The Outbreak Series (Book 2): Purgatory

by Baker, Thomas

  "You will sit there. You will answer the questions. You will not disrespect this man, boy!" Charlie spittle flew as he screamed the words in Tyrone's face. Charlie’s reddened face was inches from Tyrone’s and closing. With a snap Charlie straightened up and took his place again behind Tyrone’s chair.

  "Now why would you tempt God's wrath like that child?" Albright sat there, unblinking, letting the silence spin. Tyrone's head was throbbing now. He thought it was wise to not open his mouth again for now. It was hard to bite his tongue though. What had he been thinking, not being afraid? He should go back to being afraid all of the time. It was stressful but life seemed safer that way.

  Tyrone tried to calm down. It use to be so easy. He wasn’t use to the feelings of rage he carried with him now. He had to stay calm though. He could only rely on himself to get out of this. He had to wait for an opening and take it. If he could keep his smart mouth shut. He was so done with taking it and taking it. From the Outbreak on, it never seemed to end, the battles and the misery.

  Albright stood up and walked over to the front of his desk. He sat on the edge with one leg up. He looked as if he could be having a casual conversation about the weather. Charlie threw a rag into Tyrone's lap. Tyrone picked it up and held it to the side of his head.

  "All done for now? Let us start over." Albright smile sparked as he made his pitch. "There is a place for honest, God fearing people here in our community. We will rebuild here. We’re on the way to building a community safe from the sinners and the monsters. Of that I have complete faith, with me in charge. As the church, I am entitled to my tithe from everyone's labors. The faithful are jubilant to give. It is a small price to pay for the protection of God.”

  Albright paused for dramatic affect, picking had his pressed slacks.

  “Now I am presented with the challenge of outsiders from time to time, as I'm sure you saw on your way in. None like you and your friends though. Hannah I am sure will want to stay with us. I’m also think she would like to have her friends stay as well. Gus and JT, I may be able to convince, from what I have gathered so far."

  Albright stood and jabbed a finger at Tyrone.

  "You are showing yourself to be unredeemable. We have a place for sinners like yourself. Besides the hanging tree. We could put you there, though if Hannah finds out she will not be happy with us. Maybe she would get over it, and maybe she wouldn't. I'm not a gambling man though. We could let you go, but how would I guarantee the safety of my flock? You could come back at any time and attack us. Maybe even make a misguided attempt to kidnap Hannah away from us."

  Albright paced back and forth in front of his desk, hands behind his back. Tyrone now realized they were in deep shit here. JT didn't understand how royally fucked they were. This was much worse than dealing with Harold. It wasn't one crazy psycho, it was a building full of delusional sheep. Manipulated by this man, willing to do his bidding, all in the name of their faith. What could he say that would at least buy him some time to think? His mind blanked out, it kept repeating over and over again. What to say, what to say.

  "Take him back, Charlie. Have Daryll take him down. I want to speak with you some more. Have Daryll tell our good friend the Sheriff to hold them for a few days more. I will continue praying on what to do with Hannah's disrespecting friend. Think on what we have discussed here young man. Open your eyes to your new situation and open your heart to God."

  "Let us go, you can't do this," Tyrone said, struggling as Charlie put the handcuffs back on him. It wasn't the right thing to say, but he couldn't help himself.

  "You may get your wish," Albright said, getting right in Tyrone's face. "How we let you go however, is for God to decide."

  Hannah sat on the bed, nervously twirling her hair around her fingers. She was wondering how much more time she would have to stay in this place. Two nights had passed since the dinner with Albright. She stayed in the dorm room the entire time since. The same the women, Patricia, periodically checked on her. Brought her food and water. Always with a scowl on her face.

  A knock on the door surprised her. It didn’t seem the usual time. Also Patricia never knocked, she just barged right in. The door opened moments later and she was even more surprised do see it was Charlie.

  "The Reverend has asked me to escort you to Sunday service."

