Demigods

Of Demons & Saints

The city laid in waste, baring the stench of decay and ruin. The wind mourned through the debris of what was left of the metropolis. Decomposing corpses straggled through the lifeless streets with a rabid crave for human flesh. The bleak silence was shattered by the echoing boom of sporadic gunfire. Reanimated carrions snapped their heads in the direction of the noise. Moaning hungrily, the horde advanced towards the noise with a sickening appetite.

Keith fired twice, taking down the two closest zombies. He jogged behind the two sprinting females in front of him. He had been on many scavenge runs but this was by far the most dangerous. They had succeeded in attracting every zombie within a two-mile radius and the horde was growing fast. He stared at his fleeing companions and wondered if they were going to survive this encounter. It was surprising that they had even survived the apocalypse this long. They were a motley crew comprising of a goth teenage girl, a twenty-six year old brunette who had been a fashion designer before the apocalypse and himself, a fast-food staff.

"Leigh, start the car. We'll hold off the horde." The brunette said to the teenage girl once as they approached the old green minivan parked by the roadside.

Keith sighed. "Let's do this, Evie."

The armed duo turned towards the rotting horde and unleashed a fury of bullets. Zombies began dropping in a heap, slowly creating a barricade before the advancing horde. Leigh jumped into the driver's seat, stabbed the key into the ignition and turned. The car screeched with effort and died. Leigh took a deep breath and turned again. The car screeched even louder as though it were taunting the group and it eventually died. Anxiety was starting to creep in as Leigh turned the key again.

"What's going on back there?" Keith yelled.

"It's not working." Leigh replied frustratingly.

"Keep trying." Evie yelled back.

The bullets kept flying, heads spilling out brain matter and the car kept screeching and dying. The horde was drawing closer, forcing the duo back towards the car.

"I'm almost out." Evie said.

Keith knew he was also running out of ammo and it was only a matter of time before they had to stop shooting. Evie's gun clicked empty and Keith's gun followed in a few moments. The duo ran to the car and jumped into the back seat.

"Lock the doors." Keith yelled at Leigh.

The door clicked shut and a bang followed as a zombie crashed against the window. More and more zombies were appearing before the window and soon it was covered by rotting corpses with jaundiced faces, yawning hungrily at them. The windows were getting smeared with blood and icteric fluid. Keith shoved his last round of bullets into his rifle and they all stared in horror as the cracks began to appear on the window. It would only take a matter of minutes before the glass would give in to the mounting pressure.

Suddenly, the thundering crack of gunfire began ripping through the horde. Blood and brain matter began splattering over the windows, covering the glass in dark crimson goo.

"Get down!" Keith barked.

The ruthless cacophony carried on for a while before a resonating silence ensued. Three light thumps to the side of the car was all it took to make them rise from their crouched positions. Keith pushed open the door with a suppressed grunt. He gawked in awe at the gory mess that bathed the side of the car. The putrid stench forced him to retch before he could say a word.

"You good?"

Keith looked to see an armed middle-aged man with a large silver crucifix hanging from his neck. Keith found the man to be awfully clean and too decently dressed.

"Hey. Thanks for the help, man." Keith remarked.

"It's fine. We're just trying to help as many people as we can." He replied with a smug look on his face. "I'm Boyd."

Keith shook his outstretched hand. "I'm Keith."

The car doors opened again and both Evie and Leigh got out.

"These are my friends, Evie and Leigh."

Boyd smiled at both ladies and extended his hand. Leigh turned away to hide her blush. She thought he had the warmest charming smile she ever saw. Boyd turned and they all noticed the faded yellow school bus. A man and a woman armed with semi-automatic rifles stood by the vehicle and a scruffy muscular man with a bemired face holding a small turret stood on top of the bus.

"That's Ralph and Lauren." Boyd said, referring to the man and woman next to the bus. "And the brawn on the bus is Travis."

"Why do y'all look like you haven't been in the apocalypse?" Keith asked. "Well, except for Travis up there."

Boyd chuckled. "We are from a tight-knit community that had been preparing ahead of the apocalypse."

"What?" Evie blurted with a scowl.

"We prepared for this." Boyd reiterated. "We are from a group that had been preparing for the doomsday but we didn't quite expect it to be like this."

"What's this group called?" Leigh asked.

"Saints of Armageddon."

An awkward silence loomed over the atmosphere as the surprised trio exchanged looks between each other.

"Are you with a group?" Boyd asked, breaking the silence.

"No. We're just trying to survive on our own." Keith replied.

"You could come with us." Boyd suggested with a warm smile. "We could provide you with good food, a warm bed and better clothes. We would be happy to help."

The trio exchanged looks again but this time it was one of disbelief.

"W-We could use the help, thanks." Keith responded.

"Fine, then." Boyd's warm smile reappeared. "Come with us."

He ushered them into the bus and soon everyone was seated in the school bus. Ralph was in the driver's seat and Lauren right behind him. The others scattered themselves across the bus, mainly taking seats next to the window. Just as the bus drove off, Leigh who sat at the back of bus noticed three masked men watching them from afar. All three men sat on their bikes, staring at them unmoved with their creepy masks.