“All right, all right,” Blake said. “Let's slow our collective rolls.”
Nathan did not react. He just nodded once. Tim had an awkward, goofy smile on his face, and Danielle stared off into the distance.
“One more question,” said Nathan, “why'd you go south?”
Jesse remained silent for a moment and kept eye contact with Nathan. After a moment that was probably more uncomfortable for Tim and Blake than it was for Jesse and Nathan, Jesse looked off to his right.
“That's where the geese go, right?”
Nathan stood and looked down at Jesse.
“You can stay here for the night. You can have some berries in trade for the booze, but in the morning, you'd best be on your way.”
“All right. Your house. Your rules.”
“Yeah,” said Nathan. He waved at Danielle. She got up and took his hand and they walked into the keep. Tim and Blake passed the vodka back and forth, each taking two gulps at a time —coughing in between swallows. Tim looked at Jesse for a moment. Jesse turned toward him. Tim was an ugly man. He had an unfortunate face: asymmetrical, ears that made his head look like a Volkswagen with the car doors open, a turned-up nose, and crooked teeth. Above his thin lips was a sleazy mustache. Acne scars textured his pale skin. Tim's brown eyes went lazy and his face was flush. He could not seem to sit still and he teetered in a slow and awkward circle.
“You want some?” asked Tim.
“Some what?” asked Jesse.
“Booze, what else?” slurred Tim. “You think I've got hamburgers hidin' away or some shit?”
“Sorry, I'm off in my own world.”
“So?” said Tim motioning toward the jug, “Want some?”
“Fine.”
Tim held out the bottle, losing his balance momentarily as he did. Jesse snatched the bottle before Tim dropped it. Tim laughed hard, overcorrected his posture, and lurched backwards so hard that he fell on his back. Blake howled and fell over laughing.
“Yer drunk,” said Blake.
“No, yer drunk,” said Tim still laughing.
“Fuckin’ idiot,” said Blake. Tim kept laughing. Jesse took a drink, gagged a bit, and coughed.
“God, I hate this shit.”
“The only thing I hate more than cheap booze is no booze,” said Blake. “That and my off-nights.”
“Isn't every night an off-night nowadays?”
“No, man. We've got a schedule worked out with Danielle. It's an arrangement we all made together. She and Nathan were an item before, but we all agreed that if we were going to stay together that we had to, you know, come to an agreement.”
“I'm not following,” said Jesse. He put the cap on the jug and set it down on the grass. There were only a few ounces left in the jug. Deep, slow breaths replaced Tim’s laughing. He passed out on his back. Blake leaned in like he was going to tell Jesse a secret.
“We're all Danielle's husbands, basically. I mean, we never got officially married or anything like that, but we all, you know, do it.”
“Oh.”
“Don't get me wrong, man,” Blake continued slurring a bit, “It was weird at first. I know I felt intimidated, 'cause my nights are always after Nathan. But, Danielle, man, she's something. She's such a strong woman, but she builds you up, you know? You ever had a girl like that. One that really makes you feel like you're something.”
“Only recently,” said Jesse.
“What?” Blake asked. He cocked his head.
“Nothing, go on.”
Blake continued blathering about his relationship with Danielle and about the pitfalls of being in a polyandrous relationship. Jesse was elated that Blake had forgotten Jesse’s slip of the tongue.
“The upside of all of it is that she doesn't expect much out of me. Back when it was all normal, women would—.”
Blake stared into the distance.
“Women would what?” asked Jesse. Blake said nothing, and Jesse tilted his head to try and meet Blake's gaze.
“I'm going to sleep now.”
Blake stumbled away and entered the keep. He slammed the door behind him.
Jesse opened his backpack and took out his life vest. It reeked of seawater and sweat, but pungent smells no longer bothered Jesse. He laid it on the grass and used it as a pillow. His arms and face throbbed, but the exhaustion of the day forced him into a deep sleep.
