‘Yes,’ Flora said. ‘But they’re not walking around with axes, are they? No. The zombies in that movie are just like the basilisk, just like Gollum. They’re just made up. It isn’t like that at all in real life.’
‘What’s it like in real life?’
‘In real life…’ Flora stared at the black monitor. ‘In real life they’re nice. At least, they don’t want to hurt anyone.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure. Now go to bed.’
Svarvargatan 22.15
The clock on the bedside table said quarter past ten when the phone rang. Magnus had been breathing evenly for a long time and David eased out his tingling arm, walked out into the kitchen and picked up.
‘This is David.’
‘Hi. My name is Gustav Mahler. I hope I’m not calling too late. You wanted to speak to me.’
‘No, it’s…nothing,’ David caught sight of the bottle and the glass, poured himself some. ‘Honestly…’ he took a big gulp, ‘I don’t know why I tried to contact you.’
‘I see,’ Mahler said. ‘That happens sometimes. Cheers.’
There was a click on the other end and David raised his glass, said, ‘Cheers,’ and took another gulp.
There was silence for several seconds.
‘How’s it going?’ Mahler asked.
And David told him. Whether it was the wine, the bottled-up anguish or something in Mahler’s voice—the barriers came down. Not caring whether the stranger on the other end was interested, he told him about the accident, the awakening, Magnus, the visit to the State Pathologist, the feeling of having fallen off the edge of life, about his love for Eva. He talked for at least ten minutes, only pausing because his mouth was dry and he needed more wine. While he poured, Mahler said, ‘Death has the capacity to isolate us from each other.’
‘Yes,’ David said. ‘You’ll have to excuse me but I don’t know why I…I haven’t talked to anyone about…’ David stopped with the glass half-way to his mouth. A chill shot through his stomach and he put the glass down so violently that wine splashed out. ‘You aren’t going to write about this, are you?’
‘You can…’
‘You can’t! You can’t write about this, there are a lot of people who…’
They lined up in front of his eyes: his mother, Eva’s father, his colleagues, Magnus’ classmates, their parents…all the people who would find out more than he wanted them to know.
‘David,’ Mahler said. ‘I can promise you that I won’t write a single word without your approval.’
‘Do you mean it?’
‘Yes, I mean it. We’re just talking right now. Or more precisely: you’re talking and I’m listening.’
David laughed, a short laugh that came out in the form of a snort and pushed mucus into his nose, stale tears. He drew a finger through the spilled wine, forming a question mark. ‘What about you?’ he asked. ‘What’s your interest in this? Is it purely…professional?’
The other end grew quiet. David had time to think that the connection had been broken before Mahler answered.
‘No. It’s more…personal.’
David waited, drank more wine. He was starting to get drunk. He noted with relief that his state of being was starting to lose definition, his thoughts were slowing down. In contrast to earlier in the day this was a state in which he could rest. There was a person on the other end of the telephone line. He was drifting, but he was not alone. He was afraid the conversation would end.
‘Personal?’ he asked.
‘Yes. You trusted me. I’ll have to trust you. Or…if you want to put it another way we’ll both have something on each other. My grandchild is with me, and he’s…’ David heard Mahler take a gulp of whatever he was drinking, ‘he is…he was dead until last night. Buried.’
‘You’re hiding him?’
‘Yes. Only you and two other people know about it. He’s in bad shape. The fact that I called you was mostly because I thought perhaps you…knew something.’
‘About…about what?’
Mahler sighed.
‘Oh, I don’t know. It’s just that you were there when she woke up and…I don’t know. Maybe something happened that could be useful.’
David replayed what had happened at the hospital in his head. He wanted to help Mahler.
‘She spoke,’ he said.
‘She did? What did she say?’
‘Well, she didn’t say anything that…it was as if the words were new for her, as if she was testing them. It was…’ David heard it again: Eva’s metallic, raspy voice, ‘it was pretty awful.’
‘I see,’ Mahler said. ‘But it didn’t seem as if she…remembered anything?’
Without thinking about it, David had forced that moment at the hospital from his consciousness. Had not wanted to go near it. Now he knew why.
‘No,’ David said and the tears pricked his eyes. ‘It was like she was completely…empty.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I think I have to…’
‘I understand,’ Mahler said. ‘Let me give you my number in case…well, in case you think of anything.’
They hung up, and David sat at the kitchen table, polishing off the last of the wine and devoting twenty minutes to not thinking of Eva’s voice; of her eye, as it had looked at the hospital. When Magnus went to sleep he lay as if crucified in the middle of the bed, his arms thrown wide. David shifted Magnus over to one side, undressed and lay down next to him.
He was so exhausted he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
Koholma 22.35
‘What did he say?’
Anna walked into Mahler’s room only a couple of seconds after he hung up. Mahler rubbed his eyes, said, ‘Nothing in particular. He told me his story. Horrible, obviously. But nothing that helps us.’
‘His wife, was she…’
‘No. It was basically the same as with Elias.’
