AfterLife (4 page)

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Jordan said, interrupting Wes’s
thoughts, “but can I ask a stupid question?”

Wes nodded, not knowing what to expect.

“No Jordan, you cannot,” Meri said, signaling she knew what
he was going to ask.

“Wes already said it was okay so I’m going to.” Meri stood
up, shaking her head, and began to walk around the apartment to look at Wes’s
things. “Okay, this is going to sound like a funny request, but looking at you
with your missing hand and your decomposing skin, well, I just have to ask.
Will you do Michael Jackson’s Thriller for me?”

“You are such an idiot,” Meri said from the bedroom.

“I know, I know, but we haven’t found someone this dead in a
while.”

Wes didn’t get up from the couch. He had no intention of
dancing; what if some other body part fell off? Jordan laughed at his own joke,
and after looking at his watch, turned back to look out the window. Wes noticed
the watch face had the same emblem as Meri’s ring, and again wondered briefly
at the significance of the symbol before quickly dismissing the thought.
“Better not to think at all,” he thought. Over-thinking tended to get him in
trouble; in fact, it had killed him.

It wasn’t long before the support crew Meri mentioned
arrived. A team of several men and women dressed as police and emergency
responders poured into the apartment, but Wes got the impression that none of
them was really what they appeared to be. They didn’t react to his appearance
as the policemen the night before had, and several were wearing pins with the
same conjoined “A” and “L” emblem. While one group worked their way through his
apartment as if it were a crime scene, another group directed him to get into a
body bag so they could move him out of the building.

Wes couldn’t see anything from inside the body bag except
tiny squares of light that came in along the zipper. Neither could he feel what
was going on outside the bag. There was no sensation of being lifted off the
floor because he couldn’t feel the hands that grabbed his body and picked him
up. He only knew what was happening by the sounds he could hear.

The strangers placed Wes on a stretcher, and from the
changing light coming in through the squares along the zipper, he sensed he was
being carried out of his building to some unknown destination. He knew Meri and
Jordan were dead like he was, although he found it a little hard to believe
from their less-than-dead appearance. He didn’t know who the rest of the people
were. They were as much of a mystery to him as Meri and Jordan, and he was sure
they were dead, too. Whoever or whatever they were, he was one of them now.

The thought of being taken out of his apartment in a body
bag seemed perfectly normal. A few days had passed since his death, and Wes was
slowly becoming more comfortable with the idea. Besides, as odd as things were
at that moment, he didn’t feel there was much choice. For now it was probably
best to just go along with whatever happened. He didn’t know who these people
were, or where they were taking him, but they seemed to have a handle on it. He
figured they couldn’t do him any more harm than he’d done to himself. After
all, he was already dead.

Wes listened to the muffled conversations of his new friends.
The shifting light through the zipper stilled. For some reason the people
transporting him came to a stop just outside the entrance to the lobby. He
listened to the voices and recognized one of them. It was his brother.

“I’d like to see him before you take him.”

“Who are you?” Meri asked.

“I’m Wes’s brother, Lyall.”

“Wes?”

“Yeah, the body you’ve got there is my brother. I’m his
emergency contact. Mr. Howell just called and told me he saw Wes dead in his
apartment.”

“He’s been dead for what looks to be close to three days,”
Jordan said. “I don’t know if you really want to see—”

“We can let you see him,” Meri interrupted, “but first I’m
going to have to see some identification.” There was a pause. “Lyall, we’re so
sorry for your loss. Still you need to know, like my partner said, he’s been
dead for some time. He won’t move. He’s dead. Seeing him might help you begin
the grieving process so you can start to move on. I just want to clarify that
he’s dead and can’t move.”

Wes knew Meri was talking to him and not to his brother. The
zipper slowly opened. Wes kept his eyes open so he could take one last look at
his brother. He hadn’t seen him in more than a year even though they lived in
the same city. Once they were very close; now he didn’t even call him on his
birthday.

