CHIMES OF DOOM.

'I HEAR CHURCH bells.'

It was the first time anyone had spoken for a couple of minutes. Jin's arrival had disrupted the status quo more than Sam had anticipated. He'd thought she would be warmly welcomed once he'd explained the situation, but although she hadn't made it explicit, Purna had given Sam the impression that she regarded him as a soft touch, who would have to be discouraged from picking up every waif and stray he came across. She cheered up when she saw the shotgun and ammunition that Jin's father had insisted they take with them, but had regarded Jin with exasperated disbelief when the girl had refused the offer of a machete on the grounds that she was a 'pacifist'.

'No such thing any more,' Purna said curtly. 'Not if you want to survive.'

Jin looked apologetic. 'Sorry, but there's no way I could bring myself to harm a living creature.'

'The infected aren't living,' Purna retorted. 'They're just people-shaped repositories of rage and hunger.'

'All the same,' said Jin, folding her arms as if she was afraid Purna would try to force the weapon into her hands.

Scathingly Purna said, 'With that attitude you won't last a day.'

'We'll see, won't we?' said Jin, but it was not a defiant response; on the contrary, she looked intimidated, victimized.

Purna shook her head. 'No, we won't see. Because we can't afford to carry passengers.'

'Hey, who died and made you queen of shit-storm island?' Sam responded angrily.

Purna scowled at him. 'I know it's tough, Sam, but that's the way it is. It's kill or be killed. And if you or Xian Mei are looking out for Miss Goody Two-Shoes here as well as yourselves, your attention will be split and that'll lead to mistakes. And in this groovy new world, one mistake and suddenly you're human hamburger.'

'So what are you saying?' said Xian Mei calmly. 'That we should throw Jin out on the street and let her fend for herself?'

Jin looked alarmed, but Sam raised a hand to reassure her. 'Hey, don't worry. 'Cos that ain't gonna happen.'

'Course I'm not suggesting that,' Purna replied, scowling. 'I'm just saying that Jin's got to change her values, and quickly, because cosy little indulgences like pacifism are just not valid any more.'

'Maybe I don't have to fight because I have other skills I can contribute,' Jin said gamely.

'Yeah? Like what?'

'Well ... I'm a nurse. I know how to treat wounds and injuries. Plus I'm a pretty good mechanic. I've helped Papa in the body shop enough times to know my way around an engine.'

Sam nodded approvingly. 'You can't say that ain't gonna come in useful,' he said to Purna.

She raised her eyebrows but stayed silent, refusing to commit herself either way, and as if taking their cue from her the four of them descended into a simmering silence.

At Xian Mei's suggestion they were taking a roundabout route back to the beach, following the coast road which took them close to the outskirts of Moresby's slum district. Although the virus had spread from the city into the far more salubrious environs of Banoi's resort area, Xian Mei had opined that it was worth taking a gamble on the fact that the infected would be sticking to the population centres, where there would be greater numbers of the living for them to feast upon. So far her theory had proved correct and the infected had been conspicuous by their absence. Now, though, the sound of church bells had thrown them a curve ball, and within minutes had prompted a fresh debate.

'They're coming from Moresby church,' said Xian Mei in response to Sam's observation.

'We should check it out,' Jin piped up.

Purna, in the driving seat, shook her head. 'No way.'

'But there might be people in trouble. Why else would they ring the bells unless it was a cry for help?'

When Purna didn't reply, Sam said, 'She's right.'

Purna glanced at him. 'So what if she is?'

'If people are in trouble, then we should try to help them,' Jin said obstinately.

Purna wore the expression of someone who was surrounded by idiots. 'Everyone's in trouble everyone alive, that is. Or hadn't you noticed?'

'Is that a reason not to try to help one another?' Jin said.

'Yes it is, because we can't help everyone,' said Purna scathingly.

'I'm not suggesting we should. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to help the ones we know about.' When Purna kept on driving, Jin added, 'If we ignore people in need, then doesn't that make us just as bad as the virus itself? Worse even?'

'She's got a point,' said Xian Mei.

