The stars formed a carpet in the sky, radiating with such beauty that one couldn't help but be dazzled by it. The warm wind blew gently across the green grass as it went it's way. The moon shined so bright that the environment was as clear as day, while the body of a woman laid unconscious on the grass. The smell of smoke woke her up slowly, making her to later cough and cover her mouth and nose with her left hand. She looked round to see where the source of the smoke was and saw that it was a little further down from her north. She stood up weakly and walked towards the source while holding her left shoulder with her right hand. She stopped once she got close enough to recognize a large bonfire burning up a corpse, while a figure sat still on the ground and watched the process in silence.

"Joe?", asked the woman as she took a step forward.

"Welcome back, Rose", I replied without looking at her.

Tears welling up her eyes as she fell on her knees and exclaimed while hitting the ground with her arms, "Why! Why did you save me?!".

I kept quiet and continued observing the burning corpse of my wife.

"You were supposed to save her! She should have lived, not me!", exclaimed Rose Mary as she began crying with her face down.

"Unfortunately, she thought the opposite".

"Huh? What do you mean?", asked Rose as she turned her attention towards me. I sighed, and then explained to Rose what happened.

Just as I was about to administer the antidote on Ana, the latter suddenly caught it from my grasp, broke the capsule and drained its contents into her mouth. She then bends over to Rose mouth and passed on the liquid through mouth-to-mouth. After that, she fell back on her previous spot while Rose coughed first before falling unconscious again. To my amazement, the blood streaming from the bite mark on Rose' neck retracted back to the wound before the wound closed.

Ana gasped heavily as she stared at the ceiling, before laying her eyes on me who was stunned at the turn of events. Weakly, she smiled and said, "It's been a while Joe".

At first, words failed to come out from my lungs. Disbelief held me down as I could not understand what was going on.

"Joe?... Is there something wrong?", she asked while coughing in between.

"I-Is this really happening? Are you really Ana?", I asked as tears were flowing from my eyes.

"I see. You must have been through a lot. It is all my fault dear. I'm sorry".

"No!", I exclaimed while tugging her clothes. "It is not your fault! It's mine and my father's! If only we did not go through with the project! If only we had listened to Max. If only-", I broke down in tears while burying my face on her thighs.

"Do not... cry dear. We all... make mistakes sometimes. We... just need to ensure that we have the... power to fix them, to save the world", she replied while rubbing my head with her left hand.

"I don't care about this world. My life has been hell from the moment I turned you into a monster. I don't want to lose you ever again".

She sighed and replied, "I cannot be saved Joe. My hands", she stopped and looked her right hand, "Have claimed too many lives. I always see their deaths every time I kill them. I've been living in that nightmare for far too long. It is time, for me to rest".

I held on to her clothes more tightly and asked, "Why won't you let me save you?".

"It's just as she said. You can only save one of us".

"This doesn't make any sense. I have the cure right here. Why won't you take it?!".

"Because Rose' father didn't made the cure. He did, the one behind all of this".

I immediately sat up straight and paused for a while, until it later became more and more clearer to me.

"Y-You mean he's the one who made the cure?".

"Yes. He... Urgh!", she spat out some blood before continuing, "Has been toying... with us from the start. If you... waste it on me, this... world will be done for".

It was then that it all made sense to me. From the onset, everything that had happened was pre-determined; those who will live and those who will die, my choices and my consequences, the people I've met so far, the fact that I couldn't develop a cure but Peter could, and the series of events that had unfolded. Everything was already at the palms of someone's hands. Just thinking about shook me to the bones and gave me headaches.

"I think... she's figured out how... you can save the world Joe. Please... give up on me and... redeem yourself".

Slowly, while crying, I pulled her close to me, hugged her tightly and said, "I love you. I always loved you. I'll save this world, and kill that bastard with my own two hands".

She smiled and replied, "Thank you... for everything... dear". She then breathed her last breath, and the sounds of my cries increased as I held her more tightly.

"Indeed", said a sinister voice meters behind me, "What profit is there for a man to save the whole world and lose his own family. Truly a sad tale for the life of Joe Benson".

