Way of the Barefoot Zombie

by Jasper Bark

  "Papa Legba ouvri bayè-a pou mwen

  "Pou mwen pase

  "Lè ma tounen, ma salyié Loa yo."

  The moon was low in the sky but a sudden shaft of her light fell on Tatyana. She began to shake and flail as Papa Legba entered her. Tatyana let go of their hands as though she had been dragged away. Her limbs and back began to twist and bend into the posture of an old, old man.

  "Greetings to you Papa Legba," said Brigitte. "I didn't expect you to honour us with your presence."

  "Ah no," said Papa Legba. "You expected me to hear you treaties from afar and grant your request. It's always the same. I'm the first up and the last to bed. Opening the way so the younger ones can rush out and mount their horses while I wait patiently at the gate."

  "I have a request Papa Legba."

  "I know, I know, you always have requests. No-one calls me up just to chew the fat, or ask me how my day went. No-one offers me a glass of rum or a comfortable seat by the fire. No, no it's always 'can you put my name on the guest list? Can I get a backstage pass? Which Loas are playing tonight, could you introduce me?' It's a wonder I ever leave my bed."

  "Papa Legba if I have offended you ..."

  "You'd be wearing your innards as a necklace little sister. I am having fun with you. There's no need for this sobriety."

  "But there's every need for care."

  "Indeed little sister, watch where you tread. I am old but not toothless."

  "If I may ask of you a favour...?"

  "Ah yes your request, don't waste your breath little sister I know what you want. Quite a few of the Loa have been watching your progress. I had already decided if you got this far you would earn my favour."

  "Papa Legba I don't know what to say.'

  "Oh hush, shush, you haven't heard my conditions yet. I like this horse that I'm riding. She is fine and supple and bends well beneath me. I will have her stay here on the island and I will be her Met-tet. You will train her and teach her to serve the Loa."

  "What if she doesn't want to stay?"

  "Oh Pshaw! I think we both know what she is secretly planning to do, even if she hasn't admitted it to herself yet."

  "Then you'll grant my request?"

  "Step aside little sister, your people are coming home."

  Normal space seemed to warp around Papa Legba as the Loa reached out much further than Tatyana's arm should ever stretch and took hold of the night sky like a curtain. With a movement that defied human anatomy, he pulled aside the fabric of this world to reveal the worlds beyond.

  From the corner of her eye Brigitte saw Benjamin shake his head as his mind tried to deny what he was seeing. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't close yourself off from what you're seeing. Allow yourself to believe this and you will grow in more ways than you can imagine."

  Brigitte saw the Celestial Crossroads and she saw her people at the centre of it. They looked beaten, dejected and oppressed. They were huddled together in such a tight space Brigitte was reminded of a picture she had once seen in a book that showed prisoners jammed into a cattle truck. She reached out to them with her soul but as she got close she ran into the force that was holding them captive.

  It was the essence of barbed wire and steel bayonets. It was powered by the force that inspires concentrations camps, detention centres and secret military prisons for terrorist suspects. Brigitte recoiled in pain and fear.

  "Oh come now little sister," said Papa Legba. "Are you going to let the residue of a defeated Houngan's spell deter you?"

  Defeated Houngan? But Brigitte had been beaten by Doc Papa. She had seen him snatch the Gateway of the Souls from Toussaint's dead breast. Was Papa Legba playing a trick on her? Or had Toussaint played one on Doc Papa?

  Brigitte put that from her mind. What mattered right now was freeing her people. What was it Toussaint had said? She already had the solution. She'd just applied it to the wrong problem. Was he talking about the curse? She'd tried to beat that with love and the consequences had been disastrous.

  Would love be any more effective now?

  "Love is how you beat hate and dispel dark Voodoo" she'd told Doc Papa. This spell he'd cast was the worst sort of dark, hateful Voodoo. She had to try it.

  She reached out to the force that held her people and she tried to find some love for it. She concentrated on the things she loved about Doc Papa, the man who had tried to condemn her and all the islanders to a living death. But she needn't be beaten by that.

