Everything Dies | Season 3

by Malpass, T. W.

  Once Salty greeted her and thanked her for doing as he’d asked, he took up the binoculars to watch the present danger exit their boat.

  The travellers consisted of one male and one female. Their clothes and hair were ragged. Then there was a third person, who seemed to be their prisoner. The smaller figure was wedged between them, being shoved along by the woman, who threatened them with a large hunting knife. The man leading the way carried a baseball bat. They were hurried, obviously looking for the dog they had seen and heard on their approach.

  When they noticed Salty standing next to Anna, holding his rifle by his waist, they chattered to each other and pointed at him, hurrying towards the chalets. Within thirty feet, the woman pulled the black kid they had captive against her frail body and pressed the knife beneath his chin.

  ‘You so much as twitch with that rifle and I’ll drain this little piggy right here,’ she said.

  ‘You better believe she’ll do it, mister,’ her male counterpart warned, wielding his bat.

  Their faces were gaunt and their eyes sunken back—daylight ghouls you could easily mistake for the dead at a distance. Salty guessed they must be tweakers. Whatever their vice was, it had taken its toll on their bodies and, from what he’d seen so far, their mental state too.

  In the wild woman’s free hand, she held a piece of twine wrapped around her fingers. Three strands dangled from it, each one attached to a large glass jar. The jars were sealed and contained body parts floating in some kind of preserving fluid. One was full of eyes, the second severed tongues, and the third was crammed with at least five dicks.

  Salty understood at that moment that this would not be an ordinary negotiation.

  ‘I can see you’re busy, so I won’t keep you,’ Salty said, smiling. ‘I just stopped to get some fuel, but there’s nothin’ left in those pumps.’

  ‘Suppose you’ll be on ye way, then,’ the woman grunted.

  ‘I guess so. Before I go, just out of curiosity, what do you want with a kid like that?’

  The wild couple flashed rotten-toothed grins from ear to ear.

  ‘Now that would be tellin’, mister. A story that would keep you up at night,’ the woman said.

  ‘You’d be surprised. I’ve probably heard worse, just like everyone else who’s still alive,’ Salty said.

  An awkward pause followed, and then the wild man abruptly changed the subject.

  ‘I like your dog.’ He fixed his perverted gaze on Anna, who sat panting a few feet from Salty. The man’s pupils were dilated, and he licked the surface of his festering, scab-ridden lips.

  ‘She’s a beaut, ain’t she? Tell you what. Cut the kid loose and you can have her,’ Salty said.

  The wild man looked up at him expectantly before his eyes narrowed and a frown wrinkled the weeping sore on his forehead.

  ‘Bullshit,’ he snarled.

  ‘Hey, I’m a man of my word. Besides, if I’m not, there’s no way I’ll be able to shoot both of you down in time from this distance.’

  The hideous couple shared a look, as if they were reading each other’s twisted minds.

  ‘Let him loose,’ the man said.

  ‘This is a bad idea and you know it,’ the woman said.

  ‘Let him loose.’ This time the man glared at her, the threat of a beating written over his face.

  The wild woman shook her head in dismay, removed the knife from the boy’s throat, and shoved him in the back towards Salty.

  The boy kept his head down and continued to walk, stopping once he was behind his saviour.

  The wild couple crouched slightly in a defensive stance and readied their weapons, expectant in case Salty raised his rifle, but he didn’t.

  ‘Like I said, I don’t want any trouble.’ Salty turned to Anna, still breathing heavily from her sprint from the lake. ‘Be an awful shame to let her go. Gotten quite attached to her, but a deal’s a deal.’

  The wild man seemed to be in shock that something too good to be true was about to land in his lap. Another rotten-toothed grin exposed the infected wounds running through his lips.

  ‘Deal’s a deal,’ the man repeated. He dropped his bat to his side and approached Anna.

  The dog didn’t acknowledge his proximity and continued to stare straight ahead.

  Without a collar, the man was unsure how to usher her away.

  ‘She have a name?’ he asked.

