After the Fall

by Martinez, A. J.

  “This is what happens to those who challenge the rule of the Council. Rebellion in an insult, a spit in the face of the Queen herself.”

  That couldn’t be. She’s underground, I thought, and decided it was a good idea to keep that thought to myself.

  “Anathorn is built on a lie!” yelled Jeb. A swift backhand silenced him, knocking him to the ground. Rayna mustered the strength to stand.

  “Rayna, you stand accused just as much as him. Even if you had no hand in his actions, he is under your leadership. You will be held accountable for his actions as if you had done them yourself.”

  “Can we just get to the punishment?”

  Lucretius’s eyes flared in rage. “You should not be in such a hurry. It may be the last thing you do.”

  Rayna lifted her chin and took up an indignant posture. I felt a mixture of pride and fear for her. Lucretius turned to address the audience.

  “I will now prescribe the fitting punishment. For his actions, Keeper Jebediah will be sentenced to the pit.” There was a collective gasp from the crowd. “For her failure to maintain command, Head Keeper Rayna is sentenced to ten lashes. She will also be confined to a cell for a full day and forced to watch Jebediah with the aid of a camera. That is your punishment. Do either of you have any questions?”

  “One,” Jeb replied. “Can we get this over with?”

  “Anathorn is a great city. It stands among the ruins as a testament to our hard work and tenacity. The fruits of our labor did not come easily. Anna valued discipline above all virtues. ‘For by virtue of discipline all the others will come,’ she once said. Without discipline we are nothing.”

  He walked over to the wall and moved a hidden rock to reveal a keypad. After entering the code, the wall disappeared into the floor to lead them into yet another staircase. This one descended straight down into a large chamber. Faint blue lights came on as they all descended.

  The chamber was plain and rectangular. At the center of it was a large circular pit. Above it hung long chains with hooks at the end. Bits of flesh still hung from the hooks.

  The whole room was awash in bright white light. On the far wall was another mirror, this one much smaller. Who had time to admire their reflection while torturing others to death?

  I took a breath and nearly gagged. The air was damp and smelled of decay. Clusters of black mold lined the walls. I wondered how many lives had ended here.

  All the guests gathered around the ring, leaving a space for Rayna and Jeb. The two muscled Vampires brought them to the edge.

  “Woe unto those who would betray their Mother. The blood of the Queen is upon your hands!” He walked up to Jeb. “Any last words?”

  “You’re the traitor. All of you are. The Queen would never stand for any of this.” All the guests laughed at him like he had just told a great joke. “Go ahead, all of you. Laugh it up. When those things out there are on your doorstep, you’re gonna see we were right.”

  Something out of the corner of my eye attracted my attention to the mirror. There was much commotion in the room. I’m sure I was just distracted by the reflection of all the moving people.

  “That’s enough of you,” said Lucretius. “Throw him in.”

  A bright flood light turned on right above the well and shone all the way to the bottom. The sight was revolting. Piles of bones lined the bottom. Most of the skeletons were almost picked clean. What was left was in an advanced state of decomposition. I saw the authors of this carnage. A dozen zombies were reaching up at us, groaning desperately.

  The burly man pushed Jeb into the pit. All twelve of them were instantly on him. They merged into a dog pile. Hungry mouths searched for places to bite while their hands ripped at the flesh. I wanted to look away, but felt compelled to watch. I wondered if the Queen was watching this, delighting in the spectacle. My eyes darted to the mirror one more time. I looked at my reflection staring in accusation. That’s when I realized it. The Queen was watching.

  A collective cry came from the crowd. I looked back down to see the cause. Jeb had exploded out of the pile. He had been hurt but not severely. His mouth went wide open and he screamed, fangs projecting all the way out. He grabbed the nearest zombie and began to maul the others with it. The legs separated from the body, sending it flying into the wall. Jeb continued to use the legs as clubs.

  He sent out another war cry that drove the spectators back but did nothing for his assailants. They continued to come as quickly as he repelled them. A smile drew across his face, but it twisted into a grimace. He looked down to see the legless zombie biting his leg and screamed. The others stumbled their way back over and joined in the carnage.

  “Jeb!” screamed Rayna, who had remained silent until now. Her voice was just barely audible over the cheering from the crowd.

  Down below, the dozen zombies piled upon Jeb and continued to feed. His screams stopped at some point. I guessed they had ripped out his throat.

  Lucretius watched the crowd go silent and raised his hand. “The evening is not quite over yet. We have one more punishment to administer.” One of the servants brought him a whip and left in a hurry. Lucretius looked at it with relish. Sharp pieces of metal had been embedded in it for maximum damage.

  “Ten lashes,” he announced. “Prepare her.”

  Their idea of preparation consisted of ripping her shirt and leaving her uncovered. She brought her hands to her chest to cover her nakedness while they shoved her against the wall. Lucretius cracked the whip against the floor a couple times to test it. The crowd drew back a bit to avoid catching a stray lashing. He squinted his eyes and drew his hand back.

  “One!” The whip contacted her back and removed a trail of skin. She gritted her teeth and made no sound.

  “Two!” Another crack left a second line, making an X pattern.

