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All he found was more horror, blood everywhere, corpses everywhere, undead monsters everywhere Nobody could help Brian Barry It was every man, woman and child for themselves

Brian soes, skipping past the lunges of bloodthirsty abo frenzy, there was no shortage of targets, so the undead creatures didn’t take much notice of an eleven-year-old boy

At the top of the street, where the road branched, a , feet spread wide apart, hands on hips, studying the violence Lots of undead creatures were gathered at this point, scrapping with the living or feeding on the brains of the freshly killed None attacked the rowled suspiciously at him, but all of thebut he was no fool He saw his best chance of survival and launched hi him one last blast of speed when he’d been sure that his lungs were about to burst

Slipping past the frenzied, sharklike killers, Brian threw himself at the feet of the ot ready to beg for his life But when he saw the man’s face, he paused The tall e potbelly and extraordinarily unsettling eyes They were double the size of Brian’s, the largest eyes the boy had ever seen, unnaturally white, with a tiny dark pupil set in the center of each Brian was immediately reminded of an owl

"Yes, little boy?" the man murmured He had a soft, pleasant voice, like one of the announcers on the TV shows that Brian had been watching earlier that night It didn’t really suit those eerie eyes

"Please," Brian gasped, grabbing hold of the s "Help me Please My dad’s dead My mum"

"She killed him?" the man asked, then tutted when Brian nodded "How sad that you had to bear witness to such a shocking scene No child should ever be put in so unfortunate a situation You have my condolences"

One of the undead creatures darted at the as it moved in for the kill

"Back!" the e eyes barked The monster snarled at him but retreated as ordered

"You you can help me?" Brian wheezed

The man frowned "I could, but with so many in your perilous position, it hardly seele you out for special treat the tallI don’t want to die Please!"

Theand the undead He hesitated, then decided to be merciful "Very well," he muttered "But I’ll only do it for you The others will have to fend for themselves What is your name?"

"Brian Barry"

"You need to let go of s, Brian, move back and kneel in front of me"

"Kneel?" Brian echoed uncertainly

"Yes," the man said "Then close your eyes and say a silent prayer, any prayer will do, or none at all if you’re not religious, although I find that even the ains a measure of comfort from prayer at a time like this"

"You’ll help me if I kneel and pray?" Brian asked

"Yes," the h it was a cold smile, it filled the boy with hope

"Okay," Brian said, releasing the s The undead noticed this and started to ulped, then closed his eyes and prayed manically He couldn’t reme not to think about his mum and dad and how he used to complain when they took him to church

The tall man looked down tenderly at the boy Then he spotted thein and wiped the smile away He would have to act swiftly if he was to honor his proony of death at the hands of these foul beasts

"You have been a brave boy, Brian," the man whispered "I am sure you will be reunited with your parents in the next world"

Then his hands snaked out Brian didn’t see the long, bony fingers, and only barely felt theht He heard a sharp cracking noise but felt no pain and was dead before he knew it

The man let the corpse drop and bade Brian a silent farewell as the living dead moved in and tore into the boy’s skull He watched for a while, then checked his watch and grunted There was still a long way to go until h he adjusted the ends of his sleeves, then started down the road into the village, leaving the undead leeches to carve up Brian Barry’s skull and feast upon the hot, sweet brain within