Post by The Reaper on Sept 2, 2021 0:17:57 GMT -5
They say the weight of a mans soul is measured by the kindness of his heart. Kindness seemed like a forethought in this world of ours, when the measure of a man was simply the slack of the rope he threw to another. While the world rebuilt from thirty something years of war and apocalypse there were still areas that looked like the first days of the outbreak.
This zone was known as the Dead Zone, a section of the central United States where the undead and BOWs were protected from the massive population of humans and the damage caused by salt water and wind. The BOWs flocked here because they had no natural predators to hunt them down, while they were apex predators, humans continued to edge them out by just being far more resourceful and determined to get back to what came before.
He arrived on the edge of the Dead Zone in a small makeshift town made up of mobile homes and recent man made structures. He was somewhere in Arkansas in the South near the Louisiana border and Texas border. Give or take he was about twenty or thirty miles from either one. The shanty town was off of i49, they called it Mecca, but how far from the truth they really were. Sure enough though, the town was home to humanoid BOWs who escaped the shelf and other parts of the states and had come here for easy work venturing into the Dead Zone. He was very much out of place upon his arrival, dressed in a spotless black suit, white dress shirt, his hair a bit messy but still pulled back, his beard still grizzled to fit his new role.
When he arrived to the gates they stared at him as he smoked his cigarette, he had no luggage with him like the others who were coming through, no vehicle, he simply came as he was.
"Excuse me, where are you coming from," the gate guard asked.
He pulled from his cigarette one last time and began rolling it between his fingers as he answered, "Raccoon City."
"Bit far from home yeah? Why come to this shit hole?"
"Work," Reaper replied, "I'm a travelling musician, where I go the music follows and then silence."
The guard looked him up and down, "you don't seem to have any instruments with you."
Reaper tossed the cigarette butt to the side with a flick and raised his head to look the guard in the eyes, the other guard put his hand on the shoulder of his co-worker and leaned forward to say something quietly to him where Reaper couldn't hear and the guard waved him through without another word. The town was well protected, he imagined where Alice's daughter came from was worse off than here but also this place was newer, built by refugees and former mercenaries. There was law here, and more important there was an understanding that you didn't fuck with Mecca.
He crossed the streets, children played, people lived like normal, this was normal life for them as their spouses worked from here, they came as families and the atmosphere felt normal and natural, something Raccoon lacked in the present day. Masse seemed to be going on in what they called Town Square, he came to the corner and leaned to listen in.
A woman was standing before many many men, she wasn't speaking yet as people gathered, a hunting party by the look of it. She began, her voice was a bit raspy and she was young, yet he saw the weather on her.
"The Hex got spotted around Keen Sight moving equipment from a Hexacore lab. Looks like they're trying to clean the lab out and they did a mighty fine job clearing the facility, the fences are holding up keeping the horde at bay as well. We're going to gatecrash them," she said and there was a handful of people who let out their 'yeahs' getting hyped up.
"Not a good idea," Reaper said loud enough to be heard, when he was walking up the crowd began parting to give him room.
"Stranger, what makes you say that," she asked.
"At least ten of the twenty six remaining demons are with them, I understand many of you people are altered, but Umbrella's alterations versus the enhancements Hexacore gave them is a world apart, you'd be walking your men into a suicide mission," Reaper said, he stopped when finally before her, the crowd gathering back up behind him, he was smacking the back of his cigarette pack to get a fresh cig and put it between his lips leaning forward with a match to light it.
"Then what do you propose," she asked.
"Fuck this guy Amy, we know what we're doing, we've killed demons before," he said.
"I propose you shut your mob up before they end up food for the horde," Reaper said tossing his match away, "and I propose you revise your plan... Amy."
"Do I know you," she asked.
"Nope," he replied, "but you want to."
"Why, what makes you special," she queried.
"I'm the successor to the Red Devil," his reply came with the shift in his eyes, she saw the red hue come and go quickly and she noticed the shadows of the crowd shift and distort before remaining still again, others had noticed it as well and whispering followed. Some didn't believe him and they made sure to say it but he wasn't focusing on them.
The legend of the Red Devil was worldwide, what he did in the Northern Shelf during the start of the outbreak carried with mercenaries who worked for Umbrella and carried with those who survived encounters because of his and Ranka's involvement. As people travelled they shared the story of the Red Devil's of Hellsing. He wasn't as famous as say Alice was but his name alone was enough to turn heads and force a shiver down your spine. No one really knew what happened to him, no one knew if he was dead or not. The truth was far simpler, Alucard knew he wasn't necessary anymore and that there was one who could control the balance of power better than him.
"Who are you," she asked.
