that. It's going to be dark soon. The church is the only building in this town that has some chance of surviving the fire, so it had better not burn. Grace lives on the other side of me. I'll lead her to the church now so she doesn't end up walking straight into an inferno.”
“Good luck.”
Mrs. Curtis moved quickly for a woman who had to be in her late seventies to early eighties, but then again, Shannon doubted she still felt the aches and pains that might have plagued her in life.
Shannon led the woman to one of the pews in the back. Sprinting to the front of the church, she grabbed Alma by the shoulders and forced her to sit down, hoping it would be enough to break the force that kept her returning home every day. Alma continued singing despite the interruption, her voice echoing through the vaulted church.
Preparing to return to the chaos, Shannon took a deep breath and swung open the heavy wood door. Ben stood directly outside, firmly holding Grace's wrist. She tugged against him, desperately trying to get away.
“My name isn't Grace! What the hell are you talking about? Let go of my hand!”
Grace – or whatever her name was – slipped out of his grasp for a moment, but Ben grabbed her hand again.
“Let go of me, you psycho! Where the hell am I?”
“Whoa, let's all calm down for a minute,” Shannon said. “You'll have to excuse Ben. He's just not really a people person. He's been alone for a really long time.”
“She couldn't have just waited a few hours...” Ben grumbled.
“First things first,” said Shannon. “I'll talk to her. Go save more people.”
Reluctantly he let go and headed toward the inflamed houses.
“What the hell is going on?” the woman asked, her short, curly hair bobbing around her face as she surveyed the burning town. “Why am I here? I went to bed last night, and now I'm – I'm in this ugly-ass dress and – and what? Starring in a horror movie?”
“You're going to have to deal with the short version for now, and I'll explain more later,” said Shannon. “First of all, what's your name?”
“Monica.”
“And what year is it?”
“What kind of question is that? 1995!”
“Monica, I'm going to have to ask you to take a lot of stuff on faith right now, and I'll explain more when we have more time. I know it's hard, but you need to pull yourself together and just... deal with what I'm about to tell you, no matter how shocking it is. That's the only way you're going to get through this. Got it?”
“What're you –”
“Got it?” Shannon didn't have time for this right now.
“Got it,” Monica answered reluctantly.
“You're dead.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Listen,” Shannon demanded. “You're dead. We're all dead. We're all dead, and this fire is going to burn this town to the ground before morning. Ben and I aren't sure if those flames can hurt us or not, but they're destroying our homes regardless. And if you're not in a shelter at nightfall, you'll be whisked away to God knows where. This our only chance at making it through the night. You need to get in the church and stay there. There are going to be some creepy people who stare into space and don't answer you, but if you want to make it through this, you need to ignore your instinct and stay put. You can trust what I just said or not. It's up to you.”
“But I –”
“Look, I don't have time to tell you more. You can think about this all you want, but you need to get inside first. If you don't, you won't have an afterlife to contemplate at all.”
Monica stared at Shannon for a moment before turning on her heel and running inside. Sprinting toward the next house, Shannon let herself in and pulled a middle-aged man from his rocking chair in front of an empty fireplace. She grabbed him by the wrists and heaved, and he stood up after the third try. If the situation hadn't been so dire, she imagined it would have been a comical sight. With a hand on his back, she led him across the square and into the church before continuing on.
The next house in the line was larger, and when she went inside, she found what appeared to be a family. The woman had olive skin and bright green eyes, and she stared blankly ahead as Shannon put her hand on her back and pushed her out of the burning building. A man and a boy played jacks on the ground. Kicking the game away, Shannon pulled them to their feet.
She pushed them out of the house and went back in. Picking a burlap sack off the ground, she collected three lanterns, a set of matches, and a handful of candles. Doubtless they would need a light source when the church was their only sanctuary.
By the time she got the family to the church, the sepia sky had grown darker, and she doubted she would have been able to see anything if the town hadn't been on fire.
