454

As you raise your .38 Special, Church steps between you and the infected. "Hold on! Just hear me out, and once I speak my piece, you can kill him if you want."

You hold back for now, waiting for the right time to kill that thing.

Church drops his hands and takes a deep breath. "I'm not keeping him tied up 'cause I think the cure's coming. And I'm not into anything kinky, if that's what your sinful minds are thinking. I got him tied up to hold out his suffering."

Everyone blinks.

"This fool has been cheating with my wife for months. On the day of the outbreak, I caught him in bed with my Bernice. Well, ex-wife, I guess, 'cause she was dead. Pastor Joe, that was the sumbitch's name, called me of all people to help. Long story short, she was infected, went to sleep, and when she woke up, she was turning into the damned. Joe bashed her head in with a hardcover copy of the King James bible. Anyway, the bastard didn't even try to hide his ill-begotten escapades—he threw on his drawers and put a sheet over Bernice. In his defense, Joe was freaked out. He was in the pastor's retreat sitting on the edge of the bed, smoking a jay and crying. In the bed was Bernice, naked except for a pair of socks. Her feet were always cold due to poor circulation. Turns out, Joe was infected too. When he started twitching, I knocked his ass out and tied him up with ropes we use for sectioning off parts of the church."

No one says a word for a while. Everyone either stares at Church pacing by the back of the Cadillac or Zombie Joe struggling against the ropes.

"That story is messed up," Parker says.

"Look, I know this all seems crazy," Church says, hands on the top of his head. "This man betrayed me and everything we stood for. I can't help but hold vengeance in my heart. It's wrong, I know, because only the Lord has the authority to judge a man. But Joe asked for God's forgiveness before he died. I believe he truly meant it, and the good book says, 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us for our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.' So, if Joe died, he'd go to Heaven with a clean soul, living in paradise for eternity."

Church shakes his head, and his bottom lip quivers. "That man needs to suffer awhile," he says, pointing at the zombie in the car. "If he dies, his pain is over. God may forgive him, but I ain't ready just yet."