red hill - jamie mcguire

“Look at them. They can’t climb,” I said, surprised.
Bryce stepped out of the Bug and waved his arms. “Hey!” he yelled.
“What the hell are you doing What if he shoots at us” Cooper said.
“Help us!” Bryce said, ignoring Cooper.
The man on the roof signaled for us to come around to the backside of the church, and then pointed
at his gun.
“He’s going to cover us. Let’s go. Let’s go!” Bryce said, getting back in.
Without hesitation, I slammed my foot against the accelerator, and the Bug surged forward. Within
moments, we were bouncing across the street and into the church lawn. The man held up his hand,
palm out, and then turned to point, directing us.
I parked the Bug in the back of the church, and then jumped out, pulling up my seat for Ashley.
“Go. Go!” I said, watching every undead thing on the side of the church turn in our direction and
begin their approach.
The back door of the church opened, revealing the man from the roof. He turned the bolt lock as
soon as the last of us was inside. The room was full of scared people, the mother and her children,
another woman, two other little boys, and five men: the man that saved us, two middle-aged men, and
two older men.
“Thank you so much,” I said to the man who let us in. “We needed a place to stay for the night.”
“Skeeter McGee,” he said, holding out his hand. I shook it, and he nodded to Cooper, Bryce, and
Ashley, and then turned to one of the middle-aged men. “Gary, we’re going to have to nail the boards
back up on the door upstairs. Just one board this time.”
Gary nodded, and then turned, disappearing down a dark hall. His footsteps echoed back into the
kitchen, and then the hammering started.
Everyone in the room traded glances, and then Skeeter tended to a woman on the floor. She looked
near death, and a white, foamlike drool was dripping from the side of her mouth to the blanket she
was lying on.
“Was Annabelle . . . ” the older woman said.
“Not yet,” Skeeter answered.
“That’s good news. Maybe Jill won’t come back as one of those things. Or maybe she’ll get better.
We just don’t know, Skeeter. Please don’t do anything rash.”
“You don’t have to bullshit me, Doris,” he told her. He ran his large fingers through Jill’s damp,
blond hair, and whispered something in her ear.
Doris looked at us. “Bless your hearts. You from Anderson”
“We go to the university in Greenville. My father has a ranch northwest of here. We didn’t really
want to travel after dark.”
Doris nodded with understanding. “Can’t say I blame you. You kids want some water” she asked,
already making her way to the refrigerator. She handed us all bottles of water, and we wasted no time
tipping our bottles back.
“Your father has a ranch close to here” Skeeter asked.
Ashley smiled. “Red Hill Ranch.”