Jesus in Hell: Day 1, Part 4

 

Start at the Beginning

Previous Chapter: Day 1 Part 3 

"Hey!" you shout.

You grab the dagger from the ground, and chase the man through the crowd of zombies.  As you run, trying to catch up to the man, the zombies lurch out at you, and you have to fight them, using the dagger as a weapon and the badge as a shield.

You almost catch up with the man.  You reach out to grab him, but just when his shoulder is an inch from your grasp, he bolts further ahead, his fat stomach bouncing rather comically as he runs. 

"What?" he shouts, and then again, "What's the deal?" and disappears once more into the crowd.

Now you see a new kind of enemy: hazy, gray figures, barely there.  They crowd around you, like shadows, moving without moving.  You swipe at them in a panic with your blade, touching nothing, as if in a dream.  Eventually you manage to squeeze through them and continue running.

Up further ahead, in another crowd of zombies, you spot the man you're chasing.  As if he feels your gaze, he turns around, furtively, visibly sweating.  Seeing you, his eyes widen with fear and he again quickens his pace, dodging and weaving through the undead.

You're going to have to fight your way through.  With intensified determination, you steel yourself against the many foes that are now surrounding you on all sides.  You swing the dagger wildly at the crowd, chopping a finger here, a nose there, shining the badge at all.

Half a furlong ahead of you, the fat man shouts back, "Dismas!  What's your problem?"  

You're running at him, full speed, swinging your dagger wildly.  

"Ulp!" he says, clearly unnerved, and continues to run.

You chop your way through zombies, withered-away, skeleton-like corpses, and worms: you're a terrifying, killing machine. 

You scream up ahead at him: "Stop!"

"Uh, no!" he says, still running.  

You're covered with the inner goop of a hundred corpses at this point.  You must look horrifying. 

"Gestas!" you yell at the man.  "We have business, you and I."

Gestas ducks into a cabin.  You follow him inside.

Inside the cabin are more zombies, worms, and living manacles.  You fight your way from room to room.  

You see Gestas sneak out the back door.  

You follow him out.  You don't see him anywhere.

He sneaks around from behind the door and grabs you from behind.  

Like an expert wrestler, you slip out of his grasp and reverse it.  Now you've got him in a headlock, holding his own dagger at his throat.

A smile creeps along Gestas's face.  

"Dismas, old buddy - " he begins.  He's got a fat face with big jowls and a little mustache.  A sneer never seems to leave his lips.

You cut him off.  "I ought to kill you where you stand."

"Kill me?  Huh, huh.  Huh, huh, ha, ha, haha, a-HAHAHAHA!"  He explodes into laughter.  "Where do you think we are?  Kill me.  Heh heh hehhh."

You poke the knife menacingly into his neck.  Finally the laughter subsides. "Hey, hey.  Cut it out.  Why are you so mad at me, anyway?" he rasps, his voice getting a little higher, that typical Gestas cowardice revealing itself beneath his seedy bravado.

You're taken aback.  You look at him with genuine incredulity - so much so that you almost put down the knife.  "Why am I mad at you?  Why am I mad at you?  You framed me for murder!" 


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