The Village of Dead Souls: A Zombie Novel (15 page)

As he held her in place, waiting for the first set of gates to open, all the power failed and the base went dark. The electronic locks released with a loud click and both sets of gates eased open. With the zombies pushing through the first set of
gates
, Brown pushed Hellion into the van with the MP's. "You have no idea what you have done." He turned to the soldier near the guard booth. "Get on the horn
and
find out why our generators are not kicking in."

Before the young soldier could reach the inside of the guard shack, the horde pushed through the outer gate and several swarmed around bringing him to the ground. Brown dove into the van, slammed the door shut
,
and told the MP's, "Get us the hell outta here."

Zombies poured out of the gate into the base and
encircled
the vehicle. The MP tried to start the
vehicle,
but it wouldn't turn over. After several tries, the engine fired up. With the undead rocking the van, the driver asked, "What do we do, sir?"

"Just run over the bastards."

With the crunch and splat of bodies being crushed under the tires, the van pulled away from the gates.

Speeding down the road, the General saw the living dead storming out of the various building
where
they had been contained. Soldiers tried to stop them with
gunfire
, but their bullets had no effect. The zombies overtook the men, massing over their bodies and feasting on their flesh like wild dogs. "Get
Fort
Logan
on the radio. Tell them we need back up."

The MP in the passenger seat, held up the microphone to the radio and clicked it several times. "The radio is dead, sir."

The van smashed through the closed entrance gate and out onto the road. Through the back window, he saw a large explosion from the center of the base. The orange fireball climbed into the dark
sky,
as the pressure wave hit the back of the
van,
causing it to fishtail
briefly
.

With a snarl, the General turned to Hellion. "I know you cut the power, but how did you knock out the radios?"

Sitting on the floor of the van
,
leaning against the back door, she answered, "You are so caught up in all your big guns and powerful weapons and super technology, it never occurred to you this was also your weakest link. You have everything so automated and networked together, even your backup systems and satellites have to send data down the same sets of fiber. All this superior strength needs sophisticated electronics to make it work. It was so simple. Get past your multi
-
layers of firewall and place one massive virus into your machine, a localized magnetic pulse and
then
look what happens, "she motioned to the back window
.
"
The
world's military is reduced to throwing sticks and rocks. And, it's not just you," she checked her watch
.
"
Right
now
,
this same scene is happening at military bases in every country that illegally held these Second Lifers."

"You have no idea what you have done." The General drooped over and lowered his head while he stared at the floor of the van.

With a slight smirk, Hellion replied, "I've brought peace to the world."

Brown snapped upright, quickly grabbed the sidearm from the MP driving the van, spun around and pointed it
at
the center of her face. With a definite deep angry tone, he said, "You've brought destruction to the world."

The van swerved and flipped onto its side, which sent the occupants tumbling through the air and caroming off the interior. When the vehicle slid to a stop, confusion bounced around Brown's head. Dust and smoke settled to the ground outside the open rear doors.
What just happened? Where's my weapon? Where's Hellion?
Realizing he was upside-down, he pulled himself up in time to see Hellion scramble out the back of the vehicle. He picked up
the
handgun next to him and chased after her.

On the street
,
zombies staggered along the road, sidewalks and yards. As he pointed his handgun at his prisoner, two of the undead attacked him from the side. He swung his huge arm and swept them away as though they were little dogs jumping on the couch. Refocusing down the road, he took aim again
,
but his prisoner had vanished into the darkness. Lowering his weapon, another living dead charged directly at him. Without much thought, Brown threw a right cross which landed square in the center of his attacker's face
,
knocking him flat on the ground. Gunshots erupted from the front of the van where the two MP's crawled out of the vehicle and fired at the zombies closing in on them. Within seconds, the living dead surrounded them and feasted on their bodies.

Brown pulled the attackers off his men only to find he was too late.

The early morning sun sparkled with light gold shimmers off the water as a raven landed on the branch of a nearby tree.
Barely audible above the water rushing over the rocks, sounds
of distant city traffic lingered. A gentle breeze ruffled through the tips of the tall grass
,
where Prometheus stood on the bank of the river, watching it flow past. His thoughts bounced between,
Am I being punished or rewarded having my soul placed in a foreign body in this strange time, or is it a blessed gift to see the future and help our descendants?

