Books of the Dead (Book 8): The Living Dead Girl

by Spears, R. J.

  I brought the walkie-talkie back to my mouth and asked, “Can you make it to us, or do we need to come to get you?”

  “I think we can make it to you,” Richard said, “but Brother Ed is pretty shaken up.”

  A moment later, I heard Brother Ed’s voice from the microphone, “I think I was attacked by a ghost.”

  By this time, Alex was standing beside me, and her response was a classic. She said, “Get the fuck out.”

  Chapter 23

  I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost

  “There’s no way you saw a ghost,” Alex said. She looked at Richard and asked, “When you fixed him up, did you check for brain damage?”

  Brother Ed, his face suffused with color, stepped closer to Alex and said, “I don’t have brain damage.”

  Richard tried to insert himself between Alex and Brother Ed. “Hey, I saw something, too. The guy came out of nowhere, and he laid Brother Ed out and stood over him. I thought it might have been a deader, so I shot him, but nothing happened.”

  “What do you mean, nothing happened?” Alex asked.

  “I know I hit him, but it’s like the bullets passed through him or something.”

  “That’s just more of your crazy voodoo bullshit again,” Alex said as she tossed her hands into the air. “Why can’t you just admit that you missed?”

  “I shot him, too,” Brother Ed said. Before he had looked more than a little pissed, but now he just looked puzzled and a little scared. “He was standing over me, and I shot him point blank in the chest. The bullets just went through him.”

  Alex closed her eyes, obviously composing herself, then opened them again. “So, you’re saying that we not only have to deal with zombies, but we now have a ghost haunting our asses.”

  Richard rubbed his chin for a moment and said, “I don’t know what it is. I can just tell you what I saw.”

  I guess it was my turn to add my two cents worth. “Is it really any crazier than zombies? Or the visions that we’ve shared. I’m telling you that since the world fell, we’re getting closer to the dark ages.” I stopped and fixed Alex in my gaze. “Magic or voodoo bullshit, as you call it, maybe more possible than we think.” I moved my attention to Brother Ed. “What did this...guy look like?”

  Brother Ed took a moment to recollect, then said, “Well, he was wearing an army uniform. One of those partial camo things. Aside from that, he looked like he was Mexican or something.”

  “Hispanic,” Alex said.

  “Sure, whatever you PC people want,” Brother Ed replied. “Hispanic.”

  “Did he say anything?” I asked.

  Brother Ed seemed hesitant to say anything after the onslaught of skepticism from Alex, but I could tell the cogs were wheeling away in his brain.

  “He did say something, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, he said, ‘It should have been you,’” Brother Ed replied.

  “It should have been you what?” Alex asked, whipping herself into a lather again.

  “I don’t know,” Brother Ed said. “That’s all he said. Maybe he was saying I should have died and not him.”

  I didn’t want Brother Ed obsessing about death and dying again, so I asked, “Were there any markings on his uniform or anything?”

  Again, Brother Ed concentrated, and it took a few seconds before he shot an index finger in the air. “Yes, he had a name tag on his uniform. It was hard to read in the dark, but I think it said, Soto.”

  Alex let out a long deep breath and said, “So, what you’re saying is that a Hispanic ghost named Soto knocked you on your ass, right?”

  “Well, yes,” Brother Ed said.

  “And where did this ghost come from?” she asked. “We were here months before you got here and we didn’t have any freaking ghosts.”

  “I really don’t know,” Brother Ed said.

  “It has to be one of Kilgore’s men,” I said. “You know what they say. If something traumatic happens to someone in a specific spot and they die, they can be trapped there for eternity to haunt it.”

  “So, we’re on an episode of Ghost Hunters right now?” Alex shot back. “This is getting closer and closer to loco-town, you know it.”

  Richard spoke next, “Well, I for one, am going to take it seriously. Whatever this thing is, ghost, spirit, poltergeist, its intent is not good. It opened the doors and let the zombies in, and now it’s attacked Brother Ed.”

