Chapter 18

Thomson the bear opened up with a decisive swing of his enormous warhammer, sending multiple zombies reeling backwards, crushing their bones, shattering their skulls and rupturing their rotted flesh. Steno the hyena hacked and slashed at the undead hordes using his kukri knife, severing dead fingers, arms and heads or several pieces of them off the zombies. Nobuo the gecko, knowing that his dirks would do little damage against the zombies, simply tried to help the other group get into the wagon.

As Zenny continued fighting, Fr. Stanwick began his prayer again, enveloping himself and those around him in a nimbus of light. The zombies, which were quite aggressive a few moments back, became more reluctant to attack the group, keeping a good distance away. Ting the panda and Dr. Josef the centipede helped Fatima into the wagon, Nobuo the gecko lending aid as well.

When they were clear of all the zombies, Vic spurred the kiloraptors on, sending them running ahead and past all the zombies, the blazing torches mounted on the wagon blazing brightly into the night. Vic had no idea how far they had gone and cared only that they make good distance away from the walking dead. It was only when Zenny and the others called for him to stop that he even realized that he had gotten a little too far off the beaten path.

They were now surrounded on all sides by dense woods with nary a light in sight asides from their torches which made them look like a comet blazing through the night sky.

“There,” Ting the panda said as the wagon grounded to a halt. “I was starting to worry that you were going to run us off a cliff.”

“Did we outrun them?” Vic asked. “Are they gone?”

“Yes,” Nobuo the gecko replied. “I believe we’ve lost them.”

Zenny did not let her guard down though despite the apparent lack of zombies. All around the wagon was a thick layer of mist that reached the wheels of the wagon and the legs of the kiloraptors. That meant that they were not safe yet. That whatever evil influence was on the island, it still held sway here.

Then her ears pricked when she heard it.

“Do you hear it?” she asked. “Do you hear anything?”

Her companions all looked at one another. Then back at her as if she had suggested the impossible. But then Steno the hyena froze first and then Slender the old anaconda did too.

“Why, it’s the voice of children,” the old anaconda said, but then his eyes widened in shock and then anger and sadness. “No, my son would never think of me that way! My son cared about me and his children! Why would he even think about that!”

Tears welled up in Slender’s eyes and Fatima and Ting went over to calm him and ask him what he was talking about.

“It’s them!” Steno the hyena shouted as he jumped up, kukri knife in hand. “They’re coming!”

Then, the others heard it too.

Voices. Lots and lots of voices. Whispering in the wind and telling things that hurt all of them.

“Your sister is dead!” Vic heard a voice laughing.

“Your father died in agony!” Zenny shuddered at what she was hearing.

“Wraiths!” Steno shouted. “Don’t listen to them!”

Fr. Stanwick immediately got to work and began praying again, the nimbus of white light reappearing around him and the wagon.

However, this time, something was different. The zombies were a physical threat, able to attack their bodies. What was happening now though was a mental and spiritual attack.

Then the first of the said wraiths appeared, emerging from the mists, appearing almost like roiling smoke. Its form resembled that of a hooded figure made of smoke, only its bright yellow eyes visible. It moved toward the wagon, its form amorphous, smoke-like, only its eyes that were locked onto the passengers, were constant. Then other wraiths appeared from the mist. Then there were five of them, then ten, then twenty, then fifty. They surrounded the wagon and continued their sinister whispering in the ears of the passengers.

Vic had to fight the thought that the pirates had killed his sister. Zenny had to resist the idea of her family dying horribly at the hands of undead abominations all those years ago. The others had similar struggles and it was clear that it was a losing battle for them.

“No!” Dr. Josef shouted. “I didn’t mean for her to die! I tried to save her! I really did!”

“My wife loves me!” Thomson the bear roared angrily. “She would never do that to me!”

“My father didn’t abandon me!” Nobuo sobbed. “He left for a good reason!”

“My husband could never have done that!” Fatima said in disbelief. “He loves me like no other!”

“No! No! No!” Steno said repeatedly. “Not real! Not real! Not real!”

Ting the panda simply held back tears, not daring to give any voice to what the wraiths were whispering to him.

The torches around the wagon began to dim. Even the ones Vic and the others held began to sputter as if chilled by a cold wind. Even the nimbus that surrounded the wagon created by Fr. Stanwick’s praying seemed to shrink in the face of the wraiths.

“Do not listen to them,” Fr. Stanwick said to the others. “They lie. They’re all lying. You know, it’s not true!”

“Father,” Vic said, his eyes terribly frightened. “What do we do?”

“Pray!” Fr. Stanwick said. “Pray with me!”

“Our creator, Who Dwelt above,” Fr. Stanwick began and the others lent their voices to him. “Blessed be Thy name. Thy nation cometh. Thy wishes be done on Felominar as they art done in Paradise. Grant us this day our meal and pardon our wrongs as we pardon those who have wronged us in turn. Have mercy on us and guard us from all evil. Amen.”

As they prayed, one by one the wraiths faded from view like evaporating smoke. The torches on the wagon grew bright again and even the mist beneath the wagon vanished. They had fended off the evils of the island. At least, for the time being anyway.

Then they heard a shout not far from where they were. Turning, they saw that something was headed towards them carrying a bright lantern. The party decided to be cautious and Zenny kept her sword drawn just as Steno didn’t put away his kukri knife and Thomson still held on to his warhammer.

The people with the lantern came closer and they soon realized that it was Zane the cobra, Sienna the owl, Khayyam the crocodile, Yvonne the bat and Biggs the elephant running toward them at top speed. When the five newcomers arrived, they wasted no time in getting on the wagon. They were all clearly frightened and could barely babble out complete sentences.

“Get us back to the ship!” was all they understood of Zane’s blubbering. “Hurry!”