The Demon Dead Read online

  “Maybe, but even if they don’t we can take care of ourselves.”

  Jimmy looked up at Derek studying his face.

  “I’m scared.”

  “We all are Jimmy, and that’s normal. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

  Jimmy seemed satisfied with Derek’s answers. “Can I go outside?” he asked.

  “I think we should stay in here for a while,” Derek answered. “Amy was upset. Lets give them some time alone.”

  John held Amy close for a long time. Her head buried in his shoulder. A lone tear rolled down his cheek from his watering eyes. He hoped she didn’t notice. He was conflicted. His wife was lying back there in the ashes of their house and he couldn’t get the image of the child that was never to be out of his head. And with all that he wasn’t quite sure if anything in his life ever felt better than the warmth of Amy’s body next to him at this moment. It wracked him with a sense of guilt.

  “John I’m sorry, I guess it just hit me all at once.” Amy said finally. “They’re dead aren’t they?”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “But they probably are. If they were alive they would have been waiting for us at the lake house. John, if my Father said he would be waiting for me there then he would either be there or die trying to get there.”

  “I wish I could tell you something to make you feel better but the truth of the matter is, we just don’t know.”

  “I know. And we may never know what happened. It hurts.”

  Amy sat up and took John’s hands in hers. She held them tight for a moment then looked him in the eyes.

  “Promise me you won’t take any crazy chances from now on ok. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you,” she said

  He didn’t quite know what to make of that, or what to say.

  Without being able to come up with anything more meaningful to say, he said. “Me too.”

  “You too what?” she asked.

  Damn it, he thought. Here he had a chance to say something chivalrous and all he could come up with was me too. He felt his face turning red.

  “I mean…I,” he stammered.

  Before he could speak any further she cut him off by leaning over and kissing him on the lips. Putting a hand on either side of his face, she looked into his eyes and said. “I know what you meant.”

  “Good,” he said smiling.

  He leaned in until their foreheads touched, closed his eyes and sighed.

  “Good,” he said again.

  John and Amy stayed that way for a few minutes then got up and went into the cabin. Derek and Jimmy had finished their meal and were looking through the boats cabinets.

  “Hey John, look what I found,” Jimmy said holding up a couple of baseballs and two baseball gloves, “there’s a bat too.”

  “Wow, maybe we can play some ball sometime soon,” John said.

  “Really?”

  “Sure when we get to the lighthouse. We can play on the beach.”

  “Ok, but I’m batting first.”

  “You got it.”

  “Found another set of binoculars too,” Derek added. A new pair hanging around his neck.

  “Great,” John said.

  After eating they all gathered at the table to decide what to do next. After what happened at the aquarium John wanted to go straight to the lighthouse. He didn’t want to take any more chances with everyone’s safety. Amy and Derek both wanted to continue around to the battery and look for survivors.

  In the end John lost the argument.

  “Look,” John said, “I’ll agree to this but, we go by once, and if we see no survivors we’re going straight to the lighthouse.”

  “Deal,” Amy said.

  “And, we don’t stop unless we absolutely have to. Period,” John said.

  “Hey isn’t that my line,” Amy said with a grin.

  “Right,” John said then laughed.

  Derek looked at them not sure what the joke was.

  “It’s an inside joke,” Amy said.

  “I don’t even want to know,” Derek said.

  John and Amy laughed again.

  “Ok let’s go. Time’s a wasting,” Derek said.

  “I’m coming too,” Jimmy said.

  “Ok buddy you go with Derek. We’ll be up in a minute. I have to reload the guns,” John said.

  Jimmy and Derek left the cabin and climbed back up to the bridge. John reloaded the rifle and handguns while Amy put new shells in the shotgun and stuffed more into her jacket pocket.

  John and Amy pulled the anchor up then joined Derek and Jimmy. The engines idled sending a comforting vibration through the boat. It felt good to feel the engines and be in control of the boat again Derek thought. John and Amy, with the binoculars, took their places to watch the shore for survivors. Derek put the props in gear and eased the throttle forward.

  “Let’s take it slow and easy Derek,” John said.

  The boat pulled away leaving the aquarium behind. John and Amy searched the city but saw nothing but the occasional zombie staggering around the streets. One lone zombie standing on the dock usually reserved for cruise ships walked off the edge and into the water trying to get to them. He struggled for a second then sank.

  “To bad we can’t tie up here and walk over to Market Street for some soft shell crabs,” John said longingly.

  “I don’t eat anything that looks like a fried tarantula,” Amy said.

  “Don’t knock it until you try it.” John said. “Hey Derek, blow the horn a couple of times.”

  Derek gave the horn two long blasts and cut the engine back to listen.

  “Do it again,” Amy said.

  Derek blew the horn again. Then Jimmy stood on his knees in the chair and pointed at St. Philips Church. The large steeple was plainly visible looming over the city.

  “The church bell. Someone rang the church bell,” he said.

  Derek turned the engines off completely letting the boat coast through the water. All was silent.

