"The Center Pointe" Chapter 12

Chapter 12

    Not trusting anyone had gotten General Washington to where he was now, when this hell had started he was the first to embrace the new world.  He relished in the struggle and the misery this world had caused to others, but to him it had been a blessing.  A chance to live the way he wanted to without the repercussion that so called civilized society had forced him to adhere to.

          When the world had went to hell he had rejoiced in the new world with the most violent and bloody of celebrations,  he was the alpha male in this world and others had flocked to him in response, he loved the admiration and power he had received in this new world. He promised his followers a world made by them where they could take what they desired and answered to no one but him.  The General was the purest form of a sociopath there was and he rejoiced in his own knowledge of this fact, he loved who he was and made no apologies for the pain and suffering he inflicted on others.  The screams and pain of the weak brought him a shudder of orgasmic bliss.  He felt like god in this world and he wanted everyone to know it. 

It was mid-day at this point and the general sat in his throne, one day he would be called king, he thought to himself as two women danced for him as he ate a stew consisting of the daughter of one of them.  He loved the power he felt and the desperation to survive that people would do anything to keep themselves from harm, later he would make her eat the stew he thought to himself as the woman danced nude gyrating her hips trying to please him.  She did not know at this point what he was eating or the fate that had befallen her young daughter.  Later he would feed her the stew and watch as she shoveled the meat into her mouth, he would wait until just the right moment to tell her the meat that had been used to make the stew and he would revel in the pain and suffering this woman would then endure, the horror that would play out on her face as he told her would give him endless delight, maybe he would rape he next to the stripped bones of her daughter.  He smiled to himself at this thought.

The Generals line of thought was broken when his second in command entered the tent.  He motioned for privacy and the women moved from dancing for the general to the side of the tent, they sat on the ground eyes downcast in submission while the second in command approached to give the general his report.

“Sir we have been following the newcomer like you asked.”

“And, what have you got to report” The general said, his interest peaking at the news.

“Well he was spying on the hospital like you asked then we saw him get captured by two men that had snuck up on him.”

The General was interested in this because he had not really expected the hospital to have any inhabitants let alone a couple of armed men, his line of thinking had been that within the first dew days the hospitals would have been emptied and then overrun by the infected.  It should have been a hot bed of death but with his forces he felt he should have been able to easily take the building and use it as a base of operations for himself and use it to lure in more men and slaves.

His second in command continued to speak.  “When we saw him get captured we decided to sit tight and try and observe anything we could see.  It looks to us as if the hospital is decently guarded, there are snipers on the roof and guards at the entrances.  It seems to be a community there.”

The General was delighted at this news.  He did not feel that any survivors would be much of a threat to his force and if the hospital was occupied at this moment then that only meant there were more slaves and men he could add to his own forces when he took the place.

          His second in command continued.  “From what we could observe it is a community of men women and children and it seems that they are still clinging to the old world notions,  they have a woman as a lookout on the roof, and female guard watching the towers, they should prove an easy take for us.”

General Washington was slightly disappointed that the hospital had such a weak force protecting it he was looking forward to something more glorious in an occupied situation.  But this could also be a cloud with a silver lining because a community at the hospital meant there was food and supplies that would greatly benefit his forces.  This was a great opportunity to advance his power and set up a central headquarters for his future kingdom.  A place he could control and reshape the new world to his vision.

“If we muster up all our forces we should be able to take the place easily.  Also they let our new recruit go so that should make for an interesting battle, he should be able to give us more information when he arrives back here.”

Weakness, this only disappointed the General more, he was hoping for something much more lucrative in this upcoming venture.  But on the bright side this would be a great opportunity to observe the skills of his men so when a real war was presented to his army they could crush their opposition.

“Ok get the men mobilized, when Hal gets back here send him straight to me.  We move out tomorrow.”

          His second in command saluted a smile spreading across his face, he turned on his heels and left the tent in a hurry to address the men.

