After Emmy and Charlie had successfully repatriated the residents gathered in the pub, they were ready to move on to the ones Lucas had partitioned. When separated from the crowd, these problem cases turned out to be no problem at all. At least, not until it came time to transport a forty one year old male, named Robbo, back to the real world.
‘How many do we have left?’ Emmy asked as they approached the house.
‘Thirteen including the next one,’ replied Lucas. ‘Robbo can be quite a character at times. Which one of you guys wants to take him?’
‘I don’t mind,’ said Emmy. ‘It’s all run far too smoothly so far. I could do with a challenge.’
‘I’m sure he’ll be fine,’ said Lucas. ‘Charlie, you may as well go straight to the next house. It belongs to Jimmy’s Aunt. I’ll let him make the introductions.’
The two pairs split up. Lucas entered Robbo’s house first, followed by Emmy. Its sole occupant quickly shut the door behind them.
The interior of the house was lit only by a lamp in the corner, its forty watt bulb casting a subdued light into the darkness caused by the shutters covering the windows.
‘Officer Black,’ Robbo began, ‘what brings you out during such a tempest? I’m surprised you could find your way around with all this dust blowing about.’
Lucas did not answer. Emmy guessed he must have heard the same line countless times before and had long grown weary of going through the motions of civility.
‘We’re evacuating,’ she said to Robbo. ‘All you have to do is take me by the hand and we’ll get you far out of harm’s way of this storm.’
She held out her hand and motioned to take a step toward Robbo when Lucas gently restrained her by placing his left arm across her chest. His other hand was on the handle of his side arm.
‘Not so fast,’ Lucas told her. ‘Like the man said, the storm is blowing up quite a stir outside. Maybe we should wait until it quietens down a bit.’
Emmy stared back at him, not quite sure why he was stalling. She glanced at Robbo and he appeared to see nothing unusual in the request.
‘What do you reckon, Robbo?’ asked Lucas. ‘How long do you think it will be until that wind starts to die down?’
The other man walked to the door and opened it a crack to peek outside. Obviously, there was no storm, but Emmy assumed that due to hypnotic suggestion, what she saw and what this man saw would be two entirely different scenarios.
‘It’s a real beaut,’ Robbo said, confirming her hypothesis. ‘I don’t think it’s going anywhere soon.’
‘Describe it to me,’ said Lucas.
Robbo did not question the request. He simply supplied Lucas with a vivid, if somewhat inarticulate description matching the scenario as Lucas had described it to Emmy earlier.
The policeman then turned to Emmy.
‘What do you see?’ he asked her. ‘Be honest.’
There was something in his tone that made her spine quiver. She thought back to when she had listened in on the conversation between her father and Sammy at the dance. Although she had dismissed it at the time, her father had clearly described Lucas as crazy. Was her friend now having some sort of an episode to confirm this?
‘It’s just as the man said,’ she replied. ‘The storm is going nowhere.’
Lucas smiled. He then turned away from Emmy, directing his full gaze on Robbo.
‘Strange that,’ he said. ‘It looks quite calm to me. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen a sunnier day in all of my centuries living here.’ For a brief moment he glanced back at Emmy. ‘With each hypnosis, I program in a reset. The moment Robbo laid eyes on me his perception of any storm would have been eradicated.’
‘What are saying?’ asked Emmy. ‘Is he lying?’
‘About many things,’ Lucas replied, his eyes back on the suspected imposter.
Emmy noticed that her friend’s gun was now withdrawn and pointed directly at the other man.
‘Why would he lie?’ she asked, beginning to feel uneasy with the situation developing around her.
‘Because he’s not Robbo,’ Lucas replied. ‘I would recognise this bastard whatever face he wore. Isn’t that right, Professor Fox?’
Emmy tensed when she heard the name. It took her a moment to process what Lucas was implying. Fox, however, reacted instantly. He lunged at Emmy with his arms outstretched and a crazed insanity burning in his eyes.