Gunnar Benwa approached the Athenian and said, "Greetings
,
brother."

Prometheus turned to him and replied, "Greetings
,
brother. It is nice to see the sun rise on such a peaceful morning after the wicked events of last night."

With a slight look of surprise in his eyes, the Viking responded, "Your eyes."

"What about them?"

"They have turned
green,
not
a green which
is
normal
, but a bright green like a jewel with light shining through it. It appears the debauchery of last night has brought you close to the end of your journey."

"I do feel stronger and more energetic, more so than when I was alive." Prometheus held his hands out and examined them. He saw more color in his flesh and no signs of deterioration. "Hopefully, when I reach the point where I am able to relinquish this gift to our descendents, I will also acquire the knowledge of how to pass it to them."

Gunnar sat down on a rock, with a slight bit of depression apparent in his body posture, as he watched the water flow. "I hope my gift arrives soon
,
so I
might
go to
Valhalla
to be with my father and leave this mad world. Although
,
I did not give much thought as to how the future of our world would look, I could have never imagined it to be like this." He motioned his hand to the distant abandoned apartment buildings with graffiti and broken windows. "Why would so many people want to live together stacked on top of each other,
and
in buildings with no character, function, or art of design? It is only one of many things, which do not make sense in this future world of our descendents. During conversations with the moderns, I have learned people of this time no longer have the knowledge or skill to build a boat or forge their own iron. These large chariots with no horses fill the air with such a foul smelling smoke."

“Still,” Prometheus smiled, “the smell of their chariots is not as displeasing as streets filled with horse manure. They may have lost the ability to craft a fine boat, but I would so desire to take passage inside one of their iron birds which sail the sky.”

Vic and Constance approached the two men as three more ravens landed on the ground behind them. The man from
Chicago
pointed to the British woman. “Hey
,
Socrates, the Queen here said you have the green eyes.” Prometheus turned to him. “Damn! Those are some awesome peepers you have.”

Constance
spoke up. “You appear to be the first of our group to reach this point. As a great explorer once said, ‘You have ventured off the map.’ I say we focus our efforts toward you attaining the remaining strings of life required to turn your eyes blue. Perhaps
,
we will all learn what is needed of us to pass along our gifts and leave this place.” She pointed to the dilapidated building across the field. “Living inside the body of a dead person in this
grotesque
world is a hell that not even Dante’ could have imagined.” She cast her eyes down. “Excuse my language please.”

Gunnar said, “The
sensible
lady with the fine manners makes a good argument. The next time we come across a living, we should save the feasting for our brother
,
so he may finally take his journey to
Valhalla
.”

“
W
hen he does reach the point where his eyes turn blue,” Constance took a step closer, “
how
do we let the living know
that
he holds this cure for the plague they call the cancer?”

Vic answered, “Maybe
,
if we ask Miss Wall Street some more questions about the prophecy
,
we can find some kind of coded message that will give us the answer. At least that’s how it always happens in the movies.”

As the four
undead
walked back to the
deserted
warehouse,
Constance
asked, “
So,
Mr. Vic, how did you spend your days during the time you were alive?”

“During the week, I worked in a
Dispatch
Center
for the Metro Line. On weekends, I would hang with my guys playing the ponies, downing some brews,
and
making
a
play on some skirts. I’d usually stumble home between one and three, get up the next morning
,
and
then
I'd do it all over again.”

With a wrinkled nose, Candice replied, “I do not understand anything you just said, but it sounds much worse than our good friend the Viking who spent his days pillaging.” She turned her focus toward Prometheus. “And what about you my friend from
Greece
? What did you do during your days on this planet?”

The Athenian pondered thoughts of his home. “My family owned an olive orchard
,
which brought us great wealth for many generations before me. As my brothers and father conducted the majority of the work, I sought to use my time in other matters. During my many afternoons engaged in debate at the forum, I formed business arrangements with many investors to build a temple honoring Zeus.”