Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde (28 page)

Panic came over me as I realized I didn't have my sword. The
last place I recalled having it was at the dinner feast where I had set it on
the table. Frantically I searched around the room. Relief washed over me as I
found it propped up against the wall in the corner. I checked the blade to make
sure it was still clean then slid it over my shoulder and walked outside. Out
in the living room I found a glass of water and two aspirin with a note telling
me to meet up with them for breakfast when I felt better. I popped the sour
white pills into my mouth and gulped down the water like a thirsty dog. My
stomach felt like a gurgling pit of acid.

I threw open the door and stepped outside. The cool air felt
good but the sun seemed to be burning a hole through my head. I began to hope
the aspirin would kick in fast. Jonah approached me with a kind smile.

“How are you feeling today brother?”

“I'm all right,” I said, trying to belie the pounding
headache that was setting in.

“You sure seemed to be having fun last night,” he said with
a smile.

“Funny,” I replied, “I can't remember much of it.”

“That's how it is when the spirit of the Lord takes over
you,” he replied.

“Or when the drugs in the wine kick in,” I said. He laughed
as if I was kidding but I just stared at him.

“All right then,” he said good naturedly. “I've been waiting
for you. It's my honor to take you on a tour of the grounds, after breakfast
that is.”

“I'm gonna skip breakfast if you don't mind,” I said as the
nausea returned. “Just some bottled water would be nice.”

“Done,” he replied.

“Where is Benji?”

“I don't know about your friend, Benji,” Jonah said. “He
spent the night with the other kids. They have their own cabin across the way.
Children tend to keep different hours than adults and we've found it's best for
all if they are kept separate.”

“And Felicity?”

“She got up about an hour ago,” Jonah explained. “She went
to see Bryan and I believe she is now on a tour with Darren.”

“Great,” I said with a fake smile. “That is just perfect.”

“I am glad you are pleased,” Jonah said with a genuine
smile. It was obvious he really believed in all this religious stuff and was
happy to be one of Bryan's minions. “Shall we go then?”

“Lead the way,” I replied with a flourish of my hands.

The tour actually turned out to be pretty cool, against all
odds. They were a highly skilled, self sufficient group of people who knew how
to build, how to trap and hunt and fish and live off the land. They understood
science and medicine. They were creative and smart and generally kind, if only
just a little creepy. Everywhere we went they sang the praises of their messiah
and wished us a happy Harvest. The aspirin kicked in soon enough and my headache
began to fade as my body returned to normal. I drank two large bottles of water
Jonah provided for me and ate a stick of rabbit jerky he'd carefully wrapped in
a strip of tan cloth for the tour. To his credit, Jonah never once gave in to
my taunts or teasing or sarcastic remarks. Against my better judgment I began
to like him. It was hard
not
to like the guy. He was just too nice!

He showed me a water purifying station they had set up and
talked about their failed attempts to create a small power plant.

“We just don't have enough fuel to power it,” he said. “We'd
need coal or gasoline or something strong and in the end it wouldn't be worth
it for what we could generate and store. For now, we've found other ways around
the problem.”

“Like bioluminescence?”

“Exactly,” he replied. “Or as we like to call it —
God's electricity.”

A group of kids across the way ran screaming into the woods.
I thought I caught sight of Benji from behind, disappearing off in the high
brush.

“Too bad you can't harness the energy of all those kids,” I
said. “You'd have more than enough to power the whole of California.”

“That's the truth,” he agreed.

I looked up and saw Felicity off in the distance with
Darren, talking.

“What's over there?” I pointed in their direction.

“The pits,” he said. “I'm not sure you're ready to see
them.”

“Nonsense,” I said. “I've made leaps and bounds since this
morning. I'm practically converted to your way of life.” I smiled. He looked
pensive but relented, probably realizing that I wouldn't give in without a
fight.

“Try to keep an open mind,” he cautioned as he led the way.

