Pyramid of the Dead: A Zombie Novel (4 page)

“I am
called
Francisco
Pizarro
,” he began. “
I’ve come
from
far
across the seas
to
your lands under the flag of
Spain and
I am here to meet
with
your
King
.”
He was
,
of course
,
on no mission for the
King
of Spain. This was his own personal undertaking,
but
he knew
that
this
lie
would
sound better.

The Incan
nodded gently
at his words
and
then
took an exaggerated
look over
Pizarro
’s shoulder at the well
-
armed men
lined up
behind him.

“
My name is
Minco
Ochi
.
I am
the
D
efender of Cuzco.
” The Incan stood tall and spoke with a booming voice. “
And w
hat do you wish to do with your army? Have you
come to our lands with
some
thoughts of conquest?”

“No,
my friend,
”
Pizarro
smiled and shook his head. “I
t’s not that at all,
t
hey
a
re for defence only. Would you not go into a foreign land with enough men
at your side
to protect against an attack
?”

Minco’s thoughts went
back
to his tribesmen
at Puna
, h
is
many
dead tribesmen. If
he could have
his way
,
the floor of this green
valley would have been
a
wash with Spanish blood before
now.
The chasqui,
the
runners who delivered messages throughout the empire, had brought
the
news
of the slaughter
direct
to the capi
tal. The army had
already
amassed
over
five
thousand
of its
finest
men
, most still held
outside the city
,
ready
for the order
to
march and
destroy this new
threat
. E
ven
more
of them
were
also
on their way
from every corner of the
empire;
however,
the
King
himself
had ideas
other
than battle
. Minco had to fight hard to hold back his desire to
strike
with his axe
and
open
up
the Spaniard
’
s skull.
He
wanted;
he
needed
to end this conversation
quickly
.

“I will take you
to meet our King
,” he said. “My men
and I
will escort you on the road to Cuzco.”
He held his arm up
, pointing further down the
path.

Pizarro
bowed
down
slightly
,
and
gently
tugged at the peak of his
fancy
hat,
a
half-hearted
attempt at thanks. The two
hardened
warriors stared at each other for a few
more
seconds before returning
to their lines. Deep down
,
both would have preferred a battle and
no matter what words had just been spoken,
they
both
had no doubts
,
it would
only
be
a matter of time
before they got their wish
.

This new army of Minco
’s
kept the Spaniards
under
a
constant
and close watch
,
keeping
them
entirel
y
surrou
nded as they made their way through
the thick foliage
and deeper into the Empire
. Wherever
Pizarro
or his men looked,
whether i
t was
ahead, left, right or behind, there was a line of the Incans nearby.
And every one of them looked far from friendly.

It made for a
long and
nervous journey.

*****

After only walking for a couple of hours
during
the
next morning
,
they
came to a
stop outside
a
quaint and
well-kept
settlement
consisting
of no more than a
dozen or so buildings.
Once
the Spaniards had set up
their
camp on its
outskirts,
Minco took
Pizarro
and a few of his men into
the
town and onto its
largest building
, set right in the centre
.
He explained to them that it was called
a Tambos, a rest house
that was
designed to serve
the higher classes.
Pizarro
and Almargo gave
each other
a little smile, f
or the first time in
many
months they
would have
a
little
tast
e of luxury
, and they were not
going to be
disappointed
.

The
numerous
seats inside
the square building
were
all
covered in heavy, plush animal skins and as they sat down
,
they were treated like
some
visiting
royalty.
Several
young
,
and
very
p
retty
,
local girls brought in
a succession of
huge
copper
plates
. E
ach
of these
plate
s
carried
a wide
,
mouth-watering
array of
food. The first
few
contained a select
ion of
meats that Minco described as camelid- cured llama
and
cuyes
,
which
were what appeared to be
slow
roasted
complete
guinea pig
s
. Other trays of delights
contained
various
types of
fish
,
fresh
veg
etables, nuts and corn
,
but
the best was still to come.
Before they started to
eat,
several o
rnate wooden b
arrels of drink were placed
all
around;
Minco told them
this was called
chicha
, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented maize.

Most of t
he Spaniards
did
n
o
t have to be asked twice
to sample these gifts
. They
ate and
drank merrily
through the
rest of the
day and
long into the night
,
but
Pizarro
did no
t trust
this
new adversary
,
Minco. Food was taken but the chicha was left well alone,
he
need
ed
to keep his
head
clear
and his wits about him
.
He
had a feeling that
he
w
ould
have to
keep an eye on
the Incan
.

Minco
himself
sat alone in the
opposite
corner
. He also
did no
t
take a
taste
of
the nectar. It appeared that
Pizarro
’s
d
istrust had
some
company.

*****

A couple of hours after nightfall
,
a woman’s
s
creams
of terror
woke
everyone in
the sleeping settlement.
A
lmost
as
one
, the
only
sober
men,
Pizarro
and Minco ran
out
from
the Tambos
and
into the
dark
central
square.

Peering into the torch lit darkness
,
Pizarro
saw
a
young woman ru
n into view
just as they arrived
. Her
simple,
cloth
dress was ripped and torn and she
was
hold
ing
the remnants of it
together
with both hands
in an attempt to
cover
up
h
er
scratched and bleeding
flesh. Minco grabbed her
as she ran towards him
, holding her tightly in his arms as she
sobbed an explanation in her
native tongue.

As the two Incans spoke
,
Pizarro
saw one of his men
stagger from behind a hut. He was
pulling up his trousers as he
wove
drunkenly
towards them.
Pizarro
’s heart
sank
at this sight
,
realising
what had
just
happened.

When
Minco
saw
the Spanish soldier
, his fury was evident as his voice rang out. He roared an order
repeatedly
an
d the square
quickly
filled with dozens of the Incan warriors, each
one
with a weapon
at the ready.

“Stop,”
Pizarro
shouted
at the top of his voice
. “Please stop
them
, Minco
.
We need to find
out w
hat the hell is going on
first
!” He knew all
too well
what had happened
, b
ut he was trying to buy time to come up with a plan
.

Unfortunately,
Minco was
n
o
t
in the mood for
stopping.
He
drew his own axe
and with a white knuckled grip
,
marched
right
towards
Pizarro
’s man.

The soldier, Juan de Palencia,
an old war veteran from
the city of
Madrid,
stood
froze
n
on
the spot. The sight of the
bloodthirsty
savages
surging
toward
him
had an amazingly sobering effect
. He looked
beseechingly
to
Pizarro
, his gaze a helpless plea for salvation
.