'Fuck!' shouted Purna, and slammed on the brakes so suddenly that all three of her passengers were jolted forward, gasping as their seatbelts locked painfully across their chests.

'What's your problem?' said Sam.

'Well, I don't know,' said Purna. 'Maybe it's just that I'm not heavily into suicide missions.'

'Don't you think you're overreacting?' Xian Mei said.

Purna glared at her. 'Oh, you think? You want me to drive into a heavy population centre which we've been led to believe is swarming with the infected, and you honestly can't understand why I regard that action as a mite foolhardy?'

'People are in trouble,' said Jin.

Purna closed her eyes briefly. 'If you say that one more time I may punch you unconscious.'

Calmly Xian Mei said, 'Moresby church is less than a mile from here. And it's on a hill above the city. We can get there without having to go down into the streets at all.'

'And you think those bells won't have attracted the infected from miles around?' Purna said.

Sam shrugged. 'We can't say for sure that sound really registers with them. I mean, the TV in that old lady's house didn't seem to attract them.'

'Apart from the fact that the old woman had been gutted,' Purna pointed out.

'Which means one of them got in, sure. But maybe they got a sixth sense for fresh blood or a beating heart.'

'Why don't we vote on it?' Jin suggested, and raised a hand. 'I vote we check it out.'

'Me too,' said Sam. When Purna shook her head in disgust, he added, 'If people're in trouble I can't just ignore it. Maybe that makes me a dumb fuck, but at least I'll die with a clear conscience.'

'I vote we check it out too,' said Xian Mei, and pulled an apologetic face. 'Sorry, Purna.'

Purna sighed but said, 'I want it on record that I think this is a crazy idea but I suppose I'll abide by the majority decision.' Putting the truck into gear, she asked, 'So how do I get to this damn church?'

The bells grew louder as they approached, and Sam couldn't help but think of a line from an old song, something about chimes of doom. Following Xian Mei's instructions they took a right on to what seemed little more than a leafy track through a patch of jungle that rose steadily uphill, the road so pitted and uneven that Purna had to slow the van to a crawl at times.

'No chance of a quick getaway here,' she remarked tartly.

No one said anything, and a few minutes later the road opened out into a dusty clearing dominated on the far side by a pair of imposing black iron gates. Slowing to a halt, Purna said, 'So what now?'

Xian Mei looked momentarily hesitant. 'Now we get out and walk, I guess.'

Purna looked at her. 'Are you kidding me?'

'It's only a few hundred metres through the graveyard. Look, you can see the spire of the church from here.'

She leaned forward in her seat, pointing upwards. The others leaned forward too. At the top of the windscreen, rising above the trees beyond the gates, they could just make out a dark spire topped by a crucifix standing out starkly against the pale dawn sky.

'A few hundred metres,' Purna repeated heavily. Beyond the gates were gravel walkways divided by occasional flights of wooden steps. On a regular Sunday, worshippers ascending the hill would no doubt feel they were plodding towards heaven, but right now it looked like nothing more than a potentially lethal obstacle course. 'Isn't there an access road we can use? What about deliveries?'

Jin shook her head. 'Anything the church needs is carried up from here. They've always managed before now.'

'Before now they didn't have the undead to contend with,' Purna remarked.

Sam unclipped his seatbelt. 'Come on, let's get this thing done.'

Because Purna had handled one before, and because the other three felt secretly guilty at involving her in a situation of potential and unnecessary danger, it was decided that the Australian girl would carry the shotgun. Sam and Xian Mei had a flare pistol and a machete each, and after a couple of minutes of heated debate, Jin was persuaded to carry a crowbar to if need be 'defend herself with'.

Despite the presence of dozens of sun-bleached grave markers straggling uphill and leaning every which way, the route up to Moresby church was more like a tropical garden than a typical graveyard. In fact, there were several routes to choose from, each one winding through clumps of palm trees and thick vegetation. The sun had burst over the horizon now and was creeping steadily higher in the sky, the insects and birds launching gustily into their dawn chorus as the day grew brighter and hotter. Purna looked around warily, remarking that everyone should be extra vigilant, as the sound of insects, birds and bells would almost certainly be enough to mask the approach of the infected. She had barely finished speaking when a zombie erupted out of the bushes about eight metres ahead of them, blocking their path.

