Dead: Winter (28 page)

I lost track of how many heads I shoved my spike-tipped spear into over a span of time where I went into a sort of hypnosis. I do recall Brad vanishing around the bend at some point and then showing up beside me to join in the carnage. We spread out to keep the bodies from stacking up in one place.

Like a gift from God, the clouds parted and the moonlight lit up the landscape with a brightness that made it possible to see. Each of us took breaks at staggered intervals because, after a while, the shoulders began to burn so badly that you couldn’t thrust effectively.

Then…it was done. I looked around and realized that everybody was glancing around with the same expectant look I probably had on my face. I could still hear the deep roaring sound of the herd, but climbing up the hill to the parking lot and looking down, I could see a wasteland of filth and body parts littering the terrain, but only stragglers remained. A few more seemed headed up the hill, but most were continuing their march into the woods on the far side.

“Jon,” I turned to the man and had a second to wonder if I looked as haggard as he did, “fire the flare to recall our people.”

11

Vignettes XXII

“The city of Alexandria is a mistake
, my brother,” Ahi warned. “You ask my opinion and I give it.”

“There must be some way down to the waterfront,” Aaheru insisted.

“The walking dead are as thick in Alexandria as they were in Cairo.”

Ahi and a few others had been sent ahead. What he’d seen when they crested the hill that would allow them to get their first look at the city had made his heart tighten. He didn’t realize until that moment that he had harbored a secret wish that the situation in Cairo was not, in fact, global. He wanted to believe that the news reports had lied. It would not be the first time that the Egyptian go
v
ernment had lied to its people using the media.

Ahi was not like Aaheru in many ways. One of the largest was that, unbeknownst to Aaheru, Ahi had been part of a faction bent on overthrowing the current regime. Rallies and protests were in the planning stages. It was time to stop embracing the extremism that the government supported. It was time, for lack of a better way to describe it, for Western ideas to be allowed to take hold.

Of course, now it was all a moot point. Ideologies no longer mattered. What mattered is survival. The way to survive was to be strong and merciless. Aaheru was that and more. So unlike everybody else since this had begun, he would not only survive, but he would
live
. The two were very different.

“We are not staying in Alexandria, my brother,” Aaheru said as if he were trying to prompt Ahi like a teacher might with a student who is on the verge of the correct answer.

“We need to find a way to the waterfront,” Ahi finally offered, although it was on the brink of b
e
ing spoken as a question.

“Exactly.”

“And so we must find a way to the waterfront which means that the last of those in the bus will finally serve their purpose.”

“You see, my brother, you have a mind for what needs to be done.” There was something in Aaheru’s voice that said there was more coming. After a pause to take a drink of water, he looked back at the convoy. A few men had been put on guard and were tending to the few roaming dead that had been drawn to the line of vehicles.

“We have many perils in store, Ahi. For us to reach a place and call it our home, there will be sa
c
rifices. It is an ugly reality that we must not turn away from, but rather, we must embrace it. If we hesitate, it could mean that our lives become forfeit. I need to know that you will do what must be done in order to assure our survival. I have chosen you above all others to be my most trusted
z
a
deeki
.
”

“I am honored, Aaheru.”

“I do not wish for you to be honored, I wish for you to be trusted and able,” Aaheru whispered with a grim expression clouding his face. “We have many things ahead that will be very …unpleasant. It is dark days before us, and I need to know that you will be the man I can count on as my eyes and ears…as a s
e
cond mind to help with the tasks at hand.”

“I shall strive to serve you with honor, my brother.”

“I mean to bring back the Egypt of old…the people who were great…and feared.”

Ahi considered what he was hearing. If there was any man who could do this, it would be Aaheru. While there may be certain aspects that would be unsavory, it was a far better alternative than to sim
p
ly be one of the masses. What Aaheru proposed had promise if it were done correctly and he, Ahi, would be in a position to help mold the rebirth of an Egyptian people that were the products of the best that the ancient culture
and
the Western had to offer.

“I will serve with with my very life if you require it, Aaheru. And so, let me be the one to name you Pharaoh Aaheru, first of his name and first in his line. May you reign forever and sire a tho
u
sand sons who carry your name and your strength forward,” Ahi pledged, dro
p
ping to his knees.
If I do this right
, he thought,
then it is
I
who will shape the future of Egypt.

Aaheru gazed down at the top of the head of the man who knelt before him. He had chosen well from all the men who had found refuge in the City of the Dead. He had pegged Ahi as one who would not care to dirty his own hands, but would do what it took to survive. Right now, that was the most important trait he could find. This man would do exactly as he was asked, and as long as he was given the feeling that his own desires were being fulfilled as well, he would continue to serve faithfully.

“Rise then and take your place at my side as we return Egypt to its glory!”

Ahi stood. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a few onlookers openly staring. A couple he knew would be perfect candidates for
his
vision of a new Egypt; and a few that he would now need to watch.

“Your first order is to find me a way to the water, and a ship that we can take to sea as we begin our quest for a new home,” Aaheru said. “I will expect you to return to me before the sun sets tomo
r
row with an answer. If you can not, then I will begin to seek somebody who can.”