  His face and his body showed he wasn't to happy about it. He threw a grey hoodie at her and glared as he waited for her to put it on. Once outside, she was grateful to have it on. The air was crisp in the early morning as she followed him across the college grounds to the church.

  When she walked into the chapel, she was floored. There were more people than Hannah had expected here. If she had to guess there was close to thirty, maybe even forty. A few of them were couples and there was even a family or two. One had a boy, who looked about four or five years old, sitting between them.

  She found an open spot, towards the back, and sat. Her eyes darted around and she resumed twirling her hair. She wondered how JT was. She wished he was beside her, instead of stuck in a cage like an animal. Some of it was his own fault though. Something happened to him that calmed his anger some. Something he still wasn’t willing to tell her about. It could still get away from him, which led to situations like the one he was in now.

  Reverend Albright appeared and carried himself confidently onto the stage. He raised his hands and the dull roar of people talking turned into complete silence.

  "Thank you all for coming on this glorious morning. Praise Jesus," Albright began, projecting across the room.

  "Praise Jesus," a chorus of voices responded.

  "Blessed be this day, the Holy day, and blessing be upon you my church," Albright continued. "Today we will be talking about Revelations. Specifically starting at 21:1. John spoke here about life after the Judgment. The Judgment is on us now my friends. Sinners have become flesh eaters, the cursed do not die and enter heaven. Soon that time will pass, when God's judgment will be over. We here, all of us, will now live in the new Earth, as the First Earth passes away. He says there will no longer be any sea, as in the sea of humanity has now diminished and dwindled into God's chosen few. It is now left to us and others like us who may come upon our doorstep, to heal this world. God's faithful and just followers will rule this new world."

  As the Reverend preached on, Hannah heard lots of amens and saw the raising of many hands through the sermon. She felt his words stir something inside of her. What he was saying gave meaning and purpose to all that had happened. It was more than random chaos that tore her friends and family away.

  As the sermon went on, she began to think these could be people she could grow to trust. Who could become like a second family to her. The church had helped her once before, when her father had passed away. She grabbed onto the Reverend's words like a drowning man grabbing an outstretched hand.

  JT, Gus, Tyrone. I have to make them see. We could all start over here. This is what we should have been looking for all this time.

  "Let us rise now church. Let us sing praise so Jesus may hear us, his remaining worshipers," Albright said with great enthusiasm.

  He led them in singing Great Is Thy Faithfulness. After a moment of hesitation, Hannah rose and joined in, singing loudly, tears streaming down her face. When the song was over, Albright told them all to have a blessed day and exited the stage. The people rose and milled around. Hannah stood there watching, unsure of where she should go or what to do next. A young lady came over to her. He smile seemed so innocent and pure.

  "Hi, are you Hannah?" the lady asked. Long red hair flowed across the shoulders of her black sweatshirt, which looked two sizes too big for her.

  "Yes," Hannah said, a little taken aback. She wasn't expecting anyone to come looking for her, yet alone know her by name.

  "Hi, my name is Alice.” Her smile was radiant. Her southern drawl was warm and bubbly. Alice drew Hannah in. She couldn't help but smile too. "It is so nice to meet you. I always like meeting new people. Revere
nd Albright asked me to take you on a tour. Show you around, help get you settled in."

  "How nice," Hannah said, feeling like that was a lame reply. She stood there fidgeting back and forth from right foot to left foot. Looking at her also gave Hannah a stabbing pain in the chest. Alice looked to be about the same age as Ashley. She pushed that thought away with a shove.

  "Great, though you seem a little nervous," Alice said. "Totally understandable. Don’t you worry about a thing now. You’re someplace safe. Why don't you follow me and I will give you the low down."

  Hannah followed Alice and was taken on a small tour. First was the kitchen. Three women occupied the small space, working out of cans to prepare dinner for the congregation.

  "Ladies, I would like you to meet Hannah," Alice said, making introductions. "This is Grace, Kim, and Monica." All three looked up and smiled before getting back to the task at hand.