  She thought of the things she loved about him. She loved his hands and the way they'd touched her. And his mind, so quick and brilliant, she loved that too. She loved the taste of his skin, especially when it was speckled with sweat from the sun. She loved the expression on his face when he came.

  She took this love and she sent it into the dark force around her people. All at once the pain and fear were banished. The barbed wire wilted and the barriers crumbled. Her people were captive no longer.

  They could hardly believe they were free. They didn't dare move. Then a few of the bravest tested the ground around them and found there was nothing holding them in place. When the others saw this they were overjoyed.

  "Brothers and sisters," Brigitte said to the souls at the Celestial Crossroads. "Your ordeal is over. It is time to come home or continue into the next life."

  The souls didn't know how to react to this news. They looked out from the Crossroads at their empty, shambling bodies.

  The youngest souls were the first to venture back to the world they had left. Other souls looked with dismay at the state of their bodies and the things they must have done and decided they could no longer live inside them. They turned with a heavy heart and followed the road to the next life. Most chose salvation, a tiny few judged their sins too great and took the road to damnation.

  Brigitte was surprised to see that one of these was the guest whose soul she had sent to the crossroads when he broke into the mine.

  Still others searched in vain for their bodies. They looked from face to face among the Zombies and never found their own. Having nowhere else to go they too eventually turned and went with reluctance along another road.

  When the last of the souls had chosen a road, the portal closed and the Celestial Crossroads faded from view. It felt like waking from a dream that has just slipped your mind.

  Papa Legba let out a wild laugh and disappeared. Tatyana dropped to the floor. Benjamin rushed over to her. All around them the islanders were having convulsions, throwing up or shuddering uncontrollably. After spending two years outside of their bodies they were now having difficulty adjusting to being flesh and bone once again.

  Brigitte never found it a pleasant experience when her soul returned to her body after she'd sent it out. It felt like putting on clothes caked with blood and filth after stepping out of a warm cleansing bath. And that was returning to a live body after only a few hours. She could only imagine the horror and revulsion the islanders must be feeling returning to bodies that had been walking corpses for two years.

  Benjamin was supporting Tatyana in his lap and cradling her head as she came round. "What happened?" she said. "God, my arms and legs ache."

  "Aw man it was awesome," said Benjamin. "I wish you could have seen it. You were possessed by Papa Legba. He was old and really funny, but kind of wise and dangerous with it. He parted the night sky like a curtain and showed this other world underneath, and Brigitte freed all the souls there. And hey, he also said that you..."

  Brigitte put her hand gently on Benjamin's shoulder to stop him. "Wait. That's something she has to come to herself."

  "Oh, so now you're both going to go all cryptic on me," said Tatyana. "It worked though right? The ceremony I mean."

  "Yes it worked," said Brigitte. "Thanks be to Papa Legba."

  "So what now?"

  "Now we begin rebuilding our lives," said Brigitte. "But first we must find out what's happening with the guests and the others who have lost their souls. For that we must find Doc Papa." />
  Chapter Forty-Six

  Must find Doc Papa. Him have their souls. Him suck them all up like greedy belly. Bessie join others in hunt him.

  Bessie get worse and worse now. Legs not work good no more. Brain not think right no more. Everything not work good no more. Others not good neither. Look like Zombies and stink bad. They all hunt Doc Papa now. His fault they not work good.

  Doc Papa try run away from them but them feel where him is. Empty hole in all of them feel where Doc Papa is. Empty hole aches from no soul. Souls in Doc Papa now. Pull them to him. Doc Papa no escape them.

  Them all go into grounds of big house now. Doc Papa try hide there. No good. Empty soul holes feel him out.

  Them nearly catch Doc Papa earlier. Him on road, run from big house. Them come for him. Him scream like him laughing at them and laugh like him screaming. Him pull his trousers off and try piss at them.

  Then him do shit and throw at them. When them not stop coming for Doc Papa, him smear shit on him body. Him not want them eat him. Him think shit make him taste bad and them not eat him.

