Fiction: Afterlife Volume 3 (Chapter 28)

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Afterlife is a sci fi/western action serial published every other week. Join us in a post-apocalyptic journey through a future where life has become little more than a struggle for survival. However, where there’s life, there’s always hope.

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Read the previous chapter here:

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 27

Where:

The Southwest Resistance receives help from General Schmidt.
The IAO fall back temporarily in Rose City.
Abby and Michelle defeat Warrick Baines.

Find the Volume 3 Table of Contents page here.

View the Map here.

Check out Afterlife on Goodreads and don’t forget to rate it.

 

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 28

Mavery noticed the pain in her left arm a lot more.  She’d been able to ignore it, but as the situation in Rose City grew bleaker, the pain seemed to be increasing.  She sat in a chair in the Phoenix Books office and frowned.  Everyone was silent.  Mavery noticed Big Ed standing over her.  “You okay?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I’m not.”

“We’ve seen worse,” he said.

“I don’t see how it could get much worse than this,” Victor said as he sat with his feet on his desk and his arms folded nervously over his chest.

Matt Lund was standing near the window, trying to get a view through the buildings at the dunes in the distance.  He was squinting and frowning.  “Something’s different.  There’s someone else out there I think.”  His communicator rang and he answered.  “Yes.  All right.”  He smiled.  Mavery could barely hear the male voice he was speaking with, but she couldn’t tell whose it was and she couldn’t make out the words.  “Well that’s a relief,” Matt said.  “Yeah, but at least we’ve bought some more time.”  He hung up and grinned, looking around at everyone in the room.  “That was Colonel Fife.  General Schmidt and his army have arrived.  They helped us fend off the first wave of attacks.  The IAO are retreating back to their original positions.”

“There’s our miracle,” Mavery said with a smile.  “General Schmidt.”

“But the IAO are still surrounding the city,” Sandy Patel said.  She was sitting at her desk with her eyes closed.  Mavery thought she’d fallen asleep.  “They’ll get some reinforcements and attack again,” Sandy continued.  “We need to figure out a long term solution.”

“Well at least we have more time,” Matt said.  “That’s the most we could have hoped for.”

“The army’s decimated,” Victor said.  “It won’t take much for them to finish us off.”

Gale was filling everyone’s glasses with water from a pitcher, much like she’d been doing all along.  The android did seem to perk up a little when she heard the news of General Schmidt’s arrival, though.  “I thought I was gonna be spare parts for the IAO.  Looks like I’ll be serving all of you for a little while longer at least.”

“Hopefully a lot longer,” Art Crab said with a grin as Gale poured water into his glass.  “I don’t think I could bare to not see your beautiful face in here every day.”

“Aw,” Gale said.  “You probably tell that to all the androids.”

Mavery heard footsteps coming up the downstairs stairway and she watched the doorway as Alfred Heimdall and Francis Ford emerged.  “We’ve prepared the system for your remarks, Mavery,” Francis said with a frown.  “I wish we had better news for the people of Rose City to hear from you.”

“Cheer up,” Mavery said.  “It’s not as bad as all that.  General Schmidt and his army are here.  We’ve fought off the IAO for now.  They still have us surrounded, though.”

“So it’s not great,” Alfred said, “but it could definitely be worse.”

“Well,” Art said, “we should be safe here regardless.  If the IAO attacks again and things look bleak, we’ll have plenty of time to plan an escape.”

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” Mavery said.  “But if it does, there’s more at stake than just us.  We have the 600 billion dollars that Abby and her friends collected that we can use to rebuild, but only if we escape and the money escapes with us.  The whole resistance is riding on that money right now.”

Art nodded.  “Where’s the money now?”

Mavery smiled.  “Sorry, Art.  That’s strictly need to know.  If something goes wrong and they try to interrogate us, the fewer people who know the location of that money, the better.”  Only Mavery and Matt knew.  They’d also tell the other members of the lead council once they had the chance to meet and select members to replace those who died.  The money was hidden in a safe behind one of the bookshelves in the store, in the history section.  The book that worked as the lever to move the bookshelf was a biography about Joan of Arc.

“Well,” Matt said, “looks like things have taken a turn for the better, at least for now, so Victor and I will stay here with Francis and Alfred.  I suggest the rest of you go home for now and get some rest.  We’ll notify you if you’re needed.”

Mavery frowned.  “Maybe I should stay, too.  Somebody still needs to tell the people what’s happening.”

