Vollies of gunfire grew shorter.  Below, the men on the third floor began to withdraw.  With their leader nowhere to be found and their numbers dwindling, they had no reason to continue the fight.  They’d come to cleanse the land of the unholy once and for all, but they failed.  Their god had abandoned them.

            Without a cause, they fled not yet wondering what would give their lives meaning.  Instead they worried about the snipers who still hammered them as they boarded a single transport.  Several of them fell from bullets to the back.  Their comrades didn’t take the time to make sure their fallen were dead or that they wouldn’t come back.  They just ran.

            Many, the lucky ones, would be devoured by the corpses walking below.  Others would be damned to walk the Earth as lepers.

*

            As the enemy fled, Turnbull hardly felt victorious.  He found Rick, still alive, but half of the men who agreed to fight hadn’t made it.  Everybody had lost friends.  After the gunfire ended, Jack seemed to be in a state of shock.  He’d found dead bodies on the fourth floor and the McRee girl and Helen were in the same room.  They seemed okay, but shaken.  When he told Helen about Sam’s death, the girl nodded and looked for Jack.

            “Jasper didn’t make it,” Sarah McRee said.

            “I saw his body.  How are you holding up?”

            “I’ll be fine.  I was pretty lucky.”

            “After we tend to our wounded and figure out the damage, I’ll look for your father.”

*

            “Jack?” Helen said from the doorway.

            The boy was slumped against the wall.  Tears rolled down his cheeks.  It was the first time Helen had seen him cry.

            “That’s a good sign,” Ted whispered in Helen’s ear.  “A minute ago he was just staring at that wall.”

            He looked out of the window, perhaps not believing that their battle was over.

            “I’ll check on things out here.”

            As Ted walked out of the room, he patted Helen on the shoulder.

            Jack’s eyes were glued on Helen as she slid down the wall and sat next to him.  She put and arm around him and guided the boy’s head to her shoulder.  He clutched her arm and sobbed.  Helen patted his back and kissed the top of his head.

            “It’s okay, Jack.  You’re not alone.”

            “I’m sorry,” Jack said.

            “Don’t be.  It’s like you lost another parent.  I understand.”

            “When they left I was happy to be alive.  Then…”

            “Shhhh… It’s okay.”

            “God, whenever Sam came back after one of his men died, he always felt guilty.  He never talked about it, but I could tell.  It almost seems like he got what he wanted.”

            “He did.  You, me, Ted… He saw us all as his responsibility and we made it.  You were like a son to him and he would have gladly died to save your life.”

            When he didn’t say anything else, Helen kissed the top of Jack’s head again.

            “Come on, we’ve still got a lot to do.  Are you up for it?”

            He nodded and they stood.

*

            “There might be survivors out there,” Turnbull said.  “I think we’ve all seen enough death for one day so if you can, take them alive.  Remember, we still have men out there.”

            The soldiers moved out to prep two jeeps.  When they were ready, Gideon would be joining them, but first he wanted to check on the rest of the survivors.

            “So much death,” Rick said.

            “It’s the story of the world, even before all of this.”

            “Half of our men are dead.  If they hadn’t run, those bastards could have overrun us.”

            “But they would have paid a heavy cost.  I don’t think they could take any more punishment.  With as few of them as there are left, I don’t think they’ll be bothering anyone again.”

            “Where’d they come from?”

            “I don’t know, but I think I can ask a reliable source.”

            Turnbull walked towards the stairs.  The dead bodies had already been put down and dragged into one room.  Their own fallen would be delivered back to their families.  Not much could be done about the dead in the streets.  The undead had already picked them clean.

            The attack had been so savage.  Turnbull hadn’t seen anything like it since he was overseas.

            “Are you going to be okay?” He asked his brother.

            Rick nodded.

            “Good.  Try to establish radio contact with the base.  If Olmstead answers I want him to know that we gave his army a bloody nose.”

*

            Ten minutes later, Turnbull was in a jeep.  They didn’t even have to look for their outside team.  By the time they rolled out, the others were already riding in to meet them.  The driver waved and picked up the radio.

