He chuckled. Gnawing on a still screaming human was much more fun than shooting them. But in the end, all the captives-livestock and otherwise-would host one of his brethren.
The battle had been over for several hours now, and the sounds of combat had faded with the vanishing daylight, replaced only by the occasional scream from the living. The dead had inherited the earth, or at least this part of it. The rest would soon follow. If not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then soon. Unlike his kind, humans were not immortal. Eventually, they would die. That was all it took. Ob and his brothers had waited millennia to exact their revenge. If necessary, they could wait a little longer. It was less amusing that way, but it could be done.
He sighed, exhaling fetid breath from lungs that no longer served a purpose.
' 'And when Alexander looked out across his kingdom, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.' Or something like that.'
The zombie nearest to him had taken the body of a plump housewife. Gasses swelled its horribly distended belly, and the abdomen was slick and shiny. Ob admired the putrescent beauty.
'Who was Alexander?' it rasped.
'He was a human. A warlord for his time-he conquered much of this planet. I met him once when his soul passed through the Void on its way to Hell. On the field of battle, he was a great warrior. Still, in the end, he was just meat. They all are. Nothing but meat. Cattle. Cattle that used to worship us until the One, the Creator, grew jealous and washed the Earth clean with the Deluge.'
He approached a pair of captives, a woman and man taken during the assault on the government's research facility. The zombies had lashed them to lampposts in the parking lot. The woman struggled while the man simply stared. Fear had eradicated what remained of his mind. He'd soiled himself. As Ob watched, the man did it again, unaware.
'Speaking of meat...' He leaned over and sank his teeth into the man's quivering neck. He burrowed deep, then jerked his head back. Flesh, veins and thick cords of muscle ripped free. He chewed, relishing the violation.
Dying, the man made no sound. Not a scream or a whimper. Flopping on the pole, he continued to stare while his lifeblood gushed from the wound. The woman screamed for him, her shrieks echoing over the cries of the damned, both dead and living.
Ob swallowed, took another bite, and swallowed again. He moved away, allowing several other zombies to eat their share. All living creatures had an aura and already, this human's life-glow had faded, signaling the passage of his soul. Within minutes, another from the Void would inhabit the empty bag of skin and tissue.
Ob considered his new body; that of the scientist named Baker. The flesh was burned black, and his midsection was an empty cavity. The charred, gory hole was the result of a point-blank machine gun barrage. The flesh he'd just eaten fell out at his feet. The limbs were still in good shape, but even so, this body wouldn't last long. Ob had rather enjoyed toying with it.
Ob grinned. It was ironic that Baker's own hand had opened the portal to the Void, had broken down the barriers between the worlds so that the Siqqusim could inhabit this world.
He shuffled over to the woman. Brownish-blond hair. Full figure. Pretty, for a human, and her beauty was accentuated by her fear. Her life-glow was strong. It always gave them away-tagged them as among the living. Earlier, he'd seen a pair of humans cover themselves in blood and entrails, trying to blend in enough to mix among the zombies and escape, unaware that their soul's light gave them away.
He smiled at the still shrieking woman and placed his hand over her mouth. Eyes wide, she squirmed beneath him.
'Stop your mooing, cow!'
'May we eat her, too?' One of the zombies smacked its lips with greedy anticipation.
Ob considered the request.
'Not yet.' He brought his face close as if to kiss her. She gagged beneath his palm.
'I am going to remove my hand, because I wish to talk with you. It amuses me to do so. However, if you continue to scream, if you insist on bellowing, I will allow my brethren to cut a hole in your belly, fish out one end of your intestines, and begin to eat you, slowly from the inside out. Would you enjoy that?'
She gave a muffled cry.
'Then silence.' He removed his hand.
She gasped. Her eyes darted around. She opened her mouth and inhaled, breasts rising against her bonds. Before she could scream again, Ob held up one finger. The zombie next to him placed a knife against her stomach. She stopped, sagging against the pole.
'Very good. You are learning. Perhaps your kind can be taught tricks, like the canines and felines you domesticate. What is your name?'
'M-my what?'
'Your name? What are you called? Where are you from?'
'L-Lisa. My name is Lisa. I'm from Virginia ...' Tears streamed down her dirty face.
'Liiiissssaaaa.' He rolled it in his mouth, savoring the word. 'Do you know who I am, Lisa?'
'Yes. I-I think so. You're that scientist guy. One of the girls in the Meat Wagon told me about you. I-I saw you when we were moving out from Gettysburg.'
Ob slapped her hard across the face. She yelped, but did not scream, still conscious of the knife at her belly.
'You are wrong, Lisa. I am wearing his body, but I am not the scientist. His name was Baker. My name is Ob. Ob the Obot. Do you know that name?'
Lisa coughed. A red welt in the shape of a hand covered her cheek.
