Then it came like a flash of light, illuminating his vision.
“Wait…I see it…I see him! He’s right there! He’s okay! A zombie passed by his home a week ago and saw him! But How?”
“It is the great mystery. Somehow they absorb what they see and hear, and the information becomes a part of the collective herd. That’s what you are seeing.”
“It’s…it’s unreal…”
“It’s yours, now.” Peer’s voice lowered with a tinge of sorrow. “They are at your command. Your enemies will feel their wrath.” Peer was thinking of Sara, the northern whore who’d stolen Tenochtitlan.
John was thinking of Sara as well, and his blood began to boil all over again. She was the enemy. She exemplified everything wrong with this world. The greed, the selfishness. Her actions had devoured his family. She would receive recompense.
The herd had a different target in mind, though.
Chapter 7 – August 101 A.Z.
YOU TRAITOR. I FINALLY FIGURED OUT IT WAS YOU. HOW DARE YOU. YOU WERE GIVEN ORDERS, BUT OF COURSE YOU THINK YOU KNOW BEST, YOU ELITIST PRICK. I WISH WE STILL HAD CONTROL OF A TACTICAL NUKE, BECAUSE I WOULD TURN YOU INTO ASH. DON’T BOTHER RESPONDING WE’LL PROB BE DEAD WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU KILLED US. YOU KILLED US. IT’S ALL ON YOU. I KNOW YOU SENT THE ANTIDOTE SOMEWHERE ELSE. IT’S BECAUSE OF YOUR COUSIN, RIGHT? CHOOSING FAMILY OVR OUR NATION’S LEADERS IS TREASON. IF OUR COUNTRY GOES DOWN I BLAME YOU. GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW SELFISH YOU ARE. DON’T YOU SEE WHAT YOU’VE DONE!!!!!
Cable from Raven Rock Mountain Complex, Pennsylvania to National Institute of Health, Maryland - 0 A.Z.
“Brick Fist,” Tock said proudly in response to Carla’s question. They were imagining what life would have been like had Tock become a famous fighter like Polo. She’d asked him what his ring name would have been. “That’s the name I was gonna use. Brick Fist. It sounds cool, and tells what I got – a brick fist.”
“Sounds like you’re saying ‘breakfast’,” Cecil said.
“Ha! Yeah, I guess it does! Well, don’t matter. Just a fantasy anyway.”
They were huddled together in the shade of a tree. It was warm and they were trying to cool down after a long over-hill hike. They were heading north, to Colorado Springs and Cheyenne Mountain.
“So Hog, I was thinking. If John is this super weapon you were talking about, isn’t that a good thing?” Tock asked.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“A lot has happened to that man. When I first met him he’d lost his wife. He was keeping it together but I could see a part of him slipping away. When a man loses someone they love, like that, a part of him dies. Then he lost his son. Now he’s infected with the virus. I don’t know what state he’s in.”
“Then why aren’t we with him?!” Lee cried. The anguish in her voice evident.
“No one can be with him. I already…”
“You keep saying that, but you don’t say why! Why should we believe you? He needs us!” Lee shot back. “And you made us leave him back there!”
“I know it’s hard, but there’s no choice. He’s with his kind, now. He needs to learn who he is.”
“What does that even mean?! How are you so sure?”
“I’ve read some things, I know what’s going on here,” Hog assured her.
“You may know, but I...we don’t!”
“You’re going to have to trust me.”
“I don’t even know you!”
The two fell silent, obviously at an impasse. Carla put a hand on Lee’s shoulder but she shook it off.
“Everyone just wants to do what this guy says, but we don’t know him any better than the Obevens guy!” Lee cried. No one responded. They all remained silent until Tock spoke up.
“Speaking of ‘that Obevens guy’ who’s watching him?”
“Cecil and Jamed,” Carla responded.
“Nope.” Tock pointed to Cecil and Jamed, who were trying to climb a tree with fruit in it.
Just at that moment Tock caught sight of a quick movement in the corner of his eye.
“There!” Tock screamed as he tore off after the movement. It was Obevens, he knew it. Tock followed him down the path and crashed through the brush into a clearing. The figure was just past the other side of a meadow. Tock pumped his arms harder as he fought to close the distance. The man was fast, but Tock was faster.
