Byzantium Infected Box Set

by James Mullins

  Athos pushed the damned back to arm’s length to give himself room to swing his ax to the right. The ax connected with a petite female that was trying to slip through the gap between Athos and the side of the road to his right. As he turned back to the leering male, a hole blossomed on the damned’s forehead just below his head wrap. Bone, blood, and brains, erupted from the new opening in the man’s head.

  “Thanks, whoever’s shot that was.” Athos said.

  “You’re welcome.” Came Athea’s reply.

  Athos glanced down at the bodies quickly piling up in front of him frowned, and asked, “How are you doing, Baltazar?”

  Baltazar, brought his shield up to block an arm grasping for his head. Simultaneously, he brought his ax down upon the skull of another damned. The undead horror had been trying to slip in-between the small gap that had been opened up between the two men, when Athos reached to his right to slay the sneaky woman.

  Baltazar then dropped his shield and allowed the damned upon it to stumble clumsily forth. With a backward stroke of his ax, he struck the stumbling damned in the back of the head, and sent the corpse to the ground at the feet of the ladies. Turning back to face the horde, Baltazar raised his shield and said, “There are too many bodies on the ground in front of us. We need to retreat.”

  “How are the rooftops looking, Athea?” Athos asked.

  Athea, taking aim at a damned running down the red-tiled rooves to their right, slipped a stone into her sling, twirled it over her head, and then released. The perfectly time shot smashed into the head of the lead damned running atop the rooves causing it to fall and roll off the roof to the ground below, “Not good. I don’t think we are going to be able to keep them off of you for much longer.”

  “We’ll let us hope that they have gotten the cross into the church.” Athos threw a sidelong glance at Baltazar and added, “Are you ready to disengage, brother?”

  Baltazar yanked his ax out of his latest kill, made eye contact with Athos, and nodded, “Aye, brother. Let us be gone from this place.”

  “On three then, we thrust our shields forward and break contact. Ladies, please continue to cover us for a moment and then turn and run yourselves.” Athos said.

  Without waiting for acknowledgement from the women, Athos seeing a chance, yelled, “Break!”

  The two men, turned their shields sideways, so that they covered the entire breath of the roadway and pushed forward as hard as they could. This sent the damned closest to them stumbling back several feet. They then turned and started running. As Athos took his second step toward the church, a damned, leapt off the rooftop, and crashed into his back driving him to the ground. Stars burst into his vision as his face smashed into the unyielding surface of the cobblestone road.

  Baltazar, seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye, turned and leaped in front of Athos to place himself between his friend and the horde. He then yelled, “Stop! We need help.”

  Baltazar thrust his shield out to buy himself a precious moment. He turned to look down at Athos. The damned was working to pull his helm and attached the chain coif off in order to bite him, “Athos, are you conscious?”

  “Constan, please, let me sleep for a few more moments. Why do we have to get up so early?” Athos said in a slurred voice.

  “Bloody hell man, snap out of it!” Baltazar exclaimed.

  Unable to assist his friend, Baltazar was forced to turn to the more immediate matter at hand, the three damned trying to bite him. He brought his shield up and blocked the first, swung his axe and connected with the second, and was tackled to the ground by the third. The third damned, a man with stringy white hair, rotting holes in his cheeks, and a crazed look to his milky white eyes scrambled up Baltazar’s torso in an effort to find exposed flesh.

  Another damned, dropped from the rooftop above and landed on the back of the man with the stringy white hair. The impact caused white hair’s arms to buckle and he was driven into Baltazar’s chest. The weight of the impact sent the breath from Baltazar’s lungs and he gasped for air. The two damned atop him, fought each other, and him, to get to a piece of his exposed flesh.

  The damned atop Athos, a fat middle aged woman, had a hold upon his chainmail coif, and was attempting to rip it off his head. Luckily for Athos, the edges of it were secured under his chainmail. Regaining his senses, he tried to roll out from under her, but she was having none of it.

