Two Zombie Scientists approached an old farmhouse that stood in the middle of a rotting, abandoned cornfield. The first, named Dr. Patient, was a generally timid Zombie, and was only growing more nervous as he walked up to the front porch. The second, named Dr. Fizzician, was a bit more confident, and made it his goal to appear as professional as possible, showing no sign of nervousness as he set his sights on the person they had come for.

Sitting in a rocking chair on the old wooden porch was a Zombie with greyed hair and sunken eyes, gently and aimlessly strumming an acoustic guitar, as he didn't actually know how to play any particular song. He glanced up at the Scientists that had come to pay him a visit, showing clear signs that he was not happy to see them. Dr. Fizzician cleared his throat before speaking.

"Hello Super Commando. It's a nice and cloudy day today, isn't it?"

"I told you all to leave me alone." Super Commando sternly replied.

"Now now, is that any way to speak to a fellow Zombie you haven't seen in 4 years?"

"I know why you two are here. You didn't come here to ask me about my farm work. So out with it already."

Patient and Fizzician looked at each other as Fizzician gave Patient a non-verbal cue to speak to Super Commando.

"It's an order from Zomboss himself. We need you back, sir."

"Of course you do. You can never truly be rid of me, what with my...expertise."

"So...is that a yes?"

Super Commando stood up from his chair, leaving his guitar leaning against the wall as he went to open the front door.

"Come inside, if you will."

Super Commando stepped inside the house, and Patient and Fizzician followed suit. The three of them sat at an old wooden dining table as Super Commando brewed some Brain Coffee for his unwanted guests.

"Zomboss wants me to return. I imagine he won't be content with relegating me to executioner duties anymore."

"You were one of the most fearsome Zombie soldiers out there. The Plants feared you more than General Supremo at one point. I'm still not sure why you insisted on taking on a non-combat role." Patient recalls.

"Strange as it may sound, at a certain point my humanity was beginning to shake me. Though they may be Plants, I realized that they were still living beings with companions and families. How could I, in good conscience, continue to cause them anguish, when I too had lost my family to the war?"

"That's why you chose to be an executioner, isn't it? It was a compromise."

"You could say that. I would have been content with it, if you people hadn't lied to me."

Patient's eyes darted around with panic, uncertain how to respond.

"They had a child?!"

"Super Commando, sir! We only just received this information! Please don't be angry!"

"I watched a couple mutter their final goodbyes to each other as I shot both of them in the head, and you're telling me I've left an orphan in my wake?! That does it, I quit this army!"

"Super Commando? Super Commando, sir!"

There was a grim silence in the room for what seemed like an eternity, until Fizzician broke the spell.

"I understand your frustrations, Super Commando. We betrayed your trust, and we are sorry for that. But with all due respect, you are still a soldier. No amount of sympathy for the Plants changes that fact. You had a job to do, and you chose to abandon it."

"Perhaps. But there's no running from it anymore. And if I must be called back, I might as well finish what I started. How is she, by the way? That little brat of a Sunflower that pretends to be a mercenary?"

"Fire Flower? Not much intel on her, unfortunately. I'm sure she still doesn't take kindly to you killing her parents."

"Oh, forgive me. I would have finished the job had I known of her existence. I would rather end a child's suffering than prolong it."

"You...you wouldn't kill a child, would you sir?" Patient asked.

"No, but she is no mere child anymore. I have no qualms about ending her life now."

"There is one thing we know about her. She was last seen fighting alongside the high profile Plant soldier, Stuffy Flower." Fizzician added.

"Stuffy Flower...that complicates things then."

"How so, sir?" Patient questioned.

"Fire Flower will most likely hide behind that scourge for protection. Stuffy Flower has eliminated countless Zombie soldiers, and with such reckless abandon. Neither of them will be easy targets. We have no choice but to go for Stuffy Flower first, and using her to lure Fire Flower out of hiding."

"Well, I suppose if anyone is capable of taking out Stuffy Flower, it would be you Super Commando, sir."

"Please, do not grace me with empty compliments. This is something I must do, or I will never know peace."

"Do you even have a plan for eliminating Stuffy Flower? Intelligence has shown that that girl is the Plant equivalent of a Z-1000. Any damage we inflict on her is as good as nothing." Fizzician asked skeptically.

"I'll be honest. I'm not certain I'll be able to kill Fire Flower. All those years of sorrow have either made her weaker, or strengthened her resolve. But I assure you...Stuffy Flower will die. I will make sure of that."

Super Commando stood up from the table and began to walk away, into his sleeping quarters.

"Sir, you didn't drink your Brain Coffee."

"His last cup of coffee, and he chooses not to drink it. I think the years have worn him down. Just a shell of a Zombie now."

"I thought that was the point of being undead, the detachment I mean."

"Yes, our humanity. Such a pesky thing, isn't it? We can never truly be rid of it."

Super Commando came back into the room, dressed up in his old military outfit, headband wrapped tight around his hair, and his crossbow strapped to his waist.

"Take me to the Scientist labs. The three of us have some experiments to conduct. And I don't just mean the torturing."

Patient and Fizzician saluted Super Commando, to which he responded with another dull look, for it was an empty gesture to him. In his mind, he was going off to war for the last time, with nothing to look forward to. He was ready to die again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE (7/5/20): Though it may seem each day is bleaker than the one before it, sunshine will come someday. Turmoil can be used as a motivator to channel your strength and be better. And when the sunshine does come again, it'll be all the more bliss.