Amongst the Dead

by David Bernstein

  “I still say it’s a waste to let this one go,” Renny said, eyeing Riley with contempt.

  “It’s what the Hag wants,” the large man said. “We keep our end of the bargain, they keep theirs and everyone wins.”

  “Still…” Renny began, but was cut off by the large man’s upraised hand.

  The limousine’s door opened. “After you,” the large man said to Riley, motioning politely with his thick arm.

  She exited the vehicle, the driver eyeing her suspiciously as he held the door open. Looking around, she noticed how incredibly clean the building appeared. When compared to the rest of the city, it almost seemed to sparkle with purity. The sidewalk in front lay unblemished and without trash or debris, unlike the rest of the city.

  A woman was sweeping the steps in front of the building. Riley gasped at the sight of her. She had no eyes, only blackened and hollowed-out holes. But even more shocking was how the woman moved, as if she did have eyes to see.

  “Move it,” Renny ordered her.

  Riley walked up the stairs, the blind woman moving aside to let her pass.

  Inside, the entrance hall was a large empty space with no tables or chairs. No decorations on the walls. “This way, girly,” Renny barked, walking her to a room just on the right. “Think you got off easy, do you?” He laughed. “Well, we’ll see about that.” He went to leave and Riley spoke.

  “I’m going to kill you,” she told him. For a moment the man looked startled, then said, “Sweetie, you wont even remember who I am soon.” With that he exited the room, shutting the door behind him.

  The room had a soft, plush sofa seemingly in decent shape. A candle burned on an elegant looking metal table next to the far wall. The air had the pleasant scent of lilacs and honey. The room had a single window covered with mesh grating, making any thought of escaping out of it futile. Riley checked the door and found it locked. With nothing left to do but wait, she sat down on the sofa and began cataloging everything she’d seen so far, making sure to remember the smallest details for they may aid in her escape.

  The doorknob squeaked, startling her from deep inner thought. The door opened slowly as if by a gentle wind. Her pulse quickened. She swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat, and clenched the fabric of the sofa to keep from shaking.

  An elderly woman entered the room, trailed by two younger women—both having large, protruding stomachs making their skinny frames seem even frailer. Riley gasped aloud when she focused on their heads. All three women were eyeless. Ugly, gaping black holes where eyes should have been, like the woman Riley saw outside sweeping. The old woman’s face was badly wrinkled, prune-like. She wore a shawl over her head, white hair showing from either side of her neck. The other women wore white, hooded robes tied at the waist with a purple sash.

  “Welcome to the Sisterhood of Life,” the old woman said. “Come to me, child.” Her tone was tender, but filled with a hidden menace that made the woman appear affectionate and dangerous at the same time. Riley didn’t move. “Don’t be frightened child. Come here.”

  What madness had she been thrust into? Not wanting the situation turning hostile, Riley realized she’d have to be pliable. She got up from the couch and approached the three women.

  “You smell wonderful,” the old woman said almost gleefully. “Almost ripe and ready.”

  Riley cringed at the words ripe and ready. What the hell did that mean? The old woman reached out to grab her, but she quickly backed away. “Help our friend out, ladies,” the woman said.

  The two young women stepped forward with lightning speed and grasped Riley by the wrists. She struggled to get away, but each woman’s grip held firm as if they were made of iron. The women were strong, their size misleading.

  The old woman shot out her arm and grabbed Riley by the throat. “That’s better, dear. You’ll have to learn our ways, that’s all.” The old woman released her hold and let her fingers trace the contours of Riley’s face.

  Riley grimaced, wanting to let out a cry of disgust as the woman’s cold, bony fingers caressed her skin, but held it in. When the woman was done seeing Riley’s face, she used both hands and squeezed her arms and shoulders as if testing for freshness. Like a young school girl, the old woman giggled. “You are perfect. We’ve been waiting for one like you for some time.”

  “Like me?” Riley asked, taken aback.

