Praise the Dead

by Gina Ranalli

  Or how excited.

  “Where?” Jude asked.

  “Just outside the gate.” Rick panted, swallowed, then took a deep breath. “You’d better come!”

  Jerking a thumb at Andrew, Jude said, “Get him upstairs and don’t leave him alone under any circumstances. Is that understood?”

  “Yeah, sure, but—”

  “Just do it!”

  Again, Jude started towards the stairs, and again he was stopped, when Andrew said, “No. No, I’m not hiding from her.”

  “Andrew,” Jude said. “This is no time for your ridiculous pride. You need to be safe.”

  “NO!” He stomped one foot hard on the table top. “I’M NOT AFRAID OF HER!”

  Both Jude and Rick jumped, startled by the outburst. Jude recovered first, turning back to Rick. “This is not good.”

  Rick shrugged, appearing frightened to his core.

  “Bring her to me!” Andrew said. “I want to see her before I let them eat her heart out of her chest!”

  “You . . . you don’t understand, Father,” Rick said. “She’s not alone.”

  “Of course she’s not alone!” Jude shouted. “She has my sister with her! Why are we even discussing this? She needs to be taken care of immediately and my sister brought to me!”

  “If your sister is brought to you,” Andrew said, “then the girl is brought to me.”

  “Absolutely not!” Jude marched towards the table where the boy towered over him. “We cannot take any chances with your safety. We discussed this!”

  “BUT. I. WANT. HER.”

  “YOU CAN’T HAVE HER!”

  Spittle flying from his lips, Andrew shrieked, “RICK! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!”

  Rick hesitated, then pulled an automatic out from the back of his waistband, pointing it at Jude’s head. He looked as though he was about to cry.

  “Wait!” Jude shouted, flinching away from the gun. “Okay! You can have the girl! Andrew, please! Don’t do anything stupid. Please!”

  Teeth bared, Andrew’s breath hissed from his nostrils, fists curled at his sides. “I hate you, Jude.”

  Jude reached out a trembling, pale hand. “I’m sorry. Please. I beg you . . . Father.” The albino began to weep, tears spilling down his alabaster-like cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

  Gun still pointed, Rick glanced between the two, uncertain of what to do. “Father?” he asked. “You want me to . . .”

  Andrew squeezed his eyes shut, pressing one fist to his forehead. “No,” he said at last. “Just bring me the girl.”

  Staggering backwards, Jude fell against the wall, sniffling and wiping his eyes.

  Rick put the weapon away. “You didn’t let me finish. About the girl, I mean.”

  “What?” Andrew opened his eyes again, glaring malevolently. “What about her?”

  “When I said she wasn’t alone. It’s true, there’s an albino woman with her, but . . .”

  “But what?”

  “They’re not free. You really should take a look.”

  Reluctantly, Andrew jumped down from the table and followed Rick upstairs. Peering out a front window, he saw, at long last, Lindy, the girl who had come to execute him and end his reign.

  She stood at the front gate, an angry crowd swelling around her, spitting and cursing at her. Beside her stood Jude’s sister, whatever her name was. Andrew barely glanced at the woman. He was more focused on the girl and the man who had one forearm tightly wrapped around her throat. In the other hand, he held a gun, the muzzled pressed against her temple.

  The albino woman was also held prisoner by a large bearded man.

  Andrew’s heart swelled. He should have known Jude had been full of crap. Of course God was on his side. If He hadn’t wanted Andrew to have the powers he did, then He never would have given them to him.

  “What do you want to do, Father?” Rick asked.

  Thinking for a moment, Andrew wondered if he should just have the guardians eat her where she stood. But that would be so . . . anti-climactic. Especially after all this time.

  “It’s too easy.”

  Both Andrew and Rick turned to see Jude standing behind them, looking out the window as well.

  “You have to see that, Andrew,” Jude said. “There’s no way Jado would just give up.”

  “She didn’t give up,” Andrew said, returning his attention to the scene outside. “She got caught.”

  “No. It doesn’t feel right. We don’t even know if that’s the right girl.”

  Just the sound of Jude’s voice made Andrew bristle. He chose two of the guardians, focusing his thoughts on them. To Rick he said, “Go open the gate and let them in.”

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Suicide.

  That’s what Jackson had called what they were doing: a suicide mission, and now Lindy was beginning to wonder if he’d been right.

  He was doing his best to shield her with his own body without making it look like he was doing so, but the crazy people were still getting their licks in, punching and spitting at her, trying to yank out fistfuls of her hair. She wondered if she’d be killed before she was even able to see Andrew.

  Jado had it even worse. She’d wanted to make it convincing and had insisted Sebastian punch her in the face, just hard enough to do visible damage and now her right eye was swelling shut. She was also thrashing and hissing like a caged cat, swearing at the crowd that attempted to take chunks out of her flesh.

  But mostly Lindy watched the zombies standing guard before the wrought iron fence. The way they just stood there, drooling and oblivious, was unnerving. Andrew’s powers had grown considerably if he was able to control them without being present, as if they were well-trained attack dogs that would only move by his command.

