Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 2): A New Darkness (15 page)

Abraham Archer Armstrong, or Archie to his close
friends and family, all of which were dead, stood over the semi-dressed couple
who kneeled before him. He looked at them with a disapproving look.

“The shame of it. To be out here, in the good
Lord’s nature, going at it, like animals. It’s undignified.”

Chris struggled to explain that Amy was his
wife, his mouth gagged with a rotten t-shirt. He struggled against the hold of
Archie’s men.

“Fornication is a sin and there is no room for
fornicators in Beulah Land,” Archie continued.

His drugged-out lackeys nodded in agreement,
brainwashed by their leader and totally devoted to his teaching. And his supply
of crystal meth, heroin, and other drugs.

Archie leaned in close to Amy’s face. It took
everything in her not to cry, but she was tired of crying. She would cry no
more.

“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”
He asked, his breath hot against her cheeks.

Also gagged, she made no effort to speak, but
silently stared at her accuser.

Archie smiled, his teeth shining the way a
politician’s would on the campaign trail. He placed a finger on her face and
slowly ran it downwards, to her neck, and then resting it in between her
cleavage. His hand slid under her open shirt.

Every muscle in Chris’s body tightened, the two
men who held him back struggled to keep him down. He screamed through the gag.

Archie turned his smile towards Chris. One by
one, he ripped the remaining buttons from Amy’s shirt. Chris screamed again.

“Well, my daughter, your sins can be forgiven,
and you may join us in Beulah, but first you must atone. It’s not difficult, is
it boys?”

The two men nodded, but shame covered their
faces.

Archie began to unbutton his pants.

Chris broke free. He felt the rage he felt at
his house when his daughter was bitten. It coursed through his veins, like
tidal waves of anger. He snapped towards Archie, his hands ready to tear out
the man’s throat. That was exactly what he was going to do. He was going to
tear this man to pieces.

There was a loud crack and the rage began to
disappear. Amy screamed. Chris felt his body slow down and his strength left
him. Looking down, he saw red on his chest. His shirt was wet.

Archie leaned in close to Chris, who was gasping
for air and not finding it.

“May you rest in peace, son.”

And with that, everything went black.

***

When CJ returned with his grandparents, they
found his Aunt Laura with a gun pointed to her head. Dennis had one arm wrapped
around the pregnant woman; the other held a chrome Smith & Wesson pressed
tightly against her head. Virginia held a sawn off shotgun, pulled from
underneath her oversized jacket. She pointed it in their direction when they
stepped on the porch.

“Alright now! No funny business!” Dennis yelled.
“We don’t want things to get messy! Set the guns down!”

CJ looked at his grandfather. The man nodded and
CJ’s stomach twisted into knots.

“Do as he says, CJ.”

Reluctantly, CJ removed the rifle from his
shoulder and placed it on the ground next his grandfather’s weapon.

“That’s right. We don’t want things to get out
of hand, so why don’t y’all come down here, away from those weapons,” Dennis
said.

CJ and his grandparents walked down the steps.
CJ felt helpless without his gun. He should have not come back outside. He
should have stayed in and watched from a window. And when things went bad, he
could have shot them both.

Why didn’t I think of that sooner?
He thought.

“Now, y’all three just sit there and wait for my
boss man to get here. He’ll explain everything to you.”

As Dennis, finished speaking, CJ saw three
figures appear from the woods. None were his parents. It turned out to be three
men. Two of them were scrawny, like Dennis and Virginia.

The third man seemed to be in good health. He
was older, maybe as old as CJ’s grandfather. He had a graying beard and short
salt and pepper hair. His smile was as wide as his face. He wore a white
button-down shirt, tucked into a pair of blue jeans. His eyes fell on CJ.

“Hmm… I believe I just met your parents. It’s a
shame they won’t be able to join us in Beulah.”

“What?” CJ spat out.

The man continued to smile.

“Hello, my name is Abraham Archer Armstrong, but
y’all can call me Archie. I am somewhat of a prophet and a beacon of light in
these here troubled times. I was sent to this earth to lead the righteous into
Beulah Land. Where is this Beulah Land, you might ask? Well, thanks to you good
people, it’s right here beneath our feet.”

He lifts his boots up one at a time, inspecting
the ground beneath.

“Your parents were… unrighteous. They could not
be allowed to stay here in Beulah. It would contaminate the purity of this
refuge.”

“Wha-What are you saying?” CJ stammered.

“I’m saying, you’re parents are dead boy. You
better learn to accept that.”

Everything in CJ’s world began to spin. It
couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. His parents could not be dead. His stomach
turned and he felt the vomit rush up his throat.

