Part 16 (1/2)
”Yeah. For sure. That's why the earth needs to be rid of them. They're the only creatures on this earth that don't have a reason for being. They're evil.” Theo glanced outside, checking the position of the sun. ”Abnormal, not a part of the circle of life. Cannibalistic monsters.”
Vonnie bit her lip. ”Selena has a different perspective.”
”She kills them-it can't be that that different of a perspective. And she does it in an inefficient, dangerous way. Why the h.e.l.l doesn't she use arrows or a bomb or fire or something?” different of a perspective. And she does it in an inefficient, dangerous way. Why the h.e.l.l doesn't she use arrows or a bomb or fire or something?”
”Because that's not her way. It's more humane, she says, the way she does it. She has to rescue them. Selena can't bear to see the destruction of life. She won't let Frank set mouse traps unless they're cages and the mice can be set free outside.”
Theo shook his head, frustrated and confused. ”What zombies do isn't living. It's ... I don't know what, but it's not living living. It's evil. They eat anyone or anything; and what they don't eat, they destroy just for the h.e.l.l of it. It's a d.a.m.n good thing they're dumb as rocks or we'd have ceased to exist on this earth.” He'd made his way through the carrots and now lifted the iced tea to drink. Ahh. Just the perfect amount of sweet. Ahh. Just the perfect amount of sweet.
Vonnie's lips pursed. ”Well, you're sounding like Brandon a bit now. But somehow, she convinced him to see her side of it; and when he made a big fuss about her going out at night, they came up with an idea. If the rest of the town would help, they could corral all the zombies and then Selena could do her thing in relative safety.”
”Sort of like putting a group of wild dogs down one by one after you cage them?” Theo asked. ”Still not very efficient, but at least it would be safer for her.”
”Selena convinced them to try it and they built a corral. And they managed to do it-to trick a bunch of the zombies to go in there one night. Locked them in and everything was fine. She took care of a few every night, carefully.”
”Until ... Aw, c.r.a.p. Let me guess. They got loose?”
She nodded. ”It was ugly. Horrifying. They were trapped inside inside the walls with the rest of us, and they got out. By the time we realized what was happening, it was too late. The zombies were crazed and frightened and wild-and hungry-and they attacked. Selena tried to stop them, tried to help, but by then it was too late. The damage was done. Children, the elderly, even some of the young, strong men who'd been building a solar-powered vehicle were all destroyed. The death count was nearly half of the population of the settlement.” the walls with the rest of us, and they got out. By the time we realized what was happening, it was too late. The zombies were crazed and frightened and wild-and hungry-and they attacked. Selena tried to stop them, tried to help, but by then it was too late. The damage was done. Children, the elderly, even some of the young, strong men who'd been building a solar-powered vehicle were all destroyed. The death count was nearly half of the population of the settlement.”
Theo felt sick. He didn't really need to hear more; he could imagine it. ”What did they do?”
”Well, of course, everyone blamed Selena. As if she'd caused it herself, as if she'd forced those zombies to come out and attack everyone. And Brandon couldn't even look at her. He wouldn't listen to her. And she ... well, of course she took it all on herself. All of it. She needed him and he couldn't give her what she needed.” Vonnie glanced at him sidewise and Theo felt the pointedness of her glare. ”And so, we left. They would never forgive her. She couldn't go anywhere without being spat on or pushed or ignored or ... whatever. It was ugly.
”They called her a zombie lover. And it wasn't a compliment,” Vonnie said, seemingly following Theo's thoughts along its silent path. ”Then they started wondering whether what she was doing out there with them wasn't really killing them, but somehow hypnotizing them and training them to do her bidding. We had to leave.”
By now, Theo was feeling ill himself. What a horrible story. He could understand both sides, both perspectives of what had happened. It was the same sort of thing that had happened after 9/11-too many people blamed every Muslim for what had been done by a dozen radical ones.
It was human nature: to find a scapegoat, to place blame on someone when something tragic happened.
It wasn't always right, nor was it the best aspect of humanity, but it was a common reaction.
But he still didn't have any greater admiration for Brandon.
”But that's not the last of it,” Vonnie said. ”We moved on and stayed at a place called Crossroads for a while; maybe a year or so. Of course after that last experience, Selena wasn't willing to trust anyone about her mission. She was still helping dying people find their way to wherever their afterlife was, but she wouldn't ignore her need to help the zombies. So this time, she didn't tell anyone what she was doing. But, then, people started to see her. Out, in the dark, beyond the walls at night with the zombies. It appeared to them that she was helping or training them, or something.
