AfterLife

by S. P. Cloward

  Seth remained in his seat, pleased by his successful hunt and reveling in the physical sensations he always felt when he was finished. His victim sat lifeless on the other side of the train and Seth knew it could be hours before anyone realized she was dead. He had looked into her soul and seen her hopes for a rich and full life, yet he had squashed her pathetic dreams and life without a second thought. The image of her body riding the train for hours made him smile. He had fed on her in public and not a single person in that car knew he had done it. He truly was the superior species – a Mortui, and thus, a god.

  The train slowed as it made its approach into the next station. Seth stood up and moved toward the doors, arriving just as they opened. He exited the train, then ascended the escalator and steps that brought him back up to street level. Although he didn’t really need it, he wanted to feed again. Boystown was near, he thought as he put on his sunglasses and walked down the street, and there was always good game there.

  Chapter 3

  Wes’s body moved stiffly as the woman helped him off the floor and onto the couch. “I’m Meri and this is Jordan,” she said, pointing to the man who was now standing across the room looking out the window and down at the street. Meri was a short woman, probably in her early to mid-30s, with shoulder-length black hair. Her pale complexion contrasted with her hair color. Jordan appeared to be about the same age; he was tall with lanky limbs and his blond hair was combed to the side in a professional manner. Wes couldn’t help but notice the extreme difference in the appearances of the two strangers.

  “You can look at us as your welcoming committee,” Jordan said, shifting his gaze from the window to Wes. He smiled at Wes, who didn’t try to smile back.

  “Wes,” Meri said as she typed and sent a text message on her mobile, “you’re not alone.” As he watched her movements, Wes noticed a silver ring on her thumb. It was embossed with an emblem that looked like a combination of an “A” and “L” in an old English script. He briefly wondered what the letters stood for when she continued, “We represent an organization of people just like you. We’re here to improve your physical body, show you how to take care of yourself, and hopefully give you purpose.”

  Wes stared at her. The woman was crazy. He’d never heard of people actually becoming zombies, let alone talking about it like it was no big deal.

  “I’m sure you’re confused,” she said, “but you’re going to have to believe us. Here, look at Jordan. He looks like he’s what, in his thirties? Well, he’s been dead for 12 years. I’ve been dead for 23 years.”

  Wes tried without success to absorb what they were telling him. Meri and Jordan didn’t appear to be dead at all. Meri’s fair complexion may have raised questions, but if he were to pass them on the street he would never guess either of them was a walking corpse. Apparently, everyone in the room was dead, yet he was the only one who seemed to be attracting flies.

  “We’re going to wait here for a bit. We’ve got some backup coming that will take care of your apartment for you. Then you’re going to have to come with us. Is that okay?”

  Wes slowly scanned the living room of his small one-bedroom home, his refuge after his escape from the clinic and the incident with the police in the alley. He wondered what was going to happen to his things. He couldn’t ask because they wouldn’t understand him. It didn’t matter; none of it meant anything anymore. What good would the new Swedish mattress be for his back problems now? How often would he need to make healthy smoothies in his Vita-Mix?

  “I don’t mean to be rude,” Jordan said, interrupting Wes’s thoughts, “but can I ask a stupid question?”

  Wes nodded, not knowing what to expect.

  “No Jordan, you cannot,” Meri said, signaling she knew what he was going to ask.

  “Wes already said it was okay so I’m going to.” Meri stood up, shaking her head, and began to walk around the apartment to look at Wes’s things. “Okay, this is going to sound like a funny request, but looking at you with your missing hand and your decomposing skin, well, I just have to ask. Will you do Michael Jackson’s Thriller for me?”

  “You are such an idiot,” Meri said from the bedroom.

  “I know, I know, but we haven’t found someone this dead in a while.”

  Wes didn’t get up from the couch. He had no intention of dancing; what if some other body part fell off? Jordan laughed at his own joke, and after looking at his watch, turned back to look out the window. Wes noticed the watch face had the same emblem as Meri’s ring, and again wondered briefly at the significance of the symbol before quickly dismissing the thought. “Better not to think at all,” he thought. Over-thinking tended to get him in trouble; in fact, it had killed him.

  It wasn’t long before the support crew Meri mentioned arrived. A team of several men and women dressed as police and emergency responders poured into the apartment, but Wes got the impression that none of them was really what they appeared to be. They didn’t react to his appearance as the policemen the night before had, and several were wearing pins with the same conjoined “A” and “L” emblem. While one group worked their way through his apartment as if it were a crime scene, another group directed him to get into a body bag so they could move him out of the building.

  Wes couldn’t see anything from inside the body bag except tiny squares of light that came in along the zipper. Neither could he feel what was going on outside the bag. There was no sensation of being lifted off the floor because he couldn’t feel the hands that grabbed his body and picked him up. He only knew what was happening by the sounds he could hear.

  The strangers placed Wes on a stretcher, and from the changing light coming in through the squares along the zipper, he sensed he was being carried out of his building to some unknown destination. He knew Meri and Jordan were dead like he was, although he found it a little hard to believe from their less-than-dead appearance. He didn’t know who the rest of the people were. They were as much of a mystery to him as Meri and Jordan, and he was sure they were dead, too. Whoever or whatever they were, he was one of them now.

