It’s hard to describe being dead. It’s not pitch black, because there isn’t any color. It’s not void or oblivion, both of those states contain too much to express the nothingness that is being dead. There’s no heaven, no hell, no limbo, and if there were, Jacie didn’t see any of it. She couldn’t even feel being dead, she just had a feeling of nothingness. That she didn’t exist. For a second, she didn’t exist. It was terrifying. But then, after no time at all, she was back. She was here. And Adam was standing over her.
“See? I told you she’d be fine.” He turned back to the Queen. “Can we have our land now?” Jacie was stunned. She was checking her head, checking for holes, for marks, for scars, anything that would indicate her previous state. But, as she had suspected, there was nothing. She stared at Adam, wondering if, each time he died, did he experience the same thing she had? Did he dip into nothingness each and every time he perished? If so, how many times had he had to experience not existing? How many times had he died, just in the past hour? Had all those dips into nonexistence changed him?
Jacie was broken out of her daze of questions by the Queen’s response. “It’s interesting, really. But how do I know this is safe, I mean, what if she just keels over and dies when you leave. What if there’s a virus in your blood, or a backdoor to turn of my immortality? How do I know you won’t blackmail me with my life later down the line?”
Adam scratched his head and thought for a second before he delivered his answer. “Frankly, my Queen, we weren’t smart enough to do that. I’m not supposed to tell you this, but well, we really need the land. We’re in a bad way up there,” he pointed to the moon and Jacie realized he was nervously drumming his fingers on his leg. “And we didn’t want to take any risks. So it’s safe. No tricks.” Jacie realized Adam was scared. But why? He could have just killed everyone in the land and taken it for his own. Why did he need to barter for it? And why kill all those people? It didn’t make sense.
The Queen was also experiencing such difficulties. She started to question Adam, “But why kill so many of my men then, if you wanted to be cautious? Why not just annex the land yourself? Why-” Adam held up his hand for silence. To Jacie’s surprise, the Queen obeyed. With the newfound silence, Adam took the time to stab himself with the needle and quickly draw a syringe-full of blood. As he removed the needle Jacie saw the wound stitching itself up. He shook the now full syringe at the Queen, offering it to her. She motioned for him to inject her. He did so carefully, with the precision of a surgeon.
“You have your land. There’s hardly anything there besides ruins anyways. My guards will escort you out.” She slumped back into her chair and Jacie saw something she didn’t expect. She saw the Queen, but not in her usual strength and glory, but tired and scared. The Queen seemed human. Ironic as with her newfound immortality, she was anything but. It suddenly dawned on Jacie that she too was immortal. She felt her chest tighten and her vision blur, but the moment passed. The guards escorted them out without incident. When they got out of the city limits, past the sprawling suburbs, and into the proper wild, Adam let out a long breath outwards. Jacie hadn’t been paying attention the trip thus far and hadn’t noticed he’d geared up. He was now dressed in clothes that weren’t shredded by bullets, carried a backpack, and was a bit cleaner than he had been. They walked until they hit a fork in the road and Adam said, “I’m going to head East. Prepare for our coming.” With that he walked off into the wilderness, completely ignoring the road. Jacie felt compelled to follow him. Having nowhere better to go, she did.
Comments (0)
See all