”Since there'd recently been a rash of zombie attacks against three teenagers, the people of Crossroads became incensed at the thought of someone helping helping or protecting the zombies. They started calling her horrible things and shunning her, and it escalated there too. Then a young woman was attacked one night beyond the walls, and killed, and that was the end of that. They blamed Selena's 'zombie loving' for attracting the monsters, and an angry group from the settlement came and tried to take her away and lock her up. We left instead.” or protecting the zombies. They started calling her horrible things and shunning her, and it escalated there too. Then a young woman was attacked one night beyond the walls, and killed, and that was the end of that. They blamed Selena's 'zombie loving' for attracting the monsters, and an angry group from the settlement came and tried to take her away and lock her up. We left instead.”
Jesus. No wonder Selena didn't want to talk about it. No wonder she didn't feel as if she could trust anyone. He understood, but it still bothered him that she wouldn't trust No wonder Selena didn't want to talk about it. No wonder she didn't feel as if she could trust anyone. He understood, but it still bothered him that she wouldn't trust him. him.
”So we came here. Actually, we met Frank and he brought us here. That's why we don't live in Yellow Mountain, and why she doesn't go there very often. The less people know about her, the happier she is. To them, she's just the Death Lady. Not a zombie lover.”
Theo was nodding, but his stomach churned. The stories reminded him of the Salem witch trials-innocent people tainted and judged, even murdered, because of a bunch of superst.i.tious people.
Yet he still didn't understand why Selena was so intent on making the deaths of zombies so comfortable. Why she risked her life to help them-as if they were her pets that had somehow gone feral.
It reminded him of one of their neighbors when he and Lou were growing up. Mrs. Cloud had had a rottweiler that had attacked and killed another neighbor's cat.
Theo and Lou had played with the rott many times, and had even seen it be around a cat without showing any aggressive behavior. But this one time, something must have happened to provoke it, and the dog had attacked. The courts had ordered the dog to be put down; and although Lou and Theo had protested and picketed and wrote letters (this was before Twitter and Facebook groups) for the life of the dog, the decision had prevailed.
The cat owner celebrated at the dog's death, but Mrs. Cloud and the others who'd known Butch grieved.
”And Brandon? What about Sam?”
Vonnie shrugged. ”Selena sure as h.e.l.l wasn't going to leave him in Sivs with Brandon. And he cared more about his standing in the settlement than about his family. It wasn't a tough decision.”
Theo nodded. That cleared a few things up. ”Thanks,” he said, ”for telling me about that.”
Vonnie looked at him. ”Now I want something from you.”
Back into mother mode. Theo nodded again. Theo nodded again.
”How long are you planning to stick around here?”
”Here, up here?” Theo gestured to the room.
She frowned at him and actually tapped her foot in rapid succession.
”Oh, here? ... around Yellow Mountain?” He tried out the grin that always had worked on his own mom, and was rewarded with a twitch of her lips. ”I don't know. I can tell you that, right now, I don't have any reason to leave. And ... I feel like I have a lot of reasons to stay.”
Vonnie looked at him, then s.n.a.t.c.hed up the tray. She gave a brief, sharp nod. ”All right, then, young man”-she looked at the computers, and then at him-”I don't know what you're doing up here, and I'm not going to ask. Just be careful with those. They've caused a lot of grief.”
”Thanks, Vonnie,” he said as she walked out of the room.
Then he turned back to the touch screen computer and stared at it. They've caused a lot of grief, but they hold secrets. They must. They've caused a lot of grief, but they hold secrets. They must.
”What the f.u.c.k is your secret, Blizek? Did you join them? Did you help to destroy the d.a.m.ned world?” Theo demanded, staring at the large screen. ”Are you living somewhere with a d.a.m.ned crystal in your skin?”
Frustrated, he began to wing his fingers around on the screen, pointing, spreading, pinching, and he watched windows open and open and open inside and on top of each other. He left the area of prototype games, and stopped trying to dig into the deepest layers of security.
Instead, he went to photos and emails and videos. He looked at simple doc.u.ments and some basic coding.
And then he saw it. His whole body went cold and still.
IF THE WORLD ENDS.mov A video.
Not even very well hidden; in fact, he'd have found it sooner if he hadn't been digging for what he thought was the good stuff.
His heart pounding, Theo clicked on it and suddenly a video opened, filling the touch screen, and there was Brad Blizek. On the wall, just like the Wizard of Oz.
He spoke to the camera, quickly, in a low voice. Urgency written all over his homely face.
”If you're seeing this, then the worst has come to pa.s.s. I'm dead, for they won't let me live once they realize that I'm not really part of them. I'm not with them. They're going to destroy the world.”
At this point, Theo gave an audible sigh of relief-and in the video, Brad glanced behind and hunched his shoulders as if expecting to be interrupted at any time.
”I'll talk as long as I can, give you as much as I can, but when I hear them, I'm going to close this. It's coded to automatically upload to news outlets, YouTube and back to my own LAN.”