  Them not mind. Them have no taste no more. Them have no feelings no more. Bessie fall on steps when she come up to big house. Her leg go smack. Her bone go crack and poke through skin. Little blood come out. Her no bleed much no more.

  Bessie no feel thing. Leg no walk right no more. Bessie stop and look at leg. George Griffin stop too. Him look at Bessie's leg. Him sniff Bessie's leg. Them still smell good even if them no feel.

  George want eat Bessie's leg. Him lick Bessie's blood then try bite leg. Bessie hit George and hit him again. George's nose go crack. Bessie's knuckle go pop. George stop trying to eat Bessie's leg. Bessie's hand not work good now with knuckle popped.

  Bessie walk slower as them come into big house. Bessie's leg keep slipping and Bessie fall lots. Others over take her as them go in door. Them get better morsels than Bessie.

  Bessie feel so hungry as she get close to Doc Papa. Soul hole ache like Bessie been stabbed. Bessie feel soul calling to her from Doc Papa's body. Soul crying like little baby in trouble. Soul dying in there. Soul go rotten like Bessie's body.

  Doc Papa on stairs as them find him. Him want run from them but their souls inside him want back in their bodies. Bessie see Doc Papa have fight with himself. Him argue with himself, then plead then burst out laughing and shout. Bessie try get closer to him on stairs but fall down when leg slip. Stupid leg! Bessie angry. Bessie hit leg and then fall down again.

  First of them get hold of Doc Papa on stairs. Him swear at them and tell them him will choke and kill them if them eat him. Bessie get more hungry when him talk of eating. She try stand on stupid leg again. She walk five steps without falling. That good record for stupid leg. Bessie not hit it so hard when her fall this time.

  Doc Papa start screaming as them get their teeth in him. Them feel hungry for their souls too. Bessie feel her teeth start chewing by themselves her get so hungry at thought of eating Doc Papa.

  Bessie try get closer as them start to chew on him whole body. Him blood start to pour down stairs like red waterfall. Bessie stop to look at blood. Her think it pretty till she skid in it as she try get at Doc Papa. Then she fall in it. Blood on her hand. Bessie lick him blood and want more.

  Many others have big mouthfulls of him, with blood drip down them chin. Bessie is jealous and wants mouthful too when she sees them chins with blood on. She starts to push through others to get near him and others push back. Them start to fight over him when not all of them can have bite of him flesh.

  Doc Papa him scream and scream with pain as them eat him and fight. Some of them start to pull on him arms like a tug of war. Doc Papa shouts at them as him arms come off and some blood hits Bessie in her face. Bessie licks blood and her stomach growls.

  Some of them grab for the arms and push each other to get bite of them. Others pull at Doc Papa's head and legs. Doc Papa's head comes off but still him scream and shout even when one man bite him tongue out. Him legs split apart and him guts fall out on stairs with wet splat sound.

  Bessie like that. Her grab for guts and get him liver. Moira Jacobs try and take liver from her. Bessie put hand on Moira Jacobs' head and smash her face into stairs. Moira Jacobs teeth come out and her leave Bessie alone.

  Bessie bite warm liver. Taste good. Bessie hear liver scream. Bessie feel it in teeth as her chew him liver. Liver scream as it go down Bessie's throat and into Bessie's stomach.

  Doc Papa so full of souls that every part of him alive. Him not die when them tore him into pieces. Every piece still feel pain. Every piece scream and scream and scream. All them hear it and feel good to make Doc Papa scream.

  Him feel it as they chew him guts and bite him flesh and crack him bones and lick him marrow. Even him marrow feel the pain and scream. Him screams are closest Bessie come to feel her soul again.

  Souls them going now. No more left of Doc Papa to keep them in. With them souls gone them not have life now. Them stop breath and heart stop beat.

  Bessie feel tired. Others start lie down and not get up. Others fall down with him screaming blood dribbling from them mouths. Them bodies not work no more. Some twitch, some kick, some don't.

  Bessie stop think.

  Body stop move.

  Bessie sto...

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  A WEEK LATER

  Tatyana found another spot on the stair. She sprayed it with the stain remover and scrubbed it with the brush, trying not to think how it got there in the first place.

