of the dark right in front of me.
I swear I could feel its ragged breath. The torches fired up once more and my heart jumped into my throat. Kaatje was standing about a foot away, a skeletal hand tight over her mouth. Its owner stared at me, his bright white eyes shining out from under a tattered hood. I had the chilling feeling he was smiling but it was impossible to tell as he was missing the entire lower part of his jaw, his face just ending in the jagged teeth protruding from under a curtain of torn skin.
He released his grip on Kaatje, who immediately drove her elbow into his ribs, knocking him into the wall with a sickening crack.
“If you ever sneak up on me again I swear that I will destroy you!” she yelled.
The corpse rose to his feet and glared at her. “If I were you I would keep my voice down in here,” he said, reaching under his ruined jacket and snapping off the broken rib before dropping it to the floor.
Without another word he turned, beckoning us to follow. We walked for a while in silence, a great many things running through my mind. I was being led along deep underground tunnels by a member of the dead, one that could talk despite the crippling lack of jaw and one that Kaatje referred to as ‘Black’. It couldn’t possibly be the same man who was my mentor all those years ago, could it?
As if in reaction to this thought the corpse stopped and turned, but his pearly eyes did not look down to address either of us, instead remaining fixed ahead.
The silence was broken by his low growl. “I am sure you are wondering what I am and why I am here” he began, “My name is Black and I am here to get you home” he paused, turning his white eyes suddenly on me. “I do not know why you can hear me. I assumed only Kaatje possessed the ability to hear my death voice due to the personal experiences we have shared. You, however, I do not recall.”
The glow from his eyes seemed to burn stronger as he said this. I turned to Kaatje, questions burning in my mind but she was once again staring at the floor.
“He saved my life” she murmured.
I turned back to Black and opened my mouth to speak but he held up a bony hand. “Now is not the time for explanations. We will soon be entering the undercity. We need to remain vigilant; the corpses down here number many and are not as good-natured as I.”
The three of us continued on through the never-ending tunnel network. The pain in my shoulder was growing again with the wound continuing to bleed heavily.
At one point I stopped to compose myself and noticed Kaatje looking at me. She made a ‘thumbs up’ gesture forcing me to grit my teeth and smile. I didn’t want to be down in this corpse infested hole longer than necessary and stopping the party for aid would only serve to hinder our progress.
As I walked my mind drifted to home, or at least to the derelict flat I shared with a couple of other refugees. I decided that growing up in the aftermath of the outbreak was much better than living through it, experiencing the loss of everything that came before. One of my earliest memories was of sitting around a fire with my parents, listening to them reminisce about something called ‘Christmas’. I would listen for hours while they talked about gift giving and eating until they could eat no longer.
I was so preoccupied with these thoughts that I failed to notice we had stopped and barely kept myself from walking into the back of Kaatje. I shook my head and looked over her shoulder. The tunnel had ended. We were overlooking a great chasm that drove deep and unseen down into the earth. A narrow stone bridge stretched out before us.
Stepping back, I allowed my companions to move away from the edge. Kaatje looked pale and tired. I turned to the corpse and opened my mouth to speak but he just pushed past, striding back down the tunnel.
“Where are you going?” I demanded of his shadow as he disappeared around the corner. “Come on, we better catch up,” I said, looking back at Kaatje.
She was squinting at something across the chasm. I followed the direction of her gaze and my jaw dropped.