  The fat woman grasped his shoulders with her meaty hands and kept him locked in place. Crazed by the smell of living flesh so close, she sank her teeth into his armored back. Biting down on the metal of Athos’ armor caused two of the woman’s front teeth to break off. Snarling in frustration, she raised her head back up just in time for a stone to fly through her open maw and smash into her mouth. The woman gulped the stone down and snarled at Athea for interrupting.

  “Dammit!” Athea roared, “The bitch moved.”

  The fat woman made eye contact with Athea and conveyed a look to her that said, He’s mine, piss off and find your own meal.

  Athea, acting quickly, reloaded her sling, and fired a shot at the woman. The hastily aimed shot, smashed into the bridge of the woman’s nose right where it met her forehead and bounced away without penetrating the skull, “Oh come on!” Athea roared in frustration.

  Suddenly a second perfectly aimed stone, smashed into the fat woman’s forehead, and she collapsed atop Athos once again. At the same moment, Liana fired a shot at one of the two damned atop Baltazar. She missed the damned she was aiming at, the man with the stringy white hair, but fortunately the stone found the head of the other damned in the tangle on top of Baltazar and slew him.

  The slain damned slid off of Baltazar’s chest which allowed him to take a breath just as stringy white hair found his face. Baltazar, raised his arm up to block the biting teeth of the damned as they threatened to snap shut on his nose. Instead, they got a mouth full of chainmail. Several of the damned’s teeth broke off and fell to Baltazar’s chest.

  Baltazar, saw movement behind the damned man atop him, reinforcements. He thought to himself. No more time.

  As stringy white hair loosened his grip on Baltazar’s with his teeth, he made eye contact with him and snarled. The putrid stench that erupted from the man’s open mouth made Baltazar queasy and he struggled to hold back vomit and the unholy foulness of the smell. As the damned dove for Baltazar’s face a second time, his head gained a new hole.

  Two more of the dead moving toward Baltazar’s prone form sprouted new holes in their foreheads and toppled to the ground buying him another precious few seconds. Without warning, two hands grasped Baltazar’s shoulders from behind and pulled him to his feet, “Let’s go!” Athos yelled into his ear.

  Baltazar turned and ran just as another damned flung itself from the rooftop toward him. The damned, a woman with long black hair, was surprised by Baltazar’s sudden mobility and smashed into the cobblestones head first. Baltazar, hearing the sound of crushing bone behind him, turned his head and glanced back at the spectacle, She would have finished me.

  The two men ran for all they were worth, barely able to keep ahead of the charging horde with their heavy armor weighing them down. They emerged from the narrow confines of the Via Dolorosa into the square in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, “Looks like they got the cross inside as I asked.” Athos said.

  His eyes caught movement from the doorway of the church, it was Jerry gesturing them to come. Athea, Liana, and Maarika were already halfway across the square. The three women turned together, and immediately began taking aim with their slings. This caused the two men, running in their heavy armor, to glance behind them. The damned, now pouring into the square, were mere inches from their heels, “Keep running!” Jerry yelled at them.

  Gasping for air, the two men remained silent and focused on maintaining their pace. The three women, leather sling straps twirling in the air above their heads, simultaneously released. As the three stones flew past them, Athos turned his h
ead to see their impact. The three damned closest to the pair of fleeing men were struck in the head by the well-aimed stones.

  Slain, the three damned tumbled to the ground. This caused the undead immediately behind them, running as fast as their rotting legs would carry them, to trip on their bodies. This started a chain reaction. Damned after damned, overwhelmed by their hunger for living flesh, kept charging forward and getting their feet tangled up in the growing pile. This fueled the mass of writhing living corpses entangled with each other on the ground, growing.

  The two men kept running. Thanks to the well-aimed shots from the ladies, they were able to finally getting some separation from their pursuers. They ran up the stairs of the church, reached the doorway, and took in the scene, “Too bad someone trashed this door.” Baltazar said in an amused tone.

