by K Helms
“I betrayed her. I tried to make excuses for it; I tried to reason it away. I betrayed her because she treated me like shit. I betrayed her because she was a bitch, because she was such a hypocrite. I betrayed her because she betrayed me first,” he said all this as if he were making a confession to God in prayer. “But there is no excuse for the inexcusable. I betrayed her because I hated her as much as she hated me.”
Hito stood up but his eyes remained on Shere’s. “I should have told you before we went into the woods that I love you too. I wanted to tell you that I would have given up everything for you. I would have given up all that hate and revenge which was unjustified anyway, but now I know that it’s too late.”
He looked around at the shambles that had become his kingdom. “I let you down; you trusted me and I let you down. I couldn’t give you the one thing you most wanted. I know you wanted revenge. That is the one thing I know all too well and I pulled you from it.” He followed her eyes and glanced at the snake charmers routine silhouetted on the wall.
“I have failed everyone. God, myself, my parents, Victoria…” his chin quivered and he choked it down, “…Annie….but my greatest failure was with you; the one person who I truly loved and now when I look into your eyes I see the absence of the life that I stole from you.”
Hito walked to a shadowy corner of the apartment, retrieved Riley’s pack and tossed it beside where Shere sat. “Inside that,” he said, “there’s a map, marked with directions that will lead you to the others you might want to kill. Riley kept a journal in there and I know what he and his low-life friends did to you. It’s all there.”
Hito reached into his own pack, pulled out a black hooded sweatshirt and pulled it over his head, leaving the hood up. “I’m going to leave now; I know that you don’t want me here with you anymore.”
He turned from her and walked to the front door. He swung it open before him. Maybe God would give him a chance for redemption. He had laid down his weapons and would face the world that wanted his flesh, unarmed.
Dawn was breaking, and in that early morning light, it shone in glories of reds and purples. Hito could see the dead trudging ever closer toward the double-wide. The early bird gets the worm, but so do the dead. He stepped over the threshold and took a moment to look at Annie’s shallow grave.
“Hito,” Shere’s voice sounded far away.
It had been the first word she had said to him since being in the woods and he stopped, his heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t turn. Hope of a second chance threatened to overflow from his heart and he silently thanked God for it.
He heard the hammer of the remaining ‘Twin’ cock back. It was a familiar sound. How many times had he drawn it back in just such a way, with murder on his mind? Hito sighed and hung his head as he waited for the impact, then the sweet darkness of oblivion.
“OK, Shere,” he said quietly. This death was well-earned, he knew, and there was a part of him that wanted his life to end every bit as much as the dead that lumbered toward him with ratcheting jaws. Hito heard a set of jaws piston down an inch from his ear.
She pulled the trigger and saw the black hood flap in the wind as the bullet passed through it. “I forgive you Hito,” Shere said as she watched the zombie that had reached out to grab Hito from the porch propel backward, it’s arms flailing and falling with the back of its skull shredded.
There was something inherently wrong with jarheads, every damn one of them. She stood and watched Hito’s body lurch, clumsily, forward with a heavy thud on the concrete patio. In his place, she could see her ever approaching fate of death and their snapping jaws. Their faces looked angry and filled with hate. It was as if someone had taken the living’s masks from them and exposed them for what they really were in life.
She felt no fear of the dead as they mechanically hammered each step closer to her.
She would change. She had been another nobody and there was no life in being a ‘nothing’. It was a heavy thing that nothingness.
Life had given her hope only to take it away. She thought of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown knew that Lucy was going to yank the ball away as he tried to kick it and he would end up flying and landing in a heap on his back. Lucy would call him a blockhead and walk away with the ball, laughing at his stupid ass. He fell for it every damn time and Shere had known that frustration. Hope is for suckers stupid enough to believe in fool’s gold; it’s just iron pyrite. It glitters but it is worthless. Even if hope was genuine then she knew one thing for certain.
Hope is a dangerous thing in the hands of the hopeless.
She unloaded the magazine into the leering faces of the dead that seemed to laugh at her misfortune. The good thing about being a ‘nothing’ was that there would be no one looking for her if she was only that. The dead dropped, piling up behind where Hito lay and soon their numbers had divided and then divided again until they dropped to nothing...just like she had.
She walked to the porch and knelt beside Hito, smoothing his shiny, black hair that was slick with blood. Hito stirred and turned to look at her. “You shot me, Shere,” he said, still groggy. A large goose egg covered the top of his forehead where his head had hit the concrete patio. Would she and Hito prove mathematicians wrong? Would two little ‘nothings, two zeroes, still be ‘nothing’, or would they become more than the sum of their parts? Would their arithmetic become indivisible? Would zero plus zero invent a new equation that became one? In a world where science was irrational, why couldn’t simple math become quantum in its complication?
“I just grazed you, maybe if you would have ducked down to give me a better shot…” Shere said and helped Hito to his feet. “Let’s load up our gear; those shots will bring more of the dead.”
Hito straightened and looked her in the eyes. There was that spark again, that life, and she smiled at him. “Thank you, Hito,” she said and kissed him softly.
