The Church - Part 5

"Sleep well tonight John." Jim seems to order me as he points to a bed in a small empty storeroom. "We shall set off after breakfast." He smiles at me; what the hell is it with all these smiles. By the look of the heavy set guard stationed outside my door Jim doesn’t trust me. He doesn’t want me to sleep in the main area or to even speak to the other residents. I don’t sleep well.

"Rise and shine," a new voice bellows through the now opening gap in the door. "Good morning friend lets go and get you something to eat." As he pokes his head in I see a young guy aged about twenty one who seems to have a bit of the jack the lad about him. "Hi, my name is Matt; don’t worry about your intro. I know all about you man; you are the talk of the town." He is holding out his hand in a friendly and trusting manner. I return the gesture, I’m not totally sure why but I like this guy.

We make our way down to the main eating area. As we come into view of the others all the talking and general noise stops. Even though most of these people saw me yesterday I am still a bit of a freak show, a novelty. As we take our seats I can now have a good look at some of them. It’s incredible; so many different people in both camps but all with that same damn expression.

"So what do you think of my dad then?" asks Matt. I nearly choke on a spoonful of the tepid beans which had just been placed in front of me. Jim is his father, I wasn’t expecting that one.

"Who? Jim?" I try to sound calm but it isn’t working. "He seems a pretty straight forward guy. I can see he has the respect of all the people in here." I now find myself doing one of those stupid smiles.

I don’t look at Matt for a while, instead just staring at my plate as I wolf down my food. I haven’t a clue what to say or what to do next, I wait for him.

"He is the man who holds us all together." Matt starts up the conversation again. "He was a sergeant in the Army for twenty years before taking early retirement. He started doing security work here; when it all kicked off he got me and a few of his friends together and secured the supermarket for us."

Jim appears as if from nowhere and sits down beside us. "Right guys, it will just be the three of us on this little trip. I want this to go smooth, I want no contact with the dead heads, I want to have our chat and then get back to base." The sergeant in him has now come back to the fore.

Jim and Matt start to get their gear on, its far more impressive than mine. They have those mean looking cross bows on their backs plus gleaming machetes attached to their waists. Matt winks at me, making fun at me as I look on in envy. He is the opposite of his serious, stern faced father. The joker and the professional. Jim catches Matt’s antics and throws him a glare. Matt straightens up and now goes about his business again like his father, as soon as Jim turns away Matt grins to himself.

"John," Jim barks "we will be going out down the fire escape. You keep between Matt and me, we have done this route several times, and you do what we tell you."

I nod in agreement, we head up by the office and walk to the end of a long corridor. Jim undoes a large chain from the door marked Fire Exit. This is it, back out to the open, back to the walk with the undead and eventually back to the Church.

With no further words Jim throws open the door; we are two floors up and on top of a metal fire escape. I can see only about five zombies in range. I feel a push in my back, Jim is already half way down the first flight and Matt wants me to catch up.

In what seems about a minute we are down on the ground and moving through the car park. Not running, more like a controlled jog, I’m sure the army has a name for it. Within two minutes we are in the clear roads, impressive, not even remotely coming close to having to confront a zombie. They certainly have done this a few times before, I almost feel safe with these guys.

We stop about five minutes away from the Church. "This next bit is down to you John," Jim whispers "Its now time for you to make contact and get us in." From being looked after by the professionals to me being in charge is a little bit scary, not just for me but for the other two as well I’m sure.

I start my prearranged plan with Wayne; I make a small fire in a garden and put plenty of leaves on it to make it as smoky as possible. I only let it burn for a few minutes, only enough to ensure it has been spotted. I carefully put the fire out; you can’t risk it spreading due to the little problem of there now being no fire brigade. The Church will now be expecting our arrival within fifteen minutes, should be enough time to sort out a clearing at the wall and have the rope ladders ready.

We move away from the garden as the fire will no doubt attract some Zombies. We circle the Church walls until I see the sentries; I signal that we need three rope ladders and I soon get the nod for us to make our move. We start our run to the walls.

We come running out of the trees into the clearing about forty feet from the wall. There are only three slow movers in our way but they don’t last long. Jim and Matt show their prowess with the machetes is just as good as the crossbows. One of the severed heads flies through the air just by my ear, I’m sure I heard it still groaning.

In a few seconds we are up and safe. All of the congregation are around to see our new neighbours. I take our guests down to the rectory. Reverend McKay, Wayne and Dawn are waiting for us. "Greetings my friends, welcome to the Love of our God," proclaims the Reverend. I do all the introductions and hands are shaken, not the most trusting I expect but a good start I tell myself.

"Jim, please lets you and I have a chat alone, your son can eat and rest." The Reverend points to the room at the rear. Jim nods and heads in with the Reverend behind.

The "little chat" has now been going on for over two hours. I have been sitting up on my roof, my place of peace. I look down when I hear giggling and laughing, I recognise the voice but am still shocked at the sight. It’s the ice queen Dawn, her face is alight with joy, and the charm of Matt has thawed her. Perhaps things are going to be alright after all, this definitely shows that both groups can mix.

"Run Matt, Run!!!! Let’s get the fuck out of here!" Jim is barging through the crowds outside the rectory with Wayne, Peter and Steve in hot pursuit. Matt starts running towards his father, "No, No Matt, get out now, I will be right behind you." The obedient son turns around and in a flash is up on top of the side wall.

When Jim is almost at the back wall he falls into a heap, Wayne and his favorite club have struck again. Peter points up towards Matt and some of the others start the chase. I watch as Matt stares at the stationary body of his father for a few seconds, turn and throw a ladder over the wall; then he is gone, almost as fast as my hopes.

I go back up to my roof.

The bells toll, I go down not through duty but through dread of what is coming next. The Reverend is on the walls, I can’t really see his face as its now dusk. The sermon starts. "We must all be strong. Nothing can stand in our path to God. Non believers will be made to believe. Jim Wallace would not join our crusade; he is as unworthy as the beasts below. As a message to his people I shall return him to the beast!"

Wayne and Steve bring forward Jim, he is tightly bound, as he gets to the Reverend he spits in his face. The Reverend wipes away the spittle and nods to Wayne. I see him being lowered, not thrown and start to wonder why but when the screams begin I realize. He has only been lowered enough so that his legs can be reached by the horde. The screaming lasts for nearly an hour. This is definitely a message for all.

Next morning I get up as soon as the sun is rising. I have to look at what has happened. I gingerly look over the edge. Jim has turned, no more screaming; his mouth is snapping open and shut at me. I wish it was that smile instead.

Wham! A crossbow bolt hits Jims head full on, the snapping stops. I look across the clearing and see Matt, crossbow armed and aimed straight at me. I am frozen but to my relief Matt lowers the crossbow, turns and walks away. Then I realize that Dawn is standing beside me.