Once back at the apartment above his shop you look over all the information the Old man had gathered. They were a pair of Harbingers now calling themselves the 'Lords of the New City'. They ruled a colony of around a couple of hundred normal survivors, they had no fear of them trying to escape as they city center was still flooded with mutants and other infected. The old man didn't know why they kept them all, maybe as an insurance supply of food. They control a vast horde between them with groups spread around in a large circle to completely surround the colony.


"Well it's not too much but it's a good start, I assume you have a cunning plan?" you say.


"As cunning as a fox!" He replies, grinning to himself about what must be a reference to something. "Well two options really, the first option is the obvious assault plan. We both push into the city center and grab every infected we sense to add to our horde then attack their little base right away. I know there are far too many infected in there for them to control them all so we would probably reach our limit of control as well before we fought. After that it's a matter of shielding ourselves and the horde as we attack them and wipe them out. Once they are gone we can overrun the pesky colony to the East of the city too using the more powerful mutants. The other option is for you to go in undercover and help destroy them from the inside as I attack from outside, it's a lot riskier for you, however if you physically attack when they are mentally attacking me you might be able to take them out before the fight even really begins."


The old man is clearly leaving the choice up to you now, he needs you after all.

You undercover, get inside and you can take out the enemy without risking your horde, more infected left alive means more ready to attack the Eastern colony after.

"I like the undercover plan, they won't know me so I can get inside and take them out personally as soon as you appear and take their attention." You say.


The Old man simply nods and starts putting the map away carefully. "Then we leave in the morning! I will escort you closer but once we near the centre you will be on your own. Remember to act nice around them, can't have them attacking you before you get inside!"


You nod back and snack on a bit of what you think must be a human bicep muscle before getting a couple of hour of rest. As the mornings first light arrives you grab a few handfuls of flesh and you both set out in the jeep again, this time towards the city centre.


It's not long before you cover a good distance, riding is clearly faster than walking and before you know it you are walking away from the Jeep towards the city centre alone, the Old man heading off into a building to set himself up for a few days.


"Time to get things going then!" you think to yourself as you begin sensing infected ahead of you, already some mutants mixed in with the normal shamblers and fast types.

You start taking them over, it's always best to move with your own little horde for protection

You aren't going to march into enemy territory undefended so you quickly grab control of any infected you sense until it finally turns to lunchtime and you have over a hundred infected following around you. "Old man was right; I already have a horde this big after only a few hours, this really is the jackpot for forming an army." You keep going but stop building your horde at around 150, You could control more but you realize that it is somewhat pointless as there are simply so many around you. Shamblers in every building practically, and since every building around is a huge multistory, that makes for a lot of infected.


You carry on forward, only stopping briefly to eat the rest of the flesh you had brought with you and by dinner time you are keeping yourself occupied by swapping out horde menders, dropping the shamblers and taking more mutants. A couple feel slightly different when you force your control over them but they act exactly the same once you take their minds so you keep them too.


Finally as night approaches you sense a very large number of infected ahead who aren't moving and when you reach out you immediately realize that they are under someone else's control. You are still deciding how to proceed against what must be over 1000 mutants when you feel the pressure hit your mind. You force up your defense against the attack like you had practiced with the old man, envisioning slabs of steel slammed up against the pressure of the assault but most of what he showed was how to attack so you know you won't hold out long.


You do know how to talk though, it took several days to learn but the Old Man had taught you a very useful trick and you send out a small thread of thought through your defenses and you feel the attack lessen very slightly and a voice finally enters you mind through it.


"This is unexpected, you wish to talk this time? Last time you attacked us you seemed more like the rage driven egotist than the chatty type." The voice says.


You quickly respond, having already thought through several possible conversations. "I don't know what you mean by 'this time' but I have never met you before, never mind attacked you." You immediately feel surprise coming from the other mind. "You are actually telling the truth, you aren't the one who attacked us before, you shared his colouring and came from the west so we had assumed it was him coming again. But in that case why are you entering our domain with an army?"


You respond carefully "I had heard there were others like me here, I didn't intend to attack you with my horde, and I just never like to travel alone for safety reasons."


There is silence for a time before an answer comes. "You may pass but your horde cannot, you must release them then pass through alone or there will be no entry."


You think about this for a moment

You who are they to order you about, they have their horde for protection and you have yours.

Who are they to tell you where you can take you own horde? You didn't train all this time with the Old Man just to be bossed about. "I'm coming in but I will be bringing my horde for safety, I can't trust you won't attack the moment I release them." You say as you begin forward again towards the gap that had formed in the army ahead. "I'm not going to bow to their wishes for everything; I'm the Alpha predator as much as them and they will learn that soon."


You get no response from the mind in the city and you let the link drop. "Good, they know not to try and boss me around" you think as you walk.


Sadly as you reach the army ahead they move as one large unit to attack your horde from the front and sides simultaneously. You are about to order your troops to fight back when your mind also comes under attack again and you are forced to concentrate on defense again while your troops are helplessly torn to pieces.


You know it's only been seconds but the attack feels like it's been going on for hours when you feel the enemy horde change a little and suddenly there are two minds crushing into yours with almost as much force as the Old Man used to use on you. One of them you might hold off but two of them quickly crush your defenses and sparks of pain shoot through your mind as the last defense falls.


The pain intensifies for a moment, past what you can bear so you are almost happy when it suddenly ends and blackness overwhelms you.