The God Zombie, page 17
Arlo and Isadora sprinted out of the forest and onto the field. As soon as they did, the Huturo were on them; one grabbed Arlo by his head, but Isadora grabbed the creature around its waist and tossed it into a group of zombies.
“This way!” she yelled.
Arlo followed Isadora as she moved through the field, tossing monster after monster, breaking arms with superhuman strength, and punching Huturo like a woman possessed. Arlo kept his eye on the purple cloud while pushing through the attacking monsters. The stormy wind wasn’t dissipating the cloud. Instead, the wind seemed to move the blob of poison toward the hospital on an intentional path, growing larger as more Huturo collapsed and died.
“This isn’t right. The cloud looks like someone’s controlling it,” Arlo yelled.
Isadora punched a monster in the mouth. “Shut up and fight!” she barked, delivering a vicious kick to the midsection of one of the Huturo.
Arlo grabbed one of the monsters by its head and dug his thumbs into its eyeballs. As soon as he did it, he instantly regretted it; tiny scorpions rushed out of the monster’s head and crawled over Arlo’s arms.
“Oh, shit!” he yelled, trying to shake them off.
Isadora kicked another one of the Huturo in the face and turned to grab Arlo by his shoulders. She quickly ran her fingers down his arms, removing all the tiny red creatures.
“Come on, Arlo. Stop being fucking stupid. Punch! Hit! But don’t draw blood, got it?”
Arlo smiled and hit two approaching monsters in the stomach.
“Damn, Isadora! How’d you get so strong?” he asked.
Isadora didn’t respond. Instead, she slid between the legs of one of the Huturo and punched it in the groin. She was unsure if she hurt the creature but was happy when it fell to the ground clutching its privates.
“I guess they do have balls,” she said, and laughed.
Finally, the two stood in the middle of the field.
“Do you see that?” asked Arlo, pointing toward the stairs.
Standing in front of the entrance were Asura and John.
“Arlo!” yelled John across the yard. “Is that you?”
Arlo became infuriated. He kicked two Huturo in their teeth and pushed forward through the crowd of monsters. He tried cursing at his friend, but all that came out was a moan—he’d forgotten the difficulties of being a zombie.
“Uhhhhhh,” moaned Arlo.
John laughed. “Ahhh, so you do remember me. Good! Don’t worry, bro. I think I understand what you’re trying to say.”
Asura quietly moved closer to John and whispered something in his ear. He listened for a moment and then kneeled to touch the ground.
“I’m sorry to do this, dude, but you’re not supposed to be here,” yelled John.
John grabbed a handful of mud from the ground and shoved it into his mouth. After chewing, he swallowed the muck, and his whole body burst into flame.
Suddenly the ground exploded beneath Arlo’s and Isadora’s feet and sent them flying through the air.
“Arlo!” cried Isadora as she flew over a group of Huturo.
But Arlo didn’t respond. He sailed past a few Huturo and landed facedown in the mud. Arlo immediately rolled over on his back and kicked two approaching Huturo in the face.
Isadora landed on her back and slid into a pile of scorpions—the arachnids came from the blood of one of the injured Huturo lying nearby on the ground. The scorpions jumped on Isadora and began snapping their claws, trying to tear her face apart. But Isadora remained calm, and she quickly brushed the scorpions away. After hitting the injured Huturo again, she sloshed through the mud toward Arlo.
Arlo saw Isadora approaching and rose to his feet. Just as he did, three Huturo came running across the field.
“Isadora! Look out!” screamed Arlo.
Without looking in the Huturo’s direction, Isadora ducked and easily avoided the blow from the first creature. Although each Huturo had four arms, Isadora saw this as a weakness. She moved close enough to one of the Huturo’s rib cage without letting the monster’s arms touch her. When the other Huturo tried to grab her, Isadora ducked behind the first Huturo’s torso, causing their arms to become entangled. She jumped in the air and delivered perfectly timed punches to all three of the creature’s faces, sending them tumbling to the ground like a house of cards.
“I have someone I want you to meet!” yelled John, his body covered in flame.
