by Thomas Baker
Charlie and Alice went around to either side of the cage. There Alice worked the pulley system, bringing the harness down.Charlie grabbed a hook off the wall and used it to bring the harness over to him. Alice gave him slack as he brought the harness over to Tyrone and fit it on him.
Tyrone struggled as the Reverend pulled. Ralph stood next to Albright, in case he was needed. Hannah hesitated, frozen in horror. Albright nodded for Hannah to follow as they took Tyrone to the diving platform. They forced Tyrone up on it. With a wave Albright motionedHannah to stand behind him. Albright stood on one side, down on the floor, Ralph on the other. Below the undead mulled. She realized exactly what they expected her to do. Even if Tyrone had killed Linda, even if what Albright had said made sense, Hannah didn't know if she could it.
"Here is your test. Tyrone has broken one of the Ten Commandments. He has committed the sin of murder. He, in cold blood, killed Nurse Linda. He failed in his attempt to also murder Brother Darryl. We have judged him and you will assist God with his punishment. You will open the doors of Purgatory, and you will cast Tyrone into the pit."
Hannah's heart was racing. Her hands trembled as she raised them. Did she have to do this? Could she? Tyrone. It is so hard to believe you did this. If you killed her, surely it was a mistake.
She wished she had a chance to sit down with him, talk over what he had done, give him a time to explain himself.
"Hannah, you must hurry. You know the wicked must be punished," Albright said, looking up at her. "If he is not guilty, God will keep him safe. If you can't trust in me yet, then still trust in God."
The bound Tyrone stood there, his back facing her. The long rope with a latch on the end, attached to the harness, trailed behind. The gag in his mouth muffled whatever he was trying to say. At least his back faces me,so I don't have to see his face.
Thin tears rolled down as she took a step closer to Tyrone. She sent prayers up to God, wanting to hear His voice. Give her some sign.
"You must push him in," Albright whispered in assuring tones. "God will do the rest. If he is true and innocent, he will not be harmed."
The tears in her eyes doubled and tripled as she neared Tyrone. He twisted his head around to look at her, his eyes pleading.
"This is your last chance. If you can't do this, you are not a child of God. You will have to leave us. I can't have you in my church. I'll then have to judge Tyrone myself."
"Why? Why would you do it Tyrone?" Hannah whispered as she held his face in her hands.
Hannah yanked at the gag and slapped Tyrone. "Tell me the truth, tell me what you did!" Her voice broke at the end.
Tyrone recoiled and turned his head back to her. "If you believe this shit, then you are a dumb crazy bitch, just like all the others." She had never heard him speak so harsh in all their time together.
A wave of emotion consumed Hannah. Albright stepped up and shoved the gag back into his mouth. "You have heard Hannah. His words are as foul as his soul is now."
Reverend Albright raised her hands and placed them on Tyrone's back. She pushed with Albright's help. She snatched her hands back as soon as Tyrone cleared the platform. They trembled as she clutched them together at her breasts. She nearly fell off the platform herself. She shrank back and Albright was there. He put his hands on her shoulders.
Charlie stood, hook at the ready. Alice stood tense, her hands still resting on the pulley mechanism. Now Reverend Albright's voice boomed out in the silence.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. How shall young Tyrone be judged?"
Hannah turned to Albright. "Can't we leave now?"
"No, we must witness. Now watch. God will reveal the truth."
Albright had a firm grip on her. Every time she tried to look down or away, he would always put a hand under her chin and force her to look back.
Tyrone landed hard, his hands still bound and his mouth still gagged. He rose and tried to stand still, but if she knew he wouldn't last long. Alice gave the rope slack and Tyrone was free to move around. Tyrone pushed awkwardly off the pool floor and got to his feet. He stood frozen, trying not to make a sound.
