by CJ Davis
A screen slowly lowered from the ceiling and took up the whole stage. A projector turned on and displayed a movie while Epicurus narrated. Two great warriors in Blue togas stood talking to each other on screen.
"Upon this discovery Morkel turned to his oldest and most powerful friend, Laksious," Epicurus continued. The two of them were then and are now the most powerful and advanced souls in the Afterlife. Morkel was excited to explain his newfound enlightenment to Laskious. However, after learning of the suffering Morkel had caused, Laskious didn't share Morkel's enthusiasm. Laksious had the purest soul amongst the Blues and was terrified to find out what Morkel had discovered."
The movie showed footage of many great warriors conversing.
"It was not long before Morkel’s message spread amongst the other Blues, and many of them decided to pursue this new approach to earn power faster,” Epicurus added. “Laskious and the Blues who remained loyal to the old ways were aghast with how many chose the short cut path. Eventually Laskious and his followers started a new order, and called themselves the Reds. They stopped wearing blue garments and instead wore red. The Reds continued to gain in popularity, especially amongst eager recruits from the Green ranks. Many Greens were seduced by the allure of instant great power. These same souls stayed clear of the Blue path, which involved many lifetimes to start gaining significant powers. The Blues were becoming increasingly at odds with the Reds, as new heights of suffering by innocents were reached on Earth, which is commonly referred to as the Dark Age by some Earth historians."
"After several hundred years the two sides reached a tipping point, which would change our world forever," Epicurus continued. "The increased demand on the galorim pools by the new advanced souls was draining all the pools of their power. Once the Blues and Reds realized this limited resource, skirmishes started to break out between the two sides. Eventually these skirmishes turned into battles, and then the battles turned into an all-out-war. For 400 years there was a catastrophic war with thousands of causalities."
"It was chaos in the Afterlife,” Epicurus continued. “Souls were destroyed by the thousands in massive wide-scale open field battles outside of the city walls in efforts to gain control of strategic galorim pools. The Reds and Blues were recruiting Greens at record rates to join the war, who were being slaughtered by the thousands in a single battle."
The footage on the screen portrayed a Red warrior swinging a sword wildly, as he chopped through countless ranks of powerless Green soldiers holding spears.
"After 400 years the galorim pools were completely drained of energy. The natural creation of energy in the pools couldn’t keep up with the overwhelming demand. Neither side was going to win and countless casualties were surmounting. Something had to be done. So Laskious and Morkel gathered their councils and summoned the Green leaders of the Afterlife to establish a truce. After many years of brutal all-out war, they decided to immediately stop all fighting. A formal truce was written and signed. Out of the nine galorim pools in the Wild Lands of the Afterlife they would each get four. One pool, which also was by far the largest and the furthest away from Asgelot, would remain free of any Red or Blue claims. This pool’s accumulated energy would be up for grabs every 100 years. This duration was chosen to maximize the galorim energy, but not give the winner too much, which might tempt them to use this boost in energy to break the truce and annihilate the other side."
"It was decided that a great race across a perilous land, called the Centennial, would be held to determine who would win the valuable prize,” Epicurus continued. “Five from each side would be selected by there respective councils to compete in the Centennial. Only souls that are willing and able participate in the event."
The scene in the projected movie highlighted one of the earlier Centennial opening ceremonies. Ten men and women in hooded robes from their respective sides stood in the center of a stadium filled with an enormous crowd cheering for them.
"The race would be held in the untamed and most dangerous corner of the Afterlife, filled with the most deadly beasts," Epicurus added. "In honoring the first Centennials only ancient weapons have been wielded by the contestants. The first team to survive each other over the 26.2 mile course and reach the podium inside a temple by the pool would win."
Footage continued on the screen showing previous Centennial action.