  Next was the commons room. It was the biggest open space she had seen so far, aside from the chapel. People sat in chairs reading, or at tables playing board games. The little boy Hannah had seen earlier in service was chasing a little girl who looked a few years older around the room. Their laughter almost brought Hannah to tears again. It was a simple sound she never thought she would hear again.

  Alice took Hannah's hand in hers, gave her a smile, and was led on through a door. It opened to a small hallway where doors sat on either side. Each door had a number starting with one.

  "This is now the ladies wing," Alice explained. "All of the single women stay here, while the single men stay in another part of the church. We only have three families as of now, two of them have kids. They all stay upstairs for now."

  "So is this where I will be staying?" Hannah asked. She wasn’t sure what she though of staying yet but it seemed the polite thing to ask.

  "Until you are brought into the church and assigned a role, you will be staying in the dorms," Alice said warmly. "From what I understand, this setup is all Reverend Albright's idea. I'm not from around here either. I remember my stay in the dorms when I first got here. It was short, maybe only a week or so. Hey when you move into the church, maybe we will be roommates. You seem very nice."

  "So do you," Hannah said, smiling. Her upbeat attitude was infectious. "How did you get here? Were you by yourself?"

  For the first time since meeting her, Alice frowned. She sounded a lot less cheerful as she continued on. "It was just me and my boyfriend, Rick, after the Outbreak. We were rolling down a back highway, on our way to my house. We were coming from the county fair. We had no idea what was going on. We had left the fair before it was shut down by the reports coming from all over the United States and we didn’t have the radio on. We were enjoying ourselves. Suddenly one of the fast runners appeared out of nowhere in front of us. We smashed into him and it was like hitting a deer. Rick lost control, the car flipped over and over. I passed out for a little bit. When I came to, a zombie was ripping apart Rick's face as he hung there upside down in his seat belt. It had to be God's hand that saved me. I see that now. I struggled to stay calm, worked my way out of the car, and ran away as fast as I could. I wandered on my own for awhile before coming across Gateway City. The Sheriff there brought me up to the church. I've been here ever since."

  "Oh, I'm sorry," Hannah said. Without hesitation, she gave Alice a hug. “How horrible it must have been to have to just watch. Helpless.”

  "Thanks," said Alice, brightening up again. "At least Rick is in Heaven now. He doesn’t have to suffer. How about you? What's your story?"

  "It feels like a dumb cliché even saying this, but it's a long story. One I'm not ready to talk about yet."

  "I understand," Alice said, sympathetically. "I couldn't talk about Rick for a while when I got here. The first person I felt safe talking to about it was Reverend Albright. He helped work me through the pain and the grief. He and God really healed me."

  With that, Alice seemed to be back to the perky person Hannah first met. She made a waving motion. "Let's continue on."

  Alice led her back out across the common room and to another hallway leading to the back door. Down the steps they went, out into a perfect fall day. The sun warmed Hannah's face. She stopped a moment, closing her eyes and turning her face up to it.

  "Here’s a little patch of garden was started in the spring," Alice said, pointing out to the right. "Now we are trying to harvest what we can before the winter gets here."

  Hannah could see a couple of people knelt down on the ground, working the earth. She turned away quickly. It reminded her too much of the field behind Harold's cabin. She looked to her left instead and saw between the trees a small building, more like a shed, farther out.

  "What's that out there?" She asked Alice.

  "That's our supply shed. Tools, food, and anything else we collect from scavenging is stored there. Also the weapons are locked up in there too. Only a few people have access to them."

  Hannah stood there for a few minutes more, enjoying the fresh air. She looked over to the college behind the church, careful not to linger long on the garden. She thought about JT, there alone. How he was probably stewing and raging about the situation they were in. She would have to convince him everything was okay here. At least she was pretty sure they were. The important thing was she needed to get JT, Tyrone, and Gus back with her.

  "I think that’s about it," Alice said, leading Hannah back to the steps leading inside the church. "I am in the ladies wing, room seven if you need anything. I should see you again soon. I’m sure in time Reverend Albright will let you join us. It will be great, I promise."