Matt smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.  “We can take care of it.  You need some rest.  We’ll be fine.  We’ll hold down the fort.”

Mavery looked at Big Ed and shrugged.  “Let’s go, then,” she said.

Big Ed nodded.  “I’m hungry as well as tired.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle another all-nighter like that.”

Mavery chuckled.  “That’s because you never went to college.”  Mavery stood and the two of them left the office through the door that led out into the bookstore.

<>

Ayman hadn’t been in the hospital for even a day yet, but it was already unbearably boring for him.  The bed was comfortable and the sheets were clean, but there was nothing to do but read his Qur’an and sleep in between prayers and meals.  There was a hologram projector in the room, but with the IAO cutting off all signals, he could only watch recordings and old movies, none of which seemed very interesting to him.  At least his leg was improving quickly.  They’d done some surgery to patch him up and used some nanobots to help repair the muscle.  Now it was mostly waiting.  They offered morphine, but he refused it, preferring weaker oral painkillers.  They worked fine as far as he was concerned.  The leg hurt, but it was bearable.  The boredom was the part Ayman couldn’t deal with.

The door opened and Ayman expected one of his nurses or doctors, but Ava Hadid walked into the room, smiled at him, and took a seat in the chair next to his bed.  She was wearing jeans and a black button down shirt and this was one of the few times Ayman had seen her without her heavy eye makeup.  She had beautiful brown eyes regardless.  Her straight black hair was tied back in a ponytail.  “It’s good to see you up and about,” he said.

“I wish I could say the same for you,” she said in her breathy voice.

“It isn’t so bad.”

“I told you not to get yourself hurt,” Ava said.  “You’re a terrible listener.”

Ayman laughed.  “Like I said, it isn’t so bad.”  He frowned.  “You probably heard that they took Belle.”  Ava nodded.  “I tried to rescue her,” Ayman said, “and that’s when they shot me.”

“Always the hero,” Ava said.

Ayman frowned.  “Not always.”

“The past is the past,” Ava said.  “Anything you did before you left the Holy Warriors, forget about it.  You were in an awful situation with awful people.”  She frowned.  “I have some of my own sins to atone for.”

“Allah is all loving and all forgiving,” Ayman said.

“Yeah,” Ava said.  “If only we could forgive ourselves so easily.”

“Well thank you for coming,” Ayman said.  “I couldn’t begin to tell you how boring it is in here.”

“I know,” she said.  “I was here just a few days ago.”

“Once I get out…”  Ayman cleared his throat.  He looked into Ava’s eyes.  “Once I get out, I’d like to take you out to dinner.  And maybe a walk.”

She smiled at him.  “Are you asking me on a date, Ayman Ali?”

“You did suggest we get married the first time I spoke to you,” Ayman said.

“What?” Ava asked, laughing.

“I remember,” he said with a grin.  “Once you realized we were both Muslims, you said sarcastically that we should get married.”

“Ha!” she said.  “And you’re going to hold me to that?”

“Well, we can start with a date and see where it goes from there.”

“Oh we can, can we?” Ava asked.  “And what if I don’t want to go on a date with you?”

“Like you have something better to do?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said.  “I could watch old reruns of children’s cartoons in my hotel room.  Or I could stare at the walls and watch the paint peel.  Either would probably be better than going on a date with you.”  She laughed.  “Will you pay?”

“Of course I’ll pay,” he said.

“Then I guess I’ll go,” she said.  “I can’t pass on an offer of free food.  I’ll be sure to pick the most expensive restaurant in town.”

“I’ll pick the restaurant,” Ayman said.  “And there’s one catch.”

“Oh, really?” she asked with her hands on her hips.  “And what’s that?”

“I’d like for you to wear a hijab.”

“A hijab?” she asked.  “Really?  I haven’t worn one in years.  I’d have to go find one.”

“I’m sure there’s a store in town that sells them,” Ayman said.  “I was told Rose City has a thriving Muslim community.  I found a wonderful mosque not long after we arrived.”

Ava nodded.  “I don’t know.  You really want me to wear one?”

“I do,” Ayman said.  “You are beautiful.”  He put his hand on her cheek.  “I’ve always believed that a hijab makes a woman even more beautiful because it shows her virtue.  Mystery is always more desirable than things that are already known.  In romance, mystery is what keeps it going.  Once there’s no mystery, the romance is dead.”

Ava smiled.  “I won’t argue with that.”  Ayman took his hand away from her face.  “So you really want me to get a hijab?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then,” Ava said.  “The next time you see me, I’ll be wearing a hijab.”

