Book One: The Apocalypse

Chapter Nineteen - Mad With Power

Torn between both sounds, I reacted to the closest.

"WHO RUNG THE BELL!?" I screamed.

My eyes zeroed in on Vet, who has his hang resting on a chain, which could only be the object that controlled the bell.

"Vet?" Ava whispered in disbelief.

"What have you done?" I hissed dangerously.

He smiled menacingly.

"Have fun getting out of here," Vet said before vanishing down the stairs.

"No!" I cried, reaching for him, my fingers only latching onto thin air. Quickly, I ran after him and gasped when I reached the main floor of the church.

Mina was in the middle of the aisle between the pews, hacking away at a horde of zombies all reaching for her. The pile of bodies in a circle was gradually increasing. Elena and Michael were in a heap on the floor in front of her.

For a second, it appeared like she was protecting them, but I saw Vet running towards her, swinging his axe to make a path for himself. Jumping over the unmoving zombies, he grabbed Elena's lifeless body and threw it at the closest zombie who immediately stopped fighting and started ripping flesh away. Many other zombies gave up trying to get the difficult meat and descended on Elena until she was no longer visible.

In one fluid motion, Vet flung Michael over his shoulder and Mina and Vet started expertly making their way out of the church, killing any which came too close.

"No," I murmured in shock.

At that Mina locked eyes with me and smirked. With her free hand, she waved at me and finally disappeared from view.

Silently, as to not alert the zombies on the ground floor, I climbed the staircase quickly.

I got to the bell tower to find Darius and Felix wildly trying to find out how to stop the bell from ringing. Ava was holding Zoey tightly, watching the scene with wide eyes.

"It's no use," I said sadly, "We need to get out of here. Now!"

I jumped over the ledge of the bell tower and landed lightly on the roof of the church.

"Come on!" I urged the rest of them as they silently followed.

"We need to jump and run that way!" I yelled pointing to a large field on the edge of the town which ended in a mess of large trees.

"But Shay," Dar whispered, laying a hand lightly on my arm.

"No. You listen to me! It's the only way!"

I stared them all down, daring them to speak against me.

"Shayde," Ava said.

Ava flinched under my furious gaze and took a deep breath.

"I'm with you," She said.

"Good," I said in a kinder voice. I spun around to face the others. "Do me a favour and attract the damn things to the other side of the building."

They gave me a 'she's insane' look and started getting zombies away from the side with the field.

"Ava, I'm going to help you down and you're going to run for the forest, okay? I'll cover you," I told her quietly.

A nervous look crossed her face before it was quickly replaced.

"I trust you," Ava muttered shakily.

Quickly, I peeked over the ledge of the roof and grinned when I saw the decreased number of zombies. I held out my arm and gestured for Ava to take my hand which she did after a moment of hesitation.

In a quick motion, I swung her down and she let out a tiny cry of fear. Carefully, I lowered her down and dropped her. Ava landed with a small thud, turned and ran for the forest. I waited, watching until she vanished into cover before returning to the three, making noise halfheartedly.

"Darius, stay and make noise. Felix, you're gonna run with Zoey," I told them and Felix gave me a short nod.

I turned to step away before a hand on my arm stopped me.

"Shayde," Darius murmured.

I turned slowly and studied his face of all its emotion.

"I need to- well, tell you something," He whispered, a nervous edge in his voice.

"It's okay," I replied, "You can tell me when we're safe."

"No!" He cried, grip on my arm tightening, "Now."

I sighed, "Go on then."

I watched as his jaw clenched oddly and leaned in towards me. Before I could react, his lips were on mine. And I didn't even realise I was kissing him back before he pulled away, with a small smile on his face.

"What did you need to tell me?" I asked breathlessly.

"I guess, I sort of, showed you," He smirked, "Alright, go!" He urged before returning to his noise making.

I turned away, slightly dazed and wandered towards Felix and Zoey.

And then everything exploded and Zoey and Felix started plummeting down into hole on the church roof.

-

Sharius forevah. <3

Oh my, so much action for the finale!

One or two chapters to go! I'll try and write it all tonight!

Much love,

Lucie

xo