A roar exploded from the Hunters, a roar almost as loud as the rotor blades. His broadsword in hand, Philip ducked his head and jumped out of the chopper. He was followed by Michael, followed by Kevin, followed by the rest.
Conrad got to his feet. He realized his legs were shaking, and he had to force himself to duck his head and jump out of the chopper too.
Sand was everywhere, swirling about, and gunshots and grenade explosions were coming from that slit in the earth. More and more helicopters were landing, others having already crested the ridge and hurrying toward them.
The helicopter that had brought them began to lift off. It rose in the air, its rotor blades roaring, blocking out the sun and leaving Conrad momentarily in darkness.
25
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“What was the first thing you saw?”
“What was that playing when I came in?”
“It was Duke Ellington.”
“Why did you turn it off?”
“Because right now I don’t want there to be any distractions. Now please, what was the first thing you saw?”
“You had no right to have me to do this, you know. I don’t even know why I’m sitting here right now. I should be heading home. It’s my son’s animation day today, and his party starts in two hours.”
“Then the sooner you start, the sooner you may leave. Conrad, please look at me.”
“What is it you want to know again?”
“When you entered Heaven, what was the first thing you saw?”
• • •
He saw darkness at first, having just entered the slit in the earth. He ran with his broadsword in hand, Hunters in front of him, Hunters behind him.
But there was light at the end of the tunnel, not too far away. He heard the shouting of cracked and withered voices, obviously those belonging to the dead, but he also heard the shouting and screaming of the living.
There was gunfire, explosions, screams, more gunfire and explosions. As he got closer to the light, he looked around and saw bodies on the ground, both those of the living and the dead. They were all motionless, the dead having been shot in the head, the living having been first shot and then decapitated by the trailing Hunters. Their unnatural blood was soaking into the ground, splashed on the stone walls.
Then he was out of the tunnel and the light was bright and he had to stop for a moment to take it all in. It wasn’t just a small cavern he’d entered, one that could hide a handful of the living. The cavern was gigantic. The ceiling was at least two hundred feet above his head, and up there were large lights shining down, their combined brightness almost as intense as the sun’s.
But that wasn’t all. The cavern was at least two hundred feet high, yes, but its width was double that, and its length ... Conrad couldn’t see just how far it went on. It dipped down into the earth, no doubt intersecting with other tunnels leading into other large caverns.
And what would be in those caverns? Well, no doubt what was in this very room right here. Houses—actual houses—had been built along both walls of the cavern. They were primitive, nothing more than one-story huts made out of wood and stone. But they had doors and windows and roofs, and out of some windows laundry was hanging, out of others the barrels of assault rifles were right now being fired.
• • •
“So the living were attempting to defend themselves.”
“You could say that.”
“They weren’t doing well?”
“Better than we expected.”
• • •
Judging by the majority of the bodies he passed on his way out of the tunnel, the living that had been stationed at the entrance had quickly been slaughtered. They’d had weapons, but those weapons had been used in vain. The dead policemen had come in with their own guns blazing, taking out as many living as they could. They had already been instructed that they were not to shoot to kill, but rather to shoot to disarm. It was the Hunters’ job to do the killing, and killing they did.
But one thing had been overlooked: Hunters almost never encountered adult zombies. Nearly every zombie a Hunter hunted down and killed was a child. But now adult zombies were all there were, and they were faster than children, stronger, even smarter.
Everything was happening so fast Conrad didn’t think he could keep up. But he wasn’t the only Hunter who was shocked by this new discovery; other Hunters were looking around as well, their dead eyes wide, their mouths hanging open. Some were so distracted they were taken out by the living, hiding up on the roofs and in the windows of those one-story huts. One Hunter standing right beside Conrad had his head explode, bits of his dead brain and decaying skin tissue spraying everywhere.
Conrad ducked. More gunfire sounded out, more explosions, more screaming. He looked around frantic, searching for barrels peeking out of windows, but most of the policemen were firing back. Some entered the houses shooting, a few others climbed up onto roofs, jumping from one hut to the next.
So many Hunters were squeezing through that slit, fighting to get through, Conrad didn’t have any time to pause. He was pushed forward into the Hunters in front of him. A few times he tripped over his own feet; other times he tripped over dead zombie bodies on the ground. Each time though he managed to keep his balance and continue on, but like many of the Hunters, there wasn’t much for them to do.
• • •
“There wasn’t?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
• • •
Because the Special Police was doing a good deal of the killing, that’s why. They weren’t supposed to—they had been explained their purpose here, after all—but this was a historic event, one that would become legend, and many of the policemen wanted to be a part of that.
