by Spirit Of Vengeance and GoozX
The Dragon's Den bookstore, Monroeville, Pennsylvania:
Descending into the darkness, Vengeance was suddenly surrounded by a host of screaming zombies. Grabbing the nearest one by the neck, he gazed coldly into the dead eyes of the zombie. As if lit by some internal lamp, the zombie began to glow, and then crumbled into a pile of dust at the spirit's feet. The other zombies, sensing something different in the person standing before them, stopped in their tracks.
Deciding to push his luck, Vengeance advanced toward the pack of zombies. As he neared the group, the nearest one said, "Your days are numbered, living dead man. You shall be among our ranks. He will see to it."
"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," was his only reply. With that, he walked on into the darkness.
The courthouse:
"I'm sorry." As Tayden spoke, the young man was sure he saw a glow form around his body. He was sure for a moment he was talking to an angel. "What's your name?"
"Jason. Jason Hill." The young man's hand shook a little as he pushed it through his blond hair.
"Now, do you know what happened here?"
"No, I -- no." The boy paused, holding back a flow of emotions. "Look, I was on my way home to visit my parents. Things didn't end on the best terms, ya know? When I got here, the place was a ghost town. Finally I see someone, looks to be out in the street, but it was dark; I couldn't fully see. When I got to him, he was only the upper-half of a police officer. Just the upper-half, but he lived, was a monster of some sort. Then they came out of the woodwork. They flipped my pickup before I could hit the road, trapping me here. As I ran away, I tripped over the officer's legs and was able to arm myself with his gun and nightstick. There were so many of them, so many. I -- they..."
Jason dropped to his knees in tears. Tayden used his power to comfort him as much he could.
Priest wiped sweat from his forehead, and for at least a moment the room stopped spinning. He felt strong again. He joined Dirk Bell in boarding up the door.
"At least one of you sissies is gonna stop crying and help protect the place," Dirk mumbled, not facing the largely built man. "How're you even standing? A minute ago, you looked like you had the worst hangover I'd ever seen."
"My body has immunities to diseases YOU have never seen." Priest rubbed his wound. "I..." He paused, unsure of himself. "...should be just fine."
Priest held the last board up to the large entranceway as Dirk nailed it in. "This mission has gone to hell."
Dirk laughed. "When do they ever go normal?"
Priest shook his head. For a moment his mind drifted to another time.
He shuffled through his pants pocket, pulling out a flat silver watch aged with time. Engraved on it were the letters A.R.
Nodding his head, he continued his journey, walking past many men and women, walking directly toward a high wall covered in white light. Never stopping, he simply walked right through the wall, the light seeming to engulf him. Waiting on the other side was a man whom he had known all his life, a man one could only wish to work with, let alone be respected by. His weathered features speaking volumes of his life, yet not even cracking the surface of the full story, his story.
"Okay..." Grimm's voice broke Priest's attention. "...we have to secure the rest of the building for the meantime, until we can figure out how to contact the others."
Tayden glanced down at his cell. There was no signal. The stupid zombies probably ate the radar.
Grimm continued, "The problem outside takes precedence over the mission. We have to find some way to stop this -- disease -- from spreading outside the town."
"Noble words," Dirk smirked. "But if you hadn't noticed, we're low on ammo and manpower."
"We make do with what we have." Grimm glanced toward Tayden. "Tayden, Dirk, you two take Hill and look for anything useful in the upper level." Grimm turned toward Priest. "We'll hit the basement and do the same."
"We're taking orders from a skull?" Jason Hill whispered toward Dirk.
Dirk replied, "It's better than taking orders from a fat con man."
Hill just shrugged his shoulders.
Continued in Chapter 57: You Can Kill Me or You Can Save Her