Suddenly the mud beneath Arlo’s and Isadora’s feet began bubbling.
“What the hell is this?” asked Isadora.
Arlo felt something moving the mud. He quickly brushed aside a patch of soil and saw a red thumbnail.
He turned to Isadora. “Run!”
The two teenagers took one step, but a shudder beneath the field shook everything, and they both fell to the ground.
“Arlo!” yelled Isadora.
Suddenly the ground exploded, drenching both teens in filth and leaving an enormous hole in the center of the lawn. Arlo inched close to the edge of the pit and looked inside. The black smoke was thick inside the hole, but Arlo saw something deep inside—two enormous glowing red eyes staring back at him. He was about to run when he spotted another pair of eyes watching him. Then suddenly, as if Arlo awakened what was inside, hundreds of eyes opened and rushed toward him. Arlo turned to run, but a shiny black hand filled with dozens of rocklike fingers reached out and grabbed his ankle.
“AHHHHHH!” Arlo screamed.
The gigantic hand was like acid; it melted Arlo’s pants and stripped the skin from his leg. Arlo kicked himself free of the creature’s grasp, melting his shoe. The monster reached up again but grabbed the edges of the pit this time. Isadora ran to Arlo’s side and watched as multiple shiny black human arms appeared on the pit’s edge. Finally, after six different hands grabbed the edge of the hole, a rush of air came out of the pit, and the creature shot out of the hole. It landed on the ground in front of the teenagers.
“No!” whispered Arlo.
Standing in front of Arlo was a half-human, half-spider. In the center of the creature on a human torso was a shiny black demonic, charred face with horns. Piled behind it were dozens of corpses, all humans, with glowing red eyes. They all were alive, moving independently behind the main Demon, mimicking his angry expressions, growling, biting, and snapping their mouths at everything around them. All the bodies sat atop the shiny black body of a spider with dozens of legs made of lava moving beneath it.
The main Demon looked at the ground and saw the skin from Arlo’s leg in the mud. With one of its arms, it grabbed the sheath of skin, tossed it in the air, and shredded it. With its arms, the monster snatched the pieces of skin from the air. It shoved the skin into the mouths of the various corpses and closed its eyes, waiting for each monster to consume Arlo’s flesh. Finally, it flashed a sinister smile.
“You will be an excellent fit for us,” all the human heads said in unison.
Isadora looked toward the stairs and saw John and Asura disappearing inside. She quickly looked up and saw the cloud of poison approaching the entrance.
“Arlo! They’re getting away! We’re almost out of time!”
The Spider Demon frowned at Isadora and crawled across the grass toward her.
“Isadora!” Arlo yelled.
Isadora saw the spider approaching from the corner of her eye. She ran to the nearest Huturo, grabbed one of its legs, and hurled it toward the Spider Demon. The Demon avoided the Huturo and opened its mouth, shooting webbing made of fire at Isadora. The teenager avoided the web of fire, and it landed on a group of Huturo, killing them and releasing the violet fog from their burning corpses. The Spider Demon leaped into the air and was about to pounce on Isadora when it froze mid-air. The creature started trembling, and the Spider Demon’s bodies began shrieking.
“Free us!”
“We are not your enemies!”
“He made us do it!”
“Hell is a devil!”
Soon a pink bubble enveloped the Spider Demon, and it began moving back toward the hole. Arlo looked around, startled. Finally, his eyes fell on the source of their good luck—Penny, one of the three sorceresses. A long chain of pink energy stretched from her fingertips to the Spider Demon, dragging it back to the hole.
Arlo flashed a smile at the girl.
“Forneus told us you needed help, so I’m here. My sisters didn’t want to get involved, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pay back that bitch Asura!” said Penny.
Isadora jumped to her feet and ran past Arlo. “Come on! We don’t have much time left!”
Arlo jumped up, too, and ran behind Isadora. Just as they arrived at the stairs, the cloud of poisonous gas reached the entrance, and something sucked it inside.
“No!” screamed Isadora. “We’re too late!”
Arlo fell to his knees. “Mooooooom!”
