Chapter 7!

EDIT/NOTE - This was the first chapter that I started my Special Thanks before the revamp/re-construction of this story! So they will be on some of the chapters and not on others because I broke some of the chapters up if they were really long. I wanted to leave the Special Thanks there though for the hell of it and for memories. I can be nostalgic at times! :)


Special Thanks(-Kind of)

xMechaSheikx - I do so enjoy your reviews! You convey energy over the internet to me and make me want to write more! How I long to share Ed's secrets with you right now...I want to write all the chapters all at once...Sadly, I can't. Patience to both of us, right? Thanks again for all the reviews :)

YourBestFriendAizen- Good to see you finally read chappy 5. I'm happies. heh, so true about the review thingy too...lol...thankz for the review! I'm glad someone liked the German stuffs, too. I'm also thinking some peoples didn't review because they wanted to see Dempsey(happy or no), right?

To anyone else who may be re- nevermind, you know what I want, right? I will take constructive criticism and advice if you want to give me some but you don't because you think I'm going to be offended or something...

Guests(Peoples without accounts) I will gratefully accept your reviews too. ;)


German Translation -

Nein, bleiben zuruck - No, stay back


VII. Morally Gray

The four men, dressed in embellished armor, stood in the hall. The decorated walls stood tall, supporting the equally fancy ceiling high above their heads. They were staring at a proud-looking man dressed extravagantly, sitting on a throne. A intricate golden crown graced the man's brow, and he had a strong face, bearded and aristocratic. His hair fell loosely on his shoulders.

"You expect me to believe...that you come here...as messengers from God?" The man on the throne said, his voice commanding, deep.

"Yes, you are the Holy Roman Emperor. That's why we came here." Replied the tall man in front, his angular face relaxed.

There was a long pause as the man thought on that.

"If what you say is true...why not go to the pope? He is the leader of the church."

"The pope has shirked most of his duties." The man explained. "But we need an elite group to guard that which is most precious to Him. You are the most devout Christian leader of all kings...we have decided to bestow this honor unto you."

"This precious thing...do you have it with you?"

"Yes, you will know, when you see it, that we are not lying." The messenger said and brought out a sample of a glowing blue rock, and continued as he saw it fill the man's eyes with greed.

Humans. He mused.

"So do you accept the honor...to guard this treasure with your strongest, King Charlemagne?"


Richtofen sat up, staring at the papers in front of him. He'd slept on them. "Ughhh...Nein, not again."

His candle was burning low and the dim light was flickering, threatening to fail. He sighed and stood up, stretching. He squinted at his work, then left the room, taking the light source with him. It was cold, but he barely noticed.

He crossed the seemingly empty bunk, trying not to think on why it was empty. He had no time to fall into a depression at that moment. He had more important things to do.

He walked to Maxis's door and knocked. "Maxis, I think I've come up with that solution you wanted, it just needs a few minor tweaks... Maxis?" He stood there a few moments. No answer. "Ludwig?" Maybe he was asleep. He pushed the door open and looked in, holding his sputtering candle out before him.

The bed was empty, and the blankets were strewn about on the floor like a circus clown had been juggling them.

Maxis was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he?" He muttered to himself. He turned and gave a cursory search over Bunker One. No Maxis anywhere.

It took him a moment to figure out what that meant. He's gone for the staffs...hasn't he? If he hadn't already been so emotionally exhausted, then he would've been angry and horrified at such a dumb decision, but he only felt annoyance.

He located his Ray Gun, knowing he would have to fetch the old man.

Oh no you don't Maxis, you aren't going to die on me too. He thought.

He went through the door leading outside into the cold night. It was flurrying outside and he noticed that there was a weird cloud formation high in the sky. The nimbus cover was swirled like cotton candy, and the clouds seemed layered in circles. There was a dip in them that lead up into the heavens. A bright, unnatural blue light emanated through the hole of the clouds.

Was the element doing this, too?

He quickened his pace and made it through the trenches, unharmed. He was alert and found he could see quite a bit thanks to the unnatural light. It was definitely not a typical night. Although, there was nothing typical about what was happening here.

He had just reached the workshop when he heard a moan in the dark. He quickly turned his gaze upward as an undead dropped into the trench, mouth gaping. It's tattered body was contrasted by a mostly-fresh soldier's uniform, only stained with mud and blood. Its visible skin was covered in multiple injuries. It walked with a slight limp.

