The Dishonored Dead: A Zombie Novel

by Swartwood, Robert

“So you say, but it certainly sounds like you are. And do you want to know something? Jealousy is an emotion, and if I’m not mistaken, emotions are only what the living—”

  Philip stabbed the zombie once more in the arm, this time twisting the broadsword just a bit before pulling it back out, causing Gabriel to scream.

  “Do you want to know something? From what I read about you I was expecting to find this … this great and all-powerful zombie. One of the rare naturally born zombies on this planet. But you’re nothing.”

  Philip stepped back and watched the blood dripping from the wounds, soaking Gabriel’s shirt and the carpet below.

  “As much as I’m enjoying this—and yes, I know that’s an emotion too—I really need to stop. I need to keep you alive for tomorrow afternoon, when I’ll publicly execute you in front of the world. After all you took away my chance of executing Eugene Moss, from what I understand.”

  Seeing both men’s reactions to this, Philip grinned and said, “Yes, that’s right. James has told me everything. About that man Harper and what he plans to do. Well, I say to him good luck. I have over five hundred Hunters in this building right now, just waiting for them. That’s why I called that mandatory curfew, to keep the streets clear for when they plan to attack. In fact, I’m looking forward to it. It should be fun to slaughter them all.”

  His eyes closed, taking slow, deep breaths, Gabriel said, “So what is the public going to think when they find out you made a deal with a zombie?”

  “You mean James? I’m not worried. The public will think what I want them to think. And who knows, maybe I’ll even tell them about James. It’ll definitely be a blow to the rest of the living to see one of their own turned against them. In fact, would you like to know what he’s doing right now? He’s down in the subbasement working with my men in getting rid of all the Pandoras that were apparently stored away there. Can you believe that? This place has been sitting on nearly a thousand Pandoras for decades, and if it wasn’t for James, they would still be there.”

  “But you’re going to kill him eventually.”

  “Oh yes, that’s a definite. He knows it too, though he hasn’t said as much. But he wants to be the last living alive on this earth, and I’m prepared to grant him that wish. And when the rest of you are all destroyed, then it’s his turn. To be honest, I think he’ll go willingly, when it’s all said and done.”

  “And then what?” Gabriel asked. “When all the living are destroyed and all that’s left are the dead, who then will you hunt?”

  “Right now I can’t say,” Philip said, smiling, “but I’m sure by then we’ll have someone in mind.”

  He wiped the rest of the blood off his broadsword with the cloth and dropped the cloth to the floor. He sheathed the sword, snapped his fingers, and said, “Get this zombie out of my sight.”

  Two Hunters approached and grabbed both of Gabriel’s arms and lead him away, past the table with the cardboard box on top, toward the bank of elevators where Conrad had once stood with his wife what seemed a century ago.

  “I’m not jealous of you by the way,” Philip said to Conrad in an almost whisper. “I just never thought it was fair you got where you were because of your father. Not like me, whose father wasn’t a world renowned Hunter but a stupid carpenter that didn’t know any better.”

  Philip stepped back and motioned Conrad toward the table.

  “Care to see what’s in the box?”

  Conrad started forward, taking step after unsteady step, until he found himself standing right in front of the table and the box.

  Using his broadsword to cut the plastic ties keeping Conrad’s wrists together, Philip said, “Open it.”

  Conrad did. He opened it, quickly at first, then slowly, and when he had raised the flaps and looked inside he instantly stepped back and closed his eyes.

  “You didn’t,” he whispered.

  “It seemed appropriate at the time. In retrospect the man really did deserve more. He was a traitor, yes, but he had always treated me well. And no matter how many different body parts I cut off him, he never said a word. So yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have expired him like a zombie, but oh well.”

  His eyes still closed, Conrad said, “Why am I here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why haven’t you expired me yet?”

  “Because I’m having a lot more fun fucking with your head. I’m having a lot more fun torturing you, however that may be.” Philip stepped closer, so that he was directly behind Conrad, and whispered into his ear, “Mostly though, I want to see the offspring of the world’s greatest Hunter driven insane. I want to prove that you really aren’t the best. I want to hear you beg me for your existence.”

  “Fine then—I’ll beg you. I’ll tell you I’m not the best, because I’m not. Now what?”

  Philip shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. It’s not how I planned this to go.”

  “How did you plan this to go?”

  “First I need to show you something else.”

  “My son?”

  “No.” Philip smiled. “This is so much better.”

  Chapter 49

  Even before Conrad stepped into Philip’s new office he knew what he would find. Walking down the hallway, he somehow both sensed and heard it at the same time, so that when Philip opened the door and motioned him inside, Conrad stood still and shook his head.

  “Move,” Philip growled.

  Two young Hunters had followed them and now waited behind Conrad, stolid and silent, both holding assault rifles aimed at his back.

  Conrad said, “What do you have to prove by doing this?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Now move.”

  He walked past Philip and into the room. He went directly to the desk, his eyes never leaving what sat upon it, the quartz-encrusted cube that Conrad, in a previous existence, had once held in his hands. He could hear the slow and steady pulse of the energy within it, a faint and distant sound like a tiny bug buzzing in his ear.

