Dead Man Running (32 page)

A mother and her tween daughter approached Elias.  Based on their features Elias quickly identified the pair as the undead.
 

How long has Wiley been transforming children into zombies?

The woman came uncomfortably close and clasped both her hands on Elias' extended right hand.  Her hands were cold and her breath smelled of raw flesh.  Elias heroically maintained his smile
as the woman leaned in to peck him on the cheek.  Her lips were cold also.

"I just want you to know, Congressman Turnbull, that Wiley's Warriors are gonna come out strong for you in the Morningside
Homes."

Elias was familiar with the property – a HUD sponsored development near the
Columbia
campus.  He took a half step back, distancing himself slightly from the woman's
wretched
breath.

She, unfortunately, leaned in again to him.  "Me and my daughter here made sure we got everyone in line.  Everyone at Morningside thinks and acts just like us," she said.  She still held his hand and gave it a reassuring pat.

Elias looked down at the tween who directed a brilliant grin in his direction.  As her teeth parted, her tongue revealed itself to be decorated with the blood of her latest victim.

He managed to pull his hand from the woman's grasp.  "Thank you for your support," he said.  "I'll be sure to mention to Secretary Wiley that the residents of Morningside are brin
g
ing it strong for him."

The woman's smile widened grotesquely and she thanked Elias profusely.  She offered Elias a home cooked meal, which Elias quickly but warmly declined.  Finally, the woman and her daughter moved on.

Someone brought Elias a milk crate from the market and Elias gave an impromptu speech urging the residents to turn out to vote. 

Speaking atop a milk crate in
Harlem
was a tradition that spread back to the
Harlem
Renaissance –
hip souls
from Langston Hughes and Ida B. Wells to
Malcolm
X down to LL Cool J.

Elias did not disappoint.  In the middle of the Great Recession he promised the crowd jobs and health care and food.  He soon had several hundred people listening, blocking traffic on
Lexington
in the process.  Given the high sign by the cops, he was winding up his remarks when he heard his first heckler, another
Harlem
tradition.

"Tell
'em 'bout the zombies!" the person shouted.

Elias paused for a half second then continued.  "I need everyone to come out tomorrow.  We can still lose this thing."

"What 'bout all these zombies eating the animals 'round here!" the voice said.  Elias scanned the crowd.  There was a man who looked normal – suit and tie, conservative glasses, clean shaved and trim – standing with one foot on the sidewalk and the other out in the street.  Those surrounding him – especially the undead – were giving him the fish eye or outright dirty looks.

"Someone help that brother – obviously he's confused."

"I ain't confused," the man said as several strong hands grabbed his arms.  "There be zombies in
Harlem
and I've seen 'em.  They ate
m
y dog Fluffy."

The arms – among them a cop who Elias recognized as being
undead – dragged the man away.  In seconds he was gone, the crowd focused on Elias once again and the candidate finished his remarks.

As he walked away, headed back to his apartment, he wondered how many others knew the truth.

One thing he didn't have to wonder about was the fate of his heckler.  He was either someone's meal or he soon would be feasting on the two and four legged beasts that roamed
Harlem
.

Tamesha's accepted her friend Lonniece's offer to ride bikes after school.  After getting her grandmother's permission the two girls rode along
Montecito Avenue
down to
Lee Street
and over
Jayne
A
venue
to
Perkins Street
.  There, they were o
n the outskirts of
Paladin
Park
, a green oasis in the midst of urban blight.

"Let's go in," Lonneice suggested.

Tamesha shook her head.  She knew that the drug dealers ruled
Paladin
Park
and had
done so long
before she moved in with her granny.  Granny T said that even the cops were afraid to go into the park with all the dealers, users, pimps and hookers.
 

"I was here the other day," Lonneice said.  "It was okay, you'll see."  The long limbed girl took off on her no speed bike and Tamesha had no choice but to follow.  If nothing else, she could tell Lonniece's momma where to find her
daughter
's body.

To Tamesha's astonishment, her friend was right; there was no danger in the park.  There were children playing at the playground, typically a shooting gallery for the dealers and hop heads.  The ground was needle and condom free, the trash cans neatly covered.  Tamesha wondered where all the bad people had gone.

The basketball courts were filled with young kids like herself, not the criminals and thugs that usually clogged the courts.  The
crisp air
overflowed
with
actual laughter
from the surrounding people
and the
sweet
song
s
of birds coming from the trees.

Tamesha caught up then passed her friend.  The two raced around the park until the sun started to go down.  Although the park was safe, Tamesha knew that Granny T would worry about her with it getting dark outside.

The two friends rode back to the Altadena Arms. 
Tamesha said goodbye to
Lonneice
and decided to take a quick detour to greet 'her' dogs. 

She rode around to the back of her building.  The dogs weren't there, not a one.  Who was there was Mr. Brashear, a not very nice man who lived on Tamesha's floor.  He smiled at Tamesha while wiping something red from the corner of his mouth.

"Hey there girl chile.  How you be?"  The man smiled a wide brilliant smile, brightening the dimly lit back of the building.

"Have you seen any dogs back here?" she asked.

