“It doesn’t have to be this way! We’re all survivors in this mess. We should be working together, not killing each other. Don’t you realize who your enemy is?”
“Ha! You make me laugh. You know, I pity those like you. We all may be the same when compared to the undead, but that’s where our similarities end. It’s survival of the fittest and you’re just taking up my oxygen.”
I couldn’t think of a response to what he had just said to me. I was looking into the eyes of a crazy man. But there was no soul behind his empty eyes. As I continued to struggle he began moving his hands onto my throat.
“I’m going to enjoy this.” He said
As he began to constrict my airways I felt as if my lungs were going to explode. The same feeling I experienced as a child when I had swam too deep in the ocean and could not resurface in time to catch my breath. But this time I feared there would be no happy ending. No time for me to resurface and catch my breath. My vision began to fade to black and the sounds around me became muffled. In a world such as this who would have thought this is the way I would go? Not by the teeth and claws of the undead hordes I had so narrowly escaped in my journey before reaching The Compound. But by the hands of a psychopathic marauder who would just as easily murder his mother for the fun of it.
Suddenly the darkness surrounding me began to lift as my vision returned, albeit blurry beyond any recognition. I could see figures standing above me but could not make out who or what they were. Had he left me there for the undead after he had gained pleasure through my demise? It’s the only explanation I could think of. But as my vision began to come back I could see they were not the undead, but other survivors. I could feel air being forced into my lungs as they worked to resuscitate me. The sounds around me were still muffled and my pursuer was nowhere to be seen among the faces. I gasped for air and turned on my side as I could finally breathe on my own. Coughing, I opened my eyes only to see my pursuer lying next to me dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
I quickly repelled away from the body and sat up against the side of the building.
“Are you okay?” The woman asked me.
In front of me were three survivors, an older man to my right, what looked to be a woman of the same age in the middle and a younger man on the left.
“Can you hear us?” The younger man asked.
I sat in a daze trying to comprehend what had just happened to me. The lack of oxygen had left me in a stupor. But then I found lucidity.
“Thank you.” I said.
“Looks like he’s okay.” Said the older man.
He moved closer and stood over my body looking down at me. I wasn’t sure what he was doing. I reached out my hand for him to help me onto my feet. He smiled and began to speak.
“Time to go back to sleep.”
And in one motion he struck me in the head with the butt of his rifle. The same rifle I could only assume had saved my life; lights out.
Chapter 8
I awoke from my slumber and struggled to get to my feet. But something was holding me back. I realized my hands had been bound behind me, around a column of some sort. The room was pitch black and the stench was overwhelming. It took but all of my strength to hold back from vomiting. My legs were stretched out in front of me and I could feel a hard object in front of me, that I could only assume was a wall. I slowly began moving around the column to position myself towards what I was hoping might be the other side of a room. After an eternity of struggling I had finally made my way to the other side of the column. I must have been at the end of a large room because I could see light faintly on the floor from underneath a doorway.
“Hello?” I said.
There was no response.
“Is anyone there?” I spoke in a louder tone.
“HELLO?! IS ANYONE THERE? I’M ALIVE IN HERE!”
Were they ignoring me? Maybe they thought I was a threat. Or had they saved me only to leave me here to die?
I sat and waited but no one came.
“I guess this is it.” I said to myself.
Abruptly I heard a noise in the shadows.
“Who’s there!?” I asked.
There was no response.
“I know someone’s there.” I said.
I heard nothing but laughter. Then they spoke.
“Have some pride in yourself. Leaving the world crying, like the baby you were when you entered it; despicable.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Just a man, like you, in this dark room waiting to expire. But at least with some pride, unlike you.”
“How did you get here?”
“They put me here just like you.”
“But why?”
“The same reason they put you here.”
“And why is that?”
“Because Dorian sent us.”
“Dorian didn’t send me here.”
“That’s the story I tried when they found me out as well.”
“I’m not lying.”
“I said that too.”
“I had only been in The Compound for a few days before I escaped.”
“I tried to tell them that too but they saw right through me.”
“I’m not lying.”
“There’s no use lying.”
“If they didn’t believe me they won’t believe you.”
“I’m not like you.”
“Yes you are.”
“How is that?”
“We’re both going to die here.”
From that point on there was silence. For all I knew the man in the shadows had expired. There was no way to know because of the foul stench of death that was already in the air; good riddance.
The room was silent for hours. So silent that it could drive a man insane. The light from underneath the door had gone out hours before. It must be night. But there was no way to be sure. Silence. Darkness. Alone. Life. Death. Death. Death. All I had was death. How long had I slept? Was it day? Was it night? Life. Death. Alone. Silence. Where was the man in the shadows? Was he here? Had he died? Was he real? Had I imagined him? I hated him. He was mocking me. I wasn’t like him. He wasn’t like me. He wasn’t me. I wasn’t him. I’m me. Am I me? Who am I? Me. Alone. Darkness. Silence. Death.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I could hear myself scream, but was I really screaming? I don’t know. I was alone. What is a scream? Does it really make noise? Is there noise here anymore? I don’t know.
