...Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away.

Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
(Zechariah 14:2)

Chapter 1

I came around slowly, and I remembered nothing.

I looked about

groggily, and could see that I was in what appeared to be a huge warehouse. I was on a cement floor, propped up against the wall, and Many of them were broken open, Most of the objects

piled everywhere were huge crates.

with their contents spilling out onto the floor.

appeared to be farm equipment, such as an ancient pitch fork, hedge trimmers, and some other tools that I couldnt name. I could also

see a wood chipper in one corner of the room, and several tractors were parked against one wall. Most interesting were a number of I could hear But none of

corpses on the floor in various stages of decay.

something thumping against the outside of the structure.

this really concerned me much as I slowly rose from my seat on the floor, for I could smell something through the scent of decay. I

could tell that there was some fresh meat nearby, and I was famished. Slowly I got to my feet, trying to shrug off the effects of my sleep. The floor seemed to be moving under me, but I knew it would I pushed aside a few Before me

get better after I had found something to eat.

crates to find what I was looking for, and there it was.

was a man, lying on his side and bleeding profusely from multiple wounds. He looked pitiable, but I knew that he wouldnt last much I knelt next to him and turned him

longer anyway, and I needed food.

over, considering the best way to end his misery before I began my

meal.

The man looked up at me, not in fear, but more in sadness.

He

opened his mouth and muttered something so quiet that I almost couldnt hear it. tell me something. Finish it, he said faintly. He smiled weakly at me, before he closed his eyes. I didnt I looked at him, wondering if he was trying to

know quite what had happened, but I felt a strange sense of dj vu as I looked down at the body. couldnt quite figure out why. I felt I should know this man, but I I almost felt sad seeing him die. I bent

But my mind didnt linger long on this, for I was ravenous.

over and bit into his neck, hoping to spare him any more pain, should he still have some life in his body. I had barely swallowed my first

mouthful when I heard a large crack, and I turned to see what had caused the disturbance. A large man, or what I assumed had once been

a man, was stepping through a hole in the wall a good distance from myself. His body was almost completely devoid of skin, and his bones He was missing both eyes, but I

were sticking out in many places.

could tell by the way he sniffed the air and the presence of large, prominent muscles that the thing could still be a dangerous opponent. Go! he yelled. I eat first, new zombie eat last. Several more things, zombies, as the creature had called them, slowly filed in behind him. They must all have been as hungry as I

was, but they were obeying this creature and hanging back, waiting for him to get his fill. Away! he growled again.

I realized that he was talking to me.

It took me a moment to I myself was a

wrap my head around this new piece of information.

zombie now, and I was facing the alpha zombie and his personal hoard. By now six zombies were behind this hulking beast, growling threateningly. Another zombie hung back, looking at me with an But that

expression I couldnt quite put a name to, perhaps hope. didnt make any sense. Back! the hulking zombie yelled again.

All of these creatures were obviously well past their undead prime, and the hunk of flesh I had eaten had been enough to rejuvenate me from my earlier state of lethargy. let these mummies push me around. No, I said back. The zombies all looked at each other, obviously not quite sure what to do. The leader snapped out of it first, and after a moment I decided not to

pointed at me and let out a quick, sharp sound almost like a bark. His six zombies all began advancing towards me, although I noticed that neither the straggler nor the alpha made a move. what these creatures were up to. I wondered

But I didnt have very long to

think, for as slow as they were, the distance between myself and them was shrinking at an alarming rate. nothing looked useful. I looked around for a weapon, but

Thinking quickly, I grabbed one of the rotten

corpses near me and threw it at the zombies with all my strength. Two of them were knocked to the ground by the body, but I knew they would recover soon to rejoin their companions. Quickly ducking

behind a pile of boxes, I hoped to buy myself some time to find a more effective weapon. The creatures were taken by surprise when I threw the body, but they recovered very quickly and redoubled their efforts to destroy me. They began to move in on my hiding spot, as I made my way to a I could see the alpha zombie moving towards

second pile of crates.

the corpse that was rightfully mine, and I knew I would have to take care of these lackeys quickly. I saw a forklift nearby, and the An idea struck

zombies were approaching my second place of refuge. me then.

I lurched towards the forklift, hoping I could get there I made it in The key

before those zombies got around the pile of crates.

plenty of time, and pulled myself into the drivers seat.

was still in the ignition, and I slammed my foot on the gas pedal. The vehicle rushed forward, still operational after God knows how long, crashing hard into one of the piles of crates. My plan worked beautifully. The already unstable pile toppled from the blow, falling on top of the four hapless zombies, pinning them to the ground. The two who

I had hit with the skeleton had pulled themselves to their feet by then and were moving towards me. I turned the forklift to face them.

They didnt have time to do anything before I had run them both over, crushing their already mangled bodies into useless piles of flesh and bone. The straggler I had noticed earlier continued to avoid me. That left only the big zombie I

decided to leave the creature alone. to deal with.

I turned my forklift towards where I had last seen him, but to my surprise he was no longer there, nor was he on top of my precious dinner. I looked around for him, and saw nothing except crates and A sound came from my left, and I turned to look. A

farm supplies.

crate hit me straight in the face and knocked me from my forklift and sent me sprawling to the ground. I threw the crate off just in time,

to see the large zombie clambering into the forklift and turning it towards me. I considered running, but this wasnt just about the food. was personal now, and I couldnt back down. This

He sent his forklift

zooming towards me, and I rolled out of the way just in time to avoid becoming a zombie pancake. He hit into a stack of crates, which I heard him yell as he tried to Thinking he wouldnt be able

tumbled over on top of his vehicle. find a way out of the pile of crates.

to get out any time soon, I walked back to the corpse which we had been fighting so hard over. But I hadnt taken more than a few bites

when I was knocked to the ground by a large body, that of the alpha zombie. I tried to push him off me, but he had a better vantage He began to snarl and gnash his I held him back with both But his teeth were slowly A pang of fear shot

point, and he was larger than I was.

teeth, trying to bite my face and neck. hands, trying to keep him away from me. getting closer.

I looked into his eye sockets.

through me as I looked into those cold, empty holes. I let out a scream, and with all my might I kicked upwards, finally knocking him off. I pulled myself to my feet, hoping that I

hadnt taken any significant damage.

The big creature was up almost

as soon as I was, and I knew that I couldnt beat him through brute force. He began walking towards me with the slow limp of an elderly A crate near

zombie, and I looked around for a weapon of any kind.

me had been broken open by the collision with the forklift, and inside were a pitchfork and a hoe. turned to face my enemy. I grabbed the pitchfork and

He paused for a moment and listened,

probably trying to figure out what I had just picked up. I didnt give him a chance to figure it out as I lurched forward and stabbed him with it, knocking him to the ground again. out a bellow of frustration as I pinned him to the ground. He let I heard

some sounds behind me, and turned to see two of the zombies I had pinned underneath the stack of crates pulling themselves out of the heap. They glanced towards me, before slowly backing away. I began

to move after them, but stopped and turned to look at the big zombie pinned to the floor. What I saw surprised and startled me. He was

struggling hard against the pitchfork, and the cement floor was beginning to break up. With a large crack, the pitchfork came out of He stood up and pulled it out If I still had

the ground and freed the big zombie.

of his stomach, spilling a black liquid everywhere. had a gag reflex I would have puked.

But I didnt, and so I prepared myself to fight this foe again. He hurled the pitchfork at my head, and I ducked to avoid it. When I

looked up, he was barreling towards me much faster than I would have thought possible for a corpse as rotten as he was. I threw myself to

the side, and he turned to charge at me again. nowhere, and I wasnt quite sure what to do. I jumped out of the way again. moved out of the way again.

This was getting He made his charge, and

He charged towards me again, and I

It was almost like a deadly dance.

As he made another pass, I heard the sound of the wood chipper starting up behind me. I wasnt quite sure why the chipper had If I could trick him into

started, but I knew what I had to do.

falling into the machine, I could turn it on and utterly destroy him. I planted myself in front of it, and waited for the charge. himself at me, and I jumped out of the way. He threw

But I was a little too

soon, and he managed to change his directory in time to avoid falling head-first into the open mouth of the machine. Unfortunately, he was

quicker than I expected, and he had me in his grip before I had time to react. You will learn your place, he said quietly. I knew this wasnt going to end well. Maybe there was a zombie I wondered if I But I

heaven somewhere that I would go to if he killed me.

had been a good enough zombie to get in even if there was.

didnt have much time to muse, as he grabbed my head with one hand, and slowly began to twist my neck. then it would be over. dead either. I knew it would break soon, and

I would be dead, and not the living type of

But my demise was cut short when a large metal pipe

crashed down on the other zombies head, hard enough to crack his skull and send a good deal of zombie goo flying. down, releasing his grip on me as he went limp. The ghoul went I collapsed to the

floor, taking deep breaths out of pure instinct. savior.

I looked up at my

What I saw was the straggler who had been following the big guys group. The straggler was slightly on the small side, although His body was missing almost all of its His right eye was so

he looked fairly well-toned.

skin, and he was missing his left eye.

shriveled and glazed over that I half suspected it was just as useless as the empty socket. The teeth were slightly oversized,

although they may have simply looked that way because of his shriveled gums. All his facial features were held together by a thin All of the wounds on his body were

covering of desiccated skin.

leaking a thick black liquid that soaked his oversized and torn green t-shirt. Thank you, I said. No problem, He replied cheerily. I no like them. me, I help you. I hadnt met many zombies yet, and had barely had any time to get to know this one, but he seemed a bit quirky compared to how I figured most of them acted. grateful to him. Still, he had saved my life, and I was You help

He helped me to my feet, and we went back to where We ate much of the body that the whole fight Then, it

I had left the corpse.

had been over, before it took on a very unpleasant taste.

slowly began to stir, and we were forced to stop eating because it had turned into another zombie. The new zombie looked up at us for a

moment, then opened its mouth and let out a little whisper, its

damaged lungs and diaphragm straining to make even that much sound. It flopped over, its lower body going limp as its already damaged spinal chord broke under the strain, and began to pull its self towards the hole in the wall that the other zombies had made. I

decided not to follow it; it would be easier to feed two zombies than three. Maybe we go now, said my companion. Zombies dont stay dead long. They come back, unless you cut off head. Then they stay dead.

We should go now, before Big Man comes back. This was an interesting piece of news for me, and I stored it away for future reference. I wondered what would become of the two

zombies I had run over with the forklift for a moment, but quickly concluded that even if they could ever function again they would never be a threat to me. Only the alpha zombie would ever be a

problem, and I considered making a permanent end to him with the wood chipper, but I decided against it. If I didn't need to kill the

helpless zombie, I really didn't want to. I only realized that I had totally zoned out when I was brought out of my trance by the sound of a car starting up. I looked through

the whole in the wall where the other zombies had come in, and saw my new companion sitting at the wheel of an old pick-up truck. You get in, he said. We want be somewhere safe before dark.

He paused for a moment before adding, They like to hunt our kind this time of year. I was slightly taken aback. There was something that preyed on

zombies?

That didnt make any sense, there was nothing about a

zombie that was remotely pleasant tasting, and my instincts told me that most creatures would die from eating zombie meat. Still, my new friend seemed to be genuinely frightened by the prospect of meeting this enemy. He had been here much longer than I had, and I assumed I got into the passenger side, and began

he knew what was going on.

to wonder how he would drive with only one near-useless eye to see by. This could get interesting.

Chapter 2

The zombie, George, turned out to be a fairly good driver, even if he wasnt on the road about half the time. And somehow, he

continued to talk while driving, so much that I suspected he would have suffocated if he had needed air. to contemplate what had happened to me. I slowly zoned out and began I didnt know anything at

all about who I had been, but I sensed that my former self had known the dead man whom I had so recently devoured. friends. If I could only remember my past, then I could figure it all out. I began feeling around the pockets of my leather coat and In one of my pockets, my hand I pulled it out of my Perhaps we had been

jeans, hoping to find anything useful.

came into contact with a small, flat object. pocket, and it turned out to be a wallet. face for the first time. woman.

Opening it up, I saw my

There was a photo of myself and a young

I had been a young man, between the ages of 17 and 18.

I was My

clean-shaven, although there was a slight five oclock shadow.

hair was a brownish color, falling in a messy way over my forehead and long enough to hide my ears. anyway. muscles. Somehow it looked good on me

I was a fairly tall man, with broad shoulders and well-toned The girl with me looked to be about my own age, with a mop We were both wearing casual

of blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes.

clothing, and we were standing in front of a brick wall.

For some

reason, neither of us was smiling in the picture, and the girl in particular had a strangely hunted look, like she was expecting an attack at any minute. As George chattered on about all the things we would do together and how we would become the masters of all zombies, something he said caught my attention. Did you say vampires, I asked. sounded eerily familiar. Yes, he replied, lowering his tone. enough. Vampires are horrible monsters. You see them soon They keep all the humans Something about this word

for themselves, and they come through with their big cars and take zombies away. Maybe vampires eat them, or maybe they take zombies No one ever see them again. But zombies fight, We soon not need be

away to hurt them.

and we destroy vampires soon, then we eat them! scared.

His speech droned on through the rest of the ride, but now I was interested. I now knew what we were running from, and something told But I couldnt

me that I had encountered such creatures before.

quite bring to memory exactly how, or even what a vampire looked like. A number of images ran through my mind, all of them humanoid The strangest thing I imagined was a

to one degree or another.

teenager with no shirt standing in a field glittering, which was about as ridiculous as I could imagine. But somehow, I was fairly

sure that whatever these creatures really were they wouldnt be

pleasant. powerful.

If zombies feared them, the creatures had to be amazingly A cold shiver ran down my spine as the idea of something

powerful enough to terrify a zombie sank in. These thoughts were still running through my mind, and George was still carrying a one-sided conversation as we pulled up to a curb next to an old apartment building, smashing into the discarded car in front of us. Thankfully, our airbags werent functional. We stepped

out of the car, and I examined my surroundings.

The city seemed to

be almost completely overgrown, and several buildings had collapsed as trees grew through their floors. There were cars strewn

everywhere, obviously abandoned as people fled for their lives. There were a number of zombies wandering aimlessly about. Overhead,

the sun was slowly beginning to set, and the sky was turning a redorange color. George and I walked up to the door of the ancient building. pulled a key out of one of his pockets and pushed it into the keyhole. The door groaned in protest as he slowly pushed it open. All I could make out were vague He

Inside it was nearly pitch black. shapes in the gloom.

This where I stay when not hunting, George said. show you something.

Come, me

He started to walk away, before realizing that I couldnt see in the dark. You learn to use your other senses soon, but use flashlight till then, he said.

He reached under his shirt and I heard a sickening rip as he fished around for the light. His hand came out from under the shirt I took it

holding a small object that was covered in a black slime. from him with a moments hesitation and flicked it on.

The dim beam

cut through the darkness, revealing the mess of overturned chairs and broken tables piled haphazardly in the corners of the small check-in area. In the middle of the room was a small pile of bones, most

likely the remains of a cat or small dog I thought, thoroughly cleaned of flesh, and many of them had been broken and the marrow sucked out. My companion was obviously desperately in need of more

substantial meals. He led me through the wreckage to a staircase, and we proceeded to make our way to the second floor. apartments that faced the street. We entered one of the

This room was surprisingly wellThere was

kept, and there was a work table at one side of the room. even a lamp.

This where I is making something special, George told me. Soon, zombies no be pushed around anymore. invincible. He pulled a large box out from under the worktable, and I went over to take a look. Inside the box there were a number of unusual These make zombies

mechanical devices, with a nasty assortment of spikes, small firearms, and circular saws. I wasnt quite sure what I was looking

at, but these unusual devices looked like they might be interesting. This one nearly finished, George said as he pulled a wicked

looking buzz saw and an unusual looking metal cup out of the box. It replace zombie hand, he explained. Zombies heal quick, so

maybe if me stick this on the end of cut-off zombie limb, it stick to arm. The saw works, and can cut through anything! I was pretty sure he was exaggerating about the saw cutting through anything, but I was intrigued by the device. took it from him and examined it. Carefully, I

What he had said appeared to be The saw

accurate enough (besides the saw cutting through anything).

was attached to the cup in such a way that it spun easily, and I could see that there was a powerful motor that could turn the blade rapidly if it had a power source. wired up to a battery pack. And interestingly, the motor was

The cup contained two large spikes that

I assumed would be stuck into the exposed flesh of an injured zombies stub, and then the muscle would grow into the cup, permanently securing it to the limb. clever invention, if it worked. The other items in the box were equally interesting. There were This was actually a fairly

weapons of all sorts, and George explained how all of them were supposed to be attached to various parts of a zombies body. All of

them looked like they would be very effective for destroying nearly anything that got in said zombies path. a question entered my mind. Why havent you used any of these? I asked. George stopped talking and looked at me with his single eye. considered for a moment before he answered. He As he explained everything,

Me would need to lose limb to use most of these, he replied. I like make things. lose that. This was interesting. I realized that as zombies we did still Still, it was interesting I was surprised that the I no more do that without hand. I no want to

have some small pleasures besides eating. that he had picked this particular hobby.

zombie had the ability to understand electronics well enough to build any of these devices, especially considering that he was obviously in an advanced state of decay. I certainly didnt understand any of the

technical explanations he had given about how these weapons worked, but he had demonstrated that a number of the devices were quite functional. This zombie was proving to have hidden depths that I

certainly wouldnt have imagined. We heard a noise outside, and quickly went to look out the window. In the street below us, a trio of police vans had just As we watched, two men My

pulled to a stop in front of our building.

got out of each of the cars, making six of them all together. stomach growled as I thought about all of the fresh meat.