  “Well, I don’t know what the hell we’re going to do about it,” Alex said. “I can shoot a zombie, but apparently, you can’t shoot a ghost.” She wheeled on me and said, “And don’t you get any ideas about having a séance or do some half-assed exorcism. I’ve had enough of all your crazy mumbo-jumbo for the day.” She turned away from us and headed for the back stairwell. “You boys can clean up. I’m officially done and clocked out of crazy town.”

  She continued a brisk walk toward the back of the room and disappeared around a corner, leaving the three of us behind.

  I turned to Richard and said, “You’d better go with her. If we do, indeed, have a malevolent ghost down here haunting its way around, then I don’t think any of us should walk alone on any of the floors below us.”

  “What if it moves up to where we are?” Brother Ed asked.

  “Then we’ll deal with it,” I replied. “Go, Richard.”

  Richard looked a little reluctant to go, but he finally gave in and rushed to catch up with Alex. I turned to Brother Ed and said, “Now comes the fun part. Clean up.” I spread my arms to encompass the swath of dead zombies spread across the floor and got to watch Brother Ed literally deflate in front of me.

  Chapter 24

  Up on the Roof

  It had been a long ass day. We were all dragging when we returned to the fifth floor. Brother Ed looked utterly whipped, but at least he was talking to us again and not seeming suicidally depressed anymore. So, that was a small step in the right direction. Just call me the morale builder.

  We kept the appearance of the ghost to ourselves. No use freaking people out. I just hope that decision didn’t come back to bite us.

  As people started closing down for the night, I made excuses to putter around, and when I was sure that everyone had socked it in; I slipped up the stairs to the roof.

  Large air conditioning units and other mechanical systems sat on the surface of the roof, looking like little monoliths. Chet’s array of solar panels sat at the north end of the roof. Half of them looked in pretty bad shape. It was our hypothesis that Kilgore’s helicopter had crashed landed up here, damaging them, before tumbling off and down onto the plaza below.

  I didn’t have a good chance to know Chet before he was killed in the battle with Kilgore and his men, but he was a real electronics wizard. We were still benefiting from the power the solar panels that remained operational.

  The stars twinkled brightly in the sky, and I guessed that was one of the benefits of the demise of modern civilization -- the skies were clean and clear. In a city the size of Columbus, I’m sure the light pollution alone would have blotted out the stars before.

  But I wasn’t up there to star gaze, though. It had become my ritual to get up on the roof or the seventh floor twice a day to see if I could spot any signs of Kara. At night, it was nearly impossible to see in the dark, but I hoped that she would have on a flashlight or some other light. In our post electrical grid world, a light would stand out like a beacon.

  I scanned the buildings with the hope of finding something, but all I saw was a sea of inky black. The buildings stood like massive tombstones, silent and dark. My heart fell a little, and I desperately hoped she hadn’t left the area entirely. Something inside me felt she hadn’t, but I also conceded that could be wishful thinking.

  Below me on the ground, zombies either shamble about aimlessly or stood like statues, waiting for some reason to move. That reason would be one of us humans, but since there were none of us in sight, the zombies must have been taking a standing nap.

  A cold wind had picked
up, and I felt goosebumps dance up my arms. I decided to pack it in when my gaze fell upon something shiny. Light glinted off something close to a building near the street running along the west edge of the complex. My heart began to beat more quickly.

  I shifted to my right a few feet to get a better look. And that’s when I fell back into the doldrums. A piece of metal on a bulldozer sidled up next to the furthest building away had caught the moonlight and was reflecting it back at me.

  I let out a long sigh.

  “No sign of her?” A voice asked from behind me.

  I nearly jumped off the roof in surprise.

  Alex stood about fifteen feet behind me, leaning against the side of an industrial AC unit.

