Greg stepped up next to him
and
his eyes opened wide. "
That
sword looks very much like mine
,
which has been in my family for almost a hundred years. I must
hold it in my hands again.
"
A few feet behind them, while staring at the poster, Drew said, "I remember
that
. It's an ancient weapons exhibit at the museum. I think it’s only a few blocks away from here."
Benwa asked, "What is this
museum
?"
Drew shrugged his shoulders. "It's where we keep all of our old stuff."
Greg replied, "Then we shall attack this museum and take these weapons. We will have the element of surprise on our side. They will not be able to gather their forces before we can overtake them."
Scratching the side of his head, Drew said, "Yeah, the museum is not exactly known for going into battle with anyone. I doubt they have any forces," his face lit up and he threw his fist in the air," so what the hell, let's storm the place!"
As Drew, the Viking
,
and the Samurai cheered with others, several of the living walking down the sidewalk realized the crowd with the mustaches was in fact zombies and they ran off screaming. This created a chain reaction and more panic from the surrounding humans on the street. Prometheus pointed to Benwa and said, "You take a group to the place where they store the old weapons and I will lead the rest to the merchant who has a video camera." He turned to Jennifer, who also wore a large mustache, and asked, "Where is the location of this market?"
She pointed to the next block and said, "Its right up here. Let's hurry."
The zombies scurried as quickly as their dead bodies would allow. They limped and staggered down the street
,
as the humans continued to run away in fear. Prometheus turned to one of his fellow mustache
-
clad zombies and said, "Perhaps these disguises are not as effective as the good Candice had expected."
With all the panic, humans ran into the streets
,
causing cars to veer away and crash into light poles, benches and other cars. Car alarms went off and blended in with the screams, and windows breaking.
Several blocks away in
the distance, he heard an alarm bell sound followed by the faint sound of sirens. He announced, "Benwa and Greg must be in a grand and heroic battle with the army of the museum."
Inside the electronics store, Prometheus scanned all the odd-looking equipment
,
while the customers panicked and ran out the front door. Several displayed video cameras projected the zombies on the television screens. In all the chaos, he turned to Jennifer and asked, "Where is this tool which will deliver our message and help our cause?"
Jennifer pointed to a small pocket size video camera on a display directly in front of them. "Right there." She grabbed the white rectangular camera and the package of batteries next to it."
As she picked up the device, a screaming woman ran into her. The human appeared frozen in fear
,
standing
inches from the dead history teacher
and
shrieking in her face. Jennifer pulled her mustache off, placed it under the human's nose and shouted back, "Boo!"
After
the frightened woman
ran
away, she turned to Prometheus and said, "We should get out of here before-" She was cutoff as the security guard grabbed her arm and yelled in his strange language. Without hesitation, she pulled his hand toward her and bit into his forearm. The man jerked his arm back and ran off holding his bleeding wound.
With blood pouring from her mouth, Jennifer turned to Prometheus and said, "I don't know what came over me. I just bit him without thinking about it. But, it felt so good
.
I feel great, full of energy and strength."
As he pulled her towards the door, he replied, "I too have felt the controlling effects of eating the flesh. It can take over your actions just as a bottle of wine. We must get out of here before it consumes you and the rest of us."
Out in the street, humans ran out of stores
in an attempt to
flee the undead. Prometheus and his group tried to escape the panic
,
but traveled down the center of the street. The cars swerved to avoid the zombies. Some ran into the living dead and some crashed into each other creating a blockade. As they maneuvered their way through the wreckage, several smoke canisters fell down on the asphalt, adding a white fog to the chaos. Police officers dressed in riot gear, appeared at both ends of the block. The group of zombies gathered in a circle in the center of the street as the police slowly moved closer. Pulling his mustache off, Prometheus said, "It looks as though our fancy masks are no longer working."
Jennifer tried to climb over two of the wrecked cars in the street to join her clan. As she slid across a hood, four officers grabbed her and pulled her back from the group. "Prometheus!" she screamed
,
as they threw her to the ground. Three of the zombies ran to her rescue
,
but met resistance. Several officers fired their tasers and sent the undead into convulsions. Through the smoke, which now covered the entire block, two
more officers that were human,
appeared with fireman’s axes. While the zombies continued to lurch on the ground, the axes came down and decapitated them.
