The Village of Dead Souls: A Zombie Novel

by Michael Wallace

  In a window, a poster with a picture of a samurai sword and an ancient battle-ax, caught the eye of Benwa and the group stopped with him. He pointed to the weapons and said, "Where can we get some of those?"

  Greg stepped up next to him and his eyes opened wide. "That sword looks very much like mine, which has been in my family for almost a hundred years. I must hold it in my hands again."

  A few feet behind them, while staring at the poster, Drew said, "I remember that. It's an ancient weapons exhibit at the museum. I think it’s only a few blocks away from here."

  Benwa asked, "What is this museum?"

  Drew shrugged his shoulders. "It's where we keep all of our old stuff."

  Greg replied, "Then we shall attack this museum and take these weapons. We will have the element of surprise on our side. They will not be able to gather their forces before we can overtake them."

  Scratching the side of his head, Drew said, "Yeah, the museum is not exactly known for going into battle with anyone. I doubt they have any forces," his face lit up and he threw his fist in the air," so what the hell, let's storm the place!"

  As Drew, the Viking, and the Samurai cheered with others, several of the living walking down the sidewalk realized the crowd with the mustaches was in fact zombies and they ran off screaming. This created a chain reaction and more panic from the surrounding humans on the street. Prometheus pointed to Benwa and said, "You take a group to the place where they store the old weapons and I will lead the rest to the merchant who has a video camera." He turned to Jennifer, who also wore a large mustache, and asked, "Where is the location of this market?"

  She pointed to the next block and said, "Its right up here. Let's hurry."

  The zombies scurried as quickly as their dead bodies would allow. They limped and staggered down the street, as the humans continued to run away in fear. Prometheus turned to one of his fellow mustache-clad zombies and said, "Perhaps these disguises are not as effective as the good Candice had expected."

  With all the panic, humans ran into the streets, causing cars to veer away and crash into light poles, benches and other cars. Car alarms went off and blended in with the screams, and windows breaking.

  Several blocks away in the distance, he heard an alarm bell sound followed by the faint sound of sirens. He announced, "Benwa and Greg must be in a grand and heroic battle with the army of the museum."

  Inside the electronics store, Prometheus scanned all the odd-looking equipment, while the customers panicked and ran out the front door. Several displayed video cameras projected the zombies on the television screens. In all the chaos, he turned to Jennifer and asked, "Where is this tool which will deliver our message and help our cause?"

  Jennifer pointed to a small pocket size video camera on a display directly in front of them. "Right there." She grabbed the white rectangular camera and the package of batteries next to it."

  As she picked up the device, a screaming woman ran into her. The human appeared frozen in fear, standing inches from the dead history teacher and shrieking in her face. Jennifer pulled her mustache off, placed it under the human's nose and shouted back, "Boo!" After the frightened woman ran away, she turned to Prometheus and said, "We should get out of here before-" She was cutoff as the security guard grabbed her arm and yelled in his strange language. Without hesitation, she pulled his hand toward her and bit into his forearm. The man jerked his arm back and ran off holding his bleeding wound.

  With blood pouring from her mouth, Jennifer turned to Prometheus and said, "I don't know what came over me. I just bit him without thinking about it. But, it felt so good. I feel great, full of energy and strength."

  As he pulled her towards the door, he replied, "I too have felt the controlling effects of eating the flesh. It can take over your actions just as a bottle of wine. We must get out of here before it consumes you and the rest of us."

  Out in the street, humans ran out of stores in an attempt to flee the undead. Prometheus and his group tried to escape the panic, but traveled down the center of the street. The cars swerved to avoid the zombies. Some ran into the living dead and some crashed into each other creating a blockade. As they maneuvered their way through the wreckage, several smoke canisters fell down on the asphalt, adding a white fog to the chaos. Police officers dressed in riot gear, appeared at both ends of the block. The group of zombies gathered in a circle in the center of the street as the police slowly moved closer. Pulling his mustache off, Prometheus said, "It looks as though our fancy masks are no longer working."