            “Good to see you,” the driver said.

            “You too.  We’re looking for survivors if you want to tag along.”

            “Sure thing.”

            Survivors did take awhile to find.  In fact, there seemed to be none.  The cultists had vastly outnumbered Olmstead’s forces when they rode in.  Even though they’d faced quite a fight, the cultists were ferocious.  They not only crushed the offense, but they hadn’t allowed them to escape.  If anyone was left alive, they wouldn’t stand a chance if they were left behind.  He didn’t see a point in checking the buildings outside of the wall.  There was too much ground to cover and too many places to hide.  Nor was it prudent to check the multitude of vehicles discarded inside of the ring.  If anyone had been alive inside, they’d have either already escaped or they’d have been pulled apart by the undead.

            No, if anyone was left alive they’d be on top of the ring of wreckage.  Sal and the others had moved on top of the wall to mount their offensive against the cultists.  As they circled the inside of the wall, Turnbull repeatedly broadcast a message via loudspeaker, announcing that he didn’t want to harm anyone.

            They were on their third pass and about to give up when a figure emerged.  He was shaking and refused to drop his rifle.  When they moved closer, Turnbull recognized him.

            “Drop the weapon, Fox.  We’re not going to hurt you, but we need the same from you.”

            “I’m not giving up my rifle!”

            “You came in here to attack us.  You lost.  I don’t want to see anyone else die, but if you don’t drop your weapon we will be forced to open fire.”

            “After you bastards set us up, why should I trust you?”

            “We didn’t plan any of this.  You chose to show yourself so you must know we’re the only way you can get out of here alive.”

            He dropped the rifle.

            “Good now ditch the sidearm too.”

            He did as he was instructed.

            “Now climb down.”

            As Fox Mann scaled down the wall, one of the jeeps pulled closer so the prisoner could climb in.  After what he’d been through Turnbull could understand the soldier’s reluctance, but they didn’t have time to deal with it.

            “Did you see any other survivors,” Turnbull asked.

            Fox shook his head.

            Turnbull ordered another search of the wall, though he didn’t expect to find anyone else.

*

            “Daddy!” Sarah shouted when the jeeps returned.

            While McRee and his daughter embraced, Turnbull walked over to Rick’s station.  His men took Fox Mann into one of the third story rooms where they secured him to a radiator and left an armed guard to watch over him.  Fox wasn’t likely to start trouble, but it was better for everyone if precautions were taken.

            “You won’t fucking believe this!” Rick shouted.  “The compound has been overrun with the undead.  The problem’s under control, but there was a battle around HQ.  Olmstead, Buckingham, and Truax are all unaccounted for.”

            “Any specifics?”

            “No.  Either the radio operator is one of ours and didn’t want to give us details someone might hear or he’s really confused about what happened.”

            “Fine.  Assuming it’s not a trap then we should be safe returning there.”

*

            As soon as they returned to the base, Turnbull and Sanchez gathered what men they could spare to find the cultist’s compound.  The MrCrees, Ted, Jack, Helen, and Catherine joined them.  They needed to make sure the cult was no longer a threat as soon as possible and if they waited, the militia would get wind of what happened before they arrived.  There was a civil war on the horizon, but it wasn’t on them yet.

            Lou had informed Gideon that Olmstead and Buckingham had been killed in the tunnels.  He’d mentioned the flesh eaters and the unlikelihood of anyone recognizing the remains.  Casualties from the undead had been low, but the firefight left about forty people dead.  The official cover story had been that the cultists had attacked the wall then gone after the more attractive target of a convoy.

            The firefight inside of the compound was left unexplained.  Soon, both sides would piece the situation together.  For now, confusion seemed the best answer.  The refugees had been welcomed in the compound without question.  They mentioned the battle with the cultists but not that they’d intended to fight Olmstead’s army.  Once Fox was released or transferred to a prison whose guards weren’t working for Turnbull, the word would get out.  There wasn’t much he could do about that without becoming the monster he’d overthrown.