Edward dispatched it quickly with a burst from his Ray Gun.

Outside the workshop, fresh corpses strewn about with bullets laid on the ground. Bullet casings gave testimony to the fight that had taken place and a eerie feeling had settled in the wake and aftermath. He found the door to the workshop wide open.

Maxis's doing, no doubt.

He walked in cautiously.

"Maxis?..." He called softly, eying the shadows carefully, weary of anymore undead.

"Edward...I was a fool..." Rasped a voice weakly inside.

Richtofen noticed a dim light coming from the other side of the room. "What do you mean?"

"The staff parts are gone..."

"What?"

"And even if they were here...we couldn't get the elements for them anyway...everything's lost..."

Richtofen walked into the light, registering Ludwig collapsed on the ground. He heard coughing coming from the figure.

Maxis groaned, "I...thought I could do it Samantha, dear daughter...I was wrong."

"Daughter? Maxis, what are you talking about?"

"I...have...a...daughter..."

"You do not have a daughter, Maxis. You need help. Come on, ve can head back and I'll find the staffs later." He knelt next to the prone figure. I don't know how to keep this one together anymore. Richtofen thought, touching Maxis's shoulder. He felt the man go rigid.

"I don't feel right, Edward."

"Come on, we should go now."

Maxis began coughing fiercely again, his frail body shaking. Then he stopped moving. Edward shook him a bit and rolled him over, Maxis's eyes were closed.

"what are you doing..." The man opened his eyes and moaned, he gripped Edward's arm in a vice-like grip.

"Ed..." It sounded like a growl. Richtofen felt immediate alarm. the grip tightened.

"Maxis...why are-?"

"Help...meeeee." The sick man whispered, eyes turning yellow, he lunged up and tried to clamp his mouth onto Richtofen's sleeved arm, but missed. Richtofen gasped in alarm, and jumped to his feet. He yanked his arm free of the tight fingers and dropped his Ray Gun.

"NEIN! bleiben zurück!"

He watched the figure as it clumsily pushed itself up. His luck couldn't get worse, Maxis had been infected! Then he remembered something.


He led the stumbling figure into Bunker One and secured the door behind it once he was out of its reach. It couldn't move very fast, and dodging it was a simple enough task. He discovered that a newly turned zombie didn't seem to have as much strength. Then he had a strange thought, what if Maxis is somehow resisting the change?

"Alright then, time to test meine plans." He muttered, observing the limping undead nonchalantly. He was trying to decide the best way to go about what was to come.

Outside, a military barrage on the site began. Maxis's ill-judged call had brought them here, probably. Or maybe it was the strange cloud formation. Or maybe the frontlines had reached the site. The bunker shook under the assault and the awkward Maxis zombie toppled to the ground. Now's my chance. He leapt onto the collapsed zombie and tied it quickly, the zombie was too weak to escape.

The zombie was soon strapped to a table. He sighed, preparing the things he needed, and went over his papers. He returned to the table with the restrained zombie. He held a bone saw and a container full of green liquid, he placed the latter to the side. The tied-down monster moaned and its jaws snapped opened and close. Richtofen lifted the bone saw and hesitated just a moment before placing it on the zombie's forehead. He muscled the saw downward, ripping flesh and sawing bone.

Within a moment he was completely outside himself, as though he were viewing the scene from someone else's perspective. He was way past his misery and had seemed to have lost his ability to feel anything. He never hesitated. With cold, measured precision, he left a jagged cut that severed flesh and bone. He was careful not to cut the brain. The brain was vital to his 'cure'. The zombie seemed to howl and screech in agony as he worked, but it couldn't break the merciless ropes that held it.

He continued cutting ceaselessly and watched with a certain, terrible fascination as the light from its yellow, shining eyes died out, leaving empty shells behind. Blood ran down his hands, warm and tainted. He exhaled softly, the silence broken only by the tearing and cutting. He worked the saw along the edges of the skull until the top of its head came free like some sort of macabre cap. He placed the bloody saw aside and used a smaller knife to remove the brain ever so carefully, severing eye stems and the spinal cord. He placed the brain carefully in the container. He laid the container with the brain in it on a counter behind him and turned his attention to the lifeless corpse again, he figured it would be a good time to learn more about an infected body, since he had one right there. Never mind that it had once been his friend, his mentor, his father-figure. Never mind that it had once been very much alive. He was alone in a world of death, all inhibitions and morality had been cast aside.


End of chapter 7!