Walter Greatshell - Apocalypso

“How’d they all get here in the first place?”

“Some are Red Cross workers and National Guard who tried to set up a safe zone during the outbreak. The rest are poor suckers who made the mistake of taking shelter here. I figure there are around twenty or thirty thousand of them altogether. Once the disease got loose among them, it was all over-we locked the doors and barricaded them shut. It’s terrible, I know, but at least they’re not suffering.”

“Not suffering? It looks like Auschwitz down there.”

“If these things suffered, they’d be dead by now. They’ve been in here almost four months without food or water. Do you smell any rot or decay? No. They don’t die; they don’t feel pain. In the early days, we wasted a lot of ammo on them before we realized they don’t stay dead, either whole or in pieces. Good thing, too, because now we have a big supply of Hellions for the Prophet to convert. He does a few every Sunday.”

“Convert how?”

“They are Sealed with the Sacrament, just as you were.”

“If you say so. Listen, this is freaking me out-can we go?”

“In a minute. I want you to see something first.”

“What?”

“Here, put this on.” He handed Ray a safety harness and donned one himself.

To the right of the balcony was a metal ladder up to the roof beams. Dixon checked Ray’s harness, and together they climbed up there, clipping onto a safety line as they followed the steel beams to an electric winch in the middle of the ceiling. Attached to the winch was a large hook intended to hoist heavy stage lights or other equipment. With a thumbs-up, Dixon affixed the hook to Ray’s harness and pushed the boy off the edge.

“Whoa, hey, shit!” Flailing wildly, Ray swung out into space. Then Dixon pressed the DOWN button.

“Stop!” Ray shrieked. “What are you doing?” The Xombies rustled at the sound of his voice, swaying like a field of reeds in the wind.

Dixon ignored his cries. As Ray slowly descended, the blue masses cleared an opening for him, a bare atoll in that sea of yearning faces. Ray screamed for help, sobbing, begging, trying to climb the wire, anything, but there was no escape.

The Xombies stared upward, intent on his progress… though not nearly as frenzied as he would have expected. In fact, they looked a little bored, as though they had been through this routine many times and didn’t have the energy. Perhaps it was too easy for them, no challenge-why should they have to work for it? Scrunching his body into a fetus-shaped kernel of anticipation, Ray dropped right into their midst.

They made no move to touch him. In fact, they dismissed him entirely, turning all their attention back on Chace Dixon.

Oh my God.

Dixon called down, “Pretty neat, huh?”

“What the hell is going on?”

“Hold that thought.” He hit a wall switch, and the winch raised Ray to the catwalk. In a moment, both men were out of their harnesses and back on the balcony. “Not bad, huh?”

“What does this mean? How did you do that?”

“Not so crazy now, am I?”

“How are you controlling them?”

“I’m not controlling them-God is.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean this is all real, Ray. Blind faith no longer required. I wanted to demonstrate to you that the Lord really is on our side if we choose to serve Him. There really are angels and demons waging a war between Heaven and Hell, and it’s up to us to choose sides. You’re not dealing with deluded religious nuts. This is not like the Grammy Awards or the Super Bowl, where the winner thanks God and everybody rolls his eyes because it’s such bull. This is for real, an actual miracle. As long as you’re with us, you are Hellion-proof.”

Ray was still in shock; he could barely stand. Voice quaking, he asked, “H-how?”

“The Prophet has interceded on your behalf. You’ve been through the purification ceremony, been anointed with the blood of the lamb; now your sins are forgiven.”

“But that’s all just symbolism. How can that make a difference?”

“There are no symbols anymore, no empty ceremonies. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Ray! Everything is exactly what it seems.”

He took Ray back outside and chained the doors.

The next day an assembly was announced, and the dazed new recruits joined a parade of soldiers marching up to the State House lawn. They were handed paper scrolls and symbolic scourging rods. Men congratulated Todd and Ray and welcomed them into the family-a euphoric experience after their ordeal.

Entering the capitol grounds, they noticed that all the trees had been cut down for firewood. An artificial grove of X-shaped steel frames had been erected, and dozens of laborers were dismantling old military barricades, building new wooden bleachers, and digging pit latrines around the perimeter. The workers were filthy, exhausted, and demoralized from being jeered at all day and pelted with trash.

“Oh shit,” Todd said. “What is this, a giant hazing? I am definitely not feeling this.”

“More new arrivals?” asked the supervising Adamite, a former Army Ranger named Sheldon Barnstable.

His fellow cleric, a former bank manager named Lester Mead, said, “Yeah-they’re the guys who came in riding bikes.”

“Bikes! Are you for real?”

“I saw it myself.”

“No shit.” To Todd and Ray, he asked, “Where did you guys come from?”

“Fox Point.”

“What were you doing there?”

Todd said, “Talking to Elvis.”

“You should be down on your knees thanking Adam that we found you before the Hellions did.”

“Oh, we are,” said Ray.

Lester Mead said, “I just want to go on the record as saying I think it’s kind of uncool that you guys have special privileges over those of us who have been in the Adams since before the Tribs.”

“We do?”

“Oh yeah. I have your orders right here. No ditches for you boys; you’ve both been bumped up to custodial detail at the hotel. That requires clearance from the top. Looks like you’re even quartered there-sweet gig! Pays to have friends in high places, I guess.”

“That’s great,” Todd said. “Can we go?”

“You’re to report as soon as convocation is dismissed.” The man lowered his voice. “You know, this is not going to make you very popular around here. Little friendly advice? If I were you, I’d request billeting with the other acolytes. The Prophet will be better off having more experienced guys change His sheets, and you’ll have a chance to learn the ropes. It would be a gesture of solidarity.”

“I don’t think so,” Todd said brightly. “But thanks!”

“Your funeral,” said Barnstable.

The men gathered on the hillside under the capitol. At the bottom of the field was a fenced compound containing rows of RVs, a combination trailer park and concentration camp. Laundry lines hung between the trailers, and women young and old could be seen washing clothes in tubs. A few of them were waving or calling to men they knew, their brothers, husbands, fathers, or sons. The men furtively waved or pretended not to hear them-others whistled or mocked.

Todd asked, “I don’t get it. If women are no threat, why are they still being quarantined?”

“They’re an endangered species,” Captain Barnstable explained. “They have to be protected.”

“You mean from Xombies?”

Barnstable looked at him as if he was stupid. “From us. We worked too hard to find these; we can’t take any chances of losing them. Especially the Evians.”

“Evians?”

“Daughters of Eve. Brides of the Prophet.”

Ray started to react, but Todd stepped on his foot.