The sky had clouded over entirely casting darkness over the city and that only served to make the zombies that much more horrifying. Isaac took a step back and shuddered at the sight of them and looked back at the others. “It’s them. It’s the Ouroboros.”
“Those people that Ryze talked about?” Hector asked and Isaac was already nodding. “What are they doing here?”
“I don’t know. The one we met in the village said he had a mission. This could be it,” he said and shook his head fighting to stay as calm as he could. “You need to stay here. Its not going to be safe out there.”
“No it’s not and because of that I need to go back to the orphanage. Make sure that those boys are going to be safe,” Hector said staring at Isaac.
“The orphanage is in the opposite direction of the zombies,” Gemini said. “So we go to them first, make sure they know what’s going on and then the five of us can figure out what’s going on.”
“The city has defenses, doesn’t it?” Cancer asked turning to Isaac.
“Yes there is a garrison here that will protect the people but they aren’t equipped to deal with this,” Isaac held his hand out.
“They don’t have to. They just have to slow them down,” Scorpio said pulling her khopesh from its sheathe at her hip. “One of those hooded mages is in the city and he needs to be our target. Eliminate them and they all go away.”
“Just like the last time,” Gemini said and they all nodded quickly. “You and Hector go to the orphanage. Make sure it’s safe. We’ll make a stand here. Isaac can regroup with us and then we’ll find the necromancer.”
Isaac frowned hard but he had seen them fight before. He knew they were capable. “Be careful. Nothing reckless like at that village.”
Gemini rolled his eyes, “You sound like my brother.”
“With good reason,” Cancer hit his head lightly. “No risks.”
“You’re seriously going to go out there?” Susan’s eyes were wide keeping a protective and steadying arm around Mary.
“Yes. We aren’t those girls that you knew at the orphanage,” Scorpio told her. “We will be fine. Once we leave, lock and barricade this door. Keep the girls here safe. We’ll come back.”
“We know what we’re doing then?” Isaac asked to which everyone nodded. “Let’s do this.”
The six of them moved out of the orphanage as a unit, Hector behind them with Isaac, Scorpio and Gemini in front. Cancer and Virgo stood beside Hector keeping an eye on their peripherals. The horde was advancing their way, some wandering into houses or shops but the majority were following the path upward and toward them.
Isaac broke off with Hector at his side as they both ran to the orphanage. Cancer stepped forward raising his katars closing the hole in their line. This was their second time seeing the undead and it didn’t make it easier to handle. Seeing people who’d just recently died dragged back to life was an experience.
The zombies saw them and a few surged forward in a lopsided and broken sprint. Gemini and Scorpio met the zombies mid stride swinging their black blades. Cutting the heads and legs from under them the zombies slid across the ground their groans silenced. Though they were dead they hadn’t been for long and Gemini winced at the feeling.
Backing away another zombie threw itself at him but stumbled and tripped to the ground. Its ankle snapped and it continued to drag itself forward, one hand out toward him. Gemini stepped out of its reach and watched as another two started the march toward them.
Cancer looked between the slow-moving zombies to what he assumed was an inn. A group of four people were making their way past, trying to sneak into the inn behind the zombies. A woman got there first and opened the door but screamed stumbling back. A half dead corpse fell on top of her scrabbling at her face.
The zombies halted, turning around slowly to stare at them. The woman dragged herself off the ground and her face had been scratched away and a gaping hole was in her throat. But her eyes had long since lost any light. The trio shouted trying to run away but they were cornered.
“Charge men!”
A battalion of soldiers came from around one of the corners. Their swords swung as they went flying cutting through the undead flesh. They moved and attacked in a unit creating a rotating hexagon of bodies to cut a path through the horde toward the group.
They were skilled with their swords and stayed in formation well as they worked backwards. “Let’s give them a hand,” Virgo said her eyes glowing to life. “Repent Virgo.”
The four charged forward Virgo’s aura surrounding them. Their blades flashed through the air cutting down a few zombies that were in their path. They could hear the soldiers grunting and shouting as they kept going and they were almost on them. A zombie scrabbled off a nearby rooftop and jumped off.
It grabbed one of the soldiers holding onto him like a vice. “Get it off me!” he shouted. “I won’t let go!”
This zombie moved differently, with some purpose and its skin was a bright red. Its eyes glowed to life as its face turned into a savage grin and the man began to scream as smoke hissed off his armor and the zombie’s skin. And then it exploded in a surge of fire, throwing zombies and the soldiers into the air.
