Children of the Apocalypse Complete Trilogy, page 30
part #1 of Children of the Apocalypse Series
Images of the church being raided by men in hazmat suits filled my mind. Screaming people fled from the church as the biohazard crew started grabbing members and shoving them out the door. The images switched to when the parish had been peaceful and full of singing people. The joy the priest felt swelled up through me. This was a holy place, this was a place of God and it was full of peace and joy. Blessed by the Holy Father and guided by the wisdom of the people.
The memories switched so violently that I felt my stomach churn, but I pushed forward. I saw the priest lift his sleeve and reveal the black rot that had started to crawl up his arm. He’d escaped the raid, but he was infected. I saw him usher the little girl from last night into the church to offer her comfort.
I pulled my hand away from him and met his gaze. “Relief is coming.” I promised him. “I’m sorry for your suffering. I felt your remorse when your parish was raided. Your spiritual family torn apart.”
“Are you sure you’re not an angel?” The father turned away.
I chuckled. “Trust me, I’m not. I’ve met them, they are far better than I am when it comes to fighting demons. I have my own guardian angel too.”
“And where have all ours gone?” He looked at me with a sadness I’d not seen. Almost a hopelessness. “I have never questioned my religion, my beliefs, and yet I am suffering in an apocalypse where the faithful should have been called home.”
I tried to think of an explanation that wasn’t lying and wouldn’t shatter the scriptures he’d put all his faith in. “Sometimes the Devil is stronger and more people fall into temptation. The angels are preparing for the end of the world in case we can’t stop this. All I can tell you, Father, is to not lose that faith but hold onto it. Because in death it’s your deeds and your intentions that define who you are. Your faith has made you a good person, your undying love for those who are worse off than you and in need of help, your care for those in your parish, the love you have for God...they make your soul shine bright and fill you with such joy.”
“Why are you here then? If not to collect my soul?”
I looked towards a doorway where I saw the little girl from last night standing. She gave me a little wave, but didn’t come closer. “I’m here to set things right. Sadly, I’m bound by rules and laws that I don’t understand, but I have to follow. To some, I seem to be a symbol of hope. Death will be free and you’ll find peace, so maybe for you I’m a messenger.” I stood and he took my hand.
“May over there told me that she met you last night. Did you look at her soul?”
I looked over at the little girl. “No, I didn’t, but I can tell you that she is very brave. Keep your faith, Father.” I squeezed his hand and gave a small wave to May before I walked down the aisle and out the door.
Aeron pushed away from a tree and came towards me. “So?”
“I met a priest and let me just say, I’ve never seen someone who had such undying faith in a religion. His church was raided though, like we thought might have happened at the school. They didn’t do any damage, but they were anything but gentle.”
“What did you learn other than that?”
“They are taking the infected somewhere and then ushering the healthy people to the walled city. There are more walking dead in this city, but they fear everything. They are worried about the government taking them. The little girl who came to me last night, her name is May and the priest has taken her in until Death comes for them.”
“Heavy stuff right there.” Aeron shook his head. “Let’s find you some more people and see if we can’t gather more information.”
I came down the steps. I heard a voice and I swore it was my mother whispering my name. “Hold on.” I held my hand up and Aeron gave me a look that told me he didn’t believe I just gave him an order.
“Sammy...”
There it was again, just a whisper on the wind. My heart jumped at the idea that my mind swore it was my mother’s voice. I ran around to the back of the church. Fallen dead branches crunched under my feet as I sprinted to the back, following the voice.
“Sammy...”
I rounded the corner and came to a halt when I saw a demon standing there. I knew her well and my stomach would never forget the pain of her serrated blades. She was tall, her long legs reached to the ground from the top of the fence she sat on. Her hair was pulled back away from her pointed face.
“Hello Camille.” I summoned my scythe. “Who let you out of Hell?”
“Lucile did. She said that you needed to be slowed down some more. Wish I could kill you.” She flashed pointed teeth at me in her smile and slithered off the fence. “Where’s your guardian angel? I’d love to give Lucile another set of wings to hang on her wall.”
I shrugged. “She’s off on her own for a little while.”
Aeron came to my side and looked at me. “Twenty-four hours, Little Death, that is all I’m asking.”
“I think it’s been twenty-four. Actually it’s been more than that, thank you very much.”
Aeron summoned his bow. “A trickster demon, eh? Same one you met over Thanksgiving?”
“Sure is. Shame we can’t kill her.” I glanced at the church and looked to Aeron. “Holy ground?”
“We can use holy ground to trap her, but that church is no longer holy, we need something else.”
I glanced down the road. “Like a graveyard.”
“That would do.” He muttered, but his eyes never wavered from the demon in front of him.
I twirled my scythe. “You want me, crazy demon? Come get me.”
Camille tilted her head and I took off towards the graveyard. I jumped over fallen trees and branches. The sound of her tromping through everything I jumped over echoed in my ears and told me how close she was.
I miscalculated a jump and my foot got caught on a stone. I tucked and rolled. I tried to recover, but she grabbed me by the shirt and threw me into a tree.
