Pyramid of the Dead: A Zombie Novel (9 page)

6-
A Time for
Reflection

Minco
lay
on
his
bed but he could not rest. His mind raced behind his closed eyelids, and when he opened them,
all he could do was
to
stare
up
at the
barely
lit
ceiling.

However, exhausted or not, Minco’
s heart skipped a beat as a
long
,
slender a
rm slid gent
ly
across his chest
,
and
long
raven
-
black hair
tickled over his skin as his lover
snuggled
deep
into the nape of his neck.

“
Please d
on’t worry
,
my love,” Inguill, the High Priestess
softly
mumbled as she stirred
from her slumber
. “
Everything will be
just
fine.
” Her
leg glided
gently
to
entwine between his
as she continued, her silken voice as soothing as
it
always
was
.
“
I know
you will
save the King and free us
all
from these Spaniard
invaders.” She kissed the hollow of his throat. “
I have
complete
faith in you
, Minco
. The
Gods will answer our prayers.”

Minco tu
rned and kissed her
perfect
forehead before
wrapping his
strong
arms around her
. H
e
held
onto
her
as tight
ly
as he
possibly
could
, which
at least
gave him some comfort
.
Looking down at her as a reassuring little
smile
formed on her
beautiful,
olive face
,
he managed to forget his troubles for a few
short
,
sweet
seconds.

For Minco, existing in this fashion was bittersweet.
He was always at his happiest when he was lying
at Inguill’s
side. For years
now,
t
hey
had to
try
to
steal
some time
together
whenever
they were able. They could never declare their relationship openly
,
for
Inguill’s high status within the
religious hierarchy
forbade a union of marriage between them.

The High Priestess was meant to devote her entire life to
the
praise of the Gods. Having a husband would take away some of that devotion...and for Minco, openly sharing a bed with the High Priestess of Cuzco...blasphemous.

However
, they were not greedy. T
hey were grateful
for what they had been given,
and
that was a blind eye and
King
Atahualpa’s gracious, secret blessing. Minco remembered the
day h
e had spoken to them alone
in his
private
chambers
. The king had
told them
that the gods had seen fit to
bestow this secret happiness upon them
, that they had a reason for every gift given to their children and
to
enjoy their love. H
e
told them
he
was happy that two of his c
losest allies had found
a little
pleasure
with
each other
.

Thinking back on it now,
Minco
’s
eyes welled as the king’s
kind
words sang to his soul. It was another reminder that he had failed to keep his promise and protect him always. He squeezed his eyes closed and
silently swore
that
he would
see his king safely returned
and that he would
never allow
harm to come to him
.

Seeking solace, Minco moved his
hand
caressingly along the contours of
Inguill’s body
. But as he did,
the
rising sun
sent tendrils of light streaming
through the window and
spread its warmth
over their bed. After a
l
ittle sigh
,
Inguill pushed herself up
right
and swung her legs out of
the
bed.

“I a
m sorry
,
Mi
nco,” she said
as she drew her hands
slowly
through her
lustrous
hair
. “I must
go
now
.
I
am
need
ed in the temple and
t
he other
priest
esse
s will be waiting for me
.
” She looked longingly at him before she covered her lithe frame with the golden robes of office. “There is
much work to
be
do
ne
.
”

After a little nod
and
wearing
a
strongly
forced smile
, Minco pressed his hand to his heart and felt it grow heavy as she stopped just short of the
main
doorway. She turned back, the early light making
wondrous
mirrors of her dark eyes. Those twin pools full of stars and the unknown made him catch his breath
.

“Have
some
faith,” she said
, seeing his worry
. “We’ll get through this
together my darling. You j
ust
need to
have a little faith.”

Minco waited until she
had
left
the room
before he too rose and
got
dressed into a clean
, fresh
uniform. Once
ready,
h
e walked
over
to the
window
, h
is eyes drawn
towards the palace, to the room where his King was
still
captive. He
i
magine
d
that his nemesis
,
Pizarro
,
was there,
watching this
procession.

*****

Both
Pizarro
and Almargo were
already awake
,
peering out
of
the high
,
thin aperture.
They watched the
mass of
Incan men below, filling the long lines of carts with vast amounts of gold. Statues of animals and birds were stacked
high up
alongside enough cups and plates to hold the largest feast the world
c
ould have
ever
seen.
Pizarro
felt his mouth begin to water at this sight. He could almost taste their success...and he would soon have his prize.

