Russ wanted Jessica to be out of the vehicle. To his own discovering he had never really felt much for her anyway. It was just the desire not to be alone that had driven him to her, like a lonely child crawling to an abusive mother. The very sight of her face made him think of his past, and how he wanted to finally leave it behind.
“What happened to you guys?” Jessica asked from the back seat.
Lisa sat up and said something softly. Jessica couldn’t hear it because of the ringing sensation still overtaking her eardrums.
“What?”
“Her mother died,” Russ said a little louder.
Jessica sat back in her seat as if the comment had stricken her with grief as well. In fact she was thinking of her own parents, and what would be left of them. She really didn’t have any idea what was going on in the first place. All that she knew of was a helicopter saying something about the quarantine and the constant screaming coming from her neighbors. Then Rick.
“Turn here,” Donahue pointed at the Douglas Street sign.
The church was on the left side of the road, standing quite tall against the darkness. It was definitely the tallest structure in the town, and probably the fanciest and most expensive. Russ had always wondered why churches needed to be like that. They were all about the word of God and love and helping others, but they would build a multimillion dollar structure while the disasters in Africa worsened.
“God, I hate churches,” Russ muttered.
The building was a large diamond with a gigantic cross standing straight up above the entrance. The main door consisted of two sets of double doors, and there was a security panel on building between the two.
“I know the code to get in,” Jessica said.
19
“The end of the world,” Reverend James Willis sat in his office chair before a group of three people. “Judgment Day.” He shut off his computer monitor, then stood.
His aged face, normally friendly and somewhat humorous was rigid. He paced slowly by the frightened people like a sergeant at boot camp, with each step his boot thudded against the tiled floor. His robe seemed to cover up his feet and in the darkness it almost appeared as if he were floating across the room.
Willis’s office was a small room with a single window in the west wall, overlooking the parking lot. He had turned off the light so he wouldn’t attract attention from the chaos outside.
Mrs. Donahue, the wife of the sheriff, was among the three. She was the first to arrive in God’s great house. She had told Reverend Willis of the fear she had that her husband was now dead. He had tried to comfort her, but he became increasingly distracted by her because she was such a beautiful woman. Jennifer Donahue was nearing middle age and had the most beautiful blonde hair that any woman could possibly have.
Reverend Willis had a wife once, but he tried not to think about her.
Mr. and Mrs. Welch had also found their way to the church. They had one daughter, Jessica, who was living with a young man that Reverend Willis didn’t know. She had stopped coming to church around two years before. Mrs. Willis was a businesswoman in Wichita working for some insurance company. She came off as a strong Christian woman, and Willis admired that. Mr. Welch worked as an aerospace engineer, also in Wichita.
Willis approached the window and gazed out over the almost empty parking lot. Three cars sat next to the building. Patrick Welch was sitting with his head cocked backward as if he were about to fall asleep. Cecilia hugged her legs and rocked silently back and forth like some sort of deranged mental patient. Jennifer was sitting Indian style, lost in thought about her husband.
He smiled at the shaking Cecilia. “You needn’t fear. God is with us.” She stopped shaking and forced a smile. Her husband was motionless, almost mocking, Willis thought. “His love is eternal,” he took a step toward them. “His love is real,” then another step, this time right in front of Patrick and making harsh eye contact with him. “And most important of all, we must believe in His love.”
“I’m not in the mood, Willis,” Patrick said.
“God is always in the mood to forgive.”
Patrick rolled his eyes and laid his head on Cecilia’s shoulder. She grimaced at him as if he were death itself.
The reverend grinned at Cecilia. “You believe in His word, do you not?”
She smiled, “I have faith.”
“You will be with him soon.”
“How do you know that this is the end of the world?” Jennifer blurted out. “You don’t even know what’s going on outside this goddamn church! The army could be out there, helping us!” She stood. “Look around! People are dying. God has nothing to do with this place! My husband is probably dead!”
The reverend walked over to her, trying to think of something to say. But there was nothing. She was distressed and confused. In God’s eye she was still a wonderful person. She just needed help.
“Your husband is with God if that is the case, Mrs. Donahue. His love–”
“Just shut up,” she panted. “I don’t want to hear anymore preaching tonight. I just want to be safe.”
“In His arms–”
“I second that,” Patrick said. His wife gave him an irritated look.
At first he wanted to tell them both to leave God’s house for being so disrespectful. But even Jesus accepted betrayers like Judas. He calmed himself for a moment and walked over to his desk.
“Very well, I hope you’re right Jennifer. I hope this isn’t the end. I want you to understand that. I just don’t believe it.” He turned his back to them and opened his desk drawer. The robe around his back concealed what was inside. He took out a small nine millimeter hand gun and tucked it into his robe pocket. Then he grabbed the Bible underneath it to cover up what he was really getting. “Ah, hear it is.”
Willis shut the drawer, sat down in his chair and pretended to read the Bible.
