Chapter 186: From man to eunuch.
Sunshine could feel the silence of the people around her. She was sure that all of them were contemplating the meaning of her words.
"I have already heard about the concerns some of you have regarding their weapons. We plan to sit down with their leader Chief Morris and find a solution. But what we have agreed to so far is that they cannot carry their weapons outside of their living section.
Like everyone else, they can carry less deadly weapons on their person. Stun guns, pepper spray, defensive knives, tasers, stun batons, brass knuckles and other things like that.
No guns unless they are members of the patrol team. No arrows or machetes unless they are going out to hunt or training on the field."
She heard the relieved sighs coming from two comms officers and they almost made her roll her eyes. She was never planning to let the villagers wield their weapons out in the open. Especially not around the children.
"Further communications will be made by our communications liaison Lisha Quinn. Father Nicodemus would like me to remind everyone that there will be official Sunday morning mass beginning this week." Sunshine was announcing this while wondering if she needed to talk to Hades about taking the children to church.
Did they have to do it or not?
She was still pondering on that matter when she went back to work but this time, joined Nimo and the group which was showing the villagers their new residences.
****
The bunker lights hummed low, sterile. For days, the white house had been nothing more than a tomb lit with an artificial glow, its leader suspended between life and death. But on this afternoon, President Ceaser’s eyes snapped open.
The first thing he saw was the face of a weary doctor leaning over him, the stethoscope pressed against his chest. "Welcome back, Mr. President," the doctor said softly, though his eyes betrayed his worry. "You have been in and out of consciousness for a while now. You gave us a scare for some days."
The doctor, Henry Nickles held some pride within. When he went to work at the white house, it had always been his dream to save the life of a president.
While he would have preferred a president that had been shot by an assassin with a entire nation praying for a miracle, this was good enough for now.
Ceaser’s throat felt like sandpaper. He tried to speak, but only a rasp escaped. Then it hit him, not just dryness, not just weakness, but a sharp stabbing ache from below his waist.
It was the kind of pain that lived in the marrow, impossible to ignore. Memories of the source of the pain sped through his mind and his breath hitched in his throat.
His hand twitched instinctively reaching under the blanket.
Doctor Nickles caught his wrist. "Sir, please do not touch the dressings. I understand the curiosity, but this is something you need to prepare yourself for."
Ceaser ripped his hand free, ignoring the plea. His fingers clawed at the gauze and bandages like a desperate animal tearing away restraints. Each layer stripped back, revealed less of the man he remembered being. Then the truth was worse than what her had imagined.
There was nothing.
His genitals were gone!!!
He froze, trembling, imagining what it looked like between his legs where he could not see. He tried to sit up, caught between impatience and anger.
Doctor Nickles yelled for Lugard and asked a nurse to bring a sedative.
Ceasar’s determination won, and he raised his back. He looked down between his legs, hopeful that his initial findings had been wrong.
But the result was the same. The once glorious symbol of his manhood was no more.
A strangled sound tore from Ceasar’s throat. Then came the scream. High, broken, inhuman. It reverberated off the steel walls of the bunker, rattling through the halls, clearly heard by those that were close to the room.
"The bird....." his voice cracked, his eyes wild, tears spilling from his eyes despite his pride. "That damn cursed bird did this to me!" He slammed his fist against the bed rail; the metal groaned under his fury. "They have turned me into a eunuch."
Doctor Nickles stepped back. "Sir, there was nothing to do. We had to give you a penectomy and bilateral orchiectomy."
Ceasar turned to the doctor, then to Lugard who was just entering, needing someone to blame. "Where the hell were you when this happened to me! Lugard you were supposed to protect me!" His tone was laced with accusations. "That damn Elina! She was supposed to be my brick protector! Of what good are these superhumans? Useless! All of you are useless!" His voice shook, rising with each word. "Because of your carelessness, I am now only but half a man."
For a moment silence followed. The weight pressed in, suffocating.
Ceasar closed his eyes, chest heaving, shame gnawing at him from the inside out. Bet beneath that shame, something darker flickered: resolve.
"I will not live like this," he whispered. The venom in his voice sending chills through Lugard’s veins. "Find a way to restore me as soon as possible. Carson....find Carson. No... start sending people into the mist until I get someone with Carson’s abilities."
Lugard wanted to protest. The outside world was unpredictable, and the bunker was safe. Wasn’t it better to stay in the bunker for a while?
Ceaser’s glare silenced him. "I need you to find Dr. Lexi Arvin. If I cannot find someone with Carson’s abilities, I will turn myself into a superhuman with Dr. Lexi’s help. As long as there is mist, I have a chance." He said the words with dark determination of a man that would go to all extents to get what he desired.
"Sir, what you are proposing is risky...."
"I did not ask for you opinion Lugard." He snapped. "Brief me on what has been happening while you failed me." Ceaser wiped tears angrily from his face.
Lugard hesitated for the president did not seem to be in good condition, then he spoke. "We have remained sealed in the bunker since the incident. Communication from the outside world is scarce. Winter has come. Most of the survivors of the bird massacre abandoned the white house.
Ceaser nodded, his jaw clenched. The thoughts of the birds killing his subjects wounded him.
"There is more." Lugard continued carefully. "Like you suspected, President Finch lives. He sent messages through drones announcing that you tried to assassinate him, he branded you a criminal. He is also calling the wealthy and superhumans to rally under his banner. Our superhumans left for his camp."
The words were a spark to dry tinder. Ceaser let out a loud groan, face contorting with rage. "What did you say? Did you dare call him president?"
"Forgive me, Sir." Lugard took a submissive tone.
"Enough!" Ceaser bellowed, spittle flying from his lips. "I already declared the rule of martial law since it is an emergency situation. I will hunt Finch down and end him for real this time.
The superhumans that abandoned us will be captured and experimented on. I will make these ungrateful traitors pay for betraying me." His voice cracked with a mix of fury and desperation. He sagged back against the bed, chest heaving.
He looked between his legs and winced. He would fix himself, no matter how long it took. And when he found the means to kill those damn birds, he would slaughter them.
Maybe he would even take a trip to their homeland and stomp on their nests. He would wipe out the entire species.