Before the scientist could react, Lucas was already on top of the situation. The policeman fired repeatedly into the other man’s chest, expelling many more than the six shot compliment the gun should have had. The bullets pulverised the target’s body no differently than if he had been composed of real flesh, blowing him off his feet and sending him sprawling to the ground.
‘Come on,’ Lucas said, taking Emmy by the arm and leading her out of the door.
‘How?’ she asked. ‘How is this possible? You told me you took care of him.’
‘It doesn’t matter how,’ he told her. ‘The important thing is to get you out of here. Abort the mission. Go home. Just put yourself anywhere that he can’t find you.’
Before Emmy could respond, she heard a loud crash as half of the outside wall to Robbo’s house was ripped away. Her grandfather, now back in his own youthful body, was standing before them, hatred etched into every pore of his being. Lucas fired again, but this time the bullets had no effect. They had been expected, which reduced them to no more than a minor irritant.
‘Take this,’ said Lucas, throwing Emmy his phone. ‘Bottom of the list. Then get the Hell out of here.’
The policeman launched himself at Fox. He attacked with a combination of ferocity and skill that could not possibly have come from his police training. With so much time on his hands, Lucas had put much of it to use. He had spent decades learning and honing any and every combat skill he could gather knowledge on. This was partly to pass time, partly for fun, but mostly in preparation for the scenario now facing him.
Whilst the two men fought, Emmy quickly scrolled down the phone’s menu until she got to the bottom. When she saw what was written she had to do a double take. It had to be some sort of a joke. Surely this could not be what he wanted her to find. She looked back to her friend for guidance.
‘Just press it!’ screamed Lucas, barely able to disengage from Fox long enough to address her.
She looked at the screen.
The words Zombie Apocalypse stared back at her.
She hit select.
Chapter 41
Despite the cell having no walls or even a floor (it existed purely in a metaphysical sense – an artificial nothingness), its prisoner’s minds anchored them within that void. They were able to retain positions relative to one another and even communicate.
Davo contemplated the creature as it writhed in agony at his feet. It continued to clutch the partially closed hole in its stomach, and in between its agonised screams he could sense a yearning emanating from deep within.
‘What is it?’ he asked Sammy, who had been in a daze when Davo arrived, but was now showing increased lucidity after being reunited with his friend.
‘The eyes.’ Sammy’s voice was strained and weak. ‘Look at its eyes. They hold the answers you seek.’
The being was humanoid in shape, but its features lacked distinction. It was like a ten dimensional shadow trapped within a three dimensional world. The texture of its surface was blacker than the void around them and at times he thought he caught a reflection of human skin on it, and at other times he thought he saw fur.
‘It has no eyes,’ he said. ‘All I see are empty sockets.’
‘Look beyond the surface,’ replied Sammy. ‘You have to reach out with your heart.’
Davo was sceptical, but his friend had never let him down before. He did as he had been told and searched deep into the abyss beyond the being’s featureless expression. For a brief moment he saw a flicker of something familiar. Something precious to him.
‘Emmy?’
‘No,’ said Sammy, ‘but it is linked to your daughter. If we can take away its pain, we might be able to contact her.’
Davo looked again at the hole in the being’s stomach area. The outline crackled with bleeding energy. It was like some gargantuan beast had taken a bite out of a star.
‘How do we take away its pain?’ he asked.
The creature held out an approximation of a hand. As Davo took it, an agonising wave of pain washed over his body, setting his soul on fire. When he could endure no more, he tore his hand away and fell to his knees.
If death was possible in this place, he felt he was not far from it. When he looked up, an exact duplicate of his daughter was staring back at him.
‘Emmy?’
It shook its head.
‘If the face makes you uncomfortable, I can change it,’ the tulpa said.
‘Please do,’ he replied.
The tulpa waved a hand over its face and in an instant it transformed into the girl with the broken down car. It had taken on the form of Lucy.
