Chapter 7: Civil Dead Unrest
Anthony Holmes was correct when he assumed that Bill Newcomb had taken the X-1 Serum before the nuclear bombs had hit the United States. The X-1 Serum had the potential to make a person stronger and become more invulnerable to death. But, after the nuclear blast, the radiation had mutated the X-1 formula turning him into an invincible vampire-like monster. After the war room bunker had collapsed, Bill managed to stay alive by feeding off of the dead bodies of Donald Trump and General Smith. He then managed to escape the rubble after the construction crew removed a lot of the debris that had caved in on the war room bunker.
Little did Anthony know, Bill Newcomb wasn't the only one taking the X-1 Serum. Thousands of other conservatives had also been taking it. They were secretly receiving smaller doses of the serum through their water supply. Bill was trying to create a perfect army of conservative super-soldiers that could help him take over the planet. Many of the people that were secretly receiving the serum were killed when the nuclear warheads exploded,... or so he thought.
It was 5pm. Construction crews were wrapping up for the day after working on the rebuilding project of The Capitol Building. A couple of the Crew Supervisors had stayed behind after most of the workers had left the construction site. They were discussing the architectural plans for the building. Suddenly, from below the Crew Supervisor's feet, a hand emerged from out of the ground. The hand grabbed onto one of the Supervisor's legs, and then pulled him to the ground. The other Supervisor tried to help him, but suddenly another hand emerged from out of the ground, and then grabbed him as well. They both screamed in pain as the claws from the powerful hands were crushing the Supervisors' shins. One of the Supervisors grabbed a 2x4 piece of lumber, and then started striking the hand causing the hand to release its grip. The Supervisor's leg was in terrible pain as he tried hobbling away to escape.
The other Supervisor was still trapped. "Hey! Where are you going? Help me!" He pleaded as the other Supervisor continued to try to get away.
Suddenly, the head of the creature that was holding the Supervisor's leg emerged from out of the ground. The Supervisor screamed in fear when he saw the hideous face. Its face was white, its head was bald, and he had long sharp teeth. The creature then managed to get the rest of his body out. He quickly sank his long sharp fangs into the Supervisor's neck. The other Supervisor looked back as he tried hobbling away to see the carnage unfold. Then the creature spotted the hobbling man. He then jumped into the air and landed directly on top of the Supervisor. He dug his claws into the Supervisor's ribcage, and then lifted him up from off of the ground. The Supervisor screamed in agony as the claws penetrated his lungs. The creature then pulled the Supervisor towards him, sank his fangs into the man's neck, and then ripped out his jugular vein. Then he dropped the Supervisor to the ground, and went to look for his next meal.
Similar things were happening all over the United States. The human subjects that were exposed to the X-1 Serum and the radiation were suddenly emerging from out of the ground, attacking everyone in the area. Apparently, the X-1 Serum took longer to kick in on the subjects because they hadn't had as big of a dosage as Bill had. Guns were no longer a weapon of choice for these mutant conservatives. Now they preferred their claws, fangs, and an overly abundance of strength. As the killer mutants realized that there were more of them coming back from the dead, they began to join together and travel in packs. In fact, Bill had already established a team of mutants and was planning to free the conservative survivors that were trapped behind the wall in Denver. Bill had his own plans for them. Other mutant packs would wander the southern border looking to seek out any unfortunate foreigners that were looking to cross over into the United States. Soon, no huge wall would be needed to deter illegal immigrants from crossing because there would now be a wall of bodies and a pool of blood to mark the borderline.
Bane, Man Bat, and Penguin had also made a pact to control the wastelands of Gotham. All three of them had been taking larger doses of the X-1 Serum before the nuclear warhead hit Gotham City. All of them had grown nearly twice the size that they had been before the nuclear blast. All having similar features like the sharp claws, fangs, and an unbelievable amount of strength. Many of the Penguins features had changed, now he resembled more of a rat than a penguin because of the weird whiskers that were poking out of his mouth and chin area. Plus it looked as if he was growing a tail. Despite the new animal-like deformities, they still seemed to have their wits about them. They would cleverly trap their prey in cages, and then eat them as a snack later on.
Several immigrants that tried to reclaim a home in Gotham fled to the out-skirts of town to seek refuge from the killer mutants. Bane had managed to track down a few immigrants about a mile from Wayne Manor. Two of the immigrants were a mother and a child. They were falling behind most of the other fleeing immigrants, which made it that much easier for Bane. After Bane had caught up to them, he swung his claw, landing a blow against the mother's face causing half of her cheekbone to be revealed. She fell to the ground bleeding and appeared to be unconscious. Then he stepped up to the boy. The boy was only eight years old, he was too frightened to even try to move. Bane looked down at him with his burning red eyes as if he couldn't wait to take a bite. Suddenly, just before Bane could sink his fangs into the boy's neck-
THUD! Bane's body hit the ground after the full weight of Batman landed down on top of him. The eight year old boy became even more frightened when he saw what Batman looked like.
