ZombiePalooza - Anthology

#TeamVoodoo Pt. III - @thetempered's "World's End"

'No,' said Grace, 'but we have a couple of Mormons, will they do?'

Once the girl assured them she was alone, she was directed to scale the lamp post and reach a set of old motorcycle handlebars that hung from the zip line. Willard climbed up to the front of the boat to where the line was secured and pulled a rope, drawing the handlebars and the girl holding them across the water. Willard paused midway and left the young girl to dangle. The forty or so dead attempted to follow her and walked off the edge of the boardwalk. Once the last of the dead had fallen in and were being swept away by the swift Mississippi current, Willard continued to pull the rope until the young girl landed on the deck. She introduced herself as Sissy.

'How did you do that Sissy?' Dinah asked, 'you just walked among the dead without them wanting to take a bite out of you?'

'My necklace.' Sissy took a sip of hot chocolate. Though it was made only with water and not milk, she savoured every sip. 'It's a gris-gris, also known as a juju.' Hanging from a leather cord around her neck was a small brown leather pouch. 'It contains a charm that wards off evil.'

'You can just walk amongst them?'

'Yes.'

'I hope you don't mind me asking,' Willard said, 'but I'd love to borrow it for a couple of hours, just to get some supplies.'

'I am afraid not Mr ...?'

'Mr Bray, but just call me Willard, or just Will.'

'Will, it has been crafted only for me, it will not work on anyone else.'

'Who made it? Can they make them for us?' Dinah asked.

'I am afraid not. A witch called Martine made it for me. Grann wants me to find another witch to retrieve Martine's spell.'

'No Louisiana witches here, we are all imports I'm afraid,' Willard said, 'Gideon and his daughter Dinah are from Utah, Grace is from Texas, and I'm from Massachusetts.'

'Massachusetts? As in New England?' Sissy finished the last of her hot chocolate.

'Yes, I used to run a police boat on The Connecticut, but my wife and I came down here a while back, she thought it would be romantic for me to captain World's End. That was before the end of the world.'

'The irony of it all,' Gideon chimed in.

'Your name is Willard sir?' The young girl gratefully took an open can of peaches and a fork from Gideon, it was evident she had not eaten anything of substance for some days. 'Are you named after John Willard?'

'I wouldn't have a clue. Who was John Willard?'

'Just one of the most powerful witches in all of New England.'

'How do you know so much about witches Sissy?'

'I've been living with only my Grann for company for weeks now. She has some old books and I have been reading to her. Not much else to do really, except of course, to try and find a witch. I do not have the gift.'

'OK, so let me see if I have this straight.' Gideon was quite excited about a potential new adventure. Not that he believed in witches or fairies or ghouls, he did not really even believe in the dead, even when they were walking around in front of him. Gideon was just happy to be talking to someone new and talking about something different. 'You want us to accompany you back through the Quarter, to visit your Grann, to see if our captain here can weave magic spells?'

'Exactly,' said Sissy.

'Where too exactly?' Gideon asked.

'The only place left with fences and gates in this city after the bombings, The Lafayette Cemetery.'