“
Well,
a
t least they’re doing what we told them,” Almargo said with little confidence evident in his
gruff
voice.
His eyes moved away from the gold to the hundreds of
well-armed
soldiers
that
formed
deep
lines
around the palace.

“Come on
,
my friend,”
Pizarro
snarled
. “At least try and show
me
a little
enthusiasm.
” Then his eyes came alive with greedy excitement. “
We almost have the gold
in our hands
!
S
oon we will
both
be richer than
even
the King of Spain
himself
.
Surely that thought w
ould make even
you
smile.
”

“This isn’t like you
,
sir,” Almargo whispered back
after looking around
, careful no
t to let
any of
the others hear him
question
ing
their leader
. “Please t
hink
for a moment
about what we
’ve
still got to do.
” He indicate
d
to the
hive of
activity outside with a nod of his head
. “
We need to get out of this damn
ed
city
,
through
those
narrow
,
high
-walled
streets
, past
many
thousands of soldiers
,
and
then
march for weeks through
the
thick jungle
,
and that’s
just
to
get back to our ships.
”

Almargo’s gaze slid towards the king, but he would not look into the eyes of the stoic monarch
.
He momentarily shuddered
and
then seemed to get himself back under control.
“
Managing all
of
this, with
just
the life of
one
, single
hostage keeping us safe.
..” he shook his head ruefully. “
You
,
mor
e than anyone,
sir,
should realise that the
chances of
us
succeeding are poor
to say the least
.
” He took one more
furtive
glance around the room
, over
at the small group of frightened, Spanish men
. “
Forgive me
for
saying this, Colonel
,
” Almargo spoke even softer this time
. “B
ut
I believe
your
lust for
this
gold is blinding you
from the facts
.”

Pizarro
managed to drag his gaze away from the window and
smiling,
placed his hand on the faithful Almargo’s shoulder
once more
.

“
I
will
make it happen
, this is my destiny
.
You just have to trust
me
, my friend
,” he said. “
I’ll get us
both
home safe
and sound
.
Just h
ave
faith
in me, old man.
Have a little
faith.”

7
-
The City of the Dead-
Huacas

The M
ayta and his
devoted
priests arrived at
the
iron
gates to the
Forbidden City
just before night
fall
fell upon
the valley
.
The derelict and heavily overgrown city had become as crumbling as its
denizens had;
it was
a
far from
welcoming sight.
N
o one had dared
to
go
near
these damp, mouldering walls for well over a hundred years.

The
bloody
tale
s of
its terrible past
had been
passed down from
generation
to generation
.
Parents had
even
told their unruly children s
tori
es of this
city
and its inhabitants
,
to frighten
away any
thoughts of misbehaving from their heads when they were bold enough to defy their elders. T
hey were threatened with being sent to live
forever
in
side
the City of the Snake
.

Even in the
gloaming, the mighty pyramid could be seen towering high above the city.
Much like the capital city, the pyramid had been placed in the centre, giving
praise and honour to Supay, the
Incan
God of Death.
However,
unlike the bright, golden pyramid of Cuzco,
this
was
as black as its history.

The stories
told of the peak of Huacas’
powers
, the streets would have been awash with
rivers of
blood.
They
spoke of
h
undreds of helpless souls
, who every year,
were
dragged
,
screaming
for mercy
to the
very
summit of the pyramid
.
T
here
,
they had
been placed on a ceremonial altar,
their throats cut and
their bodies
left to
bleed
slowly
out
in a sacrifice to Supay,
the
god of death and greed, said to be the ruler of the
Ukhu Pacha- the
underworld
.

The
priests of Huacas
believe
d
that
human
sacrifice
was a necessary tribute
to appease Su
pay,
that if his thirst for blood was not sated, he would raise
his army
of the dead
to walk
here
on
the earth
to take their revenge
.
No one
knew
what had happened to those
once living
in Huacas,
or
why it now lay empty
. But every Incan of the last two generations had heard the story- how one
fateful
night
each and every one
of
its
screaming
citizens were dragged, dead or alive,
down
to hell to serve at the feet
of
the great
god
,
Supay.

Whatever the
real
reason
had been
,
no one was
crazy enough
to go
inside
its walls
seeking
out those
answers. At least, that was, not
until now.