He blinked, confused “For what?”
She reached up; the remaining ‘Twin’ still in her grasp, the slid locked to the rear, where it had stayed when she had expended her last round, and touched his cheek gently with the soft skin of the back of her hand. “Purpose,” she whispered and with a smile playing upon her lips she added, “We’re going to need a lot more ammunition.”
Chapter 55 - Separation anxiety
State Route # 35
Jackson, Ohio
Death Wagon drove in silence determined to wait for Nan to initiate the conversation. For now he would give her time, let her think and she would talk when she was ready. Death was just thankful to have her in the Winnie with him and to be taking her someplace safe. He knew that Nan was devastated by not being able to go with Mia and Mick. This was to have been her first real adventure. Although Death felt for her, he was also happy that she was unable to go to a place with unknown dangers. She would be safe with him at the mine.
After several minutes of silence, Death finally heard her sweet, soft voice.
“Tomorrow I want to go exploring,” she said wiping away the last of her tears.
Death glanced over at her “Are you sure you’ll feel up to it?” he asked, testing the waters.
“I need something to keep my mind occupied,” she answered.
He wanted to tell her that he had something to keep her occupied, but he refrained. Nan had asked Mick to wed them their last night at the mine, and he had. Death could still see Mick’s expression when Nan had asked him to preside over the impromptu service; it had been one of relief that Nan would have a man to take care of her, but also one of absolute horror that his little Nano would be doing the same things in the privacy of her bedroom that he and Mia enjoyed. Death Wagon smiled as he replayed that scene in his mind. Unfortunately for Death and the scythe in his jeans, they still hadn’t consummated their marriage. They had lain in bed together, naked, but she hadn’t been ready. They had gotten into some intense making out and had allowed their hands to explore where ever they would, but she had gently
pushed his hips away when he had tried anything further. Death had thought that he might explode below the waist, but he waited until she fell asleep and had went to the bathroom and taken care of himself; it hadn’t taken him long, but he still didn’t get much sleep. Every time he closed his eyes his mind kept replaying images of her body lying atop his own. He snapped out of his reverie.
“What did you have in mind?” he managed to ask as he unsuccessfully tried to shake certain thoughts from his mind. He noticed that his black Levis were feeling a little snug, regardless of his efforts.
“I’d like to see that hotel that Daniel was talking about,” she said as she adjusted the seat belt between her breasts. Death’s jeans may have split a seam. It seemed that everything she did looked so sensual, no matter how innocent the action. Death noticed how the nylon belt curved around her right breast. He jerked his head forward and tried to concentrate on the road.
“The Greenbrier?” he asked, forcing himself to focus on the conversation.
“Uh-huh. I’ve read about it and its history and it sounds very interesting.”
“Didn’t he also say that the place was covered with zombie gore?” asked Death, only slightly exaggerating.
She looked over at him her eyes dancing with mischief. “You’ll protect me, won’t you?” she teased, leaning over to him to kiss him on the cheek. Death felt his face flush. He had been with quite a few girls in his time before the apocalypse, but they hadn’t really cared about him, just the idea of banging a guy in the band. They had all worn too much makeup, too much hairspray, too much cheap perfume and they were all too vapid for anything other than a one-nighter. Nan, on the other hand, had a way of making him feel important, yet somehow like a stumbling school boy, all at the same time.
“Hey!” She play punched him in the arm. “Won’t you?”
Death stammered around, he wanted to say something suave, but all he could manage was a big goofy grin and an “Uhh…yeah…”
She kissed him quickly on the mouth and slid back to her captain’s chair. “Good,” she said closing her eyes. She smiled, her own face growing red now. “Then you’d better step on it, we have some unfinished business to take care of when we get back home.” Though she was smiling she seemed to labor for breath. Death thought that there was a distinct possibility that his balls might detonate.
“You mean…” he trailed off hopefully.
“You know exactly what I mean,” she said and gave a long cat-like stretch, arching her back with her arms over her head. This movement only showcased the youthful roundness of her breasts and the tiny circumference of her waist.
Death Wagon mashed the accelerator and Nan giggled nervously.
Chapter 56 - Through the haze
Plane of the Ark
“Ha! You’re a midget!” exclaimed Daniel, guffawing and looking directly at Bodie Barnes. “…and your face is covered in tattoos. You look like a short, white and hairy Mike Tyson.”
Bodie looked down at himself. He was covered in studded leather armor, his exposed arms a ruddy pink color, thickly muscled, but he noticed to his chagrin, with a very short reach. He looked around him and he had to look up at everyone, especially Regeliel who towered over all at the height of 8’2”, other than that fact he looked the same as he did on the other side. The next thing he noticed was Mia. He almost could not take his eyes off of her. She had been beautiful before and still was, but her dark complexion had changed from that light cocoa color to a charcoal gray, she was still just as tiny and her hair was still long and jet black, but was twisted into a bun at the top of her head and held in place by two long needle-sharp pins of steel. But it was her eyes that belied the beauty; the sclera was completely covered in black with no whites to be seen. Just black pools and he couldn’t tell at who she was looking. Her man Mick still held her protectively with one arm, but Bodie was sure that this incarnation of Mia needed no protection. Mick, himself had not changed except the fact that he was covered in a worn brown leather tunic that matched his breeches and boots and he now carried what looked to be a metal spiked baseball bat but as far as Bodie could tell there was no Louisville Slugger burnt into the side. He turned back to his friend Daniel and looked him directly in the eyes and said “And you, my friend, are a dog.”
