After the Pandemic: Archangels (Part Three… for real) (1176 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: uberbook After_the_Pandemic Smith
Rating: 1.97 on 30 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Jack McCallum (View user info) at 2005-03-15 16:01:20 EST
After the Pandemic: Archangels Part Three
(Sorry for the delay... insanely busy at work these days.)
Part One here http://www.ubersite.com/m/61513
Part Two here http://www.ubersite.com/m/61755
-
The Reverend was nearly staggering on his feet. It took terrific concentration to keep his three key munchers in line for prolonged periods of time. The rest of the horde simply fell into step.
Munchers rarely had an original thought. They weren't big on taking the initiative.
The Reverend had been extremely fortunate to find One, Two and Three. He had not felt like that at first. That first encounter had been more a case of his misfortune being found by the three munchers.
Their coloring, the degree of their decay, showed they had only turned a few weeks before he met them. Maybe that was the key to his control. Perhaps it was the fact that they had all taken a bite out of the Reverend.
He had been caught short one sunrise, after dispatching a group of boys with hand-painted designs on their crudely-stitched horse-leather jackets, members of some sort of fraternity. The boys had given him a good chase, and he had killed them one by one, losing track of time. He had lifted a manhole and leaped down into a sewer, spending the day with fetid waters swirling around his ankles. Only as night had approached had his rest been disturbed, splashing and eager grunts rousing him from his rest.
The Reverend had reached for the metal rungs leading up to the street just as the munchers grabbed at him. He made it to the surface, a few ounces lighter.
When he sat, the Reverend leaned a little to the left. A substantial portion of his left buttock was in the stomach of number One. Hemophagists had a remarkable ability to heal the most grievous wounds, but they could not replace missing body mass. Number Two had torn a long strip of flesh and muscle from the Reverend's left leg, but the limb still functioned well. Number Three had torn open the crotch of the Reverend's fine suit and snatched away his penis and testicles. Once safe above them (munchers were not good climbers, period) the Reverend had looked down into the hole and watched with a twinge of regret as number Three consumed his manhood like hors d'oeuvres. He wondered if the fact that the muncher had once been female had anything to do with which part of his body she targeted.
The Reverend had rested and healed as the moon moved through the sky. A few cats had crept up on him, sniffing at his wounds, and he had lashed out at the filthy things. Ever since the humans had passed their foolish Feline Protection Act a few decades earlier, going so far as to kill their own kind who harmed cats, the immune beasts had run rampant, feeding on the abundance of rodents breeding in ruins across the country.
The sky to the east was showing the faintest tinge of salmon pink when the Reverend got moving again. He had looked down into the hole in the street, seeing the three munchers still milling about at staring back at him.
"Oh, just go away," he had said.
The munchers had turned as one and began splashing down the tunnel.
The Reverend had frowned. "Come back," he had whispered.
The munchers had returned.
While it was true that he had once been a powerful speaker back in the days before the pandemic and a very charismatic individual, even as a kid in Greenville a long time ago, he had never experienced anything like this.
"Go away." This time it was unspoken. Mere thought.
The munchers stepped out of his sight.
"This is a curious development," the Reverend had said.
He had climbed back into the sewer as day fell, spending hours with the munchers, testing his control over them, pondering its nature.
Even now, as the Reverend led his undead army against the gleaming arch, he did not understand how he had power over the three creatures. They did his physical labor, removing the lower jaw and tongue of munchers coming into the fold just as the Reverend had altered them, for his own safety and to maintain the integrity of captured immunes.
They did his hunting, tracking and capturing the prey, and only after the prey had been completely drained of blood for the Reverend to sup upon could they have the corpses, which they usually converted to a chunky paste with the use of old, portable hand-operated meat-grinders, spooning the gruel into their open gullets at feeding time.
The Reverend leaned against the cool stainless-steel of the Northern leg of the arch and watched as his followers, his children, began working on a route into the chambers below.