  ‘Her name’s Anna,’ Salty said.

  ‘Come on, Anna. You belong to me now.’

  As he reached out to grab her by the scruff of her neck, she whipped her head around, opened her jaws, and sank her teeth deep into his wrist.

  The man screamed and dropped his bat.

  Realising they had been duped, the woman let out a vengeful cry and attempted to rush Anna with her hunting knife.

  Salty stopped the woman in her tracks by pointing the rifle barrel at her chest.

  ‘I thought you were the bright one,’ he said.

  ‘You fuckin’ lyin’ piece of shit!’ the woman said.

  ‘We could spend all day arguing about this, but you’d be wise to see to your boyfriend. He could bleed out with a wound like that. It could get infected pretty quick. Best if you do whatever you’re gonna do across the other side of that lake though.’

  With a great deal of reluctance, the woman sheathed her knife and got down to help her partner in crime up off the ground as he cradled his dripping arm.

  Anna growled at both of them, the blood of the man coating her teeth.

  The woman gave Salty a last glare of disdain and then looked to the boy—their lost prize.

  He flashed a huge grin of satisfaction and relief as he watched the two nightmarish kidnappers stumble away in the direction of their moored boat, their jars of body parts clanging together as they went.

  ‘That was about as close as it gets,’ the boy said. ‘Thank you, sir. I sure am grateful for your intervention.’

  He stood no more than five feet tall, his form smothered by the oversized duster jacket he wore.

  ‘Maybe you should try being a little more alert. Then folks wouldn’t have to put themselves in danger to bail you out,’ Salty said.

  ‘I’m careful. Careful enough to survive on my own for this long.’

  ‘Not careful enough to avoid bein’ captured by a couple of meth heads.’

  ‘Hey, those were some sneaky-ass junkies.’

  ‘’Course they were.’ Salty flicked his head to indicate to Anna it was time to leave.

  ‘Where you headin’?’ the boy asked.

  ‘Nowhere of interest to you.’

  ‘You might be wrong about that. I’ve travelled around, been to a whole lot of places, before and after the dead.’

  Salty paused, realising he couldn’t pass up the opportunity of at least asking.

  ‘All right then. I’m on my way to Billings County, North Dakota, looking for something called the Black Temple. I don’t think it’s an official title. It’s a name some have given to a building or a hideout.’

  ‘It’s a church,’ the boy said. ‘It was painted black by the people using it as a sanctuary to hide during the night bombing raids.’

  Salty turned sharply to face him.

  ‘Kid, if you’re shittin’ me…’

  ‘It’s the truth, but these people don’t live there anymore. It’s been taken over by some kind of cult. They believe the dead have been sent by God to cleanse the Earth of sinners.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘It’s run by a lunatic who calls himself The Father.’

  ‘How do you know all of this?’ Salty asked.

  ‘There’s a community not far from this place. Good people there. They warned me about the Black Temple.’

  ‘You’ve never actually seen it for yourself?’

  ‘Nah, but I’m pretty sure I know where it is,’ the boy said.

  Salty sighed and removed his cap to scratch beneath the cu
rls of his red hair.

  ‘And you want to tag along because you owe me, right?’

  ‘Right. I take my debts seriously,’ the boy said. ‘Name’s Kaos.’ He reached out his hand, and Salty shook it.

  ‘What the hell kinda name is Kaos?’

  ‘An appropriate one in our current situation. What’s this Black Temple to you anyway?’

  ‘My friends were taken hostage. I think that’s where they are now.’

  ‘Just so we’re clear, I ain’t risking my ass for your friends. I’m just pointing you in the right direction.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Salty said.

  Kaos knelt next to Anna and thought about reaching out to her.

  ‘Will she bite me?’

  ‘Hard to say,’ Salty replied.

  Kaos took the risk and started to tickle her behind both ears.

  The dog squinted to indicate it was to her liking.

  The petting stopped when Kaos heard the muffled screams coming from the chalet.

  ‘Is someone trapped in there?’