…
Moonlight drenched the field outside of the keep in a soft blue haze. She walked into the light. The woman wore a bronze chest plate and held a leaf-shaped short sword. Jesse could not make out her face in the poor light. He tried to walk toward her, but his legs would not move.
“Stand your ground,” she said.
“Why are you armed?” asked Jesse.
“We are at war, Jesse,” she responded with a harsh tone. “Where are your weapons? How will you win without them?”
Jesse looked down. He was naked. His jacket and pack were gone. His heart raced at first, but it slowed when he remembered he was dreaming. She only came to him in his dreams. He looked back up at her. He could see the outline of her prominent nose. Shadow obscured her other facial features.
“I can't win a war by myself.”
“Then ask them to join you.” She pointed her sword at the stone keep. The keep and wall disappeared. Nathan, Blake, Danielle, and Tim appeared in the field – fully armed and wearing battle regalia. They stared into the distance.
“They are ready, but you sit around like a defenseless child waiting for his mother.”
“I'm tired,” said Jesse feeling the weight of his words. “I need sleep.”
“If you continue to be weak, the galla will let you sleep for eternity. They would be happy to grant you that wish. All of humanity can sleep forever. They are as good as dust if you do not fight for them.”
“The galla?”
“You know them from their screams. They are demons of the underworld: servants of the goddess below.”
“What can I do? I'm just one man. There are billions of them. I mean, look at me. I'm wounded. I'll never survive.”
“A single person has changed the course of history more times than I care to say. A single spear thrust ended the ancient world, and you can strike the blow that ends this war.”
“How?”
“You'll know when the time comes, but today is not that day. Today you fight to survive. They are coming for you and they are too many.”
“How can we win then?” asked Jesse feeling the fear in his core. He looked up at the moon. The moon floated in the grand abyss, apathetic to the concerns of the living. Jesse looked back to where she was standing before, but she had disappeared. He turned around to see if Nathan and the others were still with him, but they too were gone. A hand rested on each of his shoulders and hot breath tickled his ear.
“You will win with your fury. Your rage will inspire the others. They will rally to your cause, and together you will crush the dead. You will rend their rotting flesh. You will smash their dry bones. You will annihilate them. You will win your freedom from this stone tomb and then you will come and find me. The others will help you, but only if you inspire them. No one follows a coward, but a common man will follow a hero onto a field of demons.”
Jesse said nothing, but he felt regenerated. Her words moved through him. He closed his eyes and felt her hand caressing his body. She ran her fingers over his wounds. His tight, sore muscles became loose and ready for what was to come. His wounds closed. His head cleared and his vision sharpened. He could feel his muscles strengthen like he had been working out daily and eating right. The swelling on his head disappeared and his gashes closed. A pulse of red light shot across the back of his eyelids.
“They come for you, Jesse. Wake up.”
…
Jesse broke out of his dream and sat up. Everything was calm and everyone was still sleeping. The sun had barely risen, casting its yellow light through the clouds. He stood up, and for once, he did not feel sore, tire
d, or depressed. He was born anew. His hand ran across his face. Where there had been deep cuts there was only skin and stubble. His gashes and hematoma were gone. He checked his arms. The skin was cleared and healed. His forearms were rock hard. Jesse walked to the gate. His gait was light and loose, but he felt heavier, stronger. He looked down his shirt and saw chiseled muscles and a form greater than he had possessed in his peak when he wrestled in college. The slender, almost sinewy Jesse that had washed up on the sandbar outside of Eureka was gone. A champion remained. A smirk, long missing, crossed his face. It was the same smirk that he used to give his opponents in college before each wrestling match. It was the smirk he had given to a mugger in downtown Seattle that wanted to steal his wallet. It was the smirk that he flashed his first female conquest after she initially turned him down.
