The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Epilogue: The Arch-Angel

The doors to the bar swung wide open as The Bartender cleaned the old wooden counter. He peered up over the brim of his classes, and saw the figure of a large, burly man, decked out with all kind of equipment and weaponry standing in the doorway. The Bartender returned to his cleaning and simply muttered, “How ya doin?”

“Fine.” The man said, striding into the bar. Each step on the hardwood floor was heavy, and cause a fair amount of squeaking as the man made his way to a barstool. “Awfully quiet here, huh?”

“It is.” The Bartender said “You’d think alcohol would attract more people in an apocalypse. Especially free alcohol.”

“I don’t think many people would expect a bar to be open.”

“Well, they’ll be in for a nice surprise then.” The Bartender laughed, finishing his cleaning and putting the rag back under the counter. “Whaddya want?”

“Do you have any PBR?”

“We sure do.” He ducked down and grabbed some out of a cooler right below the counter. He opened the can and handed it right to the man.

“Ah, a cold beer.” The man said, taking a slight sip “A big rarity anywhere outside D.C.”

“You come from D.C then? Or what remains?”

“What remains?” The man laughed “What remains my friend is a lot. D.C is still functioning perfectly. Probably the most well off place I’ve seen so far. Not a zombie for miles.”

“It has only been about five months now. Can’t be the only place like that.”

“Well, it’s probably the best place right now. Knox runs a tight ship, every time I go there I haven’t had a single problem.”

“Knox… wasn’t he running for senator or something?” The Bartender said, opening a can of beer for himself.

“He was, yup. But when D.C began to fall and leadership abandoned it, Knox took control of the situation and saved the city from the brink of destruction. We have power, water, order. There are a couple sacrifices here and there, but nothing too major.” The man said, taking another sip of his beer.

“I don’t think we’ve formerly.” The bartender said, extending his hand. “My name’s Arthur Finch, your’s?”

“Please, just call me The Arch-Angel for now.” The man said, shaking Arthur’s hand.

“That’s a funny name, Arch-Angel.”

“It’s a title. One Knox gave me to try and instill a type of fear or something in his enemies. It’s mostly for propaganda purposes.”

“What do you do for Knox?” Arthur asked, intrigued.

“I’m a scout, and a hit man when he needs it, but mostly a scout. Information gatherer, survivor finder, etc.” The Arch-Angel said.

“You here to kill me? I’ve only got a couple bottles of liquor to my name.” Arthur said, unfazed. The Arch-Angel gives him an amused look.

“Hmmm, you don’t seem that shocked or afraid.”

“I’ve dealt with enough bandits to not really fear death anymore.” Arthur said, still in a rather relaxed tone.

“Well, no need to worry, I’m not here for you. I’m actually not here to kill anyone. Only hear to follow up on some whispers that were going on around D.C.” The Arch-Angel explained.

“What whispers?”

“Stories of a man called The Regulator. Supposedly killed a Madman and rescued a bunch of people, then turned around and murdered three innocent people and wounded another guy. Word was he had a large camp of survivors somewhere in central or lower New York, but I’m not sure where.”

“Why ya lookin for him?”

“Knox just want’s an assessment. If The Regulator’s a threat, take him out. If not, invite him to D.C or just leave him and his people alone.”

“Sounds fair.” Arthur said, finishing his beer.

“Yup. Might not even finish it if I don’t get any good leads soon. I’ll just tell Knox it was a rumor, nothing more.”

“Mmhmm” Arthur muttered. He and The Arch-Angel shared a couple more words, but soon enough they were both done for the day, and the Arch-Angel walked out the door to continue his job, and Arthur returned to cleaning the counter.