It was a big, heavily tattooed guy with facial piercings and green hair. He was slathered in blood, some of it fresh, especially around his mouth, but much of it black and stiff on his white Kurt Cobain T-shirt and ripped jeans. Jin screamed as he ran at them, snarling like a particularly ferocious guard dog. Almost un hurriedly, Purna raised the shotgun and pulled the trigger, the blast hitting him square in the jaw and all but tearing his face away.

He went down so heavily that Sam fancied he felt the ground shake beneath his feet.

'This is not a good idea,' said Purna.

'Maybe you're right,' Sam conceded reluctantly. He turned, and was shocked to see three more of the infected break cover behind them, emerging from the bushes and trees flanking the gate. There was a middle-aged man and woman they might even have been husband and wife dressed in the loud shirts and shorts of the typical western holidaymaker, and a younger, bearded man wearing khaki shorts, whose naked upper torso was covered in bite-marks.

The trio of zombies ran at them, their faces bestial. The woman stumbled and fell, but picked herself up immediately, her chubby knees scuffed and bloodied. Purna raised the shotgun again and took out the bearded guy who was drawing ahead of the older man, but succeeded only in wounding him. Quickly assessing their odds, knowing that she wouldn't have time to reload before the zombies were on them, she gestured towards the church and shouted, 'Run!'

Although he didn't like turning his back on the snarling trio behind them, Sam knew that for now at least discretion was the better part of valour. Even so, he deliberately dropped to the back of the group, urging Xian Mei and especially Jin ahead of him. Fortunately he and his companions were younger and fitter than the animated cadavers chasing them and they quickly drew away from their pursuers. The only dangers with moving so quickly, of course, was that they were more prone to losing their footing and they didn't have time to assess their surroundings or the terrain ahead of them.

This drawback almost proved Purna's undoing when another of the infected leaped from the clump of bushes she was running past and hit her side on, knocking her over. The shotgun flew from her hands as she fell, the zombie on top of her, its hands and teeth already trying to tear at her body. It was a teenage boy, a ghetto kid, his clothes frayed and threadbare, almost colourless from having been washed too many times. As he and Purna hit the ground, the impact knocked them apart, but the boy was up quickly and flying at her again.

Taken by surprise and momentarily stunned, Purna could only flail at him, yelling in anger and pain as he bit into the side of her arm. Sam ran forward to help her, already raising his machete, but it was Jin and Xian Mei, ahead of him, who reached Purna first. Acting instinctively, Jin raised the crowbar she was carrying and brought it down on the boy's back. Although it barely injured him, it was enough, at least, to distract him for a moment. His head snapped up and round, his face a screeching mask of white eyes and bared, blood-slicked teeth. Pushing Jin unceremoniously out of the way, Xian Mei sprang forward and decapitated him with one sweeping blow of the machete.

As the head flew into the bushes, the boy's body crumpled, his hands grotesquely clenching and unclenching. Hearing snarls and heavy breathing behind him, Sam whirled round. The delay had enabled the middle-aged couple and the wounded man to catch up with them. Sam raised the flare pistol and fired it directly into the middle-aged man's twisted, bespectacled face. His head flared like a struck match, his hair igniting. As he staggered to one side, Sam jumped forward and finished him off with the machete.

Xian Mei, meanwhile, was dealing with the bearded man. Leaping with athletic grace, she shot out her foot in a high kick which connected with his solar plexus. He stumbled backwards, his left arm hanging uselessly where Purna had almost severed it at the shoulder with the shotgun blast, and collided with the woman, both of them going down like skittles. Instantly Xian Mei and Sam ran forward, bloodied machetes raised, and hacked into their skulls, destroying their brains.

As abruptly as the violence had begun it was over, leaving them with nothing but the shocking aftermath of battle. Sam and Xian Mei stood side by side for a moment, panting and spattered with blood, while behind them Purna clambered gingerly to her feet and limped across to pick up the shotgun she had dropped. As she deftly reloaded despite her bitten hand, Jin, standing alone, dropped the crowbar with a clatter and began to shake and sob. Closing the cartridge chamber of the gun with a click, Purna moved forward and put her arm round Jin's thin shoulders.