  Philip stepped up beside him. “You want to touch, don’t you. Go ahead, I don’t mind.”

  Conrad didn’t move.

  “I read the reports of the Ripple Effect. I’ve seen the videos. I know that if you were to release the energy inside it right now, nothing would happen to me or to my men. Nothing, in fact, would happen to you. So if you want to touch it, hold it in your hand, fucking lick it, be my guest. I figured after nearly twenty years, you should finally have your chance.”

  Ever since he’d sensed and heard what he knew was his Pandora, Conrad too had been thinking about the Ripple Effect, remembering the video Albert had repeatedly shown him of the rabbit, going from dead to living.

  Philip moved around the desk and sat down in a large leather chair, leaned back and smiled at Conrad.

  “I must say, the reports I read about you, the ones that were apparently sealed but somehow had been opened … they were amazing. Simply amazing. The world’s most renowned Hunter has a wife who also happens to be a living sympathizer. She did everything she could to brainwash you and almost had you turned. So very close to accomplishing her mission.”

  “Her mission?”

  “To sabotage your old man. To humiliate one of the greatest Hunters of all time. Shit, instant expiration was way too good for her. That cunt should have been torn limb by limb in front of the entire world.”

  Conrad, his hands forming into fists, said, “Where is my son?”

  Philip stared back at him for the longest time, rubbing his jaw, before he leaned forward and stood up and shook his head.

  “You disappoint me, Conrad. I was expecting something more from you, a simple thank you maybe, because this thing right here”—gesturing at the Pandora on the desk—“this is your dirty little secret, the thing you have probably thought about for twenty years. It was taken away from you and kept from you and now here it is, provided by yours truly. But no, what do I get? ‘Where is my son? Where is my son? Where is my son?’ Fine, you wa
nt to know where your fucking son is, I’ll take you to him.”

  Philip stormed around the desk and out of his office, smacking the door as he left. The two Hunters motioned for Conrad to follow him, Conrad glancing back just once as he stepped into the hallway at the Pandora on the desk, hearing that faint and distant beating that nobody else could hear.

  Down the hallway then, around the corner, and there Philip waited now with four Hunters, the Hunter General with his arms crossed.

  “Before I let you see your son,” he said, “I have another surprise for you.”

  A Hunter—what looked like a rookie—stepped forward with a broadsword resting on his upturned palms.

  “Recognize this?” Philip asked. “Of course you do. From what I understand it was hidden in your basement. Guess you were trying to keep it from your wife, huh?”

  Conrad looked back up at Philip and Philip smiled, said, “Don’t worry, we haven’t captured her quite yet. But we will. I have Special Police looking everywhere for her. Even Michael has volunteered to stake out your house in case she decides to return.”

  Philip took Conrad’s broadsword from the rookie, held it up to the light to inspect both sides of the blade. Then he walked to a door, opened it, and waved Conrad inside.

  “After you.”

  Conrad entered a narrow, poorly lit room. There were some folding chairs set up, facing a window that looked into a larger room. Whatever had been in that room before—tables, chairs, potted plants—had been cleared out, and all that waited there now was another Pandora, placed right in the middle of the floor.

  “In case you’re wondering,” Philip said, entering the room along with the rest of his entourage, “it’s a two-way mirror. The Restaurant used it for businesses running special functions. They called it the Observation Room. Well, guess what we’re going to observe right now.”

  A door on the other side of the two-way mirror opened and two Hunters appeared, carrying Kyle. He had his hands and ankles bound by plastic ties, a cloth bag over his head. He was placed not very gently on the ground, about ten feet from the Pandora. One of the Hunters cut the ties on his hands, the other his ankles, and then they both turned and hurried out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

  Conrad took a step forward, meaning to bang on the mirror to let his son know he was there, but two Hunters grabbed him and pulled him back, held him in place.

  “Look at your boy right now,” Philip said. “He’s so confused. He doesn’t know what’s happening.”

  Kyle had yanked the cloth bag from off his head, scrambled to his feet, raced to the door. He tried the knob which was locked, then started banging on the door.

  “But you know something?” Philip had gone right up to the mirror, placed his face against the pane to stare into the room. “He can hear it. We can’t, but your boy can hear that Pandora right there behind him.”

  Having come to the conclusion that the door would not open, Kyle turned away. It was clear that he had in fact heard the Pandora this entire time but had been focused on getting out of the room. Now as he turned he stared down at the cube on the floor, its quartz-coating shimmering in the light.

  “From what I understand your boy tried turning just the other night. That’s why he was in Psyche. In fact, I’m told you put him there.” Philip glanced back at him. “What’s wrong—didn’t want your boy making the same mistake you almost did?”

  Ignoring Philip, Conrad stared through the two-way mirror into the room, where right this moment Kyle was walking toward the Pandora.

  “This should be interesting,” Philip said. “I’ve seen the videos already, but nothing like this.”

  Kyle was ten feet away from the Pandora, now five, his pace increasing the closer he got.

  “And when he opens that box there—because let’s face it, we both know it’s going to happen.”

  Falling to his knees in front of the Pandora, hesitantly reaching out, touching it.