  The thought of being taken out of his apartment in a body bag seemed perfectly normal. A few days had passed since his death, and Wes was slowly becoming more comfortable with the idea. Besides, as odd as things were at that moment, he didn’t feel there was much choice. For now it was probably best to just go along with whatever happened. He didn’t know who these people were, or where they were taking him, but they seemed to have a handle on it. He figured they couldn’t do him any more harm than he’d done to himself. After all, he was already dead.

  Wes listened to the muffled conversations of his new friends. The shifting light through the zipper stilled. For some reason the people transporting him came to a stop just outside the entrance to the lobby. He listened to the voices and recognized one of them. It was his brother.

  “I’d like to see him before you take him.”

  “Who are you?” Meri asked.

  “I’m Wes’s brother, Lyall.”

  “Wes?”

  “Yeah, the body you’ve got there is my brother. I’m his emergency contact. Mr. Howell just called and told me he saw Wes dead in his apartment.”

  “He’s been dead for what looks to be close to three days,” Jordan said. “I don’t know if you really want to see—”

  “We can let you see him,” Meri interrupted, “but first I’m going to have to see some identification.” There was a pause. “Lyall, we’re so sorry for your loss. Still you need to know, like my partner said, he’s been dead for some time. He won’t move. He’s dead. Seeing him might help you begin the grieving process so you can start to move on. I just want to clarify that he’s dead and can’t move.”

  Wes knew Meri was talking to him and not to his brother. The zipper slowly opened. Wes kept his eyes open so he could take one last look at his brother. He hadn’t seen him in more than a year even though they lived in the same city. Once they were very close; now he didn’t even call him on his birt
hday.

  Wes got a quick glance of his brother’s familiar face. People always said the two brothers looked a lot alike except his hair was a little lighter in color than Wes’s. There were tears in Lyall’s eyes. Jordan quickly reached down and closed Wes’s eyes.

  “What was the cause of death?”

  “We believe it was an accidental suicide, a combination of liquor and pills.” Meri placed her hand on Lyall’s arm. “We’re going to conduct a full investigation just in case there’s any evidence of foul play, but for now it looks like there isn’t any. If you come with me, I’ll set you up with an officer who will take you up to your brother’s apartment.”

  Lyall didn’t say anything. Meri lead him off. Jordan zipped the bag back up and once again Wes was in darkness.

  It was hard to see Lyall cry. Wes wanted to get out of the bag and hug his brother. For the first time he realized the impact his stupid choices were going to have on other people, especially his family.

  Lyall was his only sibling and older by four years. Wes didn’t know how their relationship had become so distant. He’d always looked up to Lyall when they were kids. When Lyall wanted to play a new sport, so did Wes. When Lyall wanted to pick up a new hobby, so did Wes.

  It was only a memory now, but once their family was a close, happy one. Then a few years ago their father died and everything changed. His brother became detached as he grieved in his own way, and their relationship changed. His mother dove into church and civic duties to fill the void left by the loss of her husband, and had little time for her sons. It was a frustrating time for Wes. He had tried to talk to his mother, to remind her that they all missed their father, that they needed to somehow find peace together and move on without him. The conversation made his mother agitated and irate; she wouldn’t talk about it, and Wes ended up walking out of the house, leaving her in tears.

  His relationship with his mother was now so strained they no longer talked or visited. She had left him as surely as his father had, but her abandonment felt intentional. To his credit, Lyall eventually tried a few times to smooth things over, but the attempts seemed only half-hearted. During the next few months, Wes and Lyall gradually stopped talking, and Lyall seemed to pull away even more than he had immediately after the funeral. Somehow, they all just forgot how to be a family. Now Wes realized it was his fault as much as anyone’s. For all these years he’d placed the blame on them for leaving him, but the truth was that it was his choice to be alone. Wes wondered if he’d ever get the chance to talk to his brother again.

  “Well, Wes, you play dead very nicely. You made that easy on us.” Meri helped Wes climb out of the bag once they were alone in what looked like a small truck equipped for refrigeration. “We’ve got a little bit of a drive ahead of us, and we have to preserve your body as much as we can. You may find it harder and harder to move once you’re refrigerated, but it is what it is.”

  Wes looked around the inside of the truck. He imagined the outside to be marked as some sort of police vehicle even though the inside was completely empty other than a few benches lining the walls.

  “We are part of a group of people called AfterLife,” Jordan began to explain after Wes found a place on one of the benches and the truck lurched into movement. “We’re a group of living dead, Mortuis to be more specific, and people are dying to get into our very exclusive group.” Meri again shook her head at Jordan’s remarks. Jordan laughed and continued. “Although the living dead have been around for almost as long as people have been dying, AfterLife has only been in existence since the early 1800s. We give purpose to life after death by helping those who continue to live realize their potential.”

