Pilch looks at the scars and realizes what Yusif plans to do, “There’s gotta be another way.”
“I am a lucky man. My death will mean something,” and he draws his scimitar holding it out to Pilch, “Could you give this to my family… one day my grandson may need it.”
Pilch takes it, noticing the ancient king’s family crest is gilded onto the blade.
“I could not have made it this far without you Americans,” and he moves to the open door, “I am sorry so many had to die.”
Pilch can only nod and watch as Yusif grabs the door and slams it shut behind him. There’s a flash of light, and the earth quakes with the power. The light fades, and the door has been replaced by a wall of rock. Pilch runs his hand over the rough stone. He looks down at Yusif’s scimitar in his hand, then puts it in his pack and heads back toward the others.
Chapter 22
Oddball looks around to see the undead all lying motionless on the ground, “Jesus.”
Muller looks at the pistol and with a shaking hand puts it in his holster, “Another second and…”
Pilch walks up.
“Where’s Yusif?” Vanessa asks.
“He closed the gate,” and looks to them, “One way trip.”
“We lost Monte,” Oddball tells him.
Pilch shakes his head, “No, he was never lost.”
Muller nods, “A good man.”
“The best,” Pilch agrees.
Vanessa looks around, “What now?”
Pilch shrugs, “I don’t know; you’re the expert.”
Beside them the wall lifts up, revealing another passageway.
“Look out!” Oddball yells.
A long corridor has opened up in front of them. Along the walls for as far as they can see are soldiers from every historical era. At the far end is a twinkling of light.
“That’s real sunlight!” Oddball says
The undead soldiers all take one step forward.
“Jesus,” Pilch exclaims.
“We’ll never get through that,” Muller notes.
“I think they’ll let us pass,” Vanessa tells them.
Pilch nods, “Alright, slowly.”
The four step into the corridor. As they pass, the first two soldiers move.
“Look out,” Oddball yells. The soldiers salute and step back, “What the…”
“Come on, keep moving,” Pilch tells them.
As they pass each pair, they salute in their own custom.
Vanessa looks to the end of the tunnel, “Definitely real sunlight.”
As they reach the end, Matty and Pender stand as the last pair before the door.
“Matty, no,” Pilch cries out.
The pair salute and step back.
“We got to finish ’em. We can’t leave ’em like this,” Oddball says.
Matty smiles and speaks, “No. I’m in a good place now.”
Pilch reaches out to touch him; he’s a ghost, “But…”
“You did good, men,” Pender tells them as the door starts to slowly come down.
“Pilch, could you give this to Katie?” Matty asks and holds out the gold box from the Babylonian room.
“You got it pal,” and Pilch accepts the box.
“Pilch, now,” Pender orders him.
Oddball pushes Vanessa through. Pender and Matty step into their alcoves.
“Come on,” and Muller drags Pilch through, just as the door closes.
The four survivors look across the empty sand. In the distance is an American supply line.
“Think anyone will believe us?” Pilch asks them.
Oddball shakes his head, “I’m not fuckin’ sure I believe it.”
Muller looks to the American supply lines, “I suppose you’ll want to turn me in.”
Pilch follows his gaze, “Where else you plannin’ on going?”
Muller shrugs, “I don’t know, Egypt.”
“Back to the war?” Vanessa asks.
Muller shakes his head, “No, I’m done with fighting, kaput.”
Muller pulls his Iron Cross off and throws it to the ground. Pilch locks eyes with him.
“Let’s go,” Pilch says and turns his back on Muller and starts for the road. Vanessa and Oddball nod to him and follow.
Pilch stops and tosses his canteen to Muller, “Good luck, sir.”
Chapter 23
Oddball, Vanessa, and Pilch sit in the back of a truck as it heads down a desert road. Oddball holds Vanessa close, staring glumly out at the desert landscape whipping by.
“Never heard you this quiet before,” Pilch says.
Oddball turns to him, “Just thinkin’ about what I’m gonna tell the grandkids.”
Pilch thinks, “Just tell ’em… Just tell ’em, ‘the desert’s a bitch.’”
Vanessa laughs, and Pilch looks down at the scimitar he holds in his hands, then out at the sand that stretches to the horizon.
About the Author
Having squandered my youth as a deviant and troublemaker, I started my adult life in the military. No judge forced me into this, nor was I drafted, conscripted or unduly influenced by recruiters. I volunteered. Shocking, I know.
I was trained as a paratrooper and learned by being pushed out of airplanes. I’ve had many bad landings, wrecking crops, scaring small children, and I even broke a church steeple once.
After the military, I earned a degree from Texas A&M University. Although Texas A&M is an agricultural school, I never attended a single agriculture course. I think it only fair to be up front about that.
Having earned my degree, I planned on a career in counter-terrorism. This stems from some deep-seated psychological problem that I never have put a finger on. Worry not; these testosterone-driven, misguided dreams have long since receded to the depths of my mind, and they rarely make an appearance.
While in Los Angeles interviewing for a job, I met a guy at a bar (a common story starter for me, as I spend a lot of my time in bars). He took me along to a Hollywood party where I met some other guy who offered me a job on a movie. To make a really long story, which should be told over several pints, short, I spent twenty years making movies around the world where I actively kept up the guise of an “Ugly American” while honing my craft as a storyteller and author.
Copyright
Copyright © 2013
All rights reserved.
Published by Mercurybar Productions Inc.
Cover art by Luciano Fleitas
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Rise of the Undead 1943 Page 9