When Anna had gone back to the living room and the television came on, Mahler looked in on Elias. He stood there a long time staring at the little body. Elias had downed yet another bottle of brine, yet another bottle of sugar water over the course of the evening.
It was like she was completely…empty.
But Eva Zetterberg had only been dead for half an hour.
Was he wrong?
Was it true, as Anna said, that nothing of Elias remained in the tiny creature lying in the bed?
When he stepped out onto the patio the air was new. During the long drought he had forgotten that the air could feel so rich, so much like nourishment. The darkness was dense and filled with scents from a landscape that the downpour had restored to life.
Does some…intention exist?
Elias had been dead and withered. Something that was not rain had brought him back to life. What? And what was keeping him alive if he was empty inside?
A seed can lie dormant for hundreds and thousands of years. Dried or frozen in a glacier. Place it in moist earth and it sprouts. There is a power. The green force of the flower. What is the power of the human being?
Mahler studied the stars. Out here in the country they were more numerous than in the city. An illusion. Of course the stars were always there, and in numbers infinitely greater than the sharpest eye could discern.
Something touched him. An insight, inexpressible. He shivered.
In a rapid succession of images he saw a blade of grass break through the seed casing and struggle toward the surface, saw a sunflower strive toward the sky, turning to the light, saw a small child pull itself to its feet, hold its arms out, jubilant, and everything lives and is drawn to the light, and he saw…
It is not inevitable.
The green force of the flower. Not inevitable. Everything is effort, work. A gift. It can be taken from us. It can be given back.
* * *
Attachment 2
15 August
Initial Examination: Attempt No. 3 (cure)
[Soc. Dept. Confidential]
The supply of nourishment to p
atient 260718-0373 Bengt Andersson was interrupted 2002-08-15 at 08.15.
Catheters for saline and glucose solutions were removed in order to observe the patient’s reaction.
The patient showed no signs of decline by 09.15. ECG blank, EEG as before.
09.25 the patient experienced a series of spastic cramps. The contractions lasted for approximately three minutes, whereupon the patient returned to the earlier state.
No further cramps or other reactions observed by 14.00.
Our conclusion is that the saline and glucose supplements are not a necessity. The low values that the patients show neither improve nor decline.
[From Studio One 16.00]
Reporter:…results that indicate that the reliving do not need nourishment. Professor Lennart Hallberg, how can this have been established?
Lennart Hallberg: Well, of course the actual tests have not been made public at this point, but I assume that they simply suspended the supply of nutrients in order to observe what would happen.
Reporter: And you can do that? Is it allowed?
Lennart Hallberg: Firstly, the reliving exist in a kind of legal grey area. It will probably be a while until we develop some medical-ethical guidelines for handling them. Secondly, the flag of pestilence has not been lowered yet, so to speak, and this gives us physicians a certain…leeway.
Reporter: How is it possible to exist without nourishment?
Lennart Hallberg: [laughing] That’s a good question. A week ago I would have answered it by saying it is physiologically impossible, but now…let us say that there may be a form of nourishment that we have not discovered yet.
Reporter: What would that be?
Lennart Hallberg: I haven’t the faintest idea.
[DN Debate]
[Extract from the article ‘Can the Dead Help Us?’ by Rebecca Liljewall, Professor of Philosophy at Lund University]…earlier unimagined possibilities to approach the fundamental conditions of life. Should the same ethical criteria be applied to the reliving as to ‘normal’ patients?
Present laws give a simple answer to this question: No. A person who has been declared deceased falls outside of judicial boundaries, excepting the peace of the grave. It is however doubtful if grave-peace can be invoked in this case.
In all likelihood the laws will shortly be altered to include the reliving. It may sound cynical but in the intervening time the opportunity exists to perform experiments and tests that may later be illegal. My opinion is that the medical experts should be encouraged to take advantage of the situation.
The possible suffering of the reliving must be measured against the benefit it may hold for mankind. In the past two days sixty-five people in Stockholm have died without awakening. In the whole world, around 300 000 people have died during the same time.
It is not too bold to state that a more thorough examination of this small number of reliving would better equip us to prevent a large number of unnecessary deaths in future.
Is it not a price worth paying?
[Dagens Nyheter, letter to the Editor]
I am one of thousands of family members who have now waited for two days for a clear answer to the question of what will happen to our dead. Why this secrecy? What is being covered up?
As an old Social Democrat I am very disappointed in the government’s actions. I think I speak for many when I say that this will have an impact when I go to vote next month. I have spoken with many people and everyone is saying the same thing: if this government cannot arrange for us to see our loved ones, it has to go.
[Expressen, the Daily Bouquet]
I want to offer the Daily Bouquet to all of the doctors and nurses and police officers whose quick action removed the dead from our streets.
I don’t think I am alone in feeling that it would have been very disturbing to have them wander freely.
Many thanks!
