Chapter 4

Starr had mixed feelings about Marty’s telling them they were now standing before the underground tomb, where Pippi was. Part of Starr felt elated that they were nearing the conclusion of this little adventure. Once Pippi was safely out of the graveyard, Starr could return home. But another part, more prevalent at the moment, was worried about the threats of what awaited them below. Marty said that Pippi was alive, at least since he had last seen her, so if somebody wanted her alive, then that meant they were walking into a trap.

“Pretty fancy tomb they took her in,” Marty noted, the humored drained out of his voice. It was a bad sign when Marty was solemn, which made Starr’s knees buckle.

“I didn’t know you could walk into a tomb,” Ninten replied.

Starr nodded, as he walked towards the staircase that would take them to the underground chamber, and thus to Pippi. “There’s very few of them in this cemetery. Maybe this is the only one. But they do exist. Some of the richest families in the area wanted to be buried together, and to ensure this, built chambers that would let them. Similar to the ancient Scarabian’s and their pharaohs, I suppose.”

“So, that’s where Pippi is?” Ninten asked.

“Yep. They almost saw me spying on them, but that’s where the girl is. Say one thing, they sure don’t know how to bury a body.”

Ninten took a step towards Marty. “That’s my friend you’re talking about. I don’t want to hear anymore crap about her, or you’ll be sorry!”

Marty reached for his jacket pocket. “Listen, kid, don’t think I would whack you right here just because you’re young.”

“Both of you stop!” Starr rushed over to stand between the two. “Marty, you should show respect for the boy’s feelings. How would you have liked it if your late wife was in the same situation?”

Marty glared at Starr, and then suddenly, he punched the priest in the face. Starr fell back, as Marty jumped on him. “Don’t you talk about my wife like that! She was in a similar situation!”

Starr’s face stung, as he received another blow to the nose. “What… What’s gotten into you? I’m sorry—“

“Get off him!” In one motion, at least as Starr could see from his position, Ninten jumped on top of Marty and tried to push him off. That not working, and Starr losing consciousness, Ninten took his baseball bat, and hit Marty on the head as hard as he could. The result was about two hundred pounds of dead weight that was now on the priest. Together, Starr and Ninten rolled him to the ground, and the priest took the occasion to catch his breath.

“Are you okay, Mr. Starr?”

Star coughed in response, trying to clear the dizziness that those blows to the head caused. “I-I think so. Is this the unholy power of the Devil at work?”

Ninten shrugged. “I don’t know. But if you’re feeling okay, can we go into the tomb? I’d really like to make sure that Pippi’s okay.”

Starr nodded, and after a few wobbly attempts, he was able to stand up. He glanced at Marty, who wasn’t moving. Was he dead? Or dead again, he supposed, considering that as a zombie, he would have had to have already been dead to begin with. He shook his head, truly saddened by the madness that overcame Marty. “Rest in peace, my friend,” he whispered beneath his breath.

“Are you ready?” Ninten asked. Starr detected a tinge of impatience in his voice.

“Of course, of course.” He took one last look at the fallen Marty, and then turned to follow Ninten. Starr thought it was impossible, but the sky around the entrance to the tomb seemed even darker than the surrounding area. The weeds looked a more sickly color of green, and the ground seemed more distant, more alien.

“Would you like me to go first?” Ninten’s tone was not patronizing. He truly seemed like he wanted to go first to protect Starrr. The priest nodded, ashamed at his cowardliness in letting a child go first in this descent to what he could only equate to Hell.

They began the walk down the eerie stairwell. Torches hung from braziers as both sides, the dim light casting shadows before them. Each footstep seemed to produce a deafening echo, and any other sound, from a breath to a whisper, was amplified ten times. Starr clutched his Bible, praying silently that no harm would befall them in this tomb. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the bottom.

If there was one word to describe the chamber, it was death. From the unnatural silence to the stagnant air that felt heavy on his shoulders and seemed suffocating, it was immediately obvious that the burial chamber was not a place that accommodated the living. Large, gray coffins were arranged in rows, with plaques on the side to identify the inhabitants. It was truly a frightful place, and Starr immediately crossed himself.

“Pippi!” Ninten yelled, his voice vibrating from the walls. Starr was sure that the folks from Podunk could hear him. “Pippi, where are you?”

