The Village of Dead Souls: A Zombie Novel (21 page)

Still scanning his clothes, Prometheus ran his hand across the top of his head and felt the short buzz cut. "Your words offer confusion
,
my friend. What do you mean, I am a lucky one?"

A truck smashed into the building across the street. Several zombies stormed the vehicle as flames emanated from the engine compartment. Undead pulled the driver out and began to feast on his still living body, while he screamed in agony. They used large knives and swords to cut open his abdomen, pull out his organs and
then
pass them around to the other
un
dead. The man remained alive long enough to see his organs cut and pulled from his body.

The biker replied, "Yar have a new body. Tis a rare commodity these days. The descendants have been burning thar dead
,
leaving only the older decayed bodies
fer
us ta inhabit. Ya have da makins of a fine crewmember."

The Athenian looked at the man and asked, "What is your name
,
friend
,
and from where do you hail?"

The biker appeared a bit puzzled. "I be the one who should ask ye those questions. I be Captain Galen Bartholomew and I hail from da sea. I once called
England
my home until Queen Anne revoked me charter as a privateer. On that day, I proudly took da moniker of pirate."

"My name is Prometheus and I hail from-"

While passing behind Captain Bartholomew, Princess Rachel heard the name and cut him off with excitement. The Harajuku girl with the pink and blue hair had traded the Panda backpack for an oversized military universal camouflage jacket with a large battle sword strapped across her back. She ran
over, wrapped her arms around the Athenian,
and said, "The good Prometheus, I have missed you so much." She released her hug and turned to the Captain. "This is the Prometheus you have heard us
talking
about." Turning back to her friend, she said, "I have been hoping you would return. A few of the originals have left and come back in new bodies, but I really hoped I would one day get to talk to you again." The Princess moved close and studied his eyes. "It appears you will not have to collect the strings of life from the beginning
, because
your eyes are still bright green. You attained a rare position in our society. Very few have been granted the green eyes and to this
day,
none
has
remained in our presence long enough to reach the blue. I have been here all this time, feasted many times to gather the strings of life and yet I do not have the status of the bright colored eyes
that
you hold."

Another military helicopter flew above the skyscrapers
and rained
explosive bullets down on a group of zombies across the street. From behind the wreckage of two burnt out cars, a rocket powered grenade streaked into the sky
,
impacting with a fireball. The explosion brought the helicopter tumbling out of the sky
,
bouncing off the buildings
,
and smashing on the ground. The Captain and Princess Rachel didn't flinch
,
as the concussion hit them
,
indicating they had grown immune to such battle damage. More re-ans pulled the crew out of the chopper and feasted on their warm bodies.

Bartholomew paid no attention to the downed aircraft and said, "The legendary Prometheus, the one who built the
Village
of
Dead Souls
."

The Greek man gave a puzzled expression and asked, "The Village of Dead Souls?"

Princess Rachel replied, "As our numbers grew, we used the government model you
drafted
for us back in the early days. It helped us create structure
when
we outgrew the warehouse and moved into the city. The livings have not occupied the city center for a very long time and they
gave
in to allowing us to reside here." She motioned her hand toward the top of what remained of the skyscrapers. Re-ans occupy all these tall buildings. We named our new town, The Village of Dead Souls."

Still confused at what he heard, Prometheus responded, "You said the early days? How long have I been away? It feels like I was in the warehouse battle only moments ago. I can still hear the clashing of the swords and see the faces of the humans who killed me. Your face is the last
that
I saw before I opened my eyes to this leather clad pirate."

She hesitated and answered, "It has been six years since we have spoken together. So many events have occurred since those days in the warehouse. The livings no longer consider us
an
uprising. They now refer to us as a War of the Dead or the War against the Dead."

As more explosions resonated through the streets, the pirate Captain said, "We should move back to the stronghold or risk losing our friend again."