            Looking back, he was disgusted by how close he’d come to being just that.

            Rick hadn’t spoken much since they left the tower.  He seemed relieved that they were alive, but regretful about his decision to help his brother.

            “This isn’t the end of it,” Rick had said during the drive over.

            “No, I think we have a long road ahead.  Many people supported Olmstead’s methods because they provided security.  They won’t want to let go of that.”

            “Are we any better off than we were before?”

            Turnbull didn’t have an answer.  He believed they had a better chance for a better society, but Rick was concerned about survival.  If Olmstead’s supporters won the struggle, they’d hunt down refugees even more veraciously than they had before.

            “Let’s take it one step at a time.”

*

            Sal and Sarah watched in silence as their van rolled past their old home.  Sal had intended to burn the compound down, but their hosts spoke of salvage.  They had a lot of questions about what to do with Sal’s people.  Was there any place he wanted their remains put to rest?  He didn’t have an answer.  Practicality suggested that they be burned and buried in a mass grave, but he couldn’t bear the thought.  He remained silent on the decision, leaving disposal up to the new occupants.

            They also had questions about the supposed cure to the undead plague.  What they hadn’t said in the transmission was that the vaccine killed most of the volunteer guinea pigs and they were the only ones who didn’t come back.  Helen and Jack agreed to escort a team to retrieve the package, but Sal was glad to see it go.

            Before they reached the cultists’ city, Sal had requested the convoy stop and pick up the rest of his people.  There was an extra truck and two jeeps.  Once Adeline and the children were safely inside, they were to return home.  Sal had requested to join the others at the enemy compound.  He had to see it with his own eyes.  He had to see that they would not harm anyone else.  He had to see that the nightmare was over.

            Jack and Ted were in the back of the van along with Helen and a woman they introduced as Catherine.  Conversation was scarce.

            When they reached the dump, where they’d left the others, the van and truck pulled inside.  The rest of the convoy waited on the highway.  If there was an ambush, they were in a defensive position, ready to hold off any attack on the children.

            Adeline obeyed her instructions well.  She’d have heard the convoy coming minutes before they arrived.  She’d taken the children and hid in a below ground pit that was concealed under a scrapped car.

            Though he knew where they were hiding, Sal approached with caution.  After all he’d survived, the last thing he wanted was to fall victim to friendly fire.  Sarah walked with Sal, but the others hung back and covered him from a distance.

            “Adeline, it’s safe to come out,” Sarah called.

            “Sarah?”

            “If it wasn’t us, you’d have just gotten yourself killed,” Sal answered.

            “Gruff as ever.  I was starting to worry about you.”

            “We brought help.”

            “Jasper?”

            As Sal shook his head, Adeline stepped out from behind a pile of scrap metal.  She held a rifle which she’d no doubt been aiming at their heads a moment before.

            “Get the kids in the back of the truck.  These men will take you someplace safe.  We’ll join you shortly, but there’s something we have to take care of first,” Sarah said.

            Sal wanted to tell her to go with them, but he knew arguing was useless.  The girl never listened to her father.

*

            When they entered the compound, Ted marveled out loud about the rope bridges connecting the buildings.  Silence struck him when he noticed the hundreds of squirming corpses.  There’d been mass executions.  Helen guessed that without their messiah, the cult had collapsed inward.  Perhaps they’d known the end was near.

            The lack of activity worried Helen.  There were no guards.  No resistance.  No welcoming committee of scared cultist who wanted to leave.  The undead hadn’t wandered into the cult’s territory.  The only activity was from the undead bodies of the cultists, nailed to crosses, fixed to walls, or still hanging by their necks at the end of a rope.

            At least two hundred corpses had been stacked in the center of the compound.  Their heads had been smashed in by hammers and the cultists hadn’t bothered to cannibalize their bodies.  It was one way they executed cowards and deserters.  If someone died heroically, the cult would recover their body and feast upon it.  They believed they could gain strength of a fallen warrior by consuming his flesh.  Conversely they refused to consume someone they considered to be a coward.  Often times, they would bring back someone who’d died putting up a good fight and the warriors most honored during the battle would get to consume the remains.