* * * * *
Evan pulled the Humvee to a stop in front of the church door. He didn’t even bother to pull it into a parking space. Everyone huddled up to the door as Jessica punched in the code. At first Evan was expecting the walking dead to swarm them but none of them were in sight. The parking lot was a dark, empty landscape of asphalt.
The security panel beeped.
“Uh-oh,” Jessica said.
She punched in 8-8-4-9-6-4.
It beeped again.
“It isn’t working.”
“You said you knew the code,” Russ said.
“Reverend Willis probably changed it!”
She tried again, 8-8-4-9-6-4.
Beep.
Jessica took a step away from the panel and sighed. The blood on her nightgown had molded it to her body. A gentle breeze blew her blood stained hair back away from her neck. Lisa noticed a bruise there. It was far too big to have come from a hickey.
“Let me try,” Donahue said. “What code were you entering?”
“8-8-4-9-6-4.”
“That one’s old.” He approached the security panel and typed in a different one.
The door clicked. Jessica ran past everyone and into the building.
“She’s weird,” Lisa whispered.
Russ agreed.
It had been at least five years since Russ had set foot in that building. One of his friends had invited him to come to church, luring him with the video game room they had in the basement. Russ was convinced and went along. The video games were pretty good, except for the Water World pinball machine. The damn ball kept getting stuck on Kevin Costner’s fat nose.
He was having a pretty good time until the sermon started. The preacher made everyone stand up and ask for forgiveness. The audience had their arms in the air and their eyes closed as they began to profess their love for Jesus. Russ felt a bit odd doing it, but he went along with it. The preacher then asked how many of them had come because they were invited by a friend and told them to go up on the stage. The crowd cheered the new comers on as the preacher preached about dedicating their lives to C
hrist. Then they exited the stage and were lined up against the wall as if they were in a concentration camp. There were about twenty of them. The preacher stood up in front of the group and told them how God would always be present everywhere and every time they needed him. Russ felt more and more uncomfortable as the man spoke. Then the preacher talked to each person there individually, while they had their backs to the wall with nowhere to go.
Reverend Willis approached him. “Do you sign this pledge declaring Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and into your heart?” He shoved a clipboard into his face filled with names.
“I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable, actually. I think I’m going to pass.”
“I’m not trying to impose. Forgive me, I just want to save you from the ring of fire.”
Russ was staring at the ground the entire time. “Ring of fire?”
“Hell,” the man licked his lips. “I don’t think you want to go there, do you?”
“Is that all you have?”
“Just sign it, you little brat. You don’t know what’s good for you, God does.”
“Could you just leave me alone?”
“Sign it!”
He made brief eye contact with the reverend, and signed it even though he felt unsure about it.
“God will be with you always.” Reverend Willis moved on to the next person.
The memory gave him jitters as he set foot on the brown carpet. There was a staircase to his left going down and one to his right going up.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Welcome!” Reverend Willis’s voice echoed around the room from the top of the staircase. “God’s house is open to all in times of chaos.”
“Thank you Reverend,” Donahue said.
“There are people in my office. We were just sitting around and talking. I’m thinking we maybe more comfortable with the room in the basement. There are chairs and tables and another door with security locks. It could be a little safer. I’ll go get the ones in my office and we can meet you down there.”
Russ recognized him as the one with the clipboard that day. He decided that he would stay away from him as much as he possibly could. Donahue thanked him and followed everyone down the stairs, which ended at a large metal door with a security panel by it.
“Know the code?” Jessica asked. She was the first to reach it.
“I’ll try the same one as the front door,” Donahue typed it in. It beeped in rejection. “Damn.”
“Just wait for the preacher,” Russ said.
Jessica gave him a disapproving stare. “Reverend.”
“Whatever.”
A few moments later footsteps clamored down the stairs. Donahue and Jessica looked up and dropped to their knees when they saw their family members. Donahue’s wife ran up to him with a huge grin on her face. He grabbed her and kissed her deeply. Jessica was embraced by both of her parents. They didn’t seem to care that their daughter was drenched in blood.
The moment reminded Lisa that she didn’t have any parents or family. Her father died in a car accident a couple of years before, and her mother had turned into one of those things. Russ could sense her uneasiness and put an arm around her shoulder.
“We’ll talk about this,” Russ said. It was almost as if he could read her mind.
“I don’t have any parents.”
He pulled her aside as the reverend came down and entered the security code.
“I know I haven't known you long, and this is going to sound crazy, but I love you,” he whispered.
She hugged him.
* * * * *
The room beyond the secured door was probably made to be a cafeteria, or at least Russ thought. There was a group of fold out tables and chairs stacked on top of each other in the far corner of the room. There was even what looked like a kitchen a little further down. However the air smelled of thick dust and the white tiled floor was covered in layers of it.
While the rest of the group rejoiced in finding their loved ones alive, Russ and Lisa pulled up a couple of fold out chairs and sat silently in the circle. Lt. Brown was leaning back, trying to look happy. Russ was just trying not to break out into an array of coughs and sneezes.
After the crowd had calmed, everyone sat in a circle of fold out chairs. The Donahues and Welches both looked happy. Jessica sat between her parents and Sheriff Donahue had an arm around his wife’s shoulder.
