AfterLife

by S. P. Cloward

  It was dusk in the Magic Kingdom and the park was lit up. It really was beautiful, and the safest place Wes could imagine. There were no visitors yet, but the darkness and crisscrossing paths would be valuable tools to use as he hid from Seth. He stared down the street toward Seth who was still motionless. He must be trying to figure out how he had lost control of their surroundings, Wes thought. To be honest, he couldn’t explain how he’d done it, but he was happy he had. He couldn’t see Seth’s eyes or his facial expression but knew from his stance he wasn’t pleased.

  The two men stared at each other for what felt like eternity. “Now,” Wes whispered to himself, “it’s time for me to disappear.” As he said the words, the park instantly filled with thousands of tourists and as quickly as the masses appeared, Wes lost sight of Seth. This was now a fight Wes was more comfortable fighting.

  Chapter 28

  Wes bolted off through the crowds of tourists toward Liberty Square, one of the themed lands. The advantage was now his. Not only did he know the park extremely well, it was his creation; they were now in an environment he controlled and could freely change. He could sense Seth’s movement inside of it as well. When Seth bumped into one of the thousands of guests in the park, Wes felt it. This would allow him to keep track of Seth in a way he never would have been able to if he’d remained in Seth’s world. He could feel Seth trying to change the environment, but with each attempt Wes held on to the mental image he had spent so much time perfecting.

  The next thing to do was to find a good place to hide while he explored the possibility of separating his consciousness between the two dimensions. He needed to discover if he could intentionally replicate the event. If he could be in both places simultaneously, he could hold off Seth in here while he fought Blake out there. It wouldn’t be easy; Blake had obviously lived a healthy life as an antemort and although Wes was taller, Blake might be stronger. One step at a time, he thought. For now, it was the best plan Wes could devise.

  After crossing the bridge into Liberty Square, Wes ran toward a restaurant that sat across from the haunted house and a show that displayed all the presidents of the United States. The walkways were full of park guests of all ages, and because they were part of his creation he was able to easily maneuver them as he moved through the park. They parted to clear his path. Seth, on the other hand, was having more difficulty with the crowds he was surrounded by. On Main Street, Wes’s mentally-concocted tourists were offering a significant challenge, especially the line of guests in electronic scooters he sent toward Seth. These were followed by a pack of guests with strollers.

  Once inside the restaurant, Wes sat at a table near a window that looked out onto the main walkway. The old-style rippled glass morphed the images of the passing guests. He was safe for now so it was time to try to link with the real world. Pain had caused him to pull out of the sync in the arena, but he had no intention of using pain as a catalyst this time. No sense in making himself uncomfortable if he didn’t have to, and besides, he hadn’t had much control over what was going on in either world. He had, however, been able to pull both himself and Seth from Seth’s mind just by thinking about it. Could he use the same approach with this? He didn’t know. This was all new to him, and from Emily, Ken, and Meri’s reactions to his abilities, he knew this type of syncing was foreign to them as well. If this was his ability, he’d have to learn how to use it himself and he’d better learn fast.

  Wes monitored Seth’s progress while Seth forced his way through the hordes of people on his way toward the castle in the center of the park. From his sporadic movements, Wes knew he was trying to decide which themed land to go into first. Apparently Seth needed Wes to be in his line of sight to exercise control over him. Good to know. He just needed to stay away from Seth as long as possible. He decided to make movement even more difficult for Seth, and instantly there was a parade with dancing characters moving through the streets around him. Progress in the area became impossible. The parade also blocked Seth’s closest route to Liberty Square. The floats were ornamented with dancing lights and fiber optics that illuminated the surrounding buildings as they moved down the path.

  Wes focused on extracting himself from the sync as he always did when pulling out of meditation, only this time he also continually kept his park in his mind. Slowly, he could sense he was moving though the nothingness between minds. He was halfway there; both sitting at the restaurant looking out a window at a passing parade and standing in the nothingness. Good. One step at a time, he thought. Now he had to partially pull out of the sync while still maintaining control of his park to keep Seth occupied. Slowly he began to withdraw from the nothingness and back into reality. In the park, he could sense that Seth had somehow made it across the bridge; he was a better tracker than Wes had originally anticipated.

