The Village of Dead Souls: A Zombie Novel (38 page)

"What do you mean?" The scientist asked.

"Over there by the front gate to the compound where the fence lights can't reach." The young officer pointed to the razor wire fence next to the edge of the forest. "Those who have given up on this world come here at night to commit suicide so we will burn their bodies and keep them from turning re-an. During the
day,
we get some travelers who will drop off a few bodies. We try to torch them as quickly as we can, but in the morning when we go out to scoop up the drop-offs, some of them get up and stagger away."

Scanning the area to make sure no one was within hearing distance, he changed the subject. "I didn't want to get people's hopes up
,
especially when I don't even know what this means
,
if it means anything at all. Maybe you can do something with it."

Daniel glanced at
Pink,
trying to hide her face while standing over by one of the military horses. He turned back to the officer. "What up?"

"There's this strange report out of Florida in one of the areas
that
received the anti-virus a few weeks ago. Seventy some people were trapped in a building surrounded by re-ans. The damn meat bags tied the civilians down
,
while this dead park ranger went down the line biting each one in the arm. For some
reason,
he didn't eat them, he just bit them. Luckily, they all had been vaccinated. The zombie went into convulsions and expired within seconds after gnawing the last civilian. It must have scared the other meat bags
,
because they took off without feeding on their captured prey. The medicine did its job
,
because nobody died from the bite."

The doctor nodded his head. "Yes, it sounds like the serum worked well. We tested it thoroughly on captured test subjects. Our observations were
that
when the other re-ans saw one of their own die such a violent death, it terrified them."

"The effectiveness of your potion is not why I'm telling you this story. Here's the strange part." The general let out a deep breath
,
as if he didn't believe what he was about to say. "Remember, this is
Florida
. There's still a good population of older and elderly folks living there. The majority of these people who had been captured suffered from gout or some type of arthritis. They all reported to the soldiers who pulled them out of the building that the pain in their joints had disappeared. The swelling in their fingers, knuckles and knees had simply evaporated. They felt like they could go run a marathon." He shrugged his shoulders. "I thought you'd want to hear about one of the side effects of your drug."

Daniel pondered the information as he stared at the ground. "If it cured arthritis, we would have heard about it from people all over the world. There had to be something different about these people in Florida
.
Maybe
it was
their diet,
or
something they've been exposed to in the environment. It's possible there could have been a contamination in that particular batch of serum
,
which resulted in positive effects. It happens all the time in my line of work." He turned his attention back to the young officer. "Did the report mention anything else, anything unusual?"

"No, nothing out of the ordinary. The people who were captured did say this dead park ranger had full blue eyes
,
rather than the usual milky gray
,
but that was it."

Daniel noticed
Pink,
trying to wave him over without calling attention to herself. "Thanks, I'll keep it mind. When this is all over and we get our world back, I'll be in a better position to study the subsidiary effects of the drug. Who
knows
when this is all over and they start giving ou
t
Nobel awards again, maybe I'll get two."

* * *

With a sawed-off shotgun strapped to her back, heavy leather boots, and a
full-length
black duster, Hellion walked through the dark underground tunnel with two undead soldiers with holes pierced through their bodies caused by the pit traps she set up through the city. Water dripping from the old bricks echoed through the corridor lit only by the occasional candle. Along with her guardsmen, a short
woman,
wearing civilian issued olive green clothing, tagged along. As the group approached Bartholomew and the others gathered around a table, Prometheus stepped forward and said, "Our sister from Clan Titus has come to pay us a visit."

Hellion brought her attention to their leader. "Hey Captain, I have a new fish for your group. She's a believer just like you and quite scrappy. She'll make a good addition to your merry little bunch of do-gooders."

Prometheus opened his mouth to ask a
question, but
Hellion cut him off. "Save the ancient speak, Socrates." She placed her hand on the new arrival's shoulder. "Tell them your story
,
sister."

The new woman stepped out of the shadows into the flickering candle light. Her dirty clothes and matted shoulder length sandy hair showed what living condition must be like for the humans. She had welder's goggles draped around her neck and wore scuffed motorcycle boots. The dried blood under
her
nose and ears indicated the former tenant of this body died from the Omega Virus. She said to the group as she scanned the tunnel, "So this is the legendary re-an lair. There were rumors
,
but not many believed it existed. I always pictured it a bit more sinister than this, with zombies feeding on body parts and humans trapped in cocoons for later consumption." She scanned the group in front of her and said, "My name's Cathy" She stuck her hand out to Bartholomew who appeared confused by the gesture.

