Posts
They talked some more about Opal's future. To her it sounded like she was gonna be a queen bee. Maybe they'd let her wear a crown? That might make it a little better. 'Cause if they want her to mate with zombies, they better be cute zombies. Look, she don't even know if they got ones she can mate with. Although Lars said something about checking out some potentials on Craig's List. Uther just shrugged. He didn't know. And when she opened her mouth they got angry and told her to 'mind her own bees-wax.' Who knew zombies talked that way? If it ever got on You Tube humans and vampires would laugh for a thousand years. Well, the humans (unless science comes up with something) would keep reproducing and dying, but some a the vampires would be the same ones.
This went on for about an hour. Then they just sat there in silence. Somewhere down another tunnel mole-folk were singing hymns.... some kind of gospel thing. White gospel... Black gospel... They got it all... Good too. Opal and the other two listened for a while. It was soothing. Calmed them down. Sterno cans threw flickering, orangey shadows on the rough, stone walls. Looked like a catacomb under some old city. Oh, Philadelphia does have a lot of underground, buried, long-forgotten corpses... ancient graveyards.... old, abandoned crypts... ossuaries... murder victims... Find 'em every time the dig foundations for new buildings. City got archaeologists on the payroll. Grinning skulls like knick-knacks 'round some places. You know clean, human skulls feel like ivory? A little rough... slightly pitted, but polish up real nice. Got human, ivory jewelry in The Hymalayas. Made out a dead monks. Maybe nuns too.
Hymns stop, but mole-folk keep singing... something different... sinister and darker. Carmina Burana (google videos on You Tube... you'll see). Guess the music effected him, 'cause Uther starts talking... Not loud, almost a whisper. Opal never heard stuff like this, so she got real still and took it all in...
UTHER - In Europe, in the old world, we punish wrong-doers. Zombies, I mean. Ancients used to imprison them in tall, stone towers. No way in, but a narrow opening up high. No glass. Definitely no glass. Maybe a thick, rough shutter... Maybe not. In most instances the cells were unfurnished, save for a chamber pot and perhaps a pile of blankets. No hearth. No books (well, most people never saw books then anyway). Codified written words were viewed as magic... powerful magic... wisdom plucked from the air and trapped on lamb skin. Oh, priests, nuns, monks and the like, they knew how to read. Jews too. Though peasants, serfs and slaves were denied that ability. Zombies knew. At least our kind, the non-decomposing zombies did. We taught our own. So imagine what it was like to be sealed away with little light (windows were often narrowed once prisoners were inside), no warmth and no books. Stone flags for flooring too. No flesh. Wind driven rain provided a bit of water, but that was it... And after a time the 'shedding' began... Hair feel out. Skin shriveled . Nails brittled and dried. Teeth go bye-bye. Urine grows thick and dark and stops. Back stoops. Spine deteriorates. External genitalia takes on a papery, mummified look. Sometimes the nose and ears go too. And the lips aren't much to look at either...
OPAL - (quietly) Are you trying to scare me?
UTHER - No, just sharing what I know. He knows to (indicates LARS, who nods). Do you want me to go on?
(she nods)
UTHER - But absolute destruction was rare. Chastened flesh-eaters eventually went free and ruined bodies had to be restored, thus were born Zombie Orgies...
(Opal giggled)
UTHER - Not carnal. Not what you think. Well, not carnal in that way (and then he chuckled). Meat... they needed meat... human meat... and not just flesh, offal too. You know. Liver, brains, lungs, kidneys (makes an 'and so on' gesture). Some zombies relish that. And once a year, on Saint Swithun's Day, the fifteenth of July, those to be restored were ushered into deep, dark, winding caverns. In some places the caverns had been used since the troglodytes. You know, there were zombies then too? Shambling wraiths they were. Some crawled. But they had the hunger. And they had the strength. And they knew what was to come.
They fed them prisoners. In return for coffers of gold and jewels local nobles emptied their dungeons. No questions asked. Families on the outside weren't notified. They had no rights. It's hard to imagine how it was then. Rape was not rape. Robbery was 'finders' keepers' and rich guys with swords tend to find a lot. Murder wasn't murder. It was just an unfortunate occurrence. Children could be replaced. Peasants could too. Occasionally clergy or higher nobles, royalty in particular, complained if specially adept farm hands, or highly taxable Jews somehow woke up dismembered. But life meant nothing. It wasn't cheap. It was free.
Legions of 'the damned'... children too, were stripped and beaten til they ran into the caves. Then men with dogs, huge dogs, mastiffs, wolfhounds, tortured them til they fled even deeper. No light. No dispensation. Just horror. Just death.
Next came the flesh-eaters. Perhaps two or three for every victim. And it was dark. People cowered against sharp protrusions. But they couldn't hide, not from creatures hunting by scent. Soon came screams... shrieks... the overpowering reek of human innards... children cried... running feet... breaking bones... marrow.... maniac laughter. Imagine being the last child alive in such a place. Oh, the zombies were so happy. A restorative feast it was. Some gurgled. Some sang hymns. They did. For them it was salvation. (he focused on OPAL) You know what I mean. You killed your family. They gave you strength. They gave you immunity. You needed that and you took it..... But your sister got away. Topaz ran. She's still out there... And I don't think you know what that means...
LARS - Alright. Enough. Step by step. We do what we can, when we can. (to OPAL) He was IN those caves. That's why he's telling you this. (whispers) The bastard.
But UTHER locks eyes with OPAL and grins.
She turns away and doesn't say a word.
