Trevor looked down at Charlie with his face set in a grim expression.
Suddenly there was a loud metallic crunch. Dave immediately lowered himself so that he couldn't be seen from the road below. The others promptly ducked down as well. Holden unshouldered his rifle, and Trevor waved at the rifle. Holden was clearly tense - he mightn't have said much during the day's conversations but those conversations had clearly had an impact on him.
Trevor gave Dave a questioning look.
"Probably a talker," whispered Dave.
There was more metallic sounds. It sounded like someone climbing over the bonnet of a car, which is most likely what was happening.
"Hello," came a raspy voice. "Hello. How is everyone tonight?"
Trevor's eyes opened wide and Holden looked rather terrified. Regardless, everyone maintained their calm.
Dave looked deeply thoughtful for a moment. "Stay down," he finally whispered.
Not waiting for any response from the others, Dave stood up and looked down at the street near where Charlie was tied up. A dark figure stood nearby. At the sound of Dave standing, the dark figure looked in Dave's direction. Blood red eyes gleaming in the growing dark of night.
"Why, hello and hello," said the dark figure.
"And hello to you," said Dave.
"He talks, he talks. Finally he talks."
"What are you? You don't seem dead."
"Dead? Ah, you mean the eternal life after death?"
Dave grimaced at the phrase. "I've seen how your type are made. The living are killed and then rise up as if alive."
"They look alive to you?"
"Well, not really. They move, so I guess that's why I said they seem alive."
"To move is to live and when you stop moving then you're dead?"
"That's a simple way to put it but I can't think of any other way to describe it."
The talker tilted his head as if in thought. "Ah, you think."
Dave jolted at the short phrase. "Is that significant?"
The talker reached out and placed a palm onto Charlie's face. "These children don't think."
"But I've heard you talk to them. They are clearly listening."
"They listen, but they don't comprehend."
"I've seen you give orders and they seem to obey."
"You've seen me giving orders? Ah, you've seen other's like me. You are the explorer."
Internally Dave swore. "So your kind give orders and the other dead are followers. That implies intelligence."
"It only implies intelligence in the ones giving orders. Following orders doesn't required intelligence. In fact, it's preferred that anyone who is required to obey must not think for themselves."
"Are you saying that the dead can't think? So how do you think? If you are dead then how come you can think?"
"That would be the source of your mistake. Only the children are dead. The fathers that lead them are not dead."
"Wait. Are you saying that you live just like me?"
"Life and death are not the right labels. It's about choice."
"I don't understand."
"You are not a believer. These children were killed and through death discovered the truth. Because they were unbelievers at the time of their death they lack the ability to think. The fathers understood the truth while they lived and used that belief to reach the life that comes after death. Belief leads to truth."
"You committed suicide?"
"No. If I had done that then I would have become a mindless child. I believe and that was enough."
"What do you believe?"
"I believe in life after death."
Dave froze. Had he completely misunderstood everything that had happened? Could it be that even his basic assumptions were way off? And what were those assumptions? Dave had assumed that what he saw was a disease that was transmitted through biting. But if one could undergo a transformation without being bitten then what was left? Was this not a disease after all? The talker had hinted at a possibility that Dave hadn't yet comprehended. Dave was fearful that there might come a time when he did understand.
"I'm not sure what I believe," said Dave.
"And that is why you are still trapped with the living."
Holden had been tense before and this finally broke him. He jumped up and immediately fired his rifle at the talker. The bullets hit the talker and great disks of light appeared around the talker - one disc for each wound. Trevor and Josh had stood up to watch the effect of Holden's actions - they were in no mental state of deciding if they approved of Holden's actions or not. But the disc of light surprised everyone and caused everyone to freeze in place. The only person not to freeze was the talker who sprinted off. There were sounds of climbing over car bonnets and then silence. The four stood on the roof stunned. There had been too much in the way of revelations and the group was almost completely exhausted. How could any sane man understand what had just happened?
Dave broke the silence first. "Trevor, have you ever seen that light before?"
Trevor shook his head. "Never."
"But you have shot them before?"
"Yes. However that were the walkers. I've not seen a talker shot before."
Dave looked at Holden. "Is it okay if Holden fires a shot into Charlie? A shot right in the chest would be great."
Holden looked towards Trevor. Trevor nodded. Holden pointed his rifle at Charlie and fired a single round. A disc of light appeared around Charlie. After a few seconds the disc faded away."
Trevor was shocked. "That's a faint light. Maybe during the day it's hard to see."
Dave turned to Josh. "Can you get that digital camera that we grabbed before?"
Josh nodded and jogged over and into the hut.
"Did you see it?" asked Dave.
"It was hard to make out," responded Trevor.
"But did you see what made up the disc. It wasn't a solid disc."
Trevor frowned. "I was hoping that no one would say it out loud, but I get what you are trying to point out. There was writing on the disc."
"Yeah. I wouldn't say the writing was 'on' the disc. Instead I'd say that the disc was made up of letters of light."
Trevor gave Dave