As Hal approached the camp he could see the a bunch of men scurrying around, the camp was full of activity, the gate guard let him in as soon as he was sighted and told him the general wanted to see him immediately.  As Hal made his way to the tent in the center of the camp he could see that all the activity was centered around the armory tent, it was immediately obvious that the men were preparing for a battle, Hal was not an idiot he knew that they knew what had happened to him, they must have sent another team to keep an eye on him.  He would have to be honest about what had happened to him or he would end up like the inhabitants of the hospital would soon be.  Trying to protect them was no longer an option and Hal felt a slight sense of relief that the weight of his knowledge was no longer on his shoulders, he had been afraid that his better sense would betray him and he would lie to the General but now it was obvious that if he had he would have sealed his own fate.

He entered the tent, as his eyes adjusted to the dim light he could see the General sitting in the makeshift throne, eyes staring intently at Hal as he approached the General, out of the corner of his eyes he could see two women kneeling in the corner of the tent eyes downcast tears brimming in their eyes, bruising was obvious all over their bodies and he knew that this was the future of the people had had shown him kindness and mercy.  There was nothing he could do for them so he decided the best thing to do was to be honest with the one person who could ensure his survival.

“So Hal, it is nice to see you made it back safely, I hope my assignment wasn’t too boring, did you learn anything at the hospital?”

Hal knew immediately that the General was testing him.  He knew what had happened to Hal but wanted to see if Hal would be honest with him, a test.  But the generals test was also an indication of the generals ignorance for it would be obvious to anyone with even slight intelligence that the general was testing him because of the increased activity in the camp, at that moment Hal could see the truth of the man before him, he was a sociopathic egotist whose pride went far beyond his intelligence.  It saddened Hal that in this world a man so undeserving of the power he wielded could rise to such a level.

“Well I was trying observe the place to see if it was inhabited, at first I thought I had selected a spot that had a good view of the building while also being inconspicuous.  From my position I was able to see that the building was indeed inhabited. I was able to spot several guards and a rooftop sniper before, I felt a gun in my back.”

At this information the general’s body seemed to relax and he began to recline in his seat satisfied that Hal was being honest with him.  He beckoned Hal to continue with the report, lighting a cigarette with a match and throwing the still lit fire at the women in the corner when he had lit up.

Hal tried not to show his concern for the women on his face as he continued with his report. He uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot as he recounted how the men had been able to sneak up on him and get the better of his, he told the General how they had confined him to a cell for the first few hours but had treated him well and had fed him and introduced him to the community they were building.  He described the building and the people, he recounted his conversation with the female sniper he had first spotted on the roof and how she had taken it upon  herself to escort him around the hospital introducing him to the people there and trying to play on his sympathies to keep their existence a secret, while there they had let their knowledge of the threat of the generals army slip and let him know they were aware of them, but they were hoping they could convince him to keep quiet upon his return back here.

The General seemed very pleased with the honesty of the report Hal had presented, if he was wary of Hals loyalties Hal could tell that those worries had been alleviated. 

When Hal had finished his report the general stood and approached him, he rested a hand on Hals shoulder,  He looked into Hals eyes for a moment as if searching his soul for what was in his mind, after a moment he seemed satisfied and patted his shoulder before turning and going back to his seat on his throne.

“Join the others, get a weapon, tomorrow we attack the hospital.”  The General then motioned Hals dismissal.  As he was leaving the tent out of the corner of his eye he could see the general approaching the women who began to shake with renewed vigor. 

Hal stepped outside the tent into the dying sun, he should have felt proud that this group of men had taken him in and trusted him, but all he could feel was a knot in his stomach turning and nauseating him.  Hal was on the verge of a realization that although he had been the bad guy in the old world, in this world he felt a need to protect the very people he had victimized.  He could not sleep that night the thought of what the renewed day would bring kept him awake, the face of the innocent men women and children kept flashing before his eyes, the horror of what they would experience in short order kept playing out in his mind like a demonic play and for the first time Hal realized he could not be a part of this evil.  After a while he made the decision that during the battle he would slip way and make for another town or place,  the weapon he would have would at least give him the ability to defend himself during his flight, It became clear to him that he wanted no part of this new world.  He did not want to witness the suffering of the weak at the hands of the strong and he did not want the ghosts of the innocent to haunt him.  He would run.  There was nothing he could do for the people of the hospital.  He would run and try to forget.