  “Are you happy?” I asked. “I almost went over the side. Next time, let me know you’re creeping up on me.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” she asked and started toward me. Once she was beside me, she said, “I know you’ve been sneaking up here.” She paused and sucked in a deep breath of cool night air. “Winter’s in the air, my friend, and I fear it will be a cruel one.”

  “At least, we have Chet’s solar panels to run some sort of heating,” I replied, trying to look on the bright side.

  We stood in silence for a few seconds, looking out over the dark landscape of buildings. Moonlight sparkled off the white caps of the river Kara, Brother Ed, Naveen, and I paddled here on. An owl hooted off in the distance, and a few seconds later, a response came.

  “You wouldn’t have heard that here in the city back before the world went to crap,” Alex said.

  “No, I guess not.”

  “Back to my original question,” she said. “Have you spotted any sign of her?”

  I didn’t want to admit it, but I finally said, “No. Nothing. There were a lot of zombies around a building a half a block away, but she wasn’t with them.”

  “It’s hard letting go of hope, isn’t it?”

  “I can’t let go,” I said. “Not yet.”

  “Not to change the subject but I will. Do you really believe all that ghost nonsense that Brother Ed and Richard were talking about? I mean, do you really think Casper the Unfriendly Ghost is haunting the third floor?”

  “Kara…” I stopped because it hurt even to say her name. “She believed that when the world fell, some kind of balance tipped in a different direction. That we might actually be moving away from our,” I put air quotes up with my fingers, “rational world. I don’t think she thought we’d have witches, warlocks, and people being turned into newts or shit like that, but I can tell you that there are bigger forces at work now. Like epic battles of good and evil going in the background. Ka--” I stopped and started over, “she believed that when there are dark forces working like they are, the forces of good come out. Sort of like a Yin and Yang balance. Ergo, the visions we get. Well, me, Naveen, Richard, and Jason.” I was forced to stop again. The pain of what happened to Kara had pushed the loss of Jason into the background, but the mere mention of his name opened that wound again.

  His death and the loss of Kara weren’t scars, yet. They were still open, seeping, and soul-searing wounds that I knew would never go away.

  “Anyway, I’m not sure whose side this ghost is on, but, yes, I believe Brother Ed and Richard saw what they saw. Hell, if zombies are real, why not ghosts?”

  I stood in silence, still reeling from even mentioning Kara and Jason’s name. The losses just kept mounting up. Sooner or later, the account on grief was going to trip too far into the red, and I had no idea what that would do to me.

  Alex must have sensed my discomfort and did something totally out of character. She leaned toward me and put an arm around me. “Maybe it’s late, and maybe we’ve talked too much. You think it’s time to head downstairs and call it a night?”

  “Yeah,” was my simple response.

  “We could see if there’s any alcohol or medical quality cocaine around to get wasted on,” she said.

  “Not my thing.”

  “Not mine, either,” she said. “Being a cop sort of put a stop to my drinking days.” She looked over to me and said, “You’re a pretty good person, you know it? If I were into guys, I’d make a move on you right now.”

  I looked right into her eyes and smiled. “My mother always said you should try everything at least once.”

  “She was probably talking about food, asshole. Like in - eat your Brussel sprouts.”

  That’s when she shoved me away, and I nearly lost my balance, but I saved myself and stayed upright.

  Once I was steady, I said. “Yeah, I’m sure it was what she was talking about.” Then I winked in her direction, but I’m not sure she caught it.

  Chapter 25

  The Ask

  She wasn’t sure how long she had been in the room. In her current state of being, time seemed to have lost its meaning, the minutes seamlessly blending into hours. There was a disconnect between her consciousness and her being, as if they were two independent entities existing outside themselves.

  There were moments that she felt like herself. As if her body might be her own and that gave her a small sense of hope. Then she would touch her leg or arm, and the sensation was dull and remote. That’s when she knew she could never be what she was. That she was eternally and hopelessly lost.

