Pyramid of the Dead: A Zombie Novel by John McCuaig

amiss.
    “ Fools ,” Minco hissed as he walked away with his generals . “ Soon to be dead fools. ”
    *****
    On returning to the step s of the palace , Minco cal led Pizarro out for a meeting. No matter what was heading their way , h e still needed to ensure his Kings release. That was , and always would be , his first goal . He needed the Spaniard outside so he could see the panic spreading around the city.
    “ Are you mad?” Pizarro spoke from the window. “Why should I leave here? What do I have to gain from this?”
    “You have everything to gain, Pizarro , and nothing to lose. You know I will not risk my King, this is important and goes far beyond any problem you could imagine.”
    “Don’t trust him , sir,” Almargo whispered in his master’s ear. “He must be up to something, please, you need to remember he’s nothing but a savage.”
    Pizarro never answered his man; he called over to two of his men. “Keep a good hold of the king, if they try anything , kill him; show them that Spaniards are true to their word. I need to find out what he’s on about.” With one last look outside at his mountain of gold, he headed for the door. All Almargo could do was shake his head.
    “ Spaniard, we have a problem,” Minco said as his nemesis approached , walking down the steep stone steps .
    “Don’t go and do anything stupid now , Minco, ” Pizarro replied with unhidden contempt. “ I can see well that the gold is almost delivered. Wi th a little more time and patience, we can finish this unfortunate incident . ” He gestured back ward to wards the palace. “ You’ll then get your King back in one piece and I’ll take my ransom and leave . E veryone will be happy.”
    “No... y ou don’t understand me; this has nothing to do with the damn ed gold . There is an enemy approaching- a fierce and deadly foe. An army of the walking dead has been set free from the underworld and they ’ ll be here at the city gates before the day is out.”
    Pizarro laughed aloud like a child. “You must t hink I am really stupid, Inca n . What was that? A n army of the w alking dead , you say ? You could ’ ve at least tried something a bit more believable than that . ” His tone changed and the a nger was once again clear in his voice . “ I’ve warned you before and I’ll tell you this again , my friend . D on’t try to trick me or we’ll all end up dead.”
    “What I tell you is true,” Minco said, unsure of how he could prove this to the Spaniard. “ You have got t o listen to me. I don’t want you to do anything; I just need you to b e aware that a battle is coming. I need you to remain calm while we deal with this threat.”
    Pizarro just smiled at him and shook his head in disbelief .
    Minco did n o t have to worry l ong about providing some proof. Screams ra ng out from the sentry posts , men high up in the towers were pointing deep into the jungle . T hey were here , and it was far sooner than anyone expected.
    “ Get back to the palace and wait for this to be finished . N o matter what you hear or see , I need you to stay inside. ” Minco shouted at Pizarro , and then sprinted away without waiting for an answer.
    The Spaniard was still unsure what was happening. He suspected it was some sort of trick , b ut seeing the grim faces of a few of Minco’s soldiers gave him some doubts. Then his thought s drifted to his own soldiers that were still camped outside th e city gates. I nstinctively, Pizarro touched the hilt of his sword, but before he could move, h is eyes were drawn to the wondrous array of gold piled up high to his left . He released the grip of his sword, mouth-watering . His hunger to have the gold was far , far stronger than any urge to save his men . The Spanish soldiers would have to look after themselves for a while . T hey were being paid enough to take that risk . Turning away from the forthcoming battle , Pizarro returned to the palace.
    *****
    The amassed armies of Cuzco , of the