A New Death (Savannah's Only Zombie Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page B

place, his sarcasm
whispered.
    There was no way he could fit between the bars; they were
too narrow. And there was no way he was jumping that thing. He ran along the
side of the fence, hoping to find an opening or a gate or something that would
let him get through. Nothing. And then Jeremy did the worst thing possible.
     
    He tripped.
     
    “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Is this a movie?!” he
yelled.
    A lone zombie had pulled ahead of the pack. His decomposing
legs must have been a little fresher than the others. Very quickly, he was on
top of Jeremy. When he fell, the corpse lurched forward and grabbed the boy.
Jeremy held it off; its jaw’s drooling and snapping back and forth. Back and
forth. The drool was cold and thick. He pushed the thing away from him as far
as he could, noticing that the others were getting closer.
     
    BOOM!
     
    The zombie’s head exploded into a splash of cerebral mass
and goo. Jeremy looked up towards the fence and saw the figure of a man
standing there, the business end of the shotgun pointed where the zombie’s head
once was.
    “RUN HIJO! KEEP TO THE FENCE AND I’LL COVER YOU!” the man
yelled.
    Jeremy didn’t hesitate. He threw the headless body off and
scrambled to his feet, breaking out into a full sprint along the fence. He
heard another blast from the shotgun and a thud. Another zombie fell.
    Four left, he counted in his head.
    He did not dare turn to count, but continued to run full
speed. His days in cross-country were beginning to pay off. His breathing
became steady and focused.
    “A LITTLE FURTHER AND THERE’S THE GATE!”
    Jeremy began to feel his lungs burn and his legs ache. It
had been a while since he ran this intensely. He did not have much more to
give. A few more feet. Another blast behind him. He reached the gate and flung
it open. As soon as he was inside, the man slammed the gate shut and threw a
chain around it. He then locked it with a keyed lock. The last three zombies
clawed through the iron fence, the chain holding the gate shut. They could not
get through.
    “Quick. Follow me,” the man commanded sharply.
    Jeremy did not argue with him. The man led him up to a
smaller church building and to a door that had been boarded up with plywood.
After they entered, the man turned and locked the door behind them. They went
up some stairs and into what looked like the office of one of the pastors.
There was a small, wooden desk with two arm chairs sitting in front of it and a
small, well-used couch against the far wall. The man again closed the door
behind them and locked the door.
    Jeremy watched as the man walked across the room to the
window and began to peer out through the blinds. He was dressed in all black.
Black slacks and a black dress shirt. He was also wearing a white collar around
his neck.
    The man was a priest.

Chapter Five
     
    “Thank you,” Jeremy finally managed to vocalize.
    The man nodded. He wasn’t giving Jeremy his full attention
yet, still peering out the window. Seeing the man now in a fuller light, Jeremy
noticed the brownish tinge of the man’s skin. His face was weathered,
especially for a man who seemed to be in his mid-forties.
    “Are you a priest?” Jeremy asked bluntly.
    The man barely nodded, still continuing to stare out the
window.
    “I thought this was a Baptist church?”
    “It is, was,” the man answered. “I don’t work here hijo. I
came to the city to visit friends when this all began to happen. This was the
closest church that looked open. I was hoping to seek refuge with some
hermanos, some brothers, regardless of our particular faiths. Jesus is still
our God.”
    The man’s Spanish accent was much thicker in this longer
section of speech. It had not been as noticeable when he was barking commands
and Jeremy was running for his life.
    “Uh, ok. Um… Father, uh, Padre,” Jeremy stammered. “Any idea
what the hell is going on here?”
    The Padre looked away from the window, a sly grin forming
around