Breath rushed out of my lungs at the impact and I tried to recover the stolen air, but her hand wrapped around my throat squeezing. “Do you think I’m that dumb, Little Death?” Her voice hissed a little bit as she spoke.
I slammed my foot into her stomach and she let go of me. I swept my foot under her feet, taking her to the ground, but before I could summon my scythe she recovered and jumped to her feet.
I swung my weapon around and she blocked it with her swords. “Try again, Little Death. I’m attached to my head.” She snapped in my face.
I brought my knee up into her stomach and she doubled over. An arrow swished by me and slid into her side with a sickening sound. She dropped her sword and her hand went to the arrow to pull it out. I shoved her backwards and brought my scythe down.
She moved so that my blade met the ground. “You cannot take me down. You cannot kill me.”
She held a hand up and I knew she was going to summon hellhounds. I made a few swiping motions to keep her hands busy by dodging me. I wasn’t going to fight off dogs if I could trap her in the holy ground. If I could take her head I would have been happier, but I didn’t think I’d get that option right now. Aeron’s arrows whizzed by me, knocking Camille onto her back. Her hand touched the edge of the graveyard and she glared at me.
“You can’t bind me in there.” She tried to move her hand, but it wouldn’t move past the line.
She summoned her sword and threw it at Aeron. I couldn’t block it with the scythe, but I could block Aeron. I dove to block him and the blade dug deep into my shoulder. In anger and pain I swung my scythe and cut Camille in half.
I hit the ground and cried out. I met Aeron’s wide gaze and heard Camille shrieking. I hadn’t meant to cut her in half. I didn’t want her to suffer that way until death came, but there was no choice. She’d forced my hand and I chose to keep Aeron from being fatally wounded. He wouldn’t be claimed by Death when he was free. The same remained to be seen for me.
“You just chopped a trickster in half.” Aeron ran towards me. I went to touch the sword and my arm refused to move.
“Get. It. Out.” I ground out.
He pulled it out with both hands and I screamed as my arm writhed in pain. I put a hand on my shoulder and closed my eyes before I started crying.
“Take a couple deep breaths.” Aeron’s voice grounded me through the pain. “That would have taken me out had you not jumped in front of it.”
I took a breath in and counted to ten and let it out while counting again. I repeated the motions a couple times until the blinding pain faded to just a stabbing pain and no longer threatened to take over my body and make me pass out. “I know. We kind of need you alive.”
“You too.” He slowly pried my hand away from my shoulder. “Let me look.”
I looked at the two pieces of the trickster before it disintegrated and the white wisp of her soul drifted up to the sky. “Why did she die?”
“She’s a lower level demon, much like the one that we killed a few days ago. Their souls belong to Lucile completely so she can call them back when their bodies are destroyed. The Sins, well, they are more like fallen angels. Their souls are their own, they just choose to serve Lucile.”
“You wanted me to trap her because you didn’t think we could kill her.” I tried to ignore the blood dripping down my shoulder.
He pulled his bag in front of him and started digging for the medical kit. “I didn’t think either of us would get close enough to deliver a blow like that. I think we got lucky.”
“We’ll see if I regain use of my shoulder or not and then we’ll see if we’re lucky.” I cringed as he put his hand on the wound with gauze.
I looked up as I heard footsteps. I tensed and summoned my scythe and Aeron spun around on his heels, still crouching in front of me. The priest stood there with May by his side. “Is there anything I can do to help you two?”
“I just need to get her wound patched up and we’ll be off your grounds.” Aeron turned back to me.
I looked over his shoulder. “Thank you though.”
“You two are God’s warriors, it would be my pleasure to give you shelter and anything you need while you’re in my city.”
Aeron started bandaging my wound. “Thanks, but I can’t stay in churches and I can’t leave Sammy alone to stay with you.”
“I can deliver food and any items you need. I know where the house is.” May’s sweet voice carried on the wind. I looked at Aeron and he nodded.
“That would work, thank you. We’re hoping to be able to go towards the city here in the next couple days. We’re to meet some friends there.” I cringed as Aeron tightened the bandage.
He stood and helped me up as well. “We could use all the help we can get. Can you tell us how far the city is from here?”
“It’s about twenty miles, you can’t miss it. The wall towers over anything else in the city.” The priest said. “But be wary, I hear the city is more corrupt than anything you’ll find out here.”
Aeron picked up his bag from the ground. “That’s what we’re hoping for. The creatures we seek, that’s where they’ll be because that is where they will be the most powerful.”
“You face the demons that the Devil sends to earth. It is with you that our fate lies then.” The priest bowed his head. “Come May, let’s get some things gathered for these two and hope that Sammy finds rest to heal that wound.”
I walked with Aeron back towards the farmhouse, my side and arm both pounding now. “How come no one calls you Little War?”
“Because I’m not little. You’re petite and not very threatening, which is the mistake that demons make when they face you. Your speed and will over your weapon make you death to anyone who pisses you off. It’s not just a play on the horseman’s words. The demons see you as death as well. It’s a compliment.”
I hadn’t thought of it that way. The world around me started to spin. “Aeron...” I grasped to catch him as I started stumbling down.
