Where The Dead Men Lie (The Secret Apocalypse) by Harden James

Author:Harden, James [Harden, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Was Ben dangerous? I had no idea.

Had he joined forces with the priest?

Was he crazy?

Did he just save us?

Is any of this real? Or am I already dead?

I snapped open my eyes. I was holding Maria tight. We were hidden behind a rack of clothes.

How long had I been out?

I didn’t realize it at first but Ben was standing right over us.

He was covered in blood. So was his battle axe.

Naturally he scared the hell out of me. "Stay away from us!" I shouted as I held out my blunt flick knife, like that would do anything. "Don’t come any closer!"

But he kept coming. He took the knife off me and pushed me aside.

He checked Maria’s pulse. "She’s out. But she’s alive. She’ll be fine."

He then walked out of the store, back towards the church and the bank.

The whole world was spinning. The ground felt like it was once again made out of quicksand.

"Hey," I said to Ben. "Hey, wait up."

My voice came out as a hoarse, whisper. Ben either didn’t hear me, or he chose to ignore me. He kept walking. Man on a mission. A man possessed. A gladiator from ancient Rome. Battle axe in hand. I got the feeling he was out for blood. I picked up Maria and walked after him.

I eventually caught up.

We were out the front of the church, in the middle of the street. Ben was standing over someone. A man. He was kneeling on the ground, in the street. I couldn’t see properly at first because my vision was still blurry. But I think it was Ed. Even when I got closer I couldn’t tell. His face had been beaten in. It was covered in blood. His right eye had completely closed over.

But then I noticed his moustache. Caked and stained with blood. Ed was on his knees. His arms weren’t tied up. They didn’t need to be. They were both broken and dislocated. He had been beaten to an inch of his life. But Ben wasn’t done yet.

Ed seemed to be passing in and out of consciousness. Drooling spit and blood.

Ben leant down and spoke to Ed. "What the hell happened here? What happened to you people?"

Ed spat blood on the dusty road. "We were just doing what we had to do."

"Killing innocent people?"

"It’s not like we enjoyed doing it. We had to. We needed to do it. The people we sacrificed were sick; they were a liability, a burden to the group. The elderly. This is no place for an old person. Not this world. Not anymore."

"And the children?" I asked.

He lowered his head. His whole body shook as he broke down in tears. "I’m sorry. We’re all sorry. Please. Please don’t kill me."

I couldn’t believe it. These people had completely lost their humanity. They had turned into the worst possible version of themselves in a matter of weeks.

Ben raised the battle axe high above his head. Ed closed his eyes. But before Ben could go through with it, we heard a loud hissing noise, like a snake and a group of cicadas combined.

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