I stopped crying and slowly turned my neck to look over my left shoulder with bloodshot eyes. There stood the antagonist of my story, wearing a red devil mask to hide his face while dressed in black all over. "Are you done crying Joe?", he asked and then chuckled, "Shouldn't you continue following the script as you've always been and see it to the end".

"Script?", I asked I let go of Ana's body, removed the Jack Knife from her heart, stood and looked at him with so much murderous intent, "Are you telling me that this all seemed as some sort of drama show?".

"Pardon? I thought you knew about this. Haven't you been playing the part of the devil's victim so well?", He asked while grinning wildly.

"What the hell do you mean by that?".

"I see. You haven't heard the story of The Devil and His Victim. The victim suffers at the hands of the devil who torments him and kills all his friends and loved ones. The victim contemplates suicide, but the devil refuses to let him escape his living hell. After he had suffered more than enough, he vowed to end the devil with his own hands once and for all. Isn't that an intriguing story?".

As soon as he finished talking, I was already dashing towards him with the knife on my right hand aiming for his mask. He bent his head to his left side, avoiding the knife while commenting, "The other characters in the victim's stories are disposables after all".

I enraged as a I heard those words. I landed on the wall with my feet and dashed towards him with incredible speed. I tried hitting his left shoulder but he dodged swiftly and jumped away. My attack destroyed the area he stood while creating debris which concealed me.

"His family was trash", he commented as I rushed out of the debris and tired slashing him repeatedly, "His friends were weak. His close friend was a liability. He killed his own dog. He couldn't save one person".

"Shut up!", I exclaimed and tried to slash his stomach, but he jumped back swiftly and made sure to distance himself with broken chairs, tables and glasses in between us, "Why are you doing this?! What the hell did I ever do to you?!".

"You asking why?", asked Red Devil as he scratched his chin. He then gave a wicked grin and replied, "Because it's fun".

I paused and stared at him. "Fun?", I asked while looking at me with my eyes that looked like they would pop out anytime, "You did all this, just for fun?".

"Why of course. Everything I did was to ensure that I took my time destroying you physically, mentally, and emotionally. I had to be very delicate about how to watch you suffer, to feel useless as your loved ones died, to feel incompetent as you couldn't even figure out how to solve the virus, to feel devoid of your humanity. You don't need those extra you call people. You only need me, and not the thing you called your mother".

As if I just had a screw loose, hearing those words drove me insane. I no longer had any reason to reason with this bastard. All the while I was fighting him, Zombo kept screaming in my head to kill him, and now I was fully determined to end this bastard once and for all.

I stomped the ground with my right foot, causing the broken chairs, tables, stones and glasses to raise to my waist level. By tightening the muscles in my legs, I immediately began kicking each piece large enough to be kicked towards Red Devil. The latter expected this and dodged according, until he was too late to realize it was just a feint to allow myself dash towards him and try to knife him while he was in midair dodging two of my previous attacks. He grinned and brought out a small blade hidden in his clothes to defend against my attack.

"Interesting!", screamed Red Devil, "Let's see who wins this blade battle!".

We pushed each other back and then rushed towards each other, crossing blades as I attacked while he only defended. During our exchanges I tried swinging kicks at him which he dodged easily. Before I knew it I got kicked back in the stomach which hurt a lot and felt like my intestines would burst. I managed to remain on my feet but I coughed out blood after, while holding my stomach with my left hand.

"Oh, and by the way, I made sure to enjoy your wife, thoroughly", said Red Devil who later moved his mask up a bit to lick the knife in a disgusting manner before pulling the mask back to its position.

I tightened my grip on my knife with my right hand and managed to stand up properly. My hair hid the dark expression of my eyes on hearing those words. I took one step forward before shocking Red Devil by closing the gap between us almost instantly.

"Die!", I exclaimed and immediately droved the blade infused with my aura to his throat. To my shock, It was as it I had hit a strong metal, and the knife not only failed to penetrate a skin tougher than the metallain but also broke immediately. I looked up to see the wicked expression of Red Devil who I felt smiled underneath his mask and replied, "My turn".

