After the Fall

by Martinez, A. J.

  “Gustaf…did not make it,” said Marie-Evangeline. His home was overrun. They escaped in armored cars, but…” She choked up and started to cry. I almost allowed myself to feel pity for her—almost.

  “His vehicle was overturned and forced open,” the Queen continued for her. “I sent a scout patrol to investigate. Their vehicle was deserted. I don’t know what’s happened to him, but it doesn’t look good.”

  “What about Clifford?” Lucretius asked.

  The Queen answered, “Clifford is no longer with us. I have confirmed reports that his home was overrun. No one made it out alive.”

  “They’ve been targeting the council,” said Marie through her tears. “I do not know how they are doing it, but they are not acting in a disorganized way. It is almost like they are becoming one mind.”

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” the Queen said. “They are not intelligent. If we give in to panic, we are already lost.”

  “We might be lost anyway,” Marie-Evangeline muttered.

  “The Queen is right,” said Lucretius. “We need to be the cooler heads that prevail in this situation.”

  “If only we had beheaded her, burned her body…this would not have happened,” Marie muttered.

  “Speaking of such, where is Mordecai?” asked the Queen. “I had a feeling he might have gone over to you.”

  “Mordecai is still alive somewhere. I’m sure he’s safe.”

  “Well, I have his beloved Rhiannon looking for him.”

  That got my attention. I hoped the Queen did not see me squirm.

  “That girl you found in that abandoned settlement? You have sent her out among those hordes? Has she not seen enough?”

  “It was her idea. She’s recovered her memory, said she would rather die than lose him again.”

  I didn’t realize how badly I was fidgeting, but Rayna did. She gave my arm a not-so-gentle squeeze, warning me not to give us away, but I didn’t care right then. All I wanted to do was run out of that room and go find her, tell her that I’m fine. I’ve come all this distance just to end up reunited with her. If she remembers, I mean to tell her how I feel and…

  My train of thoughts was derailed. I saw Rayna turning my way. I couldn’t see her expression behind the mask, but I knew she was glaring at me. I felt the heat coming from her gaze, like sunlight at high noon. Her gesture backfired. I walked out of the room.

  The Queen complained, “The nerve! Who does that guard think he is, walking out of this room without so much as excusing himself?”

  “You should forgive him, my Queen,” Lucretius replied. “He has endured many hardships today. The sunset will greet that many less of those he holds dear.

  The Queen let out a loud humph. “That still does not justify boorish behavior. There must be some sort of discipline for this outburst.”

  “Yes, my Queen. I will see to it myself.”

  Their voices faded as I walked away from the door, but I envisioned the Queen smiling in self-satisfaction under that veil. Rayna did not follow me. She might have even thanked me under her breath for taking the focus off her, though she would never admit it even if she were being tortured for it.

  Guards and servants turned my way, but I strode with such confidence that no one questioned me. I let myself out the front door and made my way through the lawn, towards the angry mob that was forcing their way over the fence. The eight-foot high fence should have been enough to keep them at bay, but the undead seemed to be climbing over one another to get to the top. No sooner did they show their head over the fence than a marksman took them down with a sniper shot. They would rise again later, no doubt in my mind, but even the superior Vampire marksmen had limits. Their ammunition was finite, and as impressive as their endurance was, they too would need to rest.

  I started to trot towards the fence. It was a slow jog at first, building up momentum until I was a hurtling projectile. The guards holding the outer perimeter darted their heads back.

  “What’s he doing? Hey, stop!” One of them ordered, but I continued to pick up the pace until I vaulted over the fence and into the crowd. I fell with so much force that I knocked down a score of them like bowling pins. Several hands clamped down all over my body. I tried to move, but there were so many of them that they held me fast.

  ‘I thought I was immune!’ I thought. They were hoisting me above the group and pulling me away. It took me a second to realize that they were not trying to tear me apart. I was crowd-surfing my way to the back of the mob. The last set of hands hurled me away from them and I landed on my feet, still a little perplexed. The horde ignored me and continued their assault on the Queen’s mansion. I took off running to go find Rhiannon.

  The search proved fruitless. I went to every council member’s house and still I could not find them. When I went back to my apartment, it was clear they had been there. All the furniture had been thrown aside. The bookshelves were tipped forward and all the contents lay spilled on the ground. The whole place had been turned inside out. I could not tell for sure if it had been Rhiannon’s group, but I wanted to believe it was.

  I returned to the mansion, pushing my way through the crowd and leaping over the fence. There were no fewer than six guns trained on me before I landed. I threw my arms high up in the air.

  “What are you doing, you idiot? We almost shot you!” said one of them.

  The one in charge spoke, “Get up! Identify yourself, soldier.”

  I knew the jig was up. There was no way I could fake my way through this one. I reached up for the mask, slowly so the gunmen could see my hand, and pulled it off my face.

  “Councilman…Mordecai. You made it. The Queen has been searching the city for you and the other council members. Come inside, quickly. It’s close to sunrise.”