He heard a distant, rhythmic pulse. He looked for a way to get up to the wall, where Tim acted as sentry the night before. He found a narrow rope ladder anchored to the stone wall near the keep. Jesse climbed it and scanned the field. A ways out he saw with his new, sharper eyes what the woman in his dreams foretold. Marching in his direction was a huge mass, an army, of reanimates.
“Get ready!” Jesse bellowed. “They're coming!”
Nine
Ten Soldiers Wisely Led
Danielle, Nathan, and Blake ran out of the keep's door. They had weapons in hand, but not their armor. Jesse looked down at them from the narrow walkway atop the wall. Nathan stopped at the base of the wall.
“What is it?” asked Nathan.
“Trouble,” said Jesse. Nathan said nothing for a time, and just stared into Jesse's eyes.
“Shit,” said Nathan quietly. He faced Danielle and Blake. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Suit up.”
“Tim! Wake up!” Blake yelled as rushed back into the keep.
Tim sat up. “What is it?”
“Get your shit,” said Danielle.
She and Tim hurried after Blake into the keep.
Nathan looked back at Jesse and asked, “How bad is it?”
“Bad. We win or we all die. Got any spare weapons?”
Nathan smirked, but his eyes told a different story to Jesse.
“Yeah, we've got a few spares.”
Nathan entered the keep. A second later, Blake came out of the door, adjusting his lamellar armor. Jesse watched him as he swung his mace at half power to warm up his shoulders and back. Blake bounced up and down in preparation. He came up the ladder and Jesse paid close attention to his expression. Blake paused when he was far enough up to see over the wall. He stared out toward the approaching army of reanimates.
“You've got to be fucking kidding me,” Blake said. He climbed the final rungs and stood next to Jesse.
“What do we do? We run right?”
“You can't run from death,” said Jesse. “I ran from Washington and, well, look.”
Jesse gestured out at the mass of bodies, which were now several hundred yards to the east. Blake bent over and put his hands on his knees. Jesse set his hand on Blake's back.
“We don't run. We kill them all.”
“Impossible,” said Blake and he began to hyperventilate. “Fucking— impossible— there are thousands of them.”
“Just think of them as mannequins. Smash one and move on. Before you know it they'll all be dead again.”
“What about those other things?” asked Blake. “They fucked you up last time, man.”
“The galla,” said Jesse, repeating the word that the woman in his dreams had used. “They'll be leading the group. I ran into a group like this before.”
“Galla?” asked Blake.
“Yep, some kind of demon apparently,” said Jesse. He took his hand off of Blake's back and Blake stood up straight. Blake looked at the army for a moment. He turned toward Jesse and studied Jesse's face.
“What did you do?” Blake asked.
“We fought for a while, but then we had to run.”
“So why shouldn't we run?”
“Adam and I couldn't have won. We weren't prepared.”
“And we are? For all that? I don't fucking think so.”
“Look at this place. You built this. Look at your weapons. Those are built for war, not for clearing out supermarkets. It seems like you all have been preparing for this your whole lives.”
“There're five of us, as in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.”
Blake pointed to the horde of creatures and raised his eyebrows for emphasis.
“How many are there?” Blake asked, not wanting to know the answer.
“Not enough. We'll smash them.”
“Are you fucking high?”
Jesse turned toward Blake. He brought his face close to Blake.
“What's missing here?” asked Jesse as he pointed toward where his cuts used to be.
“What the fuck are you doing?” asked Blake.
“Open your eyes,” said Jesse. Blake's cocked his head at first. After a moment, his brows rose and his eyes went wide. He shook his head and stepped back a few steps.
“That's not possible,” said Blake. Jesse grabbed him with arms that were stronger than they had been in years. Blake looked down at Jesse's hand with terror in his eyes.
“None of this is supposed to be possible,” Jesse said. “But it's happening anyways. It's been happening for almost a year. Nothing is going to stop them from coming — nothing except for us. We'll fight. Get ready.”
Blake looked into Jesse's eyes and started nodding repeatedly.