  “When that happens, he’s going to turn into a zombie. That’s a fact. Now the question I present to you, Conrad, is what do you want to happen next?”

  Picking up the Pandora, holding it close to him, turning the cube around and around in his hands. The energy inside the cube responding, fluctuating, causing it to glow.

  “Because I’m offering you two options here, two very simple, straight-forward options.”

  No longer turning the Pandora around and around but holding it still, just staring at it, no doubt listening to the pulse coming from within, watching the glow growing brighter.

  “The first option is that you have me go into that room. Remember Eugene Moss and what I did to his zombie son? Same thing here, only worse. In fact, I might even use your broadsword to—”

  Inside the room, Kyle’s body had begun to absorb the Pandora’s energy. The process was almost instantaneous. First his fingers, then his hands, then his arms, until the rest of the dead skin had changed to living skin, until the cube had dissolved and Kyle’s entire body had absorbed the life, turning him from dead into living.

  Into a zombie.

  The Hunter General turned away from the mirror, his expression all at once serious. “Or the second option is you go in the room. You finish your son off like he’s just another monstrosity.” Philip held the broadsword out to Conrad. “What do you say?”

  Chapter 50

  Anthony Bruno asked, “Are you sure everything’s okay?”

  Denise stood in their room, her arms crossed. “Everything’s fine. I’d just like to speak to Jess alone for a minute.”

  “Okay.” Anthony grabbed the plastic bucket and keycard off the table. “I’ll go get some ice and have a smoke.”

  He left then and it was just the two of them, sister and sister, staring at each other. Finally Denise asked the question she realized she should have asked all along.

  “Did you lie to me?”

  “What?”

  “Did Conrad really come on to you?”

  Jessica wore a white silk robe, holding the front together. Some of her makeup was smeared.

  “Denise, what’s this about?”

  “Answer the question.”

  “Yes, he did.”

  Denise stared into her sister’s face, not sure what she was looking for but searching for something anyway. “Do you want me to tell him the truth?”

  “What truth?”

  “How you stalked him.”

  “I did no such thing.”

  Denise stepped forward, gripped her sister’s arm, squeezed it hard. “I’ll tell him. You know I will.”

  Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes, like it was no big thing, but she refused to look Denise in the eye.

  “The truth, Jess.”

  “What does it matter anyway? You’re better off. In case you haven’t realized it yet, Conrad is a traitor.”

  “Tell me.”

  Shaking her head, Jess pulled her arm away. “I don’t have to put up with this,” she said and turned, started toward the bathroom.

  “You lying bitch.”

  Jessica stopped but did not turn back around.

  “You really did it, didn’t you? You … you … you whore.”

  Her back still to Denise, Jessica said, “Trust me, you’re better off,” and walked into the bathroom, closed the door behind her.

  Denise stood there motionless for a long time, trembling. She heard the puppy yapping in the next room and glanced that way. Then, somehow, her gaze traveled over to the nightstand where Tony had left his wallet and keys.

  Moments later, back in her room, she hooked the leash on the puppy’s collar and went to the door. She waited until Tony passed by, carrying his bucket full of ice, and let himself into his room. Then she stepped outside, pulling the puppy along, heading straight for Tony’s car. Next thing she knew she was in the driver’s seat, had the engine started, and was driving toward the hotel exit. She didn’t know where she was going yet, or even why she was going there, and it wasn’t until
she had already pulled out and was driving east that she realized she was headed home.

  Olympus had become empty. Only police cars cruised the streets. There were some people who had chosen to ignore the curfew and were pulled over and arrested, taken to jail. Everyone else hid in their apartments and homes and offices, waiting out the night.

  The city was the quietest it had ever been, so when the explosion occurred over by the docks, it could be heard a mile away. At once a call was dispatched to half of the available cars. These took off immediately, their lights flashing and their sirens sounding.

  The other half continued their sweep of the city streets until, five minutes later, another explosion occurred, this time uptown in the catacombs of the Kipling Zoo. A second call was dispatched, requesting cars that respond at once, leaving only a handful to sweep the streets surrounding the Herculean.

  A minute later a tractor-trailer emerged from an abandoned warehouse downtown. Behind it emerged another, then another, then another, until there were ten tractor-trailers in all, spreading out and speeding down the deserted city streets.

  In the first tractor-trailer, Harper used his radio to communicate with the other drivers:

  “On my signal.”

  Outside the Herculean, a few Hunters waited around the building, broadswords sheathed at their sides, assault rifles strapped over their shoulders. They had heard both explosions and were speculating about what was happening, all of them smoking cigarettes they could not really taste.

  Inside the Herculean, down in the basement, three Hunters sat quietly in the Communications Room and watched the computer monitors. They were in the midst of a discussion when there was a knock at the door and a voice said, “Come on, guys, open up. This food is getting cold.”

  One of the men asked, “Who ordered food?”

  Another shook his head. “Not me.”

  “Probably from Philip,” said the third. “Let him in.”

  The first got up, went to the door and opened it.

  A young Hunter came in, carrying a large paper bag with both hands. He took the bag to one of the desks, sighed as he set it down. “There you go.”