I was exhausted. Maybe I should go to sleep. I shouldn’t go to sleep. If I go to sleep I will die. And if I die I’m the same as the man in the shadows. I wasn’t like him. No. If I wake up I am not like him. If I sleep now I can wake up. And if I wake up I am me. And if I am me I am not him. And If I were him I would die. I will not be like him. I will not die.
I shut my eyes for a moment and dozed off.
I tried to open my eyes but the pain was too much to bear. The once dark room was filled with bright light. The brightest light I had ever experienced in my life. Had I died? Was this heaven? If I died then I was him. But if I were him I wouldn’t be in heaven. So then I am not him. I am me. And if I am me then I am alive.
Slowly my eyes began to adjust to the light in the room. I began looking around the room for the man from the shadows. There were no other columns in the room. Does that mean I was alone the whole time? If so then I was him after all. Tears had begun to stream down my cheeks. But there was no use crying.
The door at the end of the room began to swing open. A figure stood in the doorway for a moment before entering. It was the man who had saved me and sentenced me to this room. He walked over and sat down on the floor next to me.
“How are you feeling?” He asked.
The voice was all too familiar
“I see you recognize my voice. Good boy, I didn’t think you’d realize so soon.”
He was the man in the shadow, which means I was not him. I am me.
“I know that your stay here has not been a
pleasant one. But we need to be careful who we allow in our group. Dorian and Gregory have sent others in the past like you.”
“But Dorian didn’t send me.”
“I know, you did enough talking for us to know your intentions. And I can tell you we’ve been waiting awhile for an opportunity like this. But for now you need to rest and regain your energy. Sensory deprivation can take its toll on the human well being. You weathered the storm nicely.”
He untied the ropes that bound me and helped me to my feet. The young man who was also with him had entered the room and helped carry me out.
As we left the room all eyes were on me. Men, women and children alike, staring into my eyes. But this time, unlike at The Compound, there was something different in their souls when I looked back. There didn’t seem to be any malice or spite behind the eyes of these people. They seemed innocent, not what I ever imagined could still exist in this world today. Especially after experiencing The Compound.
Moving forward, we entered a large corridor. And eventually we arrived at a small room with a bed.
“You can rest here for the time being. When you’ve gathered your strength we can talk more. I know you have a lot on your mind.”
They turned and began walking out of the room.
“Thank you, but I don’t even know your name.” I said
“My name is Marshall, this is my son Damian and the woman who helped you when we first found you is my wife Sarah. You’ll get to know everyone in due time. Just get some rest and we’ll start fresh in the morning.
I tried to sleep, but it was no use. All I could think about was Jesse. How could I leave him behind like that? From the moment I met him I had put his life in danger. As it is he was already shunned from their society and living on the streets. Now they’ve found a reason to be done with him. It’s all my fault. All he did was try to help me. I have to think of some way to help Jesse. But is he even still alive? I had to keep hope alive that they hadn't done anything to him. Finally I dosed off to sleep…
Chapter 9
In the morning I left my new quarters to find a similar hustle and bustle of people working as in The Compound. But the people here just seemed to be so much happier. It was remarkable to see the smile on their faces. Although from the looks of it, these people didn’t have nearly as much supplies or equipment as in The Compound. But it looks like they’ve made due.
Interestingly enough, I still had no clue where they had brought me. We were inside of a structure, but some parts were of building and other parts seemed to be cavernous. Up ahead I could see Marshall and Sarah approaching me.
“How are you feeling this fine morning?” He asked.
“Relieved.” I said.
They both laughed and we started to walk together.
“So, I’ve wanted to ask, where are we right now?”
“Right now we’re situated inside a cavern in the mountain that we access from the roof of City Hall. But, as you could tell the other day, the top of City Hall looks like a deserted tent city and the entrance is hidden. We don’t have to worry about any undead getting to us, but the living, that’s another story.”
“But what about some of the rooms I’ve seen. They’re clearly not carved out of stone.”
“Clever observation; some of the rooms that you’ve seen are still part of City Hall. We’ve closed off access from the lower levels and made entrance ways from the cavern. But enough questions about us for now, let’s continue to walk and talk about you.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Well, from what we’ve gathered already, you were in The Compound for some time. And in the time you were there, you were able to gather some information as to what’s going on. If you hadn’t, I’m sure you wouldn’t be with us now.”
“From the moment I was brought in I could tell that something wasn’t right there. At first I brushed it off as being the new norm for a world thrown into such turmoil. But as time went on, I saw The Compound for what it was, a cannibalistic playpen, where Gregory and his men do as they please and no one is safe.”
“So is the council is still in power?”