“For each Centennial, thousands of Blues and Reds volunteer for the event,” Epicurus said. “These contestants are then sent back to Earth, trying to live the most impressive Earth lives, per their respective order. Once all of these members return to the Afterlife the final five are chosen per side. Most contestants are old souls that have had several reincarnations, but there have been exceptions. It’s a great honor to be a contestant in the Centennial, but it’s extremely dangerous. Many contestants don’t survive the race."
Reese thinks of Pantea’s tragic death from the play.
"It’s currently exciting times in the Afterlife,” Epicurus said. “The next Centennial is to take place any day now. The entire contest is filmed and broadcast in real-time, so you can all watch it and cheer for your favorite side. Cameras and drones capture the event outside of Asgelot’s walls."
Bright lights illuminated the room, momentarily stinging Reese’s eyes.
"That’s the conclusion of the History Archive ride. We hope you enjoyed it. You may visit the Red temple or the Blue temple to learn more about joining their respective groups. I caution all of you to carefully consider your decisions before joining. Many souls are destroyed in the ancient struggles of the Blues and Reds. Please consider remaining Greens. Thank you for joining us today. You can now see a guide in the next room for any questions you may have. Have a nice day."
Epicurus’s hologram disappeared.
Reese glanced at his watch, stood up and bolted for the door. Mulling over things would have to wait. He had only twenty minutes to get ready to meet with Marquis.
Chapter 10
Mexico - The Recent Past: Reese had his adversaries exactly where he wanted them, but with reinforcements likely coming he needed to act quickly.
As the soldiers made their way to the waterfall, Reese peered over and admired Kate’s suppressing fire.
Without a moment to spare Reese jumped out from behind the dead soldier and started pursuing Hector and his men. Adrenaline coursed through his body. Everything was brighter, clearer. For him things slowed down during battle.
The bullets continued to fly over the area. Reese watched Kate and the men continuously keeping each other pinned down on opposite sides of the river.
Hector yelled something at his men, and then desperately ran to the helicopter through the thick jungle.
Reese anticipated Hector’s move and was waiting for him by the helicopter in a concealed position. As soon as Hector exposed his back to Reese, Reese jumped out with his gun pointed at Hector.
“Drop the gun Hector,” Reese said.
Hector hesitated to comply.
“How do you think this is going to end for you Reese?” Hector asked. “My other men will be here any minute.”
“The more the merrier,” Reese replied sardonically. Hector remained facing away from Reese.
“I’m not going to ask you again to drop your gun,” Reese said. “You’re worth a lot to the authorities, but I would love a reason to put you down.”
Hector dropped the gun to the jungle floor. He slowly turned around with his hands still up in the air.
“I’m going to give you one last chance,” Hector said. “Even if you turn me into the authorities, I’ll be out in a matter of hours. I have friends in powerful places. I promise you’ll all be dead within twenty four hours, starting with Pancho.”
Reese smirked at Hector.
“I’m still trying to decide if I’m going to kill you,” Reese replied. “So I would try a little harder at being friends with me.”
Hector snarled.
“In fact, a great way to show how much you want
to be friends with me is to promise to visit all the families of your victims and beg for their forgiveness,” Reese said. “Now get in the helicopter.”
Hector’s face filled with disbelief.
“You better think long and hard about what you’re going to say next,” Reese said as he pointed the gun toward Hector’s shin.
Hector held his hands out in front of him with his palms facing the ground.
“All right Gringo,” Hector replied, although his tone was defiant.
Reese quickly patted down Hector finding no concealed weapons.
“Get in there now,” Reese demanded.
Hector obeyed.
As soon as Hector was in the helicopter, Jessica and Tom emerged from the underbrush. A few shots from across the river told Reese that Kate was all right.
“Can you fly this?” Reese asked Tom.
“Didn’t I say I was a helicopter pilot?” Tom replied.
“Great, get in and get ready to take off,” Reese said. “Jessica pick up that gun and keep it pointed at Hector. If he moves, shoot him.”