Darren looked up and saw us coming. He had a frown on his
face as he talked to Felicity. She had her back to us so I couldn't tell what
she was thinking. Jonah smiled and waved to them and Darren waved back. When we
got close to the spot where they were standing, I began to smell a faint scent
of death and decay. Then I heard the low moaning. Instantly my hand went to my
sword in defense. Jonah calmly put his hand on my shoulder.

“It's okay,” he said soothingly. “We are safe.”

We reached them and I looked past Felicity to see what she
was staring down at. There was a natural ravine set into the side of the hill
that had been dug out and covered over with metal bars. Inside were upwards of
a hundred zombies milling about moaning. Undead men, women, and children
shuffled back and forth moaning and groaning. Occasionally one would lift its
head, sniff the air, then snap with its rotten teeth at the air in our
direction.

“What the hell is that?” I was starting to lose my cool.

“Those are people,” Jonah replied. “Just like you or me,
only they are suffering.”

“Those are zombies,” I countered. “They are dead, infected
people.”

“Yes,” he said. “Exactly.”

“So why are you keeping them penned up like that?”

“I knew he wouldn't understand,” Darren said to Felicity.

“I'm not sure I do either,” Felicity replied, turning and
taking me by the hand. “Why don't you explain to us both again?” Darren looked
angrily at me. I tried my best to fight back the smile blossoming on my face.

“Okay then,” he said, regaining his composure. “We believe
that the living dead are people just like the rest of us who have committed
terrible sins and are now paying the price for their transgressions.”

“That's pretty cold, man,” I said, but he stopped me.

“Let me finish,” he said. “This is going to take a really
long time if you keep interrupting every time you don't understand something
rather than just saving your questions for the end. Got it?”

“I'm good,” I said, puffing up my chest and pulling Felicity
slightly closer to me.

“We have nothing but the greatest compassion for them,” he
continued. “That's why we care for them.”

“By keeping them penned up like animals?”

“Are you going to let me tell this story or not?” I shook my
head and Felicity squeezed my hand.

“Go on,” I said through clenched teeth.

“We don't believe in killing people unless we have to, for
self-defense,” he said. “These poor souls aren't hurting anyone in there. We
believe they are the dead that are referred to in the final book of the Bible,
Revelations. We believe that when Christ returns to walk the earth he will be
able to heal them, just as he did with the lepers of Galilee.”

“He shall raise them up just as he did with poor Lazarus,”
Jonah said, “who had been dead for four days and returned to life as Christ
commanded.”

“That's right,” Darren said. “So until then we do our best
to care for them and keep them out of harm's way.” He stopped and stared at me,
crossing his arms and waiting for me to say something harsh.

“What if they get out . . .” Felicity asked.

“It's never happened,” Darren said before she could finish
her sentence, shaking his head in disapproval. “Not once in all the time we've
kept them here.”

“We are blessed with some very talented brothers and
sisters,” Jonah said with a pleasant smile. “We like to believe the Lord is
watching out for us.”

“What about the children?” I asked.

“What about them?” Darren cocked his eyebrow in surprise.

“They seem to run free all the time,” I said. “It's like
Lord
of the Flies
out here. You know the kinds of trouble young kids can get
into unsupervised. What if they were to fall in?”

“Like I said,” Darren repeated. “It's never happened. Our
kids may be young and free spirited, but they are smart enough to know when
something is dangerous and avoid it.”

He turned and shot me a challenging stare.

“What?” I asked defensively.

“I'm waiting for some insensitive comment,” he said. “You
seem to get such a kick out of spitting on our faith.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I never considered keeping them penned up
like this. I've spent the majority of my time since the outbreak either killing
them or running from them. I never saw them in this light before. I couldn't
afford to be compassionate. I was fighting for my life and the lives of the
people I cared about. This is just blowing my mind.”

“I guess I have had more time to adjust to it,” Darren said,
softening at my confession. “I come up here every day.”

“Every day?” Felicity looked at him.

“Without fail,” he brooded.

“Wow,” I replied. “Why are you so committed to them?”