Aaheru watched the man’s expression closely to see how it might change at the delivery of an u
l
timatum. If he were to indeed become the pharaoh of the people, then it was important that he be obeyed. If he gave a word or decree, then it must be followed. And if it were not, then it was equally important that he administer a consequence to ensure that others would see re
a
son to submit.

“I shall do as you command,” Ahi said with a deep nod that was almost a bow. “And when I r
e
turn, give me the privilege of presenting you to the people as Pharaoh Aaheru.”



“Set up on this corner,” Juan called, pointing to a section of the ruined bridge that jutted out. “We need somebody to cover the rest of us.”

“Maybe I should go over with you,” Thad offered. “Not for nothing, but I don’t know these folks and having you and JoJo on the other side of the river with all these strangers…”

“I understand,” Juan whispered. He was watching a couple of the guys grab-assing by the ruins of the market. One was standing all by himself, not talking to anybody and the others looked bored and put out to have been asked to come. “The thing is, I need somebody I really trust to watch my back and make sure we are covered if we have to beat feet.”

Thad considered the words for a moment and conceded that it made sense. He also was struck once again by how much Juan had on the ball. He might’ve been a street thug before, and he might not have much formal education, but damned if he didn’t always seem to have his head screwed on tight.

Across the river, a large knot of deaders were packed up against the edge of the walkway that ran parallel to the water. Every few seconds another fell in and vanished under the su
r
face of the murky slough. Juan put the numbers he could see at about three hundred.

“You absolutely sure that we need to clean these guys out?” Thad asked.

“How many you figure have fallen in since we’ve been standing here jawing at each other?”

“Dozen or so.”

“They gotta come up somewhere,” Juan said. “I think it is best we deal with this now instead of waiting for them to break through our fence and end up catching somebody by surprise. Folks ain’t paying attention. It’s like they got here and think this is some sort of magical place where the deaders can’t get to them.”

“I noticed that, too,” Thad agreed. “I just thought that it was me.”

“Everybody get on the boat,” Juan called. The group began to drift, albeit very slowly, to the boat they would be taking across the narrow channel.

“Well,” Thad gave Juan a squeeze on the shoulder, “if you and JoJo stay close, you should both be fine.”

“That and having you on that scoped rifle,” Juan called over his shoulder as he started down to the boat where JoJo already had the engine going.

A few minutes later they were puttering down the river. JoJo kept them about ten yards out and parallel to the shore as they cruised along. Several zombies had taken to following them, and Juan was hoping that they would continue to get strung out. It would sure make killing them a lot easier. They reached a se
c
tion with a rocky beach that would give them plenty of space to fan out and take these things down.

“Bring us in right there, JoJo,” Juan said.

The boat arced as JoJo shut off the motor and let them drift in until it skidded along the sandy bottom and came to a halt. Everybody began to disembark and spread out across the beach as the lea
d
ing edge of the zombies arrived.

Juan wasted no time, striding in and taking down the closest deader. His machete was heavily weighted and crashed through skull after skull. Each zombie that fell was one less threat to Macke
n
zie…to his new life. It was the scream that sounded just behind him that broke the trance-like state that he had slipped into during this killing fre
n
zy.

When Juan turned, it was just in time to see JoJo go down to his knees under two children. One was on his back and had its face buried in the side of his neck. Blood gushed from the wound as the child, a little girl, pulled her head back. Juan was transfixed by the way a strand of skin stretched b
e
fore snapping. His mind tried to compartmentalize things in a way to minimize the shock. Yes, he’d seen people die at the hands of a deader, but until this moment, he hadn’t been that close.

Back in the jail, he was able to look anywhere else while the sex offender trials took place. That first night, when the “racial purge” took place, Juan had slipped away and avoided most of that eve
n
ing’s events. This time, it was happening right in front of him to somebody he knew personally.

JoJo’s mouth opened as he tried to say something, but all that came out was a gargling noise and blood. Lots of blood. The second child-zombie, another little girl, had him by the arm and was trying without success to chew through the leather sleeve of the jacket.

Juan stepped forward, but as he did, the sound of a gunshot made him wince. The child gripping the arm toppled backwards, a neat, dark hole where the left eye used to be. Turning, Juan could barely make out the dark figure of Thad on the bridge. He saw a flash and then heard another shot. Spinning around, he saw the child on JoJo’s back tumble.

Hurrying to the man’s side, he knelt. JoJo stared up at him, his eyes showing all the pain that his mouth could not. There was so much blood. Juan had never realized that there could be so much. J
o
Jo’s hands were at his throat, but the blood poured through the fingers. It took a few seconds, but Juan realized that it was coming in rhythmic bursts. And it was slowing.

JoJo shuddered once and was still. Two more shots came in rapid succession, snapping him back to reality. Looking over his shoulder, another deader was face down about five feet away. It had been coming for him! Juan climbed to his feet and surveyed the scene. They had thinned the numbers dr
a
matically.

“Finish them quick and head for the boat,” Juan called. “Make sure—”

The sound of a baby cry cut him off.

Juan looked down to see JoJo sitting up. His eyes were glazed in what looked like snot and the black tracers almost seemed to slither across the surface. Juan stepped forward and raised his arm.