They were

all carrying long poles with large loops on the ends, like a dog catchers snare. They looked like they were very large men, but I

couldnt tell because five of them were covered in thick cloth padding. However, the sixth man wore an entirely different outfit. I

This sixth was wearing a long and darkly colored overcoat.

couldnt see his face because he was wearing a black panama hat that obscured his facial features. He looked a lot smaller than the

others, but he was obviously in charge. extremely disconcerting.

Something about him was

That is vampire, said George quietly to me. usually come themselves.

They dont

Usually humans get zombies for them. I heard

The men set to work, slowly moving out into the alleys.

several bellows as zombies were snared and dragged back to the vans. I could even hear some of them screaming words, rather than the mindless screams of the feral zombies. It was heart wrenching to

watch the unfortunate creatures being packed up to be taken away to zombie God knew what. The men were swift and efficient, and the

vampire watched them, making an occasional motion with his hand. I watched in horrified fascination as the unfortunate zombies were brought to the vampire, who inspected each one of them before the men shoved it into the back of one of the cars. They were

treated like animals, and perhaps to these monsters, we were considered animals. One of the big men presented a zombie child to

the vampire, and I expected him to send it to one of the vans just like the others. Instead, the creature reached out with one of its

thin, bony hands and touched the undead childs face, running its talon-like fingers over the soft, decaying flesh. Then, with one

swift movement the monster grabbed the small zombies neck and snapped it like a twig. The zombie let out a small whimper, before

convulsing a few times and falling limply to the ground. I let out a small groan of rage at this. Yet as small as the

sound was, the vampire somehow heard it anyway, and he looked

directly at me. cast.

All I could see were the eyes in the shadow his hat

His eyes glowed like an animals, and I could almost feel his This creature actually frightened me in a way I

hatred in that gaze.

didnt understand, not like any of the other things I had seen so far. He only held my gaze for a moment before speaking a few words

to his minions. They approached the doors of our building. they proceeded to begin trying windows. Finding them locked,

I lost sight of two of them I hoped that my

as they circled around behind the building.

companion had remembered to lock the back doors. We kill them if they come in, he muttered beside me. take me, they no take me alive. I decided not to comment on the fact that neither of us was technically alive. Are the back doors locked? I asked instead. He turned and looked at me, and in spite of his disfigured features, I could see the shock and fear written all over his face. I guessed he had not locked the back entrances, and we would have to fight the zombie catchers. George quickly picked up two large metal They no

tubes from the table, handing one to me and brandishing the other one like a club. opened a door. I heard a loud creak somewhere downstairs as someone There was some banging around and some shouting as George and I followed suit

they made their way towards the stairs. and slowly stumbled towards the stairway.

The two men almost looked comical in their padded suits and

brandishing dog catchers sticks, but I knew that they could well be very dangerous. As the first one reached the top of the stairs, I

brought my pipe down hard on his head, hoping to knock him to the ground right then. He only grunted as the weapon harmlessly The other one was right behind him, and

rebounded off of his helmet.

both George and I slowly began to lose ground as we frantically knocked the snares away from our bodies. were doing. These guys knew what they

Somewhere downstairs, I could hear the sound of

shattering glass, most likely the other men had broken a window to get in. I wondered why they didnt simply use the back door like

these guys had, but I had more important things to worry about. George let out a groan beside me as his opponent threw the snare over his head. The zombie continued to fight violently, but he was The other man kept coming for me, and I I turned and ran towards the

obviously going to lose.

knew I couldnt keep this up forever.

open door of the apartment as quickly as I could, and the big man slowly waddled after me in his cloth shell. George continued to yell

as he was slowly dragged towards the stairway. Suddenly, I realized I couldnt leave my companion to these beings; I had to save him, whatever the cost. I stopped and turned His

abruptly, taking the zombie catcher completely by surprise. shock lasted only a moment, but it was enough.

I grabbed his pole

with one hand and viciously jabbed my pipe into his exposed throat with the other. My blow was so powerful that the pipe stuck through

the back of his neck.

He crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

The other man stopped dead I rushed at

in his tracks, in total shock at what had just happened.

him in that instant, and he promptly screamed and let go of the snare he had George in, trying to get to the staircase and away from my furious assault. advanced. The man desperately fended off blow after blow as I He fell

As he stepped back, his foot met nothing.

backwards down the staircase, and I heard a satisfying collective scream as his falling body slammed into the three men who had been standing on the stairway. I could feel the hunger growing in me, and

I slowly advanced down the stairway, planning to finish all of them off as they flailed pathetically on the floor. As I reached the ground, a voice called behind me to stop. I

turned to see George at the top of the stairs beckoning frantically for me to come back. I wondered what his problem was, when the black For the first time I got

shape of the vampire stepped into the room. a good look at his face.

He was so thin that his face looked like a His mouth was

skull, with no traces of either fat or muscle.

slightly open because his teeth were too long to be contained in his mouth. The creature was so pale that it looked like there wasnt a His eyes were red and bloodshot, with a

drop of blood in his body. faint glow in the pupils.

He looked at me for a moment, before he spoke. Rise, he said quietly, in a voice that sent shivers down my spine. The four men on the ground pulled themselves to their feet

slowly, as if they were locked in a hypnotic trance. them, and they slowly walked to where he stood.

He beckoned to

With one final

glare, the creature turned and made its way to the broken doorway. The zombie catchers slowly followed him, looking like dogs who had been rebuked. I slowly sank to the floor, and George was promptly there to pull me back to my feet. We returned to the apartment, and watched

as the police vans turned and drove off in the direction from which they had come. I could hear the groans of many zombies as they were

taken away to meet whatever awful fate the vampires had planned for them. brain. That horrible face of the vampire seemed to be burned into my Somehow, I knew that I would see that face again.

Chapter 3

George and I spent the night in the apartment building, hoping to avoid any more hunting parties. Thankfully, the remainder of the

night was untroubled by armored thugs or nightmarish apparitions. Instead, the night was spent the way that any zombie would want to spend the night: by eating the corpse of the zombie hunter in peace. He was even better than the man in the warehouse! Even so, I could

feel in my bones that this wasnt over, and I would see a vampire again sooner or later. I just hoped that my intuition was wrong.

After the events of the night, the dawn seemed to be forever in coming. But it did come, and with the first rays of the sun I made I

my way out of the building to check out the lay of the land.

approached the little corpse of the zombie child, still lying on the road where the vampire had left it. The little boy couldnt have I examined his body, The head had

been more than seven years old when he died.

and was amazed at the damage the vampire had done.

almost been twisted off, and black blood still slowly trickled out of the wound. Even though I hadnt known this child, and it had most

likely been completely feral anyway, I felt a terrible pang of sadness. Even a zombie could never survive that kind of damage, and I knew that it was quite dead (even for a zombie). into my arms, and slowly stood up. I took the corpse

A small number of zombies had

come out to watch what I was doing. road. The zombies followed after me.

I began to stumble down the As I walked farther, more We walked on, all the

zombies began to join the little procession.

way to the edge of the town, where I finally found a patch of ground suitable for a grave site. on the ground. I laid the body down, and slowly began to dig. The others I couldnt leave the childs body to rot

watched for a moment, before George slowly stepped forward and knelt down by my side to help me dig. Then, another zombie, and another, Soon, we had dug a

and another came forward and slowly began to dig. hole large enough for the little corpse.

The other zombies stepped

back as I laid it to rest, and slowly pushed the soil over the remains. A great cry came from the throat of one of the zombies, and Together we let out one long, loud

slowly more and more joined in.

bellow of rage at what had happened. As the zombies slowly dispersed, I got a strange feeling that I was being watched. I quickly looked behind me, and I saw it. In a

nearby building, I could see the pale face of a woman looking out a window. She quickly darted into the surrounding blackness, but I I considered going

could have sworn it was the girl from the photo.

after her, hopefully catching and eating her, but something about her appearance unnerved me. the previous night. imagine how. It almost was like looking at the vampire I couldnt

Could it be another one of them?

There was no reason for a vampire to be following one

zombie out of the thousands scattered everywhere.

George and I spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon searching for any fresh meat we could find. and managed to find a raccoon in a rusty dumpster. I got lucky

George was

extremely grateful to finally be eating well, after months of getting only scraps that the rest of the pack had left. After that, we There

simply wandered the city and George showed me the sites.

werent many of them, but it was a fairly interesting day even so. Still, as amusing as the day was I couldnt shake a strange feeling that I was being followed. there it was all the same. after me. It didnt make any sense, but

Somehow, I just knew that someone was

By evening I was pretty thoroughly spooked, and feeling

extremely relieved to finally be returning to the relative safety of the old apartment building. that something wasnt right. Yet as I approached it, I could tell I wasnt sure what, but as we

approached it became increasingly obvious. In front of the building, there was a sizable crowd of zombies tightly packed around something, muttering to each other in a combination of unintelligible groans and words. I tried to get a

glimpse of what they were looking at, but I couldnt see past them. After a few moments, I threw my head back and let out a loud call. number of heads snapped around, and I quickly pushed my way through the gathered mass, George following close at my heels. As we neared A

the edge of the crowd I could finally see what they were looking at. It wasnt exactly the most comforting thing I had ever seen. Parked in front of the building was an ancient and battered van.

The windows of the car had all been covered with dark fabric, making it nearly impossible to see into the vehicle at all. importantly, it hadnt been there that morning. You no can let this person take my home, George whispered. Is mine, you no leave me to get them out by myself. I wont leave you to deal with this person alone, I reassured him. I picked up a wooden board that was lying on the ground and, brandishing it defensively, I walked into the gloom of the ancient apartment building. sweep over me. As I stepped inside, I could feel a wave of fear And more

I wasnt sure if this was normal fear, or if there I quickly looked over the George followed me closely, almost

was an agent of evil at work here. reception room, and saw nothing. seeming childlike in his fear.

I took a quick sniff, and immediately smelled something that didnt belong. The smell reminded me of the vampire I had But I wasnt quite sure. I turned

encountered the previous night.

on my flashlight, and the beam of light immediately fell on a thin shape huddled in the far corner of the room, its heaving with silent sobs. The being turned around quickly when the light fell on it. I

was stunned for a moment, realizing that it was the pretty blondehaired girl from my photo. of all places. I couldnt imagine why she would be here, She was thinner, paler,

But she looked so different.

with harder features and Suddenly I realized what I was looking at.

My earlier impression had been correct, this was a vampire.

Somehow,

the female form of the creature seemed even more terrifying than the dark man I had encountered the previous night. myself to cower. creature. Please, she said quietly, staring up at me in terror. hurt me. George was already making a crazy dash for the stairway, faster than I could imagine a corpse moving. Even in its pitiful state, the Dont Yet I wouldnt allow

I couldnt allow myself to cower before this

vampire was still terrifying, kneeling down so I could look her in the eye. What do you want? I asked her cautiously.

The vampire looked at me for a moment, tears brimming in her eyes. Then, slowly, recognition dawned on her face. She looked

confused for a moment, before a broad smile slowly spread across her face, in the process pulling back her bloodless lips to reveal the vicious looking canines. She reached out her bony hands and touched She let

my face, feeling me as if to make sure I was still there. out a little squeal and threw her arms around me. my arms around the sobbing vampire.

I gingerly wrapped

Jed, she murmured, pushing herself away and looking me in the eye. For years you were my closest friend, and I never forgot about Please help me now. My name

you since it happened.

Suddenly, I broke through the haze that was my memory. had once been Jed. I remembered this girl.

I struggled to remember

her name Veronica. We had grown up together, and she had been like a sister to me. Various scenes from my human life slowly surfaced, but Bringing back those memories was the

I couldnt quite focus on them.

most painful thing that I had ever experienced, and remains so to this day. I remembered many of these creatures, vampires, wielding I could see their pale An image of a

whips and viciously beating human workers.

forms biting into the living and sucking their blood.

row of human beings nailed to trees, still living humans, flashed through my mind. But the worst thing I saw was one vampire, holding onto Veronica. his face. His teeth were in her neck, her blood slowly dripping down He looked up at me, and screamed in rage. I still dont

know how I managed to escape, but I did, and I remembered a second name, Mark. I remembered that name belonged to someone who had once We must have survived, but I couldnt

been close to me my brother. remember how long.

Another image skirted the edge of my

consciousness, a swarm of rotting figures, attacking me from every direction. And I thought about the dying man in the warehouse. The

name, the face And I knew that I had watched my brother die, and then I had eaten his corpse. me then. Veronica, I said, staring at the creature who had once been my friend. We looked at each other for a moment, before she lowered her gaze. The reality of what I had become struck

So you do remember, she whispered. Theyre coming to get me.

Now please, help me.

I cant make it alone.

I watched you die, I said. She shook her head at this. I only wish I had, she replied sadly. We knelt there together in silence for a moment, and I tried to remember what she had once been like. What happened to you? I asked at last. I got bitten, she said. By who? I asked. Lord Kalden, she replied. He has power over other vampires.

I felt something then, but I couldnt understand what it was. Sadness was probably the most appropriate term. imagine what I could do for a vampire. zombie, a corpse. I am nothing now, I told her after a moment. were, that is dead now. Im dead now. Whatever we But I couldnt

I was nothing more than a

Look at what I have become!

I know what you are, she said, shuddering slightly at that. But youre all I have left. Please, dont let them take me.

I considered what she said for a moment. Ill do whatever I can, I said at last. She breathed a sigh of relief taking a moment to compose herself before she spoke again. Thank you, she whispered, standing up as she spoke. Ive

heard that there is a city, somewhere far to the south, where some

still hold out against Kalden.

We have to go there, Jed.

Its the

only place where I can be free of him. She looked lost in thought for a moment then, and it didnt seem like she was having a pleasant daydream. Almost as if even speaking

of this vampire lord was enough to make her mind retreat into an iron shell. We should find my friend, I said, trying to divert her attention away from whatever she was thinking about. She nodded, and I turned back to look for George, who had by now managed to escape up the stairs. We eventually found him cowering in

a corner of one of his workshops, brandishing one of his makeshift weapons. After some coaxing, I managed to convince him to come Then I tried to explain everything to

downstairs and talk with us. him.

He was, not surprisingly, somewhat worried by what I said. You want to leave? he asked in shock. Vampires not like

zombies, humans not like zombies. kill us! You no can leave!

They find us in the wastes, they

Besides, he said. by afraid no more. when life get good?

Now we have our own vampire.

We no need

Everyone do what we want.

Why do something dumb

Theyll find me here, Veronica replied unhappily. what we do, theyll find us. I think that we should listen to her, I put in. way we can hide from them in this city forever. You brain already start rot, George said to me.

No matter

Theres no

We are

zombies. alone. fine.

Vampires no like us, and they take us away if they find us Here, we in city full of zombies. We can hide here just We die, AGAIN! Dont get I

Three of us cant survive in the wastes. I wont die.

dont want that. killed.

Please, stay here!

He paused for a moment, before adding quietly, youre the only friend I have. George crumpled to the floor, a flood of black tears falling out of his eye sockets, spilling onto the ground. I looked to Veronica But I

for assistance, not sure how to deal with the weeping zombie. was soon forced to look away. There was something about her

appearance that still unnerved me. I looked back to George. sure what. I had to do something, but I wasnt After a

It was awful watching him grovel like that.

moments hesitation, I got down on my knees next to him, and put my arm around the pathetic creature. my coat. must look. Dont stay here alone, I said. Please, we need you, George. He clung to me, his tears soaking

I just held him there, knowing how extremely awkward this

I promise you that I wont let anyone hurt you. He looked up at me with his one eye, the black fluid still streaming down his face. him down. It took me a while, but I managed to calm

After he had stopped weeping, I helped him to his feet.

He looked me directly in the eye and said, I come. I not let you die alone, we stay together. Even

though we die, me help you. alone.

You is me friend, me not let you die

I couldnt believe what he was saying.

He would go with us to I wasnt

what he thought was sure death, because he was my friend.

sure what to make of this level of devotion, but I knew that at that moment George was the noblest being on the planet. I promised myself

that I would prove him wrong, and that we would all come out of this in our various states of undeath.