  Wes thought Jordan was joking at first, but Meri didn’t shake her head at these comments as she had at his other insipid remarks. Meri looked at Wes and then motioned to Jordan to stop talking.

  “I don’t think he cares about all that yet, Jordan. He’s probably just getting used to the idea he’s dead. I think you forget after all these years how scary it can be at first.” Meri moved closer to Wes and placed her hand on his arm as a form a reassurance. Wes couldn’t feel her hand but was strangely calmed by the motion. “Look Wes, there’s a lot to get used to here. You are dead. Repeat it to yourself over and over until you get used to it. You’re dead and life can never be the same. We’re here to help you through the process. You aren’t alone. There are thousands of Mortuis all over the world. You are only one of many people who’ve found themselves in the same position you’re in now, and just like all of us, you will find a way to cope.

  “Having said that, I don’t want you to think it’s going to be easy. You’ll have to work to make a successful transition to your new situation. You won’t be able to step back into your old life. You won’t be able to see the people you once cared about or loved. That life died with you and you have to start new.”

  Wes listened to what Meri was saying and knew she was being as blunt as possible for good reason. He was a little frightened by the situation, but Meri’s words were what he needed to hear.

  She continued as if reading his thoughts, “I’m not trying to scare you, but I want you to be mentally prepared for what lies ahead. What I can tell you is that if you trust us, we’ll help you figure this out. You won’t be left on your own. Climbing into that body bag today was a good first step. We’ve encountered situations where the people we were trying to help ran or decided they didn’t want help.”

  Wes listened as Meri continued to talk. Maybe it had been curiosity that caused him to get into the body bag. Maybe he’d just felt he had no other choice. On the other hand, he also believed that Meri was empathetic to his situation. He’d given her no indication he was having difficulty dealing with this new situation, mostly because he couldn’t communicate. Regardless, he felt that by going with these strangers he was making a good decision.

  “You’re going to be just fine, Wes,” Meri said, taking her hand off his arm. “Things don’t always turn out the way we think they will. You probably died thinking you would be able to put all your problems behind you, only to discover that the very act you thought would be your escape has only opened up more challenges. Just know there is life after death, at least for us there is.”

  Jordan, who was sitting opposite from where Wes and Meri were sitting, began to laugh. “You crack me up, Meri. You look all tough with your slinky black hair but in reality you’re just a loving big sister.”

  “Oh shut up, Jordan. I’d slap you if I thought you’d feel it. I know I’ve been dead longer than you have, but I remember dying as a scary experience. I’m sure you do, too.”

  “Of course it was. It is for everyone. I’m just giving you a hard time. Can I explain the mummification process now? Please?”

  Meri sighed, but didn’t say anything.

  “Okay Wes,” Jordan said, his voice filled with excitement. “You’re going to be mummified. That’s mummification AfterLife style.”

  “You’re a tool.” Meri folded her arms and glared at Jordan. Jordan ignored her.

  “So, mummification has been around for millennia and can be found in different forms in various cultures. We at AfterLife call our form of mummification ‘rebirth.’ Ah, it’s so exciting when someone has a rebirth and gets a chance at life after death,” Jordan said, standing up to emphasize what Wes could see he believed to be a profound statement.

  The truck hit a pothole and Jordan fell back down on the bench.

  “Jordan, I think that’s enough,” Meri said, stopping Jordan from going further with his explanation of the rebirth process. “I don’t think he’s going to find it as exciting as you do.”

  “I don’t know,” Jordan said, “he might.”

  “Well, he doesn’t need the whole razzle-dazzle you give it. Just give him the quick version so he knows his body isn’t going to rot out from under him.”

  “Fine. We’re going to replace your bodily fluids with others that our own scientists have developed. After that, we�
�ll teach you how to feed off other people by looking into their eyes – it’s true what they say about the eyes being the gateway to the soul, although we don’t really feed on the soul. We feed on life energy. However, as you take their life energy, you also shorten their lifespan, so be careful. How was that, short enough for you Meri?”

  “You never cease to amaze me with how thoughtless you can be.” Meri shifted her attention from Jordan to Wes. “Wes, I’m going to need you to lie down now. I’m going to move over to the other bench and I want you to stay as flat as you can. It’s going to get hard to move in a bit and we’ll need you in a lying position when we arrive.”

  The truck ride continued for what seemed to be several hours. His mind hummed with questions he couldn’t ask. He didn’t know if anything Jordan said about rebirth was true, but he hoped it was. It would be nice to have a little more control over his body. Would his body come back to life or was this process just a way of preserving it from further decay? As he listened to their caustic bantering, he realized there was a true friendship and closeness behind it. They really cared for one another, and he liked that.

  Finally, the truck came to a stop, indicating their arrival at their final destination. Wes’s body was so stiff he couldn’t move at all. Meri and Jordan didn’t seem to have the same problem, and stood up as the doors at the back of the truck opened. Meri leaned over Wes, placing herself into his line of sight and indicating she knew he wasn’t able to move.

  “Don’t try to move, Wes. You’ll just damage yourself. Stay put and we’ll take care of everything.”