“Shh!” Starr shushed him harshly, before raising his voice to an angry whisper. “Are you mad, boy? You’ll wake up every undead spirit in this place.”

“But I have no idea where she is,” Ninten whispered back. “PIPPI!”

“Stop it!” Starr snapped. This child was insufferable. It was like he _wanted_ to get killed by zombies.

“Mr. Starr, if any zombies come out, I’ll whoop ‘em. Then make them tell us where Pippi is.”

“Don’t get cocky, just because you’ve been lucky so far. This is a dangerous place, and these zombies want to _kill_ us!”

“Easy for you to say!” Ninten shot back. “All you’ve done this whole time is hide.”

“I don’t believe that the Lord would condone this senseless violence.”

“But God would want an innocent girl to die? No wonder I don’t go to your church.”

Starr glared at the heathen standing in front of him. “It’s not for humans to dictate God’s will!”

“So you’d let her die? You’re sick!”

“How dare you, Ninten. I—“

“Help!”

Both star and Ninten stopped their bickering and turned towards the sound of the voice. It was muffled, hardly audible, but clear nonetheless. Somebody was crying for help.

“Ninten! Help!”

Ninten broke into a run as he followed the voice. “Don’t worry, Pippi! I’ll find you.”

Forgetting the argument, Starr followed Ninten, as they came to the tomb that the voice emitted from.

“Are you alright in there?” Starr asked.

“Ye-yeah. I’m scared. Please get me out.”

“Mr. Starr, we gotta do something!”

“Yes…” Starr began to walk around the casket, thoroughly examining it. The lid would be very heavy. To prove his hypothesis, he put both hands on the edge and tried to lift the tomb. This one was made before the concept of latches. The casket was instead composed of a stone base and a lid that would have to be lifted manually.

“Can you open it?” Ninten asked anxiously.

“No. We would need several people stronger than us to—“

He stopped, noticing something was odd. The lid… was rising. As though floating. Was it the power of ghosts? “Ninten, look!”

“Wait, are those hands?” He pointed, and Starr gasped. That little girl was lifting the lid of the tomb. A stone tomb, several times her weight, all by herself. That wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t.

“Can you guys help, this is kinda heavy.”

“Yeah, of course. Come on, Mr. Starr.” Each got on opposite sides of the lid, and lifted it higher. Soon, a red-headed girl’s face could be seen. She had freckles, and her hair was styled in pigtails. He wanted to ask her how in the world she could lift a lid single-handedly, but his back was about to snap from the tremendous pressure of the lid.

“Ninten, move that way,” he said, between pants, as he thrusted his head in the intended direction. After a seeming eternity of small steps, they were far enough away from the casket. “Watch your feet,” he warned, and the next moment, they let the stony container drop.

The roaring crashing sound that resulted sent chills down Father Starr’s spine, and his heart began to race. His back was in agonizing pain, and his arms were like gelatin. He knew that, Lord willing, he wouldn’t be getting out of bed tomorrow. Or, as he tried to take a step and felt a painful jolt shoot down his spine, the rest of the week.

“You guys sure are brave to rescue me, huh?” Starr turned to see the girl, Pippi, sitting up in the casket, being helped over the edge by Ninten.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” he said, scratching the back of his head and looking horribly uncomfortable. Starr couldn’t help but smile deceitfully, still remembering their earlier argument.

Pippi giggled, the sound being very welcome in the midst of such doom and gloom as a burial chamber. “Oh Ninten, don’t get so swell-headed.”

“I’m not swell-headed,” he protested.

She turned to Starr, smiling. “Thank you, mister.”

Starr couldn’t help but return the smile. This girl had a penchant for joy. “It’s just a bless to see you safe. We were worried about you, in this casket, underground, alone.”

“Yeah, but I’m okay. Some meanie in a brown suit and the ugliest tie I’ve ever seen stuffed me in here,” she protested. “I’m gonna knock his lights out if I find him.”

Starr gasped. “Marty? As in Martin Lemley?”

“You’re quick, Tommy-boy!”

The three of them turned around to see Marty flanked by four identical-looking zombies. He cocked his gun, and pointed it at Father Starr. “Take a good look around, because this is going to be all ya’s resting place.”