Sanctuary

Chapter Seven: Zombie Hunting

Frank led Jeremy and Adelia down a two-lane county road. Sprawling weeds and sharp clumps of grass poked up through cracks in faded asphalt. When they reached Dakota Avenue, a road covered in equal parts dirt and gravel, they turned. Jeremy realized it was the road they used to come into town that morning. This time, they stopped in front of a crop of trees he hadn't noticed before. On closer inspection, Jeremy could make out a dilapidated mobile home surrounded by debris. The roof sagged and the siding clung desperately in places, revealing faded insulation. It looked as if a long-ago tornado had narrowly missed the property.

"What do we do?" Jeremy asked.

"I tracked him. You figure out the rest," Frank said.

"You walked us down the street. How is that tracking?" Jeremy asked.

"I didn't say it was a hard job."

"Be careful when you make deals with Folk," Adelia said, looking at Frank out of the corner of her eye as she scanned the trees. "And ghosts." She stepped toward the property but paused with her chin slightly raised, eyes closed. "Crag has returned. I don't know where exactly, but he is in Ardmore. We must be quick."

"And the sun will be down soon, we don't want Abe to go into the earth," Frank said.

"Lead on tracker," she said, nodding to Frank.

Frank walked past her, and they fell in behind him. There must have been a driveway once, but the great plains reclaimed it long ago, covering any evidence of it in tall yellow grass. Eventually, the prairie would swallow the entire town, leaving outlines and indentions where buildings once stood. A place that used to exist, but nobody remembered. Jeremy wondered what happened to Moirai folk when their Sanctuaries disappeared. Did they try to stop it from happening or did they fade away with it?

"How does a zombie defend itself?" he asked.

"There are many ways—" A booming shot rang out and Jeremy dove for cover. Looking up from the ground he saw Frank gazing down at a new hole in his stomach. "A shotgun is one way," Adelia continued. She hadn't moved or reacted to the shot.

"Get now, it's mine and you can't have it, I told you," Abe said, taking a shuffling step out from behind a thick tree. He shifted his aim to Adelia.

"Do you know how hard it is to fill that back in?" Frank said, shaking his head in disgust. "And we still feel things, you know."

"Abe, it's over. The gold is mine and you know it," Adelia said. "You've had plenty of time to—"

Another shot rang out, but this time Adelia raised her hands. Hundreds of tiny pellets floated to a stop in front of her. The gold bag in his pocket radiated heat.

"That's it, Abe, your scatter gun is empty. It's time to move on. You've had a long life and an even longer after life." Adelia walked calmly forward, into the pellets as they dropped to the grass around her. Jeremy wondered if the buckshot would have hurt her. He scrambled to his feet and followed, staring at Abe's pale skin and sunken eyes. He was covered in mud and muck as if he'd fallen into a pond. Green algae hung from his overhauls. But he looked human.

"They have to be near water," Frank said as Adelia walked past him, still looking down at the hole in his stomach. "The earth revives them, and the water hydrates them." As they drew closer, into the crop of trees, Jeremy saw a small, algae covered pond beside a collapsed shed and wondered if Abe had just been rolling in it.

Abe didn't move as they approached and Adelia laid her hand on his chest. His eyes rolled back like they had before. His body convulsed for a moment, but this time he broke free and pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. They rolled in the grass. Before Jeremy knew what he was doing, he rushed forward and tackled Abe. They came up facing each other, and the world went silent. Jeremy noticed blood around the zombie's mouth and on his cheeks. He hadn't seen that from far away. What had he eaten? The smell of death and decay nearly made him gag, and Jeremy decided that Abe was much more terrifying up close.

"Adelia, a little help," he pleaded, but there was no answer. What was he thinking? He didn't fight people or zombies. He ran. He survived. Abe lunged at him, but Jeremy dove to the side, amazed at the dead man's speed.

"She ain't gonna help you never again, boy," Abe said. His voice was dark and gravely.

"Adelia," Jeremy cried, frantically searching, but she was gone. "Frank," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, but it trembled, "where is—" Abe tackled him, and he found himself on his back, staring up into Abe's cruel face. His breath brought tears to Jeremy's eyes. It was old death with something new, something he had devoured just before they found him. He struggled to keep the snarling zombie from biting his throat. But suddenly, the weight lifted and Abe let out a frustrated howl. Frank's face came into view.

"I can't hold him for long!" Frank said, grunting with the effort. "It takes effort to touch the mortal world and he's strong." Abe howled again and Jeremy fought down the instinct to scream in response. "You have to get the bag!" Frank hollered as Abe twisted violently and sent him sailing through the air. Abe's full weight crashed down on him again. Where was the bag? Jeremy's mind reeled as he fought.

He kicked and struggled, but it was all he could do to keep Abe's snapping teeth away from his face. Finally, he managed to jam his thumb into the zombie's eye, cringing as he felt it burst. Abe roared and thrashed, and Jeremy rolled out from under him. But before he could escape, he felt Abe's teeth sink into his forearm. Screaming, he slammed his fist into Abe's nose and pushed him away with as much strength as he could muster. He tried to scramble to his feet again but Abe wrapped an iron grip around his ankle.

"You're fresh," Abe growled, blood and gel-like liquid poured down his cheek from his ruined eye-socket. "So human!"

Jeremy desperately dug under his shirt and wrapped his fingers around the amulet, just as he felt teeth sink into his calf. Jeremy slammed his boot into the zombie's forehead before he could break the skin. Spinning, he tried to pull the amulet over his head, but in his panic, couldn't manage to get it free. Abe clawed his way on top of Jeremy again, growling like a wild beast. Jeremy didn't struggle this time, instead, when he was close enough, he grabbed the back of Abe's neck and pressed the amulet into the zombie's forehead. Abe screamed and Jeremy pressed as hard as he could, driving the amulet into dead flesh.

Abe rolled onto his back, desperately clutching his blackened forehead as if trying to rip it away from himself. Jeremy stumbled to his feet, feverishly searching the tall grass until he found the bag of gold. As he grabbed it Adelia came screaming into existence beside him. An intelligible sound cascading all around. He stumbled back, gaping at her as she launched herself at Abe with a terrifying swiftness. Without pausing, she plunged her hand into his chest. The bag of gold scorched his hand and he almost dropped it.

"You are no more!" She yanked her hand out of his chest in an explosion of blood and gore. Jeremy fell to his knees, wide-eyed and staring. She stood clenching her fist tightly and watched Abe collapse before walking over to him. She lowered herself to the grass without a word. Frank walked up to Abe's corpse and looked down. Letting out a low whistle, he shook his head, gazing sideways at Adelia.

"Where are you from, again?" he asked.