16.

'I haven't seen Brad in a while ...' says Shawn.

'Who?' asks Amber.

'Brad, ya know, the guy you do be checking out every chance you get.'

'I do not,' she says as the biggest of grins takes a hold upon her face, throwing a thump to her brother's should too for good measure. 'This is a rather large church, definitely big enough for someone to actually get lost in here. I do know that there are a few corridors and a number of rooms about the place. I'm sure if anyone fancied a bit of alone time there would be plenty of places they could go, hey ... maybe that buddy of his knows where Brad has gone.'

Brad is up close to and in behind the alter, out of view of the others. It is his favourite spot to be, and he has headphones on. The last scavenger hunt he went out on he came across an MP3 player juiced up and loaded with a wide range of tunes. Using the loud music playing through those headphones to distract him from his thoughts, to distract him from thinking about all that has come before now, Brad is having himself a moment, doing all he can to blank out as much of it as he can. The distraction is so that it has him singing and at that he is singing louder than what he realizes.

Off to the right of the alter there is another corridor, a corridor that is within Brad's line of sight from where it is he currently is. Something else is about to distract him, or rather someone else is about to distract him.

Someone exits one room then slowly moves down and across the hall and on into another room. It is someone Brad thinks he knows well but something is very different so he can't be all that sure. Something is definitely not right. Brad may be somewhat of a loner, and he is in this group as it is a case of safety in numbers, still he has come to know all who now reside within the church fairly well but this someone down the hall ... well, it can't be who he thinks it is.

There is one person he sees is someone from the past, someone he was sure he'd never see again. ... The movement is slow, hampered almost; the person looks darker than what that person should do if indeed it is who Brad suspects it to be ... but then again, there was that last time. This is definitely not right.

'Sophie?' asks Brad thinking that this is who he sees while strangely enough hoping that he is wrong.

Brad now has to at least go investigate. The headphones are lowered from his ears though the music continues to play. Shawn and Amber are near; no need to involve either of them as there is no danger for all is surely well. If this somehow is Sophie Arthur, then Brad will deal with it despite the fact he needed aid the first time he encountered her as a dead entity. Now, is a bit of a different story, even with the oddities as to how of why she could be in here.

In the world as it is, not much makes sense, so an investigation is what is called for right now, no one is too far away so if aid is needed once more, he could surlily call out and someone will come.

The investigation begins a proper and Brad makes it to the room he is sure Sophie or someone not all so unlike Sophie had entered. There is someone within that room, on their knees facing away from the door and still the identity of this person is not completely ensured. A stranger arriving to the church would not have gone unnoticed nor surely would they act in such a strange manner.

'Sophie' Brad asks once again.

There is no immediate reply, so Brad takes a couple of steps into the room, then the head turn comes. Brad is taken completely off guard. With all he has been through in his life right up to this point nothing could have prepared him for this moment.

His eyes open wide, his heartbeat quickens, and he falls over in his attempt to move backwards out of the room. A reanimated Sophie it is who Brad had momentarily shared the room with, and not only that but Sophie is feeding off from a rather large rodent. The rodent is soon discarded as a much larger feast has presented itself.

She looks so much worse than she did before and with that before then how is it possible she is still going? And how is she here? Hadn't she been dispatched off last time round? Not going to lay down for anyone or anything and despite the shock of seeing his former love interest like this, Brad quickly makes it to his feet. He moves clear of the room, closing and locking the door behind him. Still caught in disbelief, Brad returns back towards the alter area. Shawn, seeing Badger's distress, quickly moves towards the alter too.

'You alright? What's wrong?'

Brad simply, and a little reluctantly points, to where he had just come from.

'What's down there?' Shawn continues his attempt to find out what has spooked Brad.

Brad is not usually one to get so spooked but when it comes to what he has just seem, who that creature once was, and the fact that she shood no longer exist and putting that alongside as to how she got into the church ... well, he has every right to be freaked.

'De-dead ... there ... h-h-he ... d-d-d ...' Brad liked himself some whiskey back when such a thing was more freely available. If there was ever a time to be in possession of a bottle of whiskey it would be now.

'Alright ... try calm down. I'll go and have a look.'

'No ... don't. Leave her be.'

'It's alright, I have this.'

Shawn grabs the closest machete to him and heads down where Brad had been only moments ago. He knows something spooked Brad, and Shawn is about to head towards whatever that is. He would be in no way ready to see what he is about to come into contact with no matter how much he may think he is ready. Slowly he turns the handle on the first door he comes to then pushes it back and hard while raising the machete high.

Nothing there, so he calms his panic a little and moves onto the next door, the door Brad had locked. Shawn turns the key still in the lock as he looks back towards Brad. Brad doesn't want to look; he doesn't want to know what happens next. Shawn continues at the door slowly turning the handle, once again raising the machete as he pushes the door open wide and it immediately comes at him.

At first Shawn is ready to take care of business then realization hits. It ain't just any reanimated corpse coming at him. It is of course his mother. Wait, what the hell? No, no, no, no, this is most definitely not right.

With his initial shock almost choking him, Shawn doesn't realize that he has dropped his machete. He backs up a step or two then he trips and drops to the ground too. Reanimated mum keeps coming. Being so stunned, Shawn's reactions aren't what they should be and fairly soon the zombie is almost atop of him. Shawn at this point is more all in a twizzle than what he had been a moment or so ago.

All this is something Sally has seen before, but it was so recent in her second sight that she had no idea when it would be coming. She acts, for surely Shawn is in no condition to act and neither is Brad. She takes up the machete and does what needs to be done.

That creature, that member of the dead was two different people, for Brad it was a lady he once fancied, for Shawn it was his mother, in actuality it was neither but was indeed a member of the dead. Something is wrong ... something is very wrong.