The Death Doll (17 page)

CONDEMNED

“We can't banish him,” Clarissa said along with half the camp in Assembly, which now included all the children and the entire night shift. “He's just a kid.”

“This kid thinks he’s above everyone here,” Craig replied, for which the crowd quieted somewhat.  “You heard it for yourselves.”

“You sucked as a foster dad,” Jake snapped at him.

“We can't let a kid get us killed,” Jerri spoke up.  “We have no choice but to banish him.”

“We can't let him go tell that gang how to break in here, either,” Chuck said.

“‘e could sabotage us if ‘e stays,” Ben argued.

“What does that mean for the other teens?” yelled Blake Kargadorian, Dandy's guardian.  “Are you going to banish them, too, for holding back?  I’m not killing kids for being kids.”

Several others agreed with the tall head of the night shift guard.

“Maybe we can still reach him,” Clarissa said, “like a rehab or prison stay.”

“Where?” Bob asked her.  “We can't keep him in Isolation.  We need that for new arrivals.”

“There won't be any new arrivals if whoever he's been talking to comes in here,” Sean added.

“We can make a jail cell off da compound,” Ben said.

Most of the crowd liked the sound of that, which settled Craig's nerves a little.

“You can't treat me like this,” Jake yelled.  “I worked hard for this community, but you keep walking all over me like you do to all us kids.”

Craig yanked the youth’s arm. “You're in no position to talk.”

“Let him,” Didi's voice boomed through Assembly as she sauntered toward the stage.  The crowd gasped as she led Cody, Rachelle, Isaac, and a muscular giant of a man with his hands bound behind him toward the Panel.  “A condemned man should be allowed his last words.”

“What’s going on?” Cody asked as the denim-clad stranger looked around with amusement.

“Jake offered to help someone on the outside get rid of you,” Bob said more to Didi than Cody.  “We were about to banish him.”

The crowd roared its opposition, but Didi ignored them.  She slowly approached Jake with a dark grin as the camp quieted down.  “Was sweeping and mopping really so terrible?”

“You can't treat me like this, you freak,” Jake yelled.

Didi grinned with surprise, but only briefly.  “You grew a pair, but not a brain.  We help people outside, but we don't cater to them.  If they want in, they come in our way.”

“You mean your way, don't you?  Well, we're done with your way.” Jake looked to the crowd for support, but the glares he received made it clear no one was on his side.

Didi nodded.  “If you're that unhappy here, you can leave.”

“You can't banish me.”

Didi's eyebrows flew up as her astounded grin returned.  “Want a demonstration?”

“We're not gonna kill a kid,” Ben said.  “We're makin’ ‘im a prison.”

“Our kids are our future,” Clarissa said.  “They need time to grow and learn.”

The crowd loudly endorsed Ben and Clarissa.

Didi waited until they quieted down, then nodded.  “Maybe you're right.”

Everyone—including Jake—stared in stunned silence as she placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. 

“The children are the future of this camp.  They deserve a chance to learn how to keep it thriving.”  She glanced around all the curious faces, then grabbed the back of Jake’s neck and shoved him ahead of her.  Everyone gasped.  “But you'd better ask yourselves if this little bastard's the one you want in charge of that future because he’ll see nothing less.  I've watched him all this time.  I've listened to his self-absorbed bitching.  He’d burn this place down to get want he wants.  Look closely at your future and decide.”

The crowd glanced around as if expecting someone to argue.

Didi shoved Jake aside and waved over the bound muscleman.  “While you’re pondering our future, I’d like you all to meet Kenny Thibeault the Fourth, the leader of Pat's gang.  We met down the road a piece, had a nice little chat over drinks and guns; something to the tune of everyone here is about to die.” 

Frightened whispers filled the theater.

“You want to make a prison, Ben?  I suggest you start before his gang comes a-calling.”

Cody and Isaac pulled Kenny back the way they came.  Ben lowered his head and trailed after them.  Craig grabbed Jake's arm and followed.

