Toby opened one of the doors wide. He gestured with a flourish. "After you."

She gave him a playful curtsy. His smiled turned into a chuckle. She laughed, as well, and then she stepped through the door and into the small church.

The smell hit her at once.

The dark church reeked of death. The rotting, clinging smell squeezed the air from every direction, forcing its way past Holly's nostrils and down her throat. She gagged, bending in half as her stomach fought to expel its meager contents. She bit the urge back, but her body convulsed once, twice, and then she fell to her knees, vomiting all over the church's carpet.

"Yeah," Toby said behind her, "I never really got used to the smell either."

She looked back over her shoulder, straining to see Toby through the darkness and her own tears. She saw his fist cock back and she tried to move, but he was too fast. The hand struck her just behind the ear and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

~

"Wake up, Sister Holly. Time to rise and shine!"

Something wet and cool splashed against her face, and Holly sputtered. She tried to blink the liquid----she hoped it was only water----from her eyes. She tried to wipe her face off, but her arms wouldn't budge. An instant later, she awoke enough to feel the ropes cutting into her wrists.

Toby had tricked her. She'd let down her guard for a single moment and the bastard had gotten the drop on her. Now she was trapped in an isolated church in a world where nobody would hear her scream for help.

Helluva a mind you got there, Holly. You're a step ahead of everybody, a real thinker.

She let the thought die and concentrated on her current problem. She was tied to a chair, and Toby stood over her. He grinned down at her, his face smug and frightening at the same time. A gleam that could only be considered malevolent blazed in his eyes.

She couldn't see much of the church. It was too dark, and Toby stood too close. She guessed she was at the front, near the altar, or whatever you called it. She could catch a glimpse of sunlight filtering through the stained glass windows, bursting through in solid rays where the glass was broken. That clinging aroma of death and rot filled the room, and she could make out the rattling of chains somewhere beneath the ringing in her ears.

She glared up at Toby, wishing she could burn him with her hate.

"What the fuck is this, you piece of shit?"

"This?" he asked, spreading his arms wide and looking around. "This is my church." He pointed toward the door.

"Back there is the steeple."

He crouched in front of her, his face filling her vision.

"I brought you inside..."

He whirled away.

"...so you could see all the people!"

Molly screamed.

The pews were full of the dead, their rotting bodies writhing and shaking. There were men and women, adults and children. They wore clothes of every type: suits and sundresses and t-shirts and shorts. Some had been dead longer than others----their flesh hung from bones in dried strands and clumps----while others were fresh, their skin moist while it decayed.

A leather collar wrapped around the neck of each, a chain securing them to the pew. Their arms had been removed, the stumps raw and black and running. They hissed through their teeth, snapped their jaws, straining against their binds. The pews were heavy, though, made of sturdy wood, and they never even budged as the dead fought their trappings.

Holly stared in wonder, her mouth open and her voice dying to a rasp. The dead leaned toward her, their remaining teeth clacking uselessly as they ached for a meal. Holly shook her head violently, then looked to Toby with frantic eyes.

She could see now how insane he was. It was so obvious.

He patted her head.

"Okay. Maybe I wanted to freak you out a little."

She looked back out at the living corpses that filled the pews. There were at least two-dozen, maybe three. How long had they been here? How long had Toby been keeping them, and why?

As if in answer, Toby slipped an arm around her shoulders.

"I know. It's hard to understand. I get that; believe me. I wasn't lying to you before, Sister Holly. I did live in Friendship. Lived there my whole life, as a matter of fact. Hell, I was there, sitting in my living room, when the first reports came over the tube.

"Like just about everybody, I guess, I watched the first week or so on television, wondering what to make of the whole thing. I mean, c'mon! Dead people were returning to life, eating the living people, and turning them into walking dead folk. That's not something you see everyday!

"So, I sat there, and I watched, and I searched my mind for an answer. There had to be one out there, some way to make sense of all of it. I just had to sit and ruminate on it long enough. Sooner or later, it was going to dawn on me.

"And it did."

Holly watched him, holding her breath.

He leaned in close and whispered to her. "Angels."

He took a step toward the first row of pews, swinging a single arm wide.

"Angels, Sister Holly! What else is going to make the dead rise from the grave? What else could possibly stop death in its very tracks and transform it into life? The angels have come down from heaven and taken root in the only form available to them, that of the dead and rotting.

"I realized they're trying to tell us something, Sister Holly, something important. All we have to do as a species is prove ourselves worthy of God's love. Once we've done that, the angels will deliver their message, and a new era of peace will greet the Earth!"

Holly let his words settle for a minute, then she replied, her eyes never leaving Toby's. "You're fucking crazy."

His fist struck hard and fast, jolting her head back like a speedbag. She let out a single groan and tried to shake the cobwebs loose.

"You think I'm crazy? Who the fuck are you, Sister? Miserable little shit, got her whole town massacred and ran away from it! You aren't holy, bitch; you're a Goddamned heathen! You just want to feed off the Earth, suck it dry! I want to learn, Sister Holly! I want God to bestow his blessings onto me so that I can heal this sick world!"

"By killing these people? You killed them, didn't you?"

He shook his head. "I did no such thing. I made vessels ready for the coming angels, and if I take good enough care of them----if I can prove myself worthy and ready----they'll deliver God's lesson."

"Take care of them? Is that what lobbing their fucking arms off is for?"

He frowned. "I'm not a fucking retard.

"Truth of the matter is, The Lord works in mysterious ways. These angels, they're one of those ways." He walked down the center aisle, and the dead on either side snapped at him, their chains keeping them at bay.

He patted one on the shoulder, snatching his hand away when the zombie tried to bite him. "See? They kill us, but they want to save us. It's all very Old Testament; I don't expect you to understand."

"So what do you expect me to do, Toby? You going to kill me, make me another member of your little flock?"

A hurt expression flashed across his face. He placed a hand to his heart, leaning back. "What? Why, no, Sister Holly! I have enough angels. Now, I just need to take care of them, bestow blessing unto them until they feel the desire to bestow their blessing unto me."

A chill raced down Holly's spine. She closed her eyes for a moment, opened them. She had an idea what was coming next.