Chapter 4

I suddenly became aware of something wrong as we slowly made our way towards the door. Listen, I whispered. We all paused and listened intently. We couldnt hear anything The

at all except for the floorboards creaking under our weight.

others were baffled for a moment, before George suddenly realized what I had noticed. Zombies no make noise he said, obviously understanding the implications. We only had a moment for the reality to sink in before I heard the sound of the door slowly being opened. We all watched in horror It was the same

as a tall, thin man slowly stepped into the room.

creature George and I had encountered the previous night, but this time he wasnt the only one. third. A second vampire was with him, and a

Both of these beings were slightly smaller than him, with

shorter fangs and claws, but I doubted that it would make much of a difference in this particular situation. Grab the zombies, the lead vampire told the two smaller creatures. Ill deal with the traitor.

The lead vampire slowly approached Veronica, his eyes burning. His gaze seemed to suck all the strength out of her, like a small shadow disappearing in the darkness of night. Suddenly, he lunged

forward.

Veronica desperately tried to dodge his attack, but as fast The vampire latched onto her, lifting her The other two vampires warily

as she was, he was faster.

off her feet by the front of her coat. approached me and George.

I knew that I had to do something right I

now; otherwise I would be forced to watch her die a second time. couldnt let that happen.

I let out a loud bellow of rage and threw myself at the vampire, catching him in a choke hold. He let out a startled cry and released The other two vampires made a I was yanked off of His eyes

his victim, who fell to the floor.

lunge for me, each one gripping one of my arms.

the dark specter, which turned his attention towards me. bored into mine with such intensity. Well, well, well, he said, with a mirthless laugh. zombie I met yesterday.

Its the

He only held my gaze for a moment before he turned back towards Veronica, but she wasnt where he had left her. Her massive talons

caught him right across the face, sending him reeling back with a shout of pain and rage. break free of my captors. as hard as I could. At that moment I made a desperate attempt to With one movement, I yanked both my arms

The attack was so powerful that one of them The latter

couldnt hold on, and the other was swept off his feet.

creature I slammed into the former with all the power I could muster. They both went down. They struggled to get to their feet, but they were quickly tackled by George on one side and Veronica on the other. I turned

back towards the dark figure on the floor.

Slowly, he got to his

feet, spitting out a mouthful of blood and a couple of shattered teeth. The master may find a use for you. he snarled. Then, with a shout he was upon me, viciously clawing at my face and eyes. I slowly began to back away from the attack, and stumbled He laughed cruelly as he made his way

over an overturned chair. towards me.

He stood over me, and I could feel my strength slowly But I knew I couldnt give up.

fading away in the face of his power.

I threw my feet out viciously, my heavy combat boots connecting squarely with his abdomen. pulled myself to my feet. I looked around, and could see Veronica and George in a desperate struggle with their own enemies. in this fight. tell he was mad. I knew that I was alone He fell back once again. Slowly, I

The vampire was back on his feet again, and I could With a scream, he hurled himself at me again. This

time though, I was ready. I dodged out of the way, and threw my foot out in an attempt to trip him up. I succeeded, sending him to the floor. Viciously I

kicked at him as he lay there, hoping that I might be able to end this fight right here. Instead, he grabbed my ankle, swiping it out His companions werent

from under me before jumping to his feet.

doing well against Veronica and George, and he knew that he would be facing all three of us soon, rather than just me. His gaze swept the

room for a moment, before he bolted up the stairs to the second

floor.

After quickly making sure my friends were okay, I gave chase,

running after the vampire as quickly as my dead feet could carry me. He saw me coming up the stairs, and quickly ran up the next flight of stairs. I stopped for a moment, realizing that I might not be able There was a broken pipe on the floor near

to take him on barehanded.

me, and I picked it up to use as a weapon. I chased him, floor after floor, until we reached the roof of the building. The vampire stood there staring at me, his coat slowly He had regained his composer, but he seemed This was going to be dangerous. With a

flapping in the wind.

more wary of me this time.

scream, he lunged at me, and I dodged out of the way. He spun around, and got a blow strait to the face from my metal pipe. His head snapped back, and there was a hideous sound as his He turned back towards me and let out a I couldnt stop him this

jaw cracked under the blow.

hideous, animal-like snarl as he lunged.

time, and he slammed into me with incredible force, knocking us both to the floor. We brawled together on the roof there, blood and I could tell that I was at least as

zombie oil flying everywhere.

strong he was, and there was no way I was going to let this monster that had just tried to kill my friends win. As he landed another

blow on my face, I clamped down hard on his arm with my teeth. He screamed in pain, and I managed to roll on top of him. I

threw punch after punch, and after every punch I heard another bone crack. The broken and battered creature looked up at me, straining And I could see that the fire had

to see through his puffy eyelids.

left his eyes, something about him had changed, and not just the blood on his face. He opened his swollen lips and tried to speak.

You cant win, he said quietly, heaving a labored breath. My master will destroy you he wheezed again, blood trickling out of the side of his mouth. All of your wretched kind. With one final blow, I broke his skull. I

He fell silent then.

heard a sound behind me, and turned to see one of the vampire minions staring in horror at me. The other one was right behind him. I

snarled threateningly at them.

Behind them came Veronica and George,

both brandishing makeshift clubs, and obviously ready to finish these two off. Caught between a deadly vampire on one side and me on the

other, they both made a desperate leap from the top of the building into the street below. Their escape was 50% successful. One of the The other

vampires rolled to his feet and ran off into the darkness.

one didnt get up, and soon a few brave zombies came out of hiding to investigate and devour the unfortunate vampire. I returned to my friends, who were both in a state of shock. And, I realized, who wouldnt be? vampire, and I had won. Here I was, one zombie versus a I

Not only that, I had killed the creature.

looked at the corpse, and felt something I could only describe as pride. I wasnt sure how I managed it, but I knew that I had.

Veronica recovered first, and she was quickly by my side. George followed quickly behind her. wasnt exactly pretty. They examined my wounds, and it

I had lost an ear, my nose was broken, and

the vampire had managed to break a number of my ribs badly enough

that they pushed through the skin.

Still, I was alive (so to speak),

and that was much better than most zombies who dared to oppose the vampires. Besides, most of the muscle damage would heal within a day

anyway, and the broken ribs werent really going to be too much of a hindrance to me anyway. Theyre going to be after you now, Veronica said. Why? I demanded. I was defending myself.

Because you challenged them, she replied, a note of panic entering her voice. looking for you. George and I both agreed. We immediately gathered up everything With We have to get out of here, before they come

of any use in our hideout and packed it into Veronicas car. that, we drove off into the night, hoping to avoid any more unpleasant encounters for as long as possible.

Our journey began well enough, we were loaded with weapons we had a good vehicle, and we had already killed two vampires. We

hunted for food in the forests and abandoned towns we came to. Mostly we traveled by night because Veronica found the sun to be very irritating. We traveled two nights like this, before I began to My body was beginning to rot, and I didnt know It started out mild enough, with small black But soon, there was mold growing on my body, and

notice a problem.

what to do about it. patches on my skin.

maggots were infesting the wounds that I had received from the vampire. Just as disturbing was the way that I was constantly

leaking the black liquid that had once been my blood from every

opening in my body.

Interestingly enough, though, all decay seemed Muscle tissue that began to poke through the But I

to remain in the skin.

skin appeared to be fairly healthy, if somewhat discolored.

didnt really trust that the deterioration would remain totally cosmetic. I had seen those eyeless, desiccated zombies, and I needed

to get Veronica wherever she wanted to go before I had deteriorated that far. Then, on one particularly dark and dreary night, as we slowly drove through the underbrush and the puddles, I saw something in the distance. I strained to see what it was, but through the tinted Perhaps it

windows and the rain I couldnt tell what I was seeing. was a walled city, full of humans to eat. We approached slowly, not sure what to expect.

As we went There

farther, I started to notice some things, unpleasant things.

were a number of long wooden pikes erected along the sides of the road we were traveling, and strewn about the ground were a number of bones. Yet somehow, this hellish nightmare looked familiar.

Veronica obviously felt the same way, and George didnt seem to like it any more than we did, judging by how he cowered in the back seat. Slowly, I pulled the car off to the side of the road, hoping to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. A little groan echoed into the night, setting my teeth on edge. It was not a loud sound, but if all human suffering could have been put into one noise, that small groan was it. I felt cold, not the

normal cold of death either, or even the cold of a vampires

unnatural aura.

This was something that I cant even describe.

The sound had come from above us, and I barely dared to look up. But look I did, and what I saw was a shape on the top of one of those wooden spikes. pole. A human shape, with its hands and feet nailed to the My stomach growled for the I could tell that my And as I looked around, I

And the person was still alive!

food and did a flip-flop at the same time. companions were having similar feelings.

could see that the unfortunate person at the top of the pole wasnt the only one. dying body. souls. What we do? George asked. them? I considered for a moment before I replied. Break the poles, I said. We cant leave them here, and I dont think well want to meet whatever has been putting them up there alone. Veronica nodded her agreement, and we began our task. digging at the base of the pole. little groan again. I began How we get them down so we eat Every one of those spikes was crowned with a dead or I couldnt even imagine the suffering of those poor

Bringing it down, I heard that

As I looked into the face of one of the

unfortunate person, a young woman, I wondered what horrible creature could have ever done this. Even vampires never did anything like But then The young

this on such a large scale, as far as I could remember. again, I really didnt have a lot of memory to go on.

woman looked up at me with an expression of intense agony, tears and

raindrops dripping down her face. quickly bit into the jugular vein.

I lowered my moth to her neck, and

I gently stroked her hair, as her lifeblood quickly drained away. She was obviously in too much pain to resist, and I wasnt She was in

sure if she would have resisted even if she could have.

far too much pain to speak, but I could feel something pass between us, I wasnt sure exactly what. she died. Then, slowly, her eyes closed, and Veronica was

Only then did George and I begin to eat.

going to have to find her own dinner among this forest of death. After we had eaten our fill, we pulled the corpse off of the pole and laid it down carefully on the ground. soon, and she shouldnt be stuck on that pole. She would reanimate Veronica had found

herself a meal as well, and was already working on uprooting a second pole. George and I did the same.

In all, we put seven of those unfortunate beings out of their misery that night, before Veronica was forced to seek shelter as the first rays of the dawn broke through the dark clouds. found an abandoned gas station by the side of the road. not a luxury I felt I could afford. Im going to scout ahead, I told my friends. You not go alone, George replied. of herself fine. Veronica nodded sleepily, too tired even to speak. I looked Me come to, she take care We quickly But rest was

down at her sleeping form for a moment, before I decided that if this was the level of function vampires had during the day, there was

little she really had to worry about. metal pipes and started down the road.

George and I both took up A number of the people we had

bitten the previous night were already stirring, and I wondered if we could use the new zombies for anything. After the recent feeding,

none of them were in very good condition, but some of them might be sentient, and any backup would be better than none. By now three of

them were on their feet, and the remaining four were beginning to move groggily. I let out one long, low bellow. They all turned and

slowly began moving towards me and George.

George let out a little It was

yelp as one that was still on the ground grabbed his hand. the young woman that we had brought down first. herself to her feet with Georges help.

She managed to pull

The zombies fell in behind us, and we began slowly moving towards the thing in the distance. Every so often, we would hear the

cry of one of those unfortunate people nailed to one of the poles, and we would bring them down and end their suffering. on, towards what I wasnt sure. As we walked, that shape I had seen became clearer, and I could see that it was indeed a walled city. I wasnt sure what kind of Then we moved

people lived here, but I knew that whoever they were they wouldnt friendly and would have to be dealt with. the more I felt I knew the place. looked so familiar to me. Standing in front of the gate of the city, it suddenly struck me like a blow. The reason I felt like I had been here before was But the closer we came,

I wasnt sure why, but it all

because I had been here before. in this very town. decimated.

In fact, I had spent my entire life

This was my home, and it was absolutely

The gate was slightly open, and through the crack I The place looked dead.

couldnt see anything moving.

Chapter 5

My first impression seemed to be correct as I slowly walked through my former home. There seemed to be nothing living at all. Those people had been nailed

But I knew that I had to remain wary.

to the poles recently; otherwise none of them would have been alive when we found them. It was quite possible that whatever had put them

there was still in the city, waiting in one of the empty buildings. I didnt want to lose any members of my new hoard to the unseen enemy. There was still a slight drizzle, and the gray sky made the place look even gloomier. I sent the hoard to wander through the

streets, telling them to search for anything at all that could be of use to us. We began looking through the houses, one at a time. The

first house we came to had been totally ransacked, as had most of the others. But as I approached one of the houses, I felt a cold prickly Somehow, I knew that there was something

feeling moving up my spine.

in there, something dangerous. Wait here, I commanded the small group of zombies. They seemed all too happy to do just that, obviously having the same feelings I was. George was the only one who seemed at all We both brandished the heavy metal pipes I pushed the door open, expecting a Instead, there was an old

inclined to stay with me.

that we had brought with us.

vampire or perhaps something even worse.

man sitting on a mat, playing with a dead mouse like a toy.

He was

wearing the tattered robes of a priest, and a small silver cross hung around his neck. By his side he had a zombiefied woman on a leash.

The poor girl seemed to be the embodiment of submission, her eyes downcast, and her hands hanging limply by her side. I was astonished

that this human had dared to do such a thing to any zombie, and even more so that the zombie hadnt tried to eat him. The old man looked up at me, and flashed an unsettling smile. Putting down the little cadaver he turned his full attention to the crowd of zombies standing outside his door. all afraid like any normal human would be. doubted that he even was entirely human. Yet he didnt seem at Somehow, I sort of He smelled human, and he

looked human, but somehow, I cant explain how, his presence felt inhuman. Welcome, he said. I know where youre going, Jed. You want

to go to the south, for your vampire friend. a free zone.

She thinks that theres

There was no way that he should have known that.

Anyone would He I

assume that a group of zombies were simply searching for food.

smiled again, this time flashing his row of extremely sharp teeth. suddenly felt a powerful urge to run. I looked around for an exit, and saw George desperately clinging to my arm in an attempt not to run away. I couldnt run from this this thing, whatever it was.

The old man continued to leer frighteningly. But there is nothing where you are going, he said. Everyone

is dead in the land you are going to. any zombies down there.

I dont think there are even

And believe me; you really dont want to

meet the people who are down there He threw back his head and cackled madly. leash winced at the sound. The creature on the

I couldnt even imagine what this madman Yet I still felt powerless to raise my

was doing with the poor girl. hand against the old man. Now, he said. for you.

Put down your pipes, I have something better

George and I slowly lowered our weapons, and the old man painfully pulled himself to his feet. Then, he lifted up the mat he He opened it,

had been sitting on, revealing a large trap door. beckoning us forward. was a chainsaw. We slowly moved closer.

Under the door, there

It was slightly rusty, but it was full of gas and

looked more than capable of destroying a human, zombie, or even a vampire. Perhaps you can use this better than I can, the old man said. You must go, destroy the bloodsuckers in this city before nightfall. Now I must return to my important work. He turned back to his dead mouse, and continued to play with it, muttering something under his breath. picked up the chainsaw. I reached into the hole and

It was a good weapon, one of the best brands It was like this man had known exactly

that had been on the market.

what I would need and had prepared ahead of time. Who are you? I asked the old man.

He stopped and looked at me a moment, before he responded. When I was still a priest, I was called Father Adrian, he said. But thats not really important right now. Just go now.

I decided to follow the old mans advice, and we continued to search building after building, dragging our dead bodies through the mud and the rain. They were mostly empty, but every so often there

was something inside, either something worth eating, such as a dog or similar animal, or some weapon that a zombie could use, and by the time we had searched several houses our zombies were all armed with wrenches, metal tubes, knives, or similar objects. something. One of the houses we came to was locked and barred to keep out intruders. I considered using my chainsaw to destroy the wooden Then, we found

door, but decided against it, knowing that I would waste gas. Instead, I threw myself at the door with a yell, and pounded with all my might. The others joined me, and some of them tried to break The door quickly began to give way

through one of the windows. before blow after blow.