[From Reports from the Inside, SVT 1, 22.10]
Reporter: Vera Martinez, you are a nurse who has been working at Danderyd these past few days. From what I understand there has been a high staff turnover?
Vera Martinez: Yes. Basically everyone working there now comes from staffing agencies. No one can keep it up. As soon as there is a room full of the dead then it’s like…you don’t have the energy. It’s the thoughts, the feelings—you have to sort of make yourself think nice thoughts the whole time, but in the end you can’t keep it up.
Reporter: You brought in metronomes, and the effect appeared to be calming?
VM: There are none left. They picked them all apart. It worked for one day, but then…well, they took them apart. Now we have other things, more durable things…that move.
Reporter: What do you think should be done?
VM: They have to be spread out in some way. They can’t be kept together, like they were in the hospital. No one will be able to take it.
Reporter: Karin Pihl, you are an expert at the Ministry of Social Affairs. I believe there are plans to relocate the reliving?
Karin Pihl: As Vera here says, the present situation is untenable. We’ve been working on a temporary solution since yesterday, but I cannot give out any further details as of yet.
[Daily Echo 21.00]
The conservative parties have now united in a declaration of a lack of confidence in the government. It is being called an exceptional move so close to the election, but the leader of the Moderates puts it this way:
Leader, Moderate Party: ‘This is exceptional, yes. But the government’s handling of this situation has been exceptionally clumsy. Naturally it must be made possible for relatives to see their reliving.’
Parties in coalition with the government have not yet announced any guarantees of their continued support.
Quick investigation: Attempt 5 [Decomposition]
[Min. Soc. Aff. Classified]
Temperature requirements for patient 320114-6381 Greta Ramberg was concluded at 2002-08-15, 09.00 hours.
The patient was isolated in her own room. The climate control was gradually adjusted until it reached 19 degrees Celsius, or normal room temperature.
The patient was kept under constant observation in order to note any signs of an advance in the decomposition of tissue. When none had been noted by 12.00, the temperature was raised to 22 degrees Celsius.
At 15.00 no signs of deterioration were detected. A bacterial analysis of the bowel contents was carried out, and the results showed that all bacterial growth in the body had ceased.
The phenomenon is currently unexplained, but our conclusion is that the reliving do not appear to require the cooling that is otherwise standard practice with cadavers.
[Daily Echo 22.00]
…have now confirmed that the man killed in the subway accident at Danderyd Hospital station was Sten Bergwall, chief physician at Danderyd. According to police, there are no suspicious circumstances…
[Mail to the Br-Toys head office]
…hereby place an order of 5000 (five thousand) copies of item number 3429-21.
We request this order be filled as expeditiously as possible. The transportation costs do not matter. If possible, we ask that the goods be transported by air freight…
[Daily Echo 23.00]
All staff have now left Danderyd Hospital. A large number of military vehicles have gathered outside the entrances. For the moment there is no information about what is happening, but the Prime Minister has announced a press conference for seven o’clock tomorrow morning.
16 August
[From the Prime Minister’s speech 07.00]
Prime Minister: Military personnel have relocated the reliving during the night. It was a necessary step, for the purposes of being able to provide the proper care…
Journalist: Where have they been taken?
[Pause]
Prime Minister: Please save your questions for the appropriate time, otherwise I will have to ask you to leave. [Pause] In order to be able to provide the proper care, the reliving have been moved to a facility whe
re they can be kept separated. The mental stress attested to by medical personnel must be taken seriously.
At first the proposed solution was to divide them up among a number of hospitals. This would however have compromised the provision of regular health services. Even the level of service would have been affected.
The solution that we have arrived at is the best at this point in time. The reliving have been moved to the residential area the Heath in north-west Stockholm. The necessary personnel have been dispatched and our aim is for rehabilitation to begin shortly. A place will be made in society for the reliving.
[Pause]
Any questions?
Journalist: Is it possible to care for seriously ill people in a residential complex that’s only half-completed?
Prime Minister: We have received medical reports to the effect that the condition of the reliving is not nearly as critical as was first thought. Many of the precautionary treatments that were initially provided have turned out to be unnecessary.
Journalist: How can you be sure?
[Pause]
Prime Minister: These were questions I was in fact going to refer to Sten Bergwall, who was appointed director of the relocation. I can only say that we had guarantees.
Journalist: Did Sten Bergwall commit suicide?
Prime Minister: I will not dignify that question with speculation. Absolutely not.
Journalist: Isn’t this a pretty desperate measure?
Prime Minister: Well, there you are again. How do you expect me to answer that?
Journalist: Why are no relatives allowed into the area?
Prime Minister: Family members will shortly be afforded the opportunity to see their reliving. It is regrettable that it has taken so long.
Journalist: Is this something you are doing in order to avoid a no-confidence motion?
Prime Minister: [Sighing] My government and I are fully capable of making decisions without having a gun held to our heads. Up to this point it has not been possible to allow the public to make visits. Now it is possible. Therefore we are now opening for the public.
Handling the Undead Page 20