“You see the woman with the pony tail?” He pointed to a
zombie woman in dirty, sack like clothes not unlike the ones we'd worn the
night before.

“Yeah,” I said.

“That's my wife, Nicole.”

Felicity leaned in and stared hard.

“Do you mean Nicole Boschard?”

“I do,” Darren said, fighting back tears. His overreaction
was starting to make a lot more sense. “We were married right after I got out
of high school. We were trying to start a family when the outbreak happened. I
can remember how afraid she used to be watching the news reports. It wasn't
until she accepted Jesus into her heart that she came to know peace. It doesn't
seem fair that she ended up here.”

“The Lord works in mysterious ways, brother,” Jonah said
putting his hand on Darren's shoulder. Darren shook him off. “Let's not relive
this again now in front of our guests. Come away and let them talk among
themselves while you regain your composure.”

Darren looked like he might punch a hole through Jonah's
face for a minute, but in the end he relented and they walked off a distance.

“That was . . .” My words trailed off and Felicity picked
them up.

“Awkward,” she said, finishing my sentence.

“These people are crazy,” I said. “Keeping zombies caged up
like this and all the God talk. I can't wait to get out of here.”

“You seemed to be enjoying yourself last night,” she said,
looking up at me with a smile.

“I don't know how to say this so I am just going to come
right out and ask,” I said with a shake in my voice. “I don't remember anything
from last night. I am pretty sure we were drugged.”

“Me too,” she said. “I'd say it was ecstasy or GHB from what
I remember of my very short club days. So what's your question?”

“I woke up with no clothes,” I said. “Did I get naked in front
of everyone?”

She laughed at me.

“Don't worry,” she said. “Almost everyone was naked. I
didn't see too much.” She gave me a wink.

“Wow,” I said. “This is embarrassing.”

“I'm pretty sure that's the least of our worries now,” she
said.

“What is it now?”

“You mean aside from being held captive on a creepy
religious compound?”

“Right,” I said.

She stopped laughing and got serious.

“Bryan asked me to join his harem,” she said, looking down
at her hands.

“When? Last night after he drugged us out?”

“No,” she replied. “He was a perfect host last night, aside
from slipping us drugs. I think he was trying to be on his best behavior.”

“So when did he ask you to join his tribe of child brides
then?” I noticed that my fists had clenched up in anger.

“This morning at breakfast,” she said. “He asked if he could
speak to me. I thought he was going to talk about Benji but the next thing I
knew he was telling me how beautiful I was, how God had a special plan for me.
He said that God told him I should be his seventh sacred vessel or something
like that.”

“I ought to cut his lousy head off,” I said as an ugly jolt
of hatred surged through me. “Who does he think he is?!”

“He thinks he's the Messiah!” She laughed a little at my
overreaction. “Calm down, Xander. It's not like I said yes.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I was flattered,” she sighed, taking both my
hands and twisting back and forth. Her cheeks flushed. “But that I didn't feel
in my heart that I belonged here. I told him I had feelings for someone else.”

“Yeah? Who's that?” I was starting to lose all control.
Usually I could just tell myself to calm down and things went back to normal.
Ever since I had met this girl my emotions were all over the map. Now she was
going to tell me that she was in love with her junior high crush Darren again
and I was going to blow my top.

That's why he gave her the tour this morning
, I
thought.
They are sneaking away to confess their love for each other! He
probably even wanted to get his wife's blessing to take a new girlfriend. These
people are sick and twisted!

Before I could get any more worked up, the unimaginable
happened—Felicity leaned over and gently kissed me on the lips. Her lips
were so soft and I could feel the slightest hint of her warm breath as she
leaned in and pressed them to mine. For a moment it felt like the ground
dropped out from under my feet. We were floating together in a bubble of light,
far away from the cares of this messed up world. There was no Bryan Crowe, no
zombies, only pure happiness and bliss that went on forever.

She pulled back first and stared nervously at me with her
sea green eyes.