I heard a yell from inside the house, and a man threw the door open, driving us back with a ferocious swing of a cudgel. was followed by another, and both looked ready to fight. This man They were One

armed with a variety of weapons, and they were very large men.

of them took a swing at me, and the other threw himself at George. The small horde we had collected was swarming the house, and for some reason the men didnt even bother trying to stop them. This struck

me as slightly odd, but I didnt have time to think about it as the thug swung at me again with his club. I dodged the weapon, and trapped it with one hand, throwing a vicious punch at the man with my other. He stumbled back and let out He lunged at me again, As I desperately dodged to

a grunt as my fist connected with his jaw. throwing a deadly punch towards my face.

the side, I released my hold on his weapon, and he picked it up immediately, swinging it with all his strength at my exposed side. If I had still been one of the living, that blow would have probably ended my life right then. It cracked multiple ribs, and I let out a

horrible groan as one of my lungs collapsed from the impact. But I was one of the undead, and I used that moment my assailant was off balance to grab his weapon a second time. And this time, I

immediately threw myself directly at him, knocking him to the ground. As I leaned over the terrified thug, the unmistakable sound of a gunshot echoed within the house. I paused for a moment, but I I took a

decided that the man I had in my grasp was more important.

bite out of his neck, making sure to take a chunk out of the artery. Then, I stood up to see if I could help George with his fight. Somewhat to my surprise, George was also victorious, holding his bloody pipe in one hand and ripping pieces of flesh off of the body of the human assailant with his other. I turned back towards the I decided

house, and as I did I heard another gunshot, and another. I had better do something.

I picked up my chainsaw where I had Then

dropped it, and quickly revved it up with a yank on the chord.

with an undead war call I threw myself into the darkness. Inside were three men, two of them wielding baseball bats, and the third had a .22 pistol. My companions were scattered, some with

necks broken, and one lying on the floor with a bullet wound in his head. The men were taken completely by surprise when I came in with The man with the gun fired wildly I think that some of the

the chainsaw, and they scattered.

in my direction, emptying the revolver.

bullets might have even hit my body, but it didnt really make much of a difference. Unfortunately for him, standing there clicking his gun wasnt the best survival strategy. My saw took him down with one blow. The

other two made a dash for the door, and as far as I know they managed to escape. the ground. I turned off my saw, and quickly examined the zombies on Their injuries werent bad enough to kill them

permanently, so I began searching the house. I quickly found what I was looking for. back of the house, the door slightly ajar. There was a room in the I was getting that I pushed the door all

feeling again, a slight prickling on my spine.

the way open, and there, lying in that unnatural sleep of the undead was a withered and emaciated shape. creature. Slowly I approached the

His chest moved slightly, but nothing else betrayed any Apparently, its slumber was too deep to be I wasnt sure of the best way to destroy

signs of life at all.

disturbed by the skirmish.

this thing, and I hesitated a moment to consider. You find vampire? said a voice behind me.

I turned around to see George standing behind me, holding a large iron road spike. He handed it to me, and I turned back to the I raised the spike over my head, As I brought the

creature lying there on its pallet.

preparing to drive it into the vampires heart.

spike down, the vampires eyes suddenly snapped open, and it made a desperate attempt to bat the weapon away. But the creature was too late, and the spike struck home with enough power to pin the creature to its bed. It let out a loud Then it went limp.

scream of agony, and began convulsing violently.

I waited for a moment before I tentatively reached out to poke at the body. It didnt react, and I quickly took a bite out of the thing. And it tasted

As soon as I took that bite, I knew that it was dead. good.

Within a matter of minutes, George and I had reduced the body

to a skeleton. Then, George and I left. What was left of our hoard was too We

busy eating the remains of the vampires guardians to join us.

had already eaten plenty of human flesh for quite some time, and I doubted that I would be able to digest it all any time soon. two of us continued to search the houses, stores and any other building we came across. By the time we had searched most of the So, the

town, and had yet to discover a second vampire, the rain had finally stopped. As the clouds began to disappear, I was shocked to realize

that the sun was already setting. The sun slowly sank over the horizon, and I knew that we had to find shelter as quickly as possible if we wanted to survive the

night.

George heartily agreed, and we darted into the nearest This turned out to be a really, really bad

structure, the town hall. place to hide.

The dark interior of the building was absolutely crammed with the still bodies of vampires. They were piled on the floors, leaning

on the walls, slumped in chairs, absolutely everywhere. Lets get out of here, I whispered. Too late, George whispered back. Sun is gone.

He pointed towards a window, and I could see that he was right. The last rays of the sun faded, and with them our hope of surviving the night. The creatures slowly began to stir. One by one, they

began pulling themselves to their feet.

All their eyes slowly turned

in my direction, and I could almost feel the air thicken with the unnatural fear these creatures seemed to produce. George clung to my

arm, hard enough that I could actually feel the pressure through the numbness of my body. But I didnt really care much at that moment.

There had to be some way out of this, I just had to think. They began to move towards us, appearing more curious than hostile. But I knew they would realize what we were soon, and then George was praying under

they would be upon us in a deadly swarm.

his breath, and so was I as we slowly backed away from the advancing wall of death. As they moved, their stiff limbs began to move more

and more fluidly, we didnt have much time to find a way out of this. In desperation, I crossed myself once and fired up my chainsaw. The noise echoed deafeningly through the big room, and sent the vamps

reeling, falling to their knees and clutching their ears to keep out the loud noise. They began screaming and running for doors or

windows, and I began cutting them down with my saw as they desperately searched for any way out. The screams of the vampires A few of

were only matched by the constant scream of my chainsaw.

them tried to fight, but I put an end to their struggle almost as quickly as it began. George stood at my back, viciously bashing in

the head of any vampire who tried to get at me from behind. Within about ten minutes George and I had reduced the nest of vampires to nothing but corpses. After a moment, I turned off my A few windows were

saw, and we slowly began to survey the room.

open, and I was sure that several vampires had escaped, but I doubted they would be coming back any time soon. But I had made another

mistake, as I felt the unnatural chill of a vampires touch seep into my bones. I spun on my heel, swinging my fist at my assailant. She

quickly countered, batting at my hand and deflecting it away from her. I think were still on better terms than kill on sight, said a familiar voice. Sorry, I told Veronica dumbly.

Chapter 6

What happened? Veronica asked. Her question was simple enough, but her expression said everything as she turned to look at me. She looked almost awed, and I

I could see a hint of something else in her flashing red eyes. wasnt quite sure what though.

I moved closer to her to get a better

look, and she took a step towards me. We go now, George called to us. saw might be out of gas. Them might come back, your

We no want risk that. I was

We drew away from each other, and she averted her eyes.

slightly confused by this response, as my gaze was still firmly planted on her. But I knew George was right, there might be more We had

vampires nearby, and my chainsaw didnt have infinite fuel. to leave before the survivors returned to exact revenge.

This time

they wouldnt be slowed by sleep, and they might even have protection from the saw. If that happened, our trio might well be in for a trip

to the morgue, not somewhere I really wanted to go. Yes, I replied. We should probably get out of here. As we stepped Dark shapes were

Unfortunately, our retreat came too late.

outside, I immediately knew something was wrong.

moving about in the shadows, and I could see similar forms on some of the nearby roofs. The creatures moved in, closer and closer. Their

eyes glowed ominously, and I knew that there was no way I could pull

off what I had just done in the city hall again.

In the open air,

the saw couldnt be loud enough to be any worse than mildly uncomfortable. And even if it could, Veronica would probably be hurt

by the sound much worse than any of the other vampires because she was standing right next to me. Suddenly, one of the creatures was right in front of us, gazing at us with those blazing eyes. His black coat billowed out behind The

him, and his huge fangs protruded ferociously from his mouth.

creature was huge, taller than any vampire I had seen until this point, in spite of the fact that he was slightly hunched over. He

moved towards us, his movements slow, but so fluid that it was almost graceful, like a cat stalking its prey. eyes locked on hers. tremble. He was facing Veronica, his

She tried to face him, but I could see her lip With

She was soon forced to back down by this creature.

one pale, bony hand he reached out and touched her face. I knew that the creature towering above us was Lord Kalden. Veronica, Kalden purred. Do you know what youve done?

Youve forsaken the company of your own kind, destroyed many of our farms, killed four vampires, and all this for that man- he indicated me, -and even so you were too late to save him. He leaned towards her, and whispered into her ear All you have left now is me. Veronica let out an animalistic growl, backing away from the dark creature. He simply stood there, smiling wickedly at her.

Then, he slowly began moving towards her, his arms outstretched, like

he was going to embrace her.

But she would have none of it, and with

a snarl she viciously slashed at his face with her razor-sharp claws. He threw his hand up to his face, letting out a little grunt as he did so. As he put his hand down, I could see the blood running down He laughed mirthlessly as he looked at the

the side of his face. blood on his hand.

Kalden nodded to a group of vampires, one of whom pulled a long rope out of the folds of its cloak. Then, the four vampires began

moving forward, and Veronica slowly backed away, until she was literally up against the wall. smile playing across his lips. Lord Kalden simply watched, an evil With a scream, I lunged at him, my He turned quickly and

hands outstretched to get to his throat. caught me by the neck of my coat. studying me carefully.

He looked at me for a moment,

Then, slowly, a look of recognition crossed A

his face, and he snarled, throwing me viciously away from himself. pair of vampires caught me before I fell to the ground, doing there best to restrain me as I screamed and struggled to get at Kalden. I could see George standing by the sidelines, staring at what was happening in horror.

He made a move towards one of the vampires,

and I knew that there was nothing worse he could do. Go! I screamed at him. Run for it!

George looked at me, and several of the vampires looked at him, but he got the message. Picking up my saw, he darted inside of the

city hall, and the vampires ran towards the doors. Leave the zombie! Kalden called to them. Just make sure that

these two doesnt escape! Veronica was still desperately trying to hold off her four assailants, and they were actually taking some damage from her claws. But soon, they had wrestled her to the ground. One of them viciously

twisted her arms behind her back, secured them with the length of rope. She cried out as the rope tightened, and I desperately tried But my

to break free of my captors, screaming at them in rage.

struggles were in vain, and they soon had me on the ground next to her, both of us bound tightly and gagged with strips of cloth. There

was no way out this time, I didnt know what they would do to us, but if I was going down, at least I was going down fighting. The vampires laughed cruelly as we writhed on the ground, before their master silenced them. He stepped forward and examined us for a I heard it

moment, before he brought his foot down hard on my neck. snap, and then blackness. nothing. I was dead again.

I saw nothing, heard nothing, felt

I wasnt sure how long I was down, but eventually I awoke.

felt much like I had the first time I had re-animated, but this time I remembered everything, at least post-zombification. moved around me, bending close to examine me. fist into one of the creatures. Blurry shapes

Viciously, I drove my

I heard a low groan as the zombie I

had struck fell back, and I realized that I was no longer bound. My vision cleared quickly, and I examined my surroundings. was in a small stone room, with four other zombies. I

The room was

completely empty except for the cot I was laying on.

These zombies

were in an advanced state of decay, the little skin that still covered their muscle had turned into leather long ago, and their eyelids drooped sickeningly over their empty eye sockets. There were

insects everywhere, and I knew that I should get out of here as soon as possible to avoid the rapid decomposition those insects would cause. I heaved myself off the cot and made a move towards the door.

No can leave, one of the zombies said to me as I staggered past it. I looked at the creature, a hulking thing that had obviously been amazingly powerful in its prime. Now, it was simply a thick I realized that

layer of muscle stretched over a brittle skeleton.

the zombie looked familiar, and after a moment I realized that it was the same one that I had fought in the warehouse. He was in even

worse shape than before, and there was an air of total defeat about him. The other three zombies were sniffing the air, taking in the

powerful scent of my rotting flesh. Where are we? I asked the ancient creature. We do what they say, he replied, pointedly ignoring my question. I remembered how I had met this creature the first time, and I remembered how dominant it had been. thing? Suddenly, a man walked into the room through its single door. Its awake I see, the human said. You four get out! What had been done to this poor

The four zombies slowly filed out of the room, not even trying to get a bite of this mans flesh. only armed with a long metal stick. He was completely unarmored, and I couldnt begin to fathom how I faced off against

the poor zombies had been so completely broken! the man, ready to destroy him. into my chest viciously.

He raised his stick, and thrust it

A powerful shock coursed through my body, Now

sending me to the ground as my muscles convulsed involuntarily. I knew why the zombies werent resisting.

So, this is the zombie who destroyed fifty of our masters, the man said mockingly. Lots of fun Where am I, and what have they done to Veronica? I demanded. The stick hit me again, and I writhed as the powerful jolt went through my body. The man laughed again, before he signaled to two They placed small Im going to have fun with you, my friend.

other men, who walked in and pulled me to my feet.

barbs in my flesh, which were connected by metal wires to what looked like guns that the men held. my arms, and dragged me away. I was placed in a cell, with barred windows and an iron door. The humans removed the barbs from my flesh, and left me there. Our lords wish to see you, the first man told me. feel proud to have gained their notice. He paused for a moment, before adding And youll see that traitor soon enough as well. After saying this, the man followed the other humans out, You should Then, each one of them grabbed one of

leaving me alone in my cell. think.

I sat down on the floor and tried to

There had to be a way out of this, I just had to find it.

I sat there like this for a few minutes, before I stiffly got up and began examining the door. lock on it to keep me in. It was simply a steel grate with a

I began to feel along the edge of the

door, before I realized that my fingers were too numb to feel anything anyway because of my dead skin. Changing tactics, I yanked Not

viciously on the bars, hoping that they might give way. surprisingly, they didnt budge an inch. Its useless, a voice said. and much more.

Ive tried that so many times,

I looked around for the source of the voice, and saw a face, a human face, peering into my cell from one of the windows. Were the

vampires really so cruel as to put a human being in the cell right next to mine, just out of my reach? I approached him, carefully

examining the human through the cell bars. The man looked to be middle-aged, with thick stubble covering his chin, and some wrinkles beginning to form. He had long and dirty

brown hair, and his skin looked unnaturally pale, probably from a long time away from the light. My stomach growled seeing this man, But I also knew that this man

and I got a desperate urge to eat him.

had suffered much under the vampires, and I empathized with him. Perhaps he could even help me escape, assuming that the hunger didnt get the better of me before we got out. I am undead, I told him. Perhaps I can succeed where you

failed.

Humans are weak, and I must get out. Youll never get out like

Suit yourself, the man replied. that.

Do you have a better idea? I asked. As a matter of fact, I do, the man said. I realized that he was probably right, and that I would never be able to break through the iron cage. And if he had a better plan, I asked him to

then it would be ill-advised to ignore such a scheme. go on.

Well, he told me, I heard that youve attracted the attention of the vamps. That means that those goons will be here soon enough When they do, you should be ready for them. You

to take you away.

got anything you could use to deal with them? I looked around my barren cell, and there was nothing of any use. I told the stranger as much, and he thought for a moment before

saying, Then check your pockets. search. They arent very thorough in their

Maybe theres something useful that they forgot about.

Maybe, I said as I pulled off my jacket and turned all the pockets inside out. Besides my wallet, a lighter, and a box of chewing gum, there was nothing of any use. The man eyed the chewing gum, and in He nodded his

response to his unasked question I handed it to him. thanks as he popped a piece into his mouth. Now, check your pants pockets, he told me.

I shoved my hands into my pockets, hoping that I would catch something. My hand closed around a small object, and I pulled it out In my palm lay a switchblade and a small gold

to get a look at it. ring. moment.

I put the ring back in my pocket; it was of no use at the The switchblade was rusty, but still quite sharp enough to

penetrate human skin. So, the man said. When they come, have that ready, and stab There will be at least two of them, so

the first one who comes in.

you might want to take that zombie staff that hell have and use it against them. Are you with me? This plan was simple, brutal, and effective. I spent the rest of the day there

I simply nodded.

Hopefully, it would work out well.

in that cell, testing my switchblade out to make sure it was still in working order. But all too soon I could hear the approaching

footsteps of the guards, and I prepared to spring into action. The two men arrived at my cell, and looked in at me nervously. Then, one of them pulled out a key and placed it in the lock. The

tension seemed to grow as he slowly turned the key, before that loud click opened the door. The man beckoned to me. I moved toward him It

slowly, trying to look like any other zombie, dumb and hungry.

seemed to fool them, and the man with the keys stepped back to lure me out. As I walked towards him, I stopped and looked into his face.

He looked back at me coldly, but I could see that his lower lip was trembling slightly. Then, with one quick motion I jammed the The other man didnt have time to

switchblade into his throat.

react, and I was on top of him with my teeth in his neck before he could hit me with his shock stick. I tore the warm flesh from his body, and began to eat happily. Ehem, a voice called. It took me a moment to remember the man in the next cell. abandoned my meal to find the keys. was back to eating. I

Soon I had gotten him out, and I

The man seemed to be slightly uncomfortable, but

I didnt care much right then as the warm blood flowed down my throat and the meat filled my stomach. Shouldnt you bite the other one? my new companion asked. The more zombies wandering around here, the better for keeping those vamps busy wile we make our getaway. I nodded, and quickly took a bite out of the still dying man with the switchblade in his throat. It was quickly over for him, and

I took a few more bites, before my cellmate was able to pull me away. After lamenting to myself for a while about the fact that I hadnt been able to devour both of the corpses, I realized the debt I owed this man who was helping me to escape from this prison. What is your name? I asked him. Keith, he replied. I dont suppose you can remember your

name, but is there something I can call you? Yes, I replied. My name is Jed.

