Snow(41)

She heard Chris hurry across the narthex. A moment later, the silhouette of his overlarge head appeared before one of the windows as he peered out. “Oh,” he said, his voice almost comically small. “Oh.”

“What is it?” Kate said.

“Outside. There’s a lot of them.”

Somewhere behind Kate, Meg began to whimper.

Quickly, Kate stood. Her whole body groaned in protest. Blindly, she reached out in the dark until her hand fell on one of Meg’s shoulders. The girl did not move beneath her grasp. Kate’s fingers slid down into the collar of the girl’s shirt and worked their way over the twin hubs of Meg’s shoulder blades. There were no lacerations that Kate could feel. Bending down very close to Meg’s ear so that Chris wouldn’t hear, she whispered, “What about your brother?”

“He’s not one of them, either.”

So he’s just your typical sociopath, Kate thought…and was astounded to find that the thought nearly sent her into hysterical laughter. It was all she could do to keep from braying like a donkey.

“There’s…maybe twelve…thirteen…thirteen people just standing out there in the snow,” Chris said, still looking out the window. He sounded completely dazed by the situation. “Maybe they’ve been sent here to help.”

“No,” Kate said. “Everyone in this town is f*cked.”

Meg trembled at the word. Kate quickly withdrew her hand from the girl’s shoulder. Careful of her footing, she negotiated around Meg and climbed toward the altar, working mostly by feel and from memory. When she reached it, she ran her hands gingerly over the top of the altar, her fingers trailing over the various implements until she located the flashlight. She slipped the flashlight into the rear waistband of her pants. Then her fingers closed around the plastic bag full of ammo. She winced at the sound the plastic made crinkling between her fingers, certain Chris would spin around and start firing shots at her. But he was too occupied with their new visitors out in the snow to pay her any further mind. Kate slid the bag off the altar and set it down beneath it—someplace she knew she could get to in a hurry, if need be.

Down on the floor, Todd moaned. Much louder this time.

“They’re going to hear him,” Meg cautioned.

Chris hustled back across the narthex, his multiple robes rustling. “I should shut him up for good.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kate said, sliding back into place beside Meg. “They already know we’re here. What we need to do is wake him up so we can all figure out what to do next.”

“What do you mean?” Chris demanded. “What do you mean, ‘what to do next’? I don’t need him to tell me what to do.”

“That isn’t what I meant. I just think that with the four of us trying to figure this out, we might stand a better—”

“I don’t need him for anything.”

“All right.” She knew better than to keep up the argument.

“They won’t get in here. This is sacred ground.”

“I don’t think that matters to them.”

“You don’t think God matters?” Chris boomed. Behind him, more hands appeared on the stained-glass windows. “You don’t think the Almighty is powerful enough to keep evil at bay? Because that’s what they are—they’re pure evil! Sent to punish us all for our sins! Sent straight from hell to do the devil’s bidding!”

If I rush him in the dark, surprise him and get him off balance, I could probably wrestle that gun away from him, she thought. He’s a chunky son of a bitch but as long as I kept his weight off me, I think I’d actually be able to do it.

She started sweating all over again.

“Kate?” It was Todd’s groggy voice filtering through the shadows. “You there, Kate?”

“I’m right here,” she called to him.

“Stop it,” Chris said. But there was little strength left in his voice now.

“What’s…what’s going on?” Todd continued.

“We’re at Judgment Day,” Chris said. “This is the End of Times.”

“I can’t move,” Todd said. His voice sounded more lucid now. “I’m tied up to something. Kate?”

Like starfish clinging to the underside of a boat, countless hands now papered the windows.

“They’re going to get in, Chris,” Kate said, her voice level. She desperately wanted to sound logical and calm at that moment. She also deliberately spoke Chris’s name in hopes that whatever memory had been temporarily knocked from Todd would return to him the moment he heard the boy’s name. “We need to untie Todd so he can help us keep them away.”

“I told you,” Chris retorted. “They won’t be able to get in here.”

“I’m scared,” Meg said, startling Kate, who had forgotten that the girl had been standing right next to her.

“Don’t listen to these people,” Chris told Meg. “They’re on the side of evil. That’s clear to me now. They want to coax us into battle when there is no need. God will protect us, Meg. Just like Mom and Dad have always taught us—God will see us through this.”

Sensing her opportunity, Kate sprang down off the pulpit and landed on Chris’s chest in a clumsy but effective tackle. They both dropped to the floor, Kate on top of the boy, and she heard the distinct sound of the gun clattering to the tiles. Shit! Nonetheless, she straddled him and sought out his neck with her hands. He sent his big fists swinging, connecting over and over again with the sides of her head. Sparks flew beneath her eyelids. One punch rushed up to meet her nose and tears exploded from her eyes. Beneath her, Chris bucked like a hog being tied. He shouted to his sister in throaty lamentations.