Read Thirteen Roses Book Three: Beyond: A Paranormal Zombie Saga for Free Online Page A

her on the shoulder. ‘There’re zombies outside. Don’t think it matters much what they look like. They’re zombies. I mean, zombies, you know?’
    Bayleigh nodded but Krystal wasn’t convinced she got what she was saying. That thing was beyond horrible, but it was still a zombie. Zombies weren’t as scary as people like Dawid, or the never ending fear of not knowing where you were going to sleep, or what might happen to you when you did.
    She looked across the cavern at the church huddled within a narrowing pool of light. She did feel calm and she knew why now. The lady sitting beside her was twice her age and had a job and a house and all those sorts of things, but now they were equal. All those things didn’t matter anymore. Now it was just you versus the zombies and being homeless meant nothing.  
    It was a good feeling. Aside from the zombies.  
    Another of the torches flared and went out and the darkness crowded in like commuters on the tube.  
    ‘We should get out, back to the hospital.’
    Bayleigh nodded and rose to her feet, shaking herself. Ed stood and staggered a little then stopped himself. ‘I’m alright, I’m alright.’
    Krystal looked over his head and found a gash just above his forehead, buried by his hair. It looked nasty and was rising into a lump but the bleeding had stopped. ‘You sure?’
    ‘Yeah. We should go.’
    They took a few steps toward the exit when another of the torches went and there was complete blackness between them and the exit. Krystal took a few more steps before she began to question whether she was heading in the right direction.  
    ‘Is anyone sure we’re going in the right direction?’
    Mumbles met her and she stopped. ‘Hold on. We could wander for bloody hours in here.’
    ‘We need to get out.’
    ‘I know but I’m not convinced we’re going to manage it.’
    The entire cavern was pitch black save for lights flickering in the stained glass windows of the miniature St Paul’s. She nodded towards it and realised they probably couldn’t see her. ‘How about we go in there and check it out? Maybe we could take a torch or something.’
    ‘Yeah, good call.’ Ed said.
    ‘Bayleigh?’  
    ‘I just think we need to get out.’
    ‘Yeah, but what if we miss the exit, what if we walk into the wall an—’
    ‘I’m still facing the right direction, I think I can find it pretty easy.’
    ‘But if you don’t we’re screwed. And—’
    ‘We aren’t screwed, we just follow the wall until we find it.’
    ‘But what if there’s other tunnels? What if we find one that takes us away from the exit?’
    ‘I’m going to the church thingy, come on.’ Ed set off without another word and Bayleigh hissed.  
    ‘I’m staying with him, sorry.’ Krystal said, ‘Come on, we can get a torch and it’ll be fine.’
    Bayleigh grumbled but followed her to the church. As they drew nearer, the stained glass windows became easier to see. Bayleigh groaned like she was in pain and Krystal saw her shake her head and put her hands around it. The pictures in the windows were different from the ones upstairs. They showed people being hung and chopped up and torn apart by horses and all sorts of really revolting things.  
    ‘They’re nasty.’
    ‘They’re horrific. They’re terrible, horrible things. I can’t believe anyone would make a church with those things in the window.’
    ‘How many churches have you been in?’ This came from Ed who’d stopped to stare at the windows. ‘My parents made me go every week and the vicar would always be going on and on about punishment in hell and all the nasty ways they could punish you.’
    ‘How old were you?’
    ‘Oh, it’s like, my earliest memories. I remember him better than my parents. He had this nose that had weird lumps poking out of it, like he’d stuffed things up there.’
    Ed shivered and stomped round to the front of the cathedral. The steps up were just the same as above, only smaller and shallower. They