The Locked Room Part 4

The zombie doctor cocked his head as the sound of the horde above called forth from the darkness. Dead-eyed, it stared at the door and the smoke pouring forth. “What is that sound?” Evelina asked, voice quivering, which was unusual for her and helped ratchet up my anxiety. She released the priest from the chock hold and scrambled to her feet. “And where is that smoke coming from?” “It’s the Damned! They must’ve broken out of the cage and knocked over candles. We must flee!” The priest raised his arms for full effect. I snickered. The zombie turned its broken neck toward the priest and let out a grizzly howl, matching the pitch of the horde inside. Evelina grabbed the priest before he could run down the tunnel. “Is that thing singing?” I asked, cupping my hands over my ears, struggling to be heard above the screams. The zombie’s mouth was open in a soft O shape, as if it was drunkenly cooing along at a crappy jazz piano bar. “Sounds like an alley cat,” Evelina said, pulling herself and the priest away from the outstretched arms of the doctor zombie. “We are all doomed if we don’t escape now!” The priest struggled in Evelina’s grasp. Evelina looked at me and I shrugged. “I’ll give you a head start, preacher,” Evelina said as she pushed him toward the tunnel. He looked at her like he’d just learned virgin births weren’t possible before full understanding smacked him in the face. He hurled himself down the tunnel, screaming like the mad man he was. The zombie doctor licked its lips and struggled against the chains. “Shouldn’t be too hard to free this thing,” Evelina said, avoiding its grasp as she moved behind it to the wall where the chain was attached. She gave a sharp tug as I distracted the zombie by waving my chicken arms. “Hurry up, E, before this stupid thing turns around.” “I’m trying!” she said, bracing her foot against the stone wall and pulling hard on the chain. Finally, the chain snapped and broke off the wall. Evelina fell backwards onto her ass. The zombie lurched forward, dragging the chain by the collar attached to its neck. I jumped out of the way and pointed down the tunnel after the runaway priest. “Fetch,” I said, and the zombie gave chase, bumbling into the darkness of the tunnel. Evelina and I waited until we heard the echoing screams of the priest and then we turned our attention to the doorway. “Let’s see where that fire is coming from.” We walked through the blackened doorframe and up a set of long wooden stairs. The smoke was thick and we both coughed into our shirts. Probably not the best decision we’ve ever made, but it’s not every day you get to see the dead burning down a church. At the top of the stairs was another door, heavy and warm to the touch. I slowly opened it and peaked inside. All hell was breaking loose. And the dead were having a party.