Casey hid her face as the rope went loose, and Ms Neuman, dropped into the dust cloud below with a piercing scream like a rabbit.

Dodge watched long enough to know that it wasn’t the fall that killed Ms Neuman. She could not look away, even as limbs were ripped from sockets and teeth sank into flesh. Not even as the dust settled and silence fell but for the moans and groans of the undead below.

In some ways, Ms Neuman was lucky, there wasn’t enough left of her to come back as one of them.

Ares sighed sadly and drew a new card.

Out in the street, the explosion caused all heads to turn, and then an amazing thing happened. Many of the undead started to move in that direction. Those at the back, who had no sight beyond the decaying bodies before them, turned toward the sound and followed it like a moth drawn to a flame.

James the Bear seeing an opportunity called out the the others, “Cover me!” and then with agile cat-like precision he ran right at a gap in the horde of undead. It was a small gap, nothing a sane man would have tried and he was forced to duck and dodge beneath reaching hands. But the creatures were distracted and James’s comrades did as asked without question, taking out enough to let him through.

It was only when James the Bear reached the edge of the town, free from the line of undead who approached from the other side, that Trevor thought to ask, “Where’s he going?”

“He’s leaving us, that’s what,” cried Pete with an anxious howl. He put a bullet into an undead skull with such rage that it was his best shot of the day.

“Nooo, he wouldn’t run. The bear is no coward,” remarked Mitchell as he shattered the spine of one creature with a blast from his weapon.

But no one else could think of any other explanation, and the loss of their best fighter dampened their spirits greatly. Despite the reduced size of the horde, reclaiming the safety of the saloon now seemed a lost cause.

The dust had smothered the flames, saving Billy from having to find any water but as he and those on the roof watched more creatures gather below and file through the kitchen door, the situation seemed all but hopeless. Where were they to go now?

And then as if by some miracle, there came a sudden flash of light from within the saloon.

Minutes earlier...

The dark-haired priest had positioned himself mid-way up the stairs, to keep the creatures who had flooded the lower half of the saloon from getting to the women who hid in one of the second floor rooms. With it’s narrow width he’d been doing quite well keeping them at bay, taking out one or two at a time. It was exhausting work but he had faith. His God would not forsake him. He trusted that soon, those out in the street would shoot their way back in and save them all from this plague that scoured the earth. This was just a test. He must stay strong.

But the seconds had ticked by and the saloon got fuller and fuller. Until eventually some of the undead had piled up onto the hallway table and dropped down onto the stairs above him.

He tried in vain to knock them back but soon others followed and he was facing assault on both sides. It was too much. He could not keep up. Finally, seeing that devastation was upon him, he threw his weapon aside and clasped his hands together. “Please God, don’t let them take me.”

Ares rolled his eyes.

Hades held his breath.

Aphrodite was putting on pink eye shadow. She paused briefly to toss down an ammo card that conveniently refilled Jack’s ammo belt. He probably wouldn’t notice, he wasn’t much of one for counting.

Artemis shook her head bemusedly at Hades. “It’s not gonna happen.”

“No atheists in foxholes,” mumbled Hades, eyes still fixated on the battlefield with baited breath.

As the undead closed in and the priest saw that his prayers were not being answered, he got desperate. “Please! Anyone! God! Jesus! Michael! Oh dear God in Hell!”

Hades clapped his hands together. “That’s me! That’s me! You said! You said I could! That’s gotta count right?”

Ares waved his hand with a sigh. “Go ahead then.”

Artemis’s mouth hung open wide, completely speechless.

Aphrodite put down her makeup and watched with renewed interest.

In a powerful booming voice, Hades cried, “I grant you the boon of lightning.”

“Taking a page out of Zeus’s book?” Artemis teased.

At the priest’s last words, and as he held his hand up in a feeble attempt to protect himself, suddenly a lightening bolt shot out from every fingertip. It arched through and fully roasted every undead in the saloon, and several more outside the doors.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The priest stood and stared for a moment before he collapsed back against the wall and slid down the the floor, staring at his hands with horror. Around him, unmoving and charred bodies, littered the floor.

Out in the street Mitchell wasted no time. As he saw the creatures near the door fall down, he cried, “To the saloon!”

“What was that? Is it even safe in there?” cried Knuckles.

“No place is ever truly safe! Let’s take back the saloon!” cried the butcher.

The group ran inside, barring the doors behind them.

“Secure the back!” commanded Mitchell.

A few of them ran quickly to do so, shutting them all inside before the undead could launch another assault.

Then, amidst bangs on the boards, and groans from outside, they stared around at the scene. “What happened here?” asked fair-haired priest, but the other priest was silent. He simply sat and stared with a blank look on his face.

From upstairs more faces appeared, more questions were asked, but none that could be answered. Dodge had helped Casey down through the window and now Casey stayed close by, their fingers intertwined ever since they’d dropped back through the window. Casey tried not to think about what had happened outside, instead she focused on Dodge’s warm flesh pressed against her own, the way her hands felt so safe and secure.

