
The bystanders scattered and ran. Townsend and Blake fled to the church, showing zero interest in offering assistance to anyone. Slade, Gunther and Doc opened fire but the Buchanans kept coming. Jack and his boys were riddled with bullet holes but it didn’t matter. They wanted one thing and one thing alone.
“BRR…AINS!”
Not that they were that bright before, but their vocabulary was now whittled down to one word – “brains.” They had a hunger for sweet, delicious gray matter and nothing was going to stop them from going after it.
“This is some fucked up shit,” Gunther declared as he fired his last shot into Rufus. The old man holstered his gun and drew his knife, preparing to strike whoever dared to attack him first.
“Indeed,” Doc said. “This phenomenon is in direct defiance of every scientific law known to mankind. What is dead should, without exception, continue to stay dead!”
“Any ideas on what to do about it?” Gunther asked.
“Other than keep wounding them and pray for a miraculous intervention, no.”
Sarah wailed uncontrollably. Slade’s left gun had already run out of ammo, so he clutched his bride close with his left hand. With his right hand, he aimed directly at Smelly Jack’s head and landed a shot right between the monster’s eyes. Jack’s body collapsed to the ground.
“THE HEAD!” Slade shouted. “AIM FOR THE HEAD!”
Slade popped upon Rufus’ cranium with another well-placed shot. Gunther used every muscle he had to jam his knife through Buck’s skull.
“Of course!” Doc said. “Even the most rudimentary organisms are unable to function without a brain.”
Doc pressed his pistol right up against Frank’s forehead.
“Right then,” Doc said. “Off to hell with you, my good man.”
Click. Out of ammo.
“Oh bother,” Doc said as Frank pinned him to the ground.
Doc struggled to free himself as a pair of snapping teeth drew closer and closer to his face. It was no use. The creature was stronger than any man Doc had ever encountered.
Frank’s two front teeth scratched across Doc’s right cheek, breaking the skin and drawing blood. Gunther plunged his knife into the back of Frank’s head. Slade rolled Frank’s carcass off of the good doctor and helped him up.
Annabelle, who had been hiding up on the porch, came down.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Yes,” Doc said as he wiped the blood off of his face with a handkerchief. “In one brief moment, I saw my entire life flash before my very eyes.”
“Was it scary?” Annabelle asked.
“On the contrary,” Doc said. “I was quite impressed.”
Sarah wept. Her once pristine white dress was now covered with dirt, grime, and even blood spatter.
“All I wanted was a nice wedding,” the bride said just before passing out. Slade caught her before she hit the ground.
“Can anyone tell me what the fuck just happened?” Gunther asked.