General Brown explained, "She wants to shake your hand. It's common in this era for women to greet men in this fashion. They stopped doing the
curtsy
a hundred years ago."

Bartholomew slowly reached out and shook her hand. Cathy continued, "I've been told to explain my bio
,
because apparently
,
we are all from different centuries. I happen to have died only a few days ago
,
when Hellion and her mob raided my camp. I don't know why I had to come back in this lady's body when mine was so much nicer," she glanced at her clothes and ran her hand down her shirt, "but here I am, a full blown re-an. I guess it's time for me to learn all the secret passwords and why we seem to be obsessed with coffee. I'm not looking forward to eating people
,
but I guess that's what we do."

The pirate captain stared past the newcomer and asked Hellion, "Other than she be believing in our cause, why you think you be thinking
,
she would make a good addition to me crew? I be getting fresh swabs every day."

Hellion motioned her head toward the new arrival. "Tell them what you were in the middle of doing when we raided your tent."

Cathy smirked a bit. "I was in the middle of a session with a client."

"These guys didn't understand when you wanted to shake their hand. You're going to have to be more specific with them." Hellion explained.

"I was in the middle of a torture session with a client." She noticed the blank expressions on the faces of those around her and added to her explanation. "There's still a need for my services
,
even in this world. People still have needs even after the collapse of society. I actually moved up higher on the social ladder and not just because I was rich," she hesitated and glanced at her surroundings, "at least by today's standards."

Hellion saw the bewildered expressions on the faces of the ancients and jumped in with more
explanation
, "She's a dominatrix."

A big smile spread across General Brown's face as he stepped closer to Cathy. "Hi, I'm Chris. We should go drink some coffee and talk about… whatever."

Bartholomew glanced at Cathy then to Hellion with a quizzical look. "I still not be understanding your line of work."

Brown continued his lines to Cathy, "Or if you feel I'm not talking enough, you can try to make me talk in whatever fashion you think is necessary. In my past life, I had all kinds of classified
i
ntel
. Maybe you could get me to give up some of those secrets."

Trying to ignore the General, Hellion explained to the ancient pirate, "Men would pay her to torture them."

Cathy added, "I was right at the pinnacle of the session, when my client," she paused to choose her words, "asked me… to beat him harder."

Still confused, the pirate asked, "So, what I used to do to me captives as punishment, men be paying you to do for fun?" He threw his hands in the air. "This world be getting stranger every day."

Brown chimed in again, "If you have to beat me harder for
i
ntel
, I don't care.
Really,
let's go get some coffee. Wait till you see what it does for you."

"That's the basics of what I do." Cathy put her hands on her hips. "And, I would like to say, I was well compensated. I never had to worry about food, electricity credits, clothes and I had enough coffee to have a cup every morning."

"Coffee!" Brown fell to his knees. "This is already torture. Please tell me you have some coffee with you."

Wearing leather chaps, an old bomber jacket, tall boots,
and a
suede top hat with brass gears attached to the band and welding goggles draped around her neck, Salsa moved into the flickering light from the shadows of the tunnel. Two dead soldiers acting as
bodyguards
stayed next to her as she moved through the group. She
scanned
Cathy while walking around
the
new arrival, keeping her hand on top of the pommel of her sword strapped to her hip. "You know," she spoke to Bartholomew, "little miss Beat Me Harder
here,
can be of some use to
us,
seeing as
how she can make the humans
talk,
and I can understand what they're saying. We could be a nice pair."

Prometheus walked with Patricia through the ruins and rubble of the city as though they strolled in the park on a Sunday afternoon. The
always-present
smoke and haze covered the sky turning the sun into a reddish orange glowing ball. Scatted re-ans staggered and
wandered
in and out of the shadows cast by the large piles of concrete, dirt and twisted metal. Small wisps of smoke swirled up from various impact craters created from the previous night's battle with the humans. Ravens peppered the landscape as they searched for scraps of human remains usually found on these battlefields. Prometheus continued with their conversation. "So in your time period it was common to sail between all the lands?"