The first of the zombies reached him. He used to be a man with what must have been quite the gut. He was shirtless and now all that excess flesh dangled loosely down over his pants. He still wore a cap like a farmer's on his head. He stopped in front of Tyrone, like he was sniffing the air for the scent of his prey. Tyrone still stood statue like. Without warning, the thing grabbed Tyrone's shoulders and clamped his mouth down on his neck. Blood sprayed from between the zombie's lips and Tyrone's muffled screams brought on the rest of the undead.
Alice worked the rope system. Ralph came over to help. Hannah stood with Albright's hands like a vice on her. Her stomach sank. It must have been all true. God has judged. The rope pulled up taking Tyrone with it. The things tore the flesh of Tyrone's shoulder out. It dangled in the zombie's teeth.
Tyrone dangled above the cage, blood spattering the faces of the zombies below. Charlie hooked the harness and pulled him over. Tyrone was freed from the duck tape and the gag removed. Unceremoniously Charlie shoved him hard. Tyrone fell to the pool floor, trembling and holding his gaping wound. Blood flowed out between his fingers. Already though the flow was slowing and Tyrone's face seem to go slack. The zombies went back to aimlessly wandering around in the confines of their new home. Interest in the fresh meat seemed to have been lost.
Hannah wasn't crying now, she was sobbing. Albright loosened his grip and took her into his arms. He stroked her hair. She released all she had into his chest, thankful for his embrace.
Tyrone. Oh Jesus, please forgive me. May he forgive you to Tyrone.
"So God has judged," Albright said. "So God Almighty has judged!"
Tyrone screamed inside his head long after his voice had stopped working.
He felt terror beyond description as they shoved him back into the zombie pen. Excruciating pain, worse than anything he had ever felt, magnitudes greater than any football injury he had ever received, ripped through his shoulder where the zombie had bit him. He was sure someone had poured something flammable over his skin and lit it. A pure burning sensations ran up and down his body as he laid there, his life leaking out onto the pool floor. He steeled himself as best he could for the moment they would tear apart him. He sobbed knowing he would never see his mama again.
It was an instant change. There was intolerable pain. What came next was nothingness. His vision clouded. It now seemed like he was peering through dusty windows. He lost all feeling of his body, of himself. He thought he was screaming still, but his ears didn't hear it. He heard the creak of the ropes, the rattle of the cage, the whooping and carrying on of the people who did this to him. The shouts of amen and praise Jesus.
He could still think, still hear his inner voice. He thought he was moving his head to look around, but nothing happened. Same with trying to move his arms or legs. It wasn't like numbness either, like when you sit on one leg to long and it tingles. It was complete nothingness.
He cried out, "Hannah! Hannah!" He thought he did anyway, but he never heard himself.
Through his clouded vision he could see his arm laid out on the floor before him. He could see it from the elbow down to the hand. His skin was grey and had the cracked, dried out look that belonged on a Hollywood mummy. Like the skin he had seen before on the countless zombies he had killed since the Outbreak. His field of vision swayed and the chain link fencing came into view again. He seemed to be in a standing position now. He didn't feel his muscles move. He didn't feel in control any of it. It was all involuntary. It was like watching a cut scene in a first-person shooter game, like Call of Duty.
He knew he should have felt a wave of nausea coming up from his stomach, but there was nothing. The only things he still seemed to have control of were his thoughts and his emotions. Panic flooded him his brain. If his heart was still beating, he couldn't tell.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Jelly was right. Oh fuck. Jelly was right. How? How could he be? How could he know?I'm in hell. I'm in hell. Someone kill me. SOMEONE KILL ME!
Dark shapes passed in front of his eyes. The light grew dimmer, as he guessed Albright and Hannah were leaving. Hannah. How could she do this to him?
NO! NO! Don't leave me! You can't leave me! Not like this! Not like this! This is hell! No, you can't.
Tyrone heard the boom of the closing door. The sound seemed amplified somehow. Like he was right next to the door. He wanted to drop to his knees and cry or find some way to break out of the shell entrapping him. He felt stuck inside some sound proof room, able to see his rescuers but with no way to call out for their help. Without wanting to his vision pitched back and forth as he shuffled around.