We shook hands, and then picked up the guards shock sticks. We should find a way out now, Keith said. Someones going to

find those two soon, and I dont want to be around when that

happens. I nodded, before replying. I have to find a friend of mine first. me, and I cant abandon her. I stopped, waiting for a reaction. go on. Do you know where she might be? Keith considered for a moment before he said, Yes, I think so. Earlier I heard some of them say something But it will be Keith only nodded for me to She was captured with

about a special lady being kept in the sixth dungeon.

dangerous to go down to find her, since were in the fourth dungeon, and wed have to go through a lot of security to get to her. paused for breath, before he continued. your girl. He

But yes, we should save

I dont even want to know what these things do to girl

zombies, but I have yet to see one come out of the lab. I thanked him for his help, and we started off down the dark hallway. It occurred to me that this man probably hated vampires What would he do when he actually met Veronica?

with all his heart.

I decided that it might be better if I didnt correct his assumption that she was a zombie. not yet at least. What he didnt know wouldnt hurt him. Well,

Chapter 7

The tunnels were almost like a maze, as I soon found out. somehow, I could tell that we were getting closer.

But

Stepping around

another corner, Keith and I found ourselves in a hallway lined with prison cells. Creatures groaned softly from many of the cells, like As we walked, I looked into some of the cells and

wounded animals.

could see vaguely human forms huddled within, the living, the dead and the undead all accounted for. powerful desire to do something. Well get those zombies out later, Keith said in response to my unasked question. dont. And if youre thinking of eating the people, It was horrible, and I felt a

There will be plenty of guards, I can assure you. They have not hurt me, and

I wont eat those people, I said.

I can find my meat elsewhere like right there. I pointed to the four guards who had just rounded the corner up ahead. When they caught sight of us, they raised their sticks And we readied our weapons as well. Three of them

defensively.

attacked us directly, and the fourth one hung back, speaking calmly into his walky-talky. They probably assumed that they were going to

have no trouble with a zombie and some hobo who managed to give his guards the slip. How wrong they were.

One of the three men broke off and went after Keith, and the other two began moving around to try to flank me. I didnt give them

that chance, lunging at the closer one and dealing him a massive blow with my shock stick. He went down as the electricity surged through

his body, and I quickly spun to intercept the blow my other opponent had aimed at me. We dueled with the sticks, but my tireless assault Keith was locked in a similar The

was quickly wearing down his defenses.

duel with the other man, and the air was charged with static. man on the walky-talky was watching with growing concern as we fought.

With a mighty swing of my stick, I broke through the humans defense, and the weapon slammed down hard on his head. The man

probably would have gone down even without the electrical charge. Keith was holding his own quite well against his foe, but I decided not to leave this battle in the hands of fate. I stabbed the guard

in the back with my weapon, sending him to the ground with the powerful electrical shock. A gun fired, and I realized that the Keith and I both were

remaining guard had shot me with a pistol.

upon him in a moment, and he was dispatched in short order. As I scooped out the brain of one of the guards, I wondered how much flesh my body could hold. Zombies were clawing at their doors, I bent down, tearing a

brought to frenzy by the smell of blood.

piece of flesh off of one of the cadavers and placing it in my mouth. You know, we really dont have time for this, Keith said. That guy was calling reinforcements, so we should really find your girlfriend and get out of here as quick as we can. I swallowed the piece of meat, before nodding. We hurried down

the hallway, knowing that more guards would show up soon.

I knew

that we had better get where we were going quickly, otherwise we might not get there at all. There was an ancient looking elevator at It

the end of the tunnel, ready to take us down to our destination. would be a while before the guards came to find us, since most of them would have to come from higher levels of the dungeon, and standing in front of the open doors, I was sorely tempted to turn around and eat the four corpses piled in the middle of the hall. Come on, Keith said.

There will be more of those where were

going, now get in the elevator! I snapped out of it and stepped into the elevator. We started

down into the darkness, our only light coming from the florescent buttons on the pad. I felt a powerful fear coming over me as we That unnatural fear could only be coming I didnt really want

continued down the shaft.

from a vampire, or possibly several vampires. to think of the later possibility. stop, and the doors opened.

Finally, our elevator came to a

The sixth dungeon didnt look so much The tunnels were rough stone, and

like a prison as a burial ground.

moisture dripped down the walls, forming small puddles on the ground. There were bodies, both human and animal, lying in odd places all over the floor of the tunnel in various stages of decomposition. There were voices in the distance, incoherent screams and pleas for mercy. And somehow, I wasnt sure how, I could sense Veronicas It was almost like she was calling

presence in this horrible place. me to her aid.

We slowly moved through the gloomy tunnels, pushing past the numerous cadavers. as we pushed on. The sounds of the tormented prisoners got louder I could hardly bare to think about what must be I peaked into every one of the cells that

happening to the humans. lined the hallway.

Many were empty, but a number of the rooms The unfortunate people were

contained humans, both living and dead.

always chained to the walls of their cells, extremely thin and too weak even to look up at me as I passed their cells. Suddenly I heard a familiar sound. womans scream. It was a scream of pain, a I felt a horrible

It sounded like Veronicas voice.

rage well up within me, and I began limping towards that sound as quickly as my nerveless legs could carry me. Keith easily kept pace, We were heading

and as we moved on the screams became even louder. towards the torture chambers.

I desperately hoped to find her, but Soon we were

another part of me prayed that our reunion not be here.

right in front of one of those dreadful doors, and what sounded like the cries of the damned issued forth from the door. air almost seemed to be a physical presence. I couldnt bear the suspense for another moment, and with a scream I threw my weight against the door. sounds of torture inside ceased. way some more. whimpering. ground. It splintered, and the The fear in the

I hit it again, and the door gave

There was some muttering from inside; and someone was

With one final heave, I bashed the heavy door to the

Inside there were two men with whips, standing over a bloody And behind them was an unbelievably fat

and disfigured form.

vampire. The figure on the floor was female, bloodied so badly that she was barely recognizable. But I knew that thin, pale form. The fat

vampire looked at us, and motioned to the two guards with the whips. They advanced towards us, cracking their whips menacingly. I pushed

back the terror that the vampire was projecting, and brandished the shock stick. The first one was down before he could land a single blow with his whip, and the second didnt fair much better. His whip violently Contrary to But even My stick

connected with my shoulder, but I could barely feel it.

popular belief, zombies are not completely immune to pain. so, a whip is an extremely ineffective anti-zombie weapon.

brought the second guard down as well, stunned by the powerful shock. Keith was behind me, violently stabbing the downed men with his stick to make sure they stayed down, and I confronted the vampire that held my friend hostage. He laughed wickedly as I approached him. spike of fear went through me. I stopped, and another

I would have to ask Veronica how

vampires were able to create that fear aura, once we were out of here. But right now, I had bigger problems on my hands. The vampire

before me was dressed much like the other vampires I had seen up until this point, completely in black and wearing a black overcoat. But unlike other vampires, he had a pot belly, disgustingly bloated with blood I assumed. His oversized teeth gleamed in the dim The vamp was a good deal taller than me,

lighting of the chamber.

and he had long, stringy black hair almost to his waist. So, youre the zombie who destroyed fifty of my brothers, he said. Lets see how strong you are without that chainsaw of yours. After all, there are two of

But that would be unfair, wouldnt it? you, and only one of me.

He looked at Keith, who was had finished with the thugs and was beside me, shock stick in hand and ready to help me put this creature in the ground permanently. I didnt care how unfair it was that there were two of us, this creature was hurting Veronica, and I wasnt going to let him get away with that. same thing. With a scream, I threw myself at him, and Keith did the But he was gone by the time we got to his previous I turned, to

position, and we collided, nearly losing our footing. see the vampire standing behind us. another lunge. waiting for him.

He laughed again, and I made

The vampire dodged again, and this time Keith was Unfortunately, the vampire was faster, and it

easily batted the stick out of the way, apparently suffering no damage whatsoever from the electricity. and threw him hard against the wall. unconscious. I brought my weapon down hard on the vampires head, and I heard a nasty crack as his skull broke under the blow. time to scream before falling to the floor. It didnt even have The vampire grabbed Keith

Keith slumped to the floor,

I quickly cut Veronica

free with my switchblade, praying that I didnt injure her with the blade because of my poor coordination. After a moment she looked at

me, and I was horrified at what I saw.

One of her eyes was almost She

completely swollen shut, and her nose looked like it was broken. had several cuts on her face, and her cloths were torn in multiple places. What have they done to you? I asked in horror. She simply stared at me blankly for a while, and I was afraid that they had completely broken her. Then, a tear slowly dripped

from her good eye, and she threw herself on me, sobbing piteously on my shoulder. there. I wrapped my arms around her thin form and held her

Slowly, I began to rock her, and I remembered how I had done

this so many times, when she was nothing more than a frightened little girl, and I an orphan boy. The vampires had taken everything

from us, everything that we were, and everything that we could have been. Keith groaned from his place on the floor, and slowly pulled

himself to his feet. J-Jed, he muttered groggily. you tell me your girls a vampire? Shush, I told him harshly, before adding more quietly. should let her cry. Keith nodded. Shes been through a lot. One of the guards tried to drag himself towards At last, Veronica We Is that a vampire? Why didnt

me, but Keith smacked him again with the stick.

loosened her grip on me and her sobs subsided, almost like she had fallen asleep. my face. After a moment, she lifted her head and looked into

Her wounds looked dangerous, and I wasnt sure if she could

even survive much longer in this horrible place.

Blood, she muttered.

I need blood.

I looked at the bodies, and the man still groveling on the floor. He didnt look like he would last very long, and vampires After carefully leaning Veronica against

liked living blood best.

the wall, I picked up the dying man and started to bring him to her. What are you doing?! Keith asked in horror. That man is

still alive, he might even recover, and you dont have time for a snack anyway! But she needs his blood, I replied. survive, hes one of their minions. The man in my arms groaned, as I laid him down by Veronica. looked at the man for a moment, before letting out an animalistic sound and sinking her teeth into his throat. wide, and a strangled gasp escaped his throat. for a moment. The mans eyes opened He struggled weakly He She And even if he did

But soon, his eyes closed for the last time.

stopped moving, and Veronica pulled away from the still form, wiping some of the blood off on her coat sleeve. The blood seemed to have

done her a world of good, and some of her wounds were already beginning to heal. in a long time. Keith seemed to have recovered mostly from his concussion. Wed better get going, he said. The guards will show up In fact, she seemed stronger than I had seen her

soon, and there might even be more vampires. I agreed with him, and we began to leave. I could already hear footsteps in the tunnels. But we were too late; Someone was coming

towards us, and I didnt really want another fight right now.

My

companions had noticed the same thing, and we knew what we had to do. We fled into the tunnels. I hoped that we might find some other way

out, but if we became desperate enough, we could flee to the mine. The cries of the prisoners continued, and it was enough to drive me mad. Passing another cell, and seeing the nine unfortunate zombies

contained within, I suddenly had an idea. The door was only secured with a rusty padlock, and I desperately began to yank on that, groaning to the zombies within all the while. away. My companions began to pull on my arms, trying to get me

But I wouldnt go, I was stronger than both of them put The creatures within looked

together, and soon, the lock gave way.

up at me blankly for a moment before they realized what had happened. Then, they quickly staggered out of the cell, their rotten hands outstretched towards my non-zombie companions. No! I commanded them, and they halted, looking at each other in confusion for a moment. Why should we not eat them? a fairly well-preserved zombie asked. They is edible.

I had to think about it for a moment, but I was saved from having to come up with a clever answer by the arrival of a team of six security guards. The guards approached with their shock sticks

raised, and I raised my own weapon, but I could have saved myself the trouble. The newly freed zombies all saw them, and they fell into an They let out terrifying bellows, heralding the demise

insane frenzy.

of the unfortunate guards.

The foolish humans tried to stand their

ground against us, and soon I and the others had torn them limb-fromlimb. I raised my bloodied hand in the air and let out a scream of The others joined me, and soon we began tearing down other

triumph.

prison doors, releasing both zombies and humans, destroying any guards we came across. onslaught. Together, zombies and humans destroyed their captors, and the entire dungeon was ransacked. Those human prisoners too weak to come A few vampires even fell before the

with us were quickly eaten, but that was probably a kinder fate than what awaited them in this living hell. Soon, the mob of zombies was

clamoring towards the elevator, staircases, and anything else that could serve to get to the upper levels. Human prisoners kept their

distance to minimize the danger of getting eaten, but they were nearly equally destructive. floor up, and the next. Soon, our army had overwhelmed the next

Coming to a door into the fourth level, I Beside me, Veronica was even

could barely contain my lust for blood.

paler than normal, and Keith had joined the ranks of the human prisoners in order to avoid being eaten. But I barely cared.

The zombies easily bashed down the door, and found nothing. There was no resistance to meet us. guards, nothing. There were no vampires, no human

I charged forward anyway, and the mass of zombies But soon, it became

followed me in a similar state of feral rage. apparent that something was different. detect the sound of machinery.

Over the clamor, I could just

Bursting through another door, I saw

something amazing. I was in a massive hallway, and there were a multitude of guards, and four vampires, desperately trying to fend off zombies. But those zombies werent part of my group, trying to fight to the surface. These zombies were pushing in! They were pushing the

defenders deeper into the dungeons.

And even more amazing, some of

the zombies had strange devices attached to stubs of missing limbs, devices like buzz saws, handguns, and one even had a rifle replacing its left forearm. And in the middle of the hoard was George, swinging a hatchet wildly, taking down guard after guard, driving them towards the open jaws of my own hoard. completely consumed. Soon, every one of those guards was dead, The vampires didnt fare much better, taking I stood over

down a few zombies before being overwhelmed by the mob.

one of the creatures as it lay there, pinned to the ground and savored the look of terror in its eyes, as the creature struggled vainly to escape the fate that it had inflicted on so many others. took the first bite from its throat, and the creature went limp. last of the vampire overseers was dead, and the prison was ours! I The

Chapter 8

I looked around at the above ground portion of the prison. was a huge brick structure, one that almost looked makeshift. hoard of zombies ran, or rather limped, to the open doorway.

It The

Even

the normally fearless shamblers didnt want to spend another second in this place where many of them had been trapped for years. Most of

them were already pushing their way through the gaping hole in the fence. And I didnt blame them at all. I slowly began to lurch

after them, still feeling slightly nervous about any place that had so long been home to the vampires. There might be more of them

hiding in the complex, and I didnt want to meet any of them. Lets get out of here, Veronica whispered. Yes, we go now? George asked. I nodded my agreement, and George quickly began rounding up his zombie squad (Quickly being a relative term). The humans simply

watched us from the doorway; all of them were wielding those unusual electric sticks. I assumed that they were making sure none of us George finished sending off

decided to get a snack after the battle. his hoard, and we were ready to go.

I took one last look over the

landscape, before I began to follow them. Jed. I stopped looked over my shoulder at the speaker. slightly apart from the other humans. Keith stood

He walked up to me, and looked

me directly in the eye.

My stomach grumbled slightly, but I wasnt We looked at each other

desperate for food so soon after feeding. for a moment. Whats wrong? I asked. Well, he said.

On behalf of all of us, I want to thank you.

Without your help, we would all still be down there in those dungeons. Youre welcome, I replied. I should go now, before sunrise. We were wondering Your

Thats just the thing, Keith said quickly.

if maybe you and your girlfriend might want to stay with us. little friend can stay to, if you like. fate worse than death. friends can help us. After a moments hesitation, I replied. Ill have to talk with the others, I said. paused and looked at Veronica and George. watch my interaction with the human. work something out, I finished. I looked up at the high fence around the prison.

Truth is you saved us from a

We can make a new beginning, and you and your

We had a plan_ I

They had both stopped to

_But we might be able to

The above

ground portion actually looked more like a fortress, and with some minor modifications could probably even be fairly comfortable, possibly even for the sensitive and weak-bodied humans. I pulled

George and Veronica into a huddle, and we stood off a ways to discuss our options. I dont know how we would fit into a human society, Veronica

said.

We should probably keep going. But me really no want keep

This place not good, George said. go through wastes. Can we stay here?

No, Veronica harshly whispered back. humans. blood.

Its not safe, for the

There are too many of them here, and I can smell their

Cant we just stay here for the day? I asked, no more eager to keep going than George was. She glared at me, and opened her mouth to make a retort. her off quickly. The sun will be coming up soon, I said. now. She looked like she was going to say something, but she kept her peace. I guess I really cant hurt them, she muttered. asleep during the day anyway. I turned back to Keith. So, what do you say? he asked. Well stay for the day, I replied. Veronica needs time to recover. Well decide on more permanent plans later. I dont think theres any Ill be We cant go right I cut

Great! he said enthusiastically.

food worth eating around here, but well see what we can find.