  Jennifer tried to climb over two of the wrecked cars in the street to join her clan. As she slid across a hood, four officers grabbed her and pulled her back from the group. "Prometheus!" she screamed, as they threw her to the ground. Three of the zombies ran to her rescue, but met resistance. Several officers fired their tasers and sent the undead into convulsions. Through the smoke, which now covered the entire block, two more officers that were human, appeared with fireman’s axes. While the zombies continued to lurch on the ground, the axes came down and decapitated them.

  Prometheus glanced over at Jennifer and saw her wrapped in large leather straps and a face muzzle strapped to her head as she struggled and fought to get free. Two officers dragged her away, as another attended the bleeding bite wound on his colleague's shoulder.

  Surrounded with a line of shield and ax wielding humans closing the gap, the zombies moved closer together. As the several humans pulled out their bright yellow tasers and pointed them at the undead, Benwa charged through the smoke with a battle-ax in one hand and a sword in the other. He quickly thrust his sword into an officer and buried his ax into the chest of another. Greg shot through the crowd, swinging a samurai sword, giving lethal blows to every officer, he could see. A human drew his handgun and shot Benwa in the chest. The Viking pulled a similar gun from his waistband, pointed it at the officer and shot him in the chest. As the man fell to the ground, Gunnar looked at the weapon with a puzzled look of awe.

  As the remaining police ran off and disappeared in the smoke, Prometheus walked over to the last place where he saw Jennifer. On the ground next to the tire of the wrecked car, he found the blood covered camera and batteries. He picked up the electronics and turned back to the center of the block where his fellow zombies feasted on the dead officers. They pulled organs out of bodies, shoving them into their mouths, covering their faces with blood. Tussles broke out over severed limbs, as several zombies would bite into each body part like piranhas stripping a carcass. The urge to consume flesh grew too strong and Prometheus quickly joined in the feast.

  Chapter 7

  Candles and oil lamps lit the warehouse with a gold flicker. A raven landed on a steel I-beam above the crowd. Below the bird, surrounded by the horde, which now numbered in the hundreds, Titus announced, “It is clear, the living have sectioned off the portions of this city where we gather. I say they have already made a gift of this land to form our own territory. We may be a sovereign nation in their eyes. Why else would they attack us when we venture into their land?”

  Prometheus responded, “No we must continue our mission and give these gifts to the living. The gods have chosen us among all who have inhabited the earth. Great is this honor for us even to carry these endowments. The descendants only attack us out of fear.”

  John, still wearing the blue dress that he found in the alley, interjected, “Before we continue this debate and decide our next direction, I want to thank Gunnar Benwa for showing up like the Calvary and saving our butts.”

  “Yes, a cheer must go out to our brave warriors and their grand victory.” Titus replied.

  The crowd called out in unison and threw their hands in the air, “Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah.”

  Turning back to their debate, Titus said to Prometheus, “How many times have they attacked us unprovoked? With each assault, they kill more and more of our kind. I am no longer in favor of helping my descendants. If they are this aggressive and so quick to go to war, I will no longer cl
aim them as family. I say we find land where we can exist without threat of attack and finish out our second lives.”

  Many in the crowd voiced their opinions. Some were in agreement with Titus and some sided with Prometheus. As the debate grew, more ravens gathered in the rafters like an audience watching a play. Titus said, “I say instead of fighting, we simply divide into two villages. This will allow each side of the argument to exist as they wish.” He scanned the crowd and raised his hand. “Who stands with me and wants to form the village that resists the humans?”

  One third of the zombies raised their hands. Prometheus responded, "There it is. If this is your belief, you shall go and find another sanctuary to live. Heed this warning; you will take with you the gifts intended for the living. I do alert you to be aware of the anger of the gods. Their wrath may not have any compassion."

  Titus gathered those who wanted to join him and asked Gunner, "Viking, who do you and your warriors support?"

  Benwa calmly replied, "We have vowed to protect all of our kind. Our duty will be to protect all of you, no matter where you live, or what you believe. I still consider all of us undead to be of the same clan."

