Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde

by Devan Sagliani

  “We'll go then,” I said, and she shook her head and cried again.

  “I'm coming to the base with you,” she confided.

  “Yes.”

  “We're sticking together,” she said. “Like a family.”

  “You know it,” I answered back. “We're gonna need gas though to make it back.”

  “No problem,” she said. “I know just the place to get it.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Felicity grabbed the bag of stuff she'd gathered from the house and got back in the Lexus. She turned and handed a small teddy bear to Benji.

  “His name is Rasputin,” she said. “Scar gave him to me at Comic Con.”

  “You weren't just making that up?” I stared at her in disbelief.

  “I would never lie about that,” she said giving me a shocked look. “Take the way we came up and go back down the hill, then turn left instead of heading right back to the highway. The Hasslebeck's Chevron station should be down about a quarter of a mile.”

  We rolled down the hill and headed toward the gas station. I'd like to be able to tell you that I was surprised when we came around the corner in a wooded canyon and rolled smack dab into the middle of an armed road block, but I was starting to get used to it—as much as anyone can get used to having automatic weapons pointed at them. These weren't bikers. They looked like normal people, townsfolk, except they were armed to the teeth and not interested in hiding it. They quickly surrounded all sides of the SUV and began looking in to see who we had inside. A dopey looking guy with ruffled sandy blonde hair and sad puppy dog blue eyes tapped my window with the muzzle of his Uzi. He didn't look much older than me.

  “Roll down the window,” he ordered. I looked at Felicity and she nodded to me. No point in getting us lit up and killed over a simple request. I complied.

  “Yeah,” I said. “What's up, man?”

  “What are you doing here?” He didn't sound like much of a leader. He sounded, for lack of a better term, slow in the head.

  “We were just looking for some petrol,” I told him. “Heard there was a gas station down this way.”

  “We've got some gas,” he said.

  “Great.” I felt like he was holding something back. “Can we buy some?”

  “We'll give you some for free,” he said. I checked the mirrors to see that the others were closing in on all sides of our car. They still had their guns up as if they were ready for a fight.

  “That would be very cool of you,” I said. When he didn't respond I added, “Is there something I'm missing?”

  “No,” he said, looking nervous. “We're just not used to having strangers wander into our midst, especially so close to Harvest.”

  “What's harvest?” I asked.

  “A time of giving thanks and praise to our Lord and savior,” he said without batting an eye.

  Perfect, I thought. They are a bunch of brain washed religious fanatics. That's why they’re acting so strange.

  “We just want to get some gas and be on our way,” I said. “If you don't mind. We've still got a long drive ahead of us.”

  His eyes grew wide as Felicity leaned forward and he caught sight of her.

  “Felicity?”

  Here we go again, I thought. Another crazed fan boy. I knew it had definitely saved our hides the last time around, but it was still annoying. Why did it bother me so much? I couldn't put my finger on it. Here I was working so hard to keep us all safe and get us where we needed to be. I had to fight Tank off and lie our way out of trouble and all she had to do was use her fame. It just didn't seem fair.

  “Okay yeah I know,” I said. “It's very exciting to meet a celebrity in real life but she's just a person like you or me. Trust me. Spend an hour with her and you'll see she's no different than anyone else.”

  “Darren?” She leaned over me, growing excited. “What are you still doing here?”

  “Are you serious?” I asked in an exasperated tone. “Is there anyone you don't know? Come on!”

  “What am I doing here?” He ignored my outburst. It was like I didn't even exist. “I live here, remember? What are you doing here?” The Uzi was on a strap that hung from his neck. He had reached both his hands in across my chest and was now holding hands with Felicity, staring deeply into her eyes. I was tempted to make a grab for the gun and teach him a lesson in staying alert. A dark, sinister emotion twisted around in the pit of my guts watching him fawn over her. If I hadn't grown up learning to control my emotions I would have thought it was jealousy.