Thanks, I said. I have to get inside, said Veronica. I think the sun is

coming up. Keith and I quickly looked around. slowly beginning to stain the horizon. late it was. Sure enough, a pale red was None of us had realized how

We quickly took her inside.

Veronica carefully lowered herself onto a shabby cot, wincing as her injured back touched the rough mattress. She was obviously still The guards

weak from whatever had happened to her in the dungeons.

blood apparently had only been enough to get her out of the prison. She was going to need more, and soon. I turned to look at Keith. Shes still weak.

Shes going to need some blood, I said.

I know, he replied, carefully examining the welts that seemed to cover her whole body. any blood besides us. I looked at him blankly, not comprehending what he was saying. It took him a moment to realize that I hadnt understood. The vamps fed off of us, he clarified. Im sure shes a nice I dont know if this place actually had

girl and all, but I really dont think that I or the boys have much of the red stuff left. I-I need it, Veronica said. and apparently Keith hadnt either. Ill find something, I said reassuringly, gently pushing her back onto the bed she had partially risen from. rest now. She thanked me quietly, before slowly drifting off to sleep. You just need to I hadnt realized she was awake,

Did the jailers keep some kind of livestock around here? I asked Keith as soon as I was sure Veronica had fallen asleep. chickens or something? No, he replied. veggies and such. I think they imported everything, mostly Like

They gave us some other things occasionally, and

Im not sure I want to know what. I looked at Keith. relatively healthy. The man looked fairly thin, though still

My stomach gurgled unsettlingly, and I realized

that Veronica wasnt the only one who had been drained by the fight. I was famished. was going. I need something to, I said. here. Keith stared at me, realizing the problem. I think your kind ate everything during the break out, he said, sounding slightly worried. We can check if theres anything There must be some food around It only took me a few seconds to realize where this

worth eating, but you better than anyone else should know how zombies are. I realized I had to get out. here. The smell of humans was too strong

I might be able to control the hunger for a while, but I

wasnt sure I could trust myself. The Forest, said a little voice in my head. food out there. I was a little startled. outside of my own mind. The voice almost seemed to be from Theres plenty of

But I knew that the hunger would probably

overtake me sometime during the day. Never mind, I told Keith. eat.

I needed to find some food. I need to

I have to go right now.

And leave your friends here? Keith asked. No, I replied quickly. two. But I need food, now. I quickly made my way to the surface, bumping past humans on my way out. They watched as I started off into the trees that I stepped through the hole in the fence, A few of them Ill probably be back in an hour or

surrounded the prison.

glancing over my shoulder at the humans quickly.

looked away when they saw my decaying face, but most held my gaze. They obviously werent too unhappy to see me go. Where you going? George asked, limping out of the underbrush towards me, a small animals carcass clutched in his nearly skeletal hand. Breakfast, I muttered back. Okay, he said. Before I eat one of the humans.

Want a mole? I think I need something a little more

No, thanks, I said. satisfying right now.

George shrugged and popped the little creature into his mouth, not even bothering to chew the dead body. He smiled, and quickly

ducked into the compound through the hole in the gate. All I could hear as I walked was the soft crunch of my boots on the dry leaves. It was kind of strange how lifeless the forest Even the insects werent making any noise.

seemed to be right now.

I found this a little unsettling, but I decided not to dwell on it. So I stumbled on, searching, hunting. Absolutely nothing seemed to

be out and about that morning, and my hunger was growing by the minute. The sun slowly crept higher, and I knew I wasnt going to be

back at the prison before noon. Then, I smelled something on the wind. It was the scent blood. Something just Slowly I

The hunger filled me, but I hesitated to go after it. didnt feel right.

But I needed to fill my hungry gullet.

began homing in on the smell, pushing through the undergrowth and occasionally knocking a small tree over to get where I was going. But as I got closer, the less right this situation felt. And then,

as I broke through the tree covering and into a little clearing, I knew that my intuition had been right. The tall grass partially obscured the hapless goat, its body tied tightly with rope. That was enough to set off alarms, and I

quickly scanned the clearing. Hello again, said an uncannily familiar voice behind me. I

felt that cold terror begin to take hold as I slowly turned to face the thing. The man behind me was covered in a long cloak; all I

could see of his face were his two yellow eyes staring out at me from under his hood. The man, or thing, was slightly hunchbacked. Even

as the panic welled up within me, I somehow felt that I had seen this creature before. As I slowly backed away, I became aware of a second being behind the cloaked figure. It was a female zombie, about seventeen years

old.

And suddenly, I knew where I had seen these beings before. Youre the man who gave me the chainsaw, I said in surprise. Yes, yes, he replied dismissively. I gave you a nice little

toy, didnt I?

You used it better than I expected, and now youre

going to help me again. He began quivering uncontrollably, his laugh echoing through the night. I flinched at the sight, and I knew he was completely insane. Whatever it was, I doubted it would be

What could he want with me? good.

Youre just going to destroy him, like youve always wanted, the old man said, almost like he had read my mind. here because you needed to be here. up your strength. The goat bleated in fear, as I slowly backed away from the old man towards the animal. next to the goat. My hunger was overwhelming, and I knelt down I called you

But now eat, for you must keep

It bleated one last time as I sank my teeth into I quickly tore it apart, The old

its neck, breaking its spinal column.

cleaning the flesh from its bones in a matter of minutes. man only watched, and I slowly stood up from my grim meal.

He approached me then, and slowly reached his fingers out, brushing them against my soft, decayed flesh. close, and I could smell his breath. He leaned in very

Then, he leaned over and bit No one ever bit a

into my neck, and I let out a little cry of shock. zombie.

It just didnt happen, not even taking into account the

chances of infection (by the z-virus or anything else).

What are you? I asked in disbelief. He only laughed, and I could see that a second zombie was slowly wandering out of the woods, behind the dead girl. And I could now

see that both of them had wounds on their necks, bites made by the sharp teeth that I had seen in the old mans mouth. How this

creature had avoided infection with the zombie virus was anyones guess. The zombies walked forward, until they were standing on It was almost like he was giving

either side of the crazed monster. them some kind of silent command.

I am a warrior of God, and I am here to fight the forces of darkness, he told me, pulling a little silver cross out from under his cloak. We are going to destroy Lord Kalden, and rid this

world of his corruption- He interrupted himself with another bout of mad laughter. could almost feel his insanity like a physical presence. I

But it was The

like he read my thoughts, and suddenly he was upon me again.

thing had my throat, and he hoisted me off the ground like I weighed nothing. You think me mad? he demanded. Yes, yes, maybe I am, but I-

he paused to correct himself, seeming to realize what he was doing. He let his arm fall, putting me back on the ground. prevail. -We shall

Now quickly, they are already attacking your camp.

Who? I demanded.

Vampires cant be attacking in daylight. But their slaves can. Humans are

No, the old man replied.

quite capable of launching an attack on their behalf. I realized then exactly what he was saying. noticed my surprise and fear. Go now, he said. I have foreseen this attack. Perhaps you He obviously

can save your friends now.

But if not, all you need to know is that You must go

theres a city about two hours journey from here. there. It is your only hope.

And as quickly as he had appeared, the cloaked figure was gone. The two zombies stared at me for a moment, before shuffling after him as quickly as their rotting limbs could move. I knew I had to get

back to the prison, I had to be sure that nothing had happened to my friends, even if all evidence was provided by an insane human/vampire abomination. chances. Perhaps he was wrong, but I wasnt going to take any

I broke into an all-out zombie sprint, slightly slower than I

a normal humans top speed, but almost indefinitely sustainable. didnt even bothering to bat away the thick underbrush and simply relied on my weight to get past. Even before I saw the destruction, I could smell the smoke.

thin gray cloud rose in the distance, and I knew he had been right. I burst through the wall of trees just in time to see the last of the cars pull away.

Chapter 9

I pushed my way through the jagged hole in the fence.

Corpses I

lay everywhere, both of prisoners and the vampires minions.

stared at the carnage, then let out a scream as it hit me what this meant. I threw myself through the prison doors. Veronica couldnt

have been harmed.

My mind was completely frozen as I threw open the It was in complete chaos. One of The

door to Veronicas temporary bedroom.

cot was overturned, and several bodies littered the floor.

those shock sticks was lodged in the wall of the room, an astounding feat considering how strong the walls were. I didnt hear it so much as feel the presence behind me. I spun

around, sending an unfortunate minion to the ground with a well-aimed punch in the jaw. hand. Two other men stood behind him, shock sticks in

I let out an animalistic snarl, and they both backed away. Their companion was

They slowly circled around, trying to flank me. out cold, possibly dead. moment.

It didnt really matter to me at the

One of the remaining two jabbed at me with his weapon, and I It

stepped to the side, avoiding it and catching the mans wrist. only took one quick squeeze to snap the bones. made a desperate lunge at me.

The remaining man

I easily deflected his frenzied jabs, The weapon slipped from his

and took hold of him by the throat.

fingers, hitting the dirt floor with a dull thud. Y-youre not going to get away with this, he said through

clenched teeth. servants.

Lord Kalden will find you, he will avenge his

I slammed his head into the wall, ending his rant against me. The limp body slipped from my fingers to the floor. friends. back. killed. floor. I had to find my

A horrible possibility crept into my mind, but I forced it

I couldnt allow myself to think that they might have been Desperately I looked around at the bodies lying on the None of them appeared to be vampire or zombie. They couldnt

be inside.

I began to look over them, pushing aside corpses in my

haste, praying that I wouldnt find one of them. I nearly knocked the open door of the prison off its hinges trying to get to the outside. I had to know if they were here. I

began to search through the bodies, examining them before putting them aside, taking a bite out of one when I was hungry. bodies I moved, the more desperate I became. particularly large body, and then, I saw it. The more

I heaved aside a Underneath the corpse

was a smaller body, not fresh like the others, but mostly decayed, all its hair gone long ago. Most of the remaining skin was

completely desiccated and stretched thinly over the skeleton and muscle. I knew what I would find even before I turned it over to see

the one glassy eye staring up at me. It was George. even count them. His body was broken in so many ways I couldnt

Most of his body was completely collapsed, and his

neck was twisted at an odd angle, the same as all of his limbs. I wasnt sure he would ever be able to move again, even if his

destroyed nervous tissue could regenerate.

His skull was partially He was going

caved in, which would lead to even more complications. to need help, he couldnt heal by himself. for him, I didnt have the knowledge. that I knew someone who could.

I couldnt do anything

But I had a sneaking suspicion

The sky was dark by the time I reached the town, and the rain came down so thickly I could barely see ahead of me. town long before I saw the chaos. I smelled the

As I limped into the clearing I

could see the shapes of numerous zombies milling about in the gloom. The visible part of the town was behind a tall barbed wire fence, with small platforms placed strategically to allow snipers to put down any undead who got too close. I could see large search lights

mounted on the fence, and also many cars of various types (mostly pick-up trucks and similar large, high torque machines). It appeared

that this place was a hastily militarized location, where soldiers and civilians had banded together in an attempt to survive. I could

see dark shapes within the confines as well, and I couldnt help but wonder if it might be a good idea to leave now. Those dark shapes But I

looked threatening, even if they were simply zombies like me. knew there was no way I could save George by myself. low moans echoed across the overgrown valley.

The zombies

They sounded so

lonely, their guttural calls mingling longingly with the wind in the trees. I couldnt help but wonder if they actually did feel lonely, An uncomfortable

and how much they actually remembered of humanity. chill went through me as I thought about it.

Partially conscious,

but totally powerless human beings trapped in those rotting bodies, unable even to speak, living only to kill and infect others. that I would never degrade as far as these creatures. I began to walk down the ancient road towards the open gates of the city. A few of the shamblers watched me approach. I carried I hoped

Georges body on my shoulders. moved past them. left me alone.

The zombies moaned quietly as we

But they quickly realized that I was undead, and The shapes of the zombies slowly moved about within I reminded

the city, their pained groans echoing through the night.

myself yet again that I was one of them, and had nothing to fear. Strangely, that was little comfort. Zombies shuffled about, some of them completely oblivious to us, while others watched us intently. It was really unnerving. I had

picked up a large metal pipe in the prison, and now I tightened my grip on it, hoping that it would be enough to protect both myself and what was left of George from whatever threats lay on the other side of the fence. I was beginning to wonder how wise it was to go into

the abandoned city that some creepy old priest had told me to find for him. But the old man was my only hope of saving George, so I

began search the town, without even knowing what I was supposed to find. Nothing at all seemed to be of any special interest though, as

I slowly walked through the streets, picking my way past the debris that littered the town. It almost looked like an earthquake zone And then there was that feeling that

rather than a zombie invasion.

seemed to hang in the air, I could almost smell the evil of this

place. Suddenly, something screamed behind me, and I turned just in time to deflect the massive knife that had been aimed at my head. The blade imbedded itself deeply in my arm, leaving this creature off-balance and open to an attack. But I didnt even have time to

make a counter-attack before another one darted out of the darkness. It snarled viciously as I desperately tried to fend it off. I was As

confused looking at the things, not quite sure what they were.

they snapped me, I could see the massive fangs characteristic of a vampire, and the eyes seemed to gleam in the darkness. But at the

same time, it was obvious that they couldnt be normal vampires, with their sagging grayish skin and the black ink-like substance slowly oozing from several holes in their bodies. The first one screamed again, a powerful cry that was nearly deafening. The other one answered with a similar deafening scream. In some other part of the city, there

And then, I heard something. was an answering scream. first.

Then there was another one, closer than the

Making a quick decision, I threw myself at the first The

zombiepire, using my powerful jaws to snapping its spinal chord.

thing went limp, and I dropped both the dead body and the limp form of George, turning to face the other monster. It looked at me for I could hear

just a moment, and then it fled with startling speed.

more creatures screaming in the distance, and the normal zombies that had been wandering the streets just a moment before had vanished into the abandoned buildings. Obviously they had seen these things

before. Yet in spite of the terrifying screams, something else caught my attention. A figure moved in one of the windows, the figure looking I couldnt tell for certain, but I thought it

strangely familiar. was a human.

And there was only one human that I had ever known,

either before or after my first death, who would be insane enough to enter this place. The being smiled at me, and then it was gone. I

turned back in time to see the first of the vampire/zombie things, not walking as I did, but running at me. Another one was making its More were coming,

way towards us, its eyes flashing in the darkness. some walking.

The creatures looked like other zombies, flesh slowly They

sloughing off their bodies, maggots falling from open wounds.

werent quite as fast as vampires, but I had a feeling that I really didnt want to fight all of them. of them were fully sentient. Another creature was behind me, I wasnt sure how I knew, but I did. I dodged to the side, and the claws of one of the ghouls sliced I I offered a quick prayer that none

through the air where my head had been just a moment before.

jabbed it with my pipe, sending it to the ground easily enough, but more were coming, quickly. I began to lose ground. I realized I had

to get away, or it could be the end.

Desperately, I knocked one

aside, and grabbed hold of George, dragging his broken corpse to the nearest doorway while batting away the claws of the disgusting things. I was forced into an alleyway, and I could see more of the

creatures sprinting or staggering towards me.

I could barely keep up

with their vicious attacks, either parrying with the metal pipe or simply dodging. And, I realized, this might be it, destroyed by my I

own kind, for no discernible reason, having accomplished nothing. had failed my friends, and there was nothing I could do about it. Hopelessness began to wash over me. Time seemed to slow down as I

fought them, each blow coming closer and closer, and more creatures appearing everywhere. There was nothing I could do. Another one of

the things jumped at me from where it had been perched on one of the dark street lights, and I dodged it, receiving a nasty gash down the length of my right arm from another creature that had just come out of a doorway behind me. In a moment of desperation, I bashed the creature with my pipe, hard enough to break both its head and the weapon. body at the remaining assailants. I shoved the dead

They shredded it before it even

hit them, and in an instant they were all over it, tearing at the corpse, eating it. Never before, in my living or undead state, had I

seen something so horrible. I dashed past the ghouls as quickly as I could on my deteriorating legs, leaving the creatures to devour their fallen companion. Here! someone called. I looked around to see the old man in one of the empty buildings. I ducked into the door he held open. He slammed the thick

door shut, shoving the deadbolt into place with surprising ease,

considering how small he was. as if they were in pain.

The creatures outside screamed almost

Even more unsettling, I could hear the

sound of tearing flesh and vicious fights. Thank you, I said, laying George down carefully on an empty couch. Hes not doing so well, is he? the old man muttered, looking at George and ignoring me. I was barely even surprised to see the old mans zombie companions at this point. women and one young man. His undead minions now consisted of three This whole thing the guy had for collecting

shamblers was really beginning to creep me out. Will he survive? I demanded. there? Those, he said. Are the results of a human contracting both Im not completely sure how it happens, And what are those things out

vampirism and zombieism.

since vampires seem to be immune to your illness, but those things show up every now and then anyway. other when theres nothing else. They eat anything, including each Nasty piece of work, they are.

