AfterLife (15 page)

Wes nodded. “That’s what Emily said.”

“She’s a smart girl,” Anne Marie said and leveled her head
allowing her brow to return to normal.

“I should think that it’s nothing to spend time worrying
about.” Caleb stood up. “It’s quite unlikely you will be able to repeat the act.
Anne Marie and Emily are correct, however, and you shouldn’t try to sync in
such a way for the time being. You still have much to learn.”

Caleb thanked Emily and Wes for coming and wished them well
as they began Wes’s training. Wes felt as if he and Emily were being ushered
out of the room.

 “That Caleb is an interesting guy,” Wes said as he and
Emily left the Ancestors.

“Oh, you get used to him. He is definitely the most
strategic of them. He was a soldier for the British during the American
Revolution.”

“Excuse me?” Wes almost tripped on his own feet. “That means
he’s…”

“Been dead for almost 250 years? Yeah, he’s the second
oldest of the Ancestors at this Hub. Zach is oldest. Of course, there are other
Hubs and AfterLife Ancestors elsewhere.”

Wes tried to comprehend being around that long. What would
he do with himself? The idea of existing for hundreds of years was kind of
frightening. Still, partial immortality was the least of his concerns; how on
earth would he handle seeing Jezebel again?

“H
ave you
really heard of that sort of thing happening?” Anne Marie asked Caleb after Wes
and Emily had left the room. Her face was one of shock and it was evident she
was alarmed by what had been revealed during the meeting with Emily and Wes.

“I have,” Caleb answered, “but it isn’t common, and I’ve
never heard of it happening with an antemort.” Caleb joined the three other
Ancestors at the sitting area in the center of the room.

“Emily said they’re not sure of that.” Anne Marie said. “It
hasn’t been confirmed.”

“That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen though, does it? The boy
seemed sure.” William interlocked his fingers and rested his hands on top of
his head as he sat deep in thought. “I did hear of it happening once between
two Mortuis, but never between a Mortui and an antemort.”

“It’s called astral synchronization.” The other Ancestors
looked at Zach as he spoke. “There are spontaneous occurrences of it from time
to time between Mortuis, but if Wes is able to astral-sync with antemorts, then
it isn’t a spontaneous occurrence. He has an ability I’ve only ever heard
rumors of others possessing. And that was more than 600 years ago. The rumor
was of a man who was whispered to have the ability, but he was used as an
assassin by the Body and eventually severed by some of the other Mortuis out of
fear.”

“So Wes could have an amazing gift, but also be in very real
danger?” Anne Marie’s expression was one of concern.

William lowered his hands from his head and folded his arms
across his chest. “It is possible. If we can keep him safe through his training
I’m sure he’ll be strong enough to survive, even if others might view him as a
threat.”

“We need to retain this one,” Caleb said. His eyes made
their way from William to Zach, and then to Anne Marie. “He could be a very
powerful part of our counter movements against the Atumra.”

“I think we should just help him make it through his first
few months before we decide how we want to use him.” Anne Marie gave Caleb a
cold stare. “I do agree, however, that we need to retain him. I can only
imagine what the Atumra would do if they knew there was someone who could sync
with antemorts without looking into their eyes. The Atumra are doing everything
they can to recruit the strongest soldiers. The last thing we want is for them
to get hold of one that is not only able-bodied but can also astral-sync.”

“You’re right,” Caleb said, conceding to Anne Marie’s
argument. “Let’s help the boy through the training process and hope he’s as
good as Emily believes he is. If he is incorruptible, we won’t have to worry
about him leaving us for Atumra.”

“I recommend we set up a conference with the Ancestors at
the other Hubs to inform them of this as soon as possible.” Zach’s expression
was as unreadable as it had been during Wes and Emily’s meeting with the group.
“I’m sure they’ll be interested in knowing, and they should be involved in any
decisions that are made.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Anne Marie said. She stood up
and started walking toward her desk. “I’ll set one up for this evening. We will
conference with as many as are available.”

