“What is it?”
Zeke pointed into the trees and Anna saw a woman chewing on the corpse of a young boy. Clumps of long straggly hair hung from her dishevelled head. A one legged girl crawled towards the human platter and started to feast as well, clawing at the corpse’s stomach and pulling out loops of intestine that she fed into her mouth.
Anna backed away, hands at her mouth, eyes wide and terrified. She moved slowly, trying not to attract attention.
“What’s going on?” Ben called.
Both the woman’s and the child’s heads snapped up, gore hanging from their mouths. The woman lurched to her feet and staggered towards Anna while the girl pulled herself along the ground like an obscene slug.
Lucy screamed.
Attracted by the noise, another figure stumbled out of the trees, a large man with his lower jaw hanging at an odd angle. Then another figure appeared, and another.
Anna turned. “Run,” she shouted.
People lumbered from the trees on all sides. Men, women and children. Their skin colour came in shades of grey and purple, some even had a greenish tinge. The flesh on many of them was dropping off, like macabre snakes shedding their skin and bones, and organs were visible on some. They groaned in unison, the sound like a low rumble of thunder. Ben stood watching them in awe as they approached. Zeke grabbed Lucy’s hand and dragged her behind him.
Anna scooped up Ben as she passed, but the extra weight slowed her down. A man snatched at her arm, causing her to stumble, but she managed to stay on her feet.
With nowhere to go, the figures surrounded them on all sides and started closing in. Anna huddled together with her children, all of whom, except for Ben, looked terrified. Her heart hammered inside her chest and her throat felt parched.
The sudden sound of a gunshot christened the morning air. Anna jumped and stared wide eyed as men and women on horseback galloped towards them along the road.
More shots rang out as the riders, dressed in khaki clothes, opened fire, sending the figures flying. The newcomers were armed with a variety of guns. Behind them trundled a horse drawn wagon that housed a large gun.
A bullet tore through a man at Anna’s side, spinning him around, but he remained on his feet until another bullet pierced his head and he dropped to the ground.
One of the riders rode through the figures, the horse knocking into them and sending them flying. Anna hugged Ben to her chest and jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding being struck by the horse. A woman grabbed Zeke’s arm and leaned in to bite his neck when a bullet ripped through her head, splattering Zeke’s face with gore. The woman released her grip and dropped to the ground.
“This way,” Anna said, pulling her family to the tree line.
One of the horses reared up in front of Anna, its front hooves inches from her face. Anna let out a little squeal. As the horse settled, she stared up at the man in the saddle. He appeared to be around mid-thirties, muscular, with black hair and a thick beard. He had an unlit cigar drooping from the corner of his mouth and he wore a large brimmed, camouflaged hat that he tipped in her direction.
A scrawny bald man lumbered towards the man on horseback. The rider nonchalantly withdrew a handgun and sat with it across his lap. He watched the man approach. When he was only feet away, he raised the gun and fired, the bullet punching a hole out of the back of the man’s skull.
Anna cowered down, arms wrapped protectively around her children. She heard the clump of feet and glanced up to see the man had dismounted. He swaggered towards her and stopped a few feet away. He withdrew a lighter and lit the cigar, puffing for a few seconds before exhaling a cloud of smoke.
“You can never get rid of that fuckin’ smell,” the man said.
Anna frowned.
“Death. The stench covers everything out here in the dead world.” He puffed out more smoke. “Anyway, name’s Captain Jones.”
Anna swallowed. “Thank you… for saving us.”
“All in a day’s work.”
Lucy peered up. “Who are you people?”
“We’re dead folks’ worst enemy. We make sure the dead stay dead.”
Ben wriggled free and stood up. Tears glistened in his eyes. “You kill Gods.”
Jones scowled. “Gods?”
Ben pointed at a fallen figure, giving Jones a ‘duh’ expression. “The immortals.”
Jones and some of his men exchanged looks and laughed.
“Just ‘cause something don’t die first time don’t make it no God, son. These here are the devil’s work.” He kicked a nearby corpse in the head. Ben cringed and turned away. “I don’t know where you get your fancy ideas, but look at it, boy. C’mon, look at it.”
Ben slowly turned back and stared at the corpse.
“This ‘ere critter ain’t no more than a sack o’ meat. I don’t know how you been raised, but where I come from, the only good zombie is a dead zombie.”
“Zombie?” Anna said.
Jones sucked on his cigar. “Ya’ll been livin’ in a fuckin’ cave?”
Ben shook his head. “No, Sanctuary.”
Jones regarded him quizzically.
Anna pulled Ben behind her, shooting him a look. “The Go— zombies, the zombies, what are they?”
“Well these folk carry some sort of virus that brings ‘em back to life. One of ‘em bites yer, yer gonna be just like ‘em. Ain’t nothin’ Godlike about it.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I read about the virus. Hundreds of years ago, an epidemic swept the world. We’ve been fightin’ the bastards ever since.”
Ben still appeared dubious.
A woman jogged across and saluted. “Captain Jones, the area’s secure.”
Jones nodded.
“Thank you again for saving us. If you hadn’t come along…”
“My pleasure.” Jones turned to his troupe. “OK, round ‘em up.” He circled his hand above his head, one finger raised.
A group of men ran forwards and grabbed Anna and her family and started leading them to the trees. Lucy screamed. Jones watched in disinterest, puffing on his cigar.
“What’s going on?” Anna shouted as she struggled.
Zeke wrestled against his captors, but one of the men punched him in the face, splitting Zeke’s lip.
Lucy started crying. Anna noticed people in the tree line, and as she got closer she saw they were all shackled together in a long line. They seemed dejected, beaten, and malnourished. A soldier attached shackles to Anna and her family’s ankles and wrists.
“Why are you doing this? We haven’t done anything. Please, let us go,” Anna said as she fought back tears.
Lucy rattled the shackles on her wrists. “Mum, Mum. What’s going on?”
An old woman manacled in front of Lucy tutted. “Crying won’t do you any good.”
“Who are those people?” Anna asked. “Where are they taking us?”
“They call themselves The Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and believe me, you’re better off not knowing where we’re going.”
“I’ll decide what I’m better off not knowing. Now tell me.”
A young man with a bruised face and one eye swollen almost shut, shook his head. “The women they’ll sell as sex slaves. The men… just slaves. And that’s the best option.”
Lucy’s face dropped. “What’s he mean, sex slaves?”
A lump formed in Anna’s throat.
“Mum?”
“Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen to you. We’re going to get out of this. I promise.”
The old woman cackled. “Promises are easy to make, but hard to keep. There’s no escape. Believe me, people have tried.”
“They obviously haven’t tried hard enough.”
The woman shook her head.
A man on horseback turned in his saddle. “Quiet back there”.
“OK,” Jones shouted. “Let’s move out.”
The line of people started shuffling along, the rattle of chains drowning out Lucy’s sobs.