After Apocalypse

Chapter 3: The Hand That Giveth and the Hand That Taketh

From the moment the meeting was convened, the general atmosphere was rather tense. The chief along with the village elders whispered nonstop amongst themselves while the three visitors quietly sat across the room from them, still shaken by the loss of their comrades and the ordeal they had survived. As the elders continued to talk amongst themselves, the visitors were given some food and light refreshments. The village council was made up of eight members and the chief. All of them were very old, most in their mid or early eighties with two of the youngest being in their early seventies. They were the very last of the generation that had witnessed the founding of the Blue Kingdom; of course all of them were only children when it happened. As the years went by, they watched the village grow and at the same time they also had to watch all the comrades die one after the other until they became all that remained of the original settlers. It was perhaps because of the wealth of knowledge and experience they possessed that they were entrusted with the village’s leadership. It was also this experience that stirred up a lot of concern within each one of them. They could see it in the visitors’ faces, the horrors of the world they had successfully hidden themselves from for so many years. It was a look that they had not seen since the days of their youth but it was most certainly not a look that one could ever forget with time. They continued to chatter among themselves as they waited for the guests to get their wits about them. Some of the elders began to grow impatient but the chief made sure to keep them in check, fearing that they might worsen the situation by agitating their already shaken visitors. After a wait of about two hours it seemed as though they would finally start talking. One of the visitors pulled his chair closer to the small table that had been prepared for them in front of where the elders sat facing them. He was a dark skinned young man in his twenties with short kinky hair that was rather untidy.
“Thank you all so much for your kindness and hospitality, there isn’t much of that going around these days.” said the young man.
The other two members of his party seemed unwilling to talk. One was a young woman and the other a young man, both of which seemed younger than their more talkative comrade. The elders quickly realised that they would only be talking to the young man and not the whole group as they had hoped.
“So young man, tell us who you are and what it is that brought you all the way up here.” said the chief as his council listened on in the background.
“Right, how rude of me. My name is Solomon and these are the only surviving members of my party; Eric and Thandeka. Honestly speaking we found this place by accident, we might also be dead right now if we hadn’t. I’m afraid the news we have for you is not good at all.”
The village elders began to whisper amongst themselves once again. One of them stepped forward to whisper something into the chief’s ear and then went back to where the rest of the council sat.
“Tell me young man, what is this bad news that you speak of? Why exactly have you all come here?” the chief enquired.
Solomon fell silent for a few seconds and then he turned to look at his comrades who still looked as terrified as they had been when they entered the village. Solomon then turned to face the chief and his council yet again and then he took a deep breath.
“As we speak, a large army from New Jerusalem is making its way over here and it’s the largest we’ve ever seen. We were part of a scouting party for our village. A few days ago we came home after mapping out some of the surrounding lands and finding sources of food and water, what we found waiting for us was horrifying to say the least. Everything was on fire and all we could hear were the screams of our people as they were mercilessly devoured by an army of the undead. The moment they spotted us we had no option but to flea and leave our people for dead. We ran until we were well out of sight, or so we thought. We quickly discovered that there is no hiding from that army. No matter how far we ran they always seemed to be on our tail. It was as if all the undead within a particular radius of the main platoon were linked by some kind of invisible network. No matter how far we ran they always seemed to catch up and find exactly where it was we were hiding. It became clear that all the undead we had encountered were somehow able to relay information about our location to the army. I never even knew they could be so coordinated, none of us did.”
All the whispering amongst the council members ceased and suddenly they seemed as terrified as Solomon and his compatriots. Lady Susan stepped out to the chief’s side in the midst of the deafening silence while the rest of her comrades remained in the background.
“Tell me Solomon, did you happen to see the man who led that army? He is very much alive but most of his body is patched up with the rotting flesh of the undead so it might be hard to tell.” asked Lady Susan.
The chief and the other council members looked at her with eyes full of dread. She had asked a question that was on all of their minds but none of them were brave enough to ask it. Solomon was quite surprised by the question and so too were his comrades.
“No, it wasn’t just one man, there were two of them. Why, just who are those guys anyway?”
A loud chatter erupted amongst the elders as they all began to panic. Solomon, Eric and Thandeka were not too sure what to make of all the commotion but one thing was for sure, it certainly wasn’t helping in terms of calming them down.
“Silence!” yelled the chief with a very authoritative tone.
“Now is not the time to panic. Makala, please go outside and relay this information to one of those military boys, I do believe that it’ time to initiate the Gemini Protocol.”
A man who was part of the council got up and headed outside at once.
“While he has gone out, please feel free to share any other information you might have with us.” said the chief.
“No, hold on just one second. What was that all about and how did you guys know about those people? Before we tell you anything else, you guys have to answer some of our questions as well.”