As they stood watching the door, they saw the silhouette of a child in the fog. Slowly, the child emerged from the smoke, and Arlo’s heart sank—the child had thousands of mouths all over its bod. It was a vampire.
“Come on, baby,” whispered Isadora, pulling Arlo away from the entrance. “Let’s get out of here before they all come out of the hospital.
Reluctantly, Arlo turned away from the hospital and back toward the yard of Huturo.
“See you soon, Mom,” Arlo whispered.
There was the flapping of wings overhead, and Arlo looked up to see a large bird with blazing eyes. Arlo gave the command inside his mind, and the zombies on the field started stumbling back into the forest.
Arlo grabbed Isadora by her hand. “Thanks for being here with me,” he said.
Isadora chuckled. “I said the same thing to you. Remember?”
Arlo smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist. Suddenly the colossal bird lifted them in its vast talons and flew toward the forest. As the bird took the two zombies away, Penny threw the angry Spider Demon into its hole and piled dirt on it. After shooting several Huturo with her magic, she sealed the chasm in the field and disappeared.
The Getaway
Asura moved quickly through the hospital with John following closely behind. After riding the elevator to the next level, they climbed the rooftop stairs.
“Is the cargo loaded?” John asked.
“Yes, Lord. The mist will transform the remaining stragglers.”
“Good. Balam will be pleased.”
Asura opened the door to the roof and froze. There were thousands of cherry blossom flowers all over the rooftop. Terrified, Asura looked up and saw cherry blossoms raining from the sky.
“My Lord, we must go!” she said, pulling John back toward the exit.
“What?” asked John. “What are you talking about?”
Trembling uncontrollably, Asura spun around as if she were lost. She looked up at the sky, and her face twisted in agony. The flowers were falling more rapidly now, coating everything on the rooftop. The smell of lilac was heavy in the air, rushing into her nostrils and making her want to vomit. Asura turned to John to speak, and one of the cherry blossoms landed on her tongue.
“Oh!” Asura yelped, wiping her mouth and spitting it on the ground.
John stared in disbelief. He could see that the event bothered Asura—terrified her, even. She was almost beside herself, chanting under her breath and quickly removing any flower that landed in her hair. In all the years Asura had been with John, he had never seen the old woman appear so weak and out of control, trembling like a flower in the rain.
“Asura, what’s wrong?” asked John.
But Asura wasn’t there. It was as though the person standing before him was a stranger John had never known. Asura was frantic and growing more so by the second. Her smooth brown skin now looked like an old, used, faded towel. When she started wheezing, John grabbed her by the shoulders and slapped her face.
“What is this, Asura? Get a hold of yourself! What the hell is going on?”
Asura looked up into the sky and saw rays of light piercing the dark clouds. She quickly looked around and spotted Claire cowering in the corner.
“Come with me! Now!” Asura yelled at Claire.
Claire looked up at the strange old lady, tears streaming down her face.
“Who are you? Are you a nurse?”
“Get up, you bitch!” snapped Asura, grabbing the distraught woman by her hair.
“Ow! Let go of me!” screamed Claire.
Asura dragged the prisoner across the roof to her master. “Lord, we must go! They’re coming!”
Suddenly a deep thunder rumbled in the clouds. The sound startled John, and he looked up at the sky, confused.
“What are all these flowers? Who’s coming?”
“Can’t you see? The Angels! They’re here!”
Suddenly the clouds exploded in a brilliance that lit up the rooftop. Asura grabbed John’s arm, kicked open the door, and pushed him inside. Just as she dragged Claire into the building by her hair, the clouds exploded, and three winged, faceless figures appeared.
Asura quickly searched the rooftop until she spotted the two deformed creatures standing guard over the children.
“Ton-kabin-eashi!” she yelled to the monsters before entering the building and slamming the door.
The words ignited a reaction inside the monsters, and they turned to roar at the approaching figures covered in light. The children in the cages screamed as the creatures began changing; unsightly bumps suddenly appeared all over their bodies, and the faces that hung down began moving like something inside was trying to get out.
As the Angels drifted down, one of them extended a palm, and a burst of snow blanketed the children on the rooftop, freezing them like statues.