  It didn’t matter that Seth was close; Wes was making progress in his attempt to control two different places. Slowly the room in the Atumra basement came into focus. Blake was still sitting on the table, swinging his feet. Then suddenly, the part of his mind in the park saw one of the parade floats go up in flames. The performers leapt from the burning vehicle and the screaming park guests spread out in all directions.

  The shock of the image caused Wes to lose his concentration, and the part of his mind that was maneuvering into reality returned back to his sync with Seth. The creation of his theme park disappeared around him. Swirls of color surrounded him as his mind struggled to hold the park in place. He was unsuccessful. His park disappeared. There he stood in the nothingness with Seth only a dozen feet away.

  “Got ya!” Seth exclaimed, his voice laced with delight.

  Seth may have been delighted to see Wes, but Wes did not return the sentiment. He concentrated again on bringing his park back into focus, but this time it was harder as he could feel Seth’s mind struggling to ensure the nothingness remained. He needed a distraction – something that would give him the time he needed to reestablish his control over their sync.

  “Not for long, Seth. A little more of a challenge than you expected?” Wes knew Seth had underestimated his abilities. He could tell by Seth’s reaction to his creation of the Magic Kingdom that Seth hadn’t expected him to be able to change the environment. Seth also knew he could sync with Mortuis from a distance; he’d sent Jez in to sync with him to lure him into this trap. Maybe Seth didn’t know the extent of his abilities. How could he? Wes was only discovering them himself. It was possible he had abilities Seth didn’t know about, and Wes could use the idea of that as his distraction.

  “You don’t have me at all, Seth. We can remain here but I won’t fight you alone. I can bring as many people into this sync as I want. I have friends who will help me.” Wes began creating images of as many people as he could. Emily appeared next to him, then came Meri and Ken, followed by all four of the Ancestors.

  The distraction worked. For a second, Seth released his mental grip over their surroundings, giving Wes enough time to bring the theme park back in focus. Suddenly they stood in the middle of the path where the parade was. The float Seth ignited reappeared untouched, separating Wes from Seth. Wes darted toward the side of the parade route and disappeared into the crowd gathered to watch the cavalcade of characters. He was back in control, for now, and his search to find a new place to concentrate began.

  Wes didn’t waste any time putting distance between himself and Seth, and quickly he found a quiet place in the dark near the entrance to Space Mountain. Seth was at the opposite side of the park now, and Wes could sense him trying again to change the surroundings but didn’t allow it. He didn’t want another burning float incident.

  Once more, Wes began his mind separation. He’d almost done it before and knew he was on the right track. He could do it. He just needed to make sure he kept enough of his mind focused here to control Seth.

  Concentrating on his park and Seth’s movements, he again began to pull part of his consciousness out of the sync. The half of his mind that was retreating
watched as the neon lights and buildings of Tomorrowland slowly faded away until he found himself both in the nothingness and still on the bench in the park. Almost there, Wes thought. Now to get back to the real world. The darkness faded around him and he slowly opened his eyes in the basement room of the Atumra headquarters. He was back!

  Blake was still sitting on the table. Meri was now also in the room. She was lying tied up on the floor with her back to Wes. He couldn’t see her face, but if she was tied up then she probably hadn’t been severed. That was a good thing. Seth’s soldiers probably didn’t want to do anything without Seth’s approval first, and they wouldn’t get it while Seth was in sync.

  After quickly surveying the surroundings, Wes closed his eyes again to prevent Blake from seeing that he was conscious. There wasn’t anything in the room he could use as a weapon against Blake. He would need to disable him to free Meri.

  Seth was still on the other side of the park. He was pushing his way through the crowds. He made countless attempts to change the surroundings, but so far Wes was able to prevent him from doing anything. For now, his split focus was holding steady.