  "You are a man of honor, my friend." Prometheus said.

  Titus placed his hand on Benwa's shoulder. "For a Viking, you would make a good Roman."

  Gunnar walked over to Greg who studied the samurai sword he stole from the museum. "The watermarks tell me of the family who owned this sword. It is a person I knew and helped build a shelter for their horses. He must be repaying me now by giving me his sword."

  "It is a fine sword." Gunnar said. "When our people live in two villages, we must divide in order to protect both clans. You are as fine a warrior as I have ever seen. Will you take some men and defend Titus and his new village?"

  Greg fed the sword through his belt, gave a half bow and stared at the Viking's feet. "I consider it an honor to be given such a responsibility."

  From the far door, a woman's voice called out, "I guess this is where I'm supposed be."

  Prometheus turned and saw a nicely dressed blonde businesswoman in a white shirt, dark gray blazer and matching short tight skirt. She wore high heels but walked across the warehouse with the gate of an athlete. "Either I've found the secret zombie lair or I've stumbled into a gigantic dork convention," she said as she moved closer to the group.

  Prometheus stepped forward to welcome the newcomer. "Greetings to the fair lady who joins our clan. What is your name and from where do you hail?"

  The attractive woman stopped at the edge of the group with her hands on her hips, turned her head, spit, and addressed the Athenian. "Greetings? From where do I hail? Who are you, Henry Higgins?"

  John stepped forward. "We are all from different parts of history and the present. It's like we have two factions here, the ancients and the moderns, which explains his strange vernacular. I'm guessing you're of times that are more recent. How about you start with your name, where you're from and how you died."

  The businesswoman relaxed her stance and replied, "Call me KC. I'm from Golden at the base of the foothills. As for my last memory while alive, I was working in my lab. The contamination alarm went off and the doors automatically sealed. It doesn't take a scientist to determine that I didn't make it out." She scanned her body, ran her hands down her hips and felt the material of her skirt. "Judging by the pharmacy this chick had in her purse, I'm guessing we both met our demise by modern chemicals."

  Prometheus said, "Well KC, the gods have bequest to all of us a power to hand over to the living. What is the gift you are to give?"

  KC noticed the duffle bag on the ground with the handguns. "Hey, I've always wanted one of these." She bent down, picked up a 9mm, pulled the slide back to chamber a round and placed it in her skirt waistband in the center of her back. "The gods? Gifts to the living? I don't know anything about that. Some gray haired guy, he didn't give me his name, but I'm guessing by his looks and outfit that he was Father Time, gave me a message to give to all of you."

  John asked, "You don't carry the cure for a disease or a new ability?"

  "No, just a message." She scanned his blue outfit. "Nice dress, by the way."

  Prometheus asked, "Then please tell us, KC of Golden, what is the message given to you by the Father of Time?"

  She walked into the center of the group and surveyed the other zombies. "Here's what I'm supposed to tell you." She took a deep breath and spoke rather fast. "The soft colored song will carry the words of the chosen one. These words will be held silent for 100 years until the one who holds the spark of the flame gives them to the children of the descendants." She let out her breath. "There, I said it. Can I go now?"

  Prometheus asked, "What does this mean? What is a soft colored song? Why do the words remain silent for 100 years?"

  KC noticed the ravens perched in the rafters, and then brought her attention back to the group. "Look, when I woke up this morning, I thought my day would end with me downing some beers, slamming some shots and hooking up with some young hard body. Me, deciphering a prophecy, while standing the middle of a scene from a B-movie was not on the agenda. I don't even know how I became a re-an. I never went near any of the quarantined zones. There's no way, I could have been infected."

  Titus stepped forward. She noticed the Roman inside the body of the gang member and said, "Hey, Holmes."

  With a confused expression, he replied, "My name is not Holmes. I am Titus of Herculaneum. If you died only today, you have knowledge of what the living are trying to do. Have they sectioned off this area of the city to give us are own land?"

