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Each time Elijah's path crossed that of someone else, the boy saw him grip the handle of his sword. But the people displayed indifference; most recognized the prophet from Israel, some nodded at him, but none directed a single word to him, not even one of hatred.
"They've lost even the sense of rage," he thought, looking toward the top of the Fifth Mountain, the summit of which was covered as always by its eternal clouds. Then he recalled the Lord's words:
"I will cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities waste, and bring the land into desolation.
"And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall fall when none pursueth."
"BEHOLD, O LORD, WHAT THOU HAST WROUGHT: THOU hast kept Thy promise, and the living dead still walk the earth. And Akbar is the city chosen to shelter them."
Elijah and the boy continued to the main square, where they sat and rested on pieces of rubble while they surveyed their surroundings. The destruction seemed more severe and unrelenting than he had thought; the roofs of most of the houses had collapsed; filth and insects had taken over everything.
"The dead must be removed," he said. "Or plague will enter the city through the main gate."
The boy kept his eyes downward.
"Raise your head," Elijah said. "We have much work to do, so your mother can be content."
But the boy did not obey; he was beginning to understand: somewhere among the ruins was the body that had brought him into life, and that body was in a condition similar to all the others scattered on every side.
Elijah did not insist. He rose, lifted a corpse to his shoulders, and carried it to the middle of the square. He could not remember the Lord's recommendations about burying the dead; what he must do was prevent the coming of plague, and the only solution was to burn them.
He worked the entire morning. The boy did not stir from his place, nor did he raise his eyes for an instant, but he kept his promise to his mother: no tear dropped to Akbar's soil.
A woman stopped and stood for a time observing Elijah's efforts.
"The man who solved the problems of the living now puts in order the bodies of the dead," she commented.
"Where are the men of Akbar?" Elijah asked.
"They left, and they took with them the little that remained. There is nothing left worth staying for. The only ones who haven't deserted the city are those incapable of leaving: the old, widows, and orphans."
"But they were here for generations. They can't give up so easily."
"Try to explain that to someone who has lost everything."
"Help me," said Elijah, taking another corpse onto his shoulders and placing it on the pile. "We're going to burn them, so that the plague god will not come to visit us. He is horrified by the smell of burning flesh."
"Let the plague god come," said the woman. "And may he take us all, as soon as possible."
Elijah went on with his task. The woman sat down beside the boy and watched what he was doing. After a time, she approached him again.
"Why do you want to save this wretched city?"
"If I stop to reflect on it, I'll conclude I'm incapable of accomplishing what I desire," he answered.
The old shepherd was right: the only solution was to forget a past of uncertainty and create a new history for oneself. The former prophet had died together with a woman in the flames of her house; now he was a man without faith in God and beset by doubts. But he was still alive, even after challenging divine retribution. If he wished to continue on this path, he must do what he had proposed.
The woman chose one of the lighter bodies and dragged it by the heels, taking it to the pile that Elijah had started.
"It's not from fear of the plague god," she said. "Or for Akbar, since the Assyrians will soon return. It's for that boy sitting there with his head hanging; he has to l
earn that he still has his life ahead of him."
"Thank you," said Elijah.
"Don't thank me. Somewhere in these ruins we'll find the body of my son. He was about the same age as the boy."
She lifted her hand to her face and wept copiously. Elijah took her gently by the arm.