"They called me Danny Reaper at one time," he said pulling off his cigarette and blew the smoke through his nostrils, "but right now they're just calling me the Man in Black. You should know this Amy."
This zone was known as the Dead Zone, a section of the central United States where the undead and BOWs were protected from the massive population of humans and the damage caused by salt water and wind. The BOWs flocked here because they had no natural predators to hunt them down, while they were apex predators, humans continued to edge them out by just being far more resourceful and determined to get back to what came before.
He arrived on the edge of the Dead Zone in a small makeshift town made up of mobile homes and recent man made structures. He was somewhere in Arkansas in the South near the Louisiana border and Texas border. Give or take he was about twenty or thirty miles from either one. The shanty town was off of i49, they called it Mecca, but how far from the truth they really were. Sure enough though, the town was home to humanoid BOWs who escaped the shelf and other parts of the states and had come here for easy work venturing into the Dead Zone. He was very much out of place upon his arrival, dressed in a spotless black suit, white dress shirt, his hair a bit messy but still pulled back, his beard still grizzled to fit his new role.
When he arrived to the gates they stared at him as he smoked his cigarette, he had no luggage with him like the others who were coming through, no vehicle, he simply came as he was.
"Excuse me, where are you coming from," the gate guard asked.
He pulled from his cigarette one last time and began rolling it between his fingers as he answered, "Raccoon City."
"Bit far from home yeah? Why come to this shit hole?"
"Work," Reaper replied, "I'm a travelling musician, where I go the music follows and then silence."
The guard looked him up and down, "you don't seem to have any instruments with you."
Reaper tossed the cigarette butt to the side with a flick and raised his head to look the guard in the eyes, the other guard put his hand on the shoulder of his co-worker and leaned forward to say something quietly to him where Reaper couldn't hear and the guard waved him through without another word. The town was well protected, he imagined where Alice's daughter came from was worse off than here but also this place was newer, built by refugees and former mercenaries. There was law here, and more important there was an understanding that you didn't fuck with Mecca.
He crossed the streets, children played, people lived like normal, this was normal life for them as their spouses worked from here, they came as families and the atmosphere felt normal and natural, something Raccoon lacked in the present day. Masse seemed to be going on in what they called Town Square, he came to the corner and leaned to listen in.
A woman was standing before many many men, she wasn't speaking yet as people gathered, a hunting party by the look of it. She began, her voice was a bit raspy and she was young, yet he saw the weather on her.
"The Hex got spotted around Keen Sight moving equipment from a Hexacore lab. Looks like they're trying to clean the lab out and they did a mighty fine job clearing the facility, the fences are holding up keeping the horde at bay as well. We're going to gatecrash them," she said and there was a handful of people who let out their 'yeahs' getting hyped up.
"Not a good idea," Reaper said loud enough to be heard, when he was walking up the crowd began parting to give him room.
"Stranger, what makes you say that," she asked.
"At least ten of the twenty six remaining demons are with them, I understand many of you people are altered, but Umbrella's alterations versus the enhancements Hexacore gave them is a world apart, you'd be walking your men into a suicide mission," Reaper said, he stopped when finally before her, the crowd gathering back up behind him, he was smacking the back of his cigarette pack to get a fresh cig and put it between his lips leaning forward with a match to light it.
"Then what do you propose," she asked.
"Fuck this guy Amy, we know what we're doing, we've killed demons before," he said.
"I propose you shut your mob up before they end up food for the horde," Reaper said tossing his match away, "and I propose you revise your plan... Amy."
"Do I know you," she asked.
"Nope," he replied, "but you want to."
"Why, what makes you special," she queried.
"I'm the successor to the Red Devil," his reply came with the shift in his eyes, she saw the red hue come and go quickly and she noticed the shadows of the crowd shift and distort before remaining still again, others had noticed it as well and whispering followed. Some didn't believe him and they made sure to say it but he wasn't focusing on them.
The legend of the Red Devil was worldwide, what he did in the Northern Shelf during the start of the outbreak carried with mercenaries who worked for Umbrella and carried with those who survived encounters because of his and Ranka's involvement. As people travelled they shared the story of the Red Devil's of Hellsing. He wasn't as famous as say Alice was but his name alone was enough to turn heads and force a shiver down your spine. No one really knew what happened to him, no one knew if he was dead or not. The truth was far simpler, Alucard knew he wasn't necessary anymore and that there was one who could control the balance of power better than him.
"Who are you," she asked.
"They called me Danny Reaper at one time," he said pulling off his cigarette and blew the smoke through his nostrils, "but right now they're just calling me the Man in Black. You should know this Amy."