“Once they let me out of this dreadful place,” Ayman said.  “I’ll come find you in your hotel.”

Ava smiled.  “I’ll be waiting.  Goodbye for now.”

Ayman nodded.  “Goodbye.”  Ava stood and left the room, and Ayman was left to his thoughts.  He hadn’t courted a woman in years.  The last woman was a daughter of one of the Holy Warriors.  He asked her father for permission and he gave it.  Her parents accompanied them as they ate dinner and walked afterwards.  Not long after that, her father had discovered that she’d been with a man and he and his family stoned her to death in the desert.  Ayman refused to join them and the girl’s father never spoke to him again after that.  “Another life,” Ayman said to the empty room.  “Another time, another place.  Another life.”

<>

The sand bike Abby was riding started sputtering.  “Great,” she said.  Since the Warrick android destroyed most of the useful things back in Drummond including the fueling station, Abby hadn’t been able to fill the tank.  She’d been hoping it would be enough to get her to the next settlement.  Apparently it wasn’t.  The bike slid through the sand between two dunes and came to a stop.

Abby looked behind her to see that Shelly was unconscious.  Abby had tried to clean and bandage up Shelly’s wounds the best she could, but Shelly had lost a lot of blood and Abby didn’t know how much longer she’d last.  Now that the bike was out of fuel, Abby had no idea how close the nearest settlement was.  The IAO had cut off all access to the Satellite Net, so Einstein was stuck with the data he already had.  There was no telling if nearby settlements were now under IAO control.  Abby would have to assume they were.  “Where’s the closest settlement,” she asked Einstein as she stepped off the bike.

“The closest settlement is fifty miles away,” Einstein said.  “Westwatch.”

Abby frowned.  “It would take me days to walk there in the desert.  Longer if I drag Shelly along.  And there’s no telling if she’d make it.”

Abby looked in her bag to see that she was running dangerously low on water.  And there was just one can of pork and beans left.  “I don’t know what we’re gonna do this time, Einstein.”

“I’ll spare you the heartache of knowing your chances of survival,” he said.

Abby chuckled.  “Don’t worry, Einstein.  I already have a pretty good idea of what they are.”  With what Einstein had said earlier, there was a good chance Rose City was under IAO control now.  Whether the report had been real or fabricated, the IAO would probably make the resistance town their top priority.  “Where do we go from here?” Abby asked as she looked up at the stark blue sky.  To her it symbolized doom rather than freedom, especially with the blazing sun beating down.  Shelly moaned and stirred.  Abby brought her the water bottle, opened Shelly’s mouth, and poured a little in.  She was still out cold, but at least she was alive.

“I sense a vehicle approaching from the south,” Einstein said.  “Not a high enough heat signature for a rocket engine.  There is a combustion engine of some kind, though.”

Abby frowned.  “It could either be an enemy or a godsend.  Or somewhere in between.  And I don’t have any more concussion bombs.”  She looked at Shelly’s swords and laser rifle which were strapped to the sides of the sand bike.  “It’s not a sand bike or a hover car.  It’s not a hover tank.  It’s not an EMPC or an attack copter.  IAO and bandits can be ruled out, I think.  Although some bandits use old style cars along with disruptor tactics.”  She bit her lip.  “I’m gonna see if I can get a better look.”  She looked at Shelly and frowned.  Hopefully she’d be okay for a minute or two.  Abby gave her some more water and she climbed the closest dune through the sand.

When Abby reached the top of the dune, she heard an unfamiliar engine.  She looked to her left and saw a vehicle with huge wheels and massive tires approaching.  The driver noticed her and waved.  He was in the open air, with no cockpit or windshield in front of him.  Abby waved back.  There was a large bed in the rear of the vehicle that held a few boxes and crates.  The driver was wearing a gray robe and his brown head was shaved bald.  A strange tumor covered most of his face and neck.  Whatever he was, he wasn’t a bandit.  Abby waited until he drove the vehicle up the dune she was on and stopped.  “Do you need help?” he asked.

Abby nodded.  “My friend’s dying.  She’s wounded.  Bleeding out.  I tried to bandage her up the best I could.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” the man said.  “I have a first aid kit.  Hop on.”  Abby sat on the bench in front of the vehicle next to the man and she directed him down the side of the dune to Shelly and her sand bike.  “I sometimes carry fuel,” he said.  “But I have none with me today.  I may not be able to help you as much as you’d like.”

