THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
by Noah Cicero
ten
In a banquet hall in downtown Youngstown.
Preacher Elmer, somewhat decomposed goes to a podium.
There are over two-hundred undead in the audience.
They are sitting on folding wooden chairs.
No one cares.
No one is even thinking.
They stare blankly. Dead eyes stare into nothingness.
The crowd exudes a vacant maddening stupidity.
The audience is pale white, decomposing; their arms are stiff with rigor mortis.
Women’s tits have fallen off.
Men’s dicks are shivered and purple.
Blood drips out the children’s eyes.
Maggots chew at their hearts and elbows.
The smell is terrible.
Preacher Elmer begins to speak, “To all the resurrected here and to all our fellow resurrected fighting across this great nation. We are here to discuss the state of resurrected life and our great and our soon to be triumphant battle against the human species. We are at a time of great consequence. We must discuss every danger that threatens the resurrected nation and what act must be taken to ensure that the human element in this society is wiped away completely from the earth. Our war against humans is a contest of will in which perseverance is power. This nation has made a pledge, and we renew that pledge tonight: Whatever the duration of this struggle, and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit the humans to live-- free resurrected will set the course of history. The resurrected are a resolute undead who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of the resurrected, to the world and to ourselves. Resurrected America is a strong nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power and kill all the mother fuckers who oppose us. “
None of the dead that attended even looked up.
An old dead man said to another old dead man, “How are we resurrected? We were killed and my arm just fell off?”
“I don’t know. But we dead, that’s for sure.”
“Fucking shit.”