by Edward Teach
The men walked up the steps to the door of the long house and stood silently for a moment, looking at each other cautiously. Then they heard the scuff of boots on the steps behind them, and saw the Rider walking up behind them. His head of fire still burned, though the body of Turk was even more badly damaged. The Rider stopped in front of the men, and seemed to incline its flaming head in their direction, as if nodding. Then it walked past a dumbfounded Cisco to open the doors, beckoning for the older man and Romeo to follow.
They entered a single room that took up the entirely of the interior of the building. The walls were covered in the mounted skulls of dozens of animals, not all of them easily identifiable. The room was bare of furnishings other than a tall wooden stool at the center of the room. The man who stood upon it was more fearsome than any of the Riders so far, thought Cisco, as he looked upon him.
The man’s toes hung down and were barely touching the surface of the stool, as the three arrows that had broken through the ceiling had pierced his head. Though blood ran down in rivulets from his wounds to obscure much of his face the man was clearly of Native American descent. He was naked save for a small loincloth, and his skin was painted in horizontal stripes of black and white. Cisco though he looked much like the kachina dolls that he’d seen in the gift shop, and to his surprise the man’s eyes open as his mouth spoke in response.
Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be worthy of me."
"For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness."
The man’s voice was different from what spoke in Cisco’s mind, though he knew in an instant that this transfixed man knew what Cisco heard. The man reached upwards with his arms and grasped the shafts of the arrows, then strained his muscles and pulled himself free of them. He lowered himself onto the stool, the top of his head a mess of gore, the arrows still dripping blood as he stepped down. The Rider was silent, and stepped aside as the kachina man passed him and walked towards Cisco and Romeo.
The kachina man looked into Cisco’s eyes, his gaze seemingly to penetrate the biker’s very soul. Then the kachina man slowly reached up and dipped two fingers in the gaping wounds on his skull. He ran his now bloody fingers across Cisco’s left cheek, and then his right, leaving two red streaks painted across the biker’s face. Romeo stood silently as the kachina man performed the same ritual upon him. The kachina man then went to one of the skulls mounted upon the wall and took up a horn that had been hanging from a chord on one of the antlers. This he hung around Cisco’s neck. Then he pulled a bow and quiver of arrows from another mount, and handed these to Romeo.
The kachina man looked once more at the two men, then climbed back onto his stool. He silently lifted his arms up and grasped the arrows, then pulled himself up, the arrows digging into his head wetly as he pushed his skull into place. Wind began to blow within the lodge, urging them outside, as if the kachina man’s voice had become the wind itself. Cisco and Romeo walked out of the longhouse and saw that Turk’s bike was parked next to the bonfire, and the Rider beckoned them to the fire.
The Rider approached Romeo and drew forth an arrow from the quiver, then pushed the point of it into his own face. In moments the arrow was burning, and the rider placed it once more into the quiver. The fire spread to the other arrows, though the quiver did not burn, as if it contained the fire within. Then the rider tossed Cisco the keys to Turk’s bike and turned to walk into the bonfire, the clothing and flesh burning in the heat.
Cisco and Romeo watched the body burn down to nothing as the fire died, then looked up as the sun began to peek out over the horizon. In the dawn light they could see the brilliant purples and blues of the surrounding desert and stone formations. Cisco looked at Romeo, his question as plain as it was silent, and Romeo nodded. The men walked to Turk’s motorcycle and Cisco took the main seat and turned the key while Romeo slung his bow and took the high passenger seat at the back. Cisco kicked the engine to life and they took the small side trail that Romeo pointed out leading down the other side of the mesa. Below them the Grand Canyon lay bathed in the morning light.
Jesus said, "Honor to you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found, wherever you have been persecuted."
Honor to those who go hungry, so the stomach of the one in want may be filled."
Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you will kill you."
THE LAMB OF GOD
Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone."
At last he had reached the kiva, the hole in the world as revealed to him by the thrice-pierced sacred clown. The pilgrims had crowded the canyon behind him, and though many had followed him for miles, none seemed to dare to draw near the salt mound. It was several feet high, and at its crest was a vibrant mineral spring. In its depths he knew the spring became a cave, and the cave became a sea, and the sea led to the blue world that had been driven away. Even as this world died another world long dead waited to rise again. Now, at the end of all things, the two prophets approached, riding Death’s own pale horse.
Cisco and Romeo stood silently, silhouetted by the morning light at their backs. They had painted their faces in the muertos style, their faces the grinning flowered skulls that honored the Day of the Dead. In this new world every day was thus, and they rode to bring death to the undying. Cisco had brought the bike to a stop just at the entrance to the gorge, and Romeo stood in the stirrups with his field glasses to set eyes upon what lay before them.
They had followed Romeo’s sense of the path for nearly and hour, the motorcycle making quick work of a trail that would have taken many hours to travel by foot. Now they were poised above a dry riverbed set deep in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Romeo could see through the field glasses that the path ahead was full of zombies, though he was sure that this was the path they must take. The men knew that if ever there was a final battle this was it, and had painted their faces, determined to die as Calaveras if today was their day to pass on. Zombie Jesus waited for them somewhere down in that canyon, at the very bottom of the world, and they meant to reach him.