“Where are you from?” Abby asked.

“Oh,” the man said with a smile, “just a little town in the mountains.”  He took out his first aid kit and with Abby’s help, laid Shelly down on a blanket.  He cleaned her wounds and rebandaged them.  When he was done, he looked at Abby with a frown.  “I’m afraid she’ll die if we don’t get her to a hospital in the next few days.  The problem is, all of this territory has been taken over by the IAO, who are hostile to both me and you.”

Abby nodded.  “Well can we go to your town?”

He shook his head.  “I don’t believe that is an option.”

“Why not?” Abby asked.

“Because,” he said, “if you come with me, you’ll never be able to leave.”

“Never be able to leave?” Abby asked.  “My friend’s dying.  Take us to your town and then we’ll just leave when we’re done there.”

“I’m afraid that can’t happen,” he said.

“Look,” Abby said.  “Enough with your vague excuses.  My friend’s dying and you’re taking us somewhere where she can get help.  Or I’ll hold you personally responsible for her death.”

He frowned.  “I didn’t have to come to help you.”

“You’re right,” Abby said.  “You didn’t have to.  But you did.  Now you need to finish what you stated or it’s all for nothing.  What’s your name?”

“Sammy Willis,” the man said.

“Sammy Willis,” Abby said.  “I’m Abigail Song.  I’m the heir to the Song fortune and one of the leaders of the Southwest Resistance.  If you help me, there will be a large reward in it for you.”

He smiled and looked at her like she was a ghost.  “Abigail Song.  You’re real?  We’ve heard vague rumors of your existence.  Legends of your deeds.  But none of us has ever seen you.”

“None of us?” Abby asked.  “None of who?”

He swallowed.  “I’ve said too much.  Look, I’ll take you to my home.  We can figure out what to do from there.  They’ll be able to help your friend.”  He smiled at her.  “I believe this could be the start of something new.”  The two of them laid the blanket in the bed of the man’s vehicle and lifted Shelly onto it.  Abby got everything she needed from her sand bike, including the six heavy bags of diamonds from Drummond, and put it all in the back of the vehicle with the crates.  She sat next to the man as he drove her west through the dunes, in the direction of the Rocky Mountains.

<>

A raindrop landed on Paul’s hand as he looked up at the gray clouds and smiled.  “It’s really raining.”

“It probably won’t rain long,” Aiyana said.  “We get these little drizzles from time to time in the late afternoon and early evening.  Sometimes there’s a big storm.  There aren’t many clouds right now, though.”

Paul opened his mouth as he looked up at the sky and let the rain hit his tongue.  “I don’t mind.  This is the first time I’ve seen rain.  It never rains out there in the deserts.”

Like Aiyana predicted, the rain ended not long after it began.  “We don’t want our picnic to get rained out, though.”

Paul nodded.  He was carrying a wicker picnic basket as he and Aiyana followed a trail that led up into the mountains.  Aiyana had parked her vehicle, which Paul had discovered that the Denverites called a town buggy, at the trailhead and they’d been walking for about a mile.  Paul was still limping a little, but he was doing okay.  He welcomed the activity.  They were surrounded by evergreens and maples that towered high above their heads, filling their surroundings with green, but every once in a while there would be a clearing and Paul would catch a glimpse of the expansive mountains.  The ones nearby were covered with trees up to a point, but the distant peaks were barren.   As Paul glimpsed sun rays reaching down through the roof of leaves, he followed them with his eyes to some old stone stairs up ahead.  They were lined with crumbling statues as they led up the mountainside through the trees.  “These are ancient,” Aiyana said.  “They’ve been here for thousands of years.  The statues are old, but the trees are older.  These trees have seen things we can’t even imagine.”

The statues were so worn they were practically featureless, and they were covered with green moss.  They seemed alive and it freaked Paul out a little as he passed between them.  “Do you think these statues saw the end of the old world?”

“I’m sure,” Aiyana said.  “We didn’t make them.  They’ve been here for millennia, silently watching over the stairway and the trees.”

The eyeless, faceless statues had a definite presence about them.  Paul wouldn’t deny that.  There were dozens of them.  Eventually, Paul and Aiyana reached the top of the stairway and the trail snaked its way up the mountainside with switchback after switchback.  Paul’s leg was starting to bother him a little.  “Are we close?”

“We’re close,” Aiyana said.  “I’m sorry.  I know you were injured not too long ago.”