  The most compelling feeling that trumped all the others was the deep and gnawing hunger roiling in her core. It reminded her of the pain she experienced after being assaulted by Marlow at his compound. In that case, she almost lost herself in the physical and emotional suffering as it nearly wiped out her essence. This hunger wanted what it wanted to the exclusion of everything else.

  That part of her intellect that resided under the numbness and hunger knew she must be experiencing what addicts go through. That need to get their hands on what was destroying their lives no matter the cost -- a scorched earth mandate.

  The only way to keep from giving into it was to remain locked in and isolated. If she left this room, left this building, she might truly become something she didn’t want to be. She might do something that could irrevocably push her past a line that she did not want to step over. Crossing that line could mean that she could never step back.

  So, she sat alone, a self-sentenced prisoner. It was better to do nothing than to risk action. Action meant that she might lose control. She did what she could to ignore the hunger and dropped into a dreamless trance-like state, thinking of nothing.

  She knew she could do this. Her resolve was centered and focused. She could hold it off forever.

  An important idea flitted into her mind and she couldn’t grasp onto it at first, but it came back. She grabbed onto it fast and held tight.

  She wasn’t sure how to proceed because she wasn’t herself, but then her lips started to move, “Our father, hallowed be your name. Give us this day our daily bread…” She continued on making it nearly halfway through the prayer when the dark man showed up again.

  “Kara,” he said in that bass voice, resonant and powerful. “It’s good to see you again.”

  She did not want to open her eyes again, but something in his voice compelled her to do so.

  He was there in front of her, his eyes glowing dimly red as if there were some inner light emanating from within him. He was just as handsome as before. His smile was soft and almost comforting except she detected the hint of his sharp canine teeth, and that gave her some concern.

  “Do you think that He will help you?” The dark man asked.

  She didn’t want to answer and she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she didn’t want to defend her faith. Maybe she was afraid that she no longer had faith. How could something like her even have a soul?

  “I think it does,” she finally said.

  “Where is He now? You look to be on your own to me.”

  For some reason, Kara felt compelled to look around the room. Then she said, “I hope He is here.” Her voice sounded small, like that of a child.

  The dark man crossed his
arms and stared at her. There was something contemptuous about his smile now and Kara didn’t like it but in the end, she did feel alone and even forsaken.

  “I don’t like to see you suffering like this,” he said as he uncrossed his arms. “It’s not right that you should be in such pain because of the acts of someone else.”

  “I am alright,” she said, her voice weak and dry.

  “Are you?” he asked. “You’ve been in the room for how long?” He swept his arm across the room as if to take it in. “Far too long.” Again he paused and looked at her as if he were examining her. “Don’t you want to be whole again?”

  “I can’t do what you asked.”

  “Why not?” His smile disappeared, replaced by an expression of incredulous disdain. “What have these people done for you? What has this Joel done for you?”

  He let his words hang in the air as Kara dropped her gaze from his face.

  “Didn’t Joel drag you on this holy mission across many perils?”

  She took a moment to answer because it seemed that with each word he spoke, her mind was less clear. Cloudy even. “I chose to go on the mission of my own free will.”

  “But look what it cost you. That man down south. He brutalized you in the most unspeakable way. Where was your Joel then?”

  “He was trapped in a room. He couldn’t get to me.”

  “But you were the one who made that sacrifice. You offered yourself up to protect the child. Naveen is her name, right?”

  Something swelled within her. A combination of warmth and comfort. This feeling continued to grow, but slowly transitioned from warmth to something hot and even angry. She looked up at him, staring directly into his eyes. Challenging him.

  He lifted an arm and swept it across in front of her as if brushing his last statement off the record. “But Joel is the one who made you go on when you didn’t want to. He was the one who relentlessly browbeat you even when your body and soul were ready to give out. Had you remained with the old man in his shop, none of what has happened to you would have occurred. You would still be whole.”