  There were several gunshots and someone yelled. The men turned to look when a fast-moving zombie snatched one of them and threw him on the ground. It pulled at the armor, oblivious to the men that were unloading bullets into his body. I heard the sound of fabric tearing and the man screamed. The zombie had torn the armor along with some of the guard’s skin. It began to feed even as the soldiers continued to pump bullets into it. Someone shot from the side and took it down. They gathered around the guard and groaned at seeing what I already knew. He was done for. One of them raised the weapon at his head.

  “No, don’t! I’m still alive!” yelled the man.

  “He’s bit into you. You’re infected.”

  “Sorry, but this is the only way,” said the one in charge.

  The man screamed, but it was cut short by the gunshot to his head. He went limp. The guards’ faces twisted in pain.

  “Let’s go,” said the leader as he looked to the east. “It’s almost sunrise.”

  I saw that he was right, that they had but a few minutes at most. I also knew that their suits should protect them from the light, but the men ran for the door. The fear of the sun was too ingrained in them.

  “We need to dispose of him! He’ll rise again!” I yelled at them. They all looked at me as if I had gone raving mad.

  “He’s got a bullet in his brain. He’s not coming back up,” said one of them.

  “Yes, he will! I’m telling you.”

  “We’ll get one of the humans to take care of him. Come on, get inside!”

  I shook my head and went with them, even as I turned back for a second and saw his fingers twitch.

  “I don’t think you understand,” I said to the leader.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” asked the Queen. She was ready to lash out at us when she saw me. Even through the veil I could see her jaw drop. “You’re alive,” she whispered.

  Another guard came up behind her and unmasked. A river of copper cascaded down. Those emerald eyes bored into me.

  Rhiannon.

  She rushed forward, with her auburn hair trailing behind her, and embraced me. Her strength had grown with her transformation. I enjoyed the feel of her body against mine and took in the sce
nt of her hair. I looked over her shoulder and saw the Queen looking on us. Her eyes seemed to approve. Beyond that I saw another one looking our way. It was Rayna, and hell hath no fury like what I saw in her eyes. She stormed out of the room. Rhiannon pressed her lips against mine and we kissed.

  Bittersweet was the taste that came to mind.

  Damning Evidence

  She had come to me at last. Even the crooked black hands of death could not keep her from me. The light in the darkness of my life was back. Reaching across the vast gulf of space that separated us, fate brought us together once again, not as mortal and immortal. Such union would have been doomed from its tender beginning. We were reunited as two immortal lovers, as undying as our love was for one another. This was a flame that could never be extinguished.

  The thing I asked myself over and over was why, when I had every reason to be happy, did I still feel a deep sorrow that stained my bliss. Why did I thirst for another when I had once more found my eternal oasis?

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked. We had retired to one of the guest bedrooms, which was being used as improvised barracks for the guards. Most of the guards had already fallen asleep from exhaustion. It was as close to privacy as we would get. Rayna stormed off somewhere else in the house after Rhiannon came to me. Can’t say that I blamed her. I didn’t imagine I would see much of her, and that saddened me.

  “A lot of things…how crazy it’s gotten in such a short time.”

  “Yes, those things are horrible. I still don’t know how I got away from them back in Jericho.”

  “I thought you were dead.”

  “So did I. I really did die, but it was more like falling asleep. When I came to, I was covered in someone’s blood. It was…it was…”

  “Alaric.”

  Her eyes went wide with surprise, but I could tell she was lying when she said, “No, it was somebody else, one of the sentinels who had survived the attack. He threw himself on his sword right on my grave.”

  “Why would he do such a thing?”

  “I’m not sure why. Maybe he was secretly in love with me and went mad when I died.”

  “Then what happened to Alaric?”

  “I don’t know. I think he left with some of the townspeople. After I woke up, I started feeding on the few that were left, but they started to die.”

  “The infection from our bite can be deadly.”

  “Everybody that stayed died. The others are still out there somewhere, if the demons did not eat them. When they found me, I was half mad and almost dead of starvation.”

  “It’s a good thing they found you, then.”

  “Yes, it is.” She reached over and kissed me. I let her. When her hands started to wander elsewhere, I moved them.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “It’s late. We will be asleep soon. We will have started this over nothing. Let’s just lie here for a minute.”

  I was prepared to hear an argument or some kind of protest, but all she did was snore softly. There was something in our bodies that made us want to seek the dark and go to sleep at daylight. No matter where they were, sunrise would put them right to sleep. Older Vampires like me could delay this effect, but not for long. Before I knew it, I was out.

  The dream world was a crazy place. I knew it was Rhiannon next to me, but I dreamed that it was Rayna. She spoke to me.

  “Wake up,” she said. It sounded like she was talking inside a cave. She repeated it, each time getting louder and clearer. “Wake up, Mordecai!”

  I opened my eyes and found the masked soldier beside my bed. It wasn’t hard to guess who it was.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. Rhiannon had rolled away from me, but she was still in the bed asleep. I could feel Rayna’s anger, but she was very much in control of herself.

  “What’s wrong is, you need to get up and come out here. All hell is breaking loose.”

