Zombie Mage (19 page)

"Yes, High Warden. In the meantime, how would you
like me to deal with Lara?"

"Warm up a potion and give it to her but make it
a special one."

"Special one?"

"Yes, double the dosage.  I don't want her waking
up anytime soon complaining that she's been mistreated.  She doesn't realise
how fortunate she is that we're here to watch over her."

"Of course, but we've never tested a double
dosage.  It might turn out to be a bit messy.  Would you like me to try it on a
mindless one first?"

"No. Sometimes we have to take risks to get the
desired results."

"Very well, Revered One.  I'll see to it."

"Wonderful.  Oh, and just one last thing,
Warden."

"Yes?"

Denlik edged closer to his colleague with a slight
smirk on his face.  "She's right, you know. You do have a rather girly
voice."

With that, he hurriedly continued along the passageway
leaving a rather bemused looking Warden behind.

Olligh opened his eyes to find himself staring at a brightly lit
ceiling.  Glancing around, he noticed he was lying on an uncomfortable bed with
curtains drawn around obscuring his view.  Inside the bed lying by his side was
an old man with his eyes wide open, staring up at the ceiling.  Olligh prodded
him but there was no response.

"Obviously, you're not the dead person I'm
looking for.  Where the blazes has the cosmos decided to take me this
time?"

Nearby, somebody coughed and spluttered.  Intrigued,
Olligh sat upright. He heaved his legs over the side of the bed and walked over
to the curtain to investigate.  Yanking it aside, he spotted another old man in
a bed beside his.  Elsewhere in the room, he noticed more beds standing in
formation next to each other, some with curtains drawn around them just like
his.  The old man squinted. "Blimey, what you doing out of bed?  The
matron won't be happy."

Olligh ignored him and looked more closely around the
room.  It was brightly lit with a walkway between the beds and one set of
double doors in the far corner. Strangely, there were no windows to provide
natural light and the room seemed oddly quiet.  Looking at the many empty beds,
the only occupants appeared to be him and the old man unless more people were
concealed behind the closed curtains.

"It'll be the death of you getting out of
bed," continued the old man. "The doctor didn't reckon you'd make the
night, you know.  He told me not to say anything to you.  That's why the matron
closed the curtains."

"Absolutely wonderful!"

The old man leaned forward, straining his eyes.
"Eh? Whatcha mean, wonderful?" 

"Well, you're full of the joys of spring, aren't
you? Lying there, expecting the worst to happen. It's not surprising your
friend didn't make it through the night with you out here waiting to terrify
him with your exciting and joyful news."

The old man shuddered. "You're not Harry, are
you?"

"No, that's correct, I'm not Harry but I'm
looking for someone like him."

Olligh walked closer to the bed, much to the old man's
dismay; he panicked and pulled the blankets over his head. "You're not
really here, are you?  You're a figment of my imagination...  I must've missed
my medication or something."

Olligh stood quietly by the bed, pondering where to go
and what to do.  After a short while, the old man peeped out from under the
blankets.  Noticing Olligh still standing by his bed, he screamed and quickly
yanked the blankets back over his head.

"Go away - It's not my time yet.  I'm only here
because I'm homeless with nowhere else to go."

Olligh sighed. "Don't worry.  I've absolutely no
interest in you.  Now, would you stop trembling and tell me if you've spotted
any dead people walking around recently?"

"D-d-dead people?  I knew it - you're the grim
reaper, aren't you?"

"Grim what?"

"You've been sent here to find dead people and
take them away, haven't you?"

"Hmm... how did you know about that?"

"Dear gods, have mercy on my soul.  I didn't mean
to fake the chest pains and although I pretended to faint in the street, I
didn't do it to spite others."

"What are you ranting on about?"

"Please, almighty gods, forgive my past sins. 
That time with Jenny Banks, the priest's daughter, was wrong and I know it now
but please forgive me. I've been really good since... except for the time with
her mother a week later and that too I’m not proud of."

"Look, I've no interest in your-"

"Oh, and I'm sorry for stealing and eating Bessie's
food.  I knew it was wrong at the time but she was only a dog and those were
desperate times."

"What the... Are you quite finished?"

The old man remained quiet and motionless underneath
the blankets.

"Look," Olligh continued. "Just tell me
where I am and where the dead people are kept.  Once I've got this information,
I'll happily leave both you and Harry in peace."

"Erm... very well. It's a deal. You're situated
in Rasplin's Country Hospital.  Not really a place thriving with live people. 
They say if you come to Rasplin's, you won't ever leave."

"Most interesting.  So, what are you doing here
then and where are the dead people?"

"Well, I had nowhere else to go.  I've got no
money, no house and no family to help so this was basically my last resort.  As
for where the dead people are kept, just look around you.  They're still in
their beds with the curtains drawn around them."

"What?  They keep them in their beds?  That
doesn't seem right.  Does it not smell in here?"

"Oh, don't worry - the matron does hourly
checks.  She'll be here soon. If she finds a stiff, she seals the body to
protect it."

"What happens to them after that?"

"Well, in the morning, the collector comes and
puts the corpses down the chute over there."

The man pointed to a large hole in the wall next to
the double doors. 

"Hmm, do you know what's down there?"

"No.  As you can see, I'm not dead so I haven’t
had the pleasure of going down there yet...  Erm, I'm not going to die anytime
soon, am I?"

Olligh sighed.  "No, you've got a few days left
yet."

The man's face turned pale. He grabbed the side of his
bed tightly.  "Only a few days?"

