The angry scientist stood
, watching
her shake and suffer from the effects of coming back to
life
in a rotted body. As she finally quieted her screams and went limp inside her constraints, it seemed to send a message of fear into the other two re-ans as their moans and hissing intensified. They fought against their chains as their cages shook and rattled. Daniel turned back toward Lisa and said, "You're right about a new world. The only people left will be the survivors, and the strong. I promise you, the strong will show no mercy to these creatures."
An orange glow from the fires scattered around the city reflected off the low clouds in the night sky. Occasional
gunfire
and distant explosions filled the background as the ongoing battle with the humans continued. General Brown sat on the cracked and broken concrete sidewalk, with his back against the only wall still standing in the remains of the old train station. He drank black coffee from a thermos with much of it dripping out of the bullet hole under his chin. Prometheus stood a few feet away and asked, "Can you really feel intoxicated from that strange brew?"
"I can't feel the
numbness,
but I'm aware of all the effects. Things get blurry, I get all
dizzy
, and
then
I stop caring about the stresses of all this mess." Brown flicked his wrist out at the street and
crumbled
buildings.
A young soldier with a
five-inch
hole through his chest walked up to him with an empty metal cup. "Hey Drips, can I get some of your Joe?"
Brown stretched his arm out and poured some coffee into the dead man's cup. As he poured, he spotted through the chest hole, his former body stagger around the corner. He stood and shoved the thermos into the soldier's hands and quickly walked toward the corner. "Hey, that's my body and I want it back."
The large living dead person, still wearing the General's uniform, stopped and gave him a quizzical stare. Brown closed the distance and shouted, "Give me back my body before I have to beat you out of it."
As he drew close, he saw the dried blood around his body's mouth and nose which brought back the sensations he had when he died.
The soul inside the large former general replied, "And how do you propose we switch bodies?"
"I don't give a damn how, it just better happen. I'll give you three seconds before open a can of whoop-ass on you."
His body stared back with the same type of tempestuous expression he often gave to those who annoyed him. "I don't think so."
Brown reached his former self and gave him a push to the chest which did nothing to move the giant zombie. "This is my body and I'm taking it back."
His former self gazed down on Brown, and said, "I was 5' 4" and spent my entire life looking up to everybody. I had to stand, on my toes to reach anything. Women
would not
even give me a second glance. Even though I'm stuck in this hell," he waved his hand around at the surrounding buildings under the orange sky, "it's nice to finally be tall. I think I'm going to find a basketball court so I can finally see what it feels like to dunk a ball."
"That's
it;
I'm going to kick your butt, which happens to be my butt."
Brown threw a punch which landed in the center of his old chest and didn't even phase the tall undead. With much ease and only one hand, the man pushed him to the ground. Drunk from the coffee, his legs shook as the former general stood and took another swing at the large zombie in front of him. Before his fist came close to landing on its target, the large body smacked him on the side of the head, and sent him staggering into the street. As he turned back toward his former self, a grenade exploded and ripped the left arm off of his old body.
Prometheus saw several living move around the corner with
flamethrowers
. They laid down a wall of flames while more grenades arched over and landed,
in the street, blowing chunks of asphalt into the air. Through the clearing smoke, a human charged Brown waving a
Calvary
sword. The old general picked up his former left arm off the ground, and with a backhand
swing,
he hit the man in the head, sending him to the pavement.
Captain Bartholomew and his troops spread throughout the block and engaged in hand to hand, fighting as the humans crawled out of the shadows to join the fight. Zombies poured out from under manhole covers and storm drains to match and eventually outnumber the living. As the wall of fire evaporated, Prometheus saw the sight of undead feasting on the soldiers, who operated the
flamethrowers
. Men
screamed,
as
the broken and decayed teeth of the dead army, ripped off
parts of their bodies.
Two more waves of humans quickly appeared out of the darkness. They swung axes and swords cutting off the heads of the zombies who feasted on their comrades. Bartholomew glanced up at the nearest building and waved his arm over his head. From the rooftop, a storm of arrows rained down. The deadly projectiles hit both the living and living dead. The undead only continued to fight with the arrows protruding from their backs looking like porcupines. More humans fell, and were feasted upon. Streams of blood trickled through the streets meandering around various pieces of bodies and building rubble.
