His black leather trench coat flapped in the wind. Earlier, he'd broken into a clothing boutique and dressed his new body, to help preserve its integrity and protect it from the elements longer. In addition to the coat, he wore a pair of black leather pants, and a simple black
T-shirt. On his feet, he wore a pair of silver-tipped cowboy boots.
A young zombie, once a boy of about six years of age, approached him and bowed. Its flesh was bloated and shiny, and the collar of its tattered T-shirt had sunk into the skin.
'My lord, Ob. It is a pleasure to serve you in this form.'
Ob nodded impatiently. 'Get on with it. Arise and speak.'
'I bring tidings of your two brothers.' A tooth dropped out of its mouth as it spoke.
'When did you see them?' Ob asked.
'Three days ago, I was in a place called Tibet. Our kind knew it of old, of course, but that land has changed since we last walked the Earth. Our forces were victorious-the humans were eradicated, as were the other forms of animal life. Nothing lives there now. The entire continent has fallen.'
'So the humans in those lands are defeated, eh? That is good news. Their population was among the highest on the planet. Well done. Here, have an eyeball.'
He held up a cardboard popcorn bucket, filled to the brim with eyeballs plucked from humans and animals. The zombie took a handful and chewed.
Then it continued.
'Yes, lord. Their numbers were high. Especially in China. But those same numbers also aided us. There were so many of them, and their population was virtually unarmed. The resistance was disorganized and over quickly.'
'And yet your body was dispatched?'
The undead boy appeared to grow nervous; Ob found the grimace to be an amusing effect on the decayed face. His teeth showed through one cheek. 'I apologize, my lord. There was a battle in a monastery, and-'
'I care not.' Ob held up his hand. 'Finish with news of my brothers. What tidings from the Void? What did you hear of them while passing through on your way back here?'
'Your brothers grow impatient, especially now that all the flesh on that continent has been corrupted. The Elilum and Teraphim wish to escape the Void as we have. Your brothers ask that you make haste in freeing them from their eternal punishment.'
'They know the rules,' Ob grunted. 'The Elilum cannot begin the corruption of the plants until the corruption of the flesh has been completed. Those are the rules, established long ago and written in sorcery and blood. We cannot change them. I understand their frustration. They are anxious to begin, for it will take some time. The Elilum travel through the roots, so their way is slower than ours. We have the advantage of going from the Void directly into these meat puppets. My brother's kind must go through a vast network.'
The zombie nodded. 'Yes, lord. To be fair, your brother Api is patient. He restrains the Elilum. But Ab's rage grows stronger by the day. He wishes for the Teraphim to be loosed upon the planet.'
'No doubt.' Ob sighed. 'But he must be patient a while longer as well. We must all follow the rules as set forth after the Morningstar's fall or we risk destruction. Besides, the Elilum only destroy the Creator's plant life and poison the oceans. That is acceptable. We don't need those things in our struggle. But my brother Ab and his Teraphim will drown this planet in fire. It will burn with each step they take, until there is nothing left but cinders. I am not ready for that yet. There are still many of us to be freed and I have not yet sated my thirst for revenge. When we are done, when I have spat in the Creator's face, then my brother and his kind can turn this planet into an inferno. By then, we will be ready to move on to the next one.'
The zombie grinned. 'Indeed, lord.'
Ob tossed a pebble off the roof and watched it fall. Then he turned back to the messenger.
'Come here. Step to the edge and look out upon our Necropolis. Is it not majestic?'
'It is wonderful, my lord Ob.'
'I'm glad that you agree.' Ob placed an arm around his shoulders. 'Now, go and tell my brothers that they must wait a while longer.'
The zombie flinched. 'Me, lord? But I just got here. I've only been-'
Ob pushed him off the building and watched as he plummeted down, exploding across the pavement in a wet smear.
'I never got along with my brothers.'
The sun rose over the city, peeking out from behind a curtain of gray clouds, reluctant to bear witness to the scene unfolding below.
'Hello, Ra, you old bastard.' Ob smiled. 'Like what you see? Run along and tell Daddy. He always liked you better anyway.'
Laughing, Ob turned and walked inside. He summoned his lieutenants and ordered the city searched from top to bottom, beginning at the outskirts of the five boroughs and working inward. Nothing was to be left alive-no people, no livestock. The countdown to extinction had begun.
The sun did not return that day, lost beneath a layer of haze. It saw what was happening, and stayed behind the dark and heavy clouds. The heavens wept.
'Here comes the dawn,' the doctor murmured, looking out the twentieth-story window, 'but I don't think we'll see the sun today. Looks like rain.'
A pretty young nurse with chestnut hair nodded, and then finished bandaging Jim's shoulder.