Olligh nodded. "Afraid so. I'm never wrong. 
Perhaps you should speak to the matron about it."

Just as Olligh finished speaking, he heard a whirling
noise.  Turning to investigate, he noticed a round metal object burst through
the double doors and float towards him. When it reached the bed, it made a loud
clanking noise and stopped but it remained hovering in the air before him.

"Here she is," said the man, gazing at the
object.

Olligh watched as a hatch slid open near the top of
its body and a red glowing light appeared. "What sort of creature is
–"

"Good morning, patient Sugar Daddy,” interrupted
the object.

"Sugar Daddy? What sort of name is that?"
Olligh asked with a smirk.

The man glanced at Olligh and lowered his head. 
"Yes... Erm.  Well I had to give them a name for their patient records,
didn't I?  They’re robots, they don’t know any different."

"I hope you slept well last night,” continued the
robot. “I must now initiate a body scan to assess your physical and mental
condition.”

“Here we go,” continued the man. “I hate this bit.”

The robot fixed its beam of light over the bed and
released a loud whirring noise.   Once the beam had moved up and down his body
a few times, there was a loud clunk and the light retracted.

“Scan complete. Body condition: Stable. Stress levels:
Slightly raised.” 

The man coughed.  “My stress levels are slightly
raised because I know what’s coming next.”

"Patient Sugar Daddy, please leave your bed and
bend over. I am now required to conduct a probe temperature check."

"At this point, I would suggest you look
away," said the man. "It won’t be pretty."

Olligh turned away and began walking towards the
double doors.  As he stepped past the robot, it swivelled in his direction and
fixed its red beam of light on him.

"Sensor disruption. Movement detected - identity
check commencing..."

Olligh froze while the robot hissed and whirred. The
beam of light moved slowly from his face down to his feet assessing every inch
of his physical form.

"Are you quite finished?" Olligh asked.
"I don't particularly have time for this."

"Ooh, don't talk back," said the man.
"It confuses them.  Before you know it, you'll be the one getting probed
instead of me. You'll never live that down, will you?  The Grim Reaper probed
by a matron."

The robot continued to whir as it processed the
information. "Species: Humanoid. Condition: Deceased.  No RFID tag. 
Unsolicited patient.  Clean up initiated."

Olligh stood with his arms crossed.  "What's she
babbling on about?"

"Not sure, but it doesn't look too promising. She
thinks you're dead."

"Well it took her long enough to realise that,
didn't it?"

As Olligh finished his sentence, two more robots burst
through the doors.  Although similar to the matron, these robots were bright
red with short grippers protruding from their sides.   

"They're security droids!" yelled the man,
cowering under his sheets. "Run away before they spot you."

Olligh glanced around, unsure of where to run. 
Instead, he focused his energy on the robots and spoke more words of power -

Thetis Zoldack!

From his hand burst blue magical flames ready to singe
anyone or anything that dared venture too close.  Unfortunately, the robots
didn't appear deterred by the fire and flew straight into the soaring heat.  A
bed next to them burst into flames and the matron spun to investigate. 
"Combustion detected.  Danger level: High.  Intensity: High.  Fire Alert
initiated."

 The security robots continued towards Olligh,
unhindered and seemingly unaffected by the flames.   They quickly reached him,
one on either side, and extended their grippers. Olligh was helpless as they
grabbed an arm each and carried him over the floor towards the swing doors.  He
groaned as they suddenly changed direction and instead of going through the
doors, released him into the chute.  As he slid down towards his fate, thoughts
quickly filled his mind.  For some reason, he hoped he wasn't going to land on
a pile of dirty laundry although the possibility of finding some less dirty
clothes appealed to him.   At the bottom, the chute flap flipped open and he
fell out into another larger hole.  After falling a few feet, something soft
and sticky broke his fall but it wasn't a pile of laundry.  Looking around, his
eyes filled with terror.  His first memory of life in his decrepit form had
finally returned to haunt him.  By some twist of fate, he realised he was back
in the hole filled with corpses where his adventure began.  The hospital’s
unusual method of disposing their dead seemed slightly disturbing.  Another
sudden thought struck him.  Somewhere in the pile of body parts, another like
him was probably waiting to be rescued. 

Olligh stood, his hands wet with blood.  Wiping them
on his tunic, he peered up at the top of the hole to ensure he wasn't being
watched.  He didn't particularly want to meet the two men again who tried to
kill him earlier.  Thankfully, nobody appeared to be watching him.

"Hello?" he said quietly.  "Is anyone
in here with me?"

Nothing stirred so Olligh stepped forward trying not
to stand on anything overly repulsive or squidgy. 

"I'm not going to harm you.  I'm a friend.  If
you can hear me, please say something."

Again, there was no response.

"Look, I'm not from this world. I'm here to help.
This is your last chance.  Is anyone here alive or even dead for that
matter?"

"Mmmmhhh!" said a muffled voice from below.

"I knew it!"

Olligh reached down and began to clear the body parts
from beneath him.

"This is odd," he muttered. He found
someone's torn arm and threw it into the far corner. "There are just bits
and pieces lying here. No full bodies."

Olligh removed a severed torso which was tangled
between pieces of viscera and hurled it onto his fresh pile.  Underneath, a
head popped up from out of some guts. It was a man with a long, bent nose and a
thick brown moustache. He gazed up at Olligh with a scowl on his face.
"About time.  Do you know how long I've been waiting down here?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Olligh
replied, wiping his hands on his trousers.

"Likewise.  It'd be nice to shake your hand but
you appear to be standing on mine."