. Greg Davis is a real piece of work,” I said, my frown deepening. “Narcissistic, power hungry, egotistical, abusive, and has all the faults that someone like Pustibule would twist and turn to gain trust.”

“You don’t think he’d just kill Pustibule for the points?” Jeff asked hopefully.

“He might,” I admitted before shaking my head. “That would be the best case scenario. But, no, I don’t think we’d be that lucky. All the Demon has to do is kiss his ass a bit and suddenly they’ll be best friends. It’s incredibly easy to manipulate him if you don’t mind being shameless.”

“Then, do you usually manipulate him or kick him off his high horse?”

I grunted, shaking my head again as I tapped my foot along the ground.

“Ant?” Kayla asked hesitantly.

“Greg Davis needs to stay on his high horse,” I said through grit teeth. “I absolutely hate it, the man has no scruples whatsoever, but Pittsburgh… needs him.”

“Why?” Jeff scoffed. “Isn’t this the same kind of situation as with Alexander? Just an asshole in charge, sitting back and watching others make power plays for him?”

“No, it’s not,” I answered, sighing as I leaned against a car. Corwin walked up and pressed his head into my hand, and I scratched him behind the ears. “Unlike Father Alexander, Greg gets his hands dirty. He actually does what he’s supposed to. He’s here because he needs a crew, but that’s it. His-“

I was cut off by the sound of zombies screaming, and a massive hand emerged from the ground. Just like back in Minersville Cemetery, a horrifying fusion of several undead appeared. The people fighting the regular sized enemies hesitated before running back to the street.

Greg dramatically snapped his fingers, and Olivia didn’t hesitate to bring her flaming finger up to light his cigar.

“Guess we’re at this part of the discussion,” I said. “Greg’s a Smoke Keeper. It’s a class that I’ve always wanted to try, but I’ve never been able to get the system to offer it to me before.”

“Smoke Keeper?” Jeff asked. “It’s gotta be strong if you wanted to try it, right?”

“Easily fourth tier,” I answered. “I’d put him on par with, or perhaps a little higher, than Jamie right now despite not having any previous combat experience.”

“That’s pretty alarming,” Kayla said with a grimace.

I nodded. “Apparently, he was suffering from cancer before the system came. Stage 4, and he wasn't expected to see the end of the week. Too many cigars for far too long, and he continued smoking even after being told it would make things worse because of course the narcissist thinks he knows better than the doctors. The system appearing made him healthy again, which he takes as the gospel truth that he was right and they were wrong.”

As we talked, the zombie monstrosity had fully emerged from the ground. This one was taller than the last, around 40 feet as a clean estimate. Not only did the larger cemetery spawn more undead, but also a more powerful pseudo-boss.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Jeff said with a frown.

“It would make perfect sense to a narcissist,” Kayla replied. “Should we be ready to help?”

“Kayla’s right. And no, he’s got this,” I answered. “As a Smoke Keeper, he’s got both offense and defense covered. And, worst of all, he doesn’t have to worry about resources like Mental Points to keep everything going. From what I’ve heard him brag about, anyway.”

I nodded towards the man and his deputy, though I didn’t really have to. Both Kayla and Jeff were watching with rapt attention. The giant zombie was starting to make its way to the road, navigating the sidewalks with surprising ease despite its size. Greg’s cigar was half ash by the time the enemy’s foot touched the street.

The Smoke Keeper exhaled, and a wall of white smoke fell onto the ground in front of him. It lingered there as the giant zombie raised its arm to slap downwards at the two. Olivia flinched, but Greg didn’t do anything. As the massive hand descended, the smoke rose.

It changed into a larger, much less detailed form that seemed to be molded in its owner’s image. The smoke monster reached up with both arms, grabbing onto the zombie’s fingers, and dipped. The hand stopped before it could hit the ground and was pushed back into the air.

The giant zombie was unbalanced by the act, and the smoke rose into the air to punch it in the chest. It staggered backwards, but stopped before it could fall. Not finished with its motion, Greg’s monster flew into the undead’s mouth, disappearing completely after a few seconds.

“What the…” Jeff started to say.

Before he could finish, spikes pierced the giant zombie from the inside. It started from the chest, the smoke monster attacked from the lungs but gradually started moving back upwards. The undead’s shoulders and neck were sliced through, causing it to lose its arms and head, before the latter exploded. A wall of smoke materialized in front of Greg, and Olivia hid behind him as gore rained in every direction. Everyone was splashed except for those two and us.

Where the giant zombie’s head once was, there was only smoke. A quick gesture from the Smoke Keeper sent the monster into the cemetery where it cleared out the remaining small fries with brutal efficiency. It took only a couple of minutes, and I didn’t say a word the entire time. I wanted Kayla and Jeff to realize exactly what kind of power we were dealing with.

By the time it was done, the smoke monster disappeared. Olivia pulled the fire from what remained of Greg’s cigar as he started yelling at the people he brought to get back to work. Then he crossed his arms and continued watching.

“So, yeah, that’s what we have to work with,” I said with a grim smile. “Absorbs smoke and can spit it out as a monster that fights for him. He also has a reserve stored inside of his body that he can use as defense, which is why his armor has holes in it. Did y’all notice Olivia?”

“Fire mage, right?” Kayla asked, adjusting her glasses.

“She fought for that class specifically to compliment him after he saved her life, the poor girl,” I explained. “While not as powerful as him, she can hold her own well enough. And where there’s fire…”

“There’s smoke,” Jeff finished. “Damn. We really don’t want Pustibule to start talking to him, huh?”

“Absolutely not,” I confirmed. “Thankfully, Greg’s predictable. He craves validation and praise, and he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. That means he’ll protect people, even if his reasons are screwy and his attitude sucks, which is what I’ve always been able to bank on. Pushhim down too much, and he will take his ball and go home, though.”

Kayla and Jeff both frowned, but nodded. “So we’re here to assist him, then?” she asked.

“You two are,” I corrected. “I’m going to start moving these vehicles to make a barricade. You know, funnel any zombies that break free away from downtown. That’s where most of the people are going to congregate with the Guild of Guilds being almost dead center, so, less accidental casualties that way.”

“I suppose this is what I signed up for when I chose to be a Double Agent, isn’t it?” Kayla sighed.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Sure is, sorry. He’ll probably try to recruit you two, but be gentle with him. His ego is fragile and deserves to be broken, but… we can’t. Also sorry for that. Let him know that Sol Ligatus is open to collaborating at the very least. I’ll join some of their raids personally. Lord knows Jamie won’t put up with him, and I don’t want to place too much undue hardship on you two.”

“Nothing better than a good boss, boss,” Jeff said with a chuckle before shaking his head. “Guess we’ll go see what a bad one looks like.”

“Be safe. I don’t expect y’all to get bit by zombies a lot, but if you do, I can use the angelic scalpel to remove the disease.”

“Thanks for the head’s up, psychic boy,” Kayla said before hugging me. I returned it before having to give Jeff and, of course, Corwin one as well. With a wave, they were off to help with the cemetery.

Turning around, I cracked my knuckles as I surveyed the vehicles stopped on the road. I had plenty of ground to cover, but the day was still young, and I anticipated an old foe to keep me company about halfway through.