After the Fall (28 page)

No, I did not mean to kill her. What would I gain by doing that? Would I take her seat and become King of all my kind? No, more than likely, one of the Elders would kill me and take my place. The ensuing chaos would dissolve the council and throw Anathorn into a swirling chaos that could destroy it.

The only thing left for me was to busy myself in looking around the house. Eventually I stumbled into the library, where I found many volumes of works that were saved from the destruction that came after the Fall. I picked up a volume of Faust and wondered at the similarities between us when a servant interrupted.

“Sir, there is a call for you.”

How anyone knew I was here, I’m not sure. I thanked him and followed him out. He handed me the ivory handset from the old-fashioned phone.

“Hello?”

“Mordecai, I need to speak to you,” Rayna said. She sounded reluctant, like she was under duress.

“I thought you wanted nothing to do with me,” I said, relishing the moment. I had every intention of asking her if everything was okay—at some point.

“I don’t. I mean, I do. Someone else—Jeb— Jeb needs to talk to you.”

“And why didn’t he call me himself?”

“He…didn’t know you weren’t here.”

“Which I’m not, as you’ve made it very clear you don’t want me there.”

“I
still
don’t.”

“And yet you call me to remind me of this.”

“That’s not the reason I called.”

“Then what is the reason? I would love for you to get to the point.”

“Not over the phone. Meet us back at the apartment.”

“I walked here.”

Her annoyance was palpable, even though the phone. “Fine, we will come to get you.”

Click.

I’m sure she was trying to avoid any witty replies. Honestly, I didn’t think one was needed. The whole situation was hilarious enough. I wondered what was so important that she would bring herself to speak to me after our scuffle.

Not more than a quarter hour later, they were at the doorstep honking. Jeb’s muddy 4x4 lifted pick-up truck could not look more out of place in front of this lavish mansion. Its very presence seemed to sully the atmosphere around it.

As I came closer to the truck, I saw the blood and dried gore on the sides and bottom of the truck. It was clear they had seen some action.

“Quit standing around and get in!” she said from the passenger window. The back window was open and I leaped up like a cat and went right through the window into the backseat.

“All right, quit showing off, dumbass!” said Jeb. Rayna smacked him on the arm. “Ow! Damn, Rayna! What’s the matter?”

She mouthed something to him.

“Oh, right. I’m sorry. I apologize. Please don’t have me punished, councilman.”

I looked in Rayna’s direction. “From the looks of it, you’ve already been punished. Shall we go?”

“Yep. Lemme get this thing in gear.” The engine roared and the tires flung mud all over the road in front of the mansion. The servant at the door went back inside with a look of contempt.

“Anyone care to tell me what this is about?” I shouted above the din of the engine.

“Let’s wait until we get farther out before we start talking about this,” said Rayna. We spent the next half hour in uncomfortable silence. When we finally stopped, Jeb pulled the truck over on the side of the road on a cattle-grazing plot of grassland. Cows looked in our direction and mooed in halfhearted alarm before going back to sleep.

I opened the truck door and hopped down. My dress shoes I had been given sank into the mud and almost came off when I pulled them up. The other two laughed at my expense.

“Yes, we’re having a grand time. Can we get to why we’re here?”

“Okay, Jeb. You’re up.”

Jeb took off his hat and scratched his shaggy blond hair. “It’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Try. Other than the cows, there’s no one but us out here. You have my full attention.”

“Well, you see, it’s kinda like this. We were going out and then everything started going crazy. They came up on us and we shot them. Some more came out of the woodwork and we shot them, too.”

“Can you try and get to the point?” I asked. Even Rayna looked anxious.

“Those damned zombies got up after I killed them. I shot them dead in the brain. Not just anywhere, but the
bottom
of the brain. Those suckers shouldn’t have been getting up no way.”

“But you’re saying they did.”

“Yessir, they sure did. They got right up and got Dan. I tried to get them again, those sumbitches, but they just kept coming.” At this point, he broke down. It looked like he was on the verge of tears.

“Okay, I get the point. Could you take us back down there? Are they still around?”

“I had to leave in a hurry. Rayna was the first one I could get.”

“And I helped him kill them off,” she added. “Their skulls were blown out. One of them even had arrows sticking out of his head. Can you believe that?”

I couldn’t conceal my surprise. “Did you just say…arrows?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said. I didn’t even know anyone around here used arrows. Guns are so much more powerful.”

“Some places are going back to the basics.”

“Looks like it didn’t help them much.”

“I’m done arguing with you. Did you take care of the bodies?”

“Yes, Mr. Councilman. We sure did. We put them up in a pile and burned them up all nice and crisp, just the way you like them.”

“I want to see it.”

“Don’t you believe us?”

“Pretend I’m from Missouri.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Just take me there. I want to make sure they’re destroyed.”

“Yes, Mr.—”

“And cut the councilman crap.”

“Yes, sir.”

I decided to drop it and got back in the truck. They drove back to the site of the skirmish. It wasn’t hard to find. The sharp smell of burnt flesh gave me an indication we were drawing close. I saw the heap of bodies and was amazed at its size. We all got out of the truck and went to inspect the corpse pile.

“See? It’s just like I told you. They’re dead and crispy,” Jeb remarked.

Unimpressed, I walked around the pile, looking at the blackened appendages. It looked like some of them had reanimated and tried to escape before the flames finished them.

“What’s this?” I said as I walked to the back of the stack. It looked as if several of the bodies had been disturbed. I noticed something moving. The badly burned thing ignored me and made a feeble attempt to reach out to my companions.