The walkers had begun to notice the two men above them, and started to moan as they shuffled towards them. Cisco kicked the engine to life and Romeo un-slung his bow. He had never shot a bow and arrow in his life, yet he was certain that today his aim would be true. The young man drew an arrow from the quiver and it burned menacingly, the fire seeming to blaze without consuming the wood of the arrow. He knocked the arrow and tapped his boot on the stirrup, signaling Cisco that he was ready. The older man flexed his hand, clenching his fist and releasing it, and then hit the gas.
The motorcycle hurdled down the canyon wall and peeled out into the riverbed in a cloud of dust. For a moment they were obscured by the cloud, then exploded from it as Romeo let fly with his first arrow. It slammed into the chest of the nearest zombie and in moment the creature was completely engulfed in flames as it collapsed to the ground. Cisco deftly threaded his way through the press of bodies as he sped down the canyon path. Romeo knocked arrows and fired as fast as he could, clearing the path ahead for Cisco. The fire of the arrows was otherworldly in its power, and burned the walkers into ash in moments regardless where the arrows pierced them.
Romeo stood up in the stirrups as he drew and fired, leaning with the bike as Cisco jinked and jived to keep up their speed amidst the zombies and rock formations that lay in their path. Romeo quickly lost count of how many arrows he had loosed, his awareness focused on the battle at hand, though after the first dozen he knew that somehow no matter how many he fired there would always be another. They rode on, striking down walkers with fire as the motorcycle roared through the canyon, drawing ever closer to their as yet unseen goal. T
he voice boomed in Cisco’s mind even as Romeo’s sight was layered with a double vision as he saw himself through the eyes of the undead messiah.
Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained.
Split a piece of wood; I am there.
Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
Zombie Jesus stood before the salt mound, his eyes burning with hatred as he spread his arms and screamed. Cisco turned the handlebars and pulled the motorcycle to a stop. The mass of walkers swiftly closed the distance, and despite the many arrows that felled one after the other they kept coming. Romeo drew and fired as fast as he could, though even with this mighty weapon from the Rider the bikers would be overrun in moments. Cisco then remembered the horn at his neck, put it to his lips as he took the deepest breath of his life, and blew.
A single note rang out, filling the canyon with its sound as it reverberated from the vast walls to echo down the entire canyon. The walkers halted in their advance, gnashing teeth and reaching with their hands, though seemingly unable to cross an invisible threshold. They were held at bay, at least for now, so the two men turned towards Zombie Jesus. Romeo loosed several arrows at the undead messiah, though they exploded into ashes just short of piercing his flesh, and soon it was clear that the bow was impotent against him.
The bikers unloaded their pistols on the undead messiah to similar effect, and dropped the empty firearms in the dust. Romeo drew his machete and Cisco brandished his tire iron, determined to find a way to engage. The men warily approached Zombie Jesus weapons in hand, their hearts thundering in their chests as they drew near the messiah whose presence had dominated their lives for so long. The undead messiah crouched and snarled, then leapt for the bikers, and the battle was on.
Cisco twisted his torso, barely escaping a swipe from Zombie Jesus, then brought his tire iron down on the messiah’s arm, the impact snapping the bone. Zombie Jesus spun with the strike with surprising grace and slammed his other hand into Cisco’s jaw, sending the man reeling and spitting blood. Romeo darted in and sank his machete deep into the messiah’s neck, and worked it free just as Zombie Jesus turned and thrust his hand into Romeo’s mid-section. The messiah’s strike was powerful, and his claw-like fingers drive into Romeo’s flesh, ripping free a fistful of muscle and fat.
Romeo fell to the ground screaming, and a collective moan rose from the hundreds of walkers assembled just on the other end of the invisible barrier. Zombie Jesus made to leap on top of Romeo, though just as he landed Cisco bashed the back of the messiah’s head with a running strike. The blow was powerful enough to lift the messiah off of Romeo and collapse in a heap nearby. Romeo rolled over and struggled to his feet with Cisco’s help.
The voice boomed in Cisco’s mind, even as Romeo could see himself through the messiah’s eyes as Zombie Jesus returned to his feet and faced the men once again.
Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your likeness that came into being before you and that it neither dies nor becomes visible, how much you will have to bear!"
Zombie Jesus rushed the men, and they moved to meet him. Romeo ducked low and slashed his machete across the messiah’s belly, spilling his rotted guts across the canyon floor. Cisco stepped boldly into the messiah’s embrace and slammed his tire iron directly into the messiah’s skull. Zombie Jesus twitched as his head was knocked back, but his hands were on Cisco, and he pulled the man to his chest. Before the biker could react Zombie Jesus sank his teeth into Cisco’s neck, pulling a hunk of flesh from it and bathing them both in the blood that jetted from his wound.