  Looking past them, she saw the long-haired man emerge from the house, a shotgun slung casually over one shoulder. It was the same man Jackson had yelled at, informing him they had “captured the enemies.”

  As he drew closer, Lindy saw the nervousness in his eyes, the way they shifted from her to Jado and back again.

  “Everyone, back up!” he shouted. “Move away from the gate!”

  Much to her surprise, the crowd did as instructed with little more than a few murmurs of complaint. It seemed they were just as trained as the undead guards.

  Through the bars of the gate, the greasy-haired man looked at Lindy and said, “Try anything and I won’t hesitate to blow the brains out the back of your skanky little skull.”

  “She won’t try anything,” Jackson told him. “You’re not the only one who’d be happy to put a bullet in her head.”

  Lindy did her best to hide her surprise at the fierceness of Jackson’s threat. Despite his reluctance to go along with her plan, he was shockingly convincing.

  Jado cursed them all loudly, struggling in Sebastian’s grip. “You put a single bruise on her and I’ll kill you all,” she screamed.

  As he unlocked the gate, the man laughed at her. “You’re coming too, darlin’. You’ll be able to watch as Father Andrew does more than just bruise your little friend.”

  He opened the gate just wide enough for a person to squeeze through and pointed the shotgun at Lindy’s face. “Okay. Let her go, baldy. Come through, girls. One at a time.”

  Jackson released her and she passed through the opening, wincing slightly when the stranger roughly frisked her. He wasn’t going to find anything, though. Both she and Jado were unarmed, having known they’d never had made it inside with weapons.

  When he was satisfied she was clean, the man shoved her aside and Jackson began to step through, only to be met with the muzzle of the shotgun thrust into his belly.

  “Nope,” the man said. “You stay. And while you’re at it, why don’t you hand me that pretty gun.”

  Ignoring the latter part of the order, Jackson barked, “I’m going with her! I caught her! She’s mine!”

  “Wrong. She’s Father Andrew’s. And unless you want an air-conditioned gut, you’ll back o
ff and give me the weapon.”

  Jackson looked at Lindy, who barely nodded. Then he handed over the revolver. “You make sure Andrew knows it was me. Jackson—”

  “Yeah, whatever,” the man interrupted, stuffing the gun into the front of his waistband, giving Lindy the opportunity to see he had an automatic in the back of his pants.

  Next, he turned his attention to Jado, who gave him a harder time than Lindy had.

  Lindy wished Jado would settle down a bit, fearing she’d spook the greasy man enough to shoot her.

  Likewise, Sebastian argued harder than Jackson had.

  “I want what’s coming to me!” he nearly growled as he handed the stranger his own weapon. “Give credit where credit is due! I want to meet the boy!”

  The greasy man seemed to be growing increasingly nervous now that both Lindy and Jado were on the same side of the fence as him. He began to close the gate, but Sebastian refused to let him, bracing it open with his weight.

  “I want a reward!” he insisted.

  The greasy man pulled the trigger of his shotgun, blowing a fist-sized hole into the middle of Sebastian’s torso.

  “NO!” Lindy screamed as her large friend fell back into the crowd. She rushed forward and was struck in the stomach with the butt of the shotgun.

  “Back off!” the greasy man yelled.

  Jackson made a grab for Sebastian, but the large man proved to be too heavy for him and they both toppled to the ground.

  Letting loose a battle cry, Jado tackled the greasy man, throwing herself at his waist and knocking him off balance.

  From behind the chaos, Lindy heard someone shout, “NOW!”

  Instantly, the undead guards came to life, attacking whoever happened to be within their reach, including Jackson and Sebastian.

  In horror, Lindy whirled around to see a boy—the boy—standing at the top of the front steps beside a tall albino man wearing sunglasses.

  “STOP!” she shrieked at him. “PLEASE!”

  Andrew smiled and gave a barely-noticeable jerk of his head. The zombies froze, straightened up, and fell into a straight line in front of the gate once more, blood and gore dripping from their chins.

  “Rick!” Andrew called. “Let her go!”

  Lindy was sick to her stomach to see that “Rick” now had Jado on the ground, beating her with the butt of the shotgun.

  What have I done? She thought, falling to her knees. This is all my fault . . .

  Over the din of the people outside the gate screaming, there was clapping and Lindy was not surprised when she saw it was Andrew applauding.

  “Nice!” he called to her. “That was the best thing I’ve seen all week.”

  She took a deep breath, feeling her spine stiffen, and for a moment, her heartbreak and guilt abandoned her.

  In their place, black hatred boiled and prepared to spill over.

  Chapter Forty

  Shielded from the zombie attack by his dead friend’s body on top of him, Jackson had to bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming.

  He felt Sebastian’s blood trickling onto his face while a rope of intestine draped over his shoulder. Everything had gone so wrong, so fast. How could he have let this happen? He’d known the plan was bad from the beginning and yet he’d allowed Lindy—a child—to make the final decision and now he was separated from her. Soon she would be dead, along with Jado, and here he was, lying on the sidewalk with Sebastian’s guts leaking out all over him. He tried to hear what was happening on the other side of the gate, but with so many people screaming, words were difficult to make out.