The two monsters rushed forward, and their disfigured faces split, revealing one giant red eye inside their bodies. Continuous bursts of flame shot from their eyes at the descending Angels, but the fire passed through the heavenly creatures without touching them. The Angels pointed at the monsters with their index fingers, and a blue laser hit the two monsters in their foreheads. The light lifted the monsters off the ground and made them convulse, screaming as the blue light lit up their bodies. Suddenly two glass figures shaped like children emerged from the twisted flesh, floated across the roof, and landed beside the others.
The remaining flesh was evil, still living, twisting itself into various shapes, unable to take solid form. The monstrous blobs growled at the Angels like angry dogs, furious at being deprived of their hosts. One of the Angels calmly flew closer to the monsters. Wings flapping, the Angel held up its hand, and suddenly two enormous thunderbolts shot out of its palm. The thunderbolts didn’t make a sound as they flew to the chest of their targets, but when they hit, a tremendous thunder rumbled in the sky, causing the building to shake. Both creatures turned to dust and blew away in the breeze.
The Angels landed on the rooftop and ran to the edge of the building to look down. Surveying the area, the Angels waved their hands and suddenly their faces appered.
“All clear,” said Malaika. “It looks like there are a couple of hundred of the Huturo on the ground.
Jamison walked to the frozen children, and his eyes began glowing; suddenly the snow melted away, and the children started moving again. Jamison walked to a little girl and ran his palm along the top of her head, pushing away chunks of ice. The little girl looked up at him slowly and smiled.
“I’ll take care of the baby souls,” he said. “You two go down and banish the Huturo.”
“What about John?” asked Haleena.
“They won’t get far,” replied Jamison.
“And Arlo?” asked Malaika.
Jamison flapped his wings and whipped up the cherry blossom petals lying on the roof.
“He’s the biggest priority. We have to find him first.”
Malaika and Haleena ran to the edge of the building and jumped over. There was a whooshing sound, and the two Angels were soaring in the air with multicolored wings. They each passed their hands in front of their faces and their features melted away, replaced by a plain white veil of light. The Huturo on the ground beneath them looked up at the Angels in the sky and screamed. Some ran into the forest while others stood frozen in fear; some let their arms drop and transform into monstrous scorpions. But all reactions were futile. Malaika and Haleena were too powerful—they rained down silent thunderbolts on the monsters with such accuracy, none could escape. As soon as the electricity hit the creatures, they vaporized, leaving nothing but cherry blossom petals where they’d once stood. The Angel’s arms hurled so many thunderbolts at the monsters that their arms blurred. There was no sound as the lightning struck the beasts, but the sky above them crackled and rumbled like it was falling.
Meanwhile, Jamison stood on the rooftop attending to the children. The rumbling of the sky frightened them, and they were out of their minds with fear.
“Shhhhh,” Jamison said. He used his powers to drown out the thunder by flapping his wings fast. Soon his wings were moving so fast, they appeared stationary, and an invisible bubble formed over the rooftop, blocking all sound. Soon the kids were smiling at the Angel with purple eyes and a radiant smile.
“Mommy? Where’s my mommy?” asked a little girl.
“Where’s my dad?” asked a boy.
“I want to go home,” cried another boy.
The Angel walked toward the terrified children.
“Come with me, babies,” his soft voice said. “I’ll take you home.”
Jamison turned away from the children, looked up into the dark sky, and opened his arms. In an instant, the gray clouds began rumbling and changing shapes. Sparks of lightning shot across the sky until, finally, the poisonous clouds disappeared, melting away like a giant hand wiping away filth from a smog-stained window. In their place appeared white and blue nebulas filled with water.
Soon a cool mist started falling from the sky, and all the children held up their hands to catch the sweet liquid. Several children opened their mouths and let the rain land on their tongues. The children’s bond with nature made the Angel happy, and he smiled at the sight of the act. He knew the hardship the children had experienced, and he understood the joy in their hearts, the feeling of happiness at triumphing over despair, to know that the sun existed and that everything was going to be alright. It was a connection that God put in all living things, and it was nice to see the bond still strong after evil attempted to unravel it.
