Pyramid of the Dead: A Zombie Novel by John McCuaig Page B

to face with one of the demons. A once pretty girl clasped her hands on his cheeks, pulling him to her as if preparing for a kiss. She did take a taste of his lips, but only as she tore them away from the young man’s face, chewing the tender morsels in the deep , red gash that was her mouth. With a terrible, cadaverous grin, she dragg ed him backwards , back into her army. Siza, the Tambos girl, may have escaped Tarapoto , but she still had found her way to Cuzco with the rest of the undead .
    “Retreat! Retreat!” one of the Spaniards shouted out . “Get back inside the city walls , come on , move it ! ” He had seen more than enough death already . F ar too many of his companions had already been pulled away from the line and into the hungry maw of this bestial army. This wasn’t their battle . What was happening here?
    The problem was that t hey were n o t the only ones to decide to run. Almost all of the defenders of Cuzco still breathing had seen that they had already lost this battle . Swarms of terrified men , Incan and Spaniard alike, raced in fear towards the narrow gates. S everal hundred of them were attempting in a panic to get through a mere ten foot wide gap at once . S oon enough , they found themselves gridlocked; they also found the gates still locked .
    The unlucky ones at the rear fell as the undead jumped on their backs, merrily chewing away on their sweet juicy flesh. The ir screams of agony and despair only fed the already mad panic at the front . T hose men climbed on top of one another in a desperat e attempt to escape from the reaching hands of the undead . Dozens of men were crushed to their death s under the feet of their own living comrades. Other s were badly injured , even crippled in the crush and could only lie on the ground, waiting for the hands of the undead to reach down and pluck them up like fallen fruit .
    S creams of pain were quickly joined by calls for help and the sobs of utter hopelessness. These pitiful sounds seemed to further encourage and lure the monsters that were right behind them.
    Minco sent more of his men over to the gates in an attempt to hold them firm against the creature s advance . H e was about to join them himself when something far in the distance caught his eye. H e saw a solitary figure standing atop a large rock , far behind the advancing horde. Minco squinted, trying his best to bring the figure into focus and growled savagely when he realised that his suspicions had been correct.
    It was t he High Priest himself , Taipi was proudly watching as his army did its best to destroy the city . Taipi was the cause for all this death ...Minco vowed to take his revenge on him, or whatever he was now, even if it was the last thing he did .
    The forces of Cuzco that started this battle numbered in the thousands. Now, b arely a few hundred remained to face t he Ukhu Pacha. Not even enough men to keep the gates closed against the teeming masses of undead that were forcing their weight upon them. They had failed. The beasts were pouring inside the city walls and spreading out in all directions . Minco let out the breath he was holding. Resignation filled his spirit, as he knew that t he citizens of Cuzco were all but doomed. He only had the one goal left and he would fight to his last breath to accomplish it.
    “ Everyone , g et b ack to the palace,” Minco shouted to the last remnants of his once mighty army . “ Now ! We must protect the King at all costs !”
    As he and his men ran through the narrow streets towards the palace , dozens of Cuzco ’s citizens appeared from their homes . They dropped to their knees , begging their Protector to save them from the undead army . Minco grimly ran by them , keeping his eyes trained directly ahead . H is title was indeed The Protector o f Cuzco , but his main duty was always to the King.
    There was no choice, no other option. Years ago, Minco had taken a solemn pledge to protect his monarch at whatever the cost .

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