            Though many of the bodies were men, most were women and children.  They must have either refused to enlist or been caught trying to escape.  The punishment had not only been taken upon the soldiers but their families.

            Helen wondered where the families of those who fought were.

            When they passed the main cathedral, Helen noticed signs of a skirmish.  The street had been torn apart in places by explosives and several ruined vehicles lay in the road.  Though the attack had happened maybe a week ago, Helen thought she saw smoke emitting from some of the burned out metal skeletons.

            “Stop here,” Helen yelled to the driver.

            “What’s wrong?” asked Catherine.

            “We just reached the nursery.”

            The nursery was a four story tall apartment complex where the cultists had kept the youngest of their children.  The young were considered property of the community, so whether they were born inside of the compound or abducted, they would have been in there.  The building also seemed the most likely place for them to encounter resistance.  If the crusaders planned on returning, they’d have made sure their children, their future was safe.

            Sal and Ted jumped out of the van first.  Men in the other vehicles followed, fanning out and covering the surrounding windows with their rifles.  Surely after seeing all the death and depravity around them, the soldiers expected an ambush.  Even Turnbull who’d been jaded before the dead had started to walk was blanched.

            “Are these…” Turnbull started.

            “Their own people,” Helen finished.

            “Are you sure you want to go in there?” Jack asked.

            “I have to.”

            As Helen moved towards the building, her friends followed.

            “Rick, you’re in charge of things out here.  Lou, you’re with us,” Turnbull said.

            Lou nodded and obeyed.  He was shocked beyond words.  He later mentioned that the only cruelty that was even comparable to what he saw in the compound had been Truax’s interrogations.  Nobody knew what had happened to the old man, but Helen hoped he was dead.

            Like all of the other buildings, the first story had been blocked off and the stair cases had been demolished.  They had to enter the building at the second floor through the fire escape.  If there was somebody inside, the intruders would make attractive targets.  Turnbull had volunteered to enter the building first, telling Helen that she was too important.  If there was trouble they’d need someone who knew the layout of the compound.

            Though Helen hated being inexpendable, she let the old soldier take the lead.  Lou followed, with Helen and Jack behind.  Catherine, Sal, Sarah, and Ted followed, keeping the group inside relatively small.  If there was trouble outside, it was better to have the bulk of the troops ready to either deal with it or retreat.

            The smell of death overwhelmed Helen as soon as the entered the building.  She tried to run forward, but Turnbull grabbed her.

            “Slow down.  There might be someone waiting to cut you down,” he said.

            She knew the danger.  She hoped to whatever God might be out there that someone would attack.  At least that was a sign of life.  But the unnatural silence overpowered the inside of the nursery as it everywhere else in the complex.

            When they reached the hallway, Helen took the lead.  She’d opted to leave her rifle over her shoulder while she aimed a pistol in the close quarters.  Sal held a shotgun, and Jack held an M-16, but the rest of her party aimed their sidearms front and back.

            Nobody greeted them.

            Toddlers to five year olds were held on the second and third floors.  Most of the doors were opened, revealing empty rooms.  When she reached a closed door she kicked it opened.  The room was empty.  She kicked a second door and gasped at the scene inside.  Even after all of the horrors she’d committed, she felt her stomach clench.  She nearly heaved, but was able to control herself.

            Their own children.

            Inside, she saw a pile of dead bodies.  All of them were children.  The flies were already nesting in their corpses and their complexions were black.  They’d likely been poisoned then shot in the head.

            Her knees shook, and she felt Jack’s hand on her shoulder.  The day before, she’d been strong for Jack after he saw his mentor die.  Now she wasn’t sure who was supposed to support who.

            Helen walked into the room, inspecting the pile.  Though she knew there would be no survivors, she wanted to make sure the children were all at rest.

            “My God,” Lou said in the hallway.

            “Are you sure you want to search the rest of the building?” Jack asked.

            “I have to.  It’s part of my penance.”