So maybe that explained why some of the Hunters started attacking the policemen too. When a policeman killed a zombie, a Hunter would give orders to back off. Either the policeman ignored the Hunter and went about his duty, or the policeman said something back. Either way, Conrad had witnessed more than one Hunter take his sword to one of his fellow dead, decapitating the head from the body just like the policeman was another living. Sometimes a few of the policemen close by would attempt to defend their fellow officers.
But the number of Special Police and Hunters pausing in their killing to confront each other was small. The rest were intent on the task at hand, and like all professionals that had trained for this very moment, they did that task well.
Smoke in the air, broadswords dripping blood, more and more of the living were screaming. Conrad didn’t understand why exactly until he’d gone deeper into the cavern. Passing those stone and wood huts, passing the bleeding and dead bodies of the living, it became clear the living’s strategy in this slaughter.
• • •
“What strategy?”
“They knew from the start they had no chance. So they put the men at the front with weapons to try to take out as many of the Special Police and Hunters as possible. The women and children were pushed to the very back of Heaven, into those interconnecting tunnels. Some men were there too with weapons, but by the time we reached them, they didn’t put up much of a fight. And then ...”
• • •
It was a Hunter’s dream: all those defenseless living women and children, all huddled together for a protection that would never come. They had no choice but to stand helpless, crying and screaming, until either a policeman fired into them or a Hunter walked over with his blood-dripping broadsword raised.
Conrad by that point hadn’t killed anything. He’d only been in Heaven now five minutes, maybe less, and most of that time he’d just been caught up in the stream of Hunters hurrying forward. He’d been instructed by Norman to watch everything because he was to report back, and that’s what he did: he watched as much as he could, examining the huts and the other buildings, some of which were two-stories. Not only that, there were also animals running around—actual living
animals. And plants, all kinds of trees and bushes and flowers, and other plants he knew which produced fruits and vegetables.
A voice rose up among the shouting and screaming and gunfire, a heavy and authoritative voice.
“Conrad! Conrad, where are you?”
He looked behind him. More unmasked Hunters were heading his way. Many had climbed up onto the roofs of the huts along with the policemen, and they were jumping from one hut to the next, whooping and hollering. Others had sheathed their broadswords and taken up the assault rifles the murdered living had dropped, using bullets instead of their blades to fell those still alive.
“Where is Conrad?” That voice getting even closer. “Has anybody seen Conrad?”
Some living dogs were running around, barking and yapping at the policemen and Hunters. They were mostly ignored until some started biting, and then they were killed instantly.
“There you are! Conrad, look what I have for you.”
Philip approached, fighting through the Hunters streaming past him. He was pulling something after him, something that Conrad couldn’t make out.
“I figured since we’re friends and all,” Philip shouted, “I would bring you a present.”
• • •
“Why did you stop?”
“You don’t want to know what happened next.”
“Of course I don’t. But I have no choice. Now tell me what happened.”
• • •
Philip had brought him a living child. It was no older than five years old. He dragged it by its arm as it screamed and hollered and tried to twist away.
“Look at him, Conrad. He’s pissed himself. And he hasn’t stopped crying. He’s been screaming like this ever since I grabbed him.”
The child had its free hand in its mouth. Its face was screwed up and covered in tears.
“So this is my present to you. I see your broadsword hasn’t yet tasted blood. What’s wrong, Conrad? Aren’t you enjoying yourself?”
Conrad didn’t answer.
Philip jerked the child off its feet, tossed it at the ground in front of Conrad.
“Kill him.”
All around Conrad people screamed and shouted; gunshots went off again and again.
“Kill him now.”
Conrad stared down at the child. His hand tightened around the handle of his broadsword. And before he knew it he began to raise it up above his head.
• • •
“You didn’t kill the boy, did you?”
“What do you think?”
“I ...”
“Look at me, Gabriel. Look me in the eye. What do you think I did?”
“I think you ...”
“Yes?”
“I think you killed him.”
“That’s right. I killed him like I killed every other zombie before him.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That doesn’t matter. Because my broadsword tasted blood. It tasted a lot of blood. In fact, I was covered in it. Everyone was. The ground was soaking it up by the time we left.”
“Stop. Stop right now.”
“After that boy, I couldn’t stop killing. I lost count after twenty. Men, women, children—I killed them all.”
“Please, no more.”
“You were the one that requested I go. I never asked for it. And you wanted to know what happened in there, so I’m telling you. It was a slaughter. It was a massacre. Every single living thing there—even those dogs and the rest of the animals—were killed.”
“Are you done?”