  I jumped out of bed and followed Rayna, leaving Rhiannon to sleep until sunset. We went to the front door, where she showed me what was happening outside through the security camera feed. The human soldiers had formed a barricade just outside the door, but they were losing. For every zombie they took down, another would take its place. Not just that, but the dead would continue to rise.

  “At this rate, they’re not going to make it until sundown.”

  “True. We need to give them a hand.” I ran back to the quarters and got all the guard gear. After I had suited up, we removed the bar from the door and walked out. The human soldiers looked surprised to see us.

  “What are you guys doing up?” asked the human guard. “We’ve got at least thirty more minutes until official sunset.”

  “It looked like you could use some help.”

  “Sure, knock yourself out. Just don’t get yourself killed.”

  “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

  I rushed past the sandbag barricade and started pushing back the undead mob. They fought me for a moment, but even their collective strength wasn’t enough. The whole group fell like a stack of dominoes. I charged the group and kept knocking them down. This was easy stuff, child’s play.

  Then something stabbed me in the chest.

  It felt like a stray round or something. I tried to turn and see what had just happened to me when I fell to the ground. There was another stab. Clearly someone was trying to kill me. The last thing I remembered was seeing Rhiannon hovering over me, calling out to me.

  “Mordecai…Mordecai…”

  “I’m right here, you don’t have to yell,” I replied, but she must not have understood because there was no change in her face. The whole place went dark and I went to sleep.

  “Wake up, wake up, sleepyhead.”

  It was dim. I opened my eyes and looked around the place. This was the Queen’s underground cave home. But why was I here?

  “Is everything okay?” I asked the voice.

  “For the time being, we are safe. Who knows how long it will remain this way.”

  I blinked my eyes a few times and things started to come into focus. The woman circled my bed, moving into the shadows. When she moved back into the light, I saw Rayna’s face. There was something wrong with it, though I couldn’t think of what. I blamed the bad lighting and my disoriented state.

  “Rayna? Is that you?”

  “Not precisely.”

  “Why are you messing with me? I know that’s you. What are you doing in those fancy clothes?”

  “Because these are my clothes,” she replied.

  “Those are the Queen’s clothes.”

  “Yes, and I am the Queen.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said, ‘I am the Queen.’ What is hard to understand?”

  I looked at her for a few moments. “Rayna, stop messing around.”

  “I guarantee you, I am completely in earnest.”

  My eyes started to come into focus. Those things that looked wrong before were being amplified in great detail. It really wasn’t Rayna. Her chin and nose were all wrong. There were small, almost imperceptible scars on her face. And then there were those eyes, so unlike hers. It really was the Queen, and she had taken off her mask just for me.

  “Why do you look like Rayna?”

  “I don’t look like that trollop. A mixed blessing of nature has endowed her with my appearance. That brings me to my next point: where is she?”

  “Where is who?” I asked, still confused.

  “I think I have given you a healthy amount of indulgence, Mordecai, probably far more than you deserve. I will ask you again, where is she?”

  “No idea where she is. She took off, remember?”

  She grabbed my face and dug her nails into my cheek. I don’t know if I was bleeding, but it sure felt like it.

  “Where is that insolent twit? She is going to be beheaded and her remains burned to dust.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say that? I’ll tell you everything — where she is, what she is wearing, even what sh
e had for breakfast yesterday.”

  She looked like she believed me for a brief moment, then her face convulsed with anger. She reared her hand back to slap me, but stopped just short and took a deep breath.

  “I have half a mind to have you join her,” she said with the chill back in her voice.

  “Half? That’s surprising.”

  “What is surprising about that? Pray I do not resolve to do it right this instant.”

  “I’m just amazed you have any mind left.”

  “Your impertinence will cause you unnecessary suffering,” said Lucretius as he emerged from the shadows. “Listen to reason and answer her.”

  “So now you’ve turned against me as well?”

  “I have turned against no one. My loyalties remain with the Queen above all others. As her steward and chief of the council, I will abide no sedition or treason against her.”

  I looked at him. His expression was impossible to read, a poker player’s nightmare. He stared at the Queen for a few moments until she relented.

  “You will not tell me where she is?” she said to me.

  “Not even if I knew.”

  She put her face close to mine. I could feel her cool breath on my cheek. She leaned a little closer and I turned away. I just kept poking the angry bull in the eye, wondering when she would get angry enough to charge. Some would call this suicidal behavior. It’s what happens to you when the world ends and you don’t care anymore.

  “And there is nothing that will persuade you?”

  “Not a thing.”

  “We will see about that.” She walked around the room. Lucretius followed her out, throwing me a look of pity on his way out. I was left alone, left to my thoughts, which of course meant thinking about Rayna. Rhiannon came into the room. She rushed over to the bed and embraced me.

  “I thank the one True God you’re okay. They’ve been saying the worst things about you?”

  “What are they saying?”

  “Does it matter? I know they’re lies.”

  “What did they tell you?”

  “Of course it’s not true. I mean, how could you still protect her after what she did to you? There’s no way you could be working with her.”