“Okay, so some of the bodies fell over and there’s one that’s still got some fight in him,” said Jeb. “We’ll take care of him.”

I reached into the pile and pulled what was left of the survivor. I held his head out to them. The thing snarled at them and tried to writhe free.

“You said all of them were dead when you left?” I asked Rayna.

“Damn right they were.”

“You see this?” I said, pointing at the large gunshot wound on the zombie’s head. “I believe you. The problem is, they came back.”

Rayna tried to protest, but it was hard to argue with the evidence before her. The thing she had killed hours ago was trying to kill her once again.

“I just didn’t shoot it in the right place. It didn’t do enough damage. I screwed up. Doesn’t happen often, but I did.”

“No, you didn’t,” I argued. “See how it went in? The whole base of the brain should be gone. And yet now the hole has started to seal and the brain restarted itself.”

“What do you think you are, some kind of zombie expert?” She raised her gun and let the thing have it. It went limp for at least the second time in its unlife. She holstered her gun and walked back to the truck. Jeb seemed a little confused, but he followed her anyway.

The pile began to move. It was almost imperceptible at first, but soon it was squirming and churning like a bag full of snakes. The reanimated zombies began to claw their way out from under their comrades. Most were too weak to break free, but a few were able to crawl out and start for Rayna and Jeb. I trailed behind them and said nothing.

“Hey, what the—” yelled Jeb. The thing grabbed at his ankle. He was able to break out of its grasp and finished it with a head stomp.

Two more reached Rayna. She took out her gun and dispatched them.

“Why didn’t you tell us they were coming up to us?” asked Jeb.

“They’re not supposed to come back, remember?”

I walked back to the pile and dragged back the zombie I had held up earlier. When I threw it in the bed of the truck, Jeb started to object.

“I don’t care what either of you thinks about this. We’re taking it for observation. I would have you stay out here, but daylight is coming soon and I don’t want you two kids catching any sunburn.”

Rayna wanted to choke me. I could see it in her eyes, but I didn’t care. I gave her was a smile that only stoked the hatred.

We wrapped the corpse in a tarp and drove back to the city. Rayna informed the relief about the pile, with instructions to dismember and burn each body individually. There was no mention of their reanimation and no one questioned the order.

About halfway through our return trip, Rayna’s phone began to ring.

“Hello?”

I listened to what seemed like a mundane conversation, but it seemed to go south very quickly.

“Look, I don’t care what you found. The next shift can get it. We’re already on our way back. It’s just some dead cow anyway.”

“We are going there right now,” I said to Jeb. He looked at Rayna for guidance.

“It’s going to be daylight soon. If we go there, we might not get back in time.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re going.”

“We’re on our way,” she spoke into the phone.

About twenty minutes later, we arrived at the site of a slaughter. It turned out to be more than just one dead cow. The whole herd had been slaughtered and their insides cleaned out. There was no sign of the culprits except the trail of gore that wore off after some distance.

“Okay, we saw it,” said Rayna. “So we had a couple fence jumpers. We’ll let the day shift take care of it. Now let’s go before daylight catches us.”

“You still think they were all dead?” I replied. “This is just a short distance away from your kill site.” She ignored me and got back in the truck.

After a few minutes, the sky began to brighten. Rayna and Jeb started to squirm in their seats.

“I told you we shouldn’t have come back. It was a waste of time. Now it’s going to be daylight.”

“It’ll be fine,” I reassured her.

“It’s not going to be fine, dammit!” She pointed out the window. “Look, the sun is coming out! We’re screwed.”

“Jeb, stop the truck.”

“Are you crazy?” he replied. “I’m not stopping this.”

“Stop the truck right now and get in the backseat. I’ll take the wheel. Both of you take your jackets off and put them over your heads. Make sure you cover your hands.”

Since we were out of options, they did as I told them. I put my sunglasses on and borrowed Jeb’s hat. The truck sped away back to the city. Our old enemy sent out its deadly rays from the horizon. It burned the skin a little, but it was nothing compared to what it could do to these two.

“We’re almost at the city. Just hang tight, guys.”

Jeb mumbled something in agreement. Rayna was silent, but I could picture her glaring at me from under that jacket.

That was when the back window shattered.

Foot Soldiers

The moaning figure smashed through the window and felt around the backseat. It was undeterred by the shards of glass that remained around the frame. They cut away at its arm and still it continued to reach in. Rayna was smart enough to realize what was happening and stayed quiet and very still. Not so much with Jeb. He let out a surprised yell that brought the thing bearing down on both of them.

I watched the thing tug away at their coats in utter helplessness while I drove. It grabbed a handful of Rayna’s jacket and she struggled with it. The only advantage she had was her strength, but that only went so far. When I heard the sound of cloth ripping, I knew things were desperate. I steered the truck hard to the right, throwing the creature off-balance, but that only lasted so long.

It seemed that the creature was not satisfied with having one hand in and squeezed its thin body through the small window. The shards scraped and cut its skin open and still it continued to force its way inside.

“Hey!” I shouted at the thing. It looked up to find the source of the sound, but it was not interested in me. I used the moment of confusion to reach back and push the thing out of the cab. That only bought a few more seconds before it was back at it.

I heard the ripping sound, followed by the scream. The thing had taken Rayna’s jacket and she was fighting to get it back, all while our old enemy burned her with its rays. There was no time to waste. I looked around for something to use and found Jeb’s shotgun.