  “Three!” Her stoic resolve was faltering.

  “Four!”

  “Five!” This time she did scream, for a second. Lucretius smiled and bared his fangs.

  The next five lashings came in quick succession, each leaving a new line on her back until it was raw. She collapsed on all fours and took a series of gasping breaths.

  “Let it be known that treason will not be tolerated!” announced Lucretius. The crowd had had enough. Some had left during the flogging and the rest were leaving now. I stayed behind to watch after Rayna. Her shirt lay discarded on the floor. It was just the two of us. I helped her into her shirt and held her for a while.

  For some reason unknown to me, they let her go. They must have figured she had been put in her place and allowed her to go back to her apartment. I took her back and fed her before bandaging her wounds. I set her in bed on her stomach.

  “Mordy,” she whispered. Under these circumstances, I didn’t care what she called me.

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t go. Please?”

  It was too much to see the iron woman reduced to this. I was planning to stay whether I had her permission or not. The rest of my evening I spent sitting at her chair reading. Some hours later, I fell asleep until the next evening.

  Sway

  When I woke up, she was already out of bed. I could hear her doing something downstairs, probably having breakfast. She came back upstairs not too soon after, wearing only a brassiere on her upper body. Without even acknowledging my presence, she went to the closet and grabbed a loose white shirt to put on. I could still see the pink scars from the whip marks. I couldn’t imagine how she had slept with all that pain. She buttoned up the shirt all the way to the collar and left the room. I followed her out.

  She was sitting on the armchair downstairs, drinking from a large goblet. Her eyes were narrowed to slits and focused on something miles away from here. I passed right in front of her without drawing even the involuntary flick of the eyes. This was serious.

  I poured myself a cup and took the armchair next to her. She let out a small sound that sounded like a groan.

  “Why are you still here?” she asked, her he
ad and eyes still focused on that faraway place.

  “You’re welcome,” I replied. “Or who knows where you would be right now.”

  “I didn’t ask for your help.”

  “Maybe you didn’t say you needed help, but you did.”

  “I didn’t want your help,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “You didn’t seem to object last night.”

  “I could hardly stand, much less fight you off. You’ve gotten stronger since I first saw you. I guess you’re not as much of a sissy as I thought you were.”

  “Well, thank you. I’m flattered…I think.”

  “I don’t give a damn if you’re flattered or not.”

  I nodded and finished the rest of my drink. My tolerance for abuse is high, but it is not unlimited. I got up to wash the goblet and put it away. She obviously wanted to be alone and at this point, I was quite willing to let her have her way.

  “Mordecai,” she said, holding onto my sleeve. I stopped and turned around. For the first time this morning, she was actually looking at me. Right in the eyes, no less.

  “Yes?”

  “I know I’m not the best at these things,” she said. I could see her face twist slightly, as if she were under a great strain.

  “Trust me, I know. It’s quite all right.”

  “No, it’s not. I’ve been a bitch to you.”

  No argument there, I thought.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  I could tell there was something else on her mind, but I started to walk away again. She held on to my sleeve in a death grip. I would have to rip it off to get away from her.

  “Would you mind letting me go?” I asked.

  “Mordecai, I want to ask you something.”

  I took a deep breath to prepare myself. “Yes, what is it?”

  “I want to get them back. I know they made you part of their council, but I can tell you don’t have any more love for them than I do. That’s why I want to ask for your help. For Dan…for Jeb.” A tear slid down her face as she said the last part, but she did not break down.

  “That’s suicide,” I said. “Those are the oldest Vampires in the world, plus their army of living servants. Even if we were to live, where would we hide?”

  She turned away from me and went back to staring off in the distance. “Never mind. I don’t even know why I bothered to ask. I’ll find somebody else, or I’ll just do it myself.”

  I walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “Get your hands off me,” she said.

  “Do you realize you’re playing right into their hands? That’s exactly what they want you to do. They made an example out of Jeb, so they killed him. They couldn’t do that to you because they knew it would cause problems.”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “They want you to give them an excuse to kill you off. Destroying you for no good reason would probably cause more unrest in the lower ranks, but if they could just get you to attack them…”

  “They’re going to pay. I don’t give a damn if I die trying.”

  “I can’t let you throw your life away like that.”

  “What the hell do you care?”

  “I just can’t let it happen, not again.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Never mind.” I took advantage of her distraction and reclaimed my sleeve.

  Without any warning, she threw her goblet at me. I barely got out of the way in time. It brushed the side of my face as it passed me, smashing on the kitchen wall. I shot her an angry look and got my things ready to leave.

  She seized me again before I reached the door. “Wait. I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “You just lost someone in the worst way, plus endured a humiliating punishment. I can’t see any other normal way to cope.” I turned around and grabbed her arms. “But did you really have to throw that at me?”

  “I did, but you dodged it, didn’t you?”

  “Barely. It was close enough to shave me, if it had been a blade.”

  “Now you’re just being dramatic. I was mad at you, okay? Because you’re one of them, part of the robber council that takes from the land without ever putting in one ounce of work.”

  “You just have this way with words, all the finesse of a bear in a pottery shop.”

  She shook me off. “Whatever. It’s the truth, ain’t it?”