  "Thanks so much for being nice to me," Hannah said. Once again that feeling of things running away from her hit her.

  "No prob," Alice said. She bounced down the stairs. At the bottom she turned. "It was so nice to meet you. I think you will fit in wonderfully here."

  Alice went in and moments later Charlie came out.

  Hannah spent the rest of the day in her dorm room, sitting in a reclining chair, trying to give form to her racing thoughts. Everything was happening way too fast. Like she was an out of control car racing towards a brick wall. People like Albright and Alice acted as if she had already agreed to be part of their group. She didn't understand why. Why trust her so much already? Then there was JT and Tyrone. Were they truly here in the dorms with her? It had been so quiet since she got back. If not, what had they done with them? Gus where was he? Was he all right? She thought next time she saw Albright, she would demand to see Gus. She had to know if he was…no she couldn’t even think it. She went to bed and had troubled dreams that puffed away when a knock on her door awoke her. Again she was surprised it wasn't a church woman. It was the person she had been thinking of right before she fell asleep.

  "Hello Reverend," she said.

  "Hello Hannah. How are you this fine day?" Albright looked impossibly clean and impeccably dressed. She guessed she had gotten use to everyone looking like they were refugees. Dirty, ratty hair. Grimy fingernails. In a way she guessed they were refugees. Refugees of the past.

  "I'm fine. I was just thinking about you. Well I guess it was last night."

  "Oh really? I’m flattered. I had a feeling, like God was directing me to come see you. So here I am at your doorstep. He must be working as a bridge, to bring us together." Albright smiled at Hannah.

  "Could be," She continued on, not wanting to lose her courage. "I wanted to see you today. I needed to ask you something. I want to see Gus, make sure he’s doing okay. He is like family, like a Grandpa to me."

  "Come with me then," Albright gestured to her. "That’s a request I’ll most graciously grant. I've heard from Linda he was awake and talking just this morning. She's a nurse who joined our congregation a few months ago. We can ask her if it is okay for Gus to have visitors yet. I'm sure it’ll sooth his soul to see you."

  "That’s…I can’t believe it." Hannah was a little startled. She had steeled herself inside, expecting this to be a big confronta
tion. Maybe she would have to prove herself more trustworthy first.

  "Sure, I don't see why not." Albright was all charm. Hannah came down the stairs and Albright linked his arm with hers. "From what Alice has told me, I don’t see you apart from our little community for very long. I have a feeling about you as well. Come along. Follow me this way."

  After a present walk back from the dorms, he led her inside the church and to the chapel. Behind the stage were stairs down into the basement. It was one large open area, with boxes and miscellaneous objects stacked up here and there. In one corner across the room she saw a draped off area. A woman was sitting at a makeshift desk in front of the curtains, looking down at a book. Hannah, with Albright behind her now, maneuvered through the stacks to the desk.

  The woman looked up as she heard them approach. She smiled at them, a woman clearly into middle age wearing bright yellow scrubs with multi-colored balloons on them.

  "Linda, dear." Albright said as the woman looked up, putting her book face down on the desk. "This here is one of the new people God has seen to send our way. Her name is Hannah. She is a dear friend of Gus and wanted to know if she could see him now."

  "Hannah, it is so nice to meet you," said Linda, with a striking Texas drawl. She offered a hand to Hannah. "He has been resting but he’s awake now. I gave him some expired magazines to read, to make him feel like he was in an actual doctor's office." She chuckled to herself. "He is a feisty one. You’d know that by now I bet? I'm sure seeing you will cheer him up even more."

  Linda had them wash their hands first at a little sink nearby and drew back the curtain. There were two hospital style beds in a row, one was empty and in the other there was Gus. They had an actual monitor and IV drip hooked up to him. They were wired into some kind of large battery. He was half sitting, propped up with a couple of pillows. A magazine was sitting in his lap but he was leaned back, eyes closed.