Strange noises echoed through the trees and Zeke chewed his lip, gaze flitting from tree to tree.
“Hey… uh, Ben? Have you finished yet?”
When he didn’t receive a reply he peered around the tree trunk.
“Ben?”
Zeke’s eyes widened and he rushed through the trees to the spot where Ben disappeared. He spun around, searching the bushes but Ben was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, shit.”
He turned tail and ran back to his mum. “Ben’s gone!”
“What?”
Zeke pointed in the direction they had gone. “He went behind a tree, but when I checked he wasn’t there.”
“Right, I don’t want us all getting lost, so stay with your sister. I’ll be right back.”
Zeke looked across at Lucy, saw the terrified expression on her face, and nodded as he watched his mum run towards the trees.
Anna ploughed through the undergrowth, crashing noisily through the bushes. Her breath came in ragged gasps.
“Damnit, Ben. Why can’t you trust me?”
She came to a stop, catching her breath as she listened. She looked around, eyes wide.
“Ben! Ben where are you?”
Something crashed through the bushes to Anna’s right, making her heart miss a beat, and she spun around, eyes narrowed to try to penetrate the dark, but couldn’t see anything.
“Ben, is that you?”
Something screeched in the tree above. Anna glanced up, saw something take flight against the backdrop of stars that twinkled in the firmament. More noise originated from in front and she glanced back down in time to spot a figure come crashing out of the ferns. She automatically stepped back, almost tripping over tree roots that protruded from the mulch. Her breath caught in her throat and it took her a moment to realise it was Ben. She grabbed him by the arm, almost toppling over as he tried to keep running.
“Let me go. Let me—”
“Ben. It’s me.”
Ben stopped struggling, and twisted his head to look up.
Anna pulled him close, smothering him in a hug. “Benjamin. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
Ben tried to wriggle free. He started crying.
“Let me go,” he sobbed.
Anna looked down, surprised and hurt.
“I want to go back to Dad.”
“Ben, you need to understand—”
“No! You don’t understand. You don’t understand anything.”
A scream echoed through the dark from somewhere far away. Anna shivered. Ben hesitated, as if torn between huddling against his mother and running away, and Anna grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him behind her into the woods.
As they reached Zeke and Lucy, another scream pierced the night.
“What’s that?” Lucy asked, her voice trembling.
Anna shook her head. “I don’t know, but we need to get somewhere safe.” She gazed around, and then up, lips skewed. “We’re going to have to climb.”
Lucy scowled. “Up the tree you mean?”
“It’s probably safest to get off the ground.”
Lucy stared down at her dress and raised her arms in exasperation. “In this?”
“How do we know the Gods or whatever they are can’t climb?” Zeke asked.
Anna shook her head. “We don’t. I don’t see many other options.”
To Anna’s surprise, Ben shouldered past and started to climb the tree. Zeke shrugged and followed. When he was part way up, he reached back down and helped Lucy before he extended his hand back down for Anna.
“Are we going to be OK?” he asked as Anna clambered up beside him.
Anna took a deep breath. “I hope so.”
CHAPTER 10
Anna dropped to the ground. Her body ached all over and she was exhausted. Having positioned herself in the crook of a branch all night she had hardly slept and her eyes felt red raw. Her children appeared equally tired and she questioned whether she had done the right thing bringing them out here, but when she looked at Lucy, she was certain she had as her daughter was still alive, and that’s all that mattered.
She took the remaining apple from her bag and offered it to Ben. He glared at the fruit, not lifting his hand. Lucy reached out and grabbed it. She took a bite before passing the apple to Zeke, who then offered it to Ben.
Grudgingly, Ben accepted the apple and took a bite, his expression like he was chewing on glass. Zeke took the apple back and started to take a bite, then he glanced at Anna.
“Is this the last one?”
Anna nodded slightly, then smiled. “Eat it. I’m sure we’ll find something else to eat soon.”
