Land of the Dead

by Robert Swartwood

  Conrad leaned forward, placed his arms over his knees. “Tell you what. I was supposed to work the next two days so I’d have off for the weekend, but I’ll call into work tomorrow. See if I can take the next couple days off. At least until Kyle’s animation day.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “But I want to.”

  “You just got promoted. You don’t want to make Norman angry.”

  “Trust me,” he said, “it’ll be fine,” and while he had told his wife worse lies in the past, he couldn’t help thinking of this one as just another domino added to a long line of dominos.

  “How is the new promotion going anyway?”

  “Good.”

  “It’s a miracle you weren’t there that day. Were you out on patrol?”

  “Yeah,” Conrad said, thinking, There’s goes another one.

  They sat there for a while in silence, both listening to the dead insects in the trees. Then Denise broke the silence again, talking about Kyle’s animation day party, about everyone she had invited, Kyle’s friends from school, people Denise knew in the neighborhood, and Conrad realized he wasn’t going to get a chance tonight to talk to her about Kyle’s protection.

  “Oh yeah,” Denise said, “I almost forgot. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the doctor. Nothing serious, just a standard checkup regarding the pregnancy.”

  “What time? I’ll drive you.”

  “Actually ...”

  He had been staring off at the stars above the trees and now looked at his wife, saw her biting her lower lip.

  “Actually what?”

  “Well, you see I didn’t even think you’d be home. I’m sorry, but you know what kind of a crazy schedule you keep. And so I asked Jess if she could take me ...”

  “That’s great. Now you can tell Jess her services are no longer needed.”

  “But she took the whole day off.”

  “Okay, okay. Spend the day with your stupid sister and not with your loving and devoted husband.”

  She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm and kissed him on the cheek.

  A few minutes later they were ready to go inside. Denise headed in first but Conrad stayed there for an extra minute, staring out at the trees, remembering the way Kyle had come back from retrieving the high pop-up last Saturday afternoon and what he’d said and what all Conrad had learned since then regarding Pandoras and the energy they had trapped inside. He stayed very still and quiet, listening for anything beyond the low serenading of the dead insects, the distant traffic, the hiss of the wind through the trees. There was nothing. When he turned to go back inside, he glanced up at the second floor and stopped.

  Kyle stood at his window. He didn’t even notice his father. He stared off at the trees much as Conrad had earlier, only Conrad knew his son was hearing something beyond the insects and the traffic and the wind, something that Kyle and only Kyle could hear.

  • • •

  Denise was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Conrad knew he didn’t have much time. He grabbed his mobile phone, dialed, and waited three rings before the call was answered. Then he said, “Dr. Hennessey? What we talked about before, protection for my son? I’ve made my decision.”

  18

  When he opened his eyes he didn’t know where he was at first. He stared up at the ceiling and for some reason thought it was the ceiling of his boyhood bedroom. Somehow he was a child again, lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to voices downstairs, two voices, his mother’s and his father’s, and there was something else beyond the cracked and muffled voices of his parents, a distant but continuous sound coming from somewhere outside the house.

  But wait. That couldn’t be right. It couldn’t be his parents because he only had one parent, his mother having expired during child-animation, so whose voices were those downstairs right now?

  Conrad blinked. He tilted his head to Denise’s side of the bed and saw it was empty. He reached out a hand as if maybe she was still there but had just become invisible. Nothing.

  Voices were in fact coming from downstairs, two distinct female voices, and it took him another moment to realize one was his wife’s, the other his sister-in-law’s.

  He tilted his head back on the pillow, stared up at the ceiling. He considered closing his eyes, drifting back to sleep. He had no intentions of getting up, or at least not getting up to go downstairs, not until Denise had left with Jessica.

  But he couldn’t just lie here either. He had things to do today. Both things stemmed from his phone call last night. One was a favor asked of him. The other a favor he had no choice but to ask.

  The voices continued downstairs. The clock on the bedside table read 9:27.

  He sat up and looked back down at his pillow, at the bits of hair and flesh that had fallen off during the night. He shook his head and got to his feet, grabbed some tissues from the box on the nightstand and began picking up each piece of hair and flesh.

  Downstairs the voices quieted. Footsteps began. They were headed out of the kitchen toward the front of the house.

  Conrad paused. He’d only cleaned half of the pillow so far. He couldn’t let Denise see what was there but figured it was okay, certain now that those footsteps downstairs would lead the two women outside through the front door.

  One pair of footsteps did. The other started up the steps.

  He took the pillow, flipped it over, hurried toward the bathroom and quietly shut the door. Those footsteps had reached the top of the stairs, now cushioned and almost silenced by the carpet. Conrad dropped the ball of tissues in the toilet, considered reliving himself, but when he heard the bedroom door open he quickly pushed down on the flusher.

  When he exited the bathroom moments later, Denise was sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling at him.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  He smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead. “You and Jessica headed out?”

  She nodded. “We should be back in about an hour or two.”