“Let it all out boy, it will all be over soon.”

***

Archie held the glass of sweat tea up in the air
and inspected it. Condensation beaded up on the side of the cold glass, the ice
tinkling within the glass cup.

“It is truly amazing what you people were able
to accomplish here.”

He took a long sip from the glass.

“Could use a tad more sugar for my taste
though.”

CJ and his family were all bound and gagged. His
mouth was dry and his shirt wet from throwing up. The rope around his wrists
tore into his skin, burning with every pull he put on them.

“It is a shame it had to come to all this. If
this Joshua fellow had just accepted Dennis and Virginia, and done the
Christian thing, we would never have had to meet like this. But no,” Archie
spoke, after finishing his tea. “This was just the way it had to be. To have
all this comfort and not share it, in these end times, it is truly sinful.”

He walked over to the recliner and sat in it,
propping his feet up.

“Now, when do you expect this Joshua home?”

Silence. Archie motioned for one of his henchmen
to ungag Laura. She worked her jaw once it was free. Her eyes were red from
crying, but not from fear or sadness, but in anger.

“Well,” he said waiting for a response.

“Bite me,” Laura answered.

With a flick of the wrist, he motioned for her
to be re-gagged. She squirmed and fought, but was overpowered. Archie motioned
towards CJ’s grandmother. Her mouth was freed and he waited for her response.

“We… We don’t know…” She said.

“Mother!” Laura yelled through the rag.

Archie was to his feet quickly and laid the back
of his hand across Laura’s face. It hit with a loud “thwack.” She grunted and
held her head down.

“Let your mother speak!” Archie bellowed.

CJ felt something touch his hands. It was cold
and metallic. He recognized it almost instantly and eyed his grandfather. The
man eyes said to be quiet. CJ unfolded the knife and began to cut away at his
ropes.

“I don’t know!” Anne screamed. “He could be back
today, he could be back tomorrow! They went all the way to Statesboro! They
might not even come back!”

CJ felt the ropes loosen. His right hand was
free.

“They?” Archie asked.

“Yes, there are three others with him,” Anne
babbled on.

“Mother!” Laura said through the gag again.

She received another slap, this time putting her
to the floor, where she stayed.

CJ’s other hand was free. He placed the knife
back into his grandfather’s hand.

“Three others, hmm? Well, no bother. They will
answer for their own sins,” Archie said, sitting back down in the recliner.

He eyed Laura cautiously, waiting for her to try
and say something again. George began to mumble something through his gag.
Archie ordered for it to be removed.

“What is it old man?” He asked.

After letting the saliva build back up, George
looked at CJ.

“I just want to say something to my grandson, if
it’s okay with you to give him some words of comfort.”

“Go ahead,” Archie said, scratching his groin.

CJ looked at his grandfather. His eyes were warm
and loving. Despite everything that was happening, the man was on a different
level.

“CJ, no matter what happens, no matter what you
hear, you don’t stop running, you hear me?”

With that, George dove forwards with the knife,
plunging it into the chest of one of the junkies.

“RUN, CJ! RUN!”

CJ summoned every molecule of energy in him and
bolted for the back door. He clipped the dying junkie, sending him sprawling
into the others. His legs burned as he ran as fast as he could. He hadn’t run
this hard since football practice, which seemed like eons ago. He flew through
the back door, down the porch, and past the old Oak tree. Despite hearing
gunshots behind him, he did not disobey his grandfather’s last wish. He did not
stop running.

The sun was falling quickly in the winter
Georgia sky. The bright, blood-orange orb began its dip below the towering
pines. The air was cool, but had warmed from the morning ride.

Tori sat in the back of the truck, her back to
the cab, her face towards the three newcomers on the opposite side. Officer
White sat with his back to the tailgate, a mirror image of Tori. His partner
and their “prisoner”, lay sprawled out, Black’s head cradled in his folded
arms, and José asleep on his side.

Tori and White stared at each other, both sizing
one another up. Tori had a hard time believing their story.

They were gone all day and when they came back,
everyone was gone?
She
thought.
It doesn’t make any sense. Well, none of this still makes sense.
They’re cops, Tori. They’re not going to lie about something like that. Would
they?

“So, Tori, was it?” White asked.

She nodded.

“This place we’re going to, it’s pretty safe?”

She nodded again.

“How long have you people been there?”

He waited for her to answer. After biting her
tongue for several minutes, Tori decided that White was not going give up on
the conversation. He continued to stare at her, waiting.

“We’ve been there for a month. The four of us.
Josh’s family got there a week before we did.”