Dodge too found some comfort in Casey’s touch, but it was hard to completely ignore the now pressing pain in her leg or the scene around them. These undead looked different now, more like people, with the charred skin covering up the usual sickly green. They somehow looked more human and definitely far less alive. The nature of the event she could not understand. She could clearly see that it had upset the priest although he would not speak of what had happened.

“Where is James the Bear?” asked Jack, but no one could answer that either.

The saloon doors buckled and creaked. The other undead were still out there.

“Oh, we’re no safer here are we?” Casey whispered as she pressed closer to Dodge.

Casey’s worry made Dodge feel determined to protect her, but how, she did not know.

CRASH! RATTLE! RATTLE! HONK! HONK! NEIGH!

Dodge smiled at the familiar sound. It couldn’t be? But how?

The entire group moved to the windows to peer out?

For a moment, Dodge had hoped it was her own horse, but there was no way she’d hooked Dodge’s noise contraption back up herself. Dodge had left it stashed out of town, for later retrieval after her first day here, and of course the men had asked where she had put it, and she’d told them, not thinking much of it. But as it turned out, it was good she had.

In the midst of the battle, James had spotted his own horse running free, and seeing a chance he’d taken it. The barn explosion and the creature’s reaction to it had prompted his memory of what Dodge had done yesterday. After retrieving his own horse, a dapple-grey gelding, he’d headed for where she had said she’d stashed the kitchen contraption. Now he rode through town in much the same fashion, leading the undead away. And so they were saved yet again by cutlery.

While they waited for the streets to clear, Casey glanced at Dodge. Seeing the blood on her leg and remembering her wound, she gasped and whispered, “You need stitches, come on.” She tugged the taller girl down the hall and into her own room.

She pulled Dodge past the giant mirror, not glancing at it even once for fear of what horrible state she must look like. It didn’t matter though, she needed to get that wound closed so it could heal properly. But in the back of her mind, her unseen reflection was still there, watching her, willing her to turn and look.

She sat Dodge on her own bed and fetched her special sewing kit, the one with the right-sized needles, as well as some spirits for cleaning.

She got her things ready and then with the needle held up she paused. She stared down at the tear in Dodge’s pants and the cut beneath. That was going to be hard to sew, what with all the fabric in the way.

“Do you need me to take my trousers off?” Dodge asked casually.

Casey blushed and nodded. “Uh, yeah.”

Dodge undid her belt and pulled her pants carefully over her wound. Soon she sat on Casey’s bed in a pair of short bloomers.

Casey placed her hand on Dodge’s thigh and pushed the wound together gently. She felt Dodge tense a little.

“Have you done this before?” Dodge asked, an element of hesitation in her voice.

It was such an uncharacteristic tone of trepidation from the usually confident Dodge that Casey couldn’t help but look up and meet her gaze.

In that moment she could see that Dodge was just like her, full of her own fears and worries. That awareness calmed Casey’s own nerves and she gave Dodge a reassuring smile and a confident nod, and she got to work.

She was good at stitches and she was quick. Faster was generally better for the patient. She was just tying off the last stitch when a creak sounded on the floorboards near the door.

“What’s going on in here?” Faith, demanded loudly. “Why are you undressed? And what on earth happened to your skirts Casey?”

From her position in the doorway, Faith could only see her daughter kneeling before the female outlaw who was currently not wearing any pants.

“She’s injured, Mamma.” Casey got to her feet and stepped aside so her mother could see more clearly. “I was just stitching her wound, like you taught me.”

Casey could hear the tremble in her own words, and as she looked back at Faith, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair was covered in grey soot. It made her look old. Her blue dress was stained with dirt and ripped above the knees from where Dodge had cut her free from the fence. She blinked. It was her own green eyes staring back but otherwise she barely even recognised herself. For all she knew, it could have just as easily been one of those creatures staring back from the mirror with its thin bones. She hugged herself tightly.

Dodge glanced at her with concern and then stood up and put her trousers back on. Turning to Faith she replied. “Casey caught her dress on the fence, we had to rip it getting free, or else those things would have gotten her. I cut my leg climbing into the barn. Casey was fixing it like she said.” Dodge placed a gentle hand on Casey’s arm and added sincerely, “Thank you Casey.”

Faith’s eyes narrowed. Dodge turned her chin up and met Faith’s gaze unflinchingly.

“Hrumph,” replied Faith. “Well, best get yourselves cleaned up then come downstairs. Looks like James is almost back.”

After Faith left, Casey stepped away from Dodge’s gentle reach and mumbled, “I need to wash up. I look terrible.”

Dodge laughed and then her face took on a more serious look. She reached for Casey’s chin and tilted it gently towards her so they could look each other in the eyes. “No, you look like someone who just survived, someone who narrowly escaped near certain death.” She paused and then, seeing it wasn’t working she changed tact and with a more daring slightly crooked grin she said, “You look like someone who had an adventure.”

She kept her cocky crooked grin all the way to the door, filled with far too much energy for someone who had been through what they just had. She gave Casey one more smile and then she turned and left.

Casey wasn’t sure that it had been the right thing to say, but the energy and obvious intent that went with it more than made up for the words themselves. Casey turned helplessly back toward the mirror, and she found that while the reflection was still a stranger, all she could see in her mind’s eye was the lovely smiling image of Dodge dancing out of the room.