The Mutant King In Apocalypse

Chapter 9

Tina’s father, Lord Vincent, finally snapped.

"If your theory is correct," he rasped, his voice thin but still carrying authority, "then I am dead anyway."

He coughed, black blood speckling his lips.

"So there is no harm in the stranger trying."

The words cut through Tina's resolve.

Her eyes widened. This was her father, the man who never let anyone beneath their status even speak to him directly.

"Father, you cannot be serious," she started, her voice shaking. "You do not even know who he is. He could be anyone. A cultist, a scavenger, a—"

"Enough!" Lord Vincent snapped, bringing her to a halt.

The single word cracked like a whip. Tina's mouth closed instantly.

She stood there, her fists clenched, her whole body trembling with rage and helplessness. But she could not push further. Not when he used that tone.

Lord Vincent looked at Rufus with tired eyes.

"If you have something that can help," he said slowly, "do it. I do not have time for pride."

Tina glared at Rufus like this was all his fault. She stepped close to him, close enough that her breath touched his ear.

She whispered into Rufus's hearing, her voice low and full of poison.

"You won this time," she hissed. "But if anything happens to my father, you are dead."

Rufus said nothing. He had heard worse threats today.

Meanwhile, Rufus got on his knees beside Lord Vincent and started working on the wound.

He placed his hands over the infected bites. The skin was dark and swollen, black veins crawling up like snakes under the surface.

The moment his palms touched the old man's skin, that power surged through him again. It flowed down his arms and poured into Lord Vincent.

Tina watched with a scowl on her face.

She stood a few steps away, her arms crossed tightly. Her scowl grew deeper as the seconds passed.

"This is a waste of time," she said.

Rufus ignored her completely. He focused on the virus instead, seeing it move through Lord Vincent's bloodstream like black smoke.

He gritted his teeth and forced his will against it. The infection fought back, making his head pound.

"This is a waste of time," Tina repeated.

She paced behind him, her boots crunching on broken concrete.

"You have no equipment, no medicine and no cure. Do you think this is a TV series? You are just playing with a dying man."

Rufus kept working. He could feel the virus retreating slowly, pulling back from the vital organs.

Minutes passed and Tina kept talking.

"This is completely pointless," she said again. "Look at him. Does he look any different? This is exactly what I said would happen."

Then Rufus removed his hands and stood up.

"I am done," he said and there was no change.

Lord Vincent looked exactly the same. The black veins were still there. His breathing was still heavy. His skin was still pale and cold.

Tina's eyes filled with rage.

"Done?" she repeated, her voice thick with disbelief. "You are done? You did absolutely nothing!"

She stepped toward him, every movement sharp with anger.

"Look at him! He looks exactly the same! This is what I said from the start!"

Rufus brushed dust off his hands.

"I did what I could do." he replied calmly.

Tina laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"What could you do?" she scoffed. "You sat there and stared at him like some street prophet. My father is dying and you used him as entertainment."

She stepped closer, her hand moving to her knife.

"My brothers will be here soon," she added with a sharp smile. "When they arrive and see what you did, you will wish the zombies had finished you."

Rufus looked at her, then at Lord Vincent, then back at her.

Her hand flew to her knife, rage burning in her eyes.

Rufus did not wait for her reply. He turned and walked away.

His footsteps echoed down the corridor. He felt drained and empty, like the power had taken something from him.

Tina glared at his back, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths.

She was still too angry to notice her father.

She was too lost in fury to pay attention to anything else.

Until her father started coughing.

It was different this time. Sharp and sudden, not the weak fading cough from before.

"Father?" she gasped, spinning around.

Lord Vincent's body jerked as coughs racked through him. Black blood spurted from his mouth again.

Tina rushed to his side, dropping to her knees.

"Father, talk to me! Are you in pain? Did that bastard make it worse?"

She reached for his shoulders to steady him.

That was when she saw it.

His skin was changing.

The black veins that had been crawling up his neck were shrinking. They were pulling back, retreating like shadows running from light.

His skin was returning back to normal. The grey tone faded, replaced by natural color. Like the turning process was reverting.

Tina froze, her hand hovering above his shoulder.

Her eyes moved from the fading veins to her father's face. His breathing steadied. The cloudiness in his eyes cleared.

"What is happening?" she whispered.

She was stunned beyond all measures.

Everything she had thrown at Rufus hung in the air now, useless and wrong.

Lord Vincent coughed a few more times, then relaxed against the wall. He opened his eyes, and there was clarity in them for the first time since she found him.

"Tina," he breathed, his voice rough but no longer drowning.

She stared at him, her mouth open.