Pyramid of the Dead: A Zombie Novel (13 page)

“My men and I
shall open the doors and attack the beasts
to draw
their attention
. When the way is clear, you must climb
out the rear
facing
window and run
for your lives
,
and
for
the future of our loved ones
.”

“And what will happen to you?” she asked
,
but
her fallen expression told Ayar that she’d a
lready guessed
what
the answer
would be
.

“My fate has
already
been written
,
dear
Siza
. All I
can
do
now
is to try and give you a chance to get away.
” He took her
small
hand in his. “
Know this:
i
f you succeed, my death will be proud and content
.”

The b
eautiful
Siza cupp
ed his cheek
in her delicate palm
as
she
plac
ed a kiss on the other.
She too would have liked to have known the
city’s
Protector a little
bit
better.
Before she could say anything
more,
h
e indicated
to the
window, which
the woman would exit
to hide his embarrassm
ent. “Get
them
ready,
”
he said
quietly
as he wished he could have returned that kiss and more
. “We don’t have much
time.”

After checking
that
everyone was in place
,
the women were ready to make a run for
it;
Ayar gave the order for the door to be opened. The soldiers
push
ed
forward,
and
the first of the undead to show itself was quickly dispatched back to
the
hell
from whence it came
.
The calls in the square blasted out as the beasts sensed the
soldier’s
arrival.

Ayar and his men’s
momentary
forward movement
were
quickly reversed beneath the weight of so many and in
a matter of a few
seconds,
they were being pushed back
ward
s
,
deep
er and deeper
into
the Tambos. The men were being picked off quickly, one by one
, and
Ayar
could only pray that
his plan
had worked
...and
that Siza, the beautiful Siza
,
was safe.

Soon enough
, there was no
longer
room
even
to
swing his axe
, not that it was doing much good anyway
. As
his a
rms were seized
tight
and he felt dozens of sets of
teeth sink
slowly
, agonisingly
down
into his flesh
, Ayar could still hear cries for help
.
Some of the voices belonged to the women he had tried to
save;
he could hear their screams from outside
and with that realisation
,
came
the
tears and
the
rage, for he knew
that
death would bring him no relief.

*****

Ayar’s
eyes
slowly
opened to
let him
see the
still
packed out Tambos. His new vision
of the room
showed
him
no
colour
at all
. E
verything
he saw
was
just
dull and grey. As he sat up
,
one of the
girls,
who
had fled
th
e building
earlier approached
him
,
carrying
a gold
en
platter
filled to the top with
food. Instead of
the usual
llama and guinea pig
, Ayar was
offered a fine selection of
sweet
hum
an flesh.
Thinking of nothing but his
insatiable
hunger,
Ayar took a small child
’s arm and moaned in
ecstasy,
as he tasted this
wondrous
new delight. Another of the
young
girls shuffled over and offered him a
tall
glass of
still warm
blood. After taking his fill
,
he
wiped his mout
h with the back of his hand before
he dropped to his knees
and
thanked his master
,
Supay.

*****

“You must believe me,” Siza screamed at the
grim faced
soldier
standing
before her
. They
were
standing
outside a
small garrison set
up
at a
busy
looking
crossroad
s
. “They
’v
e killed every single person
in
Tarapoto
,
” she cried, “
everyone
,
didn’t you hear me?
” The anger
, fear and monumental frustration were
clear in her voice
as she continued urgently
. “
Soon they
’
ll be
m
arching along this road! W
e must warn
the King
!
Please!
News of this
evil
army must reach
Cuzco.”

The old and grizzled
soldier looked deep into the girl’s
eyes
,
deciding
whether
to believe this wild
and fanciful
plea. Whatever he saw
in there somehow
convinced him.
He
let out a
sigh and called
over
his men
who were nearby, watching them intensely
.

“
You two get the relay started,” he said as he
pointed to a couple of
teenage
boys
. “Get word
of this attack
back
to the
capital.
Tell
them what this girl has said and tell them
that
we’ll be investigating
her claims
.” The two young
men
nodded by way of
reply,
and
set off running down the road
to the north
.
Turning
to the rest of his soldiers
,
t
he
man
continued
with his orders
. “You need to g
o
to Tarapoto and find out what
has been happening
down
there
.”
They too
simply
acknowledged him
and
silently
followed orders
, glancing at each other
as
if they too wondered if her story was true
. The
group
,
only
a half dozen men
,
set off in the direction
from which the girl had come,
leaving their leader
and Siza
alone
.

“Thank you,
good
sir,
” she
said.
“I spoke the
truth.
Soon
you will see that
for yourself
.”

“Don’t
bother
thank
ing me yet
,
young lady
,” he replied
,
with a snarl
evident
in his voice
. “If this turns out to be
nothing but
nonsense
, you will
pay
dearly
for your lies
.
It may be best
for you
to say a
pray
er
now
.
”
His eyes caught the red of a
blood-stained
wrist and his brows quirked downwards.
“What happened there
, child?” he asked
.

She followed his gaze and her free hand caressed the tender skin.
“As we tried to escape
,
a group
of those beasts
w
ere waiting
for us
. T
hey
attacked us
as
soon as
we got outside
the Tambos
.
T
here
were so many
of them
...
I’m
almost certain I was
the only one
who got
away.
” She looked down at the wound
and wrapped her fingers around it to stem the
slowly
seeping blood
. “
One of the
m
manage
d
to take a bite out of me
,
though.”

“
Come
inside
with me
,
girl
,” the soldier said, softening
his stance
. “L
et me
try and
sort
that
out
for you
.” P
ut
ting
his arm
gently around her
shoulders
,
he carefully
led Siza
into the garrison
building
,
and
then
on
to his
own
personal chamber
s
.

*****

C
arefully
,
and ever so
gently
,
the old soldier washed the blood away from th
e bite mark
on the young woman’s
wrist
. W
orry
etched his brow as he examined it
closely
.
“I
have to tell you, dear child
,
I
don’t like the look of this,”
The
veins
surrounding the
wound
were an ominous grey
and they throbbed angrily around the red flesh that bordered the broken skin, spreading
out to her
fingers
and heading
right up to the girl’s heart
. “
A
s soon as my men
return, I will have you taken
to
the next town
see
a doctor.
” His eyes were
still
transfixed
by
the wound. “
I have
never seen anything like this
in
all
of
my life.”

“
Don’t worry
about me
,
sir
,” Siza muttered
absently, patting the older man’s
hand. “
I’ll be fine.
And t
hank you again for your kindness
.” The
soldier smiled.
His own daughter was about the same age as this girl and
as she settled down on his
bed,
he tucked a blanket around her as she closed her eyes. “You rest for a
little
while, child.” With
that,
he
rose up and left her to sleep. He thought that s
leep was the body’s best defence against infection.