by Barry Slater
Once the two were inside the house, Kim checked Dwayne for bites. Captain Jack made his way inside to Dwayne and Kim. Doc Martin came down from the rooftop balcony. Exhausted, they all looked at each other then found a comfortable place to rest away from the windows so that their images could not be seen.
#
After a while, the fires died down and with no thermal images to agitate them, the remaining zombies slowly trickled out of the area.
Captain Jack ventured out first, hacking off the heads of the stragglers still inside the fence. The putrid smell of burned flesh filled the frigid air. The pine trees had burned themselves out and on the forest floor were patches of hot coals.
Doc Martin followed Dwayne and Kim outside. Still in shock, they stared hollow-eyed at the mass of dead bodies along the fence.
The snow had stopped. The bodies filled the open area and lie scattered on the trail and among the blackened trees. Several large piles of flattened zombies lie near the gate. The zombies at the breach had been incinerated. Further out were smoldering bodies, most of them with the flesh melted off their bones. Beyond that were still burning bodies crawling toward the fence across the frozen grass.
Walking out to Father Bryan, Captain Jack could see the preacher's hand still grasping the Sword of God's Wrath protruding from beneath the pile of bodies.
Captain Jack took the sword from Father Bryan's hand. “My God,” Captain Jack said as he wielded the sword. “It weighs a ton.”
“Father Bryan was a big man,” Dwayne said.
Captain Jack held the sword close to him then laughed.
“What is it?” Dwayne asked.
“The 'Sword of God's Wrath' was made in China,” Captain Jack responded. “In 1953. It wasn't in any damn crusades.”
“Maybe that date is 1,953 years ago,” Dwayne suggested.
Captain Jack laughed miserably. “I wonder how God broke him,” he asked.
“The realization that only a god could break him,” Dwayne said. “He knew this was coming. He knew that only God could create a living corpse. It was the revelation he was talking about. Maybe that proves God is real. Maybe that’s the proof we’ve all been looking for.”
“I certainly would like to think so,” Doc Martin said. “I would like to think that this was for a reason.”
Captain Jack looked down at the thawing snow dripping off Father Bryan's fingertips. “If only I was half the man he was.”
“Don't worry Captain Jack,” Kim said. “You are half the man he was.”
Captain Jack smiled. “I'll take it.” His smile faded. “What do we do now?”
“This will have to be our winter home,” Dwayne responded.
“We stay here then,” Captain Jack said.
“Good,” Doc Martin said rubbing his right shoulder which was sore from all the firing. “I don't like being cold. We may have to leave this spring though.”
“Why is that?” Dwayne asked.
“When the thaw comes,” Doc Martin answered, “all these dead bodies are going to start decomposing. We’ll be at risk of disease. We can come back in the fall. Maybe everything will be gone by then.”
“I agree,” Dwayne said. “What do you think Captain Jack?”
“Well,” Captain Jack responded, “we need fuel and ammunition. We could take care of all that while we’re gone. We need a vehicle too.”
“That was one hell of an explosion, Captain,” Dwayne said.
“I'm tired of blowing things up,” Captain Jack said solemnly.
“How’s your ankle?” Doc Martin asked.
“Sore,” Dwayne said looking at his foot.
End
Look for these coming titles:
The Last War Story: A War Odyssey
Rebel Dawn
Children of the Sun
Who Wants to Kill a Millionaire?
Barry Slater is a military veteran and a member of his local writers group. This is his third novel.
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