The General cut him off and continued his walk to his car. "They really need to make it legal to shoot the media. It would be such a great service to the country." One of his aides opened the backdoor to his waiting black sedan. Just as he
put
his
briefcase
on the seat, he heard a familiar voice from the crowd.
"Are you really going to ignore
me,
Chris?"
With a sense of
dread,
he turned and saw a
woman
in her late thirties, long sandy colored dreadlocks, leather sandals and a t-shirt which read, "ZOOM."
"Hellion, damn it! I really hoped to get through this without you turning it into one of your movements du jour."
"It's nice to see you
too
." Hellion squeezed through the crowd to reach the front. One of the armed soldiers put his hand up to keep her from going any
further
. "This is bigger than you and me. It's the next step up the ladder of human evolution."
"This has nothing to do with evolution an
d
in what bizarre hippie world of yours, do
you
think there's ever been
any
you and me?" He glanced at her shirt. "What the hell is ZOOM?"
"It stands for Zombies and Others On the Move."
The General moved back toward his car. "Go back to the
Arctic
and try and save those… what were you trying to save there?"
"Caribou."
"They're not even endangered! There's more
c
aribou,
than people in the
Arctic
. Why do I waste my time talking to you?" He looked at one of his aides and pointed to the protester. "Shoot her and I'll promote you to Major."
Hellion smiled and reached back into the crowd. "Don't be so army with me, Chris. Look who I brought."
She pulled her friend to the front of the crowd. The General's eyes widened
,
his
shoulders dropped,
and
his mouth opened slightly
agape,
which turned into a non-characteristic huge smile. He scanned up and
down
the woman with the darkish red hair and natural classic beauty. "How've you
been,
Pink? I didn't think it was
possible,
but you get even better looking each time I see you."
Pink replied, "Wow, you used my actual
name,
instead of making up some cardboard cutout biblical moniker. I'm flattered."
Hellion cut in, "Sorry to break up the
lovefest
, but the military really needs to leave these people alone. You are messing with the greatest event in human history since we stood upright. We need to let nature takes it's course."
The General covered her face with his large hand and pushed her
back,
while still gazing at Pink. "Why do you insist on hanging out with her? She's going to get you into trouble, real trouble. The
types
of trouble,
where I can't come rescue you."
"This
time,
I agree with her." Pink
replied,
with a slight flirtatious glance and smile. "These people have been given a second chance at life by God or nature or whatever living force
,
you want to assign. A big machine has been set in motion and we should step aside to let it do its job."
Brown stepped towards his car. "The flaw in your theory is
that
these people are not dead. It's a more potent strain of the African Sleeping Sickness." He placed one foot in the doorway of the sedan. "I would be open to hearing your whole theory over
dinner,
if you promise to leave Hellion on a leash."
Before Pink could answer, the waiting journalists pushed and crowed their
way
in
front
of her and called out
questions,
which all blurred together. The General closed the door and tried to get one more glimpse of the only protester who
could
turn his knees into jelly as his driver pulled away.
Chapter
4
Prometheus stood
in the warehouse at the
front of the empty wall, where Jennifer had drawn a large timeline of events spanning from ancient
Greece
to the modern day. To see thousands of years into the future made him feel overwhelmed and fulfilled at the same time. Other living dead walked through the building extinguishing the candles. Behind him, random beams of light from the just rising sun streamed down from the broken
windows,
illuminating the scattered small groups of
zombies,
who discussed what they
learned
in the history class, taught by Jennifer. Their voices echoed around the open
space,
reminding the Athenian of spending a day at the forum. A raven flying from rafter to rafter echoed in the background as Titus approached. He stared at the
timeline,
along with the Greek man. "Having my eyes see this far into the
future,
provides some
aid
to overcome the fact
that
I am dead." He pointed to a section of the line labeled, "Fall of the
Roman Empire
." "We lasted one thousand years. Given the time span of all other great societies," he paused in thought, "what is the vernacular the good Jennifer spoke… oh
yes;
I hope I use this in the correct form. The
Roman Empire
rocked."
Prometheus responded, "It is interesting the class of slave no longer exists. I am glad to hear the teaching of the Greek philosophers
has
lasted to this day and the stories of Homer have been
preserved
in these written books."
Constance
approached and joined in the conversation. "I remember
Father
reading to my brothers and me
about
the adventures of Odysseus." She
focused
on the Greek. "I am so
astonished
to find the lost city of
Atlantis
not only
existed,
but also
to
meet a man who actually visited
the
metropolis."
"
When I paid them a visit it
was not a lost city. As impressive as it appeared to my eyes, it stood as a simple
village,
compared to the
magnificent
city where we now stand." Prometheus glanced at another section of the timeline. "I hope to someday see a performance of a play written by the good William Shakespeare."
Gunnar walked up and pointed to a
spot
on the timeline. "I would have liked to meet this Genghis Khan. I feel the two of us working together could have greatly angered the Romans." He held up and rotated his hands
analyzing
the rock star leather and metal studded wrist cuffs. "I
wish,
I could have also met the previous owner of this body. He appears to have been a brave warrior."
Prometheus continued to stare at the wall and speak to his fellow undead. "So many events
that
I could never have imagined during my life. Two great wars, machines that can fly and the honorable Neil Armstrong setting
foot
on the
moon.
Our
descendants
have accomplished greatness and achieved heightened times of sorrow. My eyes are filled with
joy
in the knowledge of what our people have done with their
time
on this planet, which I am surprised to learn is in fact
,
round."
A man wearing a t-shirt and jeans with streaks of dried blood down the back of his neck stepped
up
on a small crate, held up a magazine and spoke out to those close enough to hear his voice. "This magazine came out four weeks ago. I know
this,
because I recognize the picture on the cover and remember buying it at the grocery store while I was still alive. I know it's written in English, my native tongue, but I can't read any of the writing. It looks like some kind of scribble to me. We're in the city of
Denver
,
where they also speak
English,
but I can't understand anything the citizens are saying. They sound like they speak gibberish. We need to find a way to communicate with the
living,
so they know we are here to help them." He pointed to various zombies. "This man speaks ancient Greek. This man speaks Norse. We all speak different
languages,
but can understand each other perfectly. There has to be a way for us to transform this universal translation ability to the living."
Titus replied, "You have made a wise
suggestion,
my friend. What is your
name,
kind
sir,
and from where do you hail?"
The man on the crate, with the medium build and light brown hair
,
which hung just above his shoulders, stepped down and answered, "I'm John and I lived in Vegas."
Prometheus spoke up. "I agree with the
good John of Vegas.
Each
of us
should write
a message on the streets and walls
.
We can
scribe
in the language of our birth. With the large population in this city, surely one of the fine citizens will recognize these messages. Apparently, the ability to read and write is quite common in this day."
* * *
Wendy paced across the short length of the examination
room,
anxious to
hear
the results of her latest test. The florescent lights
above
hummed and slightly
flickered,
as they cast a dull yellow light. The sudden appearance of her doctor through the door startled her out of her trance-like state. She turned to him as he read through the lab results. "What's the news doc? She asked."