“I know you don’t want me to think of him as a secret
weapon, Anne Marie,” Caleb said, “but you have to admit these are trying times.
You know as well as I do that trying times always bring forth a champion. I
have a feeling Wes may be ours when all is said and done.”

“H
e’s
awake.”

Seth opened his eyes to see Doc
standing quietly in front of him. He had been meditating only a few hours, but
the room was full of light. The sun was now high enough to reflect back into
the room from the windows of a nearby building, giving the light in the room a
bluish tint.

“Thank you Doc,” Seth said, getting
up from his chair. “I’ll be there shortly.” Doc turned to walk out of the room
but Seth stopped him. “Have you had a chance to compile your report yet?”

Doc stopped and turned just inside
the door. “Yes sir. It’s downstairs. I’ve forwarded the files to your computer
and have a hard copy for you as well. The process is fully outlined as is the
chemical composition of the serum. Nothing has been left out. Any Atumra group
can easily replicate the process.”

“Good. I’ll be down shortly,” Seth
said, acknowledging Doc’s statement and excusing him.

The successful transfer of Rahul’s
soul to the antemort body was something to be celebrated as it was part of the
larger plan to increase the Body’s hold on the living. Seth took a moment to
look through his emails at reports sent back from soldiers – pairings of carefully
selected Mortuis sent out to discover new recruits. Recruitment was still in
the early stages, but had so far been successful. Soldiers were given names of
prescreened candidates with the genetic predisposition to become a Mortui. That
was the easy part, due to the Atumra infiltration of many of the labs and
hospitals that processed blood work. The more difficult part was indoctrinating
the candidate about the Mortui world and Atumra’s upcoming role in the new
world order. Of course, this indoctrination took place after the soldier had
taken the candidate’s life. Either they complied or they didn’t – if they
didn’t, they weren’t left around for another group to snap up. So far, most
complied, given the alternative.

Reading through the weekly reports,
Seth came across one concerning a Wesley Lohmann, a potential recruit who had
died prior to being taken by the Atumra and was instead collected by AfterLife.
The information angered him. True, it was only one recruit, but he had little
tolerance for failure. The pool for eligible Mortui was not extremely large –
there were many who exhibited the recessive gene, but fewer with the dominant
marker, and even fewer who were viable, strong, and healthy candidates. Each
identified recruit was essential to the success of Atumra’s plans, and each
loss extended the length of time it would take to reach their goal. In the
meantime, the lost recruit was adding strength to AfterLife. AfterLife was
always a concern even though he knew the Atumra had a member in their higher
ranks who was keeping an eye on the operation. If the new recruit was one the
Atumra wanted, he would ensure that he would be coaxed away from AfterLife in
the near future.

Seth made his way down the
impressive wood and marble staircase that rose through the center of the
building to the floor where Rahul was waiting in a sitting room off the main
landing. A group of seven or eight Mortuis had gathered around Rahul, who was
eating a sandwich from the bakery. Seth stood a little out of view and listened
to the conversation.

“It tastes even better than I
remember!” Rahul said, “And I love the way it feels going down when I swallow.
Every sensation, every touch is like new!”

“Oh Rahul, you know what that
means,” Seth heard Blake say, “now that you have your sense of touch back.”

“I get to feel the rain on my
face?”

“Sex, man. When are you gonna get
some?”

The group of Mortuis began to
laugh.

“One thing at a time,” Rahul
responded to the teasing. “I’m telling you, Blake, I can hardly stand the
pleasure this sandwich is giving me. There’s no way I’ll be able to handle the
love of a woman. I’d better wait a bit before I tread back into that territory.
Let’s see, it’s only a little past 11 now so I don’t think I’ll be ready to
really perform till, oh, 7 o’clock tonight.”

The whole group laughed again.
Still unseen, Seth was disgusted by the entire conversation. This whole group
of Mortuis had no right to be part of Atumra. None of them truly appreciated
the heritage of being a Walking Dead. He wanted to kill Rahul right now in
front of them just to show them how vulnerable he was.