Tock cleared the meadow and the figure was dodging in and out of trees. Ducking, jumping, and weaving, Tock followed. He was gaining on the Captain. Obevens was no slouch, but Tock had been training more.
Fifty feet, thirty feet, ten feet. The gap narrowed. Obevens stumbled and fell. Tock was immediately on him, wrenching him to his feet. The blow came out of nowhere. A lightning fast strike to Tock’s throat. It didn’t have enough force to kill, just to disable. Tock, ever the fighter, was ready though, and parried the attack. Obevens followed the missed blow with a stomp to Tock’s knee. The larger man moved to avoid it, but wasn’t swift enough. His knee took part of the strike and he wobbled in his footing. Obevens’ fist came again, this time on an unbalanced Tock. It struck him square on the nose, lighting up Tock’s vision with white dots.
Tock had been punched before, though. As Obevens turned to run from a presumably disabled Tock, a forearm came from behind and wrapped around Obevens neck. Then the other arm. Obevens pried at the cinching arms to pull them free but he couldn’t match Tock’s strength. He fell to his knee under Tocks body weight. His vision was darkening. His body began to go limp in the hold. Obevens attempted to mutter a final plea. A life was at stake. Someone he loved needed his help. He had to get north.
The final plea never came out, though, as he slipped into the darkness.
Obevens slowly regained consciousness and found himself sitting on the ground against a tree. His arms were wrapped behind the tree and bound. He pulled at the bonds but they wouldn’t give. Looking up, he saw Tock looming over him.
“What’s this?” Obevens asked, nonplussed.
“This is ‘you gonna to tell me who you really are’,” Tock pointed a finger at Obevens.
“I’m actually a fluffy, white cloud above this mess of a world,” Obevens replied.
“Cute.” Tock delivered a fist into Obevens temple. It hadn’t been his full power, but enough to get Obevens attention.
“Alright, no jokes,” Obevens winced.
“Nope. No jokes. Who are you?”
“I already told you, that was the truth. Every minute you hold me back means I can’t get north to save a life.”
“You need to be worrying about one life – yours. Your runnin’ just proved your guilt.”
Obevens started to protest but then realized it was futile.
“Now, who are you?” Tock repeated.
“I’m from up north. I was captured while trying to escape from Colorado Springs. Sara dragged me south with her army. I tried to help kill her, to save lives, but it failed. She imprisoned me until I escaped the night your friend was executed. Some people helped me across the lake. I think they were confused and thought I was your friend John, that’s why they helped me. Then I met you.”
“You met my fist.”
“Yeah, and I’d rather not meet it again,” Obevens winced as Tock drew back again.
“Stop!” A booming voice came from behind them. Tock whirled around, expecting some hidden ally of Obevens’ to appear. He almost fell over in his shock. It was John. Brought here by the information from his network of undead. Carried by his indefatigable legs now bolstered by the virus. Driven by his need to impart a simple message to ensure a particular chain of events – he needed to install a righteous person in power.
“John!”
“Hi, Tock.” John’s face made an effort to smile as he descended the hill toward them, but it didn’t look quite right. Stiff, sort of. “Tock, don’t hurt him. He’s telling the truth, he’s not working with that woman.”
Tock hurried for
ward to embrace his missing friend but John stopped him forcefully. Tock shrank back, unsure at the change in him. Up close he looked awful – his eyes were heavy and careworn and his skin seemed a shade darker than before. New lines etched his face.
“I don’t want to be touched. It just…hurts.”
Tock looked confused but complied.
“Sure, sure, buddy. You okay?” Tock asked.
“I’m…not sure. I’m just…so hungry. I can’t shake it. These help, though.” John held out a handful of the red rocks. Tock raised an eyebrow. Past experience didn’t make him a fan of those rocks. And they helped John not be hungry? That made…sense…
“Leave Obevens alone,” John repeated. “I need his help. I need to ask him some questions.” His voice sounded hoarse.
Obevens looked up at this. He didn’t know much about John, except that he was a Martyr and his foiled execution had started the riots. Helping an enemy of Sara’s was fine by him, especially if it meant Tock wouldn’t be punching him again.