“OK, OK, OK, yeah,” Blake said, and he yelled a trembling war cry into Jesse's face. Jesse smacked him on the shoulder, and Blake climbed back down the ladder. Jesse followed. He found Nathan standing with his palms turned upward in a questioning gesture.
“Let's fucking do this!” Blake yelled as he ran past Nathan. Jesse followed a ways behind Blake.
“What's going on Jesse?” Nathan asked as he held out a hand to stop Jesse. “Wait a sec.”
“Your cuts — what the shit?” Nathan said.
“Healed,” said Jesse.
“Impossible,” said Nathan. For the first time since their meeting, Jesse saw genuine surprise in Nathan's eyes.
“Happened anyways. You said you had a weapon for me.”
“Yeah,” said Nathan his face contorted with confusion, “here's a battle-axe. Seems like your style.”
“It'll work,” said Jesse taking the axe. The balance was perfect and the blade was razor sharp. He swung it a few times. It felt good in his hands.
“Danielle's bringing out my spare suit of armor,” said Nathan. “It's not going to protect you from everything, but it's better than nothing.”
“Good,” said Jesse. He watched Tim walk by and climb up the ladder.
“What the fuck?” Tim yelled his pitch rising with each word.
“It's that bad, huh?” Nathan asked. Jesse faced Nathan and put his free hand on his shoulder.
“We're going to win,” said Jesse. Danielle came out of the keep holding a suit of lamellar armor across her arms. She wore lighter armor than the others. On her hip was a fencing saber with an ornate pommel. She handed the armor over to Jesse. It was leather with steel scales, which had a dull appearance. It was marked, scratched, and weathered.
“It was his training armor,” said Danielle. “The first he ever had. Try not to die in it. It's got sentimental value for both of us.”
“I'll do my best,” said Jesse. He slipped the armor on. It was missing a helmet, but Jesse figured that a helmet would ruin his visibility anyway.
“Danielle!” Tim yelled. “Bring all my arrows.”
“All of them?” Danielle yelled back.
“Yes,” Tim responded. “There's a bajillion of these things.”
Danielle ran into the keep and returned with a large wicker basket full of arrows. She dropped the basket near the ladder.
“All right, there,” she said.
Tim dropped down off the wall and hoisted the basket of arrows onto the wal
kway. When he finished, he ran over to the group. The folks from Eureka stood opposite Jesse.
“Does anyone have a plan?” Tim asked.
“We should stay inside the castle,” said Danielle. "They can't get in here.”
“No, there's too many of them. We have to take the fight to them,” said Jesse.
“Fuck that!” yelled Danielle. “You can go out there if you want, but we're staying in here.”
“I am going out there, and if you want to live you'll go out there too.”
“What kind of crazy-ass logic is that?” she retorted.
“They'll climb over, or they'll push the walls down, or they'll starve us out. Either way we'll die. There's one way out of this. One, and that's to kill every last one of those things out there. We've got to stomp them.”
“There's too many,” said Tim. “Nathan, have you seen them yet? There's — I don't even know how many.”
“Wait a sec, guys. There's something else happening here. Take a close look at Jesse," said Blake. “I mean, really look at him. Notice anything different?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” said Danielle.
“He was maybe 180 pounds soaking wet last night and he was cut to pieces, but now he's gotta be 215, 220 and he's all healed,” said Blake.
Danielle and Tim looked, and after a moment, they saw what Nathan and Blake had seen.
“So he's healed. What difference does that make?” asked Danielle.
“I don't know, but I'm just saying that something is up,” said Blake.
“We don't have time for this. We've got to get out there and get ready,” said Jesse.
“Jesse's right,” said Nathan. “We don't have time to argue. We go out there and we fight, except for Tim. You stay on the wall and put some holes in them.”
“Yeah, you got it,” said Tim. He ran to the wall and climbed the ladder.
The Lost Gods Page 13