Zeke hesitated, and finally took another bite at Anna’s urging.
After a while they came across a road. Plants sprouted from the cracks and in places green foliage had spread across the surface. Trees lined either side.
“Where do you think the road leads?” Zeke asked.
Ben kicked at a loose bit of concrete. “Nowhere. Everything out here sucks.”
“It must lead somewhere; it had to have been built for a purpose,” Anna said.
Lucy stared down at her dress. Ripped in a few places, the bright yellow colour had dulled under a layer of dirt. She tried to pat the wrinkled front hem down but soon gave up.
“I still don’t know if I believe everything you’re saying, Mum.”
“You don’t need to believe me, Lucy; you need to trust me.”
Ben groaned. “Can we go already?”
Lucy shot Ben an annoyed look and started walking along the potholed road. Zeke shrugged and followed. Anna glanced at Ben who gave her a withering glare before he fell in step.
Anna rubbed her cheeks and sighed before tailing her family.
Grey clouds blanketed the sky and added to the depressive atmosphere. She had heard lots of noise during the night, from nocturnal predators to sounds she couldn’t identify. She had never been outside in the wild before and didn’t know whether the sounds were normal or not, but they certainly hadn’t sounded ‘normal’.
Ben stamped along at the rear. She’d realised he wouldn’t take it well, but she had hoped he would accept the situation. Up ahead Zeke and Lucy stopped. Anna frowned and caught them up.
“What is it?”
Zeke pointed into the trees and Anna saw a woman chewing on the corpse of a young boy. Clumps of long straggly hair hung from her dishevelled head. A one legged girl crawled towards the human platter and started to feast as well, clawing at the corpse’s stomach and pulling out loops of intestine that she fed into her mouth.
Anna backed away, hands at her mouth, eyes wide and terrified. She moved slowly, trying not to attract attention.
“What’s going on?” Ben called.
Both the woman’s and the child’s heads snapped up, gore hanging from their mouths. The woman lurched to her feet and staggered towards Anna while the girl pulled herself along the ground like an obscene slug.
Lucy screamed.
Attracted by the noise, another figure stumbled out of the trees, a large man with his lower jaw hanging at an odd angle. Then another figure appeared, and another.
Anna turned. “Run,” she shouted.
People lumbered from the trees on all sides. Men, women and children. Their skin colour came in shades of grey and purple, some even had a greenish tinge. The flesh on many of them was dropping off, like macabre snakes shedding their skin and bones, and organs were visible on some. They groaned in unison, the sound like a low rumble of thunder. Ben stood watching them in awe as they approached. Zeke grabbed Lucy’s hand and dragged her behind him.
Anna scooped up Ben as she passed, but the extra weight slowed her down. A man snatched at her arm, causing her to stumble, but she managed to stay on her feet.
With nowhere to go, the figures surrounded them on all sides and started closing in. Anna huddled together with her children, all of whom, except for Ben, looked terrified. Her heart hammered inside her chest and her
throat felt parched.
The sudden sound of a gunshot christened the morning air. Anna jumped and stared wide eyed as men and women on horseback galloped towards them along the road.
More shots rang out as the riders, dressed in khaki clothes, opened fire, sending the figures flying. The newcomers were armed with a variety of guns. Behind them trundled a horse drawn wagon that housed a large gun.
A bullet tore through a man at Anna’s side, spinning him around, but he remained on his feet until another bullet pierced his head and he dropped to the ground.
One of the riders rode through the figures, the horse knocking into them and sending them flying. Anna hugged Ben to her chest and jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding being struck by the horse. A woman grabbed Zeke’s arm and leaned in to bite his neck when a bullet ripped through her head, splattering Zeke’s face with gore. The woman released her grip and dropped to the ground.
“This way,” Anna said, pulling her family to the tree line.
