"How do you like priesthood?"

"I actually like it way better than I thought! And I think I get a knack of it!"

"You won't be able to flirt and date around again though."

Abel laughed, ruffling the children's hair.

"I'm busy, wait 5 more minutes, ok?" He returned to the phone.

"What's to regret? The children in my parish are very adorable, the people – oh yes Ma'am, I'm glad your prayers came true! Ah Sir, I put the patterned cloth there."

"..."

"I'm really sorry, Saturday mornings are always busy!"

"Did you just... set our call to 5 more minutes?"

"Ahahah, don't mind it! I can play tag with the children anytime, but when else does my darling brother call me?"

Cain cleared his throat.

"Ahem, it seems you really do adjust well to the priest life. I never expected you to be a priest, but I'm glad you found something you love."

"Aww, thanks brother!" Abel laughed again. Priesthood had always been Cain's dream. Holding masses, serving the community, and tending his own small backyard garden really did bring him joy, but at times he'd feel a pang of guilt. Cain should be enjoying this too.

"How about you, dude? The missions going smooth as always?"

"Well, we kept a 80% success rate. The 20% is when Major General Kim called us to retreat."

"And you still have that perfect headshot streak, I assume?"

"Yea-" Cain caught himself. This symbol?

"Brother?"

"I'll call you back."

He sneaked into the laboratory. No, no, no!

Cain fell to the ground, covering his retching mouth.

The door opened. His eyes widened.

"Dang, why the heck do they take so long?"

"You know the national labs haha. Bet they didn't expect any intriguing results."

"Still tho, this experiment gives me the chills. What if it went wrong?"

"Nah, how bad would things get? Even if they die, we still have other divisions in the special ops-"

Cain leaped towards the door, and before they could scream, he whacked them unconscious. He ran out, sirens blaring in the air.

"Who is it?"

"Cain Sir, the newest recruit."

"How did he get into the lab?"

"Our system recorded Dr. Isabella's passcode."

"Wh- ah, that damn smart kid. He must have tailed her."

The door banged open.

"Sir, emergency, Sir!"

"Don't you see that we're in a meeting?"

"But you have to see this! The special ops in the office have been eating others, and the corpses seem to go hostile within a minute. There have also been similar breakouts in the Max Shopping Centre and riverside neighborhoods."

Major General Kim's eyes widened. Jax went to the shopping centre for lunch, and Elle had been excused for late attendance. She lived in the Riverside neighbourhood.

"Who among the special ops remained?"

"None sir, except Cain, who we haven't been able to confirm yet."

He ran out minutes ago without symptoms, and the turning period should be about half an hour...

"Put out an international warrant."

"Yes, Sir."

Cain stared at his reflection.

"Isn't this too much?"

"Hey, there are already two polices and one military man who came for you, ok? Besides, you look good in a priest robe."

"I-it's not that-"

"Shut up. You're gonna make a priest go to confession thrice and now you can't stop yapping? A thank you will be nice, you know."

"Thank you?"

Someone knocked the door again. Juan's laugh quickly turned into a groan.

"I bet it'll be someone looking for you. Wait here."

But just seconds after he left, Cain heard him scream. He rushed outside. Juan was trembling on the ground, his eyes bulging at the horrendous scene ahead of him. The Sergeant who was looking for him screamed in agony as a disfigured creature gobbled him alive.

Cain grabbed the porch chair and smashed it to the figure's head until it lay motionless. Comrade Kurt? Wait could it be-?

"Cain, watch out!"

He turned around and smashed the head of the reanimated Sergeant before he could bite his shoulder. Noises blurred away, a high-pitched shriek shotting through his head. Cain cupped his mouth. It wouldn't, would it? He feels completely fine...

Juan held him, preventing him from toppling over. Is he ok? It shouldn't be his first kill, right?

Screams filled the air. The street ahead of them burnt in fire and blood. People flooded into the chapel, begging for help.

"Come on dude, we get to gather the survivors and get out of here!"

Cain nodded, holding his head. The Sergeant had a handgun, two hands full of ammunition, and a grenade. Kurt had a laser gun, knives, and a taser.

"Tell everyone to gather whatever weapon, food, med kits, and necessities they have. We'll hold the base for 30 minutes."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So when Jesus said to Peter, 'Sat-"

"FATHER, THIS IS REALLY-"

Chalk flew across the chapel. The crowd gasped. An eventful homily as usual!

"AAAAHHH!!!"

"SATAN GO AWAY! How many times did I told you brother Louis? The mass is at 12.30, not 1!"

"NO NO, IT'S NOT THAT-"

Now he's bringing a television into mass?? He gleamed. Yes, if you're gonna cause a disturbance, you better put decent effort!

But before Abel could decide whether to shoot it with a water gun or throw a chalk instead in case the television was his, the voice of the reporter echoed through the walls, the graphic images blazing through the screen.

The chapel fell silent. Abel dropped his water gun.

"The outbreak was first reported in the metropolis..."

He dialled Cain's phone. No answer. Was the communication line down?

He glanced at the television again.

Infection through bite? Reanimated hostile corpses? Is this a zombie outbreak? In real life??

"How far have the outbreak spread?"

"I'm not sure, Father, but the last time I heard our town is still clean."

"Everyone, this might be another of Brother Louis' tantrum because he was late to mass-"

"Father!"

"But just in case, gather everyone you know in this chapel. I will be back in a few."

Abel jumped onto his bike – then passed a random dude with a motorcycle and decided to borrow his because a bike will be too slow - and rode to the edge of the town. Still safe, and the communication cable are still intact. Their village was on the edge of a mountain. They had three neighbouring villages, one in the east, one south, and one west. The north was shouldered by a vast forest, and beyond that, lies nothing other than wilderness.

He circled the east and south villages. Everything's fine too.

He checked the west. As soon as he reached the outskirts, burnt smell came from the communication wires. That was as expected. Since their communication line were interconnected, he knew that the cut must be here. But as soon as it came to his sight, his blood ran cold. Piles of living corpses wriggled in the fallen structure, bathed in flesh and blood.