The chief and his advisors seemed rather reluctant to address Solomon’s concerns. After spending a considerable amount of time deliberating, Susan decided to step forward and answer the young man’s questions.
“You must understand young man, from a very young age all of us here had to endure unimaginable pain at the hands of those things. At some point I had to kill my own mother after receiving some wounds inflicted by one of them. You know, the skull is the hardest bone in the human body. Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for a scrawny little twelve year old girl to pierce it with some poorly crafted spear by a self-taught blacksmith who frankly wasn’t any good? It took all the strength I had both physically and emotionally. At some point I even thought that maybe I should let her be, but I had seen too many people turn into those things and kill off their own families and loved ones without a single thought. It was a fate I did not want for my own mother. We had promised each other that should the day come, neither her nor I would let the other become such a monstrosity and so I kept stabbing and ignored her screams of agony until I finally penetrated her skull, making certain she would remain dead. I know you all have your own harrowing tales about life out there but I wanted you to have a bit of an understanding as to where we came from and why we may seem so reluctant to relive those days with you. However, since we need your help, we will gladly meet you half way.”
Solomon and company fell silent for a short while as they processed what they had just heard. indeed they had also seen their fair share of horrors but none of them were as intense as what Lady Susan had described. The village they lived in was very remote and isolated. Many of the villagers were closed off from life outside and their whole world was the size of the few square kilometres that made up their village. The only exception to this was the scouting party of which Solomon, Thandeka and Eric were members. They were the only ones who ever got to see what life was like outside their tiny village and since he had been in the scouting party the longest, Solomon knew better than anyone just how ugly the world could be.
“We apologise for any trauma that might resurface as we proceed but we need to know more about these men.” said Solomon.
“Well only a few of us here have actually seen them and that’s because they are rarely ever sent out on raids. In fact only one other member of this council besides myself has seen them. You see, we don’t all come from the same place. We all met at a very young age out in no man’s land, where the undead roam as they please and the few humans that can be found there would sacrifice another without a second’s hesitation. All of us travelled in small groups mainly composed of family members but when we met Vuyelwa, she was all alone. She was the very first of us to have seen them in action. Her entire village along with the military guild that protected them had been wiped out by just one of those men. They are warriors that are second only to the Messiah himself in terms of power, at least that’s what Mkhize told us and given what we’ve seen, I don’t doubt it. Every few decades the Messiah chooses the strongest in his ranks and imbues them with immense power. No one really knows the full extent of their power and that’s because no one has ever survived a head on encounter with one of them. What we do know is that just like their master, they also have control over the undead although not to a similar extent. They usually just serve as his protection detail but on rare occasions he sends them on missions that he deems of great importance. For him to send both of them at once could only mean that something big is happening. These agents are known to all as the two hands of the Messiah; the hand that giveth and the hand that taketh.”
Before the conversation could progress any further Makala finally returned from his errand.
“Your highness, it is done. The Gemini Protocol has officially been set in motion.” He reported.
He then quietly returned to his seat so as to allow the meeting to continue.
“Now that I’ve told you what I know, can you continue with what you were about to tell us.” Lady Susan requested.
“Right, as I told you before, we had been mapping out the area surrounding our village. Well by we I actually mean Thandeka over here, she’s the cartographer in our group. The rest of us are just the muscle, there to protect her from the dangers that come with exploring these lands and also because she’s our chief’s daughter. For the past few months we’ve come across several villages and all of them had been burnt to the ground, not a single person, animal or building was left standing. We wanted to find out more so we could warn our people but it was far too late. By the time we arrived, the village had been reduced to nothing but ash. It was also then that we realised that all the destruction we had seen had been caused by the New Jerusalem army. I don’t know why but it seems as though they are hell bent on destroying any settlement they come across if it’s not allied with New Jerusalem. It’s probably just a matter of time before they find this place and do the exact same thing, that’s assuming they haven’t found this place already.”
Solomon looked around and all the panic shown by the council members had disappeared. To his surprise they all seemed very calm like they weren’t fazed by what he had just told them.
“What are you all so calm about? Do you not understand that all of your people are about to be slaughtered?” asked a very confused Solomon.
“I won’t lie, we were surprised that both hands of the Messiah would be deployed at the same time but worry not young man. We have been preparing for this day since ten years ago.” said the chief.
Meanwhile a large crowd continued to wait outside the chief’s homestead. The atmosphere was very tense and everyone was anxious to know why the military had been summoned. Ethan and Edith were among those who had not wavered in their desire to find out exactly what was going on. After hours of waiting, as the sun was about to set, the three visitors emerged from the chief’s house, followed closely by the village elders. All the chatter in the crowd ceased as they eagerly waited for the elders to address them on what had been discussed in the meeting. Lady Susan forward and all eyes were immediately fixed on her.
“Friends and neighbours, the day we have all dreaded is now upon us. The Gemini Protocol has been initiated.”