It took all
of
their
combined
might to push open the
eroded,
weather and age savaged gates
. The
high-pitched
creaking
they made
should have
caused a ruckus of fleeing wildlife i
n
the
surrounding
jungle wild.
However,
all was silent
around them
. It seemed
that
e
ven the birds, insects and animals had enough sense
to keep
their distance
from the
Forbidden City
.

As they walk
ed along the
long,
silent
streets,
the
dull
purple of twilight
quickly
gave way to the deep
black
of
the
night
.
The
priests’ lit torches
produced
only low light that seemed consumed by the living night. Wild shadows danced on every surface and in every corner
of the empty
buildings
, doing little to improve morale
.

Taipi was the only one
who
seemed
to be
unaffected. Of the small group of priests, only he
remained
silent
throughout
. All along the
journey
,
the
others
had mumbled
constant prayers to their
own
g
ods
. W
hether they
pray
ed
for safety or the success of this mission
,
Taipi
did not know, nor did he
actually
care.

He could be confident for all of them
.

The journey
through the city
to the pyramid itself seemed to take an unnaturally long time, but eventually, the
band of
priests arrived
at the main entrance. Stopping, they
stared in silence at the large pair of
heavy doors
, each adorned with a massive but badly tarnished silver plaque.
The
first
one
depict
ed Supay coming out of the ground
,
leaving
his home in
Ukhu
Pacha
and
in each
of his clawed
hand
s
he held a long
, curved
sword. The second
plaque
showed
Supay in
his
triumphant
return;
however,
in each hand, he
now
held a severed head
. Behind this gruesome figure marched
a mass of
undead men
, following in his wake
.

Turning around,
Taipi
saw
a
maddening
fear
starting to
tak
e
root
, then
grow on the priest’s
faces and
he
felt the
need to speak.

“
We are nearly there
,
my children
.
S
oon
,
we shall be at the altar and with my knowledge
of the ancient text
,
we
’
ll
gain
control
of
Supay’s stolen souls
.
”
Taipi moved, weaving amidst his ranks, meeting their eyes
in an attempt
to give them courage and support.
“
We m
ust remember that o
ur gods are more powerful than
the ancient
Supay;
with our faith as our shield
,
and
our
devotion as
our sword
,
we shall
all
be protected
from the evil
.”

His words did not act as well as he hoped but at least they now moved forward towards the barrier, to enter the temple of Supay.
The
pyramid’s
doors were
found to be
locked
tight,
but t
here was no stopping
them now. A large timber beam was
quickly
torn from above
the
doorway
of a nearby home. The priests, always following Taipi’s orders,
tied
sections of rope
along it
s length
to fashion
a
crude
looking
battering ram. D
ull
thuds
echoed throughout the
silent
city as Taipi and his men
went to work
on the old wood that barred their way forward
.
Soon after,
the
heavy
timber doors
first
cracked
,
and
then
the right hand
toppled
backwards
.
A
thick
cloud of
grey
dust b
lew out
ward
from
within
the pyramid
’
s
walls
and encased the
invaders of Huacas.

Almost i
n one
,
the priests
dropped to
their knees as
bile rushed up through
their throats and
fired
like lava
onto the stone
-clad pavement
.
The stench released from
deep inside
the pyramid
was like a miasma, filling
their
mouths, their
lungs and their stomachs. Decades of death, disease and rot had
at last
escaped
from its prison
and
it now
engulfed the
se
intruders.

For a few
, long
minutes they choked, coug
hed and spat out the vile cl
oud that
slowly
blew over them until
eventually
,
it
dispersed in the light
, almost caressing
night wind. As they
rose
gingerly
to their feet
,
one of the priests screamed
out
- a wordless, terrified, animal yawp, and bolted
away
from the others. His continued screams could be
hear
d
long after he
disappeared
down
into
the blackene
d street
s
behind them
.

“Keep your faith,” Taipi muttered to his
four
remaining men
as
t
he
sound
s
of their brother faded into the night
. “
Soon
,
w
e will be at the altar of Supay.
S
oon
,
we will have what we came for
and then we can
all
leave
this place
.
”
Taipi could see
that
their resolve
was
crumbling. They needed more bolstering...or intimidation. So, h
e
walked along and
looked each
of
them in the eye.
He felt the same satisfaction he always felt when they shrank under the black scrutiny of his stare.