Kenny stopped and smiled at the crowd, speaking with a smooth, confident Southern accent.  “You're wasting your time, people.  The Pride of Life is everywhere, watching you.  Surrender now and we may be merciful.  If your Amazon here doesn't want to let you, I'm sure smart, insightful people like yourselves will know how to fix that.”

A terrified silence fell over the auditorium.  Craig couldn’t blame them.  The sound of the group’s name reminded him of lethal zealots like the Ku Klux Klan.  Everyone else stared horrifically at the man who may have brought it back.

Didi drew her sword.  “Move it, head job.”

Craig, Cody, and Isaac herded their prisoners to the main exit, followed by Rachelle and a very nervous Ben.

Didi stopped in the doorway and smiled at the crowd.  “To be continued.  Don’t go away.”  Then she walked out, leaving fifty scared people to ponder their futures. 

Craig tried not to be one of them.

*****

Jake trembled through what was once called Jane's Meat Market, staring anxiously at the freezer that would become his prison.  Kenny was as cool as could be—cooler, even—so he was probably telling the truth about having people in town.  Jake still hoped it was true.

“Welcome to Plaza de Carne,” Didi said ahead of them.  “That’s Spanish for meat, for all you non-speakers.  Step on in, Meat.  Make yourselves at home.”

Jake glanced into the empty unit, dreading whether or not it was airtight.

Kenny grinned at Didi and said, “Be seeing you, honey.”

Didi grinned back.  “Better make it worth my while, sugar.  I'm not as easy to please as my videos might make you think.”

Jake wept and fell at her feet, sobbing apologies with the faint hope of reaching whatever rotten lump resembled a heart in the dead woman that claimed to care so much for the living.

Didi looked down on him with that damned smirk of hers. “So touching.  I’d cry if my tear ducts still worked.”

Craig and Isaac yanked Jake to his feet and shoved him into the freezer.  He screamed for forgiveness, but the door closed right in his face, and everything went black.  Metal-on-metal noises startled him.  He banged on the door and shouted, but he couldn’t stop crying.

“You haven't lost faith in me already, have you?” Kenny asked somewhere in the darkness. 

Jake wanted to say he didn’t, but the stale odor of animal blood in the dark left him doubtful.

RESOLVE

“We can’t stand up to Kenny’s people if we don’t work together,” Cody insisted, standing with the Panel between Didi and the potential lynch mob.  The more they detracted her, the more irritated she looked.  He worried she might draw down on them again.

“Not with a zombie in charge,” Roy yelled.  “She already cost me a friend.”

“If anything, she should be at our disposal,” Blake said.

“She doesn’t deserve to be your slave,” Rachelle snapped. 

“If she cares that much, she shouldn’t have a problem with that,” Clarissa said over her baby crying in her ear. 

Didi’s hands landed on her hips.  “Oh, really?”

“There’s a lot of us now, so we should be the ones who—”

“I let myself be used way too often in life,” Didi yelled heatedly.  “There’s no way I’m letting it happen in death.  I’m not going to play your lap dog while you all figure it out.”

The crowd grew uncomfortably quiet as they regarded the enraged Death Doll. 

“Cody and I made our rules based on what we learned from the mistakes of other groups.”

“Groups like the Apocalypse Crew?” Clarissa yelled.

“That wasn’t her fault,” Paula shouted over the crowd, surprising Cody and Didi.  Everyone quieted down and stared at the teacher.  “They kidnapped her, brutalized her, drove her to suicide.  I may not agree with everything she does, but I would’ve done the same in her place.”

Didi smiled gratefully at Paula, then faced the murmuring crowd.  “That’s right.  I killed myself to be free of them, but they defiled my corpse, too.  If it weren’t for Cody, I would still be rotting on their wall.”

Many disgusted looks crossed the assembly.

“So, that was revenge?” Clarissa asked. 

Didi nodded.  “It doesn’t matter, though, does it? I’ve eaten people since, but none made my hunger go away.  I’m not going to starve to death, so I have no reason to feed.  I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

“You had Kyle killed, remember?” Roy yelled while pointing at her.  “Why didn’t you give him a chance like Cody gave you?”

