Don't Dare Call Them Zombies : Books 1-4 (36 page)

“I will,” she said.

Candy turned off the light, and shut the door.

“God please help Jennifer survive,” I started to pray again.

Although I was not ready to have a relationship with Jennifer, I
couldn’t bear to lose her. She meant too much to me.

I continued to pray and started to cry. I pled with God to preserve Jennifer’s life – I needed her with me. I couldn’
t face carrying on without her.

I don’t know how long I cried and prayed for, but eventually fatigue overcame me and I drifted off to sleep and started to dream

Chapter 2

In the dreamscape I was sitting in a cloud with blue sky above and around me in
all directions. Beneath me on the ground I could see the ruins of a city.

Touching the surface of the cloud, it seemed sturdy enough for me to stand up on, so I stood and moved closer to the edge to get a better look at the city.

“It's me, Katie,” I heard a voice say from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Katie and two other women standing only a few feet from me.

“It can’t be you, Katie, I saw you die . . .” I said. “You were infected in Sandy Hills and didn’t make it out with us.”

“It's me. You just saw m
y body die, my garment. This is my spirit,” Katie said, with a beautiful smile.

“So you're a ghost?” I asked.

“Yes, I suppose you could say that” she said, seeming somewhat amused.

“Am I really talking to you, or am I just dreaming?” I asked.

“You are really talking to me,” Katie said. “We have entered your dream.”

In an instant, Katie moved towards me. She wrapped her arms around me in an embrace.

“I've missed you, Hank,” she said.

“I've missed you too,” I said. “Things are so bad now.”

“I know,” she said. “We thought you could use a break.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Would you like to get away from the nightmare for a while?” she said.

“I don't want to leave Jennifer,” I said.

“You won't be gone long. Where we’re going time does not flow like on Earth,” she said.

One of the two women then stepped forward and approached me. She had long blond hair, longer than Katie's, and had a glow about her. She was clothed in a white dress that went down to her ankles.

“Are you ready to leave your body?” the woman asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Before I could speak, she touched my forehead.

Instantly, I was standing beside my body in the room at the church. The two women and Katie were at my side.

“Your heart has stopped,” the woman in the white dress said. “We can go now. When we return I’ll heal you.”

Above us I saw a dark vortex begin to open. At the end of the tunnel was a white light.

“Are we going to heaven?” I asked.

“No, I'm not allowed to go there,” the other woman said.

I could feel myself being pulled into the vortex. A moment later, we were all moving towards the white light. All around us, I could see stars. Somehow, I could zoom into the stars and see the planets orbiting them.

“This is amazing,” I said.

We started moving closer to the white light, and I could see an opening in the distance. I then realized I was thinking more clearly than I had ever thought in my life. A measure of knowledge flowed into my mind, and I knew the identities of the two entities I was traveling with.

Looking at my hands, I could see that a few scars – acquired while cutting meat at Grocery World – were now gone. Although I was not in a body, I could feel an energy and power greater than I had ever felt before.

“We have to go this way,” I heard Katie say.

We turned away from heaven.

Another vortex appeared, and we entered it.

In a split second, we were at our destination.

We were standing in an outdoor restaurant on top of a tall building in the middle of a beautiful, high tech city. There were flying vehicles zooming across the green sky, and I could see a river flowing through the middle of the city.

“Let’s get a table,” Katie said.

She flagged down a waitress, and we were taken to a table with a panoramic view of the city.

As I sa
t and looked around I could feel some of the knowledge that I had acquired from heaven start to fade.

“I know who you two are,” I said. “You're Five-Million-and-Four, the demon. And you’re Alicin, the angel.”

I looked at Five-Million-and-Four, and I saw her smile.

“It's nice to meet you, again,” she said.

“You look a lot different than the last time we met,” I said.

“I hated wearing that freak's body,” she said. “This is what I really look like.”

Five-Million-and-Four was very attractive. Her brown hair was long, flowing down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were also brown, and I couldn’t see a wrinkle or line anywhere on her face. However, unlike her sister Alicin, she wore tight, black leather pants and a low cut top.

“I have never heard of female ang
els, except on TV,” I said.

“God made female angels too,” Five-Million-and-Four said.

“Is this your true form?” I asked.

Suddenly, I remembered that they had another form as well, but my knowledge from heaven was slipping away rapidly.

“We have an additional form we can take,” Alicin said.

Looking around I noticed that everything seemed very real. I could feel the chair underneath me, and I could grasp onto the odd looking, three pronged utensil beside my plate.

“And how am I sitting on this chair if I’m not in my body?” I asked.

“This is your body,” Katie said.

“But on Earth spirits are not physical,” I said.

“
We’re helping you manifest your spiritual body in the physical realm,” Katie answered. “One day you’ll learn how to do it on your own.”

“May I tak
e your order?” I heard a waitress ask, interrupting our conversation.

“I'll take the zalooki salad, the fried salu, and two portions of nolos bread,” Katie said to the waitress.

The angel and demon ordered, and then Katie ordered for me.

“
You’ll like the roast tarki, I promise,” Katie said.

“But do I even have a digestive system?” I asked.

