Zombie 2.0--Revelations...Part 2

I looked up at this man called Zulu and asked the only question I could come up with, “So now what?”

He grunted, “Good question. I want you to take a few more moments to collect yourself, and to get dressed. I think it is time to take you to see someone.”

“Who is that?”

“One of my instructors.”

“Are we going to drive this thing?” I seemed to remember that I was in a rather large, rather deluxe RV at that moment.

“No, I’m afraid that won’t be possible for quite some time. Matter of fact, while you are getting dressed, I think I will call SAIC Murphy and let him know that he can have this thing towed off the premises and we can let the poor owner of the camp ground get back to his business, if you haven’t already ruined his reputation anyway.”

“What do you mean? Why can’t this thing be driven?”

“While you and that thing you had inside you were battling, you pretty much destroyed the electrical system on this vehicle, and just about all of the electronic circuitry within a a half mile radius.”

“What?!?”

“Seriously, your struggle was so powerful, you fried the circuits in every cell phone, computer, television and vehicle within a half mile radius. I’m afraid that the FBI is going to have a rather large, unplanned expense in their budget this year as they compensate the victims of your little battle with your own personal demons.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yes. Luckily, the camp was relatively empty and fairly well spread out, or the damages would have been worse.” He reached into his breast pocket of his suit coat and pulled out a cell phone, he began to punch some buttons to make a call as he turned away from me.

“Hey, I thought you said I burned those things all out?”

He turned to smile at me before putting the phone to his ear, he smirked as he replied. “Shielding son, shielding.” There was a voice on the other side and his voice changed it’s pitch as he took on a decidedly more commanding tone. “Yes, SAIC Murphy? This is (Zulu). It is now safe to bring in the tow vehicle. The danger is over. No, you don’t need to bring any transport for me, I’ve got it covered, thanks. No, no need to worry about Agent Bones. He’s fine. Yes, I’ll be taking him with me. We’ll be gone before your folks get here, thanks anyway. Very well then.”

I was mostly dressed by now. In doing so though, I noticed that my skin no longer maintained the illusion of being alive. Instead of a healthy pale pink, it was now closer to lead grey. Luckily though, there were no darting little worms or black masses moving about inside me anymore.

My eyes though were what caught my attention when I took the moment to actually look at my face. I was used to my eyes resembling the small lenses of camera than actual eyeballs. Now though, the lenses had been burned out and my eyes had a red glare in the mirror that took me aback. My eyesockets were empty except for reddish-orange globes of energy!

“Son of a bitch!” I gasped out loud.

By then, Zulu was off the phone with Murphy, and was looking at my face from behind me, through the reflection in the mirror. “Ah yes, so you have noticed the changes. I told you, that you had burned out all of the electronics around, perhaps I should have warned you though.”

“I thought I was freak before! How am I ever going to be able to go out in public now? I’ll be branded a freak and a monster!”

“Well, I do believe that you will be spending less time with ‘normal’ folks now, yes, but trust me, there are some skills you will have to acquire, but you will be able to mingle when you need to. So are you ready for a journey?”

I pulled on my dark leather jacket, grabbed my shades, and pulled on the harness that carried the sheathed blades that housed the spirits of Diego and Herlinda. I looked at the image in the mirror one more time, definitely Terminator Chic.

Zulu came up right behind me. He was taller, so he could see over my shoulder. “I would not want to meet you in a dark alley, that’s for sure.”

I turned to face him, arms crossed over my chest. “OK Boss, where do we go now?”

“Turn back around. You’ll be looking at our doorway.”

I turned back to the mirror, and looked back over my shoulder, “Huh?”

“That’s our exit from this place. Now, I should warn you, most people who travel this way for the first time experience a feeling a of profound electrical shock, but I have only spoken with living people about it, so I don’t know how it will affect you. I just wanted to warn you so that you can brace yourself. Try not to lash out at me as we cross the threshold.”

“You’re serious? We’re gonna walk through this mirror?”

“Absolutely.”

“Is this something I will be able to learn to do?”

“That, I cannot say. Not very many have the talent to travel in this fashion. More likely, you will have other routes available to you.”

“OK, I’ve been through some strange shit the last couple of years, so I guess this isn’t any different than any other whacked thing I’ve done lately. Tell me what I have to do.”

“Very well. I will grab your shoulder and hold it firmly as we transition through the mirror. Like I said, you may experience an electrical shock and feel a little resistance. When I tell you to, you need to step right into the mirror like it was a doorway. Whatever you do, don’t stop in the middle. Once you start forward, keep going until you find yourself into a fun house like hall of mirrors. I will keep a hold of you until I also pass through. Once we are on the other side, I will move to the front, you will need to grab hold of my jacket and hold on, it can get very confusing on the other side.”

He grabbed my shoulder firmly with a strong hand. I could see his reassuring smile in the mirror in front of me. I braced myself as he seemed to grow calm and distant. I felt a small charge of unmistakable power flow from his hand to my body. I could feel him begin to push. Looking forward, the mirror began to cloud over, not quite like it does in a shower, but more like being taken over by roiling clouds, as if looking out of a window instead of a mirror.

“Now. We must cross. Don’t step too fast, but don’t stop either, no matter how strange it feels.”

With that admonition, I took an extraneous breath (of course, for me they are all extraneous) and stepped towards the mirror with one booted foot, half expecting to crack the thing when I kicked. But the jolt of a solid didn’t come as my foot, and then my leg, and then the rest of me plunged into the roiling white clouds that the mirror was showing. Zulu came with me as we seemed to fall for what seemed an eternity.....

(To be continued)