Feeling like a good Shepard, the Reverend directed One and Three to wheel an old gas-powered generator into place, and had number Two, the most robust of the trio, take the heavy pneumatic drill in hand. Munchers were already tearing away at the charred sod on the ground (at some point those holding the arch had burned away all of the vegetation under and near the arch which might offer concealment to muncher or Hemophagist) and would soon begin removing old poured concrete shattered by the drill until the structural integrity of those great metal doors in the ground was weakened enough to permit passage.
*
Smith was just a bit dizzy. The Rangers had removed over a pint of his blood, and then had started asking him questions. Personal questions. Questions he did not answer. Questions he too would have liked answered. Where were you born? What is your real name? Why are you the way you are?
That last question he could answer in part, but that would only lead to more questions, and Smith was no longer in the mood for this conversation.
Two hours passed quickly. Still strapped onto the table, Smith either passed out or napped. Either way he felt a little stronger when he snapped awake.
The starched coats had disappeared into an anteroom to run detailed tests on Smith's blood. They called to Virtue, who stepped out of view.
Smith asked for a drink of water. One of the armed Rangers said, "Shaddup."
Virtue came up beside Smith. He looked troubled as he studied the faded wounds on Smith's arms, wounds which were healing much too fast.
"A penny for your thoughts," Smith said.
"Do you know what a penny is, Mr. Smith?"
Smith shook his head.
"Few people your age do," Virtue said. "It was a coin. A small metallic-composite coin. When melted down, they made good bullets."
Virtue was silent a moment. Then he said, "We just tested your immunity. Your blood is resistant to both active strains of blood-borne leech and muncher viruses. I would like to know how that is possible, and I would like to know now."
Smith held his tongue. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell the truth.
It had been part of an experiment. Smith remembered other white coats. The smell of antiseptic. The sting of syringes and scalpels.
Smith was part leech, part muncher, yet Smith was the exact opposite, neither bloodsucker nor flesh-eater. He had been just a mortal boy who grew into a mortal man, albeit one who would live longer and recover from injury faster than anyone in this room. Beyond that, he was not superhuman. When he stubbed his toe it hurt like a muncherfucker.
Smith had no idea who was behind the experiment. He had run away from the facility when he was ten years old.
Virtue was waiting for an answer.
Before Smith could respond Taganashi came through the door.
"There may be trouble above," he said.
"Mr. Taganashi," Virtue replied, "A dozen munchers milling around up top will have the same effect as a thousand munchers milling around up top, which is zero effect. They can't get in."
"Yes sir," Taganashi replied, "But these munchers are different."
"And how is that?"
"They are organized, sir. They are using a jackhammer to weaken the hatch. If we don't stop them they will get in, eventually."
Virtue glanced above, as if trying to see through the poured concrete ceiling overhead.
"So just go out another door," Smith offered, suggesting the obvious.
"That is the only door," Virtue said. "It's a safety measure."
Smith began to laugh.
*
The Reverend was getting mighty hungry.
He leaned against the arch and watched his muncher army go to work. He thought about blood. The first blood he had tasted as a Hemophagist, after the pandemic. The first blood he had ever tasted, in the aftermath of an act of violence, long, long ago— blood that had pooled around his shoes and soaked into his shirt, a single drop touching his lips and tasting so wrong when it met his tongue. Now, however, blood tasted so very right.
The pneumatic drill was splintering the old concrete as his muscular number Two worked his way around the horizontal metal door. Munchers followed in his wake, clearing the way so number Two's next pass would dig even deeper. Some of the munchers were using picks. Some used shovels. Most used their hands.
"Yesss, children," the Reverend said. "Follow my guidance, and you will be rewarded for your good works."
This part of the country was still a no-man's land. No Hemophagist Republic had been established in St. Louis, and for now the spoils of any battle went to the victor.
The Reverend looked at the night sky. There was plenty of time. He was quite sure they would be underground before the sun rose.
*
Virtue was standing in front of what appeared to be an impossible window. Smith was nearby, held upright between two armed guards. Virtue didn't want Smith out of his sight.
They were in the View Room. Large views of topside completely covered the walls, encircling those inside.