“I see, so they got there pretty quick after
things started,” White said.

“Yes, but they lost Josh’s niece in the process,”
Tori added.

White closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

“Hmm… I’m sorry to hear that. What about you? Do
you have family?”

Tori nodded. She thought about her father often,
whether he was still alive or not. Every now and then, she would get the
thought in her head to try to make an expedition to go find him, just her and
Lexx. Parris Island just seemed so far away. She felt bad that, if he was still
alive, he had no way of knowing that his daughter was alive as well.

“Yes,” she said. “My father was stationed on
Parris Island. I haven’t seen him since.”

“Semper Fi,” Black said, his eyes still closed.
“He’s a Marine; he’s still alive.”

Tori smiled.

“I like to think so,” she said.

“I was in the Marines. Did my time there,” Black
said.

“Oh, maybe you knew my father, Drill Instructor
Hays?”

Black opened his eyes and sat up.

“That old hardass is still there?” He asked,
laughing.

“So, you did know my father,” Tori said, her
smile growing wider.

“Know ‘em? That man made me the man I am today!
Don’t you worry; I am one hundred percent positive that man is still alive.
Nothing could kill old Hardass Hays!”

Tori let out a short chuckle.

“So, he’s responsible for you?” White asked his
eyebrow raised.

“Hey, my ninja, don’t be hatin’,” Black said,
laying back down in the truck.

“How many times do I tell you? That’s not cool,”
White said

Black did not respond, but only smiled.

White looked at Tori and shook his head. She
smiled back. Although he was clearly younger than Black, Officer White seemed
light-years ahead of Black in maturity.

The truck slowed and came to a stop.

We must be here,
Tori thought.

When Josh stepped out of the truck, Tori didn’t
think anything of it; she just assumed he was unlocking the gate. She saw him
out of the corner of her eye standing there.

“Did I- I, I locked the gate right?” He asked.

She turned to look at him. He stood in front of
the gate, which was wide open. He turned and looked at everyone in the truck.

“I locked it right?” He asked again, his voice
growing louder and desperate for an answer.

“Yeah man, I remember you locking the gate.
Right, Tori?” Lexx said, standing up in the bed.

“Yes…” She said. “You did.”

He walked over to the iron gate. Plywood covered
the outside, lining up with the rest of the outer wall. Kneeling down, Josh
picked something up off the ground. He held up the lock with the chain still
attached to it. Someone cut through a link in the chain. His mouth was open in
disbelief, fear flashing before his eyes.

“Josh…” Tori said, but it was too late.

He took off running down the darkening driveway
towards the cabin.

***

Jeremy got out of the truck and stared at Lexx
and Tori. They both looked in shock.

“What do we do?” He asked.

“Get in the truck and we’ll go after him. Drive
slow, it’s getting dark and we don’t want to hit him,” Tori said.

Jeremy looked down the driveway.

“I don’t even see him anymore,” he said,
squinting into the darkness.

Tori picked up her rifle from the truck bed.

“Just drive slow,” she said.

He nodded and ran around to the driver side
door. He drove the truck down the dirt path slowly, as Tori had instructed.
Even with the headlights on the bright setting, he still did not see Josh
anywhere.

How could he run that fast?

Jeremy began to worry about what they would find
at the end of the driveway.

Did the zombies get in? No, someone cut the
chain. Who would have cut the chain?

His mind raced. Something up ahead near the road
caught his eye. He slowed the truck and stopped, as he got closer.

He put his hand up to his mouth and got out of
the vehicle.

Slumped up against a tree, were Chris and Amy.
Both were half-dressed and covered in blood.

No, no, no…
He thought as he walked over to their
bodies.

Tori and Lexx jumped out of the back of the
truck, Black and White standing in the bed. Tori put her hand up to her mouth;
Lexx was blank-faced.

“There’s… There’s no bite marks…” Jeremy
stuttered. “They… They were shot.”

Carved into the bark above them was the word
“sinners”. A trail of blood snaked its way from the woods. They were dragged
and put in that position.

“We have to get to the house,” Tori said.

Jeremy nodded and waited for them to climb back
into the truck before he pulled away.

Who would do this?

***

Josh ran, the tears flowing freely down his
face. He pushed harder, his legs burning. He had not run this fast in a long
time. Something was pushing him. Some strength that was not his. He felt it
filling his blood like lead. His heart echoed like thunder within his chest.

He had found Chris and Amy’s bodies slumped
against the tree. He stopped only briefly, only taking in what had happened.

They were murdered.

He did not know why or who did this, he only
hoped he could reach the house before anyone else was hurt.