Prometheus saw a young human charge at him with a sword. He backed up against the wall and had no other route of escape. As the man closed in with his blade, Patricia appeared in his view, and she decapitated the human with one clean swipe of her sword. As other humans charged, she easily fended them off. While slashing at two and three at a time, she quickly turned her head back to Prometheus and said, "Hey green eyes, you need to get to safety."
The Greek man hurried along the wall and through the fragments of a doorway. Inside the ruins of the former train station, he saw a tunnel which led to the underground. Thinking this would offer him the best security, he walked into the dark concourse. Muffled sounds of explosions and clashing metal from battle on the street above vibrated through the walls. Dripping water and the creaking sounds of stress on the passageway, echoed in the darkness, as he cautiously made his way to the end of the burrow which eventually opened into a large room. The ceiling above had gaping battle holes and light flickered in from the fires, and fighting along with smoke and dust snaking down through the cracks.
In the center of the room, the remains of a large model train scene sat underneath the debris. Prometheus walked
over, touched one of the small train cars,
and gazed at the miniature scene of mountains and lakes rolling down to what looked like a happy town. Staring at the joyful place with tiny plastic people, he realized the descendants did at one time have a peaceful world. He touched the model Ferris wheel and watched it turn. As it rotated, it turned a music box and released a happy tune.
A shadow streaked across the model and he glanced up to see three livings walk toward him with axes and swords. They carried the weapons low
,
letting them drag on the ground. They appeared to be regular civilians rather that military. It had been a very long time since had seen a human not
dressed in
a soldier's uniform. He turned to escape back up the tunnel only to find four more humans blocking his exit. These men all wore ragged and dirty clothes which had not seen the likes of soap and water in months. They appeared to be civilians who formed into a lynch mob.
All of the living closed the circle on the Athenian. Prometheus backed up against the table with model train and scanned back and forth between the two sets of men who continued to move closer. They didn't have the usual look of fear the descendants had when they saw him. Their expressions were more of anger as they let out their evil sounding hisses and moans. He saw one of them swing an axe toward his head and all went silent and black.
Prometheus opened his eyes and stared up at a dark orange sky with patches of black clouds fading into a gray haze hanging in the air. He heard the familiar sounds of explosions, clashing metal and screams of the
livings,
as
the undead
feasted
on them
. The ancient man tried to
stand,
but found
a sword stuck through his chest had pinned him down
. A soldier with two
five-inch
holes clean through his chest and abdomen walked up grabbed the handle of the sword and said, "Let me help you out my brother." He pulled the sword out and helped the Greek man to his feet.
Scanning his surroundings, he saw nothing but smoldering ruins and rubble of what used to be downtown
Denver
. Rusted skeletal frames of cars and burned remains of tanks were scattered between the large mounds of broken bricks and concrete. With no more tall buildings to block his view, Prometheus saw this repeated scene for as far as his eyes would carry. Peppered across this landscape undead Ravens and Turkey Vultures with rotted beaks, missing
wings
and feathers searched the ground for scraps to scavenge between the various small fires adding to the
apocalyptic
scene.
The soldier who helped him to his feet said, "You have the green eyes. This must not be your first trip to the
Village
of
Dead Souls
."
"Yes brother, this is my third journey to this futuristic and horrible land our descendants have created." Prometheus said as he noticed a long cylindrical iron furnace. The smoke emanating from the contraption merged with haze which continuously hung in the air.
Glancing over his shoulder, the soldier explained to the Greek man, "The humans built thousands of these emergency crematoriums. They try to burn the bodies
,
as fast as
possible
to keep them from returning as one of us. I don't know if it really matters anymore. Their numbers are not as great as they were a few years ago. We outnumber them in significant proportions."
Taking in the devastating world around him, the Athenian asked, "I wonder how long I've been gone this time?"
"What is the last thing you remember before your journey almost ended?"
"I was in the basement of what the descendants called a train station. I believe this is where I met my temporary demise."
"There hasn't been a train station around here for years." He glanced to his right and said, "Here
's
our commander. She's been here for a long time. Maybe she can help determine how long
you’ve
have been gone."
A tall woman, with long brown hair, a shapely athletic build, wearing a military jacket, and an old decayed bullet wound in her chest, walked up to the two dead men. She
placed
her sawed off
shotgun
in the holster, strapped across her back, and asked, "Who's the green eyes?"
The soldier with
holes
in his chest, replied, "I didn't get his name."
Bowing to the dead woman, the Athenian said, "Greetings my name is Prometheus and I-"