The bearded man fished eyeglasses from a pocket beneath his tunic, and squinted through dirty lenses.
“Tom … ?” he said. “Tom Imura?”
“Hey, Brother David. ” He put his hand on Benny’s shoulder. “This is my brother, Benjamin. ”
“What are you doing here?”
“Passing through,” said Tom. “But I wanted to pay my respects. And to teach Benny the ways of this world. He’s never been outside of the fence before. ”
Benny caught the way Tom put emphasis on the word “this. ”
Brother David walked over, scratching his beard. Up close he was older than he looked. Maybe forty, with deep brown eyes and a few missing teeth. His clothing was clean but threadbare. He smelled of flowers, garlic, and mint. The man studied Benny for a long moment, during which Tom did nothing and Benny fidgeted.
“He’s not a believer,” said Brother David.
“Belief is tough to come by in these times,” said Tom.
“You believe. ”
“Seeing is believing. ”
Benny thought that their exchange had the cadence of a church litany, as if it was something the two of them had said before and would say again.
Brother David bent toward Benny. “Tell me, young brother, do you come here bringing hurt and harm to the Children of God?”
“Um … no?”
“Do you bring hurt and harm to the Children of Lazarus?”
“I don’t know who they are, mister. I’m just here with my brother. ”
Brother David turned toward the women, who were using gentle pushes to steer the zombie back around the far side of the building. “Old Roger there is one of Lazarus’s Children. ”
“What? You mean he’s not a zom—”
Tom made a noise to stop him.
A tolerant smile flickered over Brother David’s face. “We don’t use that word, little brother. ”
Benny didn’t know how to answer that, so Tom came to his rescue.
“The name comes from Lazarus of Bethany, a man who was raised from the dead by Jesus. ”
“Yeah, I remember hearing about that in church. ”
The mention of church brightened Brother David’s smile. “You believe in God?” he asked hopefully.
“I guess. …”
“In these times,” said Brother David, “that’s better than most. ” He threw a covert wink at Tom.
Benny looked past Brother David to where the girls had taken the zombie. “I’m, like, totally confused here. That guy was a … you know. He’s dead, right?”
“Living dead,” corrected Brother David.
“Right. Why wasn’t he trying to … you know. ” He mimed grabbing and biting.
“He doesn’t have teeth,” said Tom. “And you saw his hands. ”