AfterLife by S. P. Cloward Read Free Book Online Page A

own
energy through metabolism, so you’ll have to get what you need from others.”
    Wes watched Emily talk. He understood the basic concepts she
was talking about, but some things didn’t make sense. How did you charge a dead
human body? It wasn’t like you could just plug it into a wall socket. He
concluded that would be one of the things he’d probably find out sooner rather
than later.
    Emily paused in her explanation. She picked up a handful of
sand and slowly released it into a small pile in front of her and then brushed
off the particles that remained on her hands. “There are some other things you
should know about walking dead.” Emily looked Wes in the eyes. “AfterLife isn’t
the only group of us out there and not all groups have good motives.”
    She stood up unexpectedly. “Let’s walk a little more.” Wes
complied and the two began walking again. After a few minutes, Emily continued.
“There are dozens of groups of walking dead in the world, but basically we’re
all break-offs from one original group. We actually coexist pretty well since
we share such a unique situation. There are about 10,000 known living dead. For
the most part, these groups function unnoticed within living society. We’ve
also become pretty organized, especially in recent years.
    “The process we use for rebirth was first used in the early
nineteenth century in Europe and then traveled to America shortly before the
Civil War. Advancements and improvements have been made in the science and the
processes, but even with these we have not been able to find a way to
completely survive without feeding, or charging as I like to call it, off
living humans. We don’t feed in the traditional sense, but what we take from a
living body is much worse, in my opinion, than actually eating them. We take
time off their life.”
    “How do we do that,” Wes asked, not understanding how this
was considered feeding.
    “Through the eyes. When you soul-sync with an antemort, or
living person, you are actually feeding off his or her life energy. You connect
with them and that’s how we get the energy our mind needs to maintain its
connection with the body.”
    “Aren’t we soul-synced right now?”
    “We are and that’s part of what’s helping your body through
the rebirth process. I’m allowing you to feed off my charge, but you aren’t
receiving nearly as much charge from me as an antemort would provide. When two
Mortuis soul-sync, it doesn’t seem to have the same impact on them as it does
an antemort. Even though our minds are still connected to our bodies, we don’t
lose any connectivity to our bodies from it. I have to warn you though; you
must be careful which Mortuis you sync with. You can be severed while being
soul-synced with the wrong person.
    “I also need to warn you about the Truly Dead, as some of us
call them. They’re members of the original, ancient Mortui organization that
AfterLife broke away from, called the Atumra. They’re Mortuis who have souls
that are as dead as their bodies. They believe they are an entitled race – not
evil, but they are evil. They see themselves as more than human, and antemorts
as an inferior breed, useful only as a way to keep them alive.
    “You’re lucky AfterLife found you first. Life as a Truly
Dead can be pretty unfulfilling. Of course, there have been members of
AfterLife who have gone to the other group lured by ideas of entitlement and
the idea that they might have a chance to inhabit a living body again. Like I
said, life is about choices.”
    Wes considered the appeal that being alive might have. He
hadn’t been dead for very long and didn’t know how much the rebirth process
would fix everything that was wrong. He wasn’t able to feel, smell, or touch,
and the thought of not experiencing anything associated with these senses did
make joining the Atumra something he could see considering.
    “It’s not fulfilling though,” Emily said as if she knew what
he was thinking.