  “Maybe that’s what they are, but to say that I’ve done nothing?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay, you did bring us back when we were out there all the way until dawn.”

  “And don’t forget, I brought you back and tended to you.”

  “I didn’t ask for that. If you’re expecting me to kiss your ass, you can forget it.”

  “This is going nowhere. Goodbye, Rayna.” I opened the door and started to leave when she slammed it shut.

  “I know I’m not the best with words, but you know what they’re doing is wrong. We put it all on the line out there every night. They don’t ever do a damned thing, but when we get out of line, they’ll feed us to the dogs and enjoy the show.”

  I agreed with her, but I stayed silent.

  “Just say you’ll help me out. I don’t have much to offer, but it’s a hell of a lot better than living under their thumb.”

  I looked down and pondered for a moment. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “That’s all I ask.”

  “I’ll be in touch.” I opened the door and actually set one foot out of the apartment this time. She grabbed me in an embrace. I supposed I should have felt something, but the only thought in my mind was, will I ever leave this place?

  Her light brown eyes stared at me. I could tell she was waiting for me to make a move. Her face was creeping closer to mine. All of a sudden I felt suffocated and broke the embrace. I left her there, with that look of confused anger. Maybe she expected a passionate kiss, to be swept off her feet or any of that stuff that belonged in fairy tales or trashy novels. That’s exactly where it needed to stay, because I’m no Prince Charming, and this is no fairy tale. This is the world after the Fall, and the realities are as harsh as they come.

  All that separated us from the ravenous hordes out there was the bravery of the guards and the system that supported them. That very system was fraying at the edges and rotting from the inside. The question was, would I be the one to help topple it? Would I be so callous as to doom thousands of humans to their death just to satisfy the few who are oppressed? It seemed so much better for everyone to simply maintain the status quo. Those who dared challenge it had it coming to them, did they not? I told myself over and over that it was the best course of action, but my heart betrayed me. Playing its eternal drumbeat, pumping the foreign blood into perpetual flow, it was the enemy of my peace. All I could do was repeat to myself that it was all for the best. Repeat the lie often enough and it becomes a truth.

  She is Risen

  As soon as I got out on the street, I noticed one of Lucretius’s lackeys. He tailed me for a while, switching with a few others to throw me off their scent. They must have thought they were so clever. I decided to take them on a walk about the town.

  The streets were swarming with people late into the night. Clubs boomed out their obnoxious music into the streets. Bars advertised their spirits with loud neon signs. This was the other side of life on Anathorn, the one its founders would prefer their human inhabitants to know.

  “Come, have fun, forget your cares for a while,” they would say. The new world was filled with so many hardships many would prefer to forget. It seemed like everything was set for a good weekend. At this pace, the party would last into the wee hours of the night.

  Alas, not tonight.

  Armored vehicles, taken from the now defunct military, roamed the streets. Men I recognized as Vampires shouted into a bullhorn for people to go back to their homes.

  “WE ARE UNDER A HEIGHTENED STATE OF ALERT. THE COUNCIL HAS ORDERED A CURFEW. ALL CITIZE
NS ARE ORDERED BACK TO THEIR HOMES UNTIL THE SITUATION HAS BEEN RESOLVED. THIS IS FOR YOUR SAFETY.”

  The man at the bullhorn repeated the message over and over as they traveled down the street. No one seemed happy about it, but most of them obeyed. People started to stream out of the bars. Those sitting on the sidewalk staggered to their feet and hobbled home. There was a collective grumbling coming from the crowd, but no one dared challenge the armed men in the tactical armored cars. Their weapons and gear did the talking for them.

  As the people walked past me, I overheard their comments. It was the general consensus that there must be a breach somewhere, and the people were quite willing to clear the streets to let someone else deal with the threat. Civilization had brought back with it those who were unable or unwilling to contribute to the cause. In this place, they were little more than walking blood bags, as useful as cows are to them.

  “Sir, clear the street now. You are ordered to return to your home,” said one of the Vampires. He was wearing a thin type of kevlar body armor that protected his whole body. His face was protected by a steel-reinforced face shield. This was the new zombie combat uniform.

  “I am a member of the council,” I replied.

  “I don’t give a damn who you think you are. The council has ordered—”

  “I am the council, you idiot!”

  He stood there for a moment, no doubt contemplating cleaving my brain in two with that rescue axe in his hand. Someone spoke into his earpiece and he straightened up.

  “There is a message for you, Mr. Councilman. The other members of the council have requested your presence at the Anathorn Manor.” He tried to keep his cool, but his eyes betrayed him.

  “I’ll get going now. Just remember who I am and don’t let it happen again.” He nodded and resumed his street-clearing duties. Looking down the street, I could see a few belligerent drunks and other outraged citizens angry over losing a good night of reveling. The troopers subdued and rounded up anyone brave enough to resist. I saw one of them look around and step into the back. He waved his teammates in. After they locked the door behind them, I heard the screams. Only Vampire ears could perceive them in all this commotion, but I knew what was happening. Not all the good Vampire citizens drank from blood bags provided by willing citizens. Those who resisted became a fresh meal for their so-called protectors.