DEADTOWN

Chapter 19

"Darrell." The tall bearded man nods as he shakes Tim's hand. "Dead Town? As in, everyone is dead here?"

"Deader than a doornail." Austin says.

"Like really dead?" The small girl asks as she and Darrell exchange glances.

"I'm afraid so." Tim says with a nod.

"Wow. I never in a million years thought that it would be like this." Darrell says as he looks around the saloon.

"So what happened? Why were there so many people with you?" Chance asks.

"We were at a nightclub with several friends. There were two rival gangs there and they got into a big fight. A lot of shooting." Darrell answers. "Several people were shot. And from the looks of it, we were amongst the ones that were shot."

"And your name is?" Tim asks, turning to the small girl.

"Sami." She smiles slightly and nods.

"Boy. Y'all sure taking this better than I did." Nate says shaking his head.

"You people look so normal. Nothing like I thought dead people look like." Sami says as she glances around at everyone.

"What did you expect us to look like? Zombies?" Avi asks.

"Honestly? Yes." Sami says.

"So what happens now? And who are all you guys?" Darrell asks.

"Well, like I said before, I'm Tim and this here is my boyfriend Adam." Tim says before pointing to the others and telling the newcomers their names.

"So, uh, are y'all a couple?" Jenika asks as she bites her bottom lip as she looks at Darrell.

"No." Darrell shakes his head. "We're just good friends." Sami nods in agreement.

"And the answer to your other question about what we do now is nothing." Tim says as he walks over to a table and sits down, pulling Adam down in his lap.

"Nothing? Sounds easy enough." Darrell chuckles as he sits down at the same table.

"You said Dead Town. So this is a whole town? I was too scared to look earlier when we were running from those things. But there are other buildings?" Sami says as she too sits down.

Tim only nods his answer as the others pull up chairs to join them.

"Yeah, there are several buildings. We actually stay over at the hotel." Chance answers as he sits down beside her. "We each have a room. The whole town looks like an old western town. And we are the residents."

"We were just over here at the saloon having a party. It gets a little boring here." Chris adds.

"Speaking of those things, what the hell are they?" Darrell asks.

"Those are the reason that you don't go out after dark." Adam says. "You see what happens if you do."

"Those are demon dogs from Hell. They come out only at night looking for souls to drag down to Hell." Tim says.

"Are we safe in here?" Sami asks as she glances around at Chance.

"Yeah, all the buildings are safe. For some reason, they won't come in." Chance answers.

"So." Tim says as he lights himself a cigarette. "Just sit back and relax. We still have a few hours of darkness left. If you have any questions don't be afraid to asks."

"What do y'all do for excitement or to just pass the time?" Darrell says as he looks around, once again, at the saloon.

"Plenty of sex." Tim chuckles as he takes a puff from his cigarette.