  "No. They quarantined this area to keep the virus from spreading. Until they come up with a cure, the plan is to stay away from you." She held her hands out and examined them. "I mean us."

  Several of the undead called out questions at once. KC held her hand up and said, "Quiet! I didn't pay much attention to the re-an uprising. I didn't watch the news or read about it. I only have gotten little tidbits from my friends who texted me."

  John asked, "How could you not pay attention to the dead coming back to life?"

  "I worked long hours in an A4 lab, several stories underground. To unwind after work, I'd hit the bars. The last thing I wanted was to tax my brain with a dose of reality. So no, I didn't pay attention to the uprising here or anywhere else in the world."

  "This is taking place in other countries?" Prometheus asked.

  "Yeah, it's everywhere." She let out a big sigh. "Now that I've given you the message and done my job, what happens next? Do I get to leave and go to my next life? I hope I come back as a dolphin, because that would be cool. No worries or responsibilities. I just swim around and eat little fish."

  Princess Rachel, using the body of the Harajuku girl, took her by the hand and said, "Come with me, my friend. I will teach you of our ways."

  * * *

  On the military base, General Brown stood in front of the double set of steel gates that were topped with razor wire, which held back the massive horde of captured zombies. The dead prisoners pressed against the opposite side of the fence spewing their hideous moans and hissing. Their dead skin hung loose on the bodies, as they continued to decay. Dried blood covered the mouths of most, several had clothing saturated in dried blood, which had turned brown from the oxidation. The large numbers gave them very little room to move in the confined makeshift prison.

  Ravens perched on top of the light posts, watching the movement below, while a light fog hung in the air, adding to the eeriness of the situation. Brown spoke into his satellite phone, "Yes, Mr. President, simply containing them is no longer an option. Storage space has become limited and we've had isolated incidents of uprisings. There are containment camps on every military base on every continent. I mean every base, Army, Navy, Air Force. Hell, there was even an outbreak at McMurdo in Antarctica. We have coordinated efforts underway with the British and Germans to solve the storage problem... No sir, relocating them into the ocean turned out not to
be a good plan. They walked ashore two days later. Increasing the number of quarantined areas is only a temporary solution. … yes, Mr. President, I'll see to it."

  He handed the phone to the soldier next to him, stared into the compound holding the zombies and took out his flask. "How many are in there?"

  The young soldier checked the clipboard hanging next to the guard shack. "Eighteen thousand, sir."

  After taking a swig of whiskey, the General replied, "Damn, there's more of them here than there are of us. Counting what our allies are holding, they outnumber the entire world military forces. It's a good thing that they don't know that."

  A Humvee pulled up next to the gate and a Colonel stepped out, giving the General a salute. "Have you heard from the President?"

  Brown returned a half effort salute and said, "Yeah, it looks like we have the green light. We are to burn, electrocute or both to get rid of all the re-ans. The White House will have a series of press releases about the health hazard that they pose to the living. Then they will say whatever else they need to sell it to the public. Notify all centers they are to begin the elimination as soon as the supply trucks arrive."

  The Colonel replied, "Yes sir."

  A Military Police van drove up next to the Humvee and two MP's exited. One of the soldiers approached the officers, saluted and said, "General, sir, we caught these two women leaving a secured building without any clearance documents. They will not give us any information, other than they want to speak with you."

  Afraid of whom it might be, Brown walked over to the van as the other soldier slid the door open. Inside, chained to the bench, sat Hellion and Pink both dressed in black, with dark knit hats. The MP held up a flash drive and handed it to the General. "This is all they had on them. We tried to see what the drive contained, but it made our computer crash."

  "Damn it!" Brown grabbed the flash drive. "Take those restraints off them."

  With the chains off, the two women stepped out of the van and stood in front of the tall General. With his hands on her shoulders, Brown looked Pink directly in the eye and said, "This is the last time I'm going to do this for you." He turned to the Colonel standing behind him. "Mitch, put her in your vehicle and get her out of here."