A flare on a parachute was dropped from an opening high up in the arch, illuminating the area.
Billy and Shally stood in the doorway. Billy was arguing with the man posted at the door.
"We got a right to know what's going on up there!"
Virtue let them enter.
"You two have been on the road," he said to the young couple. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"
The munchers were working together. This was unheard of.
Billy and Shally shook their heads. They were amazed by what they thought was another display of fully functional electronics.
"I noticed you got holes tore open in the arch, high up," Billy said. "Why don't you just climb up and shoot the munchers from there?
Virtue glanced at Taganashi, sitting at a table in the center of the room. "Do we have an estimate of the number of visitors outside?"
In the light of an alcohol lamp Taganashi looked over a clipboard full of notes. He got up and tweaked a few toggles along one wall and closer, sharper views of the crowd outside were overlaid on the bigger image.
"There are a little over four hundred munchers. And, uh, one leech."
"We don't have that many bullets," Virture said to Billy. "Guns are the only weapons we have. Our resources are limited. And even if we did start shooting, I don't know how accurate we could be from that height."
"A camera obscura," Smith said. "That's what this is."
"You certainly seem to get around, Mr. Smith." Virtue said with a nod. "It is a camera obscura, augmented with periscopes. No electronics here, Billy. It's all just a trick with mirrors."
Shally covered her belly with both hands. "Does that mean we are stuck in here? We have to just sit and wait for them to break through the door?"
Smith broke the tension with a question that raised eyebrows. "Why would there be a single leech among all those munchers?"
"I don't see how that matters," Virtue said.
A Ranger trotted to Taganashi, whispered in his ear, and left the room.
"The door just... moved," Taganashi said. "A vibration was detected in it, and in the surrounding walls.
Smith was almost satisfied to see the look of alarm on Virtue's face. Since his arms were still being restrained by the guards on either side, Smith gestured toward the table with his chin.
"I notice you have lots of those alcolamps. You got lots of alcohol stored here?"
Virtue's patience was wearing thin. "Yes, Mr. Smith, we have more than we could ever need. Unfortunately, it is not drinkable."
"Oh, I don't want to drink it," Smith said.
There was a metallic clang and a shout of alarm from down the corridor.
"How about rope?" Smith asked with a grin. "Do you have a lot of rope?"
"Where is this going, Mr. Smith?"
"Virtue, I'm not your greatest admirer," Smith said. "And I'm not one of your Rangers. But I do want to get through this night intact. We may have a fair stab at fighting back. But I need these jakeoffs to let go of me, and I need a lot of alcohol, and all the rope you have."
Virtue frowned.
Down the hall, another metallic clang rang out.
"Now," Smith said.
They were running out of time.
-
Index by date posted
After the Pandemic: Intro
By Jack McCallum http://www.ubersite.com/m/61238
After the Pandemic: Corrigan
By Jack McCallum http://www.ubersite.com/m/61296
After the Pandemic: Variant C
By Jack McCallum http://www.ubersite.com/m/61350
After the Pandemic - The Onion Run - Part 1
By Snark http://www.ubersite.com/m/61446
After the Pandemic: Outbreak
By spedmonkey http://www.ubersite.com/m/61453
After the Pandemic: Rebirth
By kre8rix http://www.ubersite.com/m/61490
After the Pandemic: Warriors of Fire
By hpark http://www.ubersite.com/m/61495
After the Pandemic: Origins of a Conflict
By Adamdidit2u http://www.ubersite.com/m/61496
After the Pandemic: Apocalypse
By Dannie M http://www.ubersite.com/m/61498
After the Pandemic: The Enemy of My Enemy (part 1 of 2)
By TheCaes http://www.ubersite.com/m/61505
Before the Pandemic: Briarwood Academy
by stardamage http://www.ubersite.com/m/61510
After the Pandemic: Archangels (Part One)
By Jack McCallum http://www.ubersite.com/m/61513
