Infection: Graveyard

The graveyard was quiet... too quiet. Since the first day the infection had been reported it seemed like the volume of the world had been turned down. Every day more people were dieing, whether it be from starvation, exposure, the virus or even from their fellow man. The only noise was occasional rumble of thunder in the distance. A small group of survivors had stopped for a rest. They'd left their encampment just before dawn, but with the storm approaching you could hardly tell it was nearly noon.

"Storms a comin'. We best be movin' on soon." The old man stood up and dusted his pants off, in his thick Alabama accent he continued, "We get caught in the rain and catch our death we're just gonna end up like those poor bastards," pointing at the tombstones in front of them he grinned, but his attempt at a joke was lost on the rest of the group.

"We know Jeff, we're all just still tired from all the running yesterday. And the way this place is laid out doesn't make it any easier to keep up a pace," obviously frustrated by the recent events and the lack of a proper plan of action, Jack stood up quickly and squared off with Jeff. Although he was a few inches shorter than the six-foot-one southerner, Jack was half his age and weight. Both men were bearded, though Jack was used to it Jeff had only worn a mustache for years.

"Son, you picked this damned route. For the life of me I can't figure out why." A cold glare passed between the two friends as they stood in silence.

"He picked it," said Sarah, "because these things seem to need to bite a living person before they turn. They probably won't spread the virus to something that's just rotting in the ground or one of these crypts. Plus most people are gonna act like you and stay out of the cemetery since they think these things are gonna dig themselves out of the ground and pop up out of nowhere."

"I still think you're nuts not letting us find a car and tellin' me I should use this damned baseball bat instead of my shotgun if we run into anymore of these things." He rested the bat on his shoulder and pulled the gun around to check it, "She's gonna rust if we don't get out of this rain. I say we get up to that chapel and hole up there till the storm ends. Maybe get some rain outta the drains and refill the canteens."

Without a word Jack picked up his crowbar and pack and set off toward the chapel, it was a short hike through the huge graveyard, only about a mile or so. The awkward layout of the graves and mausoleums made the trek much longer and they arrived at the doors dripping wet. Cautiously Jack opened the door, still mad at Jeff he made sure to show he was better by being the first through the door.

The small church was as silent as the graves around it, with the exception of the light patter of the rain on its roof. They used their flashlights and Jeff's hunting spotlight to search out the whole building. It consisted of only a few rooms, the main area where they held prayer before burying the dead, an office, two bathrooms and a storage area behind the cross at the head of the room.

"It smells like fresh paint in here," said Jeff. The walls were two different colors, one an off white, the other three were a fresh shade of light purple.

"I've seen this place on T.V." said Jack, "I don't remember whose funeral it was. Someone important though. People put the money together to fix this place up."

"It was the Bishop." Sarah chimed in in her little voice, "He died the week before all this broke out. He was supposed to become a cardinal soon but had a stroke and died the next day. They say he was a great man."

Jack looked over at the young blond girl. Her small athletic frame showed little of the strength she had shown in the last week since he'd found her locked in a closet. She was so scared then, and she was delierious with hunger and nearly dead from dehydration. Her parents had turned, first the father then he took her mother. They came to find her by accident, her best friend lived next door and a friend of Jack's wanted her to come with them to the west, where they believed they'd be safer. They never could find her little brothers and that fact had haunted her ever since, but she was stronger than she looked. She quickly found a way to put the past behind her and focused on the journey.

"I remember now. He stayed at the hotel last year, when he gave that big speech out in the snow." Jack smiled at her, thankful for the happy memory.

"That guy who saved that cathedral? He was a prick. I can't stand bible thumpers." Jeff said quickly.

"Well he was a smart guy. He knew that they wouldn't make believers preaching the same old rhetoric from the last two thousand years. Its just about the only time I've ever listened to mass and been moved at all." Jack said, and bowed his head for the memory of one of the only people who gave him the glimmer of belief.

"Lets get this place locked up before we start singing hymns." He pulled a long wooden cross off the wall and tested the wood's strength, satisfied he put it through the handles on the one set of doors into the room. They pulled up several of the pews and fortified the door further. There were several stained glass windows but they were high enough off the ground that there wasn't much they could do about them and they didn't seem to pose any threat as high up as they were. The storage room contained the used paint buckets, a ladder and several drop clothes. In the far corner of the room was an air conditioning and heating unit. Jack pulled out several of the drop clothes and laid them out against a wall as bedding for them.

