The Commander pointed at the living man and said, “You. Take her. Now.” The generals watched, silent but rapt.
The man stood, made a fist. “Fuck you, freak.” Behind him the woman sat pale and stricken.
The Commander shrugged. “Maybe you’re not in the mood. We have something for that.” He turned to the door and called, “The aphrodisiac, please.”
For almost a minute nothing happened. Then from the corridor came a terrible groaning. The sound grew louder, closer. The woman on the bed wrinkled her nose and whispered, “No.” A dark form appeared in the doorway.
It was one of the ones who had been buried in the ground before coming back. They always returned as moaners too, and had always rotted terribly.
The man and woman scrambled away, onto the floor.
Around its neck the moaner wore a steel collar, which was attached to a chain held by a skull-faced guard. The moaner shrieked, and slavered, and swiped at the air with clawlike fingers. It lunged at the living, and its handler, just barely able to keep it under control, was half-dragged along behind it. With each charge, the creature came closer to the man and woman, who cowered on the floor in the corner, the man kicking feebly in the direction of the monster.
When the thing was just a few feet away the man shrieked, “All right! All right! Get it off me!”
The Commander lifted a hand, and the moaner was hauled back.
The man and woman trooped grimly to the bed. The woman was young, maybe twenty. Mei’s age, Park thought. Had Mei gone through this? No. Don’t think about it.
The woman lay down on the bed and the man climbed awkwardly on top of her. The Commander stared. He reached over, took the hand of the skull-faced girl, and held it. For a long time the living man nuzzled the woman, pawed her, rubbed against her, but he was too frightened, and couldn’t become aroused.
Finally the Commander called out, “Enough!”
The figures on the bed froze.
The Commander stood. “This grows tedious. Another night, perhaps?” The pair on the bed pulled away from each other and watched anxiously. The Commander said to them, “Don’t worry. There’ll be other chances. Next time will be better.” To the generals he instructed, “Take them away. Put them with the rest.”
The rest? Park thought.
“Park,” said the Commander. “Walk with me.”
Park followed him through several doorways, then up a few flights of stairs. They emerged onto what must have once been simply a rooftop, but which had been augmented through the exertions of the dead with a sort of parapet.
The Commander said, “So how did you enjoy that?”
“I… it was… ”
The Commander said sharply, “Don’t dissemble. I don’t like that.” All of a sudden there was real anger in his voice, and Park was afraid, but just as suddenly the man’s eerie calm returned. He went on, “You were uneasy.”
Park thought fast. “I just… you always say lust of the flesh is-”
“For the masses,” the Commander cut in. “Black and white. Right and wrong. But men like you and I must take a more nuanced view. Besides, it’s for a greater purpose. You’ll see.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”
“And don’t apologize,” the Commander said. “Now… there’s something you want to discuss?”
“Yes.” Park collected his thoughts. Then: “In what way does one become an officer in your army?”
“I am the way,” the Commander said. “Tell me why you want to join.”
“I hate the living,” Park said. “Always have. Even when I was one of them. Especially then. But I never saw any alternative. Until now.”
“I understand,” the Commander told him. “You seem a useful sort, Park, and I’m always damned short of good men. I think I’m going to be glad I met you.”
The Commander turned away and gazed out over the battlements to admire his city, his domain. There in the darkness, with the man’s back turned and no one else around, Park allowed himself one fleeting instant to glare at the Commander with pure hatred.
No, Park thought. You won’t be glad. Not at all.
So Park was designated a “lieutenant,” and given a room in a far corner of the palace, and often he was called on to perform routine tasks, mostly drilling the other officers in marksmanship. The Commander’s voice was a constant presence, as the loudspeakers blared forth an endless mix of propaganda and instructions for the maintenance of the city. Sometimes pairs of living prisoners were brought out to perform for the Commander and his wife, but Mei was never among them.
Most information was still restricted from Park, and most areas of the palace were still off-limits. A few times he heard men refer to the top floor of the east wing as the “petting zoo.” Was that where the living were kept? The palace was severely undermanned, but even so trying to slip in where he wasn’t wanted would be chancy at best. Patience, he told himself. Wait, and watch. This is who you are. This is what you do. And when you strike, you strike hard, and they never see it coming.
One day Park returned to his room to find someone waiting in the hall. It was Greavey, a heavyset man with a scattering of red hairs whose jowls hung slack below his skeletal face.
Park nodded to him. “General.”
“Park,” said Greavey. “Can I ask you a favor? A private lesson?”
“Of course,” Park said.
He retrieved a pair of rifles from his car, then took Greavey to a muddy yard nearby, where Park lined up empty cans upon a wooden table. The two of them positioned themselves at the far end of the field.
Greavey took aim and fired. His shot went wide. He growled, and said, “I was a soldier too, in life. Like you. Never was a terrific shot though.”
Park fired and knocked over the first can. “It’s easier now. Your body is more still.”
Greavey raised his rifle again. As he sighted, he said casually, “You may have fooled him, but you don’t fool me.” He fired. A can went flying.
Park didn’t answer. He took another shot, took down another can.
Greavey’s voice was gruff. “You don’t buy all his bullshit. His little cult. And neither do I.” He fired again. Missed. “Damn.”
Park had been expecting something like this. He took aim again. “And what if I don’t?” He fired. Another hit.
“Listen,” Greavey told him. “You’re new around here. You don’t know what he’s like. We’re losing this war, losing bad, because of him. We don’t have enough officers, and every time one of us shows a little promise… well, he doesn’t like rivals much. So watch yourself. It’s only a matter of time before he turns on you too.”
“So what’s the alternative?” Park said. “The moaners are loyal to him. They’ve been listening to his voice every day and night now for how long? What’s going to happen if he’s gone? You think they’ll obey you? You think you can control them?”
“Man, they’ll listen to anyone-” Greavey waved at a loudspeaker- “who gets on that PA.”
Park raised his rifle to his shoulder and sighted downrange. “It’s too much of a risk.”
“That’s not what you’ll be saying when the living storm in here and blow our brains out.”
Park fired. Another can. “Who then? If not him?”
Greavey said, “You know he never did shit before all this? He likes to play soldier-all of them do-but he’s just some college kid. Now, he’s smart, I’ll give him that, but not as smart as he thinks he is. We need someone in charge who knows this army and who’s got real military training.”
“You then?” Park said.
Greavey shrugged. “Seems sensible.”
“I’ve got training,” Park said. Another shot. Another can.