“Of course you do, but it’s beyond anything you can imagine. I'm sorry that we were not able to bring you closer to heaven. If we had, you would know the answers to all these things,” she said.

For the next fifteen minutes we all talked. I learned that the Alicin and the demon had been friends ever since before Satan rebelled against God. Alicin was still upset with the demon, but she still loved her sister.
I also learned that the residents of both heaven and hell were upset about what was happening on Earth. Billions of souls were entering the afterlife all at once, and it was creating chaos.

“Where are we exactly?” I asked.

“You’re on a planet approximately nine billion light years away from your home world,” the demon said.

“This is one of our favorite places to eat,” the angel said.

“So how do angels and demons get to hang out?” I asked. “Don't God and Satan have a problem with it?”

“They don't care as l
ong as we’re off the clock,” Alicin responded.

A moment later the waitress arrived with our food. Her eight fingered hands carefully placed our orders before each of us.

“Thank you,” I told the waitress.

“You’re welcome, is there anything else I can get y
ou?” she asked.

“I think I'm fine,” I said.

I watched as the waitress walked away.

“I would love to get to know more about this world,” I said.

“There are billions of worlds for you to learn about,” Katie said.

“Dig in,” Alicin instructed me.

I took the odd utensil and managed to scoop some of the roasted meat into my mouth. It actually tasted very good. The green, pasty noodle-like objects were also delicious.

We continued to eat and talk. I learned that they had been given orders to visit me, and that due
to the special circumstances – the zombie apocalypse – they were even allowed to take me for a meal.

“Why would God want you two to come visit me?” I asked.

“Well, for one thing, God loves you. He knows you’re hurting physically and emotionally. According to him, you deserve this excursion. Also, he has a plan for you. His will for the Earth has been violated, but he wants to use you,” Alicin said.

“What about Satan?” I asked Five million and two. “Why does he want you here?”

“First of all, I'm also here to visit my sister. Secondly, he wants me to keep my eye on you,” the demon said.

“Does he want to drag me down to hell?” I asked.

“No, he actually hopes that God can use you. He does not like what happened on Earth any more than God does,” the demon said.

“Why should I trust you?” I asked. “
You’re a demon, and demons lie all the time.”

“You shouldn't trust me. I’m a liar. I have done horrible things. I'm an evil, despicable entity. But when it comes to this, I'm telling the truth, human,” the demon said.

“Is she telling the truth?” I asked Alicin.

“Yes, she is,” she said. “I know my sister. Right now, she
isn’t lying.”

“So what does God want me to do?” I asked.

“I don't know,” the angel said.

“I need some guidance,” I said. “The world is a mess. My life i
s a mess. Jennifer, the woman I love with all my heart, is dying. What should I do?”

“Just do what you feel your heart and the Holy Spirit tell you
is right,” the angel said.

“But for now, we’re going to have some fun,” Katie said.

After we finished eating, Katie took me for a tour of the city and showed me all sorts of wonders. I saw the pristine river that divided the city, museums with relics from a dozen worlds, massive underground cave networks filled with plant life, and a power plant that utilized a form of fusion to generate energy from nickel powder and hydrogen gas.

I learned that the solar system we were located in was the home of multiple sentient species, and they were all aware of the spiritual essence of all intelligent beings. They recognized
us for what we were, and they didn’t seem to have a problem with it at all. As we walked through the town, we met a few other spiritual entities as well.

Hours passed, and the sky darkened to reveal three moons. I stared at them as Katie and I walked tow
ards a small cafe. We sat down and ordered two hot beverages.

“So how long have you been dead?” I asked Katie.

“On Earth it has only been several days, but from my point of view it has been years,” she said.

“What's heaven like?” I asked.

“It's a wonderful place, but I'm not really allowed to tell you everything about it,” she said. “But I will say that it makes this city and its marvels seem dull.”

“Do you like it there?” I asked.

“Of course I do,” she answered. “But I do miss life on Earth, sometimes. I especially miss the people I left behind. I'm thankful God answered my prayer and let me see you.”

“I am too,” I said, sipping the spicy, hot beverage.

“It's time to go,” I heard a voice say.

I stood up and turned around to see Alicin and the demon behind m
e.

“I want to thank both of you for letting me have this experience,” I said. “It was nice meeting both of you, and I appreciate the information you have shared with me.”

“You’re welcome,” Alicin said.

A vortex started to open behind Alicin and her sister.
I knew it was time to go.

“I'm going first, this time,” I said.

Instead of taking a route close to heaven, the vortex opened a tunnel that took us through time and space back to the room at the church where my body was lying.

As the portal behind us close
d, I saw my body lying on the cot in front of me.

“I need a favor,” I asked Alicin.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I need you to heal Jennifer,” I said.

“Her fate is up to God,” she said.

“Why can't you heal her? If you don't she could die,” I pleaded.

“God might heal her, or she might survive on her own,” the angel said. “But I'm not allowed to intervene.”

“Okay,” I said disappointedly.

“One last thing, how will I know this was real?” I asked.

“You may not. You may think it was just a dream. But the Holy Spi
rit is in you, and it has been touched by the power of heaven. Have faith,” she said.