"If you think I'm sleeping next to you two out here in the open you got another thing comin." Jeff said with a sarcastic grin, then turned and walked into the storage room closing the door behind him.

"Probably would have been more appropriate to let the girl sleep in her own room," Sarah said flashing a smile at Jack.

They sat down and leaned on the wall, opening several scavenged cans of food. "Lets see," said Jack holding up a can with a missing label, "Alpo or beans?" Pulling out a multi-tool from his belt he used the can opener to reveal its contents. A wide smile crossed his face, "Even better than beans, fruit!" he took a wedge of pear and ate it, then gestured for Sarah to try.

As they sat there eating they talked about what their plans were. Sarah wanted to find her brothers but had no idea where to look. Jack told her about his great uncle's farm out west and how he hoped the rest of his family and his friends were doing alright on their journey there. He talked about how he'd been left behind, by his own choice, to distract a hoard of monsters away while they got the truck repaired and started out. They both realized that this was the first time they'd spoken for any length of time since they set out a week ago from the lakefront. The storm raged on all afternoon and eventually they decided to follow Jeff's lead and sleep while they were protected.

A guttural roar woke Jack and Sarah out of their deep sleep. It was night now and the moon let some light shine through the stained glass giving the room an ominous look. The roar came again, they were close, far too close for comfort.

They looked at each other both realizing the reason they were so close to being upon them. They smelled fire, looking around it suddenly hit him where it was coming from. "Jeff!" he whispered to Sarah, both getting to their feet at the same time. They ran to the door and opened it to find Jeff snoring away on some of the sheets of fabric they'd left behind. In the corner they saw the heating unit had been taken out and a jury rigged fire stove sat in its place, the exhaust pipe gave most of the smoke an exit from the room and the sheets of metal that comprised several of the other vents had been bent to make the base and walls of the small fireplace.

"Jeff what the hell are you doing?!" Sarah asked. Jack ran to the bathroom to get whatever water he could find to douse the fire. As he returned he found Sarah whispering harshly at Jeff who tried explaining that he wanted to dry his clothes and eat some warmed up food for a change.

"What was the first thing I told you about surviving out here?" Jack said sternly after the fire was completely out. Jeff stared at him through bloodshot eyes. Jack snapped, "Never sacrifice safety for comfort! These things are out there and they can smell things from way further off then we can. They know we're in here now!"

Rather than continue scolding the older man they set to creating a defensible position with what they had available. Rounding the remaining pews to create a barrier and barricading the doors to the side rooms with windows. Then they sat in silence and listened to the screams and roars of the creatures that were closing in. After a few minutes a roar echoed through the room, they were right outside the door. Then silence again. Jack stared at the doors across the room. He heard the shuffle of the gangly dead outside. They were fast and agile at times, but others still were mostly dead and unable to function with dexterity.

They sat there waiting for any hint of the coming hoard, but found only more silence. They heard what might have been grunts and more shuffling, but they couldn't be sure over the building storm. Around the small chapel the storm seemed to grow more intense than it had been while they had slept. Lightning cracked and the wind blew the rain into sheets against the windows.

They continued to wait. Each one terrified of what might come at them at any moment. Jacks stomach turned into a knot and he wiped his hands on his pant legs to dry the sweat. Jack readied his crowbar and put on his leather gloves and guards on his forearms as Jeff checked his shotgun over. Turning to Sarah he offered her his baseball bat, then pointed to his head to show her where she should aim.

A crack of bright lightning made them all jump and each one held in a scream, it had hit right outside. Seconds later they heard a crunch then suddenly the glass on one of the walls broke inward. Jeff pulled his shotgun up and fired blindly into the open hole where the window once stood. For a moment they all stood staring in dread, a branch had fallen through the window, just a branch.

With an earsplitting scream one of the monsters signaled the rest and then came the horrifying blood curdling roar of a crowd of them. First one or two pounded on the door then there were a dozen slamming themselves into the deteriorating frame. Sarah let out a scream as she saw hands coming through the long upright windows that were centered on the doors. Bloodied and bruised the hands grabbed wildly at anything they might find. Jeff stepped forward and unloaded several shots into the beasts hands. Splitting them open to reveal the bone and sinew beneath. Wild screams and growles came from the other side and the barricade started giving way.