  Athos smiled and said, “Aye, stinking vandals. Where’s a vigil when you need one?”

  Athos turned around to check on the progress of the damned. Several had managed to untangle themselves from the pile, and were making their way to their feet. Athos turned to Gor and said, “See if you can find that rear exit you mentioned earlier. Jerry, I need you to clear the way to the nearest exterior door. Myself and Baltazar will hold them here as long as we are able.”

  “What would you like us to do?” Athea asked.

  “I need one of you to go with Jerry’s group and provide support as needed. The other two stay here and take any shots of opportunity you get. I know it will be difficult lining them up with us in the doorway. Just do the best you can. Jerry, send a runner back if you find a door that can be barred against the damned.”

  “Understood sir may God, the Angels above, and Fortuna shine upon thee.” Jerry said.

  Everyone present, except Maarika, performed the sign of the cross and said in unison, “Amen.”

  Athos took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he watched the horde fill up the square, and close in on the doorway where he stood with Baltazar, “One more time, my friend?”

  Baltazar made eye contact with Athos, smiled and said, “Aye, one more time, brother.”

  Both men dropped into their fighting stance. Using their left arm, they raised their shields and held the metal barrier out in front of them. The combination of the shield and their fighting stance blocked access to their body. In their right hands they held their ax poised to strike.

  As the horde smashed into them, they were forced to take a step back. They relieved the pressure by swinging their ax downward at the damned directly in front of them. Despite their long day of fighting, the blades of the axes were still sharp and easily cleaved through flesh and bone.

  “Push,” Athos yelled.

  In unison, the two men threw their weight against their shields providing a counter force to the horde trying to push them through the doorway. This surprised the damned, and caused them to take a step backward. The stairway leading up to the doorway to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was still choked with bodies from their previous fight here in the doorway. These bodies now formed a tripping hazard which sent many of the damned tumbling to the ground.

  With so many bodies, in such a confined space, the united front of the horde degenerated into to a thrashing mess with the damned who had lost their footing crawling about on the ground trying to regain it. Those that were further back, added to the chaos by providing pressure as they tried to rush the two men holding the doorway to consume them. These damned, with their vision focused on the two Skutatoi, joined the growing pile in front of the door.

  Athea and Liana, smashed out two of the stained-glass windows of the church facing the square. The pair of women now poured fire into the mess on the stairway. This began to extend the piles of the dead outward, adding to the chaos and confusion. The two men in the doorway, working as one, were able to easily hold back the trickle of damned that managed to navigate through the writhing twisting pile in front of the door.

  After what seemed like an eternity as the two exhausted men fought all comers, Sharven ran up behind them and said in his gravely voice, “We found a door we can bar against the damned.”

  “Thank God.” Baltazar said, “My arms feel like lead.”

  “I’m spent as well. I’m amazed you still have the endurance to continue the fight, considering you were recently nearly starved to death.” Athos said

  “Let’s give them a good shove and haul are arses out of here.” Baltazar said.

  “Aye, on the count of three.” Athos said.

  In unison the men said, “One, two, and three!”

  When the word, “Three.” Came out of their mouths they both pushed with their shields against the damned who had begun to build pressure upon them, and press against the doorway once again. This caused the dead, to take a step back, trip over the ample supply of bodies lying about, and begin the chaos anew.

  Not waiting to see the results of their effort, the two men immediately turned and ran toward the rock of Golgotha situated in the back of the church. Excited, Daisy, let out a bark and chased after the two men. Athea and Liana fired their last shots from their location in the windows. This gave the men a little extra separation from the horde. They too then abandoned their position and joined the flight toward Golgotha.

  Baltazar grinning said, “I think we may be the first people in history to voluntarily rush to Golgotha.”

  Athos laughed, “I imagine so, since most of the people that had an appointment upon Golgotha never walked away from it.”