  “I came back to see my mom,” she said. Tears filled her eyes again.

  “How is she?”

  “She's . . .” her words trailed off. “She passed.”

  “I'm sorry to hear that,” he said with genuine compassion. “You really shouldn't be here,” he said, almost under his breath.

  “It's getting late,” one of the others said. “Soon the sun will set. The Messiah will want to meet our new guests before dinner.”

  “We weren't really planning on sticking around that long,” I said. A woman with a shotgun at her hip walked right up to the car, pointing it at my face.

  “We insist,” she said. “No one enters or leaves this hallowed ground without the blessing of the Messiah.”

  “Who is the Messiah?” Felicity asked Darren as he pulled his hands back and broke eye contact.

  “Only he can reveal himself to outsiders,” Darren said.

  “I don't like this,” she said.

  “Me neither,” I replied.

  “It's going to be fine,” Darren said. “The Messiah is all-seeing and wise and compassionate. He will know what's best to do.”

  “Really, we were just passing through,” I said but they were already pulling open the doors. They held them open and rode half in and half out with their guns trained on us.

  “Drive slowly,” the woman said. “We will guide you in to camp.”

  Darren seemed to give Felicity a look that said he was sorry, but it was way too late for that. We pulled down the road, passing the Chevron on the way. A little voice in the back of my head told me to fight but I knew it was useless. They would cut us to shreds if we tried to make a break for it. Whatever was going to happen, we'd just have to ride it out to the bitter end.

  No one is taking my sword again, I vowed. They'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

  As we drove, we passed groups of roving armed units on patrol who looked up and watched us drive farther in. I was suddenly really glad I hadn't tried anything stupid. It looked like they had been stocking up on weapons and ammunition for decades. I remembered learning about the massacre at Waco when I was still in school for social studies. This was starting to look a lot like that, but without an end in sight.

  “Look over there,” Benji said pointing out the open door.

  We all turned our heads. There were camps set up along the sides of the roads. In between them were tents that offered goods and services. It was an outdoor market like something from the Renaissance Faire I'd gone to when I was Benji's age. There was even a guy carrying a large drumstick in his hand and eating it as he walked along. I was so distracted that I almost ran over some people crossing in front of us. A loud thumping on the hood of the SUV brought my attention back to the road.

  “Watch where you’re going,” the woman barked. “Make a left up here and drive all the way up onto the property. Keep it under five miles per hour and whatever you do, don't run over any children.”

  I turned onto the gravel road and pulled down a wooded lane with children darting in and out of the trees, laughing and playing. When I came out the other side, I pulled up in front of a huge building with several armed guards posted out in front.

  “What is this place?” I asked.

  “I don't remember it,” Felicity said.

  “Pull up over there and shut the engine off,” the woman ordered. Everyone who had been riding on the side of the vehicle jumped off and steadied their weapons on us, leaving the do
ors wide open. I did exactly as she said, without hesitation. We all got out. I strapped my blade on my back again. I was ready to fend off an argument over them disarming me again, but it never came.

  Guess they figure one sword won't do much against a hail of hot bullets blasting through me, I thought. It made sense. It would be futile to fight. It wasn't like we just had to get off the property. We had to make it out of town in one piece.

  “What now?” I was doing my best to sound as nonthreatening as possible. Under the circumstances I'd say I was handling things pretty well.

  “Now,” she said with a smile, “you meet our Messiah, Bryan Crowe.”

  We were led into the building slowly at gun point. There were more young children running around playing tag. They didn't so much as stop and give us a look, which seemed odd, since we were clearly being marched around as prisoners. I would have thought for sure that their curiosity would have gotten the best of them, but no such luck.

  “Nice place you've got here,” I said, craning my head around to take in the paintings on the ceilings of Biblical stories. I felt the muzzle of her gun jab me in the small of my back.

  “Keep moving,” she growled.