A slap with the back of his left hand on the left side of my face sent me crashing into the wall and falling to the floor later. It was so bad that my face was partially disfigured. I coughed out more blood than I previously did and struggled to stand. Next thing I felt was a kick to the stomach which sent me up to the air while coughing out blood. Red Devil appeared above and kicked me on the other side of the face, driving me straight into the ground. He landed on top of me before dropping series of blows on my face and chest.

"Come on! Where did all that bloodlust go! Ain't you here to kill me? I'm right here! Come on!", taunted Red Devil as he barraged me with blows. He then picked me up by the hair and brought my bloodied face close to his neck. "Weren't you going to kill me? My neck's right here Joe. What are you going to do?".

I breathed faintly for a while, before yelling, grabbing him by the shoulders and biting at his neck. I screamed as I tried my best to bite into his skin, but unfortunately for me, my teeth broke instead. Despite this, I still persisted and drove my fingers into his eyes. To my shock, he smiled, held my arms and broke them effortlessly. I screamed and fell on my knees while looking at my broken arms and panting.

"Are you done now?", he asked while looking at me.

Even though my throat hurt, with blood in my mouth and my speech was not clear, I still made it clear that I was going to kill him. While trying to get back to my feet, he smiled and replied, "Yes! An unshakeable will! That's what I want to hear! You're following the script perfectly!".

I screamed inaudible words as I tried to kick him with my right foot, but with the back of his left fist he hit me in the head and stopped me for good. As I landed on the floor and nearly consciousness, I heard his parting words as he was leaving, "I'll be waiting for you Joe, to where it all started".

I spat out blood as I tried to stand using my feet only. "Get Back!", I managed to say that with my broken jaw as I struggled to run after him. "I'll kill you!", I exclaimed and then fell on the ground. I tried getting back on my feet again but my legs wouldn't burge.

"Zombo! What the hell are you doing?! Kill him!", I yelled as soon as my jaw repaired itself, "We have to kill him now!".

At first, Zombo didn't responded. Then he spoke, "He's already gone idiot. We... were no match for him".

"We could have killed him!", I exclaimed angrily, "I managed to pierce his skin with my teeth! We could have won!".

"We lost Joe. Accept it".

"No we could ha—".

"We lost! Look at the difference in power! Look at the damage you've suffered compared to the petty wound you inflicted! We attacked him recklessly and this is what we got. If he wanted us dead, we would have died before the fight even started".

I couldn't argue against Zombo's logic. Red Devil was better than me in everything. The power up I got from taming Zombo was significantly too weak. I was blinded by rage and suffered a horrible defeat.

"Damn it! I'll kill him. I swear to God I will!", I screamed these words loudly before crying over my miserable self.

***

"After my body healed, I went through the notes you brought with you and understood everything. Then I went to set up the bonfire for Ana and waited until you came", I finished explaining everything to Rose Mary who had sat close to me. She paused after hearing everything and replied, "I... I don't know what to say".

"It's alright. I know it's hard to swallow all this information. As far I know, I discovered two travelling bags with provisions that will last for at best three weeks each. The note on one of the bags said, 'Safe travels Joe', So I can already assume that our base has been destroyed".

"That son of a—", said Rose who later cut herself short and continued, "Should have expected that. What will we do now?".

"Finish the script. Go back to Washington and find the machine we will insert the cure in to save the world. Your notes didn't say where exactly it was, so we will have to start looking for them".

She sighed and replied, "Okay. I have a few friends of my father's there. They should be able to help us". She looked at the corpse as the fire died down and asked, "Ain't you going to bury her".

"No", I replied and got up to my feet. After the fire died down, I grinded the corpse to dust, put the ashes in a bowl and wait for the wind to blow. "I won't bury her in this harsh soil. Even though the monster inside her was evil, it wanted freedom, while she wanted redemption, and now I beg God to give them both", I said this and poured out the ashes to be carried away by the wind, "Goodbye, my love".

Rose watched me do all these and noticed that I didn't cry nor showed any sad emotions. My face could no longer smile, my eyes were devoid of peace, and my figure suggested that I would not know joy until I rid myself of my enemy.

"Let's go Rose", I said as I threw the bowl away and picked up my bag. She did as well and we both walked down the long road ahead of us. "Let's kill that Author".

Coming Soon:
MUTATION: MUTANT Z