He placed his hand on the Greek man's back, and led him down the street away from the fighting. Princess Rachel walked next to him and summarized what
had
happened since Prometheus died in the warehouse. "The morning after the battle where you died, we noticed the brave Gunnar Benwa
was
also missing from our ranks. We sadly determined
that
he had been captured by the livings during their raid
, since
we did not find his body." She stepped over some building rubble on the sidewalk. "In the coming years, the descendants began to die in large numbers, but not from our blades. They blamed
those
deaths
on a
demon
they called the Omega Plague. It is a sickness brought on by a cough and nose bleeds. When a descendant catches the
Omega,
they only have a few days of life before their soul leaves their body. As their numbers decreased, ours multiplied rapidly."

The Princess pointed to the pirate. "The good Captain joined our clan and attained the position of our new leader
because
you and Gunnar
were
no longer here. With his experience of leading a crew into sea battles, he has proven to be a valiant chief of the clan."

Captain Bartholomew explained, "Da living thought da uprising would go away
,
but it turned into an actual war. As human numbers dwindled, they started burning dar bodies ta keep dem from turning into more necros. Many of our souls are inside the bodies of those who had been buried beneath da ground for a long time. Thar bodies be not as seaworthy as da moderns. We use dem more for canon fodder ta support da strong soldiers."

They turned a corner and Prometheus saw several living dead
staggering
through the street
s
. As the Captain described, they inhabited gray decayed bodies. Torn
and
partially disintegrated clothing covered
their
torsos with exposed ribs, bones, muscle fiber and dried, shriveled internal organ showing through openings of ripped flesh. The scene stunned him
,
but he kept his
composure
and said, "I know I am one of the living dead
,
but this sight still gives me a bit of a fright."

The Captain replied, "Yar be getting used to it."

The Princess reached inside her jacket and pulled out the small white video camera. "I have protected this device all these years
,
just as you asked. As it was originally entrusted to you, I will place it back in your care."

Prometheus took the camera from her hand and placed it in his shirt pocket, as the three zombies entered a large building past some burnt out cars placed in the front, as a protective barrier. "Gratitude to my sister
,
the Princess. I hope we soon learn how this will help in our cause."

Inside the building, he saw the large open interior lit up by oil lanterns and small fires contained inside metal barrels.
Torn papers, old magazines, and scattered books all written in the strange scribble of the living covered the
marble floor. Several of the modern and decayed bodied undead
wandered
through the various
hallways
on the multiple platforms. Many carried automatic rifles, shotguns, swords and pistols strapped to their hips.

Princess Rachel explained, "This used to be the library of our descendents. It is a sad truth
,
we cannot read any of these books
, because
the stories would truly help pass the time."

Prometheus asked, "What news is there about Titus and the clan he established outside of this city?"

Princess Rachel responded, "The good Titus still has his village of those who do not want to accept their charge from the gods. It is with some sadness
that
I must tell you the number of his followers has grown."

The Captain interjected, "Titus and his clan keep dar guard
ready fer war
at all times. However, da living give his camp a large berth. They not be incurring the battles
,
we face almost daily. Da humans have learned dar bullets have no effect on us, but they be still vulnerable to da hot lead.
But
,
they’ve
learned
,
we do not fair well with de explosions."

* * *

Surrounded by stacks of sandbags forming a bunker in the parking lot of the city football stadium, General Brown yelled into his radio handset, "No, you can't wait for a napalm strike! We don't have any napalm! We haven't used napalm for fifty years. If we did have napalm, we don't have any planes to deliver the crap. This isn't a movie and the
Calvary
isn't coming over the hill to save your ass. Stop
complaining
and move your men up two
blocks,
so you can cover
Colton
's south flank!"

He threw the handset on the table with the radio. The small video screen mounted to the lid of a storage crate lit up with the face of another officer who saw the temper tantrum and asked, "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

Without turning toward the video call, Brown replied, "Tell me you have good news about sending me more troops."

The officer on the screen, appeared to be located in another bunker, surrounded by tan colored sandbags. "The Provisional Congress is still trying to find an interim President. They don't seem to be concerned about rebuilding the military at this time."

"Whatever happened to the succession of power? Someone has to be next in line to become President."

"We're down to the Secretary of Housing and he quit his position two weeks ago. Everybody in line after him is dead."