  He yawned but said nothing, glanced over at his pillow to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

  Denise said, “Remember after your shower to apply that lotion. Maybe apply it twice.”

  He’d forgotten to take the lotion with him when he went to work the past four days, and while that may not have contributed to all the hair and skin he had lost, Denise saw it as the deciding factor.

  “I will,” he said, and wondered for the first time how much of his body he had lost during the night.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  She stood up, started toward the door, but paused. “By the way, did you sleep okay last night? You kept tossing and turning.”

  “I slept fine.”

  She stood there for a moment, as if considering this, then stepped forward, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him on the lips. When she pulled away, she said, “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too.”

  “I don’t ever want to lose you.”

  “You won’t.”

  Outside, Jessica sounded the car horn. Denise rolled her eyes, said, “She is just so impatient,” then kissed Conrad once again on the lips and hurried out of the bedroom.

  He stood there then, waiting until she had left the house, before moving. He went downstairs, headed for the kitchen, then opened the basement door and started down the steps.

  He went directly to the pile of rubber storage containers in the corner. He moved the containers until he came to the black plastic case he’d hidden there earlier in the week. He picked up the case, took it to the washer and dryer, set it on top, and opened it.

  His father’s broadsword lay inside. Three feet of stainless steel, which had taken almost six thousand zombies’ heads during both his and his father’s times as Hunters. It had been covered many times in living blood, almost all the times except the last. And so now here it lay in this case, never to be used again.

  He thought about taking the broa
dsword out, grasping the hilt in his hand, feeling its familiar weight, but decided to close the case instead. He didn’t know why, but this was just another secret he kept from Denise, one more domino in that long line of dominos. Keeping it hidden from Kyle was obvious of course—if his son knew a Hunter broadsword was in the house, he would just have to see it and touch it and use it for practice—but why not tell his wife?

  Back upstairs, in the kitchen, he went to the sink and looked out over the backyard. He stood there silent, listening, but all he could hear was the ticking of the clock.

  He knew the dead didn’t dream—it was impossible; according to Albert only the living dreamed—but he thought about last night and how he couldn’t sleep. He thought about the woman’s face he’d seen again, the woman who was a stranger but at the same time wasn’t.

  He kept standing there. He tried listening as best he could. But all he heard was the clock ticking away, counting off the seconds of his existence.

  19

  The temporary Hunter Headquarters was located just outside the business district of Olympus, on the corner of 238th and Lovecraft Streets.

  He took the elevator to the fourth floor. Norman had the only office on this level, and his door was open, but Conrad stood there for a long time, watching the captain working at his computer. Eventually, when it was apparent Norman wasn’t going to notice him, he knocked on the side of the door.

  Norman looked up, startled. When he saw it was Conrad, he did a double take and pushed away from his desk. Standing, he invited Conrad in.

  Conrad stepped into the office. He shook Norman’s hand, told him it was good to see him, then sank down into one of the plastic chairs facing the desk.

  “Like the new place?” Norman asked.

  “Do you?”

  Norman gave the office a once-over before shrugging. “It’ll do for now.”

  “How long before they get the old headquarters rebuilt?”

  “They’re saying a year, but I’m thinking it might be more like two. I doubt I’ll even be around to see it.”

  “I saw some of your men on the way in here. Michael and what looked like two rookies.”

  “Yes. We got a handful from Artemis.”

  “How many?”

  Norman hesitated.

  “Well?”

  “About one hundred.”

  Conrad’s mouth dropped.

  Norman said, “As it turns out, rookies and senior officers alike were fighting to come here.”

  “The men were smoking outside.”

  Norman’s face tightened. “Times are changing, Conrad.”

  “But the Code—”

  “I know what the Code says. You know what the Code says. Each and every one of those men knows what the Code says. But it’s a losing battle. Things ... they never stay the same, no matter how hard we want them to. And right now I need to choose my battles wisely. So if my Hunters want to smoke outside in broad daylight in front of the world, then that’s fine.”

  “What else are they doing?”

  “Nothing major yet. Philip has mentioned something to me about no longer wearing masks, but I never gave him an answer and I’m hoping he forgets all about it.”

  “Speaking of Philip,” Conrad said, “I want to apologize again for what happened last week. What happened at Eugene Moss’s house shouldn’t have—”

  “I’ll stop you right there. Like I told you before, I understand your hands were more or less tied. I wasn’t expecting you to do anything heroic. And ... well, to be honest, Philip came through for the Government. They’re very pleased.”

  Conrad thought about being in that house, how after Eugene broke down and told them everything, Philip snapped the boy’s neck, pulled his gun and shot the two remaining children and the mother in the head.

  “How so?”