  ‘Some asshole. He was jumped by those junkies, same as you.’

  ‘Then let’s get him out,’ Kaos said.

  ‘Hey!’ Salty tried to grab a hold of the boy’s jacket and immediately felt the sharp sting of his stitched gunshot wound. He withdrew his hand and clutched his shoulder.

  ‘Looks like you could do with all the help you can get,’ Kaos said. ‘Besides, we can’t leave him for those animals when they come back.’

  Salty’s anger bubbled to overcome the pain as he watched Kaos follow the sounds to the correct chalet door.

  ‘Goddamnit,’ Salty cursed.

  4

  The cold fingers sliding over his forearm snapped Ethan out of his unreality. He opened his eyes and sat up, trying to focus on the person who had woken him.

  The young man standing over him recoiled in order to give Ethan some space while he came to his senses.

  He was lying on the couch in the church’s vestry, the surface of the cushions dampened by his own sweat.

  Ethan had no clue how long he’d been sleeping or even what he was doing before it. The last thing he remembered was standing in front of the congregation and the ceremony.

  The man present in the vestry wore the robes of the disciples. His face suggested he was probably in his midtwenties, but the infection in his bloodstream had aged him, the threat of decomposition woven into every fibre of his exposed skin.

  One large visible vein ran from between his eyes just above his nose and branched off in two directions as it reached his forehead.

  ‘You were dreaming?’ the man asked.

  Ethan cleared his throat before speaking.

  ‘An understatement, but yes.’

  ‘What did you dream?’

  ‘What I always dream—I was walking,’ Ethan said.

  ‘Walking where?’

  Ethan felt a cold surge run down to his chest and then drop to the pit of his stomach.

  ‘To the edge,’ he said.

  The disciple didn’t pretend to understand what that meant but accepted the response was important somehow.

  ‘Where’s Edwards?’ Ethan asked.

  ‘He’s coming to see you soon. He wants to talk with you.’

  ‘Good. I want to talk with him too.’

  ‘I suggest you keep an open mind. Father can enlighten you if you allow him to.’

  Ethan shook his head and fixed his gaze on the man to try and appeal to any slither of him that hadn’t already succumbed to either the Necro-virus or the religious indoctrination.

  ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Anthony.’

  ‘Anthony, your Father—this persona he’s created for himself—I don’t know where it came from, but when I last saw him, he was a scared, weak man desperately clinging to his faith just so he didn’t fall apart completely.’

  Anthony smiled knowingly, suggesting he’d expected Ethan to say something like that.

  ‘Father has explained who he used to be and how he found his way here to us—how God showed him the way.’

  ‘This way that he talks about, the truth you believe, it’s not what you think it is,’ Ethan said. ‘Where’s your mark?’

  Anthony reached up to the tattoo on his head.

  ‘Not that. Your mark—the one that separates you from the rest of the living. I know you have one,’ Ethan said. He rolled his own sleeve up to reveal the dressing covering his bite.

  Once Anthony saw it, he instinctively touched his left forearm.

  Ethan couldn’t see the wound behind his robe, but he knew it was there. It spoke to him, as if the disciple had been fitted with an organic transmitter.

  ‘It will never truly heal. You know that, don’t you?’ Ethan asked. He could tell by Anthony’s change in expression that this was a detail no one had ever shared with him. ‘How long since it happened?’

  ‘Five weeks,’ Anthony said. ‘Five weeks and four days.’

  ‘You feel it too. That sense of falling, of everything being stripped away. Every minute of every day, the ones out there—those who wander the world together—you can hear them calling for you to join them. That sound, Anthony, that collective whisper, that’s death. Your Father’s great gift to you.’

  Anthony frowned, shaken by his words.

  ‘He warned us you’d be like this. You’re lost, Shepherd. You need to find your way back from the darkness.’

  Ethan remembered where he’d heard that before. He was suddenly transported back to the facility, strapped down and waiting for the creature to be brought to him, Grant’s words ringing in his ears. ‘You’re going to act as their shepherd. You’re going to bring them back to the fold.’