‘Are you..?
‘No,’ it replied. ‘She is not in this place. Her death was clean...this time.’
Davo did not understand the reference to Lucy’s fate, but it mattered not. All he cared about was finding out if Emmy was safe.
‘Where is my daughter?’ he asked.
The tulpa closed its eyes. When it reopened them it seemed noticeably calmer.
‘She’s here,’ it told him. ‘I am connected to her like he was to that thing they put inside me. In my weakened state the connection was interrupted, but I can feel it slowly returning. I will soon be a part of her once more.’
Davo retreated slightly.
‘Thing inside of you?’ he asked.
‘That was how he escaped. When Lucy died she was carrying a radioactive clone of Jackson Fox, which had been implanted inside her womb. The radiation imbued its malformed DNA with a greater density of cosmic energy. It was much more spiritually advanced than a normal pre-born, which allowed it to crossover to this place, where Fox was immediately drawn to it. They are now one. He used it to pull himself out of this prison and to send me here in his place.’
‘But your wound? You said the real Lucy was carrying this thing yet it looks to me like he tore it out of you.’
‘That’s right. I was Lucy’s spirit. Emmy gave me to her. A lover’s gift to bring back the departed.’
Davo’s eyes widened as the girl’s words sunk in.
‘You’re Emmy’s soul?’
‘A part of it. Even when separated, we are still one.’
‘So you can get out of here too?’
The tulpa once again closed its eyes. This time when it reopened them it appeared to be on edge. The calmness had been purged from its features.
‘No. Something is missing. I’m not strong enough. When Fox escaped, he did so by not only locking onto the energy signature of the clone, but by also stealing a great deal of my own power. If not for my link to Emmy I would have been completely destroyed.’
‘So where does that leave us?’
‘The only way for me to get out of here is to sacrifice another to do so. That is something I will not do.’
‘Why? I know it sounds selfish, but think what’s at stake here.’
The tulpa looked at him with sadness in its eyes. Emmy’s eyes. Though the face belonged to another, he could still see his daughter behind the mask.
‘When I told you that I was a part of Emmy I may not have been entirely clear. I didn’t tell you which part.’
‘What do you mean?’
The tulpa sighed.
‘I’m her conscience.’
***
After successfully reintegrating Jimmy’s Aunt with her body, Charlie decided to delay his return to the distant star. He needed a short break. All this movement back and forth between worlds was taking its toll.
Each time he piggybacked his way through the wormhole he felt more of the emptiness within the deceased vessels that he used. That was not the worst part, however. The worst part was being able to read the minds of each and every person he returned to the land of the living. It was just too difficult to block out all of their thoughts. Most of the knowledge he gained from them was harmless, but occasionally there would be an emotional edge to what they were thinking, which rubbed off on him. In this case; guilt shared was merely double the guilt.
He allowed his essence to drift through the infirmary. There were many more live and animated bodies than there were lifeless ones. Each of them had been reborn. They were now clear of the terrible infection, which had condemned them first to madness and then to a lifeless limbo. It would not be long until all were returned. Only then would he finally be able to put the tragedy of Jackson’s Hill behind him and move on with his life.
I cannot stall forever, he thought to himself. It was time to finish the job he and Emmy had started. Casting his mind out far and wide, he latched onto the first deceased essence he could detect and at once he was back in that bizarre dream world of the dead. He used his internal map to locate Jimmy and from there he transported himself to the boy’s active consciousness. When he arrived, he found that what was left of the town had gone completely crazy.
Chapter 42
Emmy did not flee as Lucas had ordered her to. She was far too enthralled by the carnage taking place around her. As soon as she had hit the button to implement Lucas’ doomsday scenario, the people of Jackson’s Hill transformed into little more than rabid beasts. They smashed through windows and kicked down doors in order to get to the street. Each one of them was carrying the same hunger in their gait and vacancy in their eyes.