  “For starters, the information Philip obtained has gone a long way in arresting a large number of individuals. None of it’s been in the news, of course, because the Government is being more hush-hush about this than usual. While zombies have always been a threat to the world, these living extremists have become a bigger problem. There’s just so many, and it’s impossible to tell who they are. But the Government is cracking down on this now, and they’re coming down hard. Instant expiration to anyone with any ties at all to an organization of the pro-living. The only one they haven’t expired yet is Eugene Moss, and that’s because they’re waiting for the right time to execute him publicly.”

  Norman paused.

  “But that’s not all. Apparently we’ve had another breakthrough, one that may be the turning point in all of this.”

  “What is that?”

  “Heaven,” Norman said, and when he saw Conrad’s reaction he smiled and nodded slowly. “That’s right. We think we are very close now to finding its location.”

  “How close?”

  “They should know soon. That’s all I’ve been told. Just soon.”

  Conrad sat there silent. He wasn’t sure what to say. His mind was a blur. The Government that financed and maintained the Living Intelligence facilities was the same Government that was now arresting and instantly expiring anyone with any ties to the living. Not only that, Heaven was now even closer than ever, and many believed that if and when Heaven was found and all the zombies inside it were destroyed, then the ongoing threat of the living would come to an end.

  “So,” Norman said, trying once more at a genuine smile, “how much do you need?”

  “What?”

  “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You need money to help protect Kyle.”

  Conrad only stared at him. After a moment he opened his mouth, started to speak, but Norman held up a hand.

  “It’s okay, really. I figured you’d eventually come to me, and to be honest, I was hoping you would. I’m worried about Kyle just as much as you are. When my own son was animated, I was worried what would happen when he became ten. So that’s why I told Albert about your situation. I figured you wouldn’t mention it on your own. And now I’m guessing he’s told you about the special detail, and you’ve accepted, even though you can’t afford it.”

  “Sir, I don’t want you to think—”

  “I’m not thinking anything, Conrad. In a way you have always been like a son to me, which makes Kyle like a grandson, and I have no problem giving you the money.”

  “But I don’t want you to give it to me, sir. Just a loan. I will pay you back.”

  “Who are we kidding?” Norman produced a sad smile. “How much longer do you think I have in this world? Another year, two maybe, and then that’s it. I’ll be expired just like Beth. So I have nothing else to spend my savings on. So please. Let me help you. Let me help you protect your son.”

  • • •

  Philip was waiting for him outside. For some reason Conrad should have guessed it, or sensed it, but he was still too taken aback by Norman’s offer. Had he known the captain was going to actually give him the money he needed, he probably wouldn’t have come here in the first place. He had never asked anything of Norman, and even now he felt there was something wrong about it, but it was clear the captain was determined and wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

  A weight had been lifted. Conrad was thinking about his good fortune as he hurried back through the building, doing just as he had done his last day at the old headquarters, trying his best to avoid the Hunters even though many of them now probably didn’t even know who he was ... though he guessed that wasn’t quite true, because Philip was still here, as well as Michael and Kevin, and they all would have happily let the new officers know just what kind of Hunter the son of the renowned Henry had been.

  But he wasn’t worried about that, or even thinking about it. He was thinking about how he could tell Denise the good news, how for the time being all their problems were solved. And as he stepped outside there was Philip, standing almost right in front of the door, just a few feet away so that when Conrad walked out he had no choice but
to stop or run right into the First Lieutenant.

  Just as Michael and the two rookies had been smoking when Conrad first arrived, so was Philip. He was almost halfway done with his cigarette when he turned slowly to regard Conrad with his deep black eyes.

  “Well hello there, Conrad. When Michael called to say you had stopped by, I had to rush right over here to make sure I saw you myself. You didn’t make it to the memorial service.”

  There had been a well-publicized memorial service for the Hunters lost in the explosion. The Government had used it as an effective tool to inform its viewers that it was going to be coming down even harder on living extremists.

  “I was working,” Conrad said.

  “Oh, that’s right.” Philip took a deep, long drag of his cigarette. “Your new job. Yes, I’ve been wondering about that. What exactly is it you’re doing again?”

  A commuter bus passed them on the street. On its side was an advertisement for the latest dead-action Henry the Hunter movie. Philip’s glare left Conrad for a moment to track it, and when it returned it appeared even angrier.

  “Did you see those people on the bus? They didn’t even glance our way. To them, we’re just like everyone else. Well, maybe you are now, you still haven’t told me about your new job. But me—I’m a Hunter. I protect their humanity. And they don’t even know to acknowledge that.”

  “The Hunter Code says—”

  “Fuck the Hunter Code. That was always your problem, Conrad, you were always following the Code. But guess what. Things actually can get done without it. You were there last week. You saw how I handled Moss. We got all the contact information for those pro-zombie fuckers we could, and none of that would have been possible had we followed the Code.”

  Conrad pictured those floating dust motes as they danced and danced while Kent Moss screamed and screamed.

  “The world just doesn’t give a shit about what we do,” Philip said. He finished his cigarette, flicked it out at the passing cars. “This ‘new headquarters’ they put us in? It’s a fucking joke. Do you know where we should be?”