“Obevens…Have you met a man named Dalbec?” John asked.
“Yes. He’s Sara’s assistant.”
“Tell me about him.”
“Well, uh…” Dalbec was the last man Obevens thought he’d be questioned about. “…he’s Sara’s right-hand man, completely committed and subservient to Sara, although he helped free me, contrary to her orders. He’s in love with her – but it’s not mutual. He’s very smart. Most of her ideas come from him.”
“Anything else?” John asked.
“I mean, like what? He’s just…Dalbec.”
“That’s fine, that’s enough. I need to get him away from her.” John said, apparently satisfied.
“John, come back with us. The others want to see you,” Tock insisted.
“No…I can’t. I’m on to something… I can’t stop now. I can see and hear far into the distance. It’s like I’m many places at the same time. It’s…unnatural.”
“Yeah, uh, Beard, that sounds a little…well…weird. Did you get an ouchy on your head or something?”
“That’s funny, Tock,” John replied. His face did that weird stiff thing again.
“Then why aren’t you laughing, heh,” Tock joked.
“I seem to have forgotten how.”
Tock realized John wasn’t joking. This new John was scaring him a bit.
“You gotta come back with me. You need help,” Tock insisted, taking a step toward John.
“No!” John recoiled. Immediately the forest reverberated with the sounds of zombie moans, a good way off but coming closer. It seemed to be coming from all sides.
“We gotta run!” Tock urged, reaching for John’s arm.
“No! Stay back! They’re just protecting me! I don’t want them to hurt you, but there’s only so much I can do right now, I still can’t quite control them,” John pled. He was bending over, clutching his stomach. He forced the words out of his mouth like they hurt him.
“Go back…tell the others I love them. Give Lee my best…I can’t come back, ever. Things are just…different now.” He collapsed to his knees, fumbling to retrieve the red rocks from a pouch on his side. They brought near immediate relief.
Tock was so horrified by the whole scene that he couldn’t move. John regained his feet and stumbled over to Obevens, fumbling with his ropes to free him.
“Go! Go that direction! I’ll clear the way for you!” John pointed over Tock’s shoulder to the south. The moans were getting louder around them. Obevens scrambled up and joined Tock.
“Beard, uh, don’t know if you can see yourself, but you ain’t clearing the way for nobody.”
“Do it!” John growled in a voice Tock remembered. It reminded him of the blood-curdling scream when they’d pulled John out of the tomb.
“Fine, Beard! Fine! We’re going!” Tock yelled back, angry now. The two men turned to get away.
“Wait! Tock! Wait!” John gasped.
“Beard! Choose! You want me to go or stay?!?!”
“Help Obevens save his friend. Just you, not the others. It’s important,” John insisted.
“What!?”
“Do it for me, please!”
“Okay, okay! Just take care of yourself!” Tock shouted the last part as he and Obevens sprinted in the direction John had pointed. The guttural sounds of the undead were imminently close.
The two men made it back to camp safely, but it wasn’t much of a relief. Tock had to deal with an infuriated Lee, who couldn’t comprehend why Tock had left John alone to fend for himself against a herd. She wouldn’t listen to Tock’s explanation, and she surely wasn’t taking Obevens’ word for it, either. Carla tried to calm her down, but it was no use. After raking Tock over the coals a few different ways, she stormed off into the forest. The other Martyrs looked on with concern but let her go. No one really knew what to do.
“Seeing John doesn’t alter the plan. I told you – John is changed. He can’t be with us. He’s one of them,” Hog said.
“Them? What? A zombie?!” Tock exclaimed.
“Not exactly, but he can’t be around people anymore. He might as well be one of them. This is how it was always going to be, Tock.” Hog was trying to be sympathetic to their concern for their friend, but he mostly saw the advantages of the situation, and had to tone back his excitement over John’s change. It confirmed everything he had hoped was true. It meant he could accomplish his mission.
“Well, he told me to help this dude,” Tock motioned to Obevens.
“Why?” Cecil asked. He hadn’t dared spoken up to this point, being the reason Obevens escaped in the first place. There had been a “miscommunication” about who was supposed to be watching over him.