  Ethan’s fear turned to anger, and he directed it at Anthony.

  ‘Why did you call me that? Why did you call me Shepherd? Answer me!’

  Anthony took another step away from him and held up his hands in surrender.

  ‘Father will reveal all to you, and you will finally understand your true purpose.’

  Their heated exchange was interrupted by a fevered groan from the corner of the room behind them.

  Ethan twisted around to look over the back of the couch to see Owen, the young man who had been the focus of the ceremony, lying in a hammock bed.

  A single sheet covered his shivering body, and a damp cloth was draped across his forehead.

  ‘The sickness has already begun to take hold,’ Anthony said. ‘It’s difficult, but he must go through it. God will decide his fate.’

  ‘Do you honestly think God controls any of this, Anthony? God didn’t put him or you in this position. The only person responsible for this is the man you worship.’

  The door to the vestry opened, and Edwards entered with one of his disciples. Unlike most of the others, the tall henchman possessed cruel eyes and a rather deep-looking scar across his neck.

  ‘Anthony, you’re dismissed. Leave us,’ the tall man said.

  ‘You’ll see things differently soon,’ Anthony said as he turned around and left the vestry.

  Owen let out another groan and rolled uncomfortably in the hammock.

  Edwards peered over Ethan to examine his condition.

  ‘How is Owen doing?’ he asked.

  ‘He’d be doing a lot better if you’d stop screwing around and give him the serum,’ Ethan said. ‘I know you have some. How else would you be creating your loyal subjects?’

  Edwards didn’t seem too disturbed by Ethan’s remark. He turned to his henchman and gestured towards the door.

  ‘I need to speak with him alone,’ he said.

  ‘That may be ill-judged, Father,’ the tall man said.

  ‘Your concerns are duly noted, Crane. Close the door on your way out.’

  Reluctantly, Crane edged to the doorway, casting a glare in Ethan’s direction as a silent warning.

  Edwards proceeded to walk past the couch a
nd Ethan to the hammock bed where Owen lay suffering.

  The young man had already entered the phase of infection Ethan had before he received the serum. He may have even gone beyond it.

  As Edwards laid his hand on the damp cloth across Owen’s forehead, the young man was lucid enough to recognise him and smiled.

  ‘Have faith, my boy. The Lord will answer.’ Edwards left Owen’s side and moved to the couch. ‘It’s amazing how the darkest moments can embolden your beliefs. When I was trapped in that facility surrounded by fire and the dead, I truly thought all was lost, that God had abandoned me as you and your friends had. I had no choice but to take a chance and make a run for it.

  ‘Eventually I found my way to the bowels of the facility, and the boat was just sitting there in the water waiting for me. Of course, I’m no fighter, and before I got out, I was bitten twice. As I drifted away, the fever took me, and God visited me and explained his great plan, the reason for all the suffering we have seen, and the path to salvation. He told me I would find a sanctuary, somewhere I could call home so I could do his bidding.

  ‘After reaching the land and much searching, I came across this place, shielded by the woodland. Its residents had barricaded themselves away from the madness, but they were still surrounded and isolated, running out of food, of hope.

  ‘When they saw me walking amongst the dead, they knew why I had come and who had guided me to their aid.’

  ‘I’m so sorry that happened to you. I can’t imagine how terrified you must have been. We left you behind, alone. I know it was a decision that weighed on Miller’s mind. If she hadn’t done what she did, none of us would have made it out. She thought she was choosing the lesser evil,’ Ethan said.

  Edwards’s expression turned as he remembered his bloody fists pounding against the plexiglas of the containment chamber while the flames raged around him. The painful memories washed away as quickly as they had arrived. He was at peace again, and he smiled.

  ‘I would never send my children all that way in such peril for a vain notion like revenge. I sent them to find you.’

  ‘Why would you do that, Edwards? I don’t belong here. I don’t believe in your calling. I don’t even believe in God,’ Ethan said.