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JT had spent the day shuffling between buildings and houses throughout Gateway City. He still thought they would find Tyrone. He wasn't sure if Tyrone had been captured or had got away but he would keep looking until he was convincedone way or the other. If Tyrone had left to go home, what a sad note to leave on. We'll probably never see him again or know if he got back to his mom okay.
As afternoon turned into evening, JT thought to try his luck up at the college. If they captured him, maybe they stuck him in there. He'd have to wait for it to get dark before getting so close to the church again. He stuck to the darkest areas possible as he made his way across the campus grounds. Luck was on his side so far because the thick cloud cover and heavy foliage growing close to the building helped conceal his movements.
He flattened himself against the cool red brick wall. He came across an unlocked window on his second try. He propped himself up and inside. He found himself in what appeared to be a former study type room, lined with tables and charging outlets. He crossed the room slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the near blackness.
As he crept out into the main hallway, he heard someone coming. He melted back into the shadows, watching them pass. It was Albright and some of his cronies. Jackpot, there's Tyrone. He looks okay. I'll just follow them and bust him out after they lock him up. He did a double take when it hit him that Hannah was one of Albright's cronies. Where the hell could she be going with them?
Maybe it was a sign things would continue to go his way. Maybe he would get a chance to get her back along with Tyrone. Then they wouldn't have to go through with attacking the church. He had been thinking about it during his long search and was coming around to maybe Tyrone was right. Maybe this time, he should forget about vengeance. Sometimes, he still had dreams about the little girl, falling out the window. Her death was his fault.
Albright and his minions passed, their light was a dim glow ahead when he came out of hiding to follow them. The light disappeared. JT waited agonizing minutes. As stealthily as he could, he followed down the hallway, looking both ways where it formed a T branch. He spotted the last of their lights far ahead. Again the light disappeared. He went forward and came to a pair of doors. He pulled on one but it barely budged. It rattled. JT winced at the sound. He thought he had better find another way in.
First, he put his ear against the door. He stood there for several minutes, hearing nothing but the sound of his own breath. When he was fairly certain a search wasn't being conducted on his noisy exploration of the door, he went to go find another way to reach Hannah and Tyrone.
He backtracked the way he had come. He thought if he got outside the school, maybe he would see their lights through a window. He crept through the hallways, one hand gliding along the wall. He stopped at every intersection, listening more than looking, for any sign of another person.
He made it through the study room and out the window with no problem. Again he went as fast as he dared around the building, peeking into windows along the way. The last thing he need was to get caught and locked up again. He would be up shit creek with no paddle in sight.
He rounded a corner and there at the end of the wall he saw weak light streaming out a high window. If he thought he was being cautious before, he doubled his efforts now. JT felt as if time had stopped as he flattened himself against the wall and inched towards the light. It seemed to take so long he was afraid they would leave before he got there. He made it, internally breathing a sigh of relief. It was just above him out of reach. He didn't know if he could make it up. Jumping and climbing were never his strong suit, even before his bum knee. It helped there was a ledge outside the window. It took a few tries and he could only hope he wasn't too loud but he eventually scrambled his way up onto it. As he did, he heard strange squeals coming through the glass. Trying to keep his huffing and puffing down as knelt down on the ledge, he looked inside.
What he saw horrified him. It was a gym. In the middle of it was a swimming pool. There was some kind of cage in the middle of the pool. Inside the cage he could see people milling around. He had the suspicion they were zombies by the waythey moved. The squeak he heard must have been the turning of the wheels of some kindof pulley device. From it feed a rope up into the ceiling and it dropped downto vanish inside the cage. Hannah was standing up on a diving board with Albright behind her. His hands were on her. He heard muffled screams and the squeaky wheels. Tyrone came into view out of the pool, dangling by the rope, strapped into a harness, blood dripping down his back. Charlie pulled him over to the side of the pool with the pole and undid Tyrone's restraints. Then he gave Tyrone a shove. Tyrone fell back into the cage, screaming the whole way down.