  Under the circumstances, playing dead was the most difficult thing he’d ever done and he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep it up.

  He had to think.

  Finding a way onto the property would be tricky and he was tempted to just shove Sebastian’s body off him, pull the secret Glock from his jacket, leap to his feet and open fire. He would start with the greasy guy, certain he’d be able to tag everyone who needed tagging before they even knew what hit them. But it was too risky. Lindy was in there and he couldn’t chance her getting injured anymore than she already was.

  No, as much as it was killing him, he’d have to wait, find another way and pray he’d be on time. If he wasn’t, Andrew would most certainly kill her. Of that there had never been any doubt. He had to find a way to kill the little monster first.

  “Lord, help us,” a woman said, very close to his right ear. “Oh, you poor men.”

  Sebastian’s weight shifted on top of him and he and opened his eyes to see Dusty peering down at him, her expression one of total grief. She blinked in surprise. “Jackson! You’re alive!”

  She knelt beside him, one of Sebastian’s hands held in her own.

  Stunned to see her, Jackson didn’t know if he should scold or hug her for being here.

  Seeming to read his mind, she said, “You didn’t really think I would just wait on the sidelines, did you? Now, come on. Let’s get Sebastian off you. Are you hurt?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Are they gone?”

  “Yes. They took the girls inside.” It clearly pained her to roll Sebastian off of him as though he was a huge sack of potatoes.

  Wiping his friend’s blood from his face, Jackson stood up and patted his jacket, ensuring his weapon hadn’t gotten lost in the scuffle. When he felt the gun was still where it belonged, he felt comforted, but not by much.

  “You still armed?” he asked.

  “Of course,” Dusty replied, nervously glancing at the row of zombies.

  He touched her shoulder. “Not them. We start blowing zombies away, Lindy and Jado will both be dead in seconds flat. We have to get inside.”

  “The property is guarded on every side, as far as I can tell. How do you propose we do it?”

  Squinting, trying to discern if there was any movement behind any of the windows, he said, “I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

  They stood in silence for a while, watching the house as the crowd finally began to settle down around them.

  “I saw basement windows,” Dusty said finally. “And a wrought iron rose trellis.”

  Jackson considered this new information. “How?”

  “There’s a gap in the bushes on the west side. A pretty wide one, too.”

  “But that still leaves these guys.” He gestured at the zombies.

  “What if we didn’t shoot them? Maybe we could . . . bludgeon them?” She said bludgeon as if it was the most foul word she ever tasted.

  “According to Lindy, they’ll attack anyone who tries to get past them. I assume that means if anyone attacks any of their compadres as well.”

  “Well, what about a distraction? One of us can annoy them long enough for the other to sneak through.”

  Jackson gave her an amused look. “Are you gonna be able to climb that fence?”

  Dusty skeptically eyed the fence.

  “Exactly. And do you think you’ll be able to outrun these stinking meat bags if they start trying to munch on your head?”

  She frowned. “I’m not ancient, Jackson. I can still move pretty good.”

  Now it was his turn to look skeptical.

  “I can do it.”

  Both Jackson and Dusty looked over in surprise to see Max forcing her way between a man and a woman.

  Jackson groaned and rubbed his bloody forehead.

  “I told you to wait for me!” Dusty scolded her.

  “And Lindy told you to wait for her,” Max countered. “Looks like none of us are very good at following orders.”

  Jackson debated on whether to tell the kid to get lost. He didn’t want to put another child in danger. On the other hand, Lindy was inside with those maniacs.

  Lindy.

  He felt the sting of tears. She had come to be his child. He loved her the very same way he’d loved his own flesh-and-blood daughter and he didn’t think he could survive losing another one.

  Even if it meant put
ting another girl, a woman or himself in jeopardy.

  Blinking the tears away as fast as he could, hoping they hadn’t seen how close to crying he really was, he cleared his throat and looked down at Max. “Which do you think you’ll be better at,” he asked, “climbing or running?”

  “Jackson!” Dusty balked. “There is no way we’re going to allow her to—”

  “Running,” Max said. “I’m a fast runner.”

  He nodded. “Hopefully these guys will chase you, then. We don’t even know for sure if they will.”

  Dusty began to protest again, but he silenced her with his hand. “This is about Lindy. It’s always been about Lindy.”

  The woman said nothing. Probably couldn’t think of an argument for that. After all, he was right.

  “Now, Dusty,” he said, “all the praying you’re always doing? Now would be a perfect time to crank it up to ten.”

  Chapter Forty-one

  “After everything our father taught us,” Jude said, “you were stupid enough to come here unarmed.”

  Andrew wasn’t paying much attention to the brother-sister exchange. He was too fascinated by Lindy. Both she and Jado sat on the plush gold sofa in the living room, while he sat across from them in a matching armchair.

  Jude stood at his side while Rick hovered close to the females, his unwavering shotgun trained on them.