He caught me around the waist. “It’s just the blood loss. Some rest and you’ll be fine.”
I hoped he was right. The queasiness in my stomach started to take over as my body tried to give out on me. My right arm was refusing to work for me and that made the panic grow more in me. “When will I be able to move my arm again?”
“Once the muscles heal and reknit themselves. It could be a few hours or it could be a day.” He helped me into the house.
I lay down on the blankets and closed my eyes. “I wish I knew where Ruthie was.”
“I do too. I want to know how it’s going with convincing the archangels.” He sat down next to me. “And Kaleb. I don’t like that we sent him ahead.”
“The government took advantage of all of this. If we’re found out to be infected we’ll be taken to where they are quarantining the rest of the infected. When Death is freed I’m willing to bet there will be a massive grave where everyone is being kept. The Priest managed to escape, but many of his parish were taken. May had a bad heart transplant, neither of them fear me which is good, but I can’t get much more information from them. I refuse to look at May’s soul.”
Aeron made a noise that sounded like he agreed with me. “A child’s soul should be innocent and untouched by evil, but I’m betting she’s seen her fair share of it.”
“I’m sure.” I opened my eyes. “Camille was the one who killed my mother.”
“So you’ve gotten your revenge for one thing. How does it feel?”
I shook my head. “Not as good as I thought. It didn’t bring her back and it didn’t solve any of the problems.”
“Not so satisfying, huh? Makes you wonder why so many people seek it out.” He leaned back on his hands.
I used my good arm to sit up and look at him. “Because in that dark moment, the only thing that sounds good is killing another. I’d love to bring my scythe’s blade across Lucile’s head to bring back my father from his seal. But I know it’s not going to do any good.”
“Lucile can’t be killed. It’s impossible.” Aeron met my gaze. “You can destroy her body, but you can’t reap her soul. She’d just manifest again. We might, if we have the backing of the angels, be able to lock her away in Hell.”
“Like the Sins.” I wrinkled my nose. “Everything is locking away. Why can’t we rid the world of the evil?”
“The answer is simple. Balance.” He watched me. “Everything has its balance, you can’t have darkness without light and you can’t have good without evil.”
I sighed and put my head against my knees. “Balance. And Lucille screwed it up.”
“Yep.”
21
“What happened to you?” Ruthie’s screech woke me up from my sleep and I blinked up at her angry face.
I made sure to keep my voice light. “I was stabbed by the trickster and poisoned by Sloth.” I sat up and found my right arm seemed to be working. “How was talking with the angels?”
“We got one to agree to help us with Michael’s permission. One that’s been down here on earth and knows exactly how things are going.” She sat next to me. “There was one condition though.”
Aeron came out of the kitchen and tossed me a military ration food bag. I caught it and tore open the package. He sat down as well. “I don’t like that angels have conditions when it comes to helping us.”
“They want Sammy to be the one that leads them into Hell.” Ruthie met my gaze. “We’re talking about one archangel and a handful of regular angels.”
My eyes grew wide and I tried to find the words. “What?”
“They think that because you managed to navigate your way to the seals so easily we might manage to free more than one. They did agree to meet us at the city and try to bind two of the Sins first.” Ruthie took a bag from Aeron.
Aeron looked at me and my gaze flickered to my food. “It’s risky, but you did kill Camille. You, with a band of angels in Hell, could manage to free the horsemen.”
“What about you guys? I can’t leave you here alone.” I picked at my food.
“We have to keep things handled here. We can’t risk all of the Children of the Apocalypse in Hell at once. Not again. If we lose one of you, then that’s it. There’s no way to stop the apocalypse if Lucille keeps the horsemen. You have to be the one to go because you know where the seals are.”
“I don’t know if I want to go back into Hell. We almost didn’t get out last time and before that Dad was sealed away and Mom was killed.” My voice raised a pitch. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my track record in Hell isn’t great.”
Ruthie put a hand on my knee. “Look, if we can get the Sins here sealed, then that gives us two less to worry about here on Earth while you’re in Hell.”
“That also leaves five more that might show up looking for revenge or to unseal them. Can’t Lucile just undo the seal? Since she’s capable of creating them?”
Aeron shook his head. “No, it’d have to be an angel or a horseman. The seals the archangel makes are made from pure goodness. Lucile’s are both good and evil.”
“So the horsemen and archangels can open either because they could be good or evil because of free will.” I made the connection. “But why are Lucile’s good and evil?”
“Because she can tempt and control either.” Ruthie shrugged. “On one hand, it’s not fair, on the other, we have the advantage when it comes to seals.”
I nodded. “So what? We head towards the city, hope they let us in and then meet up with the angels?”
“Pretty much.” Ruthie took a bite of her food. “We need to figure out which two Sins are controlling that city.”
“I’m betting Sloth is one of them, but we did run into two more Sins while we were at a gas station.”
“Envy and Gluttony.” Aeron said. “So we might get more than we bargained for.”
I finished my rations and shoved the empty bag into my pack. “I don’t think I want to face any of them again, but with all of us back together we should be okay.”