Prometheus glanced over at Jennifer and saw her wrapped in large leather straps and a face muzzle strapped to her head as she struggled and fought to get free. Two officers dragged her away
,
as another attended the bleeding bite wound on his colleague's shoulder.
Surrounded with a line of shield and ax wielding humans closing the gap, the zombies moved closer together. As the several humans pulled out their bright yellow tasers and pointed them at the undead, Benwa charged through the smoke with a battle-ax in one hand and a sword in the other. He quickly thrust his sword into an officer
and buried
his ax into the chest of another. Greg shot through the crowd
,
swinging a samurai sword
,
giving lethal blows to every
officer,
he could see. A human drew his handgun and shot Benwa in the chest. The Viking pulled a similar gun from his waistband, pointed it at the officer and shot him in the chest. As the man fell to the ground, Gunnar looked at the weapon with a puzzled
look
of awe.
As the remaining police ran off and disappeared in the smoke, Prometheus walked over to the last place where he saw Jennifer. On the ground next to the tire of the wrecked car, he found the blood covered camera and batteries. He picked up the electronics and turned back to the center of the block where his fellow zombies feasted on the dead officers. They pulled organs out of bodies
,
shoving them into their mouths
,
covering their faces with blood. Tussles broke out over severed
limbs,
as several zombies would bite into each body part like piranhas stripping a carcass. The urge to consume flesh grew too strong and Prometheus quickly joined in the feast.
Candles and oil lamps lit the warehouse with a gold flicker. A raven landed on a steel I-beam above the crowd. Below the bird, surrounded by the horde, which now numbered in the hundreds, Titus announced, “It is clear, the living have sectioned off the portions of this city where we gather. I say they have already made a gift of this land to form our own territory. We may be a
sovereign
nation in their eyes. Why else would they attack us when we venture into their land?”
Prometheus responded, “No we must continue our mission and give these gifts to the living. The gods have chosen us among all who have inhabited the earth. Great is this honor for us
even
to carry these endowments. The descendants only attack us out of fear.”
John, still wearing the blue dress
that
he found in the alley, interjected, “Before we continue this debate and decide our next direction, I want to thank Gunnar Benwa for showing up like the
Calvary
and saving our butts.”
“Yes
,
a cheer must go out to our brave warriors and their grand victory.” Titus replied.
The crowd called out in unison
and threw
their hands in the air, “Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah.”
Turning back to their debate, Titus said to Prometheus, “How many times have they attacked us unprovoked? With each
assault,
they kill more and more of our kind. I am no longer in favor of helping my descendants. If they are this aggressive and so quick to go to war, I will no longer claim them as family. I say we find land where we can exist without threat of attack and finish out our second lives.”
Many in the crowd voiced their opinions
.
Some
were
in agreement with Titus and some sid
ed
with Prometheus. As the debate grew, more ravens gathered in the rafters like an audience watching a play. Titus said, “I say instead of fighting, we simply divide into two villages. This will allow each side of the argument to exist as they
wish
.” He scanned the crowd and raised his hand. “Who stands with me and wants to form the village that resists the humans?”
One third of the zombies raised their hands. Prometheus responded, "There it is. If this is your belief, you shall go and find another sanctuary to live. Heed this
warning;
you will take with you the gifts intended for the living. I do alert you to be aware of the anger of the
gods
. Their wrath may not have any compassion."
Titus gathered those who wanted to join him and asked Gunner, "Viking, who do you and your warriors support?"
Benwa calmly replied, "We have vowed to protect all of our kind. Our duty will be to protect all of you
,
no matter where you live
,
or what you believe. I still consider all of us undead to be of the same clan."
"You are a man of honor
,
my friend." Prometheus said.
Titus placed his hand on Benwa's shoulder. "For a Viking, you would make a good Roman."
Gunnar walked over to Greg who studied the samurai sword he stole from the museum. "The watermarks tell me of the family who owned this sword. It is a person I knew and helped build a shelter for their horses. He must be repaying me now by giving me his sword."
"It is a fine sword." Gunnar said. "When our people live in two villages, we must divide in order to protect both clans. You are as fine a warrior as I have ever seen. Will you take some men and defend Titus and his new village?"
Greg fed the sword through his belt, gave a half bow and stared at the Viking's feet. "I consider it an honor to be given such a responsibility."