"Go! Help your mother up and GO!" Batman demanded.
Just after Batman managed to give the boy direction,
POW! Bane backhanded Batman causing Batman to fly backwards towards the ground.
Bane got up and then lunged towards Batman, but Batman was ready, and kicked Bane away just before he could pounce on him. The boy quickly gathered his mom while the two mutants were fighting. His mother could barely move, but she managed to get to her feet and walk away. Bane and Batman continued to tussle for a few more minutes. Unfortunately for Batman, a couple more of Bane's mutant buddies showed up, outnumbering Batman three to one. Plus, Batman hadn't eaten for quite a while, so his strength wasn't up to par as much as the others were. He fought them for as long as he could, hoping to give the boy and his mother more time to get as far away as possible. Finally, Bane and his mutant friends got the best of Batman. But, no matter how much they clawed, kicked, or bit him, Batman wouldn't die. Batman laid on the ground motionless in defeat. Bane and the others gave up trying to kill him, and then went off looking for more immigrants to slay.
It must have taken Batman nearly an hour to gather up enough strength to make it back to Wayne Manor. After he got there, he spotted a trail of blood leading to the family room. The blood trail finally ended near the fireplace where the eight year old boy was crouched over his mother. He was crying because his mother had died from the injuries she sustained from Bane. Batman quickly made his way to the boy. He then grabbed the boy, pulled him off of his mother, and then pushed him off to the side. The boy was horrified to see what Batman did next. Batman sank his teeth into the boy's dead mother, and then began to devour her remains. The boy screamed and tried to run off, but before he could get away, Batman jumped up in the air, and landed in front of the boy, trapping him in the family room. The boy dropped down to his knees because he thought he was next to be eaten by Batman.
Batman stared down at him. "I'm not going to harm you! Your mother was already gone, and I needed nourishment after trying to save you from Bane. But, you can't stay here. There is nothing left for you here. You would be better off trying to make it to the border where you might be able to find food. Besides, if you stayed here, you might become the food." Batman warned.
The boy left Wayne Manor and began walking away with his head down. Batman followed close behind him for a few miles to make sure the boy didn't get ambushed by any mutant predators. Finally, the boy met back up with some of the other immigrants that had managed to escape from Bane. That was the first time Batman had tried saving someone in almost a year.
Meanwhile, Wild Bill and several of his mutant thugs had beaten and eaten the entire army of men surrounding the wall of Denver. The army men didn't stand a chance because their guns did very little to stop the immortal mutants. But, before Wild Bill could get inside, one of the army men had managed to get ahold of the United Nations and warned them that the mutants were attacking the Conservative District. The United Nations didn't want to take a chance of allowing the conservative survivors to escape. Plus, they weren't too sure of what was happening with the so-called mutants. So, they decided to send a plane to drop another nuclear bomb on Denver. That was exactly what Wild Bill wanted the United Nations to do. The survivors that had been held captive in Denver were unknowingly drinking water that contained the X-1 Serum. He knew that the X-1 Serum would mutate during the radiation exposure. Wild Bill could only smile as the bomb was dropped from the plane. The pilot of the plane could see Wild Bill standing there almost as if he was inviting the destruction. It hit the ground exploding with the same bright light that had been seen once before causing everything in the area to be obliterated. A few minutes later, after the nuclear cloud had dissipated, the pilot flew back over the area to see what damage had been done. He was shocked to see that Wild Bill hadn't been phased. In fact, it looked as if he had gotten bigger and stronger from the radiation. The pilot then decided to fly in lower as he was planning on gunning down Wild Bill. Wild Bill just stood there waiting for the plane to approach.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
The machine gun fire rang out hitting Wild Bill several times, but Wild Bill was hardly stunned by it. The pilot decided to turn back around and go in for another round of gunfire. This time the pilot wasn't prepared for what was about to happen next. Just as he approached, Wild Bill leapt into the air.
POW!
Wild Bill punched through the wing of the plane causing it to lose control and then crash into the side of the mountain. Wild Bill landed back on the ground. He looked around in delight as the conservative survivors were beginning to mutate. Now he would have his immortal army to help him take over the planet. They were now at the top of the food chain, and they were hungry.