  "Only another forty steps to go," said Brigitte coming down the stairs.

  Tatyana grinned. "Are you sure this is an essential part of my spiritual training?"

  "Anything your Mambo tells you to do is an essential part of your training. Besides I need all the slave labour I can get to clean this mess up."

  "It feels kind of weird though. I'm not being funny but when I scrub at a patch of blood that's still kind of fresh, it feels like it's... well it almost sounds like it's..."

  "Screaming?"

  "Yeah, how'd you know?"

  "It's still alive."

  "It is? Oh my God that's gross. How can it be alive if it's week-old blood?"

  "Every part of Doc Papa was alive. When he opened the Gateway of Souls inside himself he became suffused with all the souls that were loose. That was more than anyone could accommodate or even bear. The souls couldn't all reside in his core so they spread out and filled every part of his body. It would most probably have driven him mad. I didn't realise it at the time, but that's why my ancestor Toussaint gave him the Gateway."

  "And the guests tore him apart and ate him?"

  "They would have been trying to get their souls back I imagine. They would have been more or less Zombies at that point."

  "So if every part of him was alive from the souls inside him would he still have felt it even after they tore him apart?"

  "Every shred of his flesh and bone would have been in unimaginable pain throughout the whole ordeal."

  "Gross."

  "It was Toussaint's curse coming to pass. Mary Papamal's descendant died a hideous and bloody death at the hands of a Laveau. It just wasn't the Laveau I imagined."

  Tatyana heard a clatter behind her. She turned to see Benjamin dropping his spade as he tried to lean it against the wall. He'd been helping to bury the guest's bodies. He was in his vest. His muscles were taught and firm from all the digging he'd been doing. His skin had a sheen of sweat from working in the sun and his arms were smeared with dried mud.

  Tatyana felt a pang of desire and loss at the same time. She loved Benjamin and she still found him attractive but she'd chosen a different future for herself.

  "That's pretty much the last of them done," he said.

  "You made certain they marked every grave with the right name didn't you?" said Brigitte. "Because at some point their families are going to want to come and dig them up again."

  "I checked every name against the register and whatever ID we
found in their wallets."

  "What are we going to do when the authorities start asking questions about what happened?" said Tatyana.

  "My guess is, the people who set up the course were so connected to everyone in power that the authorities will want the whole thing covered up," said Brigitte. "Too many of them would be embarrassed if it all came out."

  "What about you and the islanders?" said Benjamin.

  "We're going to carry on rebuilding our lives."

  That's pretty much what they'd all been doing since they came to Mangrove Hall and found the bodies of the dead guests on the stairs. Everyone was trying to find a bit of normality after the bloodshed. The horror was over and they had to pick themselves up and deal with the business of everyday life.

  Tatyana found it rather comforting to worry about mundane things again. Like what she was going to have for breakfast and where she was going to be sleeping from now on. That's why she didn't mind scrubbing the stairs. It felt good to do a household chore. Something that wouldn't lead to a violent death if she didn't keep her wits about her. It was a far cry from the privileged lifestyle she was used to, but it felt more honest and real.

  While she and Benjamin helped clear away the bodies and clean up the hall, the rest of the islanders repaired their old homes and started looking for food and other necessities. There was a sense of optimism in everyone in spite of what they'd been through. The very worst had happened but they'd survived and were getting on with their lives.

  Faces that had been blank and feral, now wore smiles and winked at Tatyana. Hands she once feared might tear her apart, patted her on the back and helped her whenever they could. Suddenly the islanders were people again. With personalities and memories and opinions. They weren't some monstrous threat anymore.

  In many ways, she thought, that's what a Zombie represented. A faceless human threat. It was the enemy. It was any country, organisation or group of people you were against.

  They were people you couldn't identify with, so they weren't human. If your opponent's not human then it doesn't feel so wrong to hurt or kill them. That's probably what Doc Papa intended when he started preaching the Way of the Barefoot Zombie. That's what turning people into Zombies was all about.