After the Pandemic: Resistance (Part One)
By Genko http://www.ubersite.com/m/61527
After the Pandemic: Unnatural Born Killers
By Circe http://www.ubersite.com/m/61530
After the Pandemic: Unnatural Born Killers 2
By Snark http://www.ubersite.com/m/61538
After the Pandemic: Sacrifice of Nine Men Part 1
By Chronic Masturbator http://www.ubersite.com/m/61539
After the Pandemic: Flesh of My Flesh
By Anthony Locascio http://www.ubersite.com/m/61542
After the Pandemic: White Noise - Chapter One
By Steve's House of Pancakes http://www.ubersite.com/m/61545
After the Pandemic: the Transformation
By Brdn_Nkd http://www.ubersite.com/m/61553
After the Pandemic: (The quadrometric plexus)
By WhatTheHell http://www.ubersite.com/m/61554
After the Pandemic: Briarwood Academy - The Speech
By stardamage http://www.ubersite.com/m/61569
After the Pandemic: Genesis, The Beginning
By BLITZKREIG_BOB http://www.ubersite.com/m/61587
After the Pandemic: Sacrifice of Nine Men Part 2
By Chronic Masturbator http://www.ubersite.com/m/61597
After the Pandemic: Suffer
By Id http://www.ubersite.com/m/61613
After the Pandemic: The Enemy of My Enemy (part 2 of 2)
By TheCaes http://www.ubersite.com/m/61614
After the Pandemic: I am the pandemic
By Bob=the roxo0rs http://www.ubersite.com/m/61615
After the Pandemic - The Onion Run - Part 2
By Snark http://www.ubersite.com/m/61621
After the Pandemic: Purge (Part One)
By Artificial Insanity http://www.ubersite.com/m/61660
After the Pandemic: The Guardian
By Professional Peon http://www.ubersite.com/m/61730
After the Pandemic: Rebirth Pt 2
By kre8rix http://www.ubersite.com/m/61747
After the Pandemic: Archangels (Part Two)
By Jack McCallum http://www.ubersite.com/m/61755
After the Pandemic: From Simple Beginnings...
By spedmonkey http://www.ubersite.com/m/61760
After the Pandemic: White Noise - Chapter Two
By Steve's House of Pancakes http://www.ubersite.com/m/61779
After the Pandemic: Vegas Infection
By Snark http://www.ubersite.com/m/61786
After the Pandemic: Final frontier
By Coyote http://www.ubersite.com/m/61795
After the Pandemic: Origins part deux!
By Adamdidit2u http://www.ubersite.com/m/61876
After the Pandemic: The Guardian (Part 2)
By Professional Peon http://www.ubersite.com/m/61890
After the Pandemic: A Case of the Mondays
By RawrG http://www.ubersite.com/m/61891
After the Pandemic: Recollections
By fudgepacknuts http://www.ubersite.com/m/61896
After the Pandemic: Death Cult Cabal
By sword http://www.ubersite.com/m/61920
Before the Pandemic, the Rhienholt Hurgurtz initiative.
By Bigmike http://www.ubersite.com/m/61935
After the Pandemic - The Onion Run - Part 3
By Snark http://www.ubersite.com/m/61941
User Reviews
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2008-06-29 14:31:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-09-23 19:01:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I guess it is 50 years later then. does this mean that munchers and leeches are very long-lived then?
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-08-03 12:19:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Supreme Overlord damage control...
Submitted by Supreme_Overlord (user info) at 2005-07-21 22:29:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
shite
Submitted by Coyote (user info) at 2005-06-30 10:14:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nicely crafted, and raises a lot of questions...
Submitted by nrduncan (user info) at 2005-05-12 17:53:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I have just got done reading these all and I have enjoyed them all. Great work everyone, +2's for all!
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-19 22:15:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Id (user info) at 2005-03-19 18:06:57 (#)
Ranking: 2
Is the Reverend....
JESSE JACKSON!!!????
--
You win a prize.
If I wasn't having such a shit time right now with lots going on and all of it bad, It would have posted part 4... and part 5. The end is near... I just have to get my shit together and post it.