“No, it’s okay,” Paul said.  “I’m enjoying this.”  They walked past a small waterfall from a spring emptying into a creek, and Paul stuck his hand underneath it with a smile.  The water was so much cleaner than anything he was used to.

They continued walking and eventually reached a clearing with a crumbling stone dais in the center.  The clearing was scattered with beautiful yellow and purple wildflowers.  On the dais was a statue of some kind, but it was worn down so much, Paul couldn’t even tell if it was meant to be human.   It could have been an animal of some sort for all he knew.  “This is it,” Aiyana said with a smile.  “This is where we’re having our picnic.”

“Do you know what this place is?” Paul asked.  Birds were tweeting in the nearby trees which loomed over the sides of the otherwise quiet clearing like towers surrounding a city park.

Aiyana shook her head.  “We call it the Sanctuary,” she said.  “We don’t know what it is or what’s its purpose was, though.  Like the stairway and the statues, it’s been here since the beginning of modern times.  Since before the end of the outside world.”

As they spread out the blanket and opened the picnic basket, Paul thought about her mentioning of modern times.  It seemed strange coming from her mouth, since to Paul, there was nothing modern about Denver or its inhabitants.  They seemed to be lost in the past.  “The trees are old here,” Aiyana said.  “They feel old.  I imagine my ancestors may have roamed here, even before the Europeans first came to this continent.  My Native American ancestors.”  She handed Paul a sandwich and a bag of potato chips.  “I love the quiet here.  From what I hear, your technological advancements out there in the outside world were supposed to make things easier, but now you’re all so busy out there.  At least that’s what I’ve heard.  Always having somewhere to go, something to do.  No time for meditation or self-reflection.  I’ve always preferred the tranquility of Denver and the beautiful lands surrounding it to what I’ve heard of the outside world.”

Paul nodded.  “I guess a lot of that is true, but I don’t like that you all force people to stay here.  It’s almost a forced tranquility.”

Aiyana frowned.  “It’s not our doing.  It’s because of that stupid agreement with the Council of Atlantis.”

Paul wondered what it would take to undo the agreement.  He looked around and thought how easy it would be to slip away into the trees and disappear.  But where would he go from there?  In the wilderness, and eventually the desert, and with no supplies, limping and alone.  Plus he’d be away from Aiyana.  “It is beautiful out here,” he said.  “But you, know the desert is also beautiful in some ways.  I have to admit, sometimes I miss it.”  He took a bite from his sandwich.  It was fish of some kind.  Fish were very expensive in the outside world, and Paul had never tried it.  There were rivers and lakes all around Denver, though, so there were lots of fishermen.  The sandwich was very tasty.

“The desert?” Aiyana asked as she leaned back on the blanket.  “Really?”

Paul nodded.  “The sunsets over the dunes.  The endless sky.  The millions of stars.  There’s definitely beauty to be found out there.  There’s beauty to be found everywhere, I guess, if you know where to look.  Cities can be beautiful.  Technology can be beautiful.  The beauty of man’s creation, his creative spirit.”

“But it pales in comparison to what you find in nature,” Aiyana said.

Paul smiled.  “The beauty of God’s creation.”

“It doesn’t matter how it all got here,” Aiyana said.  “It’s beautiful all the same.  Have you heard any Native American creation myths?”  Paul shook his head and Aiyana smiled and leaned towards him.  Paul was somewhat lost in the beauty of her brown eyes.  “One story says the Great Spirit made the Great Turtle come from the waters and become the land.  Another story tells of a man who was wandering through the waters until animal helpers came and led him to land.  In another story, a silver fox and a coyote were behind the creation of the world.  There are so many different stories.  They’re all beautiful stories, but no one actually believes them anymore, but you all still believe your stories.”  She frowned.  “Many of our traditions, Native American traditions, are lost now.  My mom found my name in a magazine and thought it sounded pretty.  It sounds Native American, but I’m really named after some singer.  I don’t even know what my name means.”

Paul moved closer to her and smiled.  “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t know what my name means, either.”

Aiyana laughed.  “It’s Biblical.  That’s all I know about it, though.”

She leaned towards to Paul and he put his arm around her as they sat side by side, eating their picnic lunches and looking out at the nature that surrounded them.  “It makes me sick to think that we were responsible for destroying this,” Paul said.  “At least destroying the nature in the rest of the world.”

“Your people,” Aiyana said.  “I mean the people out there…  I don’t associate you with them.  With the Council of Atlantis and their like.”

“They’re my enemies,” Paul said.