Jessica paled a little, but she nodded at Reese and climbed into the helicopter sitting opposite of Hector. She pointed the gun at Hector aggressively.
“Only shoot him, if you have to,” Reese ordered Jessica. “He has a lot of valuable information that could cripple the cartel in the right hands.”
“I’ll do my best,” Jessica replied coldly. “But I’m not promising anything.”
“I wouldn’t give her a reason to pull that trigger,” Reese told Hector. He then dashed in the direction of Kate.
Several leaves and vines slashed Reese’s skin as he muscled his way through the dense jungle. The bursts of machine guns were louder now.
When he scanned the area he was able to carefully select an angled approach to the hazardous soldiers, so he could get within grenade throwing range, and at the same time avoid Kate’s line of fire.
To his surprise, Kate had maintained an outstanding firing position, and the men remained pinned down behind a large pile of rocks.
Before the men even knew he was there Reese lobbed one of his grenades at them.
The men only had time to look at each other with horror before the blast.
The small explosion shook the pebbles on the ground by Reese’s feet.
Reese popped his head up from behind a mound of earth to see smoke slowly rising from the charred bodies sprawled brutally on the river bank.
He waved his arms up in the air to let Kate know that it was safe to come out from her position. He let out a big sigh. His nerves started to calm, but he knew they were not out of danger yet.
“Are you all right?” Reese yelled across the river at Kate.
“Yes,” she yelled back.
“Great!” Reese said. “Can you get to that large rock in the river up ahead so we can get the helicopter over to you to pick you up.”
“Sure,” Kate replied as she made her way down the river bend.
“Hey, I’m expecting more of Hector’s men to be all over us any second, so be careful,” Reese yelled.
Kate held up her thumb in response. Reese flashed his own thumbs up back at her and hustled back to the helicopter.
“Let’s get this bird in the sky,” Reese said to Tom. “And hurry up. The gun fire and explosion are likely to attract more soldiers.”
Reese scanned the area carefully as they flew toward Kate. Jessica kept her gun pointed at Hector.
“There!” Reese said to Tom. He pointed at Kate.
Tom made an impressive maneuver towards the rocky outcropping, positioning the helicopter right by Kate without any hiccups.
The spinning blades pushed the water away from the rocks in wide ripples. Kate crouched down, waiting to jump and grab Reese’s extended hand.
“All right, I’m ready to catch you,” Reese said to Kate. He stood precariously with one foot on the landing bar of the helicopter.
Just as Kate jumped, gunfire blasted from the far side of the river, and bullets ricocheted off the helicopter. The rotors slowed for a moment, and the whole machine tilted dangerously to the right. Kate grabbed his hands and scrambled to safety, but with the floor of the helicopter tilting beneath him, Reese felt himself sliding out of control. He felt the surge of the helicopter pulling straight upward, just as he lost his balance. He turned his head as he fell, regretting in his last few moments that he was the cause of the look of horror on Kate’s beautiful face. Their falling bodies both landed roughly on a large rock by the river.
The helicopter finally leveled out, but before Jessica could recompose herself, Hector took advantage of the opportunity his reinforcements had provided him, and jumped out of the helicopter and plunged into the river.
Reese had the wind knocked out of him momentarily. The helicopter banked hard to the left and climbed out of the area as it continued to take fire. Reese saw Jessica screaming and reaching her arms out desperately toward him, before they flew away past the tree line.
Several rounds bounced off the rocks around them and Reese felt a sharp piercing pain in his stomach. He was able to pull Kate quickly behind the boulder, but it was too late. Behind the safety of the large rock, he put his hand down on his stomach and saw blood soaking his shirt.
Kate’s head rested on his lap. Her face grimaced in pain. He immediately felt like he was plunged into icy water. Kate held her hand over her chest where her blood was pooling.
He could hear Hector yelling orders to his men in the background.
“I guess we’re not going to get that mojito after all,” Kate said. Her breathing was shallow and rapid.
