wasn’t easy. I had no strength all of a sudden. Still, I forced myself to take each of the three steps it took to get to the side of Teresa’s bed. Jamie never moved, never so much as acknowledged my presence. I didn’t blame him.
“You see it, too.” It was a statement. I had no idea how long I stood there and stared down at her, but Teresa never even seemed to blink. I kept wishing to God that she would blink. Then, at least for one split second, I wouldn’t see the black traces in those eyes.
Vignettes XX
Aaheru stood on the crumbling remains of the wall that had ci r cled this “city” for so many years. It had been known as The City of the Dead for decades. Cairo’s population had long since outstripped its capacity. The poor had no place else to turn, and had claimed this vast graveyard as their home. Now, it stood as the last bastion (as far as he and the others knew, at least) against the dead.
One of the millions whose stench floated on the cool desert evening air stood below him, its hands reaching desperately for the living being that stood above. Ahi pulled the long spear from his back and jabbed it down into the eye socket of the horrific creature.
“Why waste your energy, brother?” Aaheru whispered. “Another will fill its place.”
“It is one less that we will face when we leave.” Ahi shook his spear free and lined up to jab a n other. The sea of heads stretched out before them gave an endless supply of targets to choose amongst.
“We will not be facing them when we leave, my brother.”
Ahi jabbed, yanked the spear free and faced Aaheru. “What do you have planned?”
“There can only be so many that come on this journey,” Aaheru said with no emotion. “I will deem who comes…”
“And the others?”
“Will be given a different path.”
Ahi plunged his spear down again into the eye of a boy that could have been the playmate of his son…the son who had perished in a crowd of those things the first days when the dead had r e turned to take vengeance on the living. “Do you believe they will go willingly?”
“I do not care,” Aaheru said with a shrug. “We have the guns and the knives.”
Ahi glanced back into the gray sprawl of monuments and tombs, to where the last sons and daughters of Cairo struggled to survive. Those who had once called this armpit of the unde r world their home now served Aaheru and those who he had brought with him all those weeks ago when there were no places left to run or hide in the city any longer.
Ahi remembered the killing. It had been a necessary evil to make the point clear that none of the tribal leaders held power any longer now that a real citizen of Cairo had arrived. The so l diers who had chosen to follow Aaheru—Ahi included—had gunned down the elders without mercy. Aaheru had told them that as long as one remained, there was a chance for rebellion. “Cut off the head, and the body will be helpless… much like the walking dead, ” were his exact words.
“And when do we leave?” Ahi asked.
“At dawn.” Aaheru picked up a stone and tossed it into the crowd. “You and the men will gather the most infirm of the res i dents and bring them to my tent for a feast this evening. We will celebrate their long life and praise them for their service to the glory of Egypt.”
“And then?”
“In the morning they will be taken to the south wall and made to stand.”
“But, and forgive me, my brother,” Ahi risked the wrath of his leader, “there are far too many outside the walls. How do you expect us to escape? It is a difficult enough task to get a handful of men out who are travelling light to search for supplies. The caravan you have in mind will move slo w ly. The dead will r e turn before the last of us can be through the gates.”
“I have determined the order by importance.” Aaheru faced his most trusted subject with a grim expression. “If we stay here any longer, we will all die. Every day, more
“You see it, too.” It was a statement. I had no idea how long I stood there and stared down at her, but Teresa never even seemed to blink. I kept wishing to God that she would blink. Then, at least for one split second, I wouldn’t see the black traces in those eyes.
Vignettes XX
Aaheru stood on the crumbling remains of the wall that had ci r cled this “city” for so many years. It had been known as The City of the Dead for decades. Cairo’s population had long since outstripped its capacity. The poor had no place else to turn, and had claimed this vast graveyard as their home. Now, it stood as the last bastion (as far as he and the others knew, at least) against the dead.
One of the millions whose stench floated on the cool desert evening air stood below him, its hands reaching desperately for the living being that stood above. Ahi pulled the long spear from his back and jabbed it down into the eye socket of the horrific creature.
“Why waste your energy, brother?” Aaheru whispered. “Another will fill its place.”
“It is one less that we will face when we leave.” Ahi shook his spear free and lined up to jab a n other. The sea of heads stretched out before them gave an endless supply of targets to choose amongst.
“We will not be facing them when we leave, my brother.”
Ahi jabbed, yanked the spear free and faced Aaheru. “What do you have planned?”
“There can only be so many that come on this journey,” Aaheru said with no emotion. “I will deem who comes…”
“And the others?”
“Will be given a different path.”
Ahi plunged his spear down again into the eye of a boy that could have been the playmate of his son…the son who had perished in a crowd of those things the first days when the dead had r e turned to take vengeance on the living. “Do you believe they will go willingly?”
“I do not care,” Aaheru said with a shrug. “We have the guns and the knives.”
Ahi glanced back into the gray sprawl of monuments and tombs, to where the last sons and daughters of Cairo struggled to survive. Those who had once called this armpit of the unde r world their home now served Aaheru and those who he had brought with him all those weeks ago when there were no places left to run or hide in the city any longer.
Ahi remembered the killing. It had been a necessary evil to make the point clear that none of the tribal leaders held power any longer now that a real citizen of Cairo had arrived. The so l diers who had chosen to follow Aaheru—Ahi included—had gunned down the elders without mercy. Aaheru had told them that as long as one remained, there was a chance for rebellion. “Cut off the head, and the body will be helpless… much like the walking dead, ” were his exact words.
“And when do we leave?” Ahi asked.
“At dawn.” Aaheru picked up a stone and tossed it into the crowd. “You and the men will gather the most infirm of the res i dents and bring them to my tent for a feast this evening. We will celebrate their long life and praise them for their service to the glory of Egypt.”
“And then?”
“In the morning they will be taken to the south wall and made to stand.”
“But, and forgive me, my brother,” Ahi risked the wrath of his leader, “there are far too many outside the walls. How do you expect us to escape? It is a difficult enough task to get a handful of men out who are travelling light to search for supplies. The caravan you have in mind will move slo w ly. The dead will r e turn before the last of us can be through the gates.”
“I have determined the order by importance.” Aaheru faced his most trusted subject with a grim expression. “If we stay here any longer, we will all die. Every day, more
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