In A Land Of Zombies, The Hypnotist Is King

Swords And Sorcery In A Post Zombie Apocalypse World Part I

The four of us stood outside the palace of purchase. Six stories of material goods that had been preached to us endlessly through TV, radio and magazines, urged to get them as if our lives depended on it. The goods in this one had been sitting for over three months gathering dust, their cries of seduction silenced with only the deaf ears of the Mindless to miss them.

“I always wanted to do one of those supermarket sweeps,” said Gale “but this is going to be sweeter!”

“Most that shit isn't worth shit to us now,” replied Greig.

“Some of it is going to be though,” I said. “Just remember you carry what you collect and you need to be able to run with what you carry.”

“Let's shop,” said Lily in her usual deadpan.

With knives in hand we pushed forwards. The doors were open. The air was musty inside, with a hint of stench in one or two directions that seemed to fade as I tried to identify it. The light was murky, the flat daylight from outside shone in through some high windows, but most of it had been absorbed into shadows by the time it reached the floor. This kind of light gave the place a cathedral feel, and in a way, in the culture that had just died, it had been such. It was light enough to see though, so I shook my head at Greig when he switched the torch fixed to his shoulder.

“We don't want to bring attention to ourselves,” I said.

The girls fanned out stealthily and Greig stuck close to me, he was clumsy which was something I was yet to work on with him – he was definitely a collection of issues demanding a process rather than a single session with me.

Every now and again there was a clatter somewhere in the building. It was amusing to see Gale and Lily look in the direction of sound when it occurred while Greig would jump. The sounds were not close at the moment and not unexpected; we all expected to find some Mindless in here somewhere – It was inevitable.

We found them three floors up. We entered the bedding department on the way through to kitchens to see if we could pick up anything to make mealtimes more luxurious. As we made our way through, Gale on point, Greig and I on the sides and Lily keeping an eye on behind, Greig made a whimpering noise. Lily and I swung round to his side and Gale kept an eye on the rest of the store.

There were two Mindless sitting on large comfy looking bed packed with cushions propping them up. They sat in identical poses, their feet close together, knees close together, hands in their laps holding a small teddy bear each, their heads on one side, resting on each other. They were mirror images and perfectly motionless. We would have believed they were dead twins but for the blood around their mouths. They looked like two dolls, dressed identically in shoes that made their feet look tiny, bunched black lace and orange tops with black polka dots and puffed up orange hair with streaks of red that were not blood.

“Are the...?” started Greig leaning in towards them.

At that, both their heads twitched and came straight in perfect synchronisation. A Low growl that sounded more like the hiss of a dying breath passed between both sets of lips as if they were steam powered and someone had just opened the valves. The breath turned into a gurgle twhich became the growl they had intended.

“Yes,” said Lily. “They most definitely are.”

If metal made a noise as it sliced air their would have been a medley of whispers around us at that moment. Blades snaked in front of Lily's and my faces, limbering up for a kill. Gale was agitated but knew best practice and she kept an eye in the other directions. Greig's knife sat static in his hand as he looked on. This was the first time he had come face to face without hiding.