  Wes opened his eyes and in one quick movement jumped to his feet and lunged toward Blake. The impact pushed Blake off the table and onto the floor. Blake responded quickly and was on his feet before Wes regained his balance. He aimed a powerful kick at Wes with a force that threw him against the wall. Wes didn’t lose his breath or feel any pain – one of the advantages of being Mortui.

  Blake was in full fighting mode, and it was obvious he was expertly trained. “What are you doing here?” he asked accusingly. “Where’s Seth? What did you do to him?” His fists came up to protect his face and his stance was wide, like that of a boxer’s. His eyes anchored to Wes’s. Wes quickly fisted his right hand and threw it at Blake’s face. There was no pain as it came in contact with Blake’s skull, but Blake didn’t bother to block. “He’s dead. I severed him,” Wes said as Blake attacked.

  Wes ducked under a punch Blake threw at him and returned with one of his own. This time Wes’s punch hit Blake’s jaw. Again Blake failed to block. Maybe he’s blind in his left eye, Wes thought. “This fight is over, you just don’t know it yet,” he taunted. His fist came in contact with Blake’s temple a third time.

  Blake shifted his weight to one leg as the other foot smashed into Wes’s chest, sending him flying backward. “This fight will never be over. Not as long as there’s still an AfterLife.” Wes didn’t hit the wall this time; instead he fell back through the doorway and landed in the hall. Charlie was still lying on the floor, his eye sockets empty.

  Blake lunged through the doorway and jumped on top of Wes before he could get up. Wes felt the same pressure he always felt when restrained. He pressed his arms against Blake and tried to push him off but couldn’t. Blake was stronger than he was, and he managed to pin Wes’s arms beneath his knees. With one arm holding Wes down, Blake went for his eyes.

  “If you really did sever Seth, I gotta thank you for that. He took one of my eyes. Now it’s your turn.” Wes forced one of his arms from under Blake’s knee and stopped Blake’s hand before it could reach him to do any damage. The pressure increased as Blake pushed his hand closer to Wes’s eye.

  With a hard jerk, Wes forced his other hand free and quickly grabbed the darts bundled in his pocket. He pulled them out and the fabric that was wrapped around them fell off. Blake’s hand inched closer to Wes’s eye. Wes tapped the back of the dart bundle on the floor to activate them.

  “I’ll keep my eyes, thank you,” Wes yelled. In one quick motion, he lifted the handful of charged darts and slammed them into Blake’s side. His body went rigid and rolled off Wes onto the floor. All 15 darts jolted Blake’s body into spasms and twitches. Wes stood up and stepped toward the convulsing man. The darts would only hold him for a few minutes. Wes lowered himself closer and looked at Blake.

  “It would be really easy to pull one of the darts out of your side and cram it into your eye,” Wes said. “If our roles were reversed, I have no doubt you’d do it to me. But I’m not with the Atumra, I’m with AfterLife, and we do things differently. Oh, and by the way, your boss is still alive. I have him in sync for now, but I’m sure he’ll deal with you the Atumra way.”

  Wes stood back up without doing anything and went to untie Meri. She had scooted her body around to watch the fight and was now facing him. He took the ropes that he untied from around her and used them to tie Blake up.

  “Did you kill Seth?” Meri asked from the doorway while Wes carefully knotted Blake in the rope.

  Wes shook his head. “No, I’m still in sync with him. He’s making his way through Fantasyland as we speak.” The statement was made in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, but it must have been a surprise to Meri.

  “How can that be?” She kneeled down and looked questioningly at Wes as she helped tie the final knot around Blake’s hands.

  “It just is.” Wes stood up. “Where is everyone else?”

  Meri ran to where she’d been tied up and examined the floor, then leaned down and picked up her earpiece. “I don’t know; let’s find out.” She put the earpiece back in her ear.

  Wes had no idea where his earpiece was located. He would have to rely on Meri to communicate with the rest of their group. Meri began talking but he tuned it out as he looked at Seth’s body on the floor. It would be easy to take his eyes and end it all here and now, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Seth was passing from Fantasyland into Tomorrowland. He must have a sense of where Wes was sitting, and he was getting closer. He didn’t know how Seth was tracking him, but it was time to get busy here. There was still Lyall to take care of before he finished his encounter with Seth.