A middle aged man Emmy did not recognise emerged from the broken wreckage of what had once been a conservatory directly in front of her. The shards of broken glass tore at his clothes and cleaved his flesh as he pulled himself free of the debris. Blood stained the garments he wore like sweat. He seemed to feel no pain or even have an awareness of his injuries.
‘Don’t come any closer,’ shouted Emmy, but the man was as oblivious to her words as he was to his own tattered flesh.
When the attack came, he moved with far greater dexterity than his injuries should have allowed. It caught Emmy by surprise and when his outstretched arms connected with her shoulders, his momentum forced her off balance, sending her tumbling backwards.
Knowing that should the crazed man land on top of her she would be unable to fight him off, Emmy managed to bend her right knee in to her chest and then pressed the flat of her foot against his torso as they hit the ground. The psychopath was sent careening over her head whilst she rolled back upright, resting on her haunches.
She barely had a moment to gain composure before this maniac, no – this zombie, returned for a second attack. This time, however, she was prepared for it. Being crouched low, she found it easier to launch into a full on sprint, propelling herself away from the creature’s grasp. She then rounded a corner only to find the path in front blocked by two more of these twice dead savages.
Before she had time to react, she felt a sharp tug on the back of her blouse. The force of the action spun her around, where she fell into Jimmy’s arms.
‘Where’s Lucas?’ the former psychic asked.
‘M-Main Street,’ she stammered in response. ‘Pops is there too. I thought I was helping but I only made it worse. I brought these things here.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he assured her. ‘Just follow me.’
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her along as he sprinted around the back of a row of houses before turning onto Main Street. As soon as he saw Lucas and Fox fighting it out he stopped running and relaxed.
‘Why’ve you stopped?’ asked Emmy. ‘Those things might still be after us.’
Sure enough, no sooner had she spoken, the two zombies rounded the corner behind them. This time Emmy was the one who grabbed Jimmy, but as she tugged on his arm, he refused to follow.
‘It’s okay,’ he tol
d her. ‘They won’t hurt us now. Watch.’
True to Jimmy’s word, as the zombies approached they actually split up, running either side of the pair before converging on Lucas and Fox. As they did so, the policeman was able to break away from the other man’s hold and rolled to safety. Seconds later, two more zombies emerged from either side of the street. One of them was the one who had earlier attacked Emmy. Lucas was ignored as they both went directly for the startled professor.
The policeman dusted himself off before approaching Emmy and Jimmy.
‘Good job leading them here,’ he said. ‘There’ll be more. We should let them out.’
‘Are you crazy?’ asked Emmy. ‘Those things almost killed me.’
‘No, they didn’t,’ replied Lucas. ‘Nothing here can hurt you.’ he looked back over his shoulder at Fox who was struggling to keep the four zombies at bay. ‘Okay, most things here can’t hurt you. They won’t hold him for long though. Which is why we need more.’
The sound of a bin lid clattering to the floor caught their attention. The three turned to see Charlie cowering behind a row of garbage cans.
‘What the hell is going on here?’ the terrified scientist asked.
‘I’ll explain shortly,’ replied Lucas. ‘First help me to release the rest of the cavalry.’
There were seven more zombies in total. Two were roaming the back streets and five were in houses. They released them in teams. There was one team to open the door, a second to lead the creature that emerged from it into the path of Jackson Fox. When they had built sufficient numbers, these crazed former townsfolk easily overpowered the once great man. They pinned their victim to the ground where they proceeded to feed on his flesh at the same rate that he could regenerate it. Their barbaric pleasure was matched only by Fox’s agonised torture.
Lucas instructed the group to hold hands. Once they did so he transported them to the centre of a vast desert. The perfectly flat and empty horizon did not deviate even minutely along its full three hundred and sixty degree panorama. The point where the pale blue sky met the iron dirt of the outback was swallowed by infinity. If anyone or anything tried to attack, they would see it coming from miles away.
Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 88