After the Fall (9 page)

Gehenna

Alaric woke to the pounding on his door. I stood on the other side, hitting so hard the surface wood splintered. Rhiannon opened the door.

“What is it?” she snapped. It was pitch dark and she could not see me.

“I need to speak to Alaric,” I said. 

A smile spread across her face. “It’s late. What do you need with my
husband
?”

“I just need to speak to him. It is of the utmost importance.”

“And am I not important enough to relay this to him?”

“This is urgent. Let me through.” I tried to pass her and she blocked me.

“What is it, my friend,” asked Alaric, followed by a deep yawn.

“You must burn the bodies.”

“What bodies?”

“The corpses at the gate. They keep coming back to life.”

“What? That’s absurd. They don’t do that.”

“I just killed one of them for the second time tonight. Tell me that did not happen, either.”

“Are you sure you actually killed him?”

I clenched my teeth. “He went down dead both times. You saw me put a bolt through his head when we last spoke.”

“Yes, I saw him. That should have put him down for good. But maybe he was just knocked unconscious?”

“No, he was
dead.
He got back up and I killed him again. Who knows if he will stay down this time. I tried to speak to the head Sentinel, but he said they were under strict orders from you to hold position. No one will do a thing and it is only a matter of time before they get back up and start rattling at the inner gate. How long do you want to sit here, until we run out of food and ammunition?”

He gave me a slow nod. It seemed I might have gotten through to him.

“Just give me a few minutes to get ready,” he said. Instead of remaining in the room with him, Rhiannon stepped out into the hallway and shut the door. I tried not to look her in the face.

“What’s the matter with you?” she asked. “You seem so tense.”

“There has been a lot of excitement today.”

“I’ll say.” She bit her lip and looked at me. Her hand slid up my arm and pressed us closer together. I was trying hard to resist her.

“Hey, what’s with all the noise out here?” asked Matthias. He was dressed in his underwear and holding a lantern in our direction. “Oh, for God’s sake!” He glared at the two of us and slammed the door.

“Get back,” I said. When she stayed put, I gave her a gentle shove. Alaric came back out the door dressed and ready to go.

“Let’s go speak to the Guard. I foresee much work no one will want to do.”

“But it has to be done, if we are to ever set foot outside these walls. I have seen your food stores, and they will not last forever.”

We went to the main gate and spoke to the head Sentinel, a well-meaning officer who followed orders to the letter, sometimes forgetting the spirit of them. At this point, I was beginning to feel a little unsteady.

“Are you all right?” asked Alaric.

“I am fine for right now, but I must feed soon. Tonight must have taken more of me than I thought.”

Alaric looked around and took stock of his men. They were all strong and healthy. A few were a bit past their prime but every bit as tough as a rawhide sandwich. One of those in particular caught our eye. He was a young greenhorn who had been staring at me since we arrived. Alaric called him over.

“Yes, Commander?”

“Please come with us. There is something we need of you.”

“For you, Commander, anything!”

A little overeager for my taste
, I thought. We walked over to one of the doors to the wall. Alaric unlocked it and led us into a small study, where he lit a small oil lamp.

“Please, sit down.” He locked the door behind him and addressed the young guard. “John-Jay, you have been with us for about a year now, right?”

“Yes, Commander. One year and eight days, and just as proud to serve you as the first day.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You know I would never ask anything unreasonable of you. Anything I ask of any of you I would do myself, and I would not ask you to do something unless I had a good reason.”

“Sir?”

“Mordecai here has saved us all. His inhuman skills are impossible to believe unless you see them firsthand.”

“Indeed, sir, it’s like he’s an angel descended from Heaven!”

“This may be hard to believe, son, but angels do not eat as we do. There is no worldly food that can sustain them.”

“They feed from God’s own grace.”

“Yes, that, but seeing that once they’re on Earth, they’re on their own. Just as God has given us dominion over all the creatures on Earth, he has given them dominion over them as well as us.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We need a bit of your blood, my son. You will not be hurt and the pain will be minimal. Isn’t that right, Mordecai?”

I nodded. “Just pull back your sleeve and I will see to the rest. All you’ll feel is a sting.”

“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” he replied.

“Listen, if you don’t do this, Mordecai will weaken and may not be able to protect us. Is that what you want to happen? Do you want to see this place overrun?”

“No, never!”

“Then you must do your part. Someone else will do it next time, and so on.”

“He’s right,” I said. “After a few days, it will be as if nothing happened. You won’t be hurt except for a small needle stick on the arm.”

I reached for my exsanguination kit and began to unfold it on the table. They watched me join the thick needle to the clear plastic tube. The next part might be the hardest.

“Okay, just look away if you need to. It’s just a little sting,” I said. The boy did not look away. He stared at my hands as I tied off his arm and tapped the fat vein on the inside of his elbow. I pushed the needle and felt him take a deep forceful breath, but he braved the pain. With a flick of the thumb I released the valve and watched the dark red liquid flow through the hose. Venous blood wasn’t as rich as arterial blood, but it was good enough for nourishment.

The young guard shuddered, but he held strong. It took less than five minutes before I was pulling the needle. He looked uncertain about what he had done, so I did my best to comfort him.

“Worry not, boy. You will get into the Kingdom of Heaven yet.” He nodded and gave me a firm hug, one that lingered a little longer than I would have preferred, but I let him. He did feed me after all.

“Okay, that’s enough,” said Alaric. “Back to your post.”

