Edwin ran a hand down weary blue eyes, silently struggling not to fall asleep where he stood as he looked out through the gaping hole where there once had been a stained window for the neighbourhood's local chapel. The view hadn't changed, why would it? It hadn't for the last week, why would it have this morning?

Still, he felt a twinge of disappointment, as he had every morning before, as always having expected some sort of miracle.

The chapel he and two dozen others occupied was surprisingly roomy for such a small structure. The tiled floor was even after all they have suffered through clean, or perhaps because of it...a couple of people had become obsessed by keeping everything flawless due to a lack of activity, or perhaps to simply keep their minds occupied, Edwin guessed at the later.

Still, it meant that the floor was clean, and the improvised beds of sheets, straws and the odd woollen bag were carefully made, looking oddly neat where they were placed along the walls, right beneath the second floor. The second floor was a simple wooden thing ten feet above the main floor, supported by stone beams and protruding six feet into the chapel, by now Edwin had learnt to see them more as ramparts from which one could look down through the gaping holes where there once had been beautiful windows.

As for the other occupants...the dozen civilians were clustered around the centre of the main floor, eating their small ration of bread as they intently listened to the local preacher or tended to the mental and physical wounds they had acquired during the last two weeks. A few sobs reached Edwin, but he refused to listen, that was the preacher's job after all. And he himself was far too tired...

At least the dozen battle sisters guarding the chapel didn't cry or ask for help with something or another. In fact he had barely seen them take of their helmets for anything but a quick snack. For the most part they stood vigil by the windows on the second floor, on one knee as if in prayer as they gazed out at the outside. In fact...if Edwin listened carefully...he could hear a muttered prayer from the helmeted sister to his left...it was the only sign of life from her.

Sighing he realised that there would no doubt be a medical 'problem' soon...and despite only being seventeen and a new, not to mention failed, medical student he was apparently the best they had left. Stealing away moments on the rampart was the only thing keeping him sane, which was sort of amusing since he spent it watching what had driven them all to the edge of madness...

The plaza in front of him was filled with...people.

He grimaced, to call these creatures people left a bad taste in his mouth. Everything about them was wrong, the way they slowly shuffled as they walked, the way they were covered in green boils...the way they stared at him with milky dead eyes... How many was out there? He had tried to count them before...he'd lost count at two hundred...something.

Still, they kept a few feet's distance from the chapel, as they had ever since the sister's had put up their vigil. It wasn't fear of getting mowed down by those bolters of theirs either, he'd seen zombies charge a firing line during the initial chaos, winning inch by inch until they simply overwhelmed the defenders. No, this was the power of faith...perhaps from the chapel itself, or the praying sisters...he shot the armoured woman next to him a grateful look.

Either way he had gone from one who simply ignored religion to a fervent believer. Perhaps it was a bit insulting to the emperor...but he was such a distant figure that it was hard to believe in him until now. Especially on such a sleepy planet as Lem. Sure they had had their local rebellions, cultists crying out their allegiance to the dark gods while rising up over in the slums...but that had only further strengthened his belief that religion was something best left alone.

After all, he had heard all of the stories, of the emperor and his great primarches, of great battles and a constant war against the xeno and heretical powers out there, one heard them all the time during the obligatory church visits. But that was something far away! Lem was a sleepy civilised world! Far from any of those legendary wars that the preachers went on about, along with many others he had come to doubt any of that was actually true.

Funny how your world dying could change your perspective on things...

Looking over the plaza he watched with mixed emotion the horde of zombies loudly bash against the door in the large building at the other side of the plaza. The local arbiter fort was nothing but a converted office building, though it was hard to tell with the minimized windows and bulky steel plates covering it, making it look like a bunker. Despite that the zombies were slowly but surely bashing up the large steel doors, as they had been for the last week.