Reese could hear branches breaking and vegetation brushing together as the enemy closed in on their position.
“No, no, no!” Reese said in panic. His eyes filled with tears.
“It’s all right,” Kate said. “We’ll find each other in heaven.”
“What if there’s no heaven?” Reese replied.
“Have faith,” Kate said softly.
She reached her hand up and gently stroked Reese’s face. Her eyes were filled with tears. She smiled at Reese, and her arm fell to her body.
She let out one last breath. Reese knew she was gone.
His chest and throat tightened. He could not breathe, and quivered as darkness flooded him.
“We have you surrounded Reese,” Hector yelled.
Hearing Hector’s voice filled his veins with fire.
His vision was getting blurry, and he was feeling loopy.
“All right, Hector,” Reese mustered out. “We surrender!”
Reese threw his gun out into the open. Only a moment later Hector and his men were standing over them with their guns pointed at them.
“You’re a fool,” Hector said. “Did you really think you could get away from me? You should’ve given up when I gave you the chance. Now you’re going to suffer.”
Reese smirked at Hector.
“Why are you smiling?” Hector asked.
“I wanted to thank you,” Reese said.
“Thank me for what?”
“For being here,” Reese declared.
Reese revealed two grenades with their pins pulled from underneath Kate. He threw one behind Hector and one in front of him.
Hector and his men screamed. A large blast went off, and then everything went pitch black.
Chapter 11
Afterlife - Present Day: “Come this way," Marquis said, leading to a narrow alleyway tiled in hexagonal stones. Each step Reese took lit up the tile underneath him with bright fluorescent colors.
"If you think those tiles are impressive, just wait until we get to the party," Marquis said.
"This isn't my first party," Reese said.
Marquis raised his eyebrows, followed by a slight grin.
"Yeah, but you've never been to a Red Temple party,” Marquis said.
"I gotcha," Reese replied. "So, is it a whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas type of party?"
; Marquis chuckled. "You'll see."
In a line that wrapped around the Red Temple a group of very attractive woman with short light green skirts stared at Reese with hungry eyes.
A colossal hologram of Michael Jackson dancing flickered above the street by the temple.
"I heard that guy’s supposed to be amazing," Marquis said.
Reese's jaw dropped.
"How do you not know Michael Jackson?" Reese asked.
"I haven't been to Earth in a long time." Marquis shrugged.
"I have no idea why you wouldn't leave this place," Reese said sarcastically. Marquis smiled.
The giant doors opened, filling the area with the loud music from inside. A large man with an earpiece and a tablet stood in the entrance. He conversed with the group of girls dressed in light green skirts.
"So, since you’re with me Reese, you don’t have to wait in that long line to get into the party."
"As they say, it’s nice to have friends in high places,” Reese stated.
“Just keep in mind that free loading is not typically tolerated around here,” Marquis replied. “So you’re going to have to earn these privileges eventually."
"Sounds like a solid recruitment technique," Reese said.
"It is," Marquis declared. "Now come on, let's get into this party! Michael Jackson, here we come!"
The two of them walked to the front of the line. The bouncer noted Marquis’ armband then let them in the party.
It took only a few seconds for Reese's eyes to adjust to the dimly lit lights. Strobe lights, lasers, fog machines and beautiful thinly dressed girls were everywhere in the enormous hall. The air from a sleek roller coaster blew against Reese's face as it whipped by above the crowd. The press of partygoers grooved to the heavy beats of the dance music, holding round glasses of galorim high over their heads. Geysers of multicolored sparks sprayed over the crowd sporadically, but nobody seemed to notice.
Reese grinned and relaxed. This was going to be fun.
"So, what do you think?” Marquis asked Reese. “Pretty amazing, isn’t it?"
“Not bad, not bad at all,” Reese responded. It was better than anything he had imagined. Several seductively dressed women walked through silky red curtains draping over the entrance of a room towards the back of the main hall.