Purification

corpses. That seemed to be all of them for now. He couldn’t see any other moving bodies.
    ‘Can’t see any more of them’ Michael shouted to him.
    Stayt lowered his sword.
    ‘So where are all the others?’ he asked, still looking around. ‘This can’t be it, surely. We were expecting about a hundred of them at least.’
    Michael walked over to where the other man stood, staring into the shadowy buildings on either side of the street as he moved slowly along.
    ‘Theoretically they could be all over the island.’
    ‘You
    reckon?’
    Michael shook his head.
    ‘Probably not. I think they’re mostly still round here. I think they’re hiding from us.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘I think they’re keeping out of the way because they heard us arrive and they’ve seen you in action with that bloody sword.’
    ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ Stayt laughed. ‘Are you serious? They’re not hiding from us.’
    Michael continued to stare into one of the nearby buildings.
    ‘Well some of them are,’ he replied, pointing into a glass-fronted shop little more than five metres away.
    ‘Look.’
    Christ, he thought, Michael was right. Stayt could see bodies gathered inside the building. They seemed almost to be cowering and trying to keep out of sight. The door to the shop was open so they weren’t trapped. What the hell was going on?
    ‘So what do we do now?’
    Michael shrugged his shoulders.
    ‘Go in and get them out I suppose. Don’t see what else there is we can do.’
    The two men stood in silence and looked at each other for a moment, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Michael was momentarily distracted by a sudden burst of light and noise which came from the scrubland behind them. Brigid had doused the pile of bodies with fuel and had set light to them. Bright orange flames pierced the grey gloom.
    ‘That should drag a few more of them out into the open,’
    he grumbled.
    ‘There are only a couple of them in that building over there,’ Stayt said quietly, lifting his sword again and pointing across the road at a butcher’s shop. He could see at least two dark figures shuffling behind the racks and displays still piled high with the remains of massively decayed and rancid, maggot-ridden meat.
    ‘Let’s just see what happens,’ Michael whispered and he slowly began to walk towards the shop. Stayt followed close behind. As they neared the bodies they began to move. Unexpectedly they seemed to be retreating further back into the shadows.
    ‘Do you think they’re territorial?’ he asked. Michael shook his head.
    ‘What, you think that’s what’s left of the butcher and his wife?’ he answered, semiseriously.
    ‘No,’ Stayt scowled, ‘that’s not what I meant. I just wonder if they’re aware of their surroundings? Are they really just keeping out of our way or are they standing their ground? Are they just sheltering in there?’
    ‘I don’t think they’re sheltering. Christ, look at them.
    They’re dead. They’re not interested in keeping warm or keeping dry. They just don’t want us to…’
    He stopped talking. They had reached the doorway of the shop.
    ‘What’s the matter?’ Stayt asked, immediately concerned. Michael nodded deeper into the shadows.
    ‘Look,’
    he
    whispered.
    Stayt saw that the two bodies had stopped their clumsy retreat. Now they were standing their ground.
    ‘What the hell’s going on?’
    ‘Like I said yesterday, on their own they might not be much of a threat to us anymore, but it looks like we’re still a threat to them…’
    ‘Come on, let’s just get rid of them…’
    ‘Hold on,’ he snapped, grabbing hold of Stayt’s arm.
    ‘Take it easy. We’ve got them cornered. We don’t know how they’re going to react if we just…’
    ‘I’ve had enough of this.’
    Impatient, nervous and keen to get the job done and the village cleared, Stayt pushed past Michael, lifted his sword and forced his way into the shop. The two bodies shuffled forward slightly and then stopped.
    ‘Careful,’ Michael insisted.
    Stayt wasn’t listening.
    ‘Let’s just get this over and done with.’
    As he marched towards the back of the shop, the nearest of the two bodies launched itself at him. Taken by surprise and unable to react in time, he impaled the creature on his outstretched sword. Oblivious, the creature grabbed hold of his shoulders and pulled itself forward, dragging itself further onto the antique weapon and forcing the blade out through