“Can you spare him for the night? He could get some rest and be as good as new tomorrow.”

“I need all hands tonight,” he said. “Especially if we’re going through with what you suggested.”

Alaric was the Commander of the Guard, and as such, he had to be tough on his men, but this seemed excessive. I looked at him with disapproval.

“All right, you win. You have tower duty. Go relieve Micah.”

“Yes, sir.” He walked out of the room with a grim expression on his face. Tower duty was not the most enjoyable duty, but it would spare him from the heavy exertions.

It didn’t feel good to be right, not this time. The men managed to get the door raised and the corpses began to crawl inside. We were ready for them, but that didn’t stop their surprise. Many of them looked like used practice targets and yet they still came. A hardworking detail had already dug a shallow cremation pit and filled it with a meager amount of oil and wood.

“Can’t we get more?” I asked Alaric.

“We’re trying to get scrap wood, but most of the people are sleeping. It will take some time.”

I had an idea.

“Do you have an axe I can use, a heavy one?”

“You!” he said to one of the guards. “Fetch me an axe, the largest one you can find.”

He came practically dragging this thing. I grabbed it from him like it was a child’s plaything and rested it on my shoulder.

Alaric gave the order to burn the bodies and it was executed. For hours on end, the men pulled the gate slightly ajar and let in a few of them at a time. They crawled and writhed inside only to be greeted by a shower of projectiles. One corporal beside me shot one in the chest. The creature lunged at him while he hurried to reload. When he realized it was no use, all his soldierly discipline went out the door. He screamed and closed his eyes. There was a groan and a series of thuds, but he felt nothing biting him or tearing him  to pieces, only fluid spattering all over him. His eyes opened to the sight of me hacking the thing to pieces. We dragged the bodies to the center of the pit and heaped them high.

“Light the fire!” Alaric ordered. A lit torch twirled and roared through the air before landing on top of the pile. It caught fire with a loud whoosh, sending out a heat wave that I felt several feet away. The smell was
horrendous
. I once asked myself if the stench of the undead could get any worse. Now I wish I had remained ignorant.

We repeated this exercise several times with similar success. There were a few close calls, but no bites. Their faces were an amalgamation of fear and relief that I found quite amusing. A guard actually came to my feet and tried to kiss them. His name was Ron Billings, I later found out.

“Don’t do that! Are you mad?”

“I’m sorry. You saved my life. You truly are an angel from heaven, worthy of praises.”

Ugh. There goes that again.
“Yes, but I’m also covered in their filth.” I pointed at the noisome pile of burning bodies, some of which were still twitching. “Do you want that on your lips?”

He shook his head. I thought as much.
Idiot.

The work dragged on throughout the night. My senses alerted me when the sky began to lighten up on the East. Luckily, all that was left at this point was to tend to the fire and make sure nothing leaped out of it. With my recent experience, I could never be too sure.

“It will be sunrise soon. I’m going home.”

“Wait for me. I will walk with you,” said Alaric. He gave a few orders for the men to tend the fire and make sure the bodies were completely burned before disposing of the ashes. I just hoped I hadn’t led us all astray by vaporizing whatever infected them and exposing the whole town to it.

“It’s been a long night,” he said to me as we walked. “I suppose this is normal for you.”

“I am a creature of the night, like I said. I was a prisoner of it until a few decades ago, when I found out by accident that I had gained some immunity.

“How did it happen?”

Of course he had to ask. My life was so long it had become a large volume of stories. I didn’t feel like launching into another story, but we had a walk ahead of us and a little spare time, so I decided to humor him.

It was shortly after the Fall had begun. Chaos had broken out and I was beginning to feel the pinch of hunger. When I fell in with a group of survivors, I saw a chance to stay fed and give them protection in exchange, much like I was doing now. It didn’t work out well. Turns out they were hoping that I would protect them without giving anything in exchange.

“You don’t get a gun until you earn our trust,” they said. Of course they’ll keep the guns. How else would you maintain control of the group?
Keep your stinking guns,
I thought.
I don’t need them anyway.

“Fine” is what I actually said.

“We get the food first. I’m the largest, so I have to keep my strength,” said the alpha-male leader. What a hack. He would be full of endless questions, like “where do you go during the day?” or “why are you always eating up the food?” I took exception to that remark. Why would I get blamed for food I can’t even eat? It was the woman that was eating it, of course, but I kept my mouth shut and took the abuse—for the time being.

I obliged all their “needs,” like when his girlfriend explained that she had to have food because she would get lightheaded if she didn’t get all her meals exactly on time. She also demanded that I go find her food, which I obliged, even if I roused a whole horde of undead to find her a pack of sweets.

“Here you go,” I said as I handed her a box of donuts. The joy had to be put on hold until we reached safety, because the horde was headed for us. When we got to a safe place, she finally thanked me…or not.

“Ugh. These are stale. Couldn’t you find something that keeps better? Maybe you could have been a little quieter while you were at it and then we wouldn’t have to run and hide?

“I’m sorry,” I said, giving her a smile to try to score extra points.

“I don’t need your apologies!”

“It must have made you very angry to be with that bunch,” said Alaric. “I’m surprised that you endured them so well.”

I endured them well, I told him, because they were my food. That night, I resolved to drink her, down to the last drop. It was easy to get the drop on her. I had guard that night. I always had night guard because no one wanted to lose sleep. That morning she didn’t wake up.