He wouldn’t, of course. Letting
them listen to Rahul talk about how great it was to be alive again would be
more beneficial to the Body’s plan. The Atumra were now able to offer something
that no other Mortui organization could, and he had no doubt members of those
organizations would be falling all over themselves to change alliances. Hadn’t
it already started with just the rumors that they were working on possession?
This could only help the cause.

AfterLife was a main target.
AfterLife had good people in high places: doctors, politicians, and many others
who would be beneficial to the Atumra. Offering the opportunity at a second
life after they’d served the Atumra would be the best incentive for bringing
these Mortuis to their side. Seth scoffed. AfterLife indoctrinated its members
with a lot of nonsense about the sanctity of antemort life.

Seth despised AfterLife, yet at the
same time he admired the strength of the organization. Structurally they were a
strong community of Mortuis, always supporting one another. They worked in
pairs and kept in continual communication with their nearest headquarters. They
encouraged personal improvement through education and training, which in turn
improved the organization. But they were soft. They wanted to live with
antemorts in a way that improved the life of the living, and he hated them for
it. They may have been born alive, but Mortuis were much superior to antemorts;
genetics proved it. To look at a living being as an equal instead of as an
energy source was implying that antemorts were actually superior and Mortuis
were an anomaly.

More laughter floated out of the
room and Seth decided it was time to join in the festivities. “So here is the
man of the hour,” Seth said as he walked into the sitting area. The small group
parted, allowing him access to Rahul. “How does it feel to be living again?” He
stood behind Rahul and placed his hands on his shoulders.

“It is an amazing feeling, sir, and
I am grateful to you and the Body for allowing me to be the first to receive
such a great reward for service.”

“It is my pleasure.” Seth looked at
the rest of the group gathered in the area. “Let’s hear it for Rahul and the
success of our possession process. May we all be worthy to earn what Rahul has
received.”

 The group cheered.

“Rahul, I want to give you one more
thing,” Seth said once the room was quiet. “I’ve reserved a room for you at the
Drake Hotel, and I’ve even arranged for you to have a female guest.” Seth
smiled lasciviously, and the group cheered again.

Deciding he’d had as much as he
could stand of the revelry, Seth asked Doc if they could review his report.
They left the group and went to Doc’s office. The report was, as Doc had
promised, thorough and complete.

“I want you to do one more thing
for me if you would,” Seth said after scanning the process. “Your services will
be needed downstairs.”

“Absolutely sir,” Doc said, “Does
it have to do with the possession process?”

“No, this is something different.
Meet me in the catacombs.” Seth returned to the group of Mortuis gathered
around Rahul. “Blake, I need you for a few minutes.”

Blake stood up and followed Seth to
the catacombs. The building had three underground floors where the Atumra
performed the rebirths of new Mortuis – a process they had stolen from
AfterLife – as well as some of their training, and now the possession process.

Once the elevator started its
descent, Seth turned to Blake. “Where is your partner?”

“I don’t know,” Blake said with an
expressionless face. “She left shortly after we conducted the possession last
night. She likes to walk along Lake Michigan and the park to feed.”

“You should always know where your
fellow soldier is.” Seth paused. Blake didn’t say anything but gave a slight
nod. Seth continued, “We can discuss this with Jezebel when she gets back. I
want you to tell me what happened with one of the recruits you were assigned.
His name is Wesley Lohmann.”

The elevator came to a stop and the
doors opened. Seth motioned for Blake to exit the elevator first and followed
after him through the doors. Blake remained quiet as Seth resumed the lead and
led them down the hallway to the possession room where Doc was leaning against
the large stainless steel table used to restrain antemorts. Once inside the
room Seth turned to Blake and waited for his response.

Blake shook his head, but his
expression was guarded. “I’m not sure. He was mostly being recruited by
Jezebel. As the report stated, she got a job at the same company and worked
with him for several months. She said he was falling for her and she would be
ready to end his antemort status at any time. Next thing we knew, he had
overdosed and was picked up by AfterLife.”