  “A new breed of human. You’re not like the rest of us.” The woman was crazy. “You’re pure and redesigned. Death has taken you and spit you back. This world doesn’t apply to you like the rest of us.” The woman paused. She reached down, lifted Riley’s shirt and put a hand across her stomach. Again, Riley fought the urge to cringe. “Soon, you’ll be ready. You’re of adolescence still.”

  “I’m a child.”

  “Yes, but soon you’ll be of age and serve our community well, adding powerful new life.”

  Riley’s brain wrapped itself around the woman’s words. What did she mean? Glancing down, she saw the women’s extended bellies and then she knew. They wanted her for breeding purposes. The two blind women were pregnant and the old woman wanted Riley to become like them.

  “Wait, what’s going on here?” Riley asked, but it was for naught, because she already knew. Joanne had explained the birds and the bees to her, as did her father before he died.

  “Take her to her room,” the old woman said.

  “Wait,” Riley said, beginning to resist the ladies’ pull. “What’s going on and where’s my brother?”

  No one answered her questions and the two young women dragged Riley out of the room. Deciding to go along, fighting proving to be useless, she went willingly with them.

  They took her up two flights of stairs before traveling down a hallway with numerous closed doors on either side.

  As she passed the third door, a female voice cried out, followed by screams. Passing the next room, she heard a woman moaning, but the sound wasn’t filled with hurt, but pleasure.

  Riley was amazed at how well the women leading her moved. They neither hesitated nor stumbled around objects or up the stairs. It was as if they truly did have eyes to see with. This only added to her growing sense of uneasiness. She would need to find a way out of this freakville, and fast.

  She was taken to a room at the end of the hall. Once inside, the steel-barred door—prison-like—was closed and locked. The room was bare, except for two beds and a dresser. On one of the beds sat a young lady, and to Riley’s relief, she had eyes and was reading a book.

  The young woman had thick, wavy hair that ran past her shoulders. Her skin was chalky white, and the bags under her eyes said that she hadn’t slept in days. Riley thought she looked like a zombie, but without the milky, dead eyes and purple veins running along her skin. She might even have been beautiful at one time, but now she looked haggard and tired. She looked up when Riley entered the center of the room.

  “They got you too?” the young woman asked.

  “I was brought here by some men,” Riley answered. She took a seat on the bed opposite the woman. “My name’s Riley.”

  “Jen,” the young woman said, holding out a hand. Riley reached out and shook it.

  “What is this place?” she asked.

  “The Sisters’ House, but I call it Hell.”

  “The place is so clean and well taken care of.”

  “Oh, the place is immaculate, germ free and clean, but it’s all bullshit. They keep it clean to lessen the chance of disease for the pregnant women.”

  “What goes on here?” Riley was almost afraid to ask.

  “The building belongs to the Sisters of Life. They’re a sick and demented religious organization that believe the Earth is now the Devil’s property. Zombies are nothing more than Satan’s soldiers sent to cleanse the land. It’s up to the faithful to bring God back to Earth with a new breed of people.”

  Riley hadn’t known what to expect, but it sounded along the lines of what she could guess. Some crazy shit by another group of
demented assholes. The world was truly worse than she had thought. The mindless killing was bad enough, but this place of human incubation was downright evil.

  “There’s water and bread over on the dresser if you want. It’s not drugged or anything so don’t worry.”

  Riley grabbed the pitcher of water, poured herself a glass and sat down on the unoccupied bed. Jen continued her story and Riley listened, putting every word to memory.

  The men that had brought Riley to the apartment worked in conjunction with the Sisters of Life. The old lady was the Queen, but was more commonly referred to as the Hag. All females brought in that could become pregnant are brought to the Hag and given living quarters. The men are given carnal visitations, raping them over and over every day until the woman takes with child. Then the woman is housed and fed and kept comfortable until the baby arrives before the process is repeated. By then most women are brainwashed and become willing members of the Sisters of Life.