The man let out a loud burp.  "Dogs?"

"I used to feed some dogs back here," she replied.

"I ain't seen no dogs back here chile but if'n you wanna get off that bike, I'll sure help you look."  He smiled again and took
two quick
step
s
toward Tamesha.

The girl, thousands of years of survival instincts kicking in, placed her feet on her pedals and took off.

She shouted a "no thanks" as she rode away but it
wa
s doubtful the creature pretending to be Curtis Brashear heard her.  He had resumed looking for the last of the strays.  He was still hungry and they were the easiest prey
.

Tamesha rushed into the apartment and stowed her bike in the large hall closet.  She did not go see her granny; instead she quick walked into the kitchen.

She opened the cabinet under the sink and climbed inside.  She closed the cabinet door and became very quiet.  There, she wept for her dogs, the best friends she had in this world.  She knew that she would never see them again. 

But
she
also
knew that the monsters had finally arrived at
Altadena
.

Elias and
Mira
shared gourmet soul food takeout from Sylvia's
at his
Harlem
apartment. 
She listened without interrupting as he walked her through his time in front of the grocery store.  His work with Manchester Lee had advanced and he was guarded with how he described the zombie mother and daughter and the well dressed heckler.  He could not disguise his disappointment in seeing so much of
Harlem
transformed already, seeing the young girl as a flesh eating zombie.

Elias Turnbull had done the unthinkable – he had fallen in love with this woman.  He hoped that she felt the same, that any feelings she harbored would prevent her from turning him in to her boss and his growing security apparatus.

After he was done, she continued to gnaw on a chicken bone so voraciously Elias thought for a moment that she had been transformed, too.  Finally she sat the stripped bone on her paper plate and transferred all her attention to his eyes.

"They were probably unhappy people – divorce, affairs, underwater mortgages, nagging mothers, bratty kids.  Now none of that stuff matters
, Elias
.  They're dead, they don't feel a thing.  Isn't that a good thing, the fact that Wiley is taking away their pain?"

"But, what about that child?"

"Who knows what he
r
life was like. 
What did she have to look forward to?  Early pregnancy?  No good men
preying
on her, knocking her up with kids, leeching all her money, maybe getting her hooked on drugs
?
  I say she's better off."  She picked up another piece of chicken and attacked it as aggressively as the last one.

Elias nodded on
c
e, then again.  "I guess you're right," he managed. 
She was still a true believer
, he thought. 
He would say no more.

After dinner
Mira
Hidar
put all that fuel to good use and made love to Elias with uncommon vigor.

Afterwards, she held him.  "I know you're still bothered," she said.  "You have to trust in Ben's vision."

He nodded, kissed her generous lips.
 
"Do you trust him?" she asked.

"I do," he replied and they kissed again. 
Elias
t
urned over in bed.  Soon he heard her rhythmic breathing, the breaths coming soft and low.  It was the sound of life. 
The young girl he met today made no such sounds because
un
dead people don't sleep.

He would hold his tongue
despite
his
growing
feelings for this woman. 
The moment of reckoning for Wiley was fast approaching.  When he and
Manchester
's organization decide to destroy Wiley,
would he have the courage to destroy
Mira
as well
, if she stood in the way
?

As he fell asleep he realized that he could not answer that question
.
  He didn't know if he could kill her, even to save the world.

NINE
TEEN

OAKLAND
CALIFORNIA
– DECEMBER 2011

The creature born as Elwood Delavan Sills strutted around the perimeter of the Altadena Arms housing development in
Oakland
California
. 
The head of Ben Wiley's security apparatus – officially HUD Director of Special Events – wore a Bluetooth and communicated to his team.  He completed his circuit of the exterior of the sprawling development and found it secure.  Just like when he was pimping, Mookie knew he needed to
'
check up on the bitches
'
, in this case his highly trained security agents.

Inside the main doorway he was greeted by Wiley's new favorite human pet, Rebecca Singler.  A clock ticked in Mookie's head, measuring the amount of time the boss played with human women and this one was definitely on overtime.  Not only that, she seemed to not just be a sexual plaything but a trusted aide.  That
irked
Mookie – he was no
longer
the only one whispering in the boss' ear. 
Not only could she whisper in his ear but do so while
her generous, creamy tits rest
ed
against Wiley's
chest. 

"We're ready for the winnowing," she said.  Becky Sings was excited – this was her idea come to life and that too pissed off Mookie.  The girl had mad skills.

The winnowing was the next stage in the '
Wiley Way
'.  Hundreds of zombies were being created daily.  They didn't need to consume a human a day to survive but they did need to eat human meat
periodically
.  Long term there would be a need to raise humans as you would chickens or pigs. 

T
oday's
winnowing process would
separate
meat
for northern
California
's hungry and growing zombie population
from
humans
capable of breeding
,
to create future meat.
  A small number of zombies would be left behind to populate the
housing
development at a minimal level. 
Those Wiley Warriors could continue the important work of harvesting what
they
considered to be the dregs of society – the criminals, the lazy, the homeless and drug users – to provide fresh meat for the undead.