10.

Four years prior to the present day where a group of people have come together and sought refuge within a church, there so happens to be a group of six friends, all in their late teens, who spent the majority of their spare time in each other's company.

At this point those few year prior to a certain church gathering, the six friends in their late teens are sitting round a campfire having hiked hours to come to where they so happen to be. Four guys and two gals, both of whom only deciding to attend such a trip if the other were going. Neither girl wanted to be the solo girl among a group of guys no matter how well they know one another.

The four lads are all by nature chancers as in they will chance anything if it were to bring them cookies in some manor or another, even if it would ultimately endanger the friendships they currently have with these ladies.

With what they hear or have heard, there is somewhat of an element of fear attached to what it is they are doing. If it is in any way true then none of them want to be where it is they have come to, but it can't be true, it just can't be. There are only stories, none of which can be true. Zombies aren't real, are they?

If it is at all true then there is a reason why the guys feel a risk may be worth taking, for the two ladies, well they are kinda special, something worth fighting for something worth fighting over. And if the two ladies are willing, there is the fact that there are four guys, they could have a choice. Which two guys, if any, get the girls? Like, such a thing is ridiculous and to actually believe it would be ... silly.

As it is, all six sit round a blazing fire while finishing off the remnants of a rather large feed, a feed heated by the dancing flames before them. There is one thought that they all have, and the guys try to set such a thought aside as if there is nothing to fear, if zombies are indeed real, if they do exist then wouldn't this hard burning fire be one hell of an attraction, a fast-burning light guiding a slow-moving march through the thick uneven nighttime darkness.

Still though with the moment being what it is, one or two stories can't help but be told. The guys act all macho, in a 'don't worry, if the zombies come, we will save you' kind of way. The girls aren't dumb, they know exactly what is on the minds of all four guys, and if either lady was to give anything up then they would make the guys work for it, squirm for it. There aren't as yet any preferences, still nothing is determined. Who knows what, if anything, is gonna come?

One of the guys, Jason, takes a moment to get a story out there. With the sky being as dark as any sky can be, the wind being soft and cool and the fire indeed burning strong, crackling away, this is a perfect moment to put out there what it is he has to tell.

'You know, it's not the possibilities of whether or not zombies exist that we need to worry about out here ...'

'Really?' asks one of the girls anticipating the attempt to freak them out.

'If not the zombies, then what?' asks the other as the two girls latch onto each other and share a smile.

Two of the guys nudge each other as Jason gets ready to continue to speak.

'Are you guys sure you really wanna hear this?'

'C'mon Jason, let's have ya' is thrown out there, everyone confident that there is nothing that Jason can say or do that could scare any of them in any way.

'Alright, as has been said many times before, don't say I didn't warn ya.'

This being a perfect moment for it, a near-by owl hoots loudly and everyone except Jason jumps, the girls more so than the others, being the only two to have had their backs to that sound. And as they turn to try see if anything is behind them, they manage regain their sense of calm for are not as immune to fear as they had projected themselves to be. Momentary laughter and the odd 'damn' or so pass between all friends before Jason is set once more to continue.

'It's odd that the two of you looked behind you just now.'

'It is?' speaks Jenny and she and Sharon share another smile.

'There are trees there behind you and they stretch out for miles. A long time ago, a girl not much older than either of you right now, had been taken in there and was brutally murdered.'

'Oh, I think I actually heard about that' speaks Dereck; the nearest guy sitting to Jason's left. 'My eldest bro told me about this. Her ghost is supposed to haunt the place now right.'

'Yeah', says Jason. 'That's how the story goes but not only that, if circumstances are right and if you're lucky enough, it is said that you can actually see the murder happen all over again.'

'You're messing' says Jenny.

'No, serious, some kind of time echo or something like that, not that I believe in that kind of thing, but wouldn't it be cool to see something like that.'

'This is something I gotta see' says Sharon getting up quickly and beginning to move towards those trees behind her.

'Hey, where are you going?' asks Jenny. 'Don't leave me here with these yob heads.'

'Yob heads?' two of the guys say to each other.

'Wait! ...' Jason calls out. 'I haven't told you the worst part yet ... there are supposed to be creatures in there ...'

It doesn't appear as if the girls are listening so Jason stops calling after them. Jenny heard him. Yeah, she had made a move to go after Sharon though soon is stopped in her tracks when Sharon disappears into the trees. Jason's words have had an impact on her. Sharon's actions were out of a sense of fun, expecting things to liven up and she fully expected everyone, more or less, to come right after her, but they didn't, not right away.

Indeed, they did not move straight away but when they did move, they moved as quickly as they could. What really got Jenny, Jason and the others moving was they sound of screams coming beyond those trees, screams they all were sure belonged to Sharon. Jenny prayed that these sounds were made in jest.

The shrieking fearful screams altered as the others got closer, the fear within having become horrendous pain. The incoming group of five are soon getting to witness a murder but not of a ghost from years ago rather the death of their friend Sharon.

Jenny's screams replace Sharon's, Sharon has come too weak to utter another sound. On the ground and not more than thirty feet away, Sharon looks towards her friend and stretches out a hand in a plea for help. She is beyond help and soon beyond anything at all for consciousness is lost as pieces of flesh are continually ripped from her person.

There are indeed creatures, human like creatures. Three decaying beings feeding upon a new feast, one of which turns to see more potential feasts, it's eyes yellow, its hair thin and half its chin half missing. The friends have to go and go now; they know this though they soon see that there are a lot more than the three creatures which surround their fallen friend. There are dozens of these things, maybe even over a hundred of them all around.

None of them, none of what originally was six friends, four guys and two girls, none of them at all, ever got home ever again ... two of them though, two of them become part of a group who, in a few years' time, locate themselves to a rather large cathedral. The torture they experienced on this occasion, and the torture of losing friends to that experience would haunt them the rest of their days.

Hell is overrun, its prisons are full. The dead have begun to riot to the point where they become free to roam the earth for all eternity ... stand together and fight ... survive ... run.