  The babies are then raised to serve in the gang’s army, becoming faithful soldiers to the cause; or they become Sisters, raised and bred with no fuss.

  “What’s the deal with the eyes?” Riley asked.

  “To keep the Sisters from becoming zombies when they die. And to keep anyone from running away.”

  Riley had thought she’d seen the worst of the world but this new tale was awful, something from a demented nightmare. How could anyone let this happen? Taking out eyes and impregnating women? Raising an army? She would have been better off if she was captured by the army men back in Roscoe. “I’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Impossible,” Jen said. “No one has ever escaped. At least that’s what I’m told from speaking with others.” Jen got up, went over to the window and looked out. “Occasionally, if a high-ranking member of the gang fancies a female in the Sisterhood, he can have her live with him.” Jen turned to look at Riley, her face somber. “That’s the only way out of here.”

  “What happens to the women who can’t conceive?”

  Jen laughed. “They’re brought to live in the whorehouse. It’s filled with women of all ages, mostly older. They become the gang’s property to do as they please with. Most of them become sex slaves, repeatedly beaten and raped. Some are killed for sport.”

  Riley swallowed hard. If Joanne was alive, that’s where they must’ve taken her. She was probably too old to be a Sister.

  Riley got up off the bed and stood next to a defeated-looking Jen. She whispered, “Together, we can find a way out of here. They’re blind, after all.”

  Jen shuffled away from Riley, as if disgusted. “Don’t talk like that. They may be blind, but they see better in here than you and me. Have you seen the way they move?”

  “I noticed,” Riley said, her voice low. “It was frightening how neither woman hesitated with me as we traveled the stairs and hallways.”

  “They know this place better without eyes. They can hear better than us too. They’re probably listening to us now.”

  Riley sat on the bed, her legs feeling weak. “We’ve got to try something.”

  Jen sat across from her, seeming angered. “Why? What’s out there,” she pointed to the window, “in the world that’s so great I’d risk my ass for it?”

  Riley was taken aback. “Your freedom,” she said, plainly.

  “The world is dead,” Jen said, her face contorted in anger. “A wasteland for the dead or dying. At least this place offers safety and food. And a feeling of belonging.”

  Riley was beginning to feel as if Jen had already joined the Sisters, mentally. She had seemed normal enough when Riley first talked to her, but now it seemed like the woman was trying to convince Riley that it was better here. “But they rape women and they’ll take your eyes. And do you really want to carry one of their babies, raised to believe this nonsense?”

  Jen stared at Riley with icy, hate-filled eyes.

  “You’re already pregnant?” Riley asked, her eyes wide with shock. “Aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Jen said, smugly. “And if I wasn’t, I’d be one of the gang’s whores and living in the whorehouse or worse, dead.”

  Riley’s mouth hung open, too appalled to speak.

  “Don’t look so shocked,” Jen told her. “When I first arrived I was like you. I got used to the men. Hardly any of them really hurt you and when you’re pregnant they can’t lay a hand on you.”

  Riley couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could anyone, let alone a building’s worth of women, let themselves become incubators for such filth? And their babies used and taught that Sisterhood or gang life was the way of the world. A child growing up in this environment would know no different.

  Jen laughed as she looked upon Riley with pity. “I guess that’s how I looked when I first arrived. It’s really not so bad here, Riley. We live in a hideous and ugly world and if losing one of my senses and being part of a new generation, one that will end the apocalypse… Well doesn’t that sound nice?”

  Riley stood up. “No. And I won’t become a part of this.” She walked over to the barred door. “You hear me? I won’t become a part of this.”

  “Not yet,” Jen said. “But you’re coming of age, aren’t you? Soon you’ll get your period.”

  Riley didn’t move from the barred door, still wrapping her fingers around the steel. But Jen was right. Riley was thirteen now. She knew about womanhood—the menstrual cycle. Girls typically got their period between twelve and thirteen years of age. Riley was a forbidden piece of fruit about ready to ripen.

