"What's your problem?" Sarah said.

"My problem is that the world is overrun by a bunch of flesh eaters and all you want to do is relax and watch them destroy everything. What about next year or the year after, what do we do then? What do we do when the water runs out, or we have to start growing our own food because raiding for supplies doesn't cut it anymore?"

"Calm down," Sarah said. "We'll settle down one day, although I wouldn't mind a few more good years as a Marauder."

Alex slammed the shotgun he was cleaning on the table. The girls jumped at the sound.

"You just don't get it yet, do you?" He climbed back into his bunk and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when we get there. I want to make a lasting impression."

Joelle gave him the finger.

"What's gotten into him?" Sarah muttered.

"There's no telling," Joelle shrugged.

They saw an exit sign puckered with bullet holes, took the exit, and drove through a sleepy country town. The area was completely abandoned and ransacked; storefronts were broken into, festering bodies lined the streets, and dozens of crows watched them pass as they ate their fill of carrion.

"Wake your ass up, Alex, we're here," Sarah scolded, and shook his bed.

He grunted and rolled out of the bunk, immediately snatching up his rifle and heading for the front of the Winnebago. Through the windshield he saw endless rows of tombstones sloping up a bloated hillside.

"Where's the church?"

"It's not far from here. We'll hide the Winnebago in the woods and walk in on foot. I found a perfect spot the last time I was here."

Joelle stuffed a few pipe bombs into her back pack. Her hands were shaking.

"I hope they don't find it," she said.

"What if they do? Will they take it from us?" Alex questioned.

Sarah burst into a fit of laughter.

"Of course they'll take it," Sarah said. "They're a bunch of assholes. Just don't say a word about it, and if they ask tell them we couldn't find a car so we walked here. They'll be too drunk to figure it out anyway."

"Let's hope so," he quipped.

They drove into the forest and it looked as though they'd crash into the trees, but the branches were pushed away from the Winnebago's passing and revealed a small clearing.

"Here we are. Grab your shit everyone and let's move out," Sarah said. She was the first to leave the vehicle and headed straight for a large oak tree. Once there, she got on her knees and moved the dead leaves away from the base.

Alex got out of the Winnebago and stared at her perplexed, "What are you doing?"

She shoved her hand into the ground and yanked on a nylon cord. Moments later, she brought up a long rectangular box.

"Help me put this into the Winnebago, Alex."

"Okay, can I ask what's in it?"

"You can ask all you want but I'm not telling you anything," she retorted.

Together, they heaved the elongated box inside and stored it with the extra ammunition. Sarah couldn't stop smiling, and Joelle just shook her head as they locked the vehicle.

"I really didn't believe you," Joelle said.

"Believe it," Sarah laughed.

"Okay, so are you two going to let me in on the surprise or what? I can keep a secret," he said.

Sarah patted his chest, "Sorry, no dice."

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll let you play with it one day," Joelle chuckled.

"I sure hope so," he grinned.

"Come on you two," Sarah frowned. "I don't want to keep them waiting." She stormed through the forest and into the graveyard.

"I think she likes you," Joelle said.

"Yeah, that's the problem," he said.

"I wouldn't call that a problem."

"Hurry the fuck up!" Sarah called to them.

Alex and Joelle stepped through the forest and found their friend aiming her shotgun at a lone zombie. It was an elderly man in a torn black suit, white hair, and a fireplace poker sticking from his chest.

Sarah waited for the flesh eater to get close enough to almost reach her, then pulled the trigger and obliterated not only the head but most of its chest as well. The poker hit a tombstone and made a loud CLANG. She laughed good and hard.

"Did you just see that? He was all Gwawwwwasaa and then BOOM!"

"You shouldn't wait for them to get so close," Joelle nagged. "You're being careless."

"Lighten up, or else you'll start acting like Alex," she jested.

Alex walked past them. He scanned the area through his rifle's scope and shuddered. "We're surrounded," he said.

"What do you mean? I don't see anymore rotters around," Sarah replied.

"They're hiding. I can spot them behind a few tombstones. They're waiting for us."

Sarah was all business. "Alex, get in the rear and shoot anything in our way. Joelle, get those pipe bombs ready. We'll make them pay for trying to sneak up on us, fucking zombies," she spat, and led them up the hill.

The first grave they came to was a standard marble slab covered in ivy vines. A zombie woman was leaning against it, unmoving. Sarah put the shotgun up to her head but then she lowered it. The woman was missing half of her skull.

Alex bent over to examine the corpse. He pressed her shoulders in with his fingertips, but she didn't move.

"Someone nailed her in place," he muttered.

Sarah knelt beside the dead woman. She pushed her forward as far as she could and saw two long railroad spikes driven through her shoulders and into the stone, holding her there.

"That's disgusting," Joelle shivered. "Who would do this?" She crossed her arms as though fending off a cold chill.

"You know who did this," Alex said with venom.

As they continued uphill it was apparent that the dead were resting above and below ground. Every grave they passed was the same: a zombie nailed to a tombstone, sometimes their heads were caved in, but most times they were missing altogether. They marched until they reached the church, and came to a halt.