Aiyana nodded.  “They have a history of consuming and invading.  They’ve been doing it since the beginning.  Since they first appeared in the world.  Consume and invade, then consume again until they’re forced to invade again.  Destroy the land and its resources until it’s time to move on.  Then, just kill the people in some other place and take their land.  Then do the same thing there.  It was only a matter of time before they destroyed the world.  What did they think was going to happen?  Now they have no new place to go.  No new people to kill, so they’re killing each other.”

Paul shrugged.  “We’re trying to start a new world out there.  One that will preserve what’s left of nature.  One that will start a rebuilding process.”

“My people,” Aiyana said, “my Native American ancestors, were all about peace and family.  Togetherness, working together to solve problems.  These people are all about greed and consumption.  Individuality, competition and destruction.  And they’re hypocrites.  Pretending to worship a God and then destroying everything they claim he’s given to them.”  She smiled at Paul.  “Do you have a religion?”

“I’m Jewish,” Paul said, “but I’m not particularly religious.”

“Like many of the people here,” Aiyana said, “I believe there is truth in all things.  People follow the truths they chose to follow, but none is any more or less relevant than the others.  Some people think they’re right and everyone else is wrong, but why should what they believe be any more relevant than what others believe?”

Paul shrugged.  “Somebody has to be right.”

Aiyana smiled at him.  “Or everyone could be wrong.”  She closed her eyes.  “I just know, when I’m in place like this, I can feel my ancestors.  I can sense the gods they worshipped.”  A wolf howled.  Paul laughed, as did Aiyana.  “It was like an answer to a prayer,” she joked.  “No matter what we do, we’ll never destroy all of this.  Nature will always prevail in the end.  And we are a part of it, whether we realize it or not.  When we destroy a part of nature, we’re really destroying a part of ourselves.  Each time we cut down a tree, it’s like we’re cutting off our own arm or our own leg.  Each time we kill an animal, we’re killing a brother or a sister.  We’re ripping away a part of ourselves.”

Paul nodded.  “That’s why I have to go.  That’s why I have to join the good fight once again.”

“To bring more destruction?” Aiyana asked, looking into his eyes.

Paul shook his head and finished the last of his potato chips.  “To stop those who are doing the destroying.  And like I said, to start rebuilding.”

“What can one man do?” Aiyana asked.  “What difference can one man make?”

Paul smiled.  “One man could make all the difference in the world.”

Aiyana nodded, still looking into his eyes.  “Well at least for now, you’re here with me.”

Paul looked over her face and body.  He looked at her stunning brown eyes and her light brown skin, at her long, straight, shiny black hair, her thin face which was perfect aside from the small tumor just beneath her right ear.  He looked down at her white robe and moved in to kiss her.  Their lips met and Paul was in a state of bliss.  He put his arms around her and they fell down onto the blanket.  Aiyana sat up and lifted her robe over her head, throwing it across the blanket.  Paul was stunned by her naked body, but his thoughts were proven right.  Her body was flawless.  The small tumor beneath her ear was the only sign of imperfection.  But Paul found that blemish as beautiful as the rest of her as he undressed and held her in his arms, kissing her beneath the cloud-scattered sky.

<>

Paul woke up to a rustling sound and looked around.  There was something in the trees.  He quickly started putting his clothes back on.  “Aiyana,” he said.  “Wake up.”  Aiyana moaned and smiled up at him.  “Put your robe back on.”

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“We fell asleep,” Paul said.  “After we finished.  I remember talking, lying next to each other, looking up at the sky.  And we both fell asleep.  But there’s something here.”

Aiyana quickly slipped her robe back on and looked around.  The trees rustled again and a fly the size of a squirrel flew out of the trees and darted across the clearing.  Aiyana laughed.  “It was just a fly.”  Paul stood and stretched, as did Aiyana.  He noticed a look of fear come over her face.  “Oh, no.  Over there.”  She nodded towards the trees next to them and Paul looked over.  In the clearing, just in front of the trees and shrubs, there was a brown, wingless mantis the size of a large dog staring down Paul and Aiyana with its reddish compound eyes.  The ends of its two forelegs looked like brown swords.

 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e3m_T-NMOs]

 

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Continue on to the next chapter:

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 29
Where:
Paul and Aiyana fight off the giant mantis.
Eileen Traymont sits in a prison cell contemplating her fate.
Abby and Shelly find a shadow of the old world.

Find the Volume 3 Table of Contents page here.

View the Map here.

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