by Brant, Jason
"You killed my brother," the crazy man said. "And now you're mocking a servant of God." He climbed to his feet and took an aggressive stance in front of McCall.
Mad Dog reclaimed his seat by the bar and looked at his would-be attacker without a hint of concern on his face.
"Which one is your brother? The one whose brains are all over the place?"
Growling in rage, John took a step forward.
"John, don't!" Karen said.
"John? Listen to the woman. After what I've gone through today, killing you isn't going to be a concern to me." He leveled the shotgun at John's chest. "Faith or no, you ain't bulletproof."
Karen stepped forward, temporarily defusing the situation. "I think it's some kind of disease. Maybe a form of rabies."
"Can rabies raise the dead?" McCall asked. He'd seen plenty of rabid dogs in his day, but none that could live through disembowelment.
"I didn't say it was rabies exactly. Some of the symptoms are similar though."
"Only God−"
"Yeah, we get it; God is trying to kill all of us. Shut the hell up already," McCall said. He expected the reverend to recommend human sacrifice soon.
The table covering the door partially dislodged, the nails popping out a full inch.
"Shit!" Karen said, running to McCall's side of the room.
He didn't try to keep her away. Jumping off the stool, he walked backward to the stairs.
"You seem to be the only one in here that has her head on straight," he said, never taking his eyes from the door. "You know how to shoot?"
"Of course. But Ellis isn't a part of whatever they're becoming over there," she said, pointing to the saloon owner.
"He's bit. It's only a matter of time before he turns against us."
"He can help us until then!"
McCall considered the situation for a moment. "Fine, but he's on you. Fall behind and you're on your own."
Randy pointed at Ellis. "Stay with us and be saved. The Lord shall protect us."
Ellis lifted his hefty frame from the chair and looked back at the doctor. "I believe he is. He sent us an outlaw with a bunch of guns." Then he joined Karen and McCall by the stairs.
Mad Dog tossed him the shotgun, which he caught with his right hand before checking it for shells.
"You'll need this too," McCall said. He took off one of the belts of ammo around his body and handed it to Ellis.
"Barbara, come with us, it's our only chance!" Karen said, pleading.
In the corner, Barbara looked over her folded arms from Karen to Randy. "God will protect me."
"Be rational. He's leading you to your death," Karen said. She started across the room, presumably to drag her along.
The top of the table cracked, revealing a partial set of decayed teeth. Most of them were missing.
Karen backpedaled to the stairs, still pleading with Barbara.
"And He will damn you for turning your back on his servant!" Randy said. He was beyond hysterical.
"What's in those barrels? Whiskey?" McCall asked, eying three kegs beside the stairs.
"Two of them are rotgut, but that one is pure whiskey," Ellis said, pointing to the one in front.
McCall pulled his tomahawk free and punctured several holes near the bottom of the barrel, spilling its contents across the floor.
"What are you doing?" Ellis asked.
"Taking out as many of these bastards as we can." Setting fire had helped him escape the jailhouse and he hoped it would do the same here.
The left side of the table popped free of the door frame, exposing an elderly man trying to squeeze through the small opening. He was shirtless and most of the right side of his chest had been chewed away.
Only the pile of chairs and other objects kept the door blocked. But that wouldn't last long.
"Barbara, please!" Karen yelled.
Then the horde broke through. They flooded the room like water from a broken dam. Dozens shambled toward the group of fools who thought they would be guarded from harm.
"We are believers. You may not touch us!" Randy said.
Just before they set upon him, McCall saw his smile waver as he realized his folly. His piercing screams attracted more moaners, crowding the floor of the saloon in seconds.
"No! Karen! Karen!" Barbara's shrieks were brief, but tore at McCall's conscience as he heard her being eaten alive.
Several of the walking corpses moved toward the stairs, outstretched arms in their ever present grabbing motion. McCall shoved Karen and Ellis, getting them moving up the steps.
With his axe, he smashed the lantern that hung on the wall above the whiskey, sending balls of liquid fire in every direction. Spinning on his heels, he swung the burning tomahawk at the nearest moaner.
Flames trailed behind as it sunk into the creature's temple, setting its hair ablaze.
The axe ripped from his hands as the body collapsed to the floor. Wanting to pull it free, McCall took a step forward before three more men trampled over the body and through the pools of fire as they closed in on him. Their tattered clothing went up like kindling as they tripped over the woman McCall shot, temporarily blocking others from following.
Angry at losing the axe, McCall turned and took the stairs two a time.
Randy's screams finally stopped as he cleared the top where Ellis and Karen stood, waiting for him. Karen wept openly at the loss of her friends.
"Now what?" she asked, choking back sobs.
"I have no idea," McCall said.
"Are you telling me your entire plan was to go upstairs?"
"I wasn't expecting the moaners to break the door down as soon as I got here."
"And you just set the building on fire."
"Whatever you're going to do, you better make it fast. I'm not feeling so good," Ellis said.
Chapter 15
Karen looked at Ellis through watery eyes, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"Is there an attic?" McCall asked. He was watching the burning men stumble around on the stairs.
"No," Ellis said.
