Chapter 20
Officer Zundi sat on therge rock that rested just ten feet away from the church''s entrance and
watched with surly, red eyes as his subordinates carried one nketed, dead body after another out of
the church and to a truck where they were eventually tossed in the back like sacks of potatoes. The
thin, middle-aged Zundi sat ufortably upon the rock dressed in his blue short-sleeved shirt and
ck shorts watching and waiting in anticipation for all of the bodies to be carted out of the church,
while in the far off distance he could spot onlookers gawking with binocrs at the scene that he
himself should have been involved in more personally.
"Wait a second!" Zundi stood up and went straight for one of his men that were carrying a cadaver.
Zundi paused for a moment before sighing and pulling back the ck nket that had Ss'' mutted
body underneath. Just gazing down at the man''s torn neck and dazed out stare in his still opened eyes
was enough to make Zundi hurriedly ce the nket back onto his body and turn away in repulsion.
"Go on." He waved the officer away.
Zundi looked on and on before he finally gathered enough courage to go back inside the church where
he had secluded himself from just two hours earlier. The man stepped ever so lightly through the
demolished front doors to find the sanctuary''s walls still sttered with blood from one end to the other.
The pews were littered with blood as well, along with a few eyeballs and a couple of fingers along the
way.
Zundi tried in earnest to keep his eyes focused on the parts that weren''t so tortuous to view before
seeing the old woman still seated in her pew staring far off away. Zundi spotted another one of his
officers trying to coax the woman up.
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Instantly, Zundi went over and asked the man, "Why are you not able to get her out of here yet, mon?"
Appearing disgruntled and confused, the officer looked up and said, "Sir, she won''t move. Her hands
are locked to de pew."
Zundi viewed the old woman''s withered hands that looked as if they had made dents in the pews wood.
Zundi then attempted to pry her left hand from off the wood only to realize that he was straining himself
to the point of giving up.
"Sir, de ones dat got away, some of dem are going around saying dat de devils are back again." The
officer stammered.
Zundi stood back up and looked at the man as though his words were ridiculous. "We need to find dem
and figure out what did dis."
"Sir, we know what did dis." The officer ardently beseeched.
"No we do not!" Zundi adamantly fired back. "Get someone in here to get her out of here, now!" Zundi
roared before turning and leaving the pew altogether.
"But, sir," the officer zealously followed in behind Zundi, "with de rest of de church members running
around out dere, dere bound to tell what it was!"
At the snap of a finger, Zundi grabbed the officer and whipped him inside the room where Arthur once
resided just to get him all alone.
"Now, you listen to me!" Zundi snarled into his face. "Dose people dat escaped here were lucky! We do
not need anyone running around telling ghost stories!"
"Commander, dere not ghost stories," the officer pleaded. "We all know how dis began—
Zundi spun around and pped the officer across the face so hard that the man fell backwards onto
the ground where Arthur''s torn clothes were still lying.
"Listen to me, dis was an animal attack, nuting more!" Zundi threw his arms up in the air. "We need
dese tourists, see?"
The officer, wiping blood from off his lip, looked up at Zundi and frowned, "Tourists?"
"Yes! My wife serves dem every day! We have seven children! We need de money!"
The officer got back to his feet and skittishly approached hismander. "Sir, it is still out dere. If we
do not try and stop it den we will not have any more tourists to serve."
Zundi turned away in anguish and paced around the small room before catching a glimpse of ck fur
lying on the floor before him. The man reached down and picked it up before sniffing at it.
"Dose white people dat were here, dey were filmmakers." The officer exined. "Perhaps dey caught
something on their camera equipment."
Zundi looked back and watched as the man ventured outside the door before picking up the camera
and recording machine from off the floor. Immediately, Zundi dropped his fur and raced out only to
snatch the equipment from the man and m it back down onto the ground. He then took the camera
and ripped out all of the film that was inside before taking and tearing it apart.
"Dis is dest we see of any of dis!" Zundi held up shredded pieces of film for his officer to see. "Only
seventeen people were killed. We are fortunate enough for dat much. All we can do now is hope and
pray dat dis is it."
The officer only stood by and gazed on in somber despondency. Looking like his world had shrunk
even more by that point. Zundi remained with his hands on his hips while breathing heavy. He scanned
the entire sanctuary where the sunlight was still creeping in and out in corners and crevices all around.
"Give me one of your smokes and your lighter." Zundimanded the forlorn officer.
The man reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cigarette and lighter before handing it to Zundi.
Zundi lit the tip of his cigarette and puffed away before heading back over to the olddy. The
Commander sat beside the woman on the pew and stared into her nk eyes for a minute before
taking the lighter and igniting the me in front of her face. It took at least ten seconds before her eyes
eventually connected with the tiny fire. Once they did, she began trembling all over again.
With his eyes peering through the me, Zundi uttered in a scratchy, ominous voice, "Go home, old
woman."
Gradually, the woman finally released her grip from off the pew and got up before limping her way out
of the church. Zundi then handed the lighter back to the officer.
"Get datst body out of here. Den, burn dis ce down." Zundi dropped his head as he walked out of
the church and back outside to the truck where all sixteen bodies were waiting to be carried away for
the final time.