What about George? I asked again. He heaved a long breath, looking over the remains. I could feel But

his concern as he examined the shattered bone and torn skin.

slowly that was pushed aside by something else, pushing itself into my mind, twisted and incomprehensible thoughts intruding into my consciousness. The old man began to mutter to himself, his damaged

mind seemed to be unable to figure out how to respond to what he was

seeing.

The other zombies obviously noticed as well, pressing It was like the old man I hoped he would snap Even

against the walls to stay out of his way. was projecting his insanity into our minds.

out of it soon, otherwise I might become as crazy as he was. the ghouls outside had stopped their attack. I did my best to calm him down.

After a moment the convulsions He

subsided, and that horrible attack on my mind slowly subsided. looked at me, and smiled somewhat unsettlingly. Your friend can be saved, he said. I let the air stored in my dead lungs rush out. going to survive. But your other friend needs some help, he said. George was

I looked up at that, and it took me a moment to understand who he was talking about. where Veronica was. I remembered the empty cot, and I had no idea I shuddered as I realized what had happened. Do you know if theyve

Where is she? I asked worriedly. harmed her? Probably not yet, he replied.

But I know they will.

Shes a

traitor to her species, and vampires dont take kindly to that. My mind went back to a time when I had been alive, and I saw something I never want to see again.

A man stood in the middle of the town. a length of chain wrapped around his ankle. white, and his eyes were completely red.

He was held in place by His skin was a pasty

The people of the town were

too afraid to help the vampire. the horizon.

Slowly, the sun began to peek over

He let out an agonized scream as the first light

touched his body

I shuddered at that image, and I knew I had to save Veronica. And that was when I heard the agonized screams. window, and I could see them. I lurched to the

There were vampires everywhere, For once, I was sort of glad to

viciously slaughtering the ghouls. see the bloodsuckers. ghouls. Kalden.

Vampires were much easier to kill than those But one of them was

And there were only ten of them.

Theyre tired of you now, Father Adrian said. causing trouble, and they know you are here. to destroy you. Great, I muttered.

Youve been

These vampires are here

I know what to do, he said, a hint of desperation entering his voice. Yes, yes, I know exactly what to do.

He stopped his mad rambling then. Youll have to trust me though. I considered for a moment. worse. So I nodded slowly. He really couldnt make matters any

His lip twitched upwards slightly, and He walked over to a door and opened it.

suddenly I wasnt so sure.

There was a zombie behind that door, badly decayed and partially burned. And, I realized, about my own height and dressed in clothing Suddenly I had an idea of what he was planning.

like my own.

Theyll think this is you, he said. escape. I looked out the window.

And you can make your

The dead zombiepires were being piled And, to my dismay, there

up and burned by several small vampires.

were several more of them standing right outside, sniffing around like hounds. They were too close for comfort. And somehow, I

suspected they would find me soon, maybe just because vampires had that whole super empowered senses thing going, and I was a rotting corpse. Call it a hunch.

My deformed double was slowly stumbling towards the old man, the creatures brain obviously so decayed that it could feel nothing but hunger. It didnt even have any self preservation instincts like The vampires were scratching at the door now. Somewhere outside, I could hear someone screaming

typical shamblers. They had found me.

that the job had to be completed, to make sure that I was dead. Go, the old man said, pointing into the closet that had just housed my double. tunnel. Theres a trapdoor in the floor, it drops into a

It will lead you right into the vampires city. I asked

And what will you do?

You cant help me now, just go! he said in a harsh whisper, and looked me right in the eye. I have another way out.

His gaze seemed to drain me of my will, and I was forced to comply. The last thing I saw before closing the door was the old Then I

man, shoving the brain dead zombie towards the outside door. closed the closet door, and I was in the dark.

I fumbled in there

for a short time, listening to the battle outside.

My hand found a

small crack in the floorboards, and I yanked on it, praying that the sounds of combat would drown out the creaking as the trapdoor opened. My fears were unfounded though, as the hinges were well oiled. I

slipped into the dark hole, rolling back on my heels as I hit the damp ground to absorb some of the shock. The only sound was my heart

beating reflexively a few times, pushing the thick liquid that had once been my blood around my body disgustingly, before it stopped again. Then, there was silence.

Chapter 10

For a while, I simply stood there in silence. anything through the oppressive darkness. that the undead are fearless. people couldnt be more wrong.

I couldnt see

Many people have claimed

I can tell you right now that those Zombies are human beings trapped

inside their own rotting corpses; an insatiable hunger gnaws at us all the time. Our human lives are little more than a blur of images.

I cant say this for sure, but I think that the main reason zombies attack humans is that we are afraid, and feel a need to lash out at something. The odor of decay was everywhere, filling the air. Every step

made a disgusting squishing sound, like I was walking through mud. The constant drops of liquid falling from above made me think of some hideous zombie-eating ghoul latched to the ceiling. I was understandably on edge. Part of me wanted to turn around I would

and face the vampires above, but I knew I couldnt do that.

be killed, permanently this time, and Veronica would be at the mercy of the vampires. I couldnt let that happen. The thought of

Veronica suffering at the hands of those creatures gave me the resolve to go on. I ran through the tunnel, dodging imaginary hands

that seemed to stretch out towards me and doing my best to ignore the dripping sounds. At last I came to a dead end. I reached out and felt along the

rough stones, but I couldnt find anything.

It took me a while to

realize that even if there was something, I probably wouldnt be able to feel it. Suddenly, I felt a chill. It wasnt a chill of the I

body; I could no longer feel physical cold, but my mind felt cold. barely dared to look behind me. What have we here? whispered a raspy voice in my ear. Is it one of us? asked another creature in the darkness.

No, Im not one of you, I told the unseen things, straining to see them through the darkness. Why are you here, boy? asked the first creature, so close I could smell its breath. Overlanders. He is very sick, the second whispered to his companion. Something breathed directly in my ear, and I quickly turned to face it. Two glowing eyes loomed out of the darkness, and I took a I sensed more than felt the other Perhaps you were sent here by the

small step back involuntarily. creatures touch on my back.

Yes, yes, very sick, the creature behind me said, wrapping its arm around my shoulders. I can smell the disease, consuming him.

Perhaps that is why he comes to us, said the being in front of me, pausing for emphasis. Do you believe in the walking dead? it asked. The other thing leaned in close to me, listening intently for my answer. Obviously they didnt understand what they were really They didnt even know what I was.

dealing with, whoever they were.

Most likely they hadnt ever seen a zombie before, especially not the sentient form. After a moment, I gave them my answer. More

Yes, I said, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. than anyone.

The creatures considered me for a moment, their eyes glowing unsettlingly in the near total darkness, only shadows giving any hint of the creatures bodies. Then, slowly, the creature in front of me

placed a hand on my chest, feeling my body carefully, before the other one put its fingers to my neck, probably signaled by some unseen cue the other one gave. their probing fingers. Come with us, said the creature in front of me, who I assumed was the leader of the two. The others will want to see you. After a moment, they both withdrew

I opened my mouth to protest, but quickly closed it again. There was nowhere else to go; perhaps these creatures could get me out of here. these things. afterward. Or maybe I would need to fight my way out of a nest of If that was the case, at least I could eat them

My situation couldnt get much worse right now.

Ill go, I said. The things took up positions on either side of me, and their close proximity sent shivers down my spine. I tried to get some idea

of what exactly I was dealing with as they led me through the tunnels. They were obviously not zombies; their bodies didnt have And they didnt move like normal vampires. The

the smell of decay.

way they shuffled through the sludge was more akin to zombie

movement.

But the glow in their eyes suggested that they were

vampires of some kind. The leader ran his hands along the stone wall, until he found what he was looking for. I heard a small click. A heavy door opened

to reveal an empty hole, and I could see a faint light somewhere below. It took me another few seconds to see the rusted rungs on the One of the creatures

wall which apparently served as a crude ladder.

jumped onto the ladder, and began to climb down with surprising speed and agility. I looked at the other creature, still unable to make It nudged me forward, and

out its face even with the dim light.

after a moments hesitation I placed my foot on the first rung. Gingerly I began to climb, the thing following me. I reached the His

bottom of the ladder, where the first creature greeted me.

companion clambered down the remaining rungs and took up his position beside me. system. We were inside of a large metal tunnel, probably a sewage

The tunnel was lit by a collection of bare bulbs hanging

from the ceiling at odd intervals, casting unusual shadows everywhere. I got my first glimpse of my new companions then.

My assumption had been correct, they were vampires, but they were different from the vampires I was used to. thin, even thinner than a normal vampires. Their bodies were

There seemed to be

nothing there but bones with a thin layer of skin pulled over the skeleton. The creatures were hunched over so badly that they looked Each

like some huge hand had tried to crush their bodies in half.

creatures hands appeared to consist of five long claws fused to the

wrist.

They were all totally bald, almost like someone had

painstakingly plucked every single hair from their decrepit bodies. But most striking were the creatures faces. The faces were

long and angular, their mouths completely filled with razor-sharp teeth. Their eyes were sunken so deeply into their heads that

without the dark ominous glow the creatures almost appeared blind. The vampires ears were large and pointed, giving them a sort of batlike appearance. They kind of reminded of something, but I couldnt

quite remember what. They led me through the tunnels, deftly navigating the intricate maze of passages. by. The flickering lights were barely enough to see I was relieved

Ghostly shadows seemed to dance on the walls.

when one of the vampires opened a hatch into a slightly better-lit subway system. Eventually they brought me to a small tunnel, where four creatures were huddled around a fire with their backs to us. The two

creatures by my side brought me to the little circle, and the others stood up to greet them. All six of the vampires appeared to be

equally deformed, with their claw-like hands, sunken eyes and overlarge teeth. Five of the creatures were male, and the remaining one was a woman. It has been so long since one of the Overlanders came here, said the female vampire as she slowly circled around me. very sick, perhaps you want to become like us? I dont think he can, one of the vampires I had met earlier You are

said.

He is already dead.

The vampire woman looked at the little creature in surprise, before gingerly putting her fingers to my throat, resting them there for a moment, before pulling her hand away and staring at me in shock. The other creatures crowded around me, babbling excitedly, But there were none

feeling my body all over for any signs of life.

to be found, and after some debate, they concluded that I was truly dead. More dead than they themselves were, in fact. And how many

What are you? the vampire woman asked at last. others are there?

There are more zombies than vampires and humans put together, I replied. Everyone knows that.

I remember watching zombie movies once, one of the vampires said quietly. My favorites were the ones by that Romero guy.

Remember that, Jen? The female vampire, the one it had called Jen, nodded in agreement. Yes, we always used to laugh at the idea of those slow, pathetic things destroying the Humans, she said, before adding more intensely. But we also laughed at the thought of vampires stalking

us in the night. They all nodded, obviously reminiscing times long gone. But I

quickly lost interest in them, as something else caught my attention. A large rat was scratching around in the grime at my feet, and I felt an uncontrollable urge to feed. I bent down, and snatched the

animal, breaking its skull in my hand before swallowing the little body whole. The vampires all stopped and looked at me, before the

one called Jen caught on to my problem. You must be hungry, she said. Come, let us go eat. Perhaps

you can tell us what has happened in the time we have been away. I thanked them, and one of the creatures opened a hatch on the side of the tunnel. They ushered me through, and it took a moment to I had just stepped into a subway tunnel

take in what I was seeing.

full of vampires, all of them the strange twisted things I had just become acquainted with, hunchbacked, bat-ears, sunken eyes and everything else. Some of them looked up as we walked in, but they Jen led me through

quickly went back to their various activities.

the crowd of vampires, while the others batted away any inquisitive creatures. We eventually found our way to a room, probably a large But now it was the home of this particular

storage compartment once. vampire pack.

I will spare you the details of our exchange, but I will tell you that I spent several hours with those vampires answering their many questions to the best of my ability and eating live rats, not a particularly unpleasant way to waste time. Mostly they wanted to

know about zombies, our strengths, weaknesses, intelligence, etc. and about the human population. I answered most of their questions

fairly honestly, although I decided they didnt need to know I could only be permanently killed by decapitation. Finally, a small

creature who called himself Alex asked about the overland vampire

population. Vampires rule most of our world now, I told the entranced creatures. Their leader, Lord Kalden_ Did you say

Wait! Jen said, taking me by surprise. Kalden?

I nodded in confirmation, wondering what she was getting at. Hes the reason were down here, she said. That thing

The vampires all looked at me; their beady little eyes seemed to stare directly into my soul. What did he do? I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer. Jen growled at the question, and her eyes seemed to cloud over with the memory. Our kind came long before those Overland vampires, Jen began. We always hunted in the shadows, trying to avoid trouble as much as possible, taking only what we needed. believe we existed. Most humans didnt even He claimed that he had

But then he arrived.

been turned into a vampire against his will, and that he had barely retained his humanity. And the humans believed him. He led the Most of

humans against us, along with his new breed of vampires.

our kind were killed, and the rest of us well, you see what happened to the rest of us. Why was he so different from you? I asked, before I could stop myself. Jen scowled, and another one of the deformed vampires answered

for her. We dont know, the vampire said. And we dont care. What

matters is that we are living in a sewer because he thought he was so superior to us. Just because he has hair, Jen snapped. Its ridiculous.

What relation do the zombies have to Kalden? one of the vampires asked. Most of us just try to avoid him and his kind, I replied hesitantly. back. We can help you with that, Jen said, a smile slowly spreading across her face. vengeance. The small vampire pack ushered me out into the subway tunnel, loudly announcing my prescience to any who would listen. They I think everyone here has waited a long time for But he has a friend of mine, and I intend to get her

invited individuals to examine my rotting body, and soon a crowd began to form, both to gawk at my unusual biology and to hear what Jen and her companions had to say. Before I knew what was happening,

I was standing before a small nation of deformed vampires, being praised as some kind of hero fighting their dreaded enemy. We all know what Kalden did to us! the current vampire speaker yelled. Now it is time to pay him back! Even the dead have risen His crimes must be

to fight him, now we must join their fight. punished!

The assembled vampires let out a wild cheer, and I couldnt help

but wonder why it didnt deafen all of them.

They all wanted to get

a look at me, to feel my lack of pulse, to shake my hand, or something like that. It was kind of strange being the most popular I found it hard to comprehend If they were

zombie in the history of the world.

the creatures interest in me, but I didnt comment.

going to help me in my mission, I wasnt going to argue.

I crawled out of an old manhole into chaos. undead echoed throughout the massive city.

The moans of the

The sun had only just

gone down, but vampires were already in the city streets, desperately attempting to fend off virtual armies of the undead. The human

guardians of the vampires were scattered on the ground, their bodies so badly mauled that most of them werent capable of rising as zombies. The deformed vampires from the tunnels quickly scramble out The overland vampires didnt

of the hole I had just come up from.

know what hit them, and many of them were torn apart before they could react. I didnt stay for the fight. Veronica. I had to go, I had to find It was time for this to end.

And I had to find Kalden.

Chapter 11

Everywhere I turned, creatures moved about in the shadows. There were humans locked in combat with zombies, and some vampires were just emerging from their daytime shelters. time to think about that now. being held captive. A figure stood alone amidst the chaos. The old priest But I didnt have

Somewhere in this city, Veronica was

turned to look at me, smiling broadly to reveal his decaying teeth. Where are they? I asked, looking around for both George and Veronica. Dont worry about your little zombie friend, he replied. patched him up pretty good; hes resting in a room that I, um, vacated. He chuckled a little at that, but I wasnt at all in the mood. Then wheres Veronica? I demanded. Shes still in Kaldens possession, the old man replied. can still save her, but you must hurry. You I

Kaldens base isnt hard to

find, its the tallest building in the city. I thanked him quickly, and made my way into the depths of the city. I scanned the area, looking for a tall building. It only took

me a moment to see where I had to go. the skyscraper as quickly as I could.

I stumbled in the direction of

It took me a while, but I eventually managed to get into the

building through a back door. was completely deserted.

The storage space I found myself in

It was filled with boxes of various shapes I could smell I

and sizes, and large refrigerators lined the walls.

stale blood, and I assumed it came from one of the refrigerators. approached the rooms only door, and I hesitantly pushed it open. Nothing was there to stop me, and I walked into the empty reception area. The place was old, and everything was covered in cobwebs. I

scanned the room quickly, looking for anything of interest. A massive shriek rang through the darkness, and I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being run down by the monster that came sprinting out of the darkness towards me. The vampire stumbled right It It

past me, colliding with a table that stood in one of the corners. turned around, glaring at me with its hideous, animalistic face.

screamed again, lunging towards me again with the speed of an Olympic athlete. I screamed back at the creature, hurling myself awkwardly We collided, and I sent it reeling back by It staggered, and I latched onto the

at the emaciated form. the force of the impact. creature.