“Yes, I met all of them when I first arrived. Gregory, Dorian, Roger, Susan, and Phillip. But it seemed as if everything went through Gregory and Dorian while the rest did nothing.”
“So it seems as if nothing has changed. Gregory is still in power with his whipping boy Dorian by his side. Roger, Susan and Phillip were always along for the ride as long as Gregory took care of them. They have no real power, nor did they ever want any.”
“What about Jeffrey?” I asked.
“Jeffrey? Before all of this happened in the world, Jeffrey was being processed to serve out a life sentence for a chain of serial murders; mutilating his victims beyond recognition. Before he could be shipped out to the state penitentiary all hell broke loose and he found his way back into the general population. I guess Gregory found use for his talents.”
“They call him The Butcher now.” I replied.
“They called him The Butcher back then too. But now I suppose more respect comes along with that title.”
We continued walking until we arrived at an area with a group of people gathered.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“It's the most important time of the day.”
I kept watching the crowd of people for a moment, but nothing happened. Then, as time went on the crowd began to separate slowly. They formed a line and then I realized, they were waiting for breakfast. I joined the line but I couldn’t see the food from where I was standing. I wonder what they ate compared to The Compound. When I reached the front of the line I was surprised to see an assortment of fruits, eggs and loaves of bread. I piled whatever I could grab onto my plate and moved off to the side to find a place to eat.
I plopped down on the floor and devoured my food. I’m sure anyone who might have glanced over at me was disgusted. But I didn't care.
I could see Marshall and Sarah across the room calling over to me. I got up and walked over to them.
“How did you like your meal?” Sarah asked.
“It was delicious, I haven’t eaten such fresh fruit in a long time. Where do you get it from?”
“Well, Gregory may have control over a lot of the equipment and machinery, but we maintain control of the farmland.” Marshall replied.
“He hasn’t tried to take it from you?”
“We used to fight over it, but the feuding over the farmland stopped when Gregory began pursuing new avenues for sustenance.”
“How do you know so much about Gregory?” I asked.
“He’s my brother.”
I was shocked to find out Gregory was Marshall’s brother. They seemed nothing like each other. Although, they were both men of power.
“Everyone who is in The Compound now at one time lived in this town. But after everything went sour, Gregory and I fought over the ideals of surviving like humans instead of animals. Eventually he left for The Compound with other survivors who’d rather lie, cheat or steal in order to survive. The only times we’ve spoken since is with guns pointed at each other. He is no longer any brother of mine.”
“Marshall, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“What does Tempus Edax Rerum mean?”
Marshall’s eyes opened wide and the expression on his face became very serious.
He stood up from the table.
“Come with me.”
From that point on Marshall did not say a word to me, we walked and walked through different sections of the cavern. Eventually we arrived at what seemed to be the lowest room in the cavern. There was a large metal door built into the stone. Marshall knocked on the door with a specific pattern that must have been some sort of code. The door swung open to reveal living quarters and an armory. There were men living here that I had not seen since I arrived.
“A little early aren’t you Marshall?” One of the men said.
; “Things have changed.”
The men looked at each other in confusion.
“What do you mean things have changed?”
“Tell them what you just told me.”
I was a little puzzled.
“What?”
“This isn’t the time to mess around. Tell them what you told me.”
“I asked what Tempus Edax Rerum means.”
The man who had spoken to Marshall stood up and walked over to me.
“Who told you to ask that? Where did you hear that?”
“Hector”
“What about Hector?”
“He told me that when I got here I should tell you Tempus Edax Rerum.”
“It’s too soon for that.” The man said.
“Get a hold of yourself Reese.” Marshall said sternly.
“We knew this was inevitable. The time has come.”
“What about him?” Reese said gesturing towards me.
“I guess we’ll have to bring him up to speed.”
I stood with a puzzled look on my face. I had no clue what they were talking about. But I could only assume it wouldn't end well. Marshall turned to me.
“Tempus Edax Rerum... Time; The Devourer Of All Things.”
“The devourer of all things? So besides being a heavy thing to say in the face of the horrible times we live in now, what does that mean for us?”
“For the longest time Gregory and his men have done as they pleased. Attacking our small community for any supplies they need. Then it moved from supplies to people. They treat us like livestock. Just another tool for the survival of The Compound.”
“We fear them more than we fear the undead.” Reese interjected.
“For the longest time, man had conquered the majority of primitive causes of death. Antibiotics, artificial hearts and the development of nanotechnology. What is left for man to conquer but time? In the end, time will catch man regardless of all he has accomplished. But now, time has gotten complicated. Those who time had defeated have come back to strike us down for all our wickedness. Man has been the destroyer for too long. And now the chickens have come home to roost. But in our situation, the chickens have come home to roost for Gregory. And we shall make sure he gets what he deserves for all the heinous acts he has committed.”
Human Zombies: The Compound Page 7