One of the horses reared up in front of Anna, its front hooves inches from her face. Anna let out a little squeal. As the horse settled, she stared up at the man in the saddle. He appeared to be around mid-thirties, muscular, with black hair and a thick beard. He had an unlit cigar drooping from the corner of his mouth and he wore a large brimmed, camouflaged hat that he tipped in her direction.
A scrawny bald man lumbered towards the man on horseback. The rider nonchalantly withdrew a handgun and sat with it across his lap. He watched the man approach. When he was only feet away, he raised the gun and fired, the bullet punching a hole out of the back of the man’s skull.
Anna cowered down, arms wrapped protectively around her children. She heard the clump of feet and glanced up to see the man had dismounted. He swaggered towards her and stopped a few feet away. He withdrew a lighter and lit the cigar, puffing for a few seconds before exhaling a cloud of smoke.
“You can never get rid of that fuckin’ smell,” the man said.
Anna frowned.
“Death. The stench covers everything out here in the dead world.” He puffed out more smoke. “Anyway, name’s Captain Jones.”
Anna swallowed. “Thank you… for saving us.”
“All in a day’s work.”
Lucy peered up. “Who are you people?”
“We’re dead folks’ worst enemy. We make sure the dead stay dead.”
Ben wriggled free and stood up. Tears glistened in his eyes. “You kill Gods.”
Jones scowled. “Gods?”
Ben pointed at a fallen figure, giving Jones a ‘duh’ expression. “The immortals.”
Jones and some of his men exchanged looks and laughed.
“Just ‘cause something don’t die first time don’t make it no God, son. These here are the devil’s work.” He kicked a nearby corpse in the head. Ben cringed and turned away. “I don’t know where you get your fancy ideas, but look at it, boy. C’mon, look at it.”
Ben slowly turned back and stared at the corpse.
“This ‘ere critter ain’t no more than a sack o’ meat. I don’t know how you been raised, but where I come from, the only good zombie is a dead zombie.”
“Zombie?” Anna said.
Jones sucked on his cigar. “Ya’ll been livin’ in a fuckin’ cave?”
Ben shook his head. “No, Sanctuary.”
Jones regarded him quizzically.
Anna pulled Ben behind her, shooting him a look. “The Go— zombies, the zombies, what are they?”
“Well these folk carry some sort of virus that brings ‘em back to life. One of ‘em bites yer, yer gonna be just like ‘em. Ain’t nothin’ Godlike about it.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I read about the virus. Hundreds of years ago, an epidemic swept the world. We’ve been fightin’ the bastards ever since.”
Ben still appeared dubious.
A woman jogged across and saluted. “Captain Jones, the area’s secure.”
Jones nodded.
“Thank you again for saving us. If you hadn’t come along…”
“My pleasure.” Jones turned to his troupe. “OK, round ‘em up.” He circled his hand above his head, one finger raised.
A group of men ran forwards and grabbed Anna and her family and started leading them to the trees. Lucy screamed. Jones watched in disinterest, puffing on his cigar.
“What’s going on?” Anna shouted as she struggled.
Zeke wrestled against his captors, but one of the men punched him in the face, splitting Zeke’s lip.
Lucy started crying. Anna noticed people in the tree line, and as she got closer she saw they were all shackled together in a long line. They seemed dejected, beaten, and malnourished. A soldier attached shackles to Anna and her family’s ankles and wrists.
“Why are you doing this? We haven’t done anything. Please, let us go,” Anna said as she fought back tears.
Lucy rattled the shackles on her wrists. “Mum, Mum. What’s going on?”
An old woman manacled in front of Lucy tutted. “Crying won’t do you any good.”
“Who are those people?” Anna asked. “Where are they taking us?”
“They call themselves The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and believe me, you’re better off not knowing where we’re going.”
“I’ll decide what I’m better off not knowing. Now tell me.”
A young man with a bruised face and one eye swollen almost shut, shook his head. “The women they’ll sell as sex slaves. The men… just slaves. And that’s the best option.”