JT blinked in shock. Did he just see them kill Tyrone? Not only kill him but feed him to the fucking zombies?! It took all of JT's willpower not to break through the window, jump down, and beat Albright and Charlie to death with his bare hands. If only JT had a weapon. He would have gone out there, guns blazing and to hell with the consequences.
You will all pay for this. I vow it.
He listened to the tortured screams of Tyrone as JT assumed the zombies tore into him. JT had closed his eyes, and covered his ears, but the terrible, muffled sounds of Tyrone's final moments couldn't be blocked out all the way. The screams cut off. Hannah stood there with Albright. JT wondered why Albright was torturing her like this if he wanted her to stay. He could hear the heartbreaking sobs of Hannah now that Tyrone was silent. They were as muffled as the words Albright spoke. When Albright was done they all left the room.
JT tried the window but it wouldn't budge. He made himself count to sixty and then to sixty, one more time. Taking his shirt off and wadding it up, he punched through the glass and reached up to unlock the door. He slipped the shirt back on and climbed down inside. He didn't have to drop far as there were bleachers right below him.
When he got down to the gym floor, He could hear the shuffling of feet and the rattle of the chain-link fence. He groped around in the dark, careful to stay clear of the cage, and found a flashlight one of them must have left behind. He turned it on. Its light cut through the darkness. JT stepped to the end of the pool and pointed his light down into it. Unblinking, clouded white eyes stared back at him. He panned the light around the crowd of zombies. He stopped on one and his breath caught in his chest. Looking back at him lifelessly was Tyrone. Bile ran hot at the back of his throat.
Son of a bitch, they didn't kill him. It is so much worse. They turned him into a zombie. Tyrone, why didn't you stay with me? Albright you motherfucker. You and all your flock are gonna pay.
After telling Randall, Gus, and Linda what he found, JT felt that if this was one of those old Saturday morning cartoons, steam would be coming out of his ears right now. He didn't know he had this level of rage inside of him. The story was choppy, as he had to stop several times to get himself under control. Even telling it he still found disbelief in
what he had witnessed. How could someone come up with such an evil idea?
Gus stared at him slack faced. Linda pulled him close to her and guided his head onto her shoulder and held him. He didn't resist at all.
"I wouldn't have imagined in a million years." Contempt oozed out of Sheriff Randall."Those people...and they did it in my town, under my nose. Sick..."
"Are you going to help us now?" JT asked, visibly shaking. There would be no sleep for him tonight.
"I'm not going up there in a blaze of glory if that's what you mean" Randall said wearily."Albright is a manipulator, I see that now. He has duped everyone in town. He belongs locked in a cell, rotting to death. I know he's killed your friend son but you need to think."
"Fine," JT spit out. "I have a plan now. Albright doesn't know it but he's a dead man walking."
Gus spoke up for the first time since hearing the news. "You're going to go up there by yourself?"
"At this point Gus, I don't have a choice."
"What's this plan of yours?" Randall asked. "I can tell by your face there is no talking you out of this."
"I'll set all those zombies in the cage free and lead them to the church. If there are any more wandering around, maybe they will get drawn in too. They will be my distraction. While the church members are busy outside, I'm going tosee if I can get in through these tunnels, kill Albright and Charlie, and get Hannah. If some of those cult fuckers get hurt along the way, I'm not going toshed any tears over them."
"Sounds too dangerous," said Gus.
"Sounds like a fool hearty death wish," said Randall.
"I'm saddened by the loss of your friend. Truly I am. How horrible to see it. I still have to ask. Is it worth your life? Your lust for revenge?" Linda looked genuinely concerned for him.JT looked at her and watched her flinch at the mask of fury he was wearing.
"Now we know what's what let's get this started. Randall, all I want from you is some bolt cutters, a lantern and some weapons," JT demanded more than asked. "And for you to look after Gus."