“I only had one NSU at the time,” Cody answered for her, “and he wouldn’t have wanted—”

“He was a better man than this whore,” Roy snapped.  “How come she deserves it more than him?”

Cody nearly got in Roy’s face, but Didi stopped him.  She squeezed past him and the Panel and stared down the dour old man until he and the rest of the crowd got quiet.  Cody expected her to grab one or more of her weapons, but it never happened. 

She sat on the edge of the stage and looked sadly around at each of them.  Despite her power, she looked so vulnerable. “When I was alive, I didn’t fully grasp what it meant to be a person, let alone part of a community.  The world saw me as a whore they wanted to screw in some way or another, so I had to look out for Number One.  Then I met Cody, the first person in my life—or death—to treat me with any real respect.  A zombie, a slut.  Pick your insult, but he never did.  He helped me see the value in life.  He showed me how it could be if we just made the effort.  He even helped me find God.” 

“What?  You think you can just atone for all this?” Roy snapped again.  “Heaven ain’t for whores like you, let alone corpses.”

Cody wanted to shout down the old grouch but kept faith in what Didi was doing.

“So I was a porn star,” Didi said.  “Big deal.  I still outlasted most of the world, just like all of you, even if not exactly like any of you.  I mean, this world had zombie movies galore and it didn’t learn a damn thing; people just kept making the same mistakes.  Cody and I used what we learned from those mistakes to build this camp.  We didn’t tell you what I was because people will always be people.  You’ll always fear, scheme, and eventually kill to get whatever it is you think you want without looking at the bigger picture.  That’s just what people did before, and they called it life.”  She hopped down and splayed her arms, presenting herself. “Take a good look at what living like that gets you.  No one should have to live like this.”

Roy scoffed at her, but the others stared at her in silence. 

Didi leaned against the stage.  “You all feared the big bad Death Doll.  Why not get to know the monster in the flesh?  Ask me anything.”

A long silence followed.  Many faces in the crowd grew mildly fascinated.  Some showed regret.  Roy just showed his contempt. 

Finally, Clarissa leaned on the stage next to Didi and asked, “What does it feel like?”

“Being dead?” Didi said for clarification.  Clarissa nodded.  “All I feel is my head, and that always feels like it’s on fire with, like, five guys trying to stomp it out.  All the time.  Not fun.”

“How do you cope with it if you don’t … eat?” Ron asked uneasily.  “I mean, Cody said your emotions were intense or whatever, but how much of the pain does it really take away?”

“Depends on how strongly I feel it.”  Didi grinned at Paula.  “You helped Pepe.  You took him in when he was on his own.”

Paula frowned as she looked around the crowd.  “Yeah.”

“How did that feel?”

Paula struggled to speak for a few awkward seconds.  “Good, I guess.”

“Same here,” Didi proudly stated, then faced Ron again.  “That flush you get when you make someone’s day?  It happens to me, too, and it takes away the most pain.  It may be fleeting, but it’s worth it, even if you don’t appreciate it,” she added toward Roy, who crossed his arms and continued looking sour. 

“What was it like?” Blake asked.  “Dying.”

Didi’s eyes fell a little.  “A lot like getting really drunk.”

A few laughed, which made her smile a little.

“How did you do it?” Chuck asked.

“I bled myself.  I meant to get the bastards who spent weeks raping me, but,” she shrugged, “they took too long partying.”

“Is that why you’re so harsh, then?” Paula asked.

Didi laughed, which surprised the uptight teacher.  “If you think I’m harsh, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on out there.  I want to give life a chance.  I can’t do that with a plague and hostiles in the way, can I?”

Blake put up a hand until Didi faced him.  “So, you do all this to get in good with God?”

Didi shook her head with an amused grin.  “I don’t think it works like that.  God knows what’s really in us; we can’t fool Him.  That being said, I want to atone for my sins because—” 

“Spare us the sermon,” Roy said.  “Not all of us believe what you do.”