Wes got a quick glance of his brother’s familiar face.
People always said the two brothers looked a lot alike except his hair was a
little lighter in color than Wes’s. There were tears in Lyall’s eyes. Jordan
quickly reached down and closed Wes’s eyes.

“What was the cause of death?”

“We believe it was an accidental suicide, a combination of
liquor and pills.” Meri placed her hand on Lyall’s arm. “We’re going to conduct
a full investigation just in case there’s any evidence of foul play, but for
now it looks like there isn’t any. If you come with me, I’ll set you up with an
officer who will take you up to your brother’s apartment.”

Lyall didn’t say anything. Meri lead him off. Jordan zipped
the bag back up and once again Wes was in darkness.

It was hard to see Lyall cry. Wes wanted to get out of the
bag and hug his brother. For the first time he realized the impact his stupid
choices were going to have on other people, especially his family.

Lyall was his only sibling and older by four years. Wes didn’t
know how their relationship had become so distant. He’d always looked up to
Lyall when they were kids. When Lyall wanted to play a new sport, so did Wes.
When Lyall wanted to pick up a new hobby, so did Wes.

It was only a memory now, but once their family was a close,
happy one. Then a few years ago their father died and everything changed. His
brother became detached as he grieved in his own way, and their relationship
changed. His mother dove into church and civic duties to fill the void left by
the loss of her husband, and had little time for her sons. It was a frustrating
time for Wes. He had tried to talk to his mother, to remind her that they all
missed their father, that they needed to somehow find peace together and move
on without him. The conversation made his mother agitated and irate; she
wouldn’t talk about it, and Wes ended up walking out of the house, leaving her
in tears.

His relationship with his mother was now so strained they no
longer talked or visited. She had left him as surely as his father had, but her
abandonment felt intentional. To his credit, Lyall eventually tried a few times
to smooth things over, but the attempts seemed only half-hearted. During the
next few months, Wes and Lyall gradually stopped talking, and Lyall seemed to
pull away even more than he had immediately after the funeral. Somehow, they
all just forgot how to be a family. Now Wes realized it was his fault as much
as anyone’s. For all these years he’d placed the blame on them for leaving him,
but the truth was that it was his choice to be alone. Wes wondered if he’d ever
get the chance to talk to his brother again.

“Well, Wes, you play dead very nicely. You made that easy on
us.” Meri helped Wes climb out of the bag once they were alone in what looked
like a small truck equipped for refrigeration. “We’ve got a little bit of a
drive ahead of us, and we have to preserve your body as much as we can. You may
find it harder and harder to move once you’re refrigerated, but it is what it
is.”

Wes looked around the inside of the truck. He imagined the
outside to be marked as some sort of police vehicle even though the inside was
completely empty other than a few benches lining the walls.

 “We are part of a group of people called AfterLife,” Jordan
began to explain after Wes found a place on one of the benches and the truck
lurched into movement. “We’re a group of living dead, Mortuis to be more
specific, and people are dying to get into our very exclusive group.” Meri
again shook her head at Jordan’s remarks. Jordan laughed and continued.
“Although the living dead have been around for almost as long as people have
been dying, AfterLife has only been in existence since the early 1800s. We give
purpose to life after death by helping those who continue to live realize their
potential.”

Wes thought Jordan was joking at first, but Meri didn’t
shake her head at these comments as she had at his other insipid remarks. Meri
looked at Wes and then motioned to Jordan to stop talking.

“I don’t think he cares about all that yet, Jordan. He’s
probably just getting used to the idea he’s dead. I think you forget after all
these years how scary it can be at first.” Meri moved closer to Wes and placed
her hand on his arm as a form a reassurance. Wes couldn’t feel her hand but was
strangely calmed by the motion. “Look Wes, there’s a lot to get used to here.
You are dead. Repeat it to yourself over and over until you get used to it.
You’re dead and life can never be the same. We’re here to help you through the
process. You aren’t alone. There are thousands of Mortuis all over the world.
You are only one of many people who’ve found themselves in the same position
you’re in now, and just like all of us, you will find a way to cope.