            Though she now knew she wouldn’t find any survivors, Helen needed to see the evil she’d helped propagate.  The dead needed a witness.

            She pushed herself forward.

            The third floor had been the same as the second.  All but one room was empty, with one room occupied by bodies of children in the same condition.

            At the top floor, Helen saw three women in the hallway.  One was slumped against a wall while the other two were sprawled in the hallway.  They’d each been shot in the head.  The woman slumped against the wall still had the pistol in her hand.  The other two women looked as if they’d been shot in the back of the head from a kneeling position.

            “Jesus,” someone behind her said.

            I doubt he’s here.

            Unlike the second and third floor, almost every room on the top level was occupied.  The infants hadn’t been moved from their cribs.  Each blackened in death.  Some had their mouths opened as if in an eternal cry.  Others looked almost peaceful.  One still had a thumb in his mouth.  Too young to reanimate, the infants hat not been shot in the head.  They’d just been left there.

            Helen wondered if the nurses had been instructed to murder the children and kill themselves or if they’d done it in case the crusaders returned.

            Her body shook, and Helen fought back tears.  She needed to lean against the wall.  Before she could control herself, Helen dropped her pistol.

            Jack ran to her, putting his arms around her and stroking her hair.  She held on to him.

            No, she thought.  I can’t cry in front of them.

            But her eyes rebelled.

            “Can you leave yet?”

            “Yeah,” she sniffled.

            “They won’t harm anyone again.”

            “Don’t let go of me yet.”

            He didn’t.

*

            Two months had passed since they’d been taken from the compound.  The refugees had settled in an old camping ground.  There was plenty of room to farm and plenty of animals to hunt.  Scott had worried about finding shelter for the winter.  There were a few cabins scattered about, but nothing that could house close to three hundred people.  Besides, he doubted that the ancient structures would block the wind.  If they stayed inside, they’d have likely frozen.  Luckily, they’d arrived late in July.

            They not only had time to prepare, but were lucky enough to find a large cave.  He’d seen one of them during a road trip when he was a kid, before the dead started to walk.  Seeing the mammoth underground rock shelter, Scott was struck with a sense of childish adventure.  He’d gone with Frank or another guard each day to explore the inside as well as move some of the larger supplies.

            Because there were no access roads or visible trails leading to the cave, it was hard work.  But it served to keep Scott’s mind off of his troubles.  There had likely once been a gravel or dirt read leading to the camp site, but grass and trees had obscured the path over the years, hiding their location and making it impossible to bring the trucks in with them.

            They’d hidden their transports on a small access road, where they were concealed by thick brush and trees.  Scott had worried about many of their injured as well as the elderly and Lucy, but everybody had made it to their new home.  Lucy gave birth to a girl a month and a half after they arrived.  They named her Danielle after Scott’s mother.

            “Scott, you better get in here!  We have a transmission,” Frank shouted from outside of the cabin where they’d set up the radio equipment.

            His casual walk turned into a run.  He’d passed his rifle to the soldier next to him and was out of breath by the time he reached the cabin.  As soon as he swung opened the door, Catherine’s voice greeted him with a crackle of static.

            The radio operator passed the receiver to Scott.

            “My wife would be jealous if she knew how happy I am to hear your voice.”

            “It’s good to hear yours too.  We needed some good news.  Tell Lucy congratulations if you see her before we find you.”

            “Thank you.  How have things been over there?”

            “A lot’s happened.  Sam’s dead, but the rest of us made it out okay.  We’ll exchange stories later.  Right now, I need you to build a fire so we can find you.”

            “We did do a pretty good job of hiding didn’t we?”

            “I can say that things look a lot better than when you had to leave.  We made some friends and they’ve been helping us rebuild.  They told me to find you because they’re tired of doing all the work.”

            Scott couldn’t help but laugh.

            “Ted’s with me.”

            “You can tell him Erica’s healed up nicely.  She’s been worrying about him nonstop.”

            “I’ll see you in a bit,” she said.  “Now light that fire so we know where to land.”

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