Gravewalkers: Dying Time by Richard T. Schrader

Author:Richard T. Schrader
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: zombie android virus outbreak apocalypse survival horror z

Chapter 9: Soulless is the Tyrant

The Rhino’s return to King’s Tower was a tumultuous affair with umpteen ghouls that followed the slow vehicle all the way home. A continuous firestorm of flamethrowers made it possible for the welcoming crew to open the gate for long enough to let the armored dozer inside the barrier. Though the operation was entirely successful, it also filled the whole surrounding area with ravenously agitated infected who would not leave anytime soon. Only the uninterrupted absence of human activity for many days on end would finally make the creatures hungry enough to pursue their normal sustenance that they derived by chasing scurrying vermin elsewhere.

After their standard unconditional decontamination procedures, the survivors from the Rhino and the crews that brought them in went down to Funland for a victory celebration. The whole city had waited anxiously for their return and had to see the rescued survivors themselves to put their anxiety to an end.

Jim introduced the new citizens with pride and the populace welcomed them with enthusiasm. A proverbial rocket scientist, a surgeon, and a pilot were all additions that could better the lives of everyone with their skills, so the people received them as good fortune.

Saving his favorite for last, Jim invited Nadia to join him as he stood on the Captains’ Table then he told the crowd before them, “I want you all to welcome Nadia.”

Hatchet came up behind the table on the kitchen-side to hand Jim a violin case, which Jim transferred to Nadia with the words, “We have rescued many treasures and not all of them were people. Would you accept this as your own and play for us?”

“It has been a long time since I have had an instrument,” she told him quietly as she opened the case. The antique violin inside was a priceless heirloom that instantly seduced her with its promise of giving her back a piece of her former life. She offered no introduction before she started to play. Nadia began with a practiced and gentle hand. She first tested herself, her ear, and the instrument with Bach’s Bourree Number Three. When that came to a lull, she changed into a grand release of her inner-torments as she sawed out Mozart’s Symphony Number Twenty Five, which she finally abandoned for an elegant performance that spoke to her audience through Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, which she completed to a cavernous silence of stunned faces. When she bowed, the room that had listened in astonished rapture exploded in applause.

When Tony Banjo stepped out of the crowd, he carried his namesake instrument that he used to fill the silence with the simplistic opening to Dueling Banjos which Nadia matched by plucking her violin before she moved it over to her bow. By the time they had finished they broke into some bluegrass music and people started to dance.

Critias met Jim beside the table. “You really have done the impossible,” he told the King over the celebrating. “You really can spin straw into gold like the legends say.

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