Jack stepped forward as Jeff reloaded his gun and continued firing into the door and the protruding bodies that came through. As one arm disappeared back from the hole, shattered and useless another would take its place.

Jeff loaded his gun up to capacity and waited. Jack by his side, both men standing between the doors and the seventeen year old girl. Neither showed a sign of fear now, each one wore a face as hard as stone. Helpless and afraid Sarah stepped back against the wall, clutching the bat to her chest.

One loud crack resounded through the room, then the pews began to slide towards them, falling and rolling over each other. The hoard was upon them. Each one covered in blood and dirt from their attacks and attackers. Their faces in both anguish and anger, as if every movement hurt them and the smell of the living was a terrible offense to them.

Jeff stepped up on to a pew and took aim, aiming at the skull he split several open as Jack rushed the attackers, swinging his crowbar like a bat he buried it into the side of ones skull. With wild moves, both crazed and exact he buried it into two more, then used the back end to impale another. He kicked the body off of the bloodied weapon as another jumped onto his back, he spun and ducked his dead down to avoid the beasts teeth. Jeff shot the beasts newly exposed head and it fell off of his back in a slump, without hesitation Jack cracked the skull of another approaching him with a thud.

Jeff began to reload as one slipped by Jack. The beast was running full sprint toward Jeff and he wasn't aware. "Jeff!" Sarah screamed in a deafening pitch, which made the monster turn toward her. She screamed again and readied her bat. As the beast was almost within striking distance its head popped on one side and a shotgun blast was heard. Jeff quickly turned to face the next threat.

It was mere moments but it seemed like hours of fighting had gone by. Jack was already exhausted and the monsters kept coming. Jeff ran out of ammo again and this time pulled a pistol from his pocket, popping three headshots off in the space of a few breaths, giving Jack the chance to retreat behind the short wall of pews. Still several more poured in, this time widening out their pattern making them harder to take quickly. Jeff reloaded his shotgun as the beasts struggled to push through the barrier, unable to figure out how to navigate over. Only one of these beasts had the cognition to step up and jump over, he lunged at Sarah but Jack was ready. Using the bent end of his crowbar he hooked its neck, both burying it into the neck and snapping it at the same time.

Jeff continued to shoot as Jack covered one side of the room, dispatching the zombie beasts with his brawn. The last few weeks had conditioned him for this and the adrenaline was pumping him up. Still more poured in, each one snarling and trying to get over the one in front, several getting trampled in the process. As valiant an effort as it was they were tiring and running low on ammunition. The undead were piling up around them and more were getting into the barricaded area. They fought with all their might and were slowly being backed up against the wall.

As Jeff fired a shot into one he went to fire at another, realizing too late he had miscounted. It was too fast for him to react and was on him, sinking his teeth into his forearm, tearing into his flesh and ripping the skin from bone. Jeff yelled out then slammed it with his fist. Knocking the beast down, then stomping its skull with his boot. Jack was concerned, but couldn't help his old friend, he had to keep on fighting. Jeff grasped his arm which spewed blood everywhere. He looked up with a growl of his own, pulling his shotgun off his back he lunged into the crowd of beasts swinging the stock of the gun into them. Beating them down and moving through them, receiving several more bites and scratches. He disappeared into the crowd.

"Jeff!" Sarah screamed out, followed by Jack. They both began killing with a renewed vigor, trying to save Jeff.

Then a shot rang out, then another and another. Then they heard the sound of automatic gunfire and yelling in what seemed to be English. The loud bangs made the beasts turn and move towards the door.

"Get down!" A voice rang out over the growls and snarls. Jack and Sarah dove down together into the wall. Gunshots rang out, blowing the walls to pieces and splattering the blood of zombies everywhere. Jack pulled the cloth over their heads, to shield them from the blood so they didn't get any in their eyes.

It took a minute or so but the shots stopped. They uncovered themselves and stood holding each other tightly. Looking at the strangers who stood among the bodies that littered the once clean room. Sarah was crying and scared, Jack moved in front of her, still holding his crowbar. "Who are you?" he said.

"Friends," said the black man smiling. "We've got a safe house nearby, we heard the gunshots and wanted in."

Jack looked first at the man in front of him and then back at Sarah. When they exited the church it was cold and wet, but the storm had ended.