The car launched forward, separating the crowd like Moses' parting of the Red Sea. Once they were free of the undead swarm Sarah took out her knife and started to cut a few lines into the dashboard.

"Don't bother," Monaco said. "I think you surpassed the limit. You win." He leaned back in his seat and shut his eyes.

"Of course I win. Don't sound so glum. I'll make my favor as painless as possible."

They drove onward to the sleepy town and didn't find a single zombie. They did, however, discover something much worse.

Chapter 12.

"This is the place," Monaco said. He folded the directions Dr. Adams had given him and put them back into his pocket.

"Are you sure? It's so quiet," Sarah replied, as she pondered their new surroundings.

They were parked outside the open gates of a farm house, complete with a red barn and a grain silo which captured the remaining moonlight like a beacon. Endless rows of dead corn poked from the ground like thousands of skeletal arms, and when the wind blew they waved in unison.

"Let's go on foot. Alex, you stay here and keep a look out. I trust your eagle eyes better than mine."

Alex gathered his belongings from the back seat and climbed on top of the car's roof. He lay flat on his stomach and set his sniping rifle into position.

"I hope you're as good a shot as she says you are," Monaco taunted.

"Don't worry he is," Sarah said. "Now, follow me and watch your step. I don't think we're welcome here. Something just doesn't feel right."

They trekked up the driveway and trampled the overgrown grass. The corn fields rustled in the wind and carried the scent of rotting meat to their nostrils.

Sarah walked faster, combing the area with her shotgun.

"We shouldn't be here," Monaco said. "Dr. Adams's wife wouldn't stay in this evil place."

"Be quiet, I heard something," Sarah said, and slowed her gait.

Ahead, they spotted a decomposing body in the tall grass clutching a rosary. The corpse was completely stripped of flesh and stared at the night sky through hollowed out eyes.

They examined the body quickly and discovered only from the black tie around its neck that it had been a man; the rest of him was too eaten away to tell anything. Moving on, they found three other dead bodies rotting in the tall grass leading up to the farmhouse. All of the corpses were devoid of flesh. As they came closer to the house they heard faint singing.

Sarah forced Monaco to kneel down in the grass. They stayed where they were, listening to the vague song. Neither one of them could decipher the words. By her hand signals, she advised Monaco to stay behind her as she crawled ahead. As the porch entered her field of vision, she saw that someone was sitting on a swing rocking back and forth.

Sarah rose from the grass and pointed her gun at the figure.

"Don't move," she ordered.

The figure continued to swing back and forth, singing a gospel tune.

Sarah cautiously approached. She climbed a few creaking stairs and kept the gun trained on the figure.

"Annabelle, is that you?" she said.

The figure didn't reply, only continued rocking and singing.

When she reached the shape on the porch she paused. Her eyes widened in shock. The person on the porch wasn't a person at all, it was a scarecrow, and on its lap was a portable tape player blaring music.

The barrel of a rifle emerged from the front door.

Sarah had time to scream before the gun fired at her mid-section, only the blast seemed to come from much further away, and then the man behind the door was the one screaming.

Another bullet came from the car as Alex fired a second time, blasting a second hole through the door.

"I surrender! Don't shoot me," the man in the house cried.

"Hold your fire," Sarah called to Alex.

She kicked in the front door and discovered a whitehaired man bleeding from the gunshot wounds: one lodged in his upper thigh, the second in his hip. His rifle was within reach and he went for it as Sarah entered the room.

Sarah smashed the butt of her shotgun on his hand and heard a satisfying crunch. He cried out in pain and curled up on the floor like a squashed spider. She took the rifle and tossed it outside.

Monaco ran up the porch steps and stormed through the door.

"I didn't mean to do it. I promise," the guy on the floor said.

"What are you talking about old man? Who are you?" Sarah pressed.

"She was hungry. She needed food. I didn't want to be left all alone."

"Where is Annabelle?"

The old man pointed down a dark hallway which ended in a closed door.

"Monaco, watch him while I check this out."

"No, you can't," the man told her. He managed to lift himself off the floor and dug his hand into a nearby couch. He pulled out a handgun and aimed for the Native American.

Sarah pulled the trigger of her shotgun without even thinking.

The old man's head exploded in a spray of red. Pieces of his hair and skull stuck to the wall.

"Oh fuck," Monaco babbled. "You killed him."