“Wha…?” asked Daniel, looking over to Mia who bent toward him and patted the front of her thigh.
“He’s a cute little guy, yes he is,” she said in a sing song voice.
Daniel looked up at Mick who raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Sorry, man, although I think you might actually be a wolf.”
“Lycanthrope,” interjected the giant Regeliel.
“Gesundheit,” said Bodie wryly.
Regeliel laughed “No, he is a Lycan.”
“Thanks, Regeliel, that sounds disgusting, like I should be growing in a peat swamp,” said Daniel the wolf. “Just what exactly does that entail, if you’ll pardon the pun?”
“According to the lads in Parkersburg, it is most closely related to what you would call a werewolf. The difference is that when not in that form you are a wolf, not human,” Regeliel said then added, “…for now anyway. If you are here long enough then you will mature into a true Lycan.”
“And that is…” Daniel asked
“Lycan form during full lunar phases and man at all other times. There are actually a lot of them here.”
“Great,” muttered Daniel
“Maybe I can find you a nice flea collar, baby,” said Bodie giggling merrily.
“Or maybe I can just eat your midget ass!”
“You’re gonna eat my ass? Gay.”
“Eat shit.”
“Isn’t that what dogs do?” asked Bodie, smiling through his thick beard.
“I think he makes a cute puppy,” said Mia sweetly. Daniel wagged his tail appreciatively, when he noticed his tail from the corner of his eye Daniel tried to make his tail stop but to no avail.
Mick looked at Regeliel. “Well where to big man?”
“North,” said the knight “… north toward Graylocke Castle and to my Lady Mariel,” he said with tears of joy swimming in his eyes.
“I can’t wait to meet her Sir Regeliel,” said Mia.
“Fee fi fo humbug,” said Daniel then added, “Well come on, Shorty,” he said nudging Bodie in the chest with his muzzle.
It was already dark and the moon was high, round and large. Bodie watched as Daniel stared up at it with his eyes large, fascinated, while they marched.
“Are you alright? That moon looks pretty full,” said the muscular dwarf with a shiver. He knew all the stories of werewolves, or Lycans as they were called here, and he was well aware of what the diets were of said creatures.
From a remote voice Daniel answered ominously, “The moon is never full, it only hungers,” His voice had become deeper and heavier than his usual light tone. Bodie shivered again, but kept walking.
Chapter 57 - Death and Nan
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
“So what’s on the docket today?” asked Nan. She sat with her knees drawn up close to her chest, a sheet covering her while her arms encircled her knees. Her face was still flushed.
Death looked at her with a sly grin and she play slapped his shoulder. “Not that, you dog…we’ll do more of that later,” she promised and her face reddened a darker shade. Death had never seen her look more beautiful than she did now.
“I mean…there are a few places I want to explore.”
“Me too…” he said, and she beamed her thousand kilowatt smile at him and slapped his shoulder again.
“Would you stop? I’m trying to be serious. I’ve been stuck in that mine for so long…I need to do this.”
Death nodded. “Yeah, I know you do. What did you have in mind?”
“Daniel and Bodie told us about the Greenbrier. It sounded interesting and it’s pretty close. There’s a lot of history there too and we might even find more people,” she said, and saw Death visibly tense at her
last remark.
“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that place,” he muttered.
“Death, we will need other people. Not for us, but for when we have sons and daughters, they will need husbands and wives to repopulate.”
“Sounds like you have been giving this a lot of thought,” he said.
“I have. It’s important,” she stated as if it were a matter of fact.
“How many sons and daughters are we talking about?”
“As many as possible…hundreds,” she said gleefully.
Death fell back on his pillow with a soft thump. “That’s a lot of diapers.”
“That’s also a lot of you know what.”
Death rolled on his side facing her. “I like that part, but maybe not a hundred kids; that’s a lot of screaming shit factories to take care of.”
“Don’t talk about our kids like that.”
“Sorry.”
“Tell you what…we go to the Greenbrier today and I’ll settle for three kids,” she said, and then added, “For now.”
She held out her hand to him and he took it in his, kissing its smooth surface.
“Deal,” he said.
Chapter 58 - Graylocke Castle
City of the Grays
Plane of the Ark
The mighty men of valor, as described in Genesis, had evolved into a peaceful race that had long ago traded their swords for plowshares with the exception of the Nephilim nobles. The walled City of the Grays had once been a bastion of safety for its inhabitants and the families in the outer borough and although the counsel had been trying to have the walls removed, Regeliel had the last word and had vowed that the walls would remain until his reign was over, damning the counsel for fools.