Where Zombies Walk: Chapter 9

Ari scowled as she kicked at the rocks that made up the well-used fireplace. Cold ashes billowed a few feet into the air before settling on and around her boots.

“You should have followed her home that day,” Baelil complained.

“I don’t know what good coming back here does,” Ari moaned. “It’s been weeks.”

“I just thought that we should keep an eye on the place. Maybe she’ll return. You never know.”

“You’re right,” Ari sighed. “You’re always right. I shouldn’t have come home that day. I should have followed her. I just didn’t see the urgency. I also thought that maybe, if she met you, she’d warm up to us better. Never in a million years did it enter my mind that meeting me would spook her so much that she’d pack up and move.”

“I just sent for Denai. She should be here soon,” Baelil said in a tone meant to sooth and assure his sister as he slipped an electronic texting device into his pocket.

“What a great idea,” Ari said with renewed enthusiasm. “Why did we wait so long to call her in?”

Denai was a renown psychic whose success ratio of finding lost people and objects was almost one-hundred percent. She stumbled into the surface Center World three years earlier. It took her almost a year to earn their trust. It was when a toddler went missing and the fear of a zombie or mutant getting her consumed the entire community that Denai stepped forward and used her abilities to find her in record time. After that, Denai was not only accepted, but she was a revered member of the community.

Ari’s feelings for Denai were more than just respect and admiration for a woman with a talent. From the moment her emerald green eyes took in Denai’s exotic ebony flesh as it reflected the sun’s rays and then locked with her coal black eyes that looked like they’d come from another world, she was lost in love. Unfortunately, either Denai was straight or she was clueless because she seemingly ignored all of Ari’s subtle hints.

The knowledge of Danai’s impending arrival made Ari painfully aware of the soot she’d acquired on her boots and shins from expressing her frustration by kicking the ashes about. She remembered seeing a rag inside the cave and quickly fetched it. Once back in the sunlight, she did her best to brush the soot from her boots with the tattered rag.

She was about to saturate the rag with water to complete the clean-up process when Baelil asked in a manner that bordered on panic, “Where did you get that rag?”

Ari’s hand froze in mid-motion. “What’s the matter?”

“Denai needs objects with Kendra’s energy in them to scry for her with. You’ve just mixed your own into that rag.”

“No!” Ari bellowed as she tossed the rag in mortification. “I’m so sorry. Do you think that I totally screwed things up? Can’t she still pick up on Kendra even with my energy in the mix?”

“Is there anything else that she can use?” Baelil asked with a hopeful tone.

Ari raced back into the cave and looked around for something that might have been handled on a regular basis by Kendra or one of her companions. She wasn’t certain that there actually were companions, but it made sense that there would be. The cave was in a hidden and isolated location and Kendra looked to be in her late teens. It would be a rare thing indeed for her to be living alone in a place of this nature. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she cursed herself for her own stupidity. Not only had she jeopardized their chance to find Kendra, but what would Denai think of her when she learned of her stupidity?

The sound of horses approaching caught her attention. “I think she’s here,” she gasped, more to herself than to Baelil.

Baelil climbed onto a large boulder and looked off into the distance. “Sound really travels in these parts. I had no idea. No wonder she chose this hovel as a home. It’s practically impossible to sneak up on it. Denai is still at the base of the hill.”

“Seriously?” Ari said as she climbed up onto the boulder next to her brother. “That’s unbelievable.”

She sucked in air and her abdomen contracted with desire as she looked down on the six foot tall ebony beauty sitting astride one of the most powerful Black Friesian horses Ari had ever encountered. It’s sleek, ebony coat was a perfect match for Denai’s own rich flesh. Its size made Ari’s own Arabian mare look like a Shetland pony next to it. The colorful turban atop Denai’s shapely head added to the illusion of someone of stately importance -perhaps even royalty- approaching.

Baelil noticed his sister’s excited breathing, but he made no comment on it. He was hoping that the crush that she had on Denai would become a passing fancy. Ari was young; having only recently celebrated her seventeenth birthday. She’d had no crushes up until that point so, of course her first time would be powerful.

If Ari wasn’t simply experiencing an acute infatuation with Denai, it would be not only a sad situation, but a dangerous one. Although Center Land Village managed to keep themselves hidden and unknown to the new world regime, their society had adopted some of the new laws that were formed for the preservation and regeneration of mankind. This included reproduction. Because of its necessity for the survival of their species, acts of homosexuality and lesbianism were strictly prohibited and punishable by law. There were no exceptions.

He could tell by the way Denai watched Ari from the corner of her eye that she was aware of Ari’s attraction to her. He could also feel the strong pheromones that Denai emitted whenever Ari was around. He had no doubt that in a different world and under different circumstances, the highly sexual ebony beauty would act upon Ari’s not-so-subtle invitations, even if it was only on a physical level and not of the heart. He also had no doubt that she’d toss Ari aside as soon as she’d taken what she wanted from her. Denai was revered for her psychic abilities and the services that she performed for the community, but he wasn’t blind to her dark side. She was human, after all.

When a sigh escaped Ari’s lips, Baelil spouted one of the cruelest things he could to his sister in an attempt to make her understand the futility of allowing such an attraction to take hold and bloom.

“Max lay with Denai this month. He says she’s a goddess in bed; strong, skillful, and demanding. We’re waiting to see if he impregnated her. If he didn’t, I think I’ll have a go. I already put my name on the list.”

His heart ached when he saw how watery his sister’s eyes became at his admitting to being registered to have sex with Denai. He knew that she was aware of the fact that he was part of the breeding program, but he’d never openly spoken about it or who he was paired with for the month. It wasn’t his way to do so. It’s just that he was desperate to keep his sister from foolishly letting people see that she had a powerful crush on another woman. It would only end badly. Not just for Ari, but for Denai as well.

He squared his shoulders as he told himself not to feel bad about what he’d just done. It was a necessary evil to avoid a more powerful evil. He hopped off of the boulder and made ready to greet Denai and Max.