On one hand the arbiters had kicked him in line far too many times for him to really feel bad for them. On the other they were probably one of the few surviving humans on the planet...losing them would mean the ones in the chapel would be truly left alone...

There wasn't much they could do though, the sisters were too few to fight their way out...and even if they weren't it would leave him and the other civilians to be eaten by the monsters surrounding them on all sides. So he was stuck to watch, which wasn't too horrible by now...he had seen far too many people getting killed these last two weeks...the memories hounded him every night.

Shuddering he wrapped the blanket over his wide shoulders closer, his eyes closing despite his efforts. It had all started so quietly...the report of a meteorite hitting the planet...the sky getting a little darker due to dust clouds. It had been a little worrying, mostly due to peasants complaining about bad crops and the crazies going about the end of the world...the usual when something strange happened.

He hadn't been that worried though, after all, the administratum officials had said everything was okay, and they had never been wrong before.

Then the flies had come, the size of his thumb, so many that the cloud they made blotted out the sun...and people had begun to die. The only reason Edwin hadn't been bitten and died had been him being near a windowless restroom...he had hid there, barricading the door even as he heard people cry out in fear and pain as they died.

It shamed him, but that had been what he had done. He had even heard someone bang on the door for a moment...before being swarmed.

Two days later, driven by hunger, he had left the restroom...and found the ground littered by dead flies and people. Everything had been so silent...until he gunfire had erupted from somewhere to his left. Confused he had taken to go there, if only so he could ask someone alive what was happening...then he had seen them...the living dead.

The rest of the week had been a blur. Constant running, constantly throwing oneself over food when having the opportunity, gorging on it like some ravenous wolf. At times he had been with other survivors, or at least he believed he had...it had all been so confusing. He did remember reaching the chapel alone though...and that he had been injured from a fall, they had nearly shot him then.

The sister next to him turned her head to look at him, red eyepieces glaring at him. He must have chuckled at the memory. "Sorry." She turned back to her vigil, the muttered prayer never ceasing. Of course she didn't answer, they never did, their only interaction with the others was via their 'sergeant' and the preacher...and that he had caught some sisters looking at him at times, no doubt still suspicious of him turning into one of those monsters.

A loud creak reached him as the steel gate over on the other end of the plaza gave way, fascinated he watched every zombie on the plaza turning towards the sound, jaws opening in silent roars, legs dragging as they moved towards the new source of food. "Guess we can't do anything for them?" Edwin muttered the question, wavering slightly where he stood as he came close to fall into the nightmare realm that was sleep nowadays.

The sister didn't answer, red eyepieces focused on the scene before her, bolter resting on her leg as she continued her prayer.

"Yeah you're right." He said to the non answer, resting heavily against the windowframe. "Nothing to do but watch, very sad."

Again, no answer, no surprise there...though it still annoyed him. The sisters seemed to be the only ones calm, and as such the only ones he could talk to without receiving a sermon or constant crying...but apparently they didn't talk to the likes of him.

So he was left alone, the only one not crying or constantly praying. Weren't they tired of crying by now? It had been two weeks dammit! None could be sad for that long, just because they had all lost their families, friends and...classmates...lovers...didn't...it didn't mean...

Blinking Edwin sniffled, a hand coming up to rub his nose.

Great, he must be tired...heh...yeah...keep telling yourself that...idiot.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Sighing he found his shoulders slumping. Since when was he a doctor? Did they just want to believe he knew more than he did? He was just seventeen dammit! Bet it's that stupid pregnant girl and her stupider boyfriend. She was in the fifth month! Not ninth! "She's in pain!" Oh for...just because the kid was a good kicker didn't mean they had to bother him twenty times a day!

Sighing he glanced at the sister ignoring him. "Oh well, back to work then? Yeah...I'll talk to you later."

"Doctor!"

"I'm coming!" He forced himself not to sound angry, knowing better by now. Doing an unnecessary check-up was annoying enough without listening to the ranting of a dull witted boyfriend...