'Hey,' she said gently, 'you did good. You saved my life.'

Jin looked at the carnage around her. 'That was ... horrible,' she whispered.

Purna nodded. 'Yes it was. But it's all over now and they're at peace.'

Suddenly Sam raised his head. 'Hey, listen up everyone.'

Despite the constant clang of bells, they heard a rustling and grunting, coming from somewhere in the undergrowth, moving in their direction. It was not close to them, but not too far away either.

'Let's move,' said Purna. 'But keep alert. Eyes and ears everywhere.'

They moved swiftly uphill, Xian Mei in the lead, Purna limping along with the shotgun and Jin, who was still shaking, just in front of Sam. Closer to the church the vegetation died back a little and they were able to see the building, perched on the side of the hill and overlooking the city below, in all its glory.

In truth, however, despite its imposing location the building itself was not in the best shape. The roof was missing tiles, and many of the interlocking wooden planks that comprised its walls had either warped or rotted. In some places the damage was so bad it had been patched up with tin or corrugated iron, which itself had now gone rusty. Looking at the dilapidated building, it struck Sam that it didn't seem very defendable. If enough zombies made a concerted effort to get in, they would he was sure of it.

As they moved across the open patch of scrubby ground towards the sun-scoured but stout-looking main doors of the church, another of the infected crawled out from behind a tombstone and began dragging itself along the ground towards them. This one was an overweight man in his forties wearing a soiled and ripped policeman's uniform. Half of his face had been torn away and his right leg was a ragged, bleeding stump. Jin put a hand over her mouth and looked away as Xian Mei strode determinedly forward. Standing over the crawling zombie, but taking care not to come within range of its frantically grasping hands, she said, 'Sorry.' Then she raised her machete and ruthlessly brought it down.

The others waited for her to rejoin them before walking up to the church. Purna bashed on the door with the barrel of the shotgun. 'Hey!' she shouted. 'You in there!'

'We came to see if you needed help!' called Xian Mei.

They waited less than ten seconds and then one of the two doors creaked slowly open. Purna stepped back, half-raising the shotgun warily. A man's face appeared, his skin the colour of teak, his close-cropped hair and neat moustache white and grizzled.

'Friends or foes?' he enquired in a deep, gentle, almost melodious voice.

'Friends, we hope,' said Xian Mei.

'I hope so too,' said the man and pulled the door further open. 'Not that we refuse entry to anyone here. Come in.'

The four of them trooped inside and the old man closed and locked the door behind them.

'Name's Ed,' he said. 'Ed Lacey.'

Purna introduced herself and the rest of them. 'You're not native to these parts,' she noted.

'I'm from Florida. Was on holiday with my wife, Maya. Some holiday, huh?'

In spite of everything, Sam grinned. The man's gentle humour was a welcome tonic after what they had been through. 'Not exactly the paradise we were hoping for either.'

Ed laughed softly, then raised a hand and crooked a finger. 'C'mon, I'll introduce you to the others.'

The interior of the church was as shabby as the exterior chunks of plaster missing from the walls, many of the pews broken or water-damaged. At the far end, huddled on rickety wooden chairs around a large crucifix that towered above the raised pulpit, were around thirty people. Most looked like shell-shocked parishioners who had fled here, seeking sanctuary, from the overcrowded slums of Moresby directly below. However, a few of the group were clearly more affluent, among them a smattering of white-faced western holidaymakers, who had somehow managed, whether by accident or design, to find their way here.

Looking around and nodding greetings at people as Ed named them, Sam noted that the ages of the group members ranged from less than one (a tired-looking bony-shouldered mother who couldn't have been more than seventeen was breast-feeding a fidgeting, fractious baby) to a half-dozen men and women in their seventies or possibly eighties. One man who was younger than that sixty maybe was lying full-length on a pew, bolstered by hassocks and cushions. He was an overweight white man (though his face at the moment was the colour of beetroot), and he was breathing in ratcheting gasps, a clenched fist resting on his chest and his fleshy features knotted in pain.