  “They’ll keep you well nourished and apart from the men, wanting you in prime condition.”

  Riley walked back to the bed area. She sat down, pulling her legs up to her chest, and rolled onto her side, facing away from Jen. She had to find a way out, find Eric and Joanne and get as far away from the Sisters as possible.

  Chapter Ten

  Blood

  A month went by and every day was a monotonous drone of utter boredom. There was no torture, no degradation. Riley was supplied with three meals a day plus intermittent snacks. She ate eggs, vegetables, canned goods and some form of meat, usually venison. All in all, she was treated well.

  As difficult as it was to contemplate, she understood why women eventually succumbed to the Sisters. They gave the appearance of safety, caring and community. And with the world so messed up, to put it plainly, it gave the hopeless a place to live. The Sisters of Life came across as a highly religious organization and that following their ways would lead to the betterment of society.

  Riley saw it for what it was: a farce. Nothing more than brainwashing, where the weak were preyed upon. Then they were fattened up, and made ready to become an incubator. The Sisterhood wanted the women’s bodies in prime condition, both physically and mentally, for when they were to be with child. And as young as Riley was, she had hope for the world. She hadn’t in any way given up, and would take advantage of the wonderful meals she was given. Not for any future child—no, but for the energy she’d need to escape when the time presented itself. She also performed exercises daily, pushups and stretching, to keep her muscles as strong and durable as possible.

  Jen was taken away during the second week of Riley’s stay and returned eyeless. She had gauze over her empty sockets and was only in the room to sleep at night. Riley had no idea where she was taken during the daytime, but Jen had completely changed since she first met her. She no longer grew upset or angry when speaking with Riley, only talking about the Sisterhood and how glorious it was to be a part of them and the new world that was to come.

  As the weeks passed, Jen’s stomach grew with child. She had become a devout worshiper of the Sisterhood and Riley no longer recognized her. Whenever the two spoke, it was always Jen doing the talking. Riley had learned that responding to the woman was pointless. Jen never replied to Riley’s comments or questions, as if Riley wasn’t even there.

  During the day, Riley was taught the teachings of the Sisterhood. Each and every word uttered
during lessons was repeated by Jen at night before bed. She tried not to listen, to block her annoying roommate out with thoughts of her old life and ways to escape, but Jen’s constant preaching was too much.

  Riley understood the psychological tactics the Sisters were using—a barrage of preaching, hearing the same words over and over again. They wanted her to accept the teachings as truth. To become one of them and if that didn’t work, they would break her, driving her to crack, to go insane until she truly did believe. Either way, the Sisters got what they wanted.

  She would have none of it, but recognized the need to deceive the Sisters. She had to act, pretending to believe their words, which is why she paid careful attention during lessons, learning the rules and the ways of the Sisterhood.

  Riley dressed in a white, hooded robe like the other Sisters, but wore a red sash around her waist indicating that she was not yet at the age of womanhood and that no man could lay with her. She had no idea how the women kept track of color, but they managed without mistake.

  She was inspected every day for her period. A Sister would feel her pubis area for moisture before bringing her fingers to her nose to smell for blood. The task was embarrassing and Riley had struggled at first, but soon the physical intrusion became as routine as eating.

  Because she still had the use of her eyes, Riley was given a bible to read. Many of the pages had been torn out, leaving certain passages which she was to memorize. Blind Sisters were taught verbally.

  She was hardly ever permitted to leave her room, the only occasions being for lessons—another psychological torture ploy. It was a good thing she had many memories and a strong mind to keep her sane.

  As the weeks became months, Jen was removed from the room and taken somewhere else to live. Riley never saw her again.

  Needing something to pass the time, she dove into the literature. She was more alone than she’d ever been and felt as if her spirit was fading. It was all part of the Sisters’ way to get one to break. She knew this and understood the need to remain focused, strong willed, but still she felt herself crumbling at times. The need to give up was strong.