Annie and Charity had folded their rope and began heading home. Martha stood up and placed her basket on her hip.
“No, no, no,” Shannon took the twins by the shoulders and led them toward the church. “There's not a lot of time left. Let's go.”
She pushed them inside before returning to Martha. Yanking the basket out of her hands, Shannon grabbed her arm and dragged her into the church. She turned around as Ben led another man inside.
“How much time do you think we have?” Shannon asked.
“Minutes,” Ben warned. “We might be able to save the ones who are coming back from the pond. That's the only chance we have of helping anyone and making it back before the winds start.”
He took off down the path, Shannon following close behind. They came across one of the fishermen and the washerwoman, but the others were nowhere to be seen.
“At least we caught two of them,” Ben grabbed the woman by the arm.
The wind gusted and nearly knocked Shannon off her feet. She pushed the fisherman forward as the mist swirled down from the clouds and encircled them.
“We need to hurry!” Ben yelled through the screaming wind.
“He doesn't want to!” she used all her strength, but he refused to walk any faster.
Ben let go of the woman's hand and switched with Shannon.
“Come on, move!” he yelled, face pressed against the man's back, heels digging into the dusty path. “This is one of the most bizarre experiences of my entire existence!”
They continued forward and rounded the corner to the church. Shannon swung open the doors and threw the woman inside before helping Ben pull the sluggish man to safety.
The wind howled through the church, and they pushed against the door as hard as they could, closing and bolting it with the last of their strength. Exhausted, Shannon leaned her back against the door and slid down to the floor, Ben following in suit.
Exhausted, she held her hand up for a high-five, momentarily forgetting who she was dealing with.
“That's the second time you've done that,” said Ben. “I still have no idea what it means.”
“It's a high-five,” she said. “You take your palm and slap mine in the air.”
“Why?”
Shannon shrugged. “I don't know. It's a thing.”
“A thing?”
“Yeah. You do it when you accomplish something!”
He laughed. “That's ridiculous.”
“Oh, c'mon...”
Ben awkwardly raised his hand and slapped hers. “Was that right?”
“You'll get the hang of it,” she chuckled.
“Ahem,” a voice echoed through the building.
Shannon and Ben looked up to see Monica standing over them. One of the twin girls peeked out from behind her.
“Sorry to interrupt whatever this is,” she wagged her finger at the space between them. “But I think we're long overdue for an explanation.”
Shannon pushed herself to her feet. “Of course. You're Monica, right?”
“Yeah. Not Grace, or whatever the hell your boyfriend decided to call me.”
Shannon side-eyed Ben awkwardly. “Um... He's
been here for a really long time.”
“And me?” Monica asked. “This little girl who's scared out of her mind? We just up and died today and got sent here?”
Ben stood up and cleared his throat. “I'm sorry for the misunderstanding earlier today. But I'm afraid you've been here for years. Most of us have.”
Monica rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay. So, what, I was like these freaks before today?”
“Basically,” Shannon surveyed the church. The twenty-odd people they had managed to save stayed seated where she and Ben had left them, and made no sign of movement. “You were the first person I tried to talk to when I... uh, died. You just stared into space.”
“Has anyone else awoken?” asked Ben. “Anyone besides you and this girl?”
“Just us,” Monica said. “And she's too scared to even talk. I can't even figure out if she speaks English. I think she's just clinging to me because I'm the only person in here who isn't a total creep.”
“I speak English,” a small voice came from behind her.
“What's your name, hon?” Monica stepped aside and let the girl move forward.
“Helen,” she said. “I'm not... actually dead, right?”
“Why don't we have a seat before we talk about this?” Shannon suggested. “It'll be... well, a little more comfortable, anyway.”
The burning town illuminated the sky, and they could see in what would have otherwise been a pitch black night.
Shannon had no idea how to explain what had happened. It was difficult enough for her to process her own death, and she hadn't been trapped in some kind of a trance for years.
“You were both like everybody else in this church until tonight,” Shannon said.