The Zodiac were blown backwards, Virgo throwing her hands and focusing her mind to catch them out of the air. Lowering them to the ground she watched as another pair of the red zombies surged out of the alleyways and off another rooftop. Virgo turned and grabbed one out of the air in a bubble.
It exploded into a smoking sphere of viscera that she chucked away making a disgusted face. The other sprinted toward the soldiers like a berserker in a fury with only one goal in mind. It launched itself toward a pair of soldiers as they helped one another to their feet. It landed on their backs, embracing them like old friends. They flinched away and tried to break away but its body glowed bright red and exploded.
The Zodiac backed away immediately in horror the viscera hitting some of them. Virgo’s eyes faded back to their normal blue, panicked under the feeling of the burning blood on her face. Scorpio took her hand, “Focus on me Virgo. Focus on me. We’re going to get out of here. I promise.”
Virgo shuddered but nodded quickly trying to focus on her breathing. Her fingers stopped shaking and she calmed feeling the power come back under her control. She blew as much of the gore off her and Scorpio though it still stained their clothes. She did the same for the twins.
“What is happening?” Gemini whispered.
“I wish I knew,” Cancer said keeping his shoulder close to him. “We need to get out of this city.”
“What about Hector and Isaac?” Virgo said turning her glowing gaze behind them.
“Both of them are good people but first and foremost we’re taking care of you princess,” Cancer replied scraping his katars against one another. The recently exploded soldiers were slowly pulling themselves together and getting back to their feet grasping their weapons. The soldier was long gone and only zombies remained. “Oh great those things don’t stay dead either.”
“We need to get to the church. The church in the center of the city.”
They turned around as Isaac ran to their side but something about him was different. He was wielding his sword but there was a purple tint to his eyes. Magic wafted off him that felt off, like the cold hand of the grave was with them now. He looked at the four of them and a sad smile touched his lips, “This is no time to worry about my condition. We’ve got to keep moving. Hector is leading the boys back and I’ve already told Susan to lead the girls back. They’re going with as many others as they can.”
He looked ahead and stared at the zombies that had started to focus their attention on them again, especially on Isaac. Isaac stepped backward a few times dragging sword across the ground hearing it scrape against the stone. “Move! Come on!”
They backed off at his command running back up the path as far away from the zombies as they could muster. It didn’t take long for them to catch up to Susan and about a dozen of other girls. Susan looked over her shoulder and balked at them.
“We’re alright,” Scorpio told her then looked over her shoulder as Isaac walked backwards toward them his sword slicing through zombies as he backed off. Another of the red zombies broke free of the crowd and started running at them. Before it could get much closer Scorpio stepped to the side and ducked her head, “Sting Scorpio.” Her tail darted forward piercing it through the neck. Picking it up she tossed it back into the crowd of zombies covering her face before it went off.
“Good work with that one,” Isaac told her. “The church isn’t far at all.”
The only problem with blowing them up was they didn’t slow down. Some crawled forward dragging themselves on their thin arms while others just walked without torsos attached. They were very resilient. A new person started walking through the crowd of zombies, the zombies stepping to the side.
“Oh oh oh! I didn’t expect to see you five again. What are the odds of that?” they clapped their hands excitedly.
Isaac scowled watching the necromancer approach and pointed his sword at them, “So is this what you meant Gluttony. When you said you had a mission?”
Gluttony looked over their shoulder as the zombies continued forward and shrugged. Raising their finger to their mouth they said, “I’ll never tell. But here have some fun.”
Their hands glowed purple and they spread their arms wide as a legion of eyes turned to violet and focused on them. They closed both their hands into fists and swung their arms forward. Like a stimulant shoved into their veins the zombies started running like creatures possessed.
Isaac’s eyes went huge and he turned toward the others shouting, “Run!”
The zombies attempted to crash into them but they slammed into a wall of air. They clawed and threw themselves into it continuously unable to parse what was happening. Virgo walked forward slowly her eyes brighter than a full moon with both hands outstretched. The barrier stretched all the way across from one building to another but only extended a few feet up.
“Can she maintain that?” Isaac asked flicking his eyes back and forth between the shield and the Zodiac.
“The short answer is no,” Virgo told them wincing but squaring her feet against the ground. “But I can buy time for them to get to safety.”