Off on another passage the sinister, mole-folk oratorio continues.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
click - TREASURE TROVE to see all episodes out there.
click GOOD TALK (I hope) to join me on Twitter.
please COMMENT. and google CARMINA BURANA videos on You Tube... Many of you probably know it. More will recognize it. Really very special and apt to the scene. thank you all for taking time to read this.
This went on for about an hour. Then they just sat there in silence. Somewhere down another tunnel mole-folk were singing hymns.... some kind of gospel thing. White gospel... Black gospel... They got it all... Good too. Opal and the other two listened for a while. It was soothing. Calmed them down. Sterno cans threw flickering, orangey shadows on the rough, stone walls. Looked like a catacomb under some old city. Oh, Philadelphia does have a lot of underground, buried, long-forgotten corpses... ancient graveyards.... old, abandoned crypts... ossuaries... murder victims... Find 'em every time the dig foundations for new buildings. City got archaeologists on the payroll. Grinning skulls like knick-knacks 'round some places. You know clean, human skulls feel like ivory? A little rough... slightly pitted, but polish up real nice. Got human, ivory jewelry in The Hymalayas. Made out a dead monks. Maybe nuns too.
Hymns stop, but mole-folk keep singing... something different... sinister and darker. Carmina Burana (google videos on You Tube... you'll see). Guess the music effected him, 'cause Uther starts talking... Not loud, almost a whisper. Opal never heard stuff like this, so she got real still and took it all in...
UTHER - In Europe, in the old world, we punish wrong-doers. Zombies, I mean. Ancients used to imprison them in tall, stone towers. No way in, but a narrow opening up high. No glass. Definitely no glass. Maybe a thick, rough shutter... Maybe not. In most instances the cells were unfurnished, save for a chamber pot and perhaps a pile of blankets. No hearth. No books (well, most people never saw books then anyway). Codified written words were viewed as magic... powerful magic... wisdom plucked from the air and trapped on lamb skin. Oh, priests, nuns, monks and the like, they knew how to read. Jews too. Though peasants, serfs and slaves were denied that ability. Zombies knew. At least our kind, the non-decomposing zombies did. We taught our own. So imagine what it was like to be sealed away with little light (windows were often narrowed once prisoners were inside), no warmth and no books. Stone flags for flooring too. No flesh. Wind driven rain provided a bit of water, but that was it... And after a time the 'shedding' began... Hair feel out. Skin shriveled . Nails brittled and dried. Teeth go bye-bye. Urine grows thick and dark and stops. Back stoops. Spine deteriorates. External genitalia takes on a papery, mummified look. Sometimes the nose and ears go too. And the lips aren't much to look at either...
OPAL - (quietly) Are you trying to scare me?
UTHER - No, just sharing what I know. He knows to (indicates LARS, who nods). Do you want me to go on?
(she nods)
UTHER - But absolute destruction was rare. Chastened flesh-eaters eventually went free and ruined bodies had to be restored, thus were born Zombie Orgies...
(Opal giggled)
UTHER - Not carnal. Not what you think. Well, not carnal in that way (and then he chuckled). Meat... they needed meat... human meat... and not just flesh, offal too. You know. Liver, brains, lungs, kidneys (makes an 'and so on' gesture). Some zombies relish that. And once a year, on Saint Swithun's Day, the fifteenth of July, those to be restored were ushered into deep, dark, winding caverns. In some places the caverns had been used since the troglodytes. You know, there were zombies then too? Shambling wraiths they were. Some crawled. But they had the hunger. And they had the strength. And they knew what was to come.
They fed them prisoners. In return for coffers of gold and jewels local nobles emptied their dungeons. No questions asked. Families on the outside weren't notified. They had no rights. It's hard to imagine how it was then. Rape was not rape. Robbery was 'finders' keepers' and rich guys with swords tend to find a lot. Murder wasn't murder. It was just an unfortunate occurrence. Children could be replaced. Peasants could too. Occasionally clergy or higher nobles, royalty in particular, complained if specially adept farm hands, or highly taxable Jews somehow woke up dismembered. But life meant nothing. It wasn't cheap. It was free.
Legions of 'the damned'... children too, were stripped and beaten til they ran into the caves. Then men with dogs, huge dogs, mastiffs, wolfhounds, tortured them til they fled even deeper. No light. No dispensation. Just horror. Just death.
Next came the flesh-eaters. Perhaps two or three for every victim. And it was dark. People cowered against sharp protrusions. But they couldn't hide, not from creatures hunting by scent. Soon came screams... shrieks... the overpowering reek of human innards... children cried... running feet... breaking bones... marrow.... maniac laughter. Imagine being the last child alive in such a place. Oh, the zombies were so happy. A restorative feast it was. Some gurgled. Some sang hymns. They did. For them it was salvation. (he focused on OPAL) You know what I mean. You killed your family. They gave you strength. They gave you immunity. You needed that and you took it..... But your sister got away. Topaz ran. She's still out there... And I don't think you know what that means...
LARS - Alright. Enough. Step by step. We do what we can, when we can. (to OPAL) He was IN those caves. That's why he's telling you this. (whispers) The bastard.
But UTHER locks eyes with OPAL and grins.
She turns away and doesn't say a word.
Off on another passage the sinister, mole-folk oratorio continues.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
click - TREASURE TROVE to see all episodes out there.
click GOOD TALK (I hope) to join me on Twitter.
please COMMENT. and google CARMINA BURANA videos on You Tube... Many of you probably know it. More will recognize it. Really very special and apt to the scene. thank you all for taking time to read this.
No comments:
Post a Comment