"He was going to shoot you," she said, and turned her attention to the hallway. She stormed toward the door at the end and found it locked.

"Sarah, don't open that door," Monaco pleased.

She pumped the shotgun and placed a round of buckshot near the handle, blowing the door apart, and allowing her entry.

A faint candlelight flickered inside. Someone was in the room, groaning. She forced herself inside and stopped.

The room was damp and as soon as she stepped into the room, a familiar odor slapped her. She should've left, but instead, Sarah pressed forward, ignoring her instinct to flee. What she discovered was a decomposing woman chained to the bed. On the floor beside her was a metal pail stuffed with gore. Flies buzzed around everywhere, making the air thick and nosy.

Sarah looked over her shoulder as she heard someone approaching.

"I can't believe it. What kind of monster would feed one of those things?" Monaco muttered.

Sarah choked.

The zombie bound to the bed began to thrash and moan louder.

"Kill her, Monaco."

"What? Why me? She's Dr. Adams' ex wife. He's done nothing but talk about her since I met him."

Sarah patted his back.

"You owe me a favor, remember?" Her eyes glanced to a picture on the wall. The old man and Annabelle looked back. She was younger and happy; he was smiling and had his arm around her. "That's her father . . ." she gulped, and left the room and the farmhouse. She ran as fast as she could back to the car, back to Alex, and away from all the madness.

Alex held his position on the car's rooftop.

"How did it go? Is she alive?"

The single blast from Monaco's rifle roared in the farm house.

Sarah closed her eyes.

"Come on, let's leave this place," Alex said. "I'll drive."

"Okay," she relented, and climbed into the backseat. "This is the first mission I've ever failed."

Alex slid down from the roof, landed, and smiled at her.

"You did your best, it's all any of us can do."

Monaco strolled from the house a few minutes later. He wiped his eyes on his jacket sleeve and said nothing when he reached the car.

When they were all together, Alex back out of the driveway and onto the road. He drove away from the farm as fast as he could, and they managed to get back to the school just as dawn pushed back the darkness.

Chapter 13.

Joelle was in a classroom teaching a group of children how to count in Spanish when Dr. Adams burst through the door.

"They're here! They came back, hurry," he told her and ran back out of the room.

Joelle followed after him as quickly as her broken ankle would allow. The children left their chairs and raced after her, but were stopped short.

"Stay here until I get back," she said. "Tim," she addressed the chubby boy in class, "you're in charge until I get back. If anyone misbehaves write down their names and hand me a list later."

The children went back to their seats and fell silent. Tim gave a satisfied smile.

Joelle rushed for the elevators and jabbed the down arrow. She made it downstairs and outside just as Sarah pulled through the gates. When she looked again, though, she saw that it wasn't her friend driving, it was a man in black. He parked near the school's entrance and Sarah and Monaco scuttled out of the car and stretched their limbs.

"I see you've managed to keep yourself alive," Joelle said, wrapping her arms about Sarah and squeezing.

"What can I say? I kick ass and take names," she laughed. The two broke the embrace. "I brought company."

"I see that" Joelle said, eyeing the man getting out of the driver's seat with a sniper's rifle.

He approached her and stuck out his hand, "Hi, I'm Alex."

Joelle took his hand and shook it. He had a strong grip capable of crushing her fingers.

"We've met before," she claimed. "I'm Joelle. What do you want with us?" She said blankly, never breaking away from his piercing blue eyes.

Dr. Adams approached with a small crowd of teenagers trailing behind him. They followed after him like lost puppies and continued to ask him questions as he raced toward the car.

"Where is she?" he begged, once he saw them.

Monaco lowered his head.

"She didn't make it," Sarah said. She brushed past the doctor and went inside the school.

"Monaco, what happened? And who is this man?"

"I'm Alex."

Dr. Adam's narrowed his gaze.

"You can't stay here," he said.

"He's okay," Monaco defended. "He helped us. He's not a Watcher."

"I don't care. He can't stay here," Dr. Adams raised his voice. "Monaco, show him the way out."

"No," Joelle retorted. "He saved my life. If he goes, I go."

"Then go," Dr. Adams sneered, and headed back to the school. "I'll expect you gone before the afternoon. If you haven't left by then I'll have you all locked up." He walked away at a slow pace then fell to his knees and broke down in tears. "Annabelle, my dear sweet wife . . ."