The vampire tried to pull away, screaming all the time, One thing you should know: its rumored This

but it was no match for me.

that a zombies grip is stronger than the bite of a Rottweiler. rumor, as ridiculous as it may sound, is absolutely true. about to prove it.

And I was

I heard the vampires bones crack as I squeezed harder, and it screamed again. With all my strength I yanked on the creature, I reached up, and took its throat

pulling it into my deadly embrace.

in my hand.

With no effort at all, I broke his neck.

The body

slowly slipped from my hand.

With a swift motion, I ripped off the

dead vampires arm, biting some of its flesh off to quell that everpresent hunger. I stood up then, knowing that I had to get going. I turned

towards the stairway, wondering what I was going to find on the next floor. The sounds of fighting echoed outside, and I knew that those With another

deformed vampires had found their overland rivals.

quick check for any signs of trouble, I started up the stairway. I was slightly surprised, and almost offended, when I didnt find any thing waiting for me on the second floor. empty hallways stared back at me as I looked around. have any guards? This was Kaldens home. Only the dark, Didnt they

Why werent there any This just didnt make any

underlings here to protect their master? sense. Something caught my attention. creaking board.

It was a small noise, just a

Normally, that wouldnt really set me off, but right Can you blame me? I was about to I turned

now I was really, really jumpy.

fight the most powerful vampire in the world, after all.

towards the noise, and sure enough, a vampire was slowly creeping towards me, large knife in hand. him, and lunged forward. He snarled, realizing I had noticed

I dodged his blade, pivoting as I did so He let out a little yell, A muffled

and catching him in the back of the head.

and I silenced him by slamming his head into the wall.

groan reverberated in the hallway when his head went through the

plaster. I sensed rather than heard his friends stepping out of the various doors, and I knew I had to get out of there fast. I bolted

down the hallway, my awkward limp just fast enough to stay slightly ahead of the vampires, for a little while at least. More vampires

came out of doorways on the other side of the hall, trapping me between their two groups. I backed into the nearest doorway, hearing The

a hollow clang as I put my back up to the metal surface.

vampires formed a semicircle around me, trapping me and cutting me off completely. But not one of them wanted to be the first to My hand slid

attack; they simply stood there, watching me warily. along the wall, and touched something.

The something collapsed as my

hand rested on it, and a whirring noise sounded behind me. One of the vampires got up the guts to attack me then, making a mad dash towards me. But he was too late, the metal doors behind me The other

slid open, and we both fell through into the elevator.

vampires crowded around the door, trying to push their way in through the small opening. I snarled at them, and shoved the foolhardy I looked A little

vampire out into the mass, just as the doors slid shut. around the dim little room, not sure what to do or think. panel glowed on the wall, and I carefully examined it.

Each of the

glowing lights on the panel had a small symbol on it, and I remembered that they were used to send the elevator up or down. I

pressed the little glowing light with the upward-pointing arrow and fell backwards as the floor lurched up under my feet. The sounds of

the vampires in the hall faded as the elevator rose. I got, the more worried I became.

But the higher

I had no idea where I was going. In the

The door slowly slid open, revealing a large, dark room.

middle of the room stood a vampire, leaning over a smaller form, the long hair hiding the smaller figures face. realize that it was Veronica on the ground. It took a moment to Kalden reached down,

putting his hand on her chin, raising her face towards him. Dont touch her! I yelled, rage burning inside my dead heart. He turned in surprise; apparently he hadnt even noticed the elevator. Kill that thing! he called to someone out of sight. A large vampire stepped into sight, pulling his lips back in a hideous smile. He slowly walked towards me. Without a thought, I

hurled myself at him, catching the creature with a powerful right hook, hard enough to crack its jaw. broken jaw in agony. He fell over, clutching the

I stepped over the fallen vampire, continuing It was at that moment that I finally And right

undeterred towards my target.

realized that the only power these vampires had was fear. now, I was too angry to feel any fear at all. Veronica again. I saw a look of confusion flash across Kaldens face. it was gone, replaced by anger. and she let out a little groan. strong enough to get to her feet.

Kalden would not hurt

But then,

He knocked Veronica away viciously, She was obviously hurt, not even Without a thought, I dashed at He tried to dodge,

Kalden, faster than I had moved since the change.

but he couldnt escape my wrath.

I caught him by the arm, swung him

around and flipping him onto one of the overly-ornamented chairs, knocking it over in the process. give him time to recover. He groaned in pain, but I didnt

I grabbed him again, throwing him into the

nearest door, hard enough to smash right through the flimsy wood. You hurt her, I said quietly, approaching the injured vampire threateningly. to hurt. I kicked the prone vampire, hard. clutching his side in pain. I had only an instant of warning, some sixth sense picking up something the other five couldnt detect. barely deflecting the vicious blow. I turned around, just He screamed in agony, You hurt me, you hurt everyone. Now its your turn

I kneed the vampire standing His

behind me in the stomach, knocking his breath right out of him.

broken jaw was useless to cry out, so he didnt make a sound when I smashed his throat in my hand. he wasnt there any more. to send me sprawling. in and out of focus. I turned back to find to Kalden, but

A fist connected with my face, hard enough

Kaldens shadowy form stood above me, moving He kneeled over me, whispering into my ear. Those sewer rats you released into Now, youre going to die, for

You failed, he snarled.

the city are nothing, theyre doomed. real this time. No, I replied harshly.

Not yet. I

I threw my hand out, slamming my fist strait into his face. rolled to my feet, knocking him over completely. I stood over my

fallen adversary.

He stared up at me, and I prepared to put an end But somehow, I couldnt. Something was He

to his wretched life.

stopping me, almost like a physical wall between me and him.

slowly pulled himself to his feet, bearing his teeth at me in a horrible grin. Theres no way you can defeat me, he said. I began to feel something, pushing its self into my mind, locking me within my own body. I watched as the vampire walked His thoughts seemed to

slowly forward, his eyes boring into my mind.

press themselves into my mind, things so evil even I cant put them onto paper. You cant win, he said, grabbing hold of my throat. ever made you think you had a chance? My mind raced, not sure what to do. I tried to fight, tried to And then, What

defeat the oppressive thoughts that were filling my mind. somehow, I pushed back. back in absolute shock.

Kaldens control shattered and he staggered His mind began to press itself on mine Our minds were locked in a Slowly, I broke through I

again, but this time I pressed back.

power struggle, even as our bodies collided.

his defenses, and took hold of his body in my powerful hands. flipped him over onto the rooms one huge table, breaking it to pieces in the process.

I picked up one of the broken table legs.

The door burst open, and several vampires came in just in time to watch me plunge the piece of wood through Kaldens heart. His

scream echoed through the night, mingling with the sound of the

fighting below.

But that scream quelled every sound.

Every creature

in the city had felt their masters death. simply stared.

The gathered vampires I

They only watched as I lifted Veronica tenderly.

bared my teeth at them in warning, growling angrily at them. They ran. I carried Veronica through the empty hallways. No one Their I stepped

challenged me; they had all felt Kaldens death at my hands. leader was dead, and now, there was nothing left for them. through the door, into the dark night. zombies, and even humans. stood before them.

Vampires were everywhere, and

All of them stopped their fighting as I

The normal, overland vampires and their human

minions stared at me for a moment, before they all turned and fled. Put me down now, Veronica said weakly. I can walk.

I set her down on her feet, careful not to injure her any further. face. She looked at me, staring into my rotten and mutilated

She was growing stronger; her vampiric regeneration was The

already taking affect on the bruises that covered her face.

zombies crowded around, not quite sure what to make of the scene, just close enough to see and not close enough to get caught in any cross fire. For a few seconds, there was silence. Dead silence.

Jed! someone screamed, and I realized it was Jen. A massive cheer broke through the night, echoing throughout the now empty city. their shoulders. The undergrounders swarmed me, hoisting me up onto Their cry of victory swelled, louder and louder as

more and more of them poured from the various crevices of the city.

Even the zombies began to scream their joy.

Together, they carried My

me through the ruins, triumphant at last, free of their overlord. home, my family, and my very life had been avenged. And in that

moment, even though I was dead, I felt more alive than I ever had before.

Chapter 12

I leaned on the wall of the little apartment tiredly.

While

zombies dont need sleep, per say, we do get tired and we do need periods of rest. And I hadnt had one for about two weeks. Now, I

just needed time to think over the nights events. window at the slowly rising sun.

I looked out the

Zombies milled about in the

streets, unsure what to do after being released from the prisons which I and the undergrounders had found all over the city. Most

human prisoners had taken shelter with various vampires for the day, to avoid being eaten by the newly liberated undead. The remaining

part of my lip twitched upwards in a slight smile as I thought about what had happened. I had beaten the vampires lord, and saved I shuddered to

Veronica from whatever they had planned for her.

think about what could have happened if I had been delayed even a few minutes. Veronica sighed in her sleep, her thin form shaking slightly in the early morning chill. I looked over at the cot she was lying on, I had We

considering the emaciated and slightly unsettling creature. known her for a long time, but we had both changed so much. werent even human any more.

But she was still Veronica, my little

play mate back in that time not so long ago when we had been normal children trying to grow up in this fallen world. I looked at her

sadly for a moment, before carefully pulling the threadbare blanket

up over her thin form. before I pulled it away.

My hand lingered near her for just a moment,

I carefully slipped out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind me. George knelt in the main dining area, contentedly chewing The zombie's body had

on one of the vampires unfortunate guardians.

been mostly put back together by the old mans amazing handiwork, although he was still wrapped tightly in bandages, making him look more like a mummy than a ghoul. He looked up quickly, flashing me a I knelt down next to him,

brief smile before returning to his meal.

taking hold of one of the dead mans arms and sinking my teeth into it. The feeding frenzy felt so good after so much planning and A mindless binge was a nice change.

strategizing and such.

Nice to see youre having a good time, someone said nearby. I looked up to see the Father Adrian step out of the shadows. I

swallowed the piece of bloody meat hanging from my mouth quickly, and stood up to face him. This man wasnt as frightening as he had once

been, but I was still unnerved by him. Did you kill him? he asked. I nodded, and a smile played across his wrinkled face. Good, the old man said. God rest his soul. I know you arent interested in a

Why are you here? I asked. social call.

He considered me a moment, tugging nervously on his tattered cloak. Somehow, he appeared saddened by that question. You have finished

I just wanted to say farewell, he said.

what I started, and now an old man can rest in peace. He paused a moment, before turning to leave. what he had said. I was puzzled by It

What did he mean he could rest in peace now?

took me a moment to realize what he meant. You'll die? George asked, before I could say anything. can eat you? The old man chuckled at that, but he shook his head to indicate that he was not food. No, he said. from everything. I have to go somewhere far away from here, away So I

Those Count Orlok wannabes out there wouldnt be

prepared for what might come. I couldnt bring myself to respond in any way to that. I didnt

know what kind of threat a dying man might cause that a city full of vampires and zombies couldnt deal with. right. But somehow, I knew he was

There was just something about the way he said it that

communicated everything I needed to know. Things are coming, the old man continued. or anyone else can do to prepare you for it. Theres nothing I

I have seen that the You must

humans will rise again; the undead have had their day. choose sides wisely when the time comes.

He placed his hand on my shoulder, and looked me strait in the eyes. I felt a chill run through my entire body. That look

communicated more than words ever could, and I knew that this was the last time I would see the wrinkled old face again. I should have

been glad to know that, but part of me felt a pang of loss.

Goodbye, he said at last. That was all I heard.

My son.

Somewhere, deep inside, I had known this.

He stared at me a moment longer, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Abruptly he turned away, walking quickly to the open He lifted his hand in one last farewell, and then he

apartment door. was gone.

The realization that he was not just an old man, but my Somewhere in the city below an

old man, my father, was staggering.

engine started, getting softer as the car screeched off into the distance, into the wastes. I sat down heavily on one of the wooden

chairs, letting myself go into an infamous zombie stupor. You need some time? George asked. I nodded, and he carefully stepped outside, dragging the remains of the dead human behind him. My mind went blank then; I was Even the normal numbness of the My

completely unaware of passing time.

undead was nothing compared to this utter cease or sensation.

body began shivering so hard that dust and maggots began to fall off. The constant moan of the zombies continued to filter in through the open windows. sensations. As hard as I tried, I couldnt remember ever having a father. But I knew the old mans words had been true. son, and I must have had a father at some time. He had called me his Something floated The sound slowly mingled with my other confused

just outside of my consciousness, but I couldnt bring it to the surface, whatever it was. Images of a little boy silently watching

the other children playing together flashed through my mind, then of

the same little boy crying into his mothers skirts.

I simply

couldnt completely penetrate the hazy blackness between myself and my past. Jed, whispered a female voice behind me. I turned to find Veronica standing behind me, her thin form leaning tiredly against the wall. She smiled at me, before carefully

walking over and seating herself on another chair. Who was that? she asked. George, I replied. And someone who called me his son.

Veronica was somewhat surprised by that one, but I didnt give her time to recover from the shock. Who were we? I asked Veronica. were living people once. am. You and your brother were foundlings, she said. who your parents were. I sighed. No one knew We must have some past, we Just tell me who I

You can remember it.

I dont know much more than that.

I hadnt really expected her to know anything. We are who and what we

Why does it matter? she continued. are now.

Lets just try to make the best of that.

How can I accept this living death? I retorted, more harshly than I had intended. have some humanity. what I have become. skin is rotting away. Maybe you can learn to accept it. Youre immortal. Look at me! But Im not. You still

I cant accept

My senses get weaker every day, my How

Even my mind is slowly being eaten away!

can you tell me to try to make the best of that?

I stood up abruptly and turned away from her.

One black tear

slowly rolled down my cheek, one tear for all that I had lost, and all that we had lost. She put her hand on my shoulder and gently She reached up and

turned me around so that I was facing her again. pulled my head towards her.

Her bloodless lips touched the remains

of mine, and I felt the vampires chill seep into every inch of my being. I felt a need to pull back from that coldness, but somehow I And for the first time, that cold didnt feel so

was held there. evil.

I embraced the vampire, giving in completely to her and, at I felt myself fall away

last, that block in my mind disappeared. into a time long gone.

I let my heavy bag of flour fall to the ground, taking a moment to rest from my labor. My shirt was completely soaked with sweat,

and my arms ached from the long hours of hauling food into the city. A merchant had arrived, selling his wares cheaply, and we couldnt afford to pass up a good deal. we were all hungry. Our warehouses were nearly empty, and

I looked into the evening sky, trying to judge This was the last bag, and it

the time by the position of the sun. wasnt too late yet.

Maybe I could get in a card game with my I wiped some sweat off my forehead, before

friends when I was done.

tiredly picking up the bag. Jed! someone called. I turned to see my brother, Mark, running towards me at top speed. He ground to a halt, panting in the summer heat. After

catching his breath, he slowly pulled a small package out of his pocket. I have something for you, he said, a little smile playing across his face as he handed me the tiny box. I set down the bag and carefully pulled the coarse paper off of the little box. My hand trembled as I held it. I could barely open

it, because I knew what I was going to find. I-I cant accept this, I stammered. lifes savings to get that for Sara. His face fell at the mention of Sara. She had been his crush They had One You spent your whole

and sweetheart as long as either of us could remember.

officially been dating for nearly two years before the accident.

of the guardians of the gate had fallen asleep at his post, letting one of the rotting creatures outside climb over the fence. The man

got what he deserved, and the creature went on a rampage through the town. In all, seven people were killed, and two were infected by its Sara was one of them. Mark had been forced to put her

deadly bite. down himself.

We have to go on, he said quietly. have a chance with Veronica. then for me.

Shes gone, Jed.

You

Please take it, if not for yourself,

You can still be happy. I looked

He smiled sadly, and pressed the ring into my hand.

into his eyes, and slowly closed my hand around the cool metal. Thank you, I said. Go, he whispered. Shes waiting for you.

My heart was beating so fast I thought it would thump its self out of my chest. I was finally going to ask Veronica to marry me,

the moment I had waited for since the first time we had met each other in the towns little schoolhouse. A shiver of excitement The sun

wracked my whole body as I slipped the ring into my pocket.

was setting, and I quickly heaved the bag onto my shoulder, hurrying towards the storehouse as quickly as my legs could carry me. Good luck! Mark shouted after me. I stopped to wave to him. The sun had gone down by then, and I No one knew when a vampire raid

knew that I had to get inside soon.

might take place, but everyone knew that it was unwise to stay outside at night. I looked towards the fence, and I could see the

dark shapes of zombies milling about outside.

I stared into Veronicas red eyes, and hesitantly reached up to brush a lock of hair off her face. She smiled at me, her fangs I reached into my

gleaming in the dim light of early morning.

pocket, and took hold of the small circle of gold.