BTW, The fact that he is Jesse Jackson has little impact on the story. It just made it more fun in my mind picturing Jackson as this vampire.
In the next installment, the Rev gets to drink deep of one of the key players...
Submitted by Id (user info) at 2005-03-19 18:06:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Is the Reverend....
JESSE JACKSON!!!????
Submitted by Benny (user info) at 2005-03-18 00:54:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This is a lot better than the other version that your retarded doppleganger put up.
I was pissed when that idiot put up that post. One because it was insulting to you and the series and secondly because I was wanting to read part 3.
A job very well done Jack.
Submitted by tlozoot (user info) at 2005-03-16 16:15:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
YES
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-16 14:54:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-03-16 14:47:21 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-16 00:17:45 (#)
Ranking: 0
Speaking of over the top... nobody has guessed at the identity of 'the Reverend' yet. I left a few clues, and I may leave a few more.
-----------
Jerry Falwell?
--
Shit dude, that was what I was gonna do, but I thought it would be too obvious. Obviously, I was wrong.
Think 'left' not 'right.' And remember the blood references.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2005-03-16 14:47:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-16 00:17:45 (#)
Ranking: 0
Thecaes... Empire would have been too over the top. And Virtue is basically a good guy, he's just not too bright.
Speaking of over the top... nobody has guessed at the identity of 'the Reverend' yet. I left a few clues, and I may leave a few more.
-----------
Jerry Falwell?
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:00:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
And here I was expecting people to scream 'Wolverine ripoff!'
Submitted by Dannie (user info) at 2005-03-16 12:16:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Smith had no idea who was behind the experiment. He had run away from the facility when he was ten years old.
He's Jared from the pretender!
nevermind...
Submitted by Kre8rix (user info) at 2005-03-16 11:49:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I could have sworn I rated this already.
I'm a slacker.
Well done as per usual Jack.
Submitted by Yankee_In_TX (user info) at 2005-03-16 11:35:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Oops @ plus 1, and I meant becoming a published author. I've read every post with "pandemic" in the title (even zombie fucking).
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-16 11:30:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Yankee_In_TX (user info) at 2005-03-16 09:40:34 (#)
Ranking: 1
Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack! I love this shiznit(1)! Ever thought about writing?(2)
--
(1) If you love it, show the love with a +2.
(2) What the fuck do you think this is? Check my prvious posts for a shitload more.
Submitted by Yankee_In_TX (user info) at 2005-03-16 09:40:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack! I love this shiznit! Ever thought about writing?
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-16 00:17:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Thecaes... Empire would have been too over the top. And Virtue is basically a good guy, he's just not too bright.
Speaking of over the top... nobody has guessed at the identity of 'the Reverend' yet. I left a few clues, and I may leave a few more.
Glad you're all enjoying this. I'll try and wrap it up before it gets too long. Sometimes my characters won't just sit down and shut the fuck up.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-15 23:50:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Virtue seems a little stupid...I really like the idea of organized munchers, though. Nice. And the mention of the Hemophagist Republic, though I'm not keen on the name...
Submitted by hcp28 (user info) at 2005-03-15 23:27:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I love this series especially. Once school cools down I'll put out the next part of my series.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-15 22:58:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-15 16:14:07 (#)
Ranking: 2
I like you. I think I'll eat you first.
Submitted by Dannie (user info) at 2005-03-15 18:05:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2005-03-15 17:45:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Wait the doctor knows what a penny is, but has never heard of a Molotov cocktail....
The world is surely doomed.
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-15 16:42:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"muncherfucker" +2
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-03-15 16:38:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I continue to use your stories as a framework to shape the world as it exists in my mind.
I don't think I'm quite done with it yet.
Thanks again for a great concept.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-15 16:14:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I like you. I think I'll eat you first.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2005-03-15 16:13:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
bitchin'.
Submitted by spedmonkey (user info) at 2005-03-15 16:13:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I think I see where this is going, but keep it coming.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-03-15 16:11:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Just like the old Soviet army; take out the officer(s) and the grunts don't know what to do.