Lucy’s face dropped. “What’s he mean, sex slaves?”
A lump formed in Anna’s throat.
“Mum?”
“Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen to you. We’re going to get out of this. I promise.”
The old woman cackled. “Promises are easy to make, but hard to keep. There’s no escape. Believe me, people have tried.”
“They obviously haven’t tried hard enough.”
The woman shook her head.
A man on horseback turned in his saddle. “Quiet back there”.
“OK,” Jones shouted. “Let’s move out.”
The line of people started shuffling along, the rattle of chains drowning out Lucy’s sobs.
CHAPTER 11
“What’s gone on here?” Roman asked.
One of the brethren made the sign of the cross in the air as he viewed the corpses littering the road. “Why aren’t they moving? They can’t be dead. I thought they didn’t die.”
Roman licked his lips “They were obviously not ordained.”
Isaiah gave Roman a questioning glance and knelt down and examined the corpses. They had all been shot by the looks of it.
“Demons have been here,” one of the scavengers said. “Judging by the prints they’re on horseback.”
“What about my family?” Isaiah asked.
The scavenger crouched down inspecting marks on the ground. “They were here.”
“So where are they now?”
The scavenger stood up and peered down the road. “Looks as though they were taken.”
“Taken? Where? Why?”
“I don’t know. One thing I can tell you, if the Demons have them, they’re as good as dead.”
Isaiah felt as though someone had punched him in the heart. “They can’t be.”
CHAPTER 12
Anna stared at one of the camp fires, the flames from which chased flickering shadows through the trees. She was too far away to feel any warmth from the flames, but she heard the crackle of wood and smelled the smoke that blanketed the floor like low level fog.
A figure sat next to the fire, stirring a large pot suspended above the flames.
She heard footsteps and glanced up to see a man walking towards her. He crouched down, undid the shackles either side of Anna and her family and pulled them to their feet.
“Follow me,” he snapped.
By the light of the fires Anna saw that tears
had left streaks down Lucy’s dirty cheeks and her heart sank.
The man led them to where Jones was sitting next to a fire.
“You can’t keep us prisoner like this,” Anna said.
A log rolled out of the fire. Jones used his boot toe to push it back in place. He peered up at Anna and grinned.
“I can do whatever the hell I want. Out here, I’m the law. Now I wanna know where you’ve come from. How many of yer are there?”
“Go to hell.”
Jones laughed. “Haven’t yer realized yet? We’re already in hell.”
“Please. Let us go,” Lucy sobbed.
Jones looked her up and down and reached out and brushed the back of his hand along Lucy’s arm. A sick lump filled Anna’s throat. Lucy shuddered and pulled away, and Anna pulled her daughter to her chest, away from Jones.
“Someone as pretty as ‘er will be worth a lot in trade. But I’m a business man. I’m open to negotiation. What can yer offer me in return?”
Lucy shuddered.
“I don’t have anything.”
Jones chuckled, his eyes reflecting the flames. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“You lay one finger on her and I’ll kill you.”
Jones and the men nearby laughed. Jones licked his lips.
“It’s not my finger I want to lay on ‘er.”
Anna wrestled against the shackles, but to no avail. Jones seemed to take little interest. He stood and squared his shoulders, all business.
“Tell me where yer’ve come from, and you and yer family will be free to go.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Yer’re a good judge of character, because I wouldn’t believe me either. So let me put it this way. Tell me what I want to know, or I’ll kill you here and now, starting with yer kids.” He withdrew a long knife from a sheath on his belt and held in the flames. When the blade started to glow orange he withdrew the knife and spat on the blade, making it hiss.
In a flash, he grabbed Ben’s face with one hand and brought the blade close to his eyes. Ben squirmed within his grasp and tried to kick out but the shackles constricted his movements. Jones gazed sideways at Anna. “Blade as hot as this, his eyeballs are going to explode like a couple of fried eggs.”
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