"Who are you?" asked Jill, her gun raised and steady at Luke and Selene. She clearly noticed—these two weren't panicked civilians. They stood too calmly for that.
"My name is Luke, and this is Selene," Luke said casually, like he was introducing himself at a dinner party.
Jill studied them for a moment, then lowered her gun—though not completely. They were human, yes, which meant they weren't an immediate threat like the creatures outside… but that didn't mean she couldn't drop her guard entirely.
"You said you knew what those are?" Terri cut in, her camera already pointed at Luke.
Before Luke could even open his mouth, the priest—who had clearly been lurking for his big entrance—swept out of the shadows, Bible clutched tight to his chest as if it were both weapon and shield.
"Those are the undead!" the priest bellowed, his voice cracking with manic certainty, the sound echoing through the hollow church rafters.
He raised his Bible high, clutching it like a weapon. "Sent by the Lord Himself to cleanse the earth! It is written in the Gospel that the dead shall walk among us!"
Luke blinked, his smirk faltering into a flat, unimpressed stare. Oh, fantastic, he thought dryly. A doomsday preacher in the middle of an actual zombie apocalypse. Just what this circus needs.
The urge to tell the guy to shut the hell up hit Luke almost instantly. Not because he had a bone to pick with religion—he didn't.
But because zealots like this always strutted around like they'd been handed the official manual of life, when in reality? They didn't even have page one figured out.
And really, if God existed and this was His big plan? Reanimating corpses, turning them into drooling cannibal monsters, and tossing them at humanity like darts? That wasn't judgment. That was sadism in cosplay.
The priest wasn't done. He spread his arms wide, the Bible trembling in one hand as he shouted, "Fear not! Those who pray, those who kneel before the Lord's will, shall be spared! The righteous will be lifted while the wicked are consumed in fire and decay!"
His voice thundered like he was auditioning for a role in some end-times movie, face red with zeal. "Repent! Pray for the Lord's mercy, and salvation shall be yours!"
Luke dragged a hand down his face, exhaling through his teeth. Oh great, here we go. Cue the 'pray and you'll be safe' speech. Just what we needed.
His patience snapped like a dried twig.
"Old man," Luke cut in, his voice flat but sharp enough to cut glass, "can you shut your yapping before I smack you with that holy book you're waving around—so you can go meet your Lord directly?"
The priest recoiled, his eyes wide, and clutched the Bible tighter against his chest as though Luke had just threatened to kick down the pearly gates himself. His lips trembled, caught between outrage and fear.
"Those aren't the works of any god," Luke pressed on, his tone carrying the weight of certainty.
He jabbed a finger toward the boarded-up doors, where faint, guttural moans still leaked through. "Those things out there? They're people. People infected with the deadliest virus in the world. Nothing holy about it—just science gone rotten."
"Virus?" Terri repeated, her camera lens snapping into focus like she'd just struck gold for the evening news.
"Yep. T-Virus," Luke said, his tone casual but laced with disgust. "Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood evil corporation—Umbrella. Marketed as a miracle cure, but surprise—it just makes corpses walk and the living turn into bite-happy freaks." He flicked his wrist dismissively, like the explanation should've been obvious.
"Figures," Jill muttered darkly. Her jaw clenched, her voice dripping with venom. \
Then, with no hesitation: "Fuck Umbrella."
"Language! This is the house of the Lord!" the priest barked, puffing his chest as if scolding a child.
Jill slowly turned her head, her icy blue eyes narrowing into a look sharp enough to cut through steel. The kind of look that said say one more word and you'll be shaking hands with your God in five seconds.
"I'll check the perimeter," Jill said, walking toward inside, already all business again. The priest, as if suddenly worried that she'd find something he didn't want her to, hurried after her.
The others stayed in the main hall.
"So… the virus is what makes people like that?" Terri asked
"Yes," Luke nodded, "T-Virus. A virus that can reanimate dead cells. In theory, it could cure a ton of diseases if used properly. But it's got one big side effect—after a person dies, it can still move the body. But the human part? Gone. Replaced with nothing but instincts… instincts that want to eat people."
"And if you get bitten…" Luke tapped his own arm lightly, "You join the walking buffet line."
Peyton froze. His face dropped instantly. He touched the spot where he'd been bitten earlier, his expression turning darker with every passing second.
Luke caught the look but didn't say anything out loud. No point in rubbing salt into the wound.
"Umm… how do you know about all this?" Terri asked, narrowing her eyes.
Luke paused for half a second, then deadpanned, "I'm a sage. I meditated for years on Mount Everest and gained knowledge of the past, the future, and many incredible powers."
He delivered it so flat, so serious, it almost sounded convincing. Almost.
The silence that followed was broken only by Peyton blinking at him like he'd just confessed to being Batman, Terri lowering her camera slightly in disbelief, and the random extra looking like he was debating whether to call Luke insane or just ignore him.
Selene almost smiled. Their confused stares reminded her of when Luke had first told her the actual truth.
She'd thought he was insane too… until she saw all. At least now she understood—sometimes, the truth was so insane it was better to lie.
Finally, the extra couldn't take it.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"!" He shouted.
Luke turned his head slowly, his eyebrows raised. "People who can't handle the naked truth always call it nonsense. They dismiss it because their tiny little brains can't process it." He stepped a little closer, eyes narrowing. "Those people are idiots. So tell me… are you an idiot?"
The extra froze, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He wanted to argue—but no words came out.