"What would we do in an attic? Wait until we burned to death?" Karen asked. She had no idea how he'd stayed on the run from the law with decision making like this.
"I came in through a window down the hall. I didn't expect to leave the same way, but I don't see much of a choice."
With that, McCall walked into the darkness of the hallway and disappeared.
"Ok, what do we do after we climb out a window? No wonder you're a criminal; you’re an idiot," Karen said, calling after him. She couldn't believe that she was following an incompetent outlaw.
"Could be, but he's still alive and he has guns. Gold ain't worth as much as these guns right about now," Ellis said. He followed McCall down the hall.
"Damn," Karen said to herself.
Moments later she was crawling through the window and looking at thirty mangled people, all wanting to tear her apart.
Ellis stood to her left, swaying slightly on his feet. She could see the transformation in him already. Even his smell had changed; it was similar to soured milk.
A train whistle pierced through the night, catching all of them off guard. Karen figured it was still miles away, but would cover that distance in a matter of minutes.
McCall was on the other side of her, loading two bullets into one of his pistols.
"That train stop in Gehenna?" he asked.
"No, that's a cargo train. Only a handful of compartments for people and they're usually for big wigs heading to the mines out west," Ellis said.
"Maybe they'll slow down when they see the entire town is burning down," Karen said. "When they see the fires, they might even stop and let us on."
She'd wanted out of this town for years and now she may get her chance. All it took was the deaths of her friends, the destruction of an entire town, and an incredibly contagious plague. And all of the money she'd been saving was about to burn in its 'safe' place under a floorboard in her room.
"Maybe," Ellis said, not meeting her eyes. "The two of you at least. I don't think I'm going to be followin' along much further."
"There's a whole lot of moaners standing between us and the rail," McCall said, spitting off the roof. The spittle landed in the hair of what used to be a little girl, no more than ten years old.
Karen studied him for a moment, trying to see if his attitude was a façade or if he just had a terrible personality. She couldn't tell.
"You keep calling them 'moaners'."
"Well, they moan. A lot."
"But the best you could come up with was 'moaners'? What about 'the living dead', or 'the eternal hungry.'"
"I'm shooting them in face, not writing a book."
"I hate to interrupt, but we're standin' on a burnin' building and surrounded by 'the livin' dead', whatever that means. Any ideas on how we can get to the track? It's about three hundred yards west, at the end of town," Ellis said.
"I guess we're gonna have to shoot our way out of here. Don't think we have enough ammo though," McCall said. He was eerily calm, as if he were discussing the weather. Karen didn't know if that was good or bad.
Another whistle, much closer this time, signified their need to get moving.
"I'll hop down first, since I'm already bit," Ellis said. He coughed into his mitt of a hand. Karen saw some blood on his palm as he wiped it across the front of his shirt.
"Ellis, there has to be some kind of−"
"We both know that getting bit is a one way ticket to a dirt nap," he said as he hunched down at the edge of the roof. "I'm goin' to drop down and clear a spot out. You jump down behind me," he said.
"Ellis, don't−"
"Damn it, Karen! Listen to me for once in your life."
Tears stung her eyes yet again. She'd cried more today than she had in her entire life.
The distance from the porch roof to the ground was about ten feet. The problem was the throng of people that stood all around it.
Karen felt something bump against her shoulder. Looking down, she saw the butt of the rifle that had been slung over McCall's back. She took it from him without either saying a word. Mad Dog pulled his other pistol from its holster.
Ellis shot first, unloading both barrels of his shotgun into the crowd. Two of the creatures’ heads exploded like a melon hit with a hammer. He immediately fished two more shells from his ammo belt and reloaded.
Karen sighted a woman in the front. Both of her eyes were gone; only empty, pus-filled sockets remained. Karen shot her between them and worked the action on her rifle before aiming at a man missing most of his left hand. His stump pointed at her as she dropped him.
McCall was shooting with alternating hands, firing one bullet from his left then shooting with his right. He dropped three or four times as many of the monsters as Karen did, though she tried to keep up.
Because his shotgun only held two rounds, Ellis had to reload constantly. The devastating effects from each shell made up for the lack of quantity.
The bodies piled on top of one another, covering the earth with blood, tissue, and bone fragments.
Karen anticipated the next kick from the rifle as she squeezed the trigger, but received only a click.
"Ammo!" she said to McCall, yelling above the thundering gunfire.
"Left pocket," he said. He kept shooting as she fished the bullets out.
She marveled at the dexterity of McCall's hands as he reloaded his pistols. It took him seconds to drop six rounds into each cylinder before a flick of his wrist snapped them into place.
Ellis fired two more shells and then stopped, peering through the smoke.
Karen couldn't see anything yet, but apparently Ellis could because he dropped from the roof and out of sight.
In the brief interlude between shots, the squealing brakes of the train cut through the night. They were stopping, or at least slowing down.
"Come on down. I'll catch you, but you better hurry," Ellis said.
Moving carefully, she perched on the edge, squinting through the haze. She could barely make him out, standing in the middle of a sea of bodies.
Closing her eyes, she hopped from the ledge, falling into his open arms. A grunt escaped him as her weight pulled against his wounded back. Karen felt the strength drain from him as he lowered her to a small section of ground that wasn't covered with the deceased.