  By the time the lead elements of the horde recovered their footing and began to pour into the church sanctuary, Athos and Baltazar had made it to the rear door, set in the wall behind the rock of Golgotha. With the ladies and Daisy already through ahead of them, they closed the door and looked about for anything to block it. Staring at empty hallway, Athos, frustrated at the lack of furniture turned to Sharven and asked, “Which direction?”

  “This hallway connects the back of the sanctuary with the monastery situated on the other side of the hill.” Sharven said.

  “Let’s keep running then.” Baltazar said.

  Athos nodded wearily, gestured down the hall with his right hand and said, “Aye, lead the way Sharven.”

  The group ran down the hallway as fast as they could manage in their exhausted state. Their breath now came in wheezing rasps as they struggled to gulp in enough to satisfy their bodies. As they reached the doorway on the far end of the hallway, the damned burst into the long passageway. Daisy, Sharven, Maarika, Liana, and Athea reached the doorway first. They were followed by Baltazar and Athos who were panting hard, gasping for breath, and several feet behind the main group.

  As Athos cleared the doorway he asked, “Can this door be barred or blocked?”

  Sharven shook his head indicating no as he said, “No, sir.”

  They had emerged into a square courtyard, lined by wooden doors. Athea, drew her gladius and opened the nearest one, “A sleeping chamber.”

  “Quick, grab the bed and any other furniture in the room, and pile it against this door.” Athos said.

  Liana opened another door, “This is also a sleeping chamber. Not much to it though.”

  Sharven intoned in his deep voice, “It’s a monastery, they aren’t supposed to have much.”

  Athea and Maarika worked to bring the bed out of the first chamber they opened, even as Sharven and Baltazar worked to bring the bed out of the second. Athos opened the next door set in the wall and said, “Guess what’s in here?”

  Baltazar, setting the first bed down in front of the doorway shrugged, “The suspense is killing me.”

  “A sleeping chamber.” Athos said.

  Athea rolled her eyes, “Always so dramatic.”

  Athos smiled, “Aye, and you love it.”

  The group worked quickly opening door after door, to reveal the spartan sleeping chambers of the monks who formerly occupied the monastery and tended to the church. As they dropped the fourth bedframe into place, the door began to thump.
The damned were trying to get through the other side. They ignored the incessant thumping and scratching at the door and continued to work. Clearing out several more chambers, they built a pile in front of the door, that must have weighed thousands of pounds.

  Nodding his head in satisfaction, Athos said, “That should hold them for a while.” He turned to Sharven and said, “Where to now?”

  Sharven gestured at a set of double doors set in the wall opposite of the one they had just blocked and said, “This way.”

  The group made their way across the empty stone courtyard, as Sharven pulled open the double doors. This revealed a hallway, with more wooden doors set into the sides. He continued walking up the hallway, and emerged into a larger chamber. The chamber, made from stone, was empty except for a large crucifix set into one wall. The stones of the floor looked worn from many years of knees sitting upon them.

  The chamber was filled with the corpses of the former monks. “This is where the monks worshipped.” Sharven said.

  “And died.” Liana said in a whisper as her eyes took in the slain forms of the monks. Many of them still dripping purple blood.

  Maarika snorted at the sight and said, “Clearly this God of your does not have much power. He allowed his most devoted to be slain in their chamber of worship. Shameful.”

  Athos’ cheeks turned a deep crimson. Before he had a chance to speak, Sharven pointed at the open doorway on the other side of the room and said, “This way, we’re almost out.”

  The group quickly made their way through the tangle of slain monks and out the door. The next chamber seemed to be where the monks broke bread with one another. The room had several long tables made of cheap wood. The tables, whose well-worn surface showed many years of usage, was surrounded on both sides with squat wooden benches. Sharven pointed at the only doorway set in the right wall of the room, “The door, beyond is the kitchen. We can bar that door against the damned, and then exit outside.