This was a night unlike any other general Washington sat in a chair by the bed in his tent smoking a cigarette.  He had just raped the woman whose daughter he had eaten earlier in the day.  She still had no idea what had become of her child and she lay in the bed silently crying and trying to endure the pain that had been forced on her by the general.  The General like to watch the pain and suffering he inflicted on people, the power he had over them gave him strength.

He crushed out the cigarette with his foot.  “Go to the table woman.” He ordered.  “It is time you received your reward for your obedience.”

The woman looked at him hopefully her eyes widening.  “Will you let me see my daughter then?”  She asked sitting up and looking at him expectantly.

“I think that can be arranged.” The general said with a disarming smile spread across his face.  “You have pleased me and I think you have earned the right to have your daughter back.” He said as he gently took he hand and led her to the table.  He had asked the table to be set with a candle and a fresh bowl of stew to be placed on it.  He motioned her to sit down and he took his place in the seat at the opposite end.  “Eat he said you have earned it.”

“When do I get to see my daughter?”  She said looking at him hopefully.

“After dinner, go eat.”  He said with a friendly smile.

That was all he needed to say, the woman dove into her meal with vigor stuffing as much as she could into her mouth almost choking at one point in the meal, she ate every last drop of the meaty stew and licked the bowl clean, it was a wonderful feeling to have a warm meal fill her belly for the first time in weeks, for a moment she could almost forget the horror as she got lost in such a simple act.  In the old world, food was so abundant it was easy to take it for granted, a warm meal was nothing, but in this world it was the difference between suffering and happiness.

When she had finished she looked across the table at the General who had been sitting there the whole time with an amused look on his face.  He seemed to enjoy watching her eat and this confused her and made her nervous.  This woman did not have a sociopathic mind so she could not have understood the joy that he got from exerting his power over her.

“Would you like some more, you look so hungry.”

“I would like to see my daughter sir.” She said quietly looking down at her empty bowl as if trying to decide what she wanted more.

At this point the general’s pleasant smile turned to one of madness and he let out a laugh that would curdle the blood of the devil himself.  “Oh my dear did you not see her, she joined us for dinner, your little girl has been here under your nose this whole meal, in fact I think some of her is still caught in your teeth.”  He laughed and laughed at the woman as she sat there trying to comprehend the joke.  It took almost a full minute before the realization of what had become of her daughter and what she had just eaten washed over her.  She sat for a moment in silence before a seizure of despair overtook her and she fell from her chair collapsing on the floor and losing control of her belly, she could feel her meal, her daughter rise from her gullet and go all over the floor.  She vomited uncontrollably shaking and choking sobs in between heaves.  The realization crushed her after two minutes of convulsing and vomiting the woman thankfully passed into unconsciousness.  The General sat there for a bit soaking up the despair in the room, he ordered another bowl of stew from the guard at the front of the tent and ate the woman’s daughter happily as her mother lay on the floor passed out from what he had done.  The power was like heroine to him, he kept trying to top his actions to keep chasing that high he would get.  In the old world he never would have been able to achieve the things he had done since the arrival of Nibiru. 

He could not wait until they had taken the hospital and established their new more permanent base in which to expand his power, he could not wait until he had some new play toy’s, he was getting tired of the women and children he had at his camp, he and his men had long ago worn them out and killed many of them so it was time to refresh his stock, plus many might catch a fair trading price to other groups his men may come across.

General Washington called on the guards to remove the woman who had since regained consciousness but was laying on the floor eyes open but obviously in shock.  The men were not able to get her to move even after kicking her in the stomach repeatedly, The General reveled in the fact he had broken her and told them to take her back to the prison cells, they would bring the prisoners with them tomorrow to the battle. 

No one knew it but the General had developed a plan he thought was a genius move.  He was going to use the mercy of the men at the hospital to take them down, he lay down in his bed taking a long drag on his cigarette proud of himself and his planning.  Tomorrow would begin the next stage of his rise to power, when they had taken the hospital he would declare himself king and appoint his second in command as general, he would secure is legacy in this harsh new world.  He would be king and the world would be his victim.  That night General Washington slept well.