  Derek let go two more blasts from the horn. They sat still and listened. The church bell started to ring again.

  John trained his binoculars on the church steeple that rose eight stories above the ground. A sheet was hanging down from the railing at the top. In red was written “Rev. 16:1.”

  “There’s someone alive in the church,” John said.

  “I see it,” Amy answered.

  The bell fell silent.

  “Derek blow the horn one more time,” John said.

  Derek blew the horn again. The reply from the church came quickly.

  “John there’s someone in the steeple, look,” Amy said.

  John raised the binoculars again to see someone waving a towel with one hand while waving his other arm back and forth. John took his shirt off and stepped out onto the front of the boat waving it. Derek blew the horn one more time. The person in the steeple waved again. John climbed over the rail and back onto the bridge.

  “Derek I need you to stay with Jimmy and the boat. Amy we need to go get this guy. You up to it?”

  “No but I’ll go anyway,” she said smiling nervously, “aren’t you the guy who was never leaving the boat again?”

  “Well, it’s like this. Derek has to stay with the boat because neither one of us can drive it and we need to be able to get out of here in a hurry,” John said. “Derek you’ll need to drop us off on the dock then back out into the water and be ready to come back in and pick us up when we get back.”

  “You don’t want to tie up?” Derek asked.

  “Too dangerous. If we don’t come back, leave and go to the lighthouse like we planned. Keep your eye on the steeple. When we get there I’ll signal you with this rag,” John said holding up a bright yellow towel. “I’ll wait on you to reply with the horn so be paying attention. When we’re ready to come back I’ll signal you again.”

  “We’re not leaving without you,” Jimmy said getting out of the chair and putting his arms around John.

  John lean
ed down and gave him a quick hug. “We’ll be back,” he said, “We’re family now.”

  “You promise?”

  “Yep, I promise.”

  Derek started the boat and circled around to go back to the dock near the market. John and Amy readied themselves by checking their weapons, filling their pockets with extra ammo and putting some food and water into a backpack. John made sure the backpack was packed so as to make no noise then slung it over his shoulder and grabbed the rifle. He put the handgun in his waistband.

  “Ready?” he said looking at Amy.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Let’s do it,” John said patting Derek on the back.

  Derek glided in beside the dock and reversed the engines to stop.

  “Jimmy you make sure Derek doesn’t get into any trouble while we’re gone ok,” John said as he and Amy climbed down.

  “Ok,” Jimmy said looking down over the railing.

  “Good luck,” Derek added.

  “Thanks,” John said.

  John and Amy climbed out onto the dock and pushed the boat away.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Derek asked.

  John shook his head in the affirmative and gave a quick salute. Derek waved and pulled away from the dock, circled around and turned the boat to face in the direction of the church. His plan was to hold it there until they came back. To drop the anchor could cost them valuable time when they returned.

  On the dock John and Amy checked their guns and equipment. John made sure the backpack was tightly secured. They even retied their shoes to ensure they wouldn’t become untied during their journey.

  The church was three blocks from the water and two blocks over. John thought about trying to find a vehicle to make the short trip safer but quickly dropped that idea when he saw how clogged the streets were with abandoned cars.

  They had one pair of binoculars with them. They checked the area ahead. There were two zombies that John could see loitering around the intersection at this end of the market.

  “I see two. Just the regular type,” he said, “You’d think there would be more of them in the middle of the city.”

  “That is strange. Should we take them out now,” Amy asked.

  “No, that will just let whatever else is around here know we’re coming.”

  “Ok then, what’s your plan?”

  “We’ll go around the back of the building,” John said pointing to the U.S. Customs Building. “And to the left. From there it’s just a few blocks and a couple of turns to the church. We’ll go in through the alley and circle around to come in from the south side. The church is surrounded by a high iron fence that runs from the sides of the church all the way around to the back which borders an alley. There’s no fence in front but the doors are huge heavy wood doors and there’s a short iron gate right in front of them. It’s maybe three and a half feet tall. We’ll try the front door first. Hopefully the Rector will be watching for us.”

  “How do you know so much about it?” she asked.

  “I live here, remember? I’ve spent countless hours roaming these streets.”

  “Well, what if we can’t get in or even close to the church?”

  “Then we’ll backtrack and go back to the boat.”

  John checked the area again with the binoculars. The two zombies were still there. He put his hand on Amy’s shoulder and looked into her eyes.

  “Remember what you said? No taking chances ok,” he said. “We’ll take it nice and slow. Our goal is to get in and get out without alerting the crazies that we’re here.”

  “I have no desire to die today,” she said. “What if we run into another demon?”

  “Don’t kill it unless we have to. Just try to immobilize it.”

  “Leg shots?”

  “Right.”

  Crouching over they started out and made their way to the backside of the Customs building. A large granite and marble building with huge columns in front. Hugging the wall John eased up to the corner and peered around. The coast was clear.