Sarah motioned for both of them to stay behind. She approached alone and found the large oak doors wide open. From outside she only saw darkness. She raised her fist and Joelle came up behind her with a pipe bomb in one hand and a lighter in the other. Alex slowly made his way to them, warily, pointing his gun at the shadows inside.

"Stay close, something isn't right here," Sarah advised. "Alex, I'm counting on you."

Together the trio slipped into the church. Although the stained glass windows were shattered and boarded up, the bullet holes pocking the wood let in enough light for them to see. In the dusty yellow streams they could make out the pews torn from the floor and stacked in large piles. The church was littered with beer cans, liquor bottles, used condoms, torn garments, blood, vomit, and zombies, at least twenty of them, nailed to the walls.

"What the fuck happened here?" Joelle said quietly.

Sarah pressed her finger to her lips. "No talking, not until were sure there's nobody else here," she whispered. She led them further into the defiled sanctuary and stopped when she reached the altar. Above them, unharmed, tortured, and downcast, was the son of God, staring at them.

Soft, forced moans came from the inner sanctuary.

They continued forward, crossing the altar and finding the heavy hand-carved double doors slightly ajar.

Heavy breathing and a wet slapping sound came from inside, followed by more moans. Sarah eased between the doors with her shotgun, followed by Joelle, and Alex lagging behind. There was a hallway ending with an open door and flickering candle light.

The moans turned into gasps and pleas for help that would seemingly never come.

Sarah quickly drew closer to the room, and the dancing light inside. When she reached the door and peered inside she couldn't believe her eyes. In the large room were four woman stripped of their clothing and handcuffed to individual beds. Each woman was shared by two Watchers. They slapped and bit, thrust and laughed, as they raped every orifice until it bled. The men didn't notice Sarah watching them from the dark; they were much too busy satisfying their own pleasures in the pain of others. Two of the victims looked between the ages of twelve and fifteen, the other pair seemed older, maybe in their early forties. Tears streamed down the girls faces, they kept their eyes closed and begged for the men to stop. The older women made no sound; their eyes stared at the ceiling as the men took turns in them.

Joelle peered over Sarah's shoulder. She looked away immediately and crossed her legs tight.

The Watchers continued to violate, the women continued to protest, but it was a lost battle.

Sarah directed Alex to stay behind in case they needed his long range protection. She gave Joelle her .357 Magnum and nodded for her to set the pipe bombs down for now. Joelle gripped the handgun and wore an expression of seething rage. On the count of three Sarah and Joelle burst through the door, catching the rapists off guard. They didn't stand a chance.

Sarah fired at one man on his knees doing a redhaired girl doggie style. The buckshot tore through his backside and out the other end. He collapsed over the side of the bed and leaked a pool of blood. She aimed at the next man with his member in the girl's mouth, blowing his head into shattered bits of fragmented bone and gray matter.

Joelle killed three of the Watchers in quick succession, all head shots.

The three remaining men were frozen in terror. One even put his hands up in surrender. The girls gave them no mercy. The shotgun roared, slamming the man with his hands up into the wall. Joelle pumped two bullets into another one's chest. The last man fell to his knees and begged for his life.

"Please don't kill me. I was just following orders. They told me to do it," he sobbed.

Sarah put the shotgun barrel to his head. His skull broke apart and decorated the floor like a red collage.

Alex walked into the room after they'd finished.

The air was thick with blood.

"Jesus fucking Christ," he muttered at the carnage.

Sarah placed her shotgun against the wall. She wiped the blood from her face which had come from the recent kills.

"Untie these girls," she said.

Alex shouldered his rifle and took out his machete. He cut the two young girls loose first and then moved on to the women. They cried and thanked him, then used the blankets on the bed to hide their nakedness.

"What happened here?" Joelle asked one of the older women. She had dark hair and when she spoke she could see the lines form under her eyes and mouth.

"We were all taking refuge in a house not far from here when Candy, the redheaded girl over there, was outside scavenging for food and these men came."

Sarah looked over at the dead bodies. She saw the discarded camouflage clothing on the floor, and the cyclopean eye tattoo on a few of their necks.

"They're Watchers," she affirmed. "We were too late. The Marauders have moved on."

"They broke into the house," the woman continued, "killed my husband, and brought us here. I don't know how many days we've been enduring this hell," she trembled.

"We're getting out of here pronto," Sarah said. "We have clean clothes and a place for you to shower."

The woman smiled, "Thank you."

The other victims didn't say a word. They held the blankets close to their bodies and kept their eyes downcast in shame.

Sarah led the group out of the room and down the hallway. Joelle covered the rear while Alex stayed behind.

"Aren't you coming?" Joelle said to him.

"In a minute," he answered. "I want to make sure all these guys are staying dead." He waved the machete. "We don't need them to sneak up on us."

"Good thinking, we'll meet you outside," Joelle said, and joined the others.

He grabbed one of the men by the hair and began chopping.

Joelle caught up to the others. They reached the altar and came to a sudden halt.

From the darkness, dozens of armed Watchers pointed guns at them. A tall man wearing a black suit made his way to Sarah.

"You didn't really think you would escape us, did you?" Paris said, grinning.

The other men in the group laughed. Paris shook his head.

Sarah kept her shotgun trained on him, never once breaking eye contact or showing even a hint of fear.

"You just fucked up real bad," he said, and gave the order for his men to fire.