Romeo screamed and wrapped his arm around the messiah’s heat to pull his mouth from Cisco’s throat. Zombie Jesus clamped down on Romeo’s arm, his teeth sinking into the flesh as the young biker pulled him free. Romeo groaned in pain but did not let go until Cisco rolled away. The young biker and the messiah struggled for position, the biker’s machete slipping from his grasp. As Romeo wrestled Zombie Jesus to his knees Cisco appeared, one hand covering his throat wound and the other brandishing the tire iron.
Cisco roared as he plunged the pointed end of the tire iron into the messiah’s eye socket, driving it as deep as he could. The messiah’s jaws relaxed as Cisco collapsed to the ground. Romeo snatched up his machete and held the messiah by the hair with his wounded hand as he brought the machete down on the messiah’s neck several times until the head was cleaved from the body. Finally Romeo fell back to the ground, the head still in his grasp, and closed his eyes.
Jesus said, "Beasts have their dens, and fish have their waters, and birds have their nests, but human beings have no place to lay down and rest."
Jesus said, "How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on the same. Bodies decay, as does the soul that depends on such."
Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets will come to you and give you what belongs to you. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what belongs to them?’ but Prophets die, none so swiftly as those chosen to carry the truth."
THE PROPHETS
He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment, though it is all that you have in this world."
Jesus said, "Seek and you will find.”
Cisco was barely conscious, his hand stuck to his throat by the congealed blood that hardened swiftly in the blazing sun, and he dare not move it for fear of bleeding out. Romeo stirred at his insistence, and the two men managed to stand, leaning their backs against the salt mound. The walkers were still held by the invisible barrier, though it seemed to both men that they were inching ever closer.
The older biker finished his final few entries into the handwritten logbook, and showed the last lines to Romeo, who nodded and laughed warmly. The two of them shared a cigarette, and then set about moving the body of the undead messiah. They worked slowly and with much difficulty, wounded as they were, though managed to haul the body and the head up to the top of the salt mound.
Both men waded into the spring up to their waists, taking care not to step off into the center of the pool where the floor dropped away into a dark chasm of deep water. They did not speak as they gingerly washed the messiah’s body, cleaning away the blood and the gore. Using a crudely fashioned needle from one of the safety pins in Romeo’s jacket and strips of leather cut from Cisco’s jacket they stitched the messiah’s head back onto his neck as best they could.
Romeo had seen the same visions of the blue world as Zombie Jesus, and thought they should send the messiah on his journey through the hole in the pool. Cisco agreed, and was convinced that the book he’d been writing belonged to the messiah, as upon the death of Zombie Jesus the voice in his head had since grown silent. Once the body was washed and clothed as best they could manage, the men held Zombie Jesus over the hole, his arms crossed over one another, holding the logbook to his chest, and then the men let go. The corpse sank down several feet and came to rest over the hole, and then as if they had been waiting for this moment, several pairs of black and white painted arms emerged from the hole to pull the body inwards. In moments all that remained was an empty pool, stained a dirty red.
The two men sat down at the edge of the pool, looking out across the canyon as the walkers pressed ever closer. Cisco remarked that perhaps now that Zombie Jesus had made his journey normal people could die and stay dead. Romeo wondered aloud how Cisco could know, and then both laughed when he said the word ‘faith’, and then followed with observing that soon they’d be dead and then would know for themselves. Romeo agreed, as his sight was already blurry and his speech slurred. Cisco kept nodding off and coming back to awareness, and both men know that death would be coming for them soon.
What had they fought for? What purpose did their journey serve, Romeo had asked. Cisco
could only answer with a shrug, saying that perhaps through all of this they’d been part of a greater story in which they had only been supporting characters. If they had the time to revisit all that they’d experienced perhaps they could see the myth hidden in plain sight. Romeo liked that, thinking of himself as a hero in a grand tale, even if it didn’t help that soon they would die. Though such is the fate of heroes and prophets, they agreed, and it had been a good ride.
By the time the walkers reached the bodies of Cisco and Romeo both men had been dead for nearly an hour, and neither rose again.
HEAVY MEDICINE
The sun burned brightly in the mid-day sky, its harsh light washing out the shadows cast by the shrouded figure that walked the winding path to the top of the sacred mesa. She had awakened in the desert several hours ago, knowing not by what grace she had arrived on the lonely sands, though sure of her purpose and clear in her path. The Dying God had to be set free, and the Son of Man must rise. Alone she walked, driven by a relentless purpose, the lodge at the top of the mesa fixed in her mind’s eye.
The divine power was a terrible mystery, she thought to herself, to return her to this world that had treated her so cruelly. She and her lover had been torn from each other’s grasp once before, when their hearts pumped the blood of life through their veins, and again he had been taken to walk this world. She shuddered as she thought of him, a shambling undead thing counted among the walking dead. After the price he had once paid, it seemed unjust that he be denied his rest. She had paid her own price, and was cast out from the fellowship by jealous men.