“We are truly fortunate to have God’s grace with us today,” Reverend Willis smiled. Even the skeptical Jennifer Donahue and Patrick Welch seemed to agree to the statement now that their loved ones were safe. There was an aura of good feeling in the room. Evan was either completely faking it or just feeling good because of the room’s spirit. He had no real reason to have happiness wash over him. But he desperately wanted to after the day he had been through.
The aura of good feeling had an exact opposite effect on Russ and Lisa. Lisa had no idea of what her future would be like if she survived the incident. Both of her parents were dead, and she seemingly had no future. She couldn’t force herself to move her teary eyes away from the ground. The comment that the preacher made caused her to break out in chills.
God’s grace is with us today.
The thought of her mother lying in the street covered in blood was not a sign of God’s grace. Having both parents dead is not done through God’s grace. God’s grace was nowhere near Brownsville that day.
Russ could feel her body trembling under his arm. He pulled her over to him. She was the only thing he may have left. It depended on the status of his father, and Russ wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. Everyone was dying.
Over the next several minutes Evan explained to the group what was going on in full detail. Their eyes were fixated upon him like excited grandchildren listening to their grandpa’s wonderful story. Russ noticed how agitated Willis was getting as the story went on. Every time Evan mentioned the alien Willis gave out an irritated smile.
“So you’re saying all this was caused by an extraterrestrial?” Reverend Willis stood up from his chair.
“Yes, it was.”
“That isn’t possible.”
There was a brief silence as Donahue and Brown exchanged confused glances.
“I saw the damn thing,” Russ said. “It’s true.”
“You never told me that,” Brown said.
“I didn’t think it meant anything.”
“Are you sure you saw it?”
“Yes.”
“Did it attack you?”
“No.”
“You are all confused!” Willis interrupted. “God intended for the universe to be ours and ours alone. He wouldn’t–”
“Just drop it!” Jennifer shouted. Donahue almost jumped out of his chair. “Keep God out of this.”
“God is involved with everything, Mrs. Donahue. I am sorry if you feel that you want to be against him.”
“Oh, God,” Russ grumbled. Lisa let out a stray laugh, and the sound of it made Russ smile. He hadn’t heard her laugh since Roy’s Diner.
Reverend Willis exploded into a slur of commandments and Mrs. Donahue was trying not to laugh at him. Her husband was resting his elbows on his knees and his forehead on the palm of his hand. Patrick Welch had an annoyed smile on his face. Jessica and her mother seemed to have no reaction.
“I don’t believe this,” Lisa whispered.
“I don’t either.” Russ glanced over to the kitchen. “I’m wondering if they have anything to eat in there.”
“Look at this place, man. It’s covered in dust. The only thing you’re going to find in there is a dead rat,” Lisa said.
Reverend Willis stood in the center of the circle facing the Donahues, screaming so fast and so loudly that no one could understand a word he was saying. Mrs. Donahue had her hand over her mouth and was trying not to bust out in laughter. While amused at first, her husband was starting to get agitated.
“Reverend–” Donahue’s voice was cut off by screaming. “R
everend!” Willis ignored him.
Lt. Brown stood up and pulled Reverend Willis back by his shoulders. “Calm down there buddy.” He stopped talking and looked around at the people watching him. Almost immediately his face changed from a dark red to a light pink.
“I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly. “I-I don’t know what came over me.” He looked around at the people sitting down, most of them with half grins on their faces. “I’ll be in my office.”
Immediately after he left the room Mrs. Donahue exploded in laughter. After a brief moment everyone joined in except for Jessica and Cecilia.
“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” Russ laughed.
“Sometimes chaos just brings out the worst in people,” Evan said as he removed the mp5 from his shoulder and slid it under the chair. “I think this guy’s case goes a little further, though.”
Jessica and Cecilia were silent through the conversation.
20
The church basement opened up into a dusty and poorly kept cafeteria on one side and a kitchen on the other. Further down past the area there was a hallway that extended back at least thirty feet with four rooms on either side that had once been used for choir practices, Sunday school, and evening bible study. Each room was now nothing but a small closed in dust bowl with dark yellow carpet and cylindrical ceiling lights, but most of them were dimmed or out.
After a little deliberation the group had decided to use the rooms as bedrooms for the night. There were no beds or blankets, but each room contained a small red couch and a dusty love seat. The Welch’s and Donahues had their own rooms, as Russ and Lisa shared one too. Lt. Brown was offered a room by each of the three so he wouldn’t have to stay alone, but there was one room left at the end of the hallway and he preferred to be alone with his thoughts.
There was something peculiar about the preacher that evening, besides his constant preaching. Evan had seen the look in that mans eye before from men living in constant fear and oppression. Most of them were afraid of their superior drug lords, who offered cruel punishment upon fuck ups. With Reverend Willis it may have been something else too. The look in his eyes reflected that something was hidden away inside of his head.
Super Zombies from Outer-Space Page 12