McCall dropped down beside her, his boot crushing a hand that protruded from the pile of bodies. Without hesitation, he turned away from them and shot down more of the approaching dead. He marched forward, mowing them down like a scythe through wheat.
Karen pulled more bullets from his pocket and jammed them into her rifle. Ellis maintained their rear, blasting anything that came within five feet of them.
As they moved through the alley, Karen's heart sank at the incredible number of them. It was clear that the entire population had been infected.
Emerging from the alley, the devastation played out in front of them. Not only had McCall blown the jailhouse to smoldering pieces, but he'd managed to set every building in the area on fire. Thick smoke hung in the air, billowing from the inferno.
Through the front door of the saloon, she watched in horror as her former friends stumbled around in the burning bar area, oblivious to their fate. Chancing a few glances between shots, she saw the entire town in flames.
McCall had burned all of Gehenna to the ground − infected people and all. She hoped there weren't any other survivors left in the blazing homes.
Ellis gave her a rough shove from behind, jolting her back to the moment. "Keep moving!"
Her rifle had run dry again. "Ammo." She didn't have to yell this time, as Mad Dog was reloading.
After clicking his cylinders closed, he patted his pocket. "You're out," he said and started shooting again.
"What about your other pistol?"
"No one uses that gun but me."
"What do you mean no one−"
"It's my good luck charm. Just stay close."
"We're going to die because you're superstitious?"
"You're still alive, aren't you?"
"I've only got six shells left!" Ellis said from behind her.
Karen examined the ammo belt draped across McCall's shoulder and didn't like what she saw. All of the loops on the back were empty − she hoped the front wasn't as sparse.
Their pace was just above a slow jog as they sliced their way down the street. Karen could see small reflections on the tracks another two hundred feet in front of them. She didn’t think they had enough ammo to make it.
To her left, down another alley and through the sea of bloody, mangled faces, Karen saw the train approaching the edge of the town. It was going too fast to stop at the station, and would probably still be moving if they could meet it at the track.
A gust of wind blew the hair up on the back of her head while the boom of Ellis' shotgun threatened to deafen her.
She turned to chastise him, but stopped herself when she saw how much his condition had worsened. Judging from her limited experience with everyone else, he had only minutes left.
"Ellis−"
His yellowed face pinched in anger at the concern on Karen's. "Run, damn you! You gotta get on that train. And don't let them stop, or it's all over!"
Turning around, she saw that McCall had pulled away from them, not slowing for anything. The street was clearing ahead of him as he neared the end of the road. Fewer houses meant fewer cannibals.
Karen flipped the rifle around, holding the barrel in both hands, and swung at everything that drew near. She connected with the shoulder of a large, burly man. The impact sent shockwaves up her arm and nearly jarred the gun from her grip. He didn't budge.
He stood a full foot taller than her, his massive frame blocking most of the light coming from the fires behind him. The silhouette of his body scared her more than the disfigured skin it hid.
As she turned to run, his hands curled into her hair, jerking her head back.
The smell of death emanating from him made her nauseous all over again. At the edge of her vision, Karen saw his large jowls quiver as he bent forward to tear at her forehead.
"Get away from her!" Ellis came up behind the gigantic monster and thrust the double barrel in his puffy face. The metal pushed against his nose, bending it up like a snout.
Karen closed her eyes, bracing for the blast of shotgun. All she heard was the anticlimactic click of a misfire. They'd been shooting round after round since they left the saloon and the only misfire came when she was inches from becoming a late night snack.
"Shit!" Ellis stared in disbelief at the weapon in his hands.
The giant, seemingly oblivious to Ellis' presence, brushed the gun away and bit at Karen's face again.
Ellis swung the shotgun, throwing his weight behind it, and smashed it against the man's mouth. Teeth exploded from his mouth, flying in every direction. Karen felt his fingers loosen and she spun away.
More people swarmed her, cutting off any hope of escape. She searched for McCall but couldn't see past the closing crowd.
"McCall, help us!"
Ellis battered the man with the gun, connecting with powerful blows that would have killed a normal human being. This thing, as big as it was, absorbed the damage, staggering a half a step back from each strike.
A woman with tiny strips of skin still remaining on her arms grabbed onto Ellis and bit into his neck. Stopping his assault on the mountainous man, Ellis fought to free himself from the woman's clenched teeth.
The momentary lapse allowed the giant to recover. He clawed at Ellis face and chest, tearing deep, ragged gouges in his flesh. Ellis howled, the pain forcing him to his knees, finally succumbing to the accumulating damage.
More people piled on, partially cutting off Karen's view of the massacre, biting and tearing at her friend.
"No!"
She started forward, intent on killing them all, when a bony hand grabbed her ankle. Looking down as she kicked her leg, she saw the hand belonged to a naked man. His legs were missing. Intestines covered in filth trailed behind him.
Shrieking in fear and rage, Karen lashed out with a ferocity that shocked her. She struck the back of his head with the butt of her rifle over and over, finally stopping after his skull caved in. The still intact half of his body lay motionless in the dirt, oozing things Karen never wanted to see.