  She'll kill you for sure if you step one toe out of line, I thought. I'd never been more sure of anything in my life. She had the determination and resolution of a devotee blinded by faith. Chills went down my spine as the realization set fully in that she wouldn't hesitate for a second to murder us if given the order.

  Before we knew it, we were standing before a middle aged man with a long beard sitting on an elevated gold painted throne covered in pillows. Behind him, the wall was painted as one long mural depicting the last supper through the crucifixion and resurrection. A pretty teenage girl with a bob cut stood next to him actually feeding him grapes. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. She turned and looked at us then ran off.

  “Welcome,” he said, standing up and coming to greet us. “My name is Bryan Crowe and I am a humble servant of God almighty. I have been waiting for you.”

  Felicity groaned and the girl jabbed her in the back with her gun.

  “It's all right Rowena,” Bryan said addressing his fierce female warrior. “Our faith does not require blind obedience from others.”

  “Glad to hear it,” I said, stepping forward and extending my hand. “My name is Xander.”

  He took my hand in his. His grip was firm and unyielding like metal but his hands were soft like a girl's. Chances are he wasn't doing a whole lot of hard labor in the promised land.

  Probably leaving that for the kids, I thought. Or prisoners.

  “Welcome,” he said with a wide grin. He released my hand and took Felicity's.

  “And who might you be?” He leered at her and something inside of me stirred to life, dark and brooding and ready to chop his hand off if he got too friendly with her.

  “Felicity,” she said, looking away from him.

  “Welcome, child,” he beamed, lingering a moment too long before turning his full attention to Benji. He went down on one knee and looked Benji in the eyes, giving him his full, undivided attention.

  “How's it going, champ?” His voice was much more relaxed.

  “Um,” Benji said, looking up at me. I nodded that it was okay to respond to Bryan.

  “Okay,” he mumbled.

  “What's your name?”

  “I'm Benji.”

  “Nice to meet you Benji,” he said. “I'm Bryan.” He sat down in front of Benji. “Hey, do you like playing hide and seek?”

  “Yeah,” Benji said, sounding a little confused.

  “Well we've got over ten acres of zombie-free land to play on,” Bryan said. “Dinner isn't for another hour. Do you want to explore the grounds and play with some of the other kids?”

  Benji looked at me again. I wasn't sure what to make of it. All I wanted to do was get out of town but that looked less and less likely to happen in any hurry. We were almost out of gas and they had what we needed. Not to mention, we were severely outgunned. It might be good for Benji to run around with kids his own age while the adults sorted out the unpleasant details. I shrugged and Benji turned back to Bryan.

  “How will I find my way back?”

  “Judah will show you,” Bryan said. Without another word a young boy with a mess of chocolate brown hair Benji's age walked over to him, ignoring the rest of us.

  “Hey,” the boy said, extending his hand to Benji. “I'm Judah.”

  “I'm Benji,” he said, nervously taking the boys hand.

  “It's okay, Benji,” Judah said. “You don't have to be afraid. Come on, I'll show you where we grow our crops. We got a working tractor and everything.”

  “See you at supper, kiddo,” Felicity said, stopping Benji for a moment and kissing him on the head. Judah led Benji outside and I turned on Bryan.

  “Okay,” I said, “now that the kid’s out of the way, let's hear it. What's your deal?”

  “I don't know what you mean,” Bryan said, looking slightly offended.

  “Come off it,” I pushed.

  “Your little brother will be fine,” Bryan said. “Better than fine with Judah as his guide. I would never hurt a child. The Lord said we should be like children if we are to enter into his kingdom.”

  “What's with the religious compound?” Felicity said, cutting to the heart of the matter. “You've built up a cult following for the end of times and armed yourselves to the teeth, hoping something like this would happen and it did. You've been planning this since long before Z-Day. That about cover it?”

  “Are these not the end of days?” Bryan asked with that creepy grin appearing on his face again. “The book of revelations describes the end of times as a period when the dead shall walk the earth because Hell is overflowing and there is no more room for them. Does that sound accurate to you?”