“I don’t know! Beard talks all crazy now. ‘Take…Obevens. Complete…his quest. Don’t touch…me!’ That’s how he talks!”
“He wants you to go with Obevens? Why?” Jamed repeated the question.
“Why?!” Tock threw up his arms at the question. “Who knows! That’s what I’m saying, Beard is all wacked out now.”
“I think you’re just worried about him, that’s why you’re mad,” Cecil offered helpfully.
Tock’s eyes were huge as he stared down the young man, his lips curled.
“Hey, I don’t need your help, Tock. In fact, I’d rather go alone,” Obevens said.
“No. I’m going with you. Beard told me to. Beard is crazy, but he’s still my friend.”
“Really, don’t come,” Obevens protested. He didn’t want Tock’s presence.
“Oh no. I’m going, El Capitan.” Tock drove his finger into Obevens’ chest. “If you try and stop me there’s gonna be more breakfast on your face,” Tock held up his clenched fist.
◆◆◆
“Carlos.”
“Carlos.”
The voice hung in the nighttime mist, filling the corners of the dark forest. Carlos was curled in a ball at the base of a tree, fitfully sleeping. The voice penetrated his dream of John chasing him down to kill him. A fate Carlos knew he truly deserved.
He writhed on the forest floor as cold wakefulness began to overtake him. He preferred sleep, of late, as it was the only escape from his guilt. Recently, though, the nightmares had been increasing.
“Carlos.”
“John?” Carlos exclaimed, startled. He shook his head, confused. This must still be his dream. He rose awkwardly.
John emerged from the misty darkness, flanked on either side by two walkers. Here it was. His dream had come true. Carlos began to tremble, but stood still. He had no intention of defending himself. He just hoped justice would be swift.
“Carlos. I’m not here to kill you.”
“Wha-wha-wha…?” Carlos couldn’t find the words.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you. Neither will they,” John repeated.
Carlos nodded, too frightened to do anything else.
“I need you to do something for me. Do it, and your guilt is gone.”
Chapter 8
WINNIPEG: WE ARE OVERRUN, WE MUST ABANDON OUR BASE. WE HEAR IT IS SAFE ON VANCOUVER ISLAND.
Cable from Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg to Cheyenne Mountain - 5 A.Z.
Dave looked at Dav.
She was sleeping. Her matted hair pressed against the back of her head. Her blue eyes hidden behind her dark lids. Her tall, gaunt frame curled in a ball. He caught a whiff of her. Sweat. Stale urine. Feces.
It was first thing in the morning, before breakfast. They followed the normal ritual. Dave came from his quarters across camp to Dav, navigating the trash and debris scattered about her, and greeted the guard. Dav slept outside under a tarp, with no blankets. This time of year that was fine, but she was known to suffer greatly at other times of year. Vancouver Island could be punishing out of doors – rain, wind, cold, not to mention the lack of sunlight for months at a time.
Dave crouched down by Dav and quietly drew his knife from its sheath. He checked to ensure she was still asleep and then held it to her throat. He spoke.
“Today you die, Dav. I’m taking over,” Dave said.
She opened her eyes and smiled at Dave. “Good morning, beautiful,” she slurred sleepily through a crooked smile. He withdrew the knife and stood up as she stretched her arms. Dave groaned while standing. The tiny nail protruding from his leg hurt, but that was leadership.
“That nail hurting your baby flesh?” she asked.
“Yup,” he replied.
“You getsy-pitsy it out tonight?” she asked, sing-song.
“Yup.”
“You’ve learned a lot through that nail, having it in you! I’ve seen you suffer.”
She stood and held out her hand as if pointing out into the distance, indicating the length of what he’d learned. “Suffering is REAL! Dave. It is how we are meant to live. People used to know it. Me and you live like the oldest humans, suffering. Our children, our sweet, sweet, children, must live like the babes of yesteryear.”
This is how it went every morning. Dave put a knife to her throat, reminding her that her life was always in danger. The walk couldn’t be easy, hence the trash scattered about. Suffering must always be Dave’s life, danger must always be Dav’s. This was how humans had lived for most of their existence, and the preservation of the species depended on retaining these realities.
100 A.Z. (Book 3): The Mountain Page 6