If they touch Laura,
he thought.

Trees zipped by, dust kicked up behind him. He
felt the muscles not only in his legs tighten, but his whole body seemed to
pulse with anger. He could feel the pain of his muscles tearing themselves down
and building back up, but his brain simply ignored it. As far as he was
concerned, the pain did not exist.

His lungs sucked in air, filling his lungs with
the cool evening air. The sky glowed with the day’s last bit of light, night
taking over.

He knew what was happening within in him.

It was the rage.

Although, he knew what it could bring, he
welcomed it. His mind raced with possible outcomes.

A voice inside his head begged him not to give
into it.

He ignored it.

He burst into the clearing, the house in front
of him. He ran across the open field.

Something was laying in the ground in front of
the house. His eyes adjusted slowly, and as he got closer, it became evident
what the objects were.

Laying in the dirt were the bodies of his wife
and her parents.

He went to scream the word, “No,” but only
silence escaped his lungs in a pained gasp. Waves of emotion rolled over him.
He ran up to his wife’s body and picked her up into his arms. Her skin was
still warm to the touch, but her body was losing its heat rapidly. Blood
covered her abdomen. He looked down at her red-stained dress and began sobbing.

“No, no, no…”

She opened her eyes.

“Joshua…” She whispered, through cracked lips.

“Oh, Laura! Who did this?” He cried out.

Her eyes looked at the house and then back at
him.

“I… I love you…”

She closed her eyes again and he felt the breath
leave her.

His whole body shook as he pulled her close into
his chest.

“No, no, no, they’re not mine, they’re not
mine…” he started mumbling.

He clenched his eyes shut. This could not be
happening.

“Ah, I see you’ve found your way home,” a voice
said.

Josh looked up. Through his bloodshot eyes, he
saw a stranger standing on the front porch.

The man began to make his way casually down the
stairs. Josh had never seen this man before in his life. He was wearing a
clean, white dress shirt tucked into blue denim jeans. The man stopped only
feet away from Josh.

“My name is Abraham Archer Armstrong, and I’m
sorry this is the way we had to meet.”

Josh moved his mouth, but no sound came out.

“You may know my associates,” the man continued.
“Dennis and Virginia. They reached out for your help and you rejected them.”

The junkies?
Josh thought.

“You turned them away from this refuge and left
them out in the world to die. They would just so happen to run into me the next
day, and unlike you, I did the Christian thing and accepted them for who they
were. I fed their needs. I saved them.”

Josh couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“They told me about you and the way you treated
them. We were surprised when we found you, what you could not share with them.”

He turned and raised his hand to the house.

“To think, Beulah Land, right here. Safety.
Refuge. And you rejected the least of these.”

Josh laid his wife down.

“You did this?” Josh asked his eyes set on his
wife’s face.

“Joshua, you have done this to yourself. This is
the just judgment for your sins. The Lord sent me into this world to lead the
righteous and the cast off ones into the refuge of Beulah land. You stand in
the way of that plan.”

The man pulled out his pistol and leveled it at
Josh’s head.

“Soon, this place will be for all people and not
just you and your family. My associates are tracking down your nephew as we
speak and he will join the rest of them.”

“CJ’s alive?”

“For now. But know this,” the man said, leaning
in close to Josh. “He won’t be for long. He’ll join all the rest of you.”

The man pulled the hammer back on his gun. He
expected Josh to attack after that remark.

What he did not expect was Josh to move as fast
as he did.

***

Jeremy pulled the truck out of the woods and
into the open area around the cabin. The high-beams fell onto the drive way
ahead of him and Jeremy watched as Josh sprung forward, pulling the hatchet
from his side, and removed the hand from a man in front of him. Jeremy saw the
glint of a gun in the moonlight as the hand flew through the air.

He stopped the truck and got out, running
towards Josh.

He watched as the man stared at Josh, shocked at
the speed of his movements. Jeremy didn’t understand how he was able to move so
fast.

Josh reared back with the hatchet and planted it
in the man’s chest. The man’s eyes went wide. His arm went up to block the
attack critical seconds too slow. Josh yanked back on the small axe and swung
again, severing the other limb between the elbow and forearm. He pulled back
and swung again. And again. And again.

Jeremy saw the pile of bodies near Josh and
realized that Laura was one of them.

Oh no,
he thought.

Josh fell to his knees, next to pieces of the
man that stood there only a minute ago. Gore covered him, tears washing away
the blood on his face. He screamed into the night’s air.

Jeremy walked over to Josh slowly. His friend
sat there, heaving and sobbing.

“What did I do?” he mumbled.