Didi shined him on with, “No one said you had to.  I chose to follow God’s law, even if I can’t bring myself to carry out all the same punishments.”

“You made us go to those sermons.”

“Only the first one, just to try it out.  Your lack of attendance since that day should’ve told you I wasn’t forcing the whole issue.  Besides, I tend to think free will gives us a chance to learn from our mistakes and get
right
with God,” she added for Blake.  “Whether or not
you
do it is your choice.  I can’t force you to believe anything, and I wouldn’t try.”

Other than Roy, the camp slowly opened up to her through a sedate Q-and-A. The change in the tides brought Cody some relief, but he still worried about the storm about to descend on them—and whether or not this camp would stand united against it.

*****

Jake was in hell.  He still couldn’t see anything, the musty room kept getting warmer, and he wasn’t going to make it all go away by waking up.  This was really happening.  He was now a condemned man.  It didn’t help that the love of his life betrayed him with that—

“They really don’t like her, do they?” Kenny said from somewhere in the room.

Jake scoffed. “What’s to like about the rotten bitch?”

“Well, she is strong and, I must admit, quite attractive.”

Jake’s stomach turned at the thought.  “Gross.”

“The sight of that body doesn’t make you feel all hard yet?”

Jake flinched with surprise.  “What, you don’t know?”

Silence.  Jake was surprised Kenny didn’t know about Didi, though she did fool everyone else for a long time. 

“You gonna spill any minute soon?” Kenny asked.

“She’s a rotter.”  More silence.  “A deadhead?  A flesh-eater?  A
zombie
?”  Nothing.  “How could you not know this?  I mean, yeah, she’s all made up to look like she’s alive.  They did something to keep her from stinking and rotting.  I don’t know what exactly, but you can look her in the eyes and—”

Something crushed his throat and lifted him off his feet.  He gasped and kicked.  He tried to smack away whatever squeezed the life out of him.

“Oh, that young lady is brilliant,” Kenny finally said.  “Is your Death Doll listening in?  Does she think this little fear tactic is gonna scare me off?”

Jake tried to protest, but he couldn’t speak.  He fought against the hand he couldn’t see.  Blood rushed painfully through his head, which grew lighter by the second. 

Then something cold and utterly gross filled his mouth, which was covered by a large hand.

“Well played, kid,” Kenny said, “but the Pride of Life will not be denied its due.”

*****

Cynthia surveyed every room she crossed, which were all well reinforced.  The spoils she found were worth the effort, though.  The kitchen was well-stocked, their shower rooms were packed with clothes, and the restaurant looked like what she imagined one of those four-star joints might look like. These people even had some kind of café with lots of gourmet coffees.  And they had basements.  No, tunnels.  This place had everything Kenny could ever want. 

Things got even better when she found their power plant.  The turbine was massive and moved by zombies chasing pigs.  It was perfect.  After all, Pat already tried the Juice and failed.  Letting a few of the local dead out should’ve done the trick.  Then Kenny would have to accept her.  Love her.

*****

Ben cursed his big fat mouth on his way back to the new jail he was constructing.  He wondered whether or not sticking up for that little bastard was even worth it when he dropped the stack of rebar he would weld into a cell door.  He may never have wanted kids, but he still couldn’t bring himself to kill one—even with banishment, and even if the little brat in question tried to start a revolt.  They’re young; they’re supposed to push boundaries.  That was how they learned.  Lord knows he did as a kid.  Now he was paying the price for standing up for life, something that corpse claimed to do.  Was he going to be the jailer, too?  Damn that!  He was a plumber; the one who made clean water for the camp possible.  He deserved better.

Screaming, the painful kind from the freezer.  He snatched a rebar from the pile and slowly approached the door.  The small meat locker grew eerily silent as he grasped the screwdriver he’d stuck into the door latch.  He deepened his breathing to psyche himself up.  Banging startled him as he heard muffled cries for help.

He snatched the door open and reared his rebar when Jake rushed him.

“What the—”

Jake bit into his neck.  He screamed from the white-hot agony as he tried to push his young attacker away when something from the freezer—