  “I don't believe in Hell,” I said flatly.

  “The fact that you don't believe in it doesn't mean it doesn't exist,” Bryan said. “If you ceased to believe in electricity because you don't understand how it works, electricity would still exist. For hundreds of years people thought the Earth was the center of the physical universe and that the sun rotated around us. It makes sense if you think about it. They were observing it every day with their own two eyes. It was hard to get them to believe otherwise, to teach them to understand that our planet actually rotates around the sun. Did that make it less true, because people didn't want to believe in it?”

  “I thought you religious types eschewed science,” I challenged.

  “We don't,” he said, calmly looking between us. “And you're missing the point. Hell is as real as this world and the end of times as predicted by the divinely inspired book of God is at hand. We are all living witnesses of God's great plan to abolish sin from the earth once and for all and restore this world to the paradise it once was.”

  “Praise him,” Rowena said, making the sign of the cross over herself.

  “Sin?” I scoffed. “You mean like kidnapping wayward travelers at gun point?”

  “The earth was once a great paradise,” Bryan said, ignoring my jab. “A Garden of Eden, until sin entered in the form of the serpent. Man's weakness cost him dearly but the blood of the lamb atoned for that weakness with his great sacrifice. The scriptures tell us he will come again and cleanse the earth with fire and we will be set free.”

  Felicity gulped, looking scared.

  “Your followers referred to you as the Messiah,” I said. “Is that what you've been telling them?”

  “It's not for me to say that I am the chosen one,” Bryan said, in a well polished routine. “As I told you, I am but a humble servant of the one true God.”

  “Sounds great,” I said. “Like I told your armed guards here, we're just passing through. All we need is a little gas and we'll be on our way.”

  “I'm afraid that's not going to be possible,” Bryan said.

  “Why?” I stared him hard in the eyes. “We know you hav
e petrol. We passed the station on the way here.”

  “You've come at a very special time,” Bryan said. “We are celebrating a religious holiday we call Harvest. We've spent months getting ready.”

  “That's great,” I said. “Just one more reason to let us get out of your hair.”

  “You don't understand,” Bryan said. “No one can pass through this land without receiving a special blessing. This is hallowed ground. You are standing in the promised land.”

  “With all due respect,” I began in a voice that seemed anything but respectful—but Felicity cut me off.

  “Then give us your blessing and we will be on our way,” she countered.

  “I will be happy to give you my blessing, child,” he said turning his full attention to her. “At the proper time and place.”

  “Well how long is that gonna take?” I asked, flabbergasted.

  “Don't worry,” Crowe said. “It won't be long. After the feast and the teaching tonight many will be blessed and baptized as the spirit moves through them. By morning you will feel like a different person.”

  “Can't you just give us your blessing now?” Felicity asked. “Why can't we leave before the festival?”

  “You could,” Crowe said calmly, “If you had gas in your car, which you won't. Worldly work is frowned upon during Harvest time, especially after sun down. Besides, everyone is preparing for the great feast tonight. It truly is a special occasion. You'll see.”

  “Why didn't they just let us barter for some gas and be on our way then?”

  “I'm sorry but it is the law,” Bryan said with a touch of genuine regret in his honeyed voice. “All new visitors must be questioned before being allowed to pass. The righteous have many enemies during this period before the Lord comes again. We can't be too careful.”

  “We're not even adults yet,” I argued. “That doesn't make any sense.”

  “You have killed before,” he said, staring directly into my eyes. “You would strike me down right now if I threatened harm to you or your friends. I have no doubt about that.”

  A chill ran down my back as I felt Rowena's hatred surge toward us.

  “You must earn my blessing to leave,” he said. “I will be happy to grant it to you tomorrow so that you may be on your way. Until then I'd like you to think of yourselves as my guests. You will be staying with me tonight. I insist.”