  Whispering John said. “We’ll stay near the building until we get to the front corner then we’ll have to sprint across the parking lot and cross to the other side of East Bay Street. We’ll go down to the next corner and go right on Cumberland. That’ll take us to Philadelphia Alley behind the church,” he paused to look into her eyes again. “You afraid?”

  “Hell yeah. Aren’t you?”

  “A little,” John said turning to check their path again. “Let’s do it.”

  “John,” she whispered.

  John turned and was met by Amy’s lips. She kissed him gently then touched his face.

  “I had to do that,” she said, “just in case something happens and we don’t make it out of here.”

  John leaned in and gave her a quick kiss back.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll make it,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. Once again John felt the butterflies.

  Turning the corner they headed out along side the building and made their way to the front corner. John looked out toward the intersection at Market Street to see the two zombies still there. Neither looking in his direction. He motioned for Amy to stay put then ran across the parking lot and to the far side of the street.

  Checking again to make sure it was safe, he motioned Amy across. She joined him on the other side where they leaned against the building. Amy’s heart was racing as she fought to control her breathing. She felt as though she were hyperventilating.

  “Calm down and take a couple of deep breaths,” John whispered noticing her sudden distress. “We’re ok just relax.”

  “Yeah relax...” she gasped.

  Amy took a couple of deep breaths then signaled John to continue. John started up the street hugging the buildings along the way until they came to the next corner at Cumberland. After a quick check they turned right, went to the next corner and stopped. John peered around the corner of the convenience store and back toward the market. It was clear.

  They had to cover more open space to get across this street. Straight across from the convenience store was a gravel parking lot. And to the left were more buildings. John planned to cross over and stay beside the buildings to the left, cross the street again and make their way to the alleyway. The alley was midway between where they were now and the next block. It was a narrow, dark alley that should keep them hidden. His worst fear was being spotted. Especially if there were demons nearby. He motioned for Amy to follow. They would cross together this time.

  “Stay close,” he whispered.

  Crouching low they crossed the street to the other corner. They were exposed now on the side toward the store and parking lot. They stopped at the corner of the next street. He looked around the corner and to the left. Clear.

  John moved closer to Amy. “When we go we’re not stopping until we get to the alley. Ok?”

  Amy gave him a thumbs-up. Just as John was about to start for the other side he heard a familiar sound and stopped. Amy, who was following closely, bumped into him.

  “What is it?” she whispered.

  “Listen.”

  Clop, clop, clop. The sound echoed off the walls of the buildings. Clop clop clop. A slow cadence of horseshoes on the pavement. Peeking around the corner John couldn’t believe his eyes. Just turning the corner one block to the left and heading his way was a horse drawn carriage. John pulled Amy up to the corner to look. Her eyes grew wide as the carriage drew closer. The horse came into view first then seated behind it was the tour guide. A gomer, still going about his trade as he had in life. The horse walked slowly toward them. Clop clop clop.

  As the carriage came along side them John and Amy were startled to see that there were two passengers. Gomers also. An older couple, seated in the back. The man had a camera, his arm around his gomer wife.

  The three zombies were wide-eyed and unblinking. As they passed the driver tipped his hat and grunted a gree
ting.

  The gomer couple, staring, watched them until they could no longer turn their heads far enough around. John and Amy watched in silence until the carriage turned the next corner and disappeared.

  “Wow,” Amy whispered. “Was that cool or what?”

  “Cool?” John answered. “Are you kidding me?”

  “If I only had a camera…” Amy said.

  “Right, we would look back on this day and laugh.”

  “Something like that,” Amy said grinning.

  John frowned. “Let’s go.”

  They took off again crossing the street and hugged the wall down to the alley. They ran to the center and stopped, crouching on the brick path beside the wall of a small theater. They sat there for a second catching their breath.

  “We’re behind the church,” John said pointing up to the bell tower, “we need to go around to the front.”

  John walked over to a locked gate and looked through. He could see nothing. The church grounds were empty. They couldn’t risk calling out to anyone for fear of being noticed. The more he thought about it the more he realized they were in a bad spot. The streets were narrow enough, but now they were in an alley with ends that could be blocked easily.

  “Amy we could get trapped here.”

  “That’s what I thought but I didn’t want to say anything.”

  “Right.”

  John got up and started for the far end of the alley. Near the end he looked into a locked courtyard to the right. A six-foot concrete alligator was staring back at him from the side of a small pond and fountain. The courtyard was otherwise empty. At the end of the ally they checked the street to make sure it was clear and started toward the next block. At the corner they stopped and crouched down.

  John looked then jerked his head back and leaned against the side of the building.

  “Holy shit,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Take a look for yourself. Check out the cemetery.”

  Amy stuck her head around the corner. “Oh my God. We know why we’re not seeing more zombies now don’t we?”

  An eight-foot wrought iron fence surrounded the cemetery across the street from the church. The gate was padlocked. Inside the fence, like a mob of crazed English soccer fans, were what appeared to be thousands of zombies. They all looked like the standard issue zombie. Dumb and slow.