“I feel trapped,” Mike uttered to himself as he watched the
gas-masked scientists open his cell door. After all, why would they let him go
now, out of the blue? What awaited him on the other side of his cell, outside
of the re-purposed jailhouse?
“Follow the path,” came a breathy, mechanical response
from one of the lab coat wearing figures, the lights reflecting off the glass
goggles.
Mike hesitated, wondering if they were waiting for him to
let his guard down before pouncing on him, then forcing him to succumb to their
poking and prodding like a lab mouse. Slowly, he walked out of his jail cell,
and was greeted by two other scientists grabbing each of his arms and escorting
him towards a heavy door with emergency exit warnings around it. Instead of
being greeted by an alarm as the door was unlocked and shoved open, he was
greeted by the early morning light and pungent smells of the zombie’s rotting
flesh.
After getting his bearings, Mike noted the tall fence,
encircling the building he assumed, as well as long stretches of metal mesh
creating what appeared to be large outdoor corridors.
“I’m not some goddamn Guinea pig for that psycho doctor,” he
huffed as he followed the chain-link maze to the next building. There was no
hope of escape; razor wire lining the top rods of the fence, razor wire and
cement keeping the bottom firmly in place.
He knew the doctor that was behind his capture. This same doctor
was controlling the scientists that poked, prodded, and branded him.
As he walked, he heard the hisses and growls from nearby
zombies scavenging about for their next meal.
“What the fuck?” Mike gasped as he saw a row of buildings;
each had a chain-ling fence winding to the doors from the same building he came
from. There were odd symbols above the doorways, obviously separating the other
survivors and doing sick tests on them as well. The building he was being sent
to had the same symbol as the brand that scarred his left forearm; a bladed
weapon of some sort, either a knife or a sword. He didn’t care about figuring
that out, he had other problems to worry about.
Drudging along, Mike finally made his way up to the door of
his next prison where he was greeted by two guards wearing gas masks. One of the
guards grabbed his arm and forcibly twisted it to see the brand.
“He belongs here,” said a robotic sounding voice as the
guard holding his arm signaled the other guard to open the door. Once the door was opened, he was shoved into a
dimly lit hallway and told to follow it until he reached a big room and someone
would pick him up.
Mike followed the hallway, tortuous sounds echoing keeping
him on edge. He arrived at the brightly lit room and saw a few others sitting
in chairs, scared eyes watching him as he observed his new surroundings.
(To be continued...)
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Author's Notes:
This story was a bit of a challenge to write as I haven't written in years. Having a prompt did help, but trying to keep the feeling of my assigned card while still spinning the story in the setting I was envisioning proved to be a bit more testing than I was expecting. I hope I did the general feeling of the card justice. I hope to finish out the story in the near future as I was unable to complete it before July 8th due to my personal life and work interfering a lot with my schedule. Perhaps the Eight of Swords energy had something to do with it?
About Eight of Swords:
(Zombie Tarot (c) Paul Kepple, Photo (c) Coyote Tarot)
The Eight of Swords is a card that can indicate restriction or
imprisonment of some sort. While Zombie Tarot's take on the card doesn't
follow the appearance of the traditional RWS artwork, yet the feeling
of being stuck or trapped is still there. While that sounds like a
negative, it can also have a silver lining of bringing underlying issues
forward in order to assess them. Bringing the negatives to light and working through them is how we move forward and grow. There are a myriad of other cards that have a "negative" association to them, but in actuality, they're not as negative as they seem. They offer some sort of positive aspect though it's not always seen right away.
Swords are predominantly a Gemini suit. The number Eight (8) shares traits with Gemini in regards to having the duality. With Gemini and Eight being associated with the Eight of Swords, they can be a driving force in breaking out of the imprisonment that the card portrays.
Sometimes we have to face our demons in order to get to where we want to be. Don't be afraid to ask for help if needed, or to get a little dirty along the way.
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I hope you enjoyed this short story for the very first International Tarot Day!!
**Will update to add 7 of Swords link once I receive it!!**
Here is another blog for you to enjoy, based off of the
9 of Swords by Attila!
