The Reincarnation

David watched in horror as his mind played out what was quickly turning into a nightmare. The peaceful hillside he had dreamed of before was quickly becoming a scene that reminded him of Night of the Living Dead, a film he doubted John had ever seen.

People were swarming the cemetery like angry bees around an upset hive. David’s subconscious mind tried to make sense of it just as his conscious mind was jostled awake.

David heard Donna mumble, “Sorry guys, didn’t see that bump coming,” before he passed out again.

After a few moments, he was dreaming again, but this dream was different in many ways. First, it was a dream about being the passenger in a car. Second, the world in this dream had gone a ghostly shade of green. Third, he had no control over his actions.

The car that David was in pulled up to a huge security fence, its top lined with coils of razor wire and security cameras. David found himself looking to his left, and noted that the driver of the car was facing away from him, showing an ID card to the man who worked in the booth at the security gate.

For some reason, David thought it was strange that there was a security gate here. It seemed like it should have just been one of those orange and white car barrier-arms, not a full-fledged security fence with a manned booth.

Looking forward again, David saw a building come into view. It was huge and gray, looking like a laboratory of some sort. The building had no windows, and loomed against the sky like a giant tombstone. The car he was in stopped, the driver got out, opened the door next to David, and yanked him forcefully from the car. David expected pain to bloom where he discovered his wrists were tied together with a belt, but this was a painless dream. David’s dream body was dragged into the building.

In the lobby, David found he did have some control over his actions, because he pulled back in alarm when he saw Dr. John Persey. The doctor had a glint in his eye that David didn’t think he had seen before. Maybe it was the crazy green color that was clouding everything he saw.

The doctor waved David away, saying, “He’s useless without the other.” David was dragged to what could only be described as a jail cell. The man shoved him inside, saying, “You’ve been demoted.”

There were metal bars surrounding him. He touched them and green sparks – at least they looked green, everything did – flew out of his hands. Again, David expected to feel pain, but there was none. He studied the place he was in. He was sure that if he concentrated hard enough, studied the structure well enough, there was some way he could escape.

First, he concentrated on his hands. They were bound, but the cloth belt that held them was weak, like it had been soaked in water.

“Hey, we’re here,” Laura whispered to David.

“Where?” David asked, waking.

“Donna’s totally out of it. We had to pull over. We’re at another motel. It’s cheap, but it’ll do.”

Jerry Gonzales was perplexed. He had filled up his motel for the first time in decades. It took him twenty minutes to find the “NO” sign, two minutes to wipe off the heavy coating of dust that had encrusted it over the years, and five minutes more to hang it up in front of the “VACANCY” on his motel’s sign.

“NO VACANCY,” he read, still blowing dust off it. That would have made Poppa proud, he thought. The last time that had happened was when the Rolling Stones had come through on their final tour. He noticed the sun rising on the horizon. Gonna be another hot one, he thought.

Then he wondered, Where do all these kids think they’re going?