“Not yet. Remember what you asked me before, about whether those bars are keeping me out or you in? Well if those bars weren’t there right now, if it was just you and me? I’d kill you without any hesitation.”
“Okay, you’ve made your point. Now leave.”
“One of these days those bars aren’t going to be there anymore. There’s going to be nothing to protect you.”
“I don’t have to listen to this.”
“You can get up and walk away, that’s fine. But don’t continue thinking I’m a Tracker. I’m not. I’m a Hunter. I always was and I always will be. And if there’s a zombie, I’m going to kill it.”
Gabriel had been walking away, his back straight, headed for the adjoining room. Now he stopped and glanced back.
“It’s my understanding your son is ten today. What if he turns? Are you going to kill him?”
Conrad shot up from his chair, threw himself at the bars, but the bars maintained their purpose: they kept the dead out and the living in.
26
The party had already started by the time he arrived home. A dozen cars were lined up along both sides of Orchid Lane. He parked one block down and with his broadsword secured in its black case walked as quickly as he could without full out running. Past the mailbox with the attached balloons bouncing in the breeze, up the walkway, through the front door with the sign announcing PARTY THIS WAY, down the hallway and into the kitchen.
Here he took in the mess—plastic plates, cups, forks, spoons, knives, all scattered over the table, the counter, even in the sink. On the table were the remains of the cake. It had originally said HAPPY 10th ANIMATION DAY, KYLE! in cursive script on top, with two Hunter broadswords hugging the bottom, but now most of it was gone, eaten, only bits of letters remaining.
Through the windows he could see everyone out on the deck, gathered around the picnic table. He started that way but hesitated when he remembered the black case. He turned toward the basement door, quickly went down there and rearranged the storage containers, hid the case, then started back up the stairs. He reached the top just as the deck door opened and in walked Denise and Jessica, both with cone-shaped hats on their heads. They were talking, laughing, and when Jessica noticed him first—she always seemed to notice him first—the smile on her face faded and she became quiet. Denise looked over and saw him. She opened her mouth, started to speak, but right then Jessica turned back around and went outside.
“You’re home,” Denise said.
“I’m home.”
They stood about ten feet apart, neither seeming able to move toward the other.
“You were there, weren’t you?”
Conrad nodded.
“How did it go?”
“You had to have seen the news by now.”
“The news doesn’t always tell the whole truth.”
“It did this time.”
“So it’s totally gone? Heaven, the living hiding there—they’ve all been destroyed?”
Conrad thought of the moving river of black uniformed Hunters, about the screaming and bleeding zombies, about the huddled mass of women and children, about being covered in all that living blood.
“Yes,” he said. “They’re all destroyed.”
She came forward and wrapped her arms around him. She placed her head on his shoulder. The kitchen was suddenly silent except for the clock on the wall and the voices outside.
“Conrad?” Denise said after a moment. “Can I ask you something?”
“Does this have to do with your sister?”
She leaned away from him and searched his face.
“What’s her problem now?” he asked.
“You tell me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Did you have Anthony Bruno’s firm closed?”
He stared back at her.
“Please, be honest with me. I won’t be angry with you if you did. I hate the prick as much as you do. But ... did you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“This morning he had a visit from some men from the Government. They shut him down. They told him that he and his staff are lucky, that they could be viewed as living sympathizers, but now that Heaven had been found and destroyed, their services were no longer required.”
“So he’s done?”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Conrad was silen
t for a moment, thinking about this.
“Well?” Denise said. “Did you ... have anything to do with it?”
“Jess thinks I did, doesn’t she.”
“She has no reason to believe you didn’t. Especially after the other night.”
“Well,” he said, and put his hand to his wife’s face to caress her dead flesh, “I had nothing to do with it. This is the first I’m hearing about it. Should I ... say something to her?”
“Not right now. Let me talk to her first.” Once again she embraced him, held him tight. Then she stepped back, smiled up at him, and said, “I’m so glad you’re home. I’m so glad you made it in time.”
“In time for what?”
“Kyle’s already opening his presents. And I’ve saved the best for last.”
• • •
The first thing he noticed when he stepped outside was the number of people he didn’t know. Maybe twenty kids, a dozen parents (mostly mothers), and he didn’t recognize a single face. The only person he did recognize besides his sister-in-law was Thomas, standing off in the corner, smiling at him and giving him a small nod. And now everyone else was looking at him, this latecomer, wondering if this was Kyle’s father.
“Dad!” Kyle said, shooting up from his place at the picnic table. There were opened presents everywhere, a lot of wrapping paper, a few empty boxes. Kyle even had to kick a few of these out of his way to get to his father, who crouched down to hug his son.
Land of the Dead Page 15