“I’ll help,” Gemini said separating his swords. “Split Gemini.” Turning into two the black and white twins looked at one another before one ran off chasing after Mary and the other orphans. The other stayed behind raising his sword. “Umbra is going to make sure they get there in one piece. Once he tells me they’re there we can escape.”
“He’s actually thinking ahead for once,” Cancer said impressed by his twin.
“Go back him up. just to be sure,” Scorpio told him. When Cancer hesitated, she glared, “Between the four of us we’ll be fine.”
Cancer frowned hard but nodded finally backing off and chasing after the twin of his twin. Gluttony touched the air wall that Virgo had put up and scratched. “That’s annoying. I wonder if they know they can climb?”
And as if the understanding dawned on them the zombies started using one another as stepping stones. One got to the top of the barrier and flopped onto the other side of barrier. Luce lunged at it plunging his sword into its throat and ripping the sword back. He jumped to the side as two more flopped down after it and pinned him on the wrong side of the barrier.
Two blades thrust through the chest of the zombies and yanked backwards. The zombies didn’t fall down but they seemed dazed. Scorpio reached between them and grabbed Luce shoving aside the zombies and putting him on the right side of the barrier. “Half of you, half a brain.”
“Yeah cause I really know what to expect from stuff like that,” he threw his hand out toward the barrier as more zombies continued to climb and throw themselves over. Standing straighter he raised his weapon and attacked again this time making sure to keep track of his footing and away from the edge of the barrier.
Scorpio and Isaac covered the opposite end of the barrier giving each other ample space to work with but keeping track to make sure neither ever got overwhelmed. Scorpio slew another zombie taking off its arm, leg and then stabbing through its head. Taking a breather, she watched the barrier slowly moving backwards along the road.
Virgo’s teeth were grit together and her skin was scrunched around her eyes and forehead. Her hands were shaking in the air but she was slowly backing up and bringing the shield with her. Turning back to the zombies Scorpio saw Gluttony tapping the shield again and then pressed their hand flat against it.
Scorpio whirled around shouting, “Virgo drop the-“
The shield shattered like glass and the backlash hit Virgo between the eyes blasting her backwards. She skid across the stone, stumbled, and fell to the ground. The zombies fell in a heap on one another like an undead casserole.
Scorpio forgot the zombies entirely and ran straight to Virgo’s side lifting her up slowly. Her head was loose and she seemed unconscious but after a short groan she opened her eyes. Blinking her bright blues at Scorpio and the Zodiac relaxed letting out a massive sigh. Isaac and Luce stumbled past them and helped them stand quickly.
“Time to run,” Isaac said quickly and they did.
Not bothering to let Virgo stand Scorpio carried her as they sprinted away from the horde. Even with Gluttony’s urging the zombies weren’t fast enough to out run them. Darting straight ahead of everyone, Luce took the lead seeing flashes of images of his other’s half’s vision. People ushering into the massive church, his brother, Umbra and soldiers fighting more zombies that had made their way there.
As Umbra finished off another he looked up and watched as the Speaker fought off another of those cloaked individuals. They looked exactly like Gluttony except the sleeves of their robe were ripped away in tatters and their arms were bright red like the exploding zombies. Shuddering Luce blinked rapidly and caught himself so he didn’t fall behind.
Turning a quick corner, they hit a few steps then crossed a bridge angled over a sewer. Luce and Isaac crossed it but a red blur passed them leaping at their exposed backs. Virgo’s eyes glowed to life as she caught the zombie before it hit them. “Scorpio jump,” she said quickly and jerked her arm backwards.
Scorpio’s tail shot into the ground and lifted them into the sky as the zombie flew backwards with its angry noise and exploded. The force from the explosion pushed them further forward. Landing roughly Scorpio looked back over her shoulder and stared at the zombies that fell face first into the sewer but the rest were stopped for the moment.
“We’ve got a moment to breathe,” Isaac said but Luce was shaking his head. “What?”
“We need to hurry to the church,” holding a hand to his face he winced. “The Speaker is fighting that other guy but he needs a hand.”
“Another one of the Ouroboros?” Isaac repeated shocked. “That can’t be.”
“Is the Speaker powerful?” Scorpio asked quickly and Virgo shook her head from her shoulder.
“I could feel it in him. He can do many things and is powerful like we are but the Father didn’t give him strength to go to war. He’s the Speaker not the Warrior.”
Luce looked at each of them and then up the path where he could see their target, the tall spires of the church standing tall in the darkness of the clouds above. “Regardless we need to get there fast.”
The Harlequin Library 