  Wes walked across the hall to where his brother was strapped to the bed. Lyall’s chest rose and fell with each breath. At least he was still alive. The man who had been watching over him was not in the room. He must have left with the other soldiers to fight off Jose, Amanda, Chloe, and Xander somewhere inside the building. It would be easy to take Lyall now but he feared detaching Lyall from the equipment might adversely affect him in some way. They needed the gray-haired man to do it safely.

  “They’re upstairs.” Meri emerged from the room across the hall. She grabbed Wes’s arm, pulling him from the doorway. “Xander’s been severed but the rest of them are surrounded in the lobby. They’re almost out of darts and they’re going to need our help until our friends get here. We’ll come back for your brother, I promise.”

  Reluctantly, Wes allowed Meri to drag him away and followed her lead down the hall. The split in consciousness was starting to disorient him, and the success of his standoff would require him to place a little more focus on maintaining his mental creation. Seth was getting closer to his hiding spot. It was time to move. In his park, he stood up from the bench where he’d secluded himself and sprinted toward the entrance of the PeopleMover, hurrying up the moving ramp that led to the second story loading platform. He would watch Seth’s movements from above.

  Meri was still leading the way up to the ground floor. At the top of the stairs, Meri held out her hand to stop Wes. “Okay everyone,” she said to the others on the communication line, “get ready to stand clear. I’m setting the first one off in 10, 9, 8…” She continued the count as she pulled an object from her pocket. It was one of the small, ping-pong-shaped balls Wes had seen her take from the chest in the living room before they left their apartment that night. She pressed a button on its side and a red light lit up. As she finished her countdown, she stepped out of the stairwell and threw the object into a group of Atumra soldiers standing just out of reach of AfterLife’s electrifying darts. Meri quickly jumped back into the stairwell. The ball hit the ground and stopped where it landed. Immediately a concussion pulse exploded, knocking all the soldiers to the ground and splintering the wood paneling and the ceiling a dozen meters in each direction.

  “What was that?” Wes stared in shock at the scene.

&
nbsp; “That’s what we call a Pulse,” Meri said, smiling at Wes. “It emits a compression wave that does the equivalent of bruising everyone the wave comes in contact with. The Mortuis’ muscles are now pretty badly damaged, making it difficult for them to move. They’ll need to do some heavy feeding to repair themselves.”

  “You could have used one of those downstairs when we were cornered.”

  “Nope,” Meri said, moving down the hallway and pulling out another Pulse. “It could have hit Lyall and that definitely would have killed him.”

  The sound of firing EDDIEs began again in the lobby. Meri led the way into the hallway past the immobilized Mortuis who littered the floor. She began her countdown again and launched another Pulse into the far end of the hallway where more soldiers were hiding. Again, Meri pushed Wes back into a doorframe as the Pulse detonated.

  After the compression wave passed, the sound of EDDIEs started up again. Wes could tell there were more than just a few soldiers here tonight. They were in the middle of a full-out attack. The soldiers didn’t have any weapons though. Poor planning on Seth’s part. He hadn’t prepared his men for battle. He probably hadn’t expected one.

  From the far end of the hallway, the door to the loading dock opened. Through it stepped Ken and Carol, followed by Daemon and Aimee from St. Louis. Wes was relieved to see them. Each was equipped with a giant water gun that was attached to tanks strapped to their backs. “Hi Meri,” Ken said, walking past more fallen soldiers. “Are we too late to help?”

  “Never,” Meri responded.

  Ken and the others stepped into the lobby and started shooting streams of liquid at the soldiers descending the grand staircase from the upper levels. As the liquid hit them, the Mortuis screamed in pain.

  Carol, with her short, curly gray hair and flowered blouse, looked almost comical sporting the spray gun contraption, but she continued forward into the lobby with Daemon and Aimee at her side. The other AfterLife members joined their line with their EDDIEs and slowly they pushed the Atumra soldiers into retreat. It was clear the soldiers weren’t expecting Ken and the others to arrive. More evidence they weren’t prepared for the type of encounter taking place.