Thirteen Roses Book Four: Alone: A Paranormal Zombie Saga by Michael Cairns

the cathedral, not caring whether Az was watching. He knelt beside the machine, found the hanging plugs and plugged in his devices. Moments later they buzzed and he pulled them out and shoved them in his pocket.  
    Az still stared up at the cross, eyebrows together as he frowned. Jackson was halfway up the aisle when Az spoke. ‘I’ll bring them to you.’
    Jackson paused, one foot half raised. He set it down and stared up at the dome. It was beautiful, even in miniature. Nothing close to the majesty of God, but still. He’d never thought about beautiful before. Beautiful was a fine pair of tits on the woman kneeling in front of you. Beautiful was cash in large amounts. God was teaching him all the time. Just because he didn’t speak to him out loud didn’t mean he wasn’t learning.  
    Jackson turned back to the demon. He acted all tough but there was truth, hidden in his words and behind his sneer. He stomped back to the front pew and lowered himself onto it.  
    ‘Who will you bring?’
    ‘I’ll bring soldiers. Not all of them, just those I can rely on not to blab to Etienne and the others. They can take turns, it won’t take long. We can do it in secret.’ Az nodded and brought his eyes around to stare at Jackson. ‘Can you do that? Can you be secret?’  
    ‘I’m here, aren’t I?’
    ‘And does anyone know you’re here?’
    ‘They think I’m charging the devices.’
    ‘Okay, then.’ Az paused, his eyes fixed on Jackson’s. ‘Tell me, how is Dave doing?’
    ‘Alright. Dunno. He’s quiet.’
    ‘But nothing weird happening?’
    ‘Nah.’
    ‘Mmm.’
    ‘How will you know where I’ve gone?’
    ‘I’ll find you, don’t worry about that. But Jackson, stay in the city, yeah? Don’t go gallivanting around the countryside. I don’t like the country.’
    Jackson nodded and rose from the pew. There was a burning in his gut and he didn’t know whether it was nerves at the reality before him or a loathing for the creature sat on the bench. Was he betraying God? God had created demons, hadn’t he? Az was his creature, just the same as the rest. He shook his head and didn’t look back until he left the cathedral.  

    He slipped back into the ward and replaced the devices. It was quieter than when he left. He would get the other devices and get it done, but he wanted to speak with Harriet and check they were still coming with him. He grabbed the other two devices, shoved them in his pocket and went in search of her.  
    He spotted her figure long before he saw her face and paused for a moment. She’d be his. She had child-bearing hips and tits he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into. It was as though she heard him thinking, because she turned from the two ladies she was chatting with to stare at him. She might have seen him flush as she swayed over, but he didn’t care. If it had just been the two of them, he’d have got his dick out there and then and showed her what she was missing.  
    ‘Jackson. Where have you been?’
    ‘Charging the devices, getting ready to leave. Are you ready?’
    She bit her lip in a way that made him stiffen, and nodded. ‘We are. Where are we going?’
    ‘That’s what we gonna talk about. We’ll stay in London. There’s food here and everything else we need. How many of you are there?’
    ‘There are forty two of us who want to go.’ She glanced around, eyes narrowed. ‘Forty two true believers out of a hundred. I struggle to believe the church allow that many to be so lax in their worship.’
    ‘They don’t understand.’ He stepped closer to her, feeling her breath on his neck. She didn’t step away and he raised enough lip to show her some teeth. ‘They aren’t true believers, because they don’t understand the majesty of God. They don’t know he’s there, they only think he is. Until they know, they’ll never believe.’
    She nodded vehemently, hands clasped together. ‘I think we’ve chosen the right person to go into partnership