“Having said that, I don’t want you to think it’s going to
be easy. You’ll have to work to make a successful transition to your new
situation. You won’t be able to step back into your old life. You won’t be able
to see the people you once cared about or loved. That life died with you and
you have to start new.”

Wes listened to what Meri was saying and knew she was being
as blunt as possible for good reason. He was a little frightened by the
situation, but Meri’s words were what he needed to hear.

She continued as if reading his thoughts, “I’m not trying to
scare you, but I want you to be mentally prepared for what lies ahead. What I
can tell you is that if you trust us, we’ll help you figure this out. You won’t
be left on your own. Climbing into that body bag today was a good first step.
We’ve encountered situations where the people we were trying to help ran or
decided they didn’t want help.”

Wes listened as Meri continued to talk. Maybe it had been
curiosity that caused him to get into the body bag. Maybe he’d just felt he had
no other choice. On the other hand, he also believed that Meri was empathetic
to his situation. He’d given her no indication he was having difficulty dealing
with this new situation, mostly because he couldn’t communicate. Regardless, he
felt that by going with these strangers he was making a good decision.

“You’re going to be just fine, Wes,” Meri said, taking her
hand off his arm. “Things don’t always turn out the way we think they will. You
probably died thinking you would be able to put all your problems behind you,
only to discover that the very act you thought would be your escape has only
opened up more challenges. Just know there is life after death, at least for us
there is.”

Jordan, who was sitting opposite from where Wes and Meri
were sitting, began to laugh. “You crack me up, Meri. You look all tough with
your slinky black hair but in reality you’re just a loving big sister.”

“Oh shut up, Jordan. I’d slap you if I thought you’d feel
it. I know I’ve been dead longer than you have, but I remember dying as a scary
experience. I’m sure you do, too.”

“Of course it was. It is for everyone. I’m just giving you a
hard time. Can I explain the mummification process now? Please?”

Meri sighed, but didn’t say anything.

“Okay Wes,” Jordan said, his voice filled with excitement.
“You’re going to be mummified. That’s mummification AfterLife style.”

“You’re a tool.” Meri folded her arms and glared at Jordan.
Jordan ignored her.

“So, mummification has been around for millennia and can be
found in different forms in various cultures. We at AfterLife call our form of
mummification ‘rebirth.’ Ah, it’s so exciting when someone has a rebirth and
gets a chance at life after death,” Jordan said, standing up to emphasize what
Wes could see he believed to be a profound statement.

The truck hit a pothole and Jordan fell back down on the
bench.

“Jordan, I think that’s enough,” Meri said, stopping Jordan
from going further with his explanation of the rebirth process. “I don’t think
he’s going to find it as exciting as you do.”

“I don’t know,” Jordan said, “he might.”

“Well, he doesn’t need the whole razzle-dazzle you give it.
Just give him the quick version so he knows his body isn’t going to rot out
from under him.”

“Fine. We’re going to replace your bodily fluids with others
that our own scientists have developed. After that, we’ll teach you how to feed
off other people by looking into their eyes – it’s true what they say about the
eyes being the gateway to the soul, although we don’t really feed on the soul.
We feed on life energy. However, as you take their life energy, you also
shorten their lifespan, so be careful. How was that, short enough for you
Meri?”

“You never cease to amaze me with how thoughtless you can
be.” Meri shifted her attention from Jordan to Wes. “Wes, I’m going to need you
to lie down now. I’m going to move over to the other bench and I want you to
stay as flat as you can. It’s going to get hard to move in a bit and we’ll need
you in a lying position when we arrive.”

The truck ride continued for what seemed to be several
hours. His mind hummed with questions he couldn’t ask. He didn’t know if
anything Jordan said about rebirth was true, but he hoped it was. It would be
nice to have a little more control over his body. Would his body come back to
life or was this process just a way of preserving it from further decay? As he
listened to their caustic bantering, he realized there was a true friendship
and closeness behind it. They really cared for one another, and he liked that.