“God tell ya that?”
Behind them, Carl and Adam were discussing the slingshot and the myriad of things one could use as ammunition. It sounded like a somewhat normal conversation without any fear or tension. It all felt surreal to Ashar every time he took a moment to think past the routine of life happening to what was swirling within the spiritual realm he was just beginning to realize existed. There were so many things he was only beginning to understand in the smallest of ways.
The air was bitter when he swallowed, the cold wrapped around his exposed skin a mirror to the emotionless wickedness drowning the world.
“Yeah, in a way He did. He is.” Saying it aloud clawed at any denial he tried to shield himself with. His anger at circumstance was trivial set against a bigger picture. How did one stop thinking and living like they always had, when reality was too complex to grasp more than just the basic premise?
Irv guided them along the trails, shared a few stories from the trips he had taken, summarizing them, making them impersonal.
Ashar hadn’t heard any of it before; Irv hiding himself in rubble to keep from being seen by soldiers. Scavenging and coming across decomposing bodies. Being chased by other Wanderers for what he had. Witnessing murders by Axis while he stayed in the shadows.
He understood why Irv was sharing. It was his attempt to prepare them for whatever they may be walking into.
When the forest thinned around them, they picked their way to the edge of the trees and paused to take in their surroundings. They’d followed a creek they’d come across.
The area seemed largely unpopulated, with clumps of trees and brush allowing coverage. The snow at least gave them good indication that no human had passed through, so they continued along the creek, wary about being so exposed, despite the scattered pines among bare trunks. It was a feeling Ashar had not felt in a while.
They saw no one and crossed only one road. Though there seemed to be no threat, they stayed as hidden as possible and continued to use the creek as their guide.
Ashar was starting to wonder if they had chosen the wrong direction when a break in the trees showed a wide stretch of road ahead of them.
“We could stop here,” Irv said. “We could make camp and continue tomorrow. Watch for movement.”
Ashar shook his head. “Let’s keep going.”
Irv didn’t argue. Carl and Adam were quiet. Cautiously, they continued along the creek, since it had the most tree cover, even though it curved sharply south. Still, there were no signs of population and they passed beneath the overpass of a two lane road with no trouble.
“Should it be harder than this?” Carl asked as the hour wore on. “We haven’t seen anyone.”
“And this creek keeps twisting and turning. We’re probably wasting a lot of time,” Adam added.
“Following the creek is safer. We’ve got natural cover, water, and apparently, no one lives by it.” Irv was unperturbed by the questions and moved a branch out of the way. “The trees are getting thinner.”
Carl slipped and caught himself by grabbing at a limb. “I don’t want things to get harder. I’m just feeling really anxious. Thinking about the what if seems a lot harder than just knowing what the what ifs are.”
“Think about something else,” Irv suggested.
“Like what?”
No one had an answer.
They saw two houses set pretty far out, and hunkered down for a bit to watch them, wondering about the people of whatever town they were in. No movement came from either of the structures, or anywhere around it. They decided as a group not to approach, but to keep going.
It wasn’t long after that that another road became visible, lining up parallel with the creek for a while and getting closer as the day began to fade. Following it, they stopped when the creek twisted north.
“Ash, we need to make camp,” Irv said, lifting his eyes toward the sky. “It isn’t safe to travel in the dark. Ya can get ambushed.”
Hesitating, and ignoring a grumble from Adam about following a rabbit trail, he nodded. “We should be there by now, shouldn’t we?”
“I think we are. I’m just not sure where exactly.”
They found a dense area of vegetation and hid themselves within it for the night.
“What are you thinking?” Ashar asked Irv quietly as he lay awake worrying once they were all settled.
“I think we are headed in the right direction. There’s cleared land across that road. That means we’re probably nearing a town of some sort.”
“Then we’ll know soon enough.”
Carl was already snoring. Adam was quiet, but Ashar knew that, despite the grumbling, he was a follower, not a leader, and would go where they led.
“Get some sleep, Ash. We’re not following a conventional path. The goal is safety, not speed.”
Ashar expected to dream, but he slept deeply, rising at first light to urge the others to eat and hydrate quickly so they could go on.
The creek took them on another winding route that eventually led them into a town. A house appeared in their line of sight, and then another and another, closer together. Irv didn’t stop them, only told them to be on the alert. The creek passed beneath a road and widened, and then the trees that lined the side they followed thinned until they were left with an open space that gave them a clear view of a scatter of homes.
They hunkered down in the brush to watch and see if there was any movement. There was no indication that the homes were still inhabited, and none appeared.
“The other side of the creek still has tree coverage. There’s a road ahead. I think we should cross and follow the road for awhile until I can get a handle on where we are.”
Ashar nodded at Irv. “I’m fine with that plan.”
Carl heaved an impatient sigh. “Let’s get going then.”
“DeSoto Parkway.” Irv pointed to a road sign and dug through his bag, coming out with a map, crouching to spread it out and examine it.
They hadn’t been following the road long. They’d crossed the creek and sought the shelter of the trees again, and not far down the road, a subdivision had announced what Irv had apparently been looking for.
“Here. DeSoto Caverns is on here, and this road might be 76. If it is, we’ll come across 280, and that will take us right to Harpersville.” His finger traced a path along over the colored lines.
“Let’s stick to the trees, and follow the road as best we can with the shield nature has provided.” Ashar had no desire to meet any people.
The plan worked fine until they ran out of trees. They could see a criss-cross of roads ahead of them, but heading northwest left them exposed.
Empty parking lots and railroad tracks lay ahead of them. There were no signs of destruction, but there were plenty of places to hide that could mean eyes they didn’t want on them.
“We’ve got to backtrack,” Irv apologized. “We’ll head due northwest and try to come up on 280.”
The sun was high over their heads, the snow only a sputter of flakes now.
The area was definitely on the outskirts of a town. They had to pass over several roads before they were able to come up alongside the tracks and follow its path, and they were all happy when the tracks lined up with 280 without any effort on their part.
Deciding it was safer to stay between the road and the tracks, they continued along the same northwest trajectory until the road veered left. They were making good time, the terrain flat, making it easy to traverse, and the foliage provided all the cover they needed.
A couple of hours passed. They were passing over roads again when Ashar began to feel the weight of darkness pressing against him with each step.
“I think we’ve found it,” he murmured, stopping.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Found what?” Carl asked.
“Harpersville.”
He could feel the evil in the city, and he felt his spirit reject it. It was strong, stronger than anything he had ever felt.
&
nbsp; “We need to start praying and not stop,” he urged. He could feel the air skimming across his exposed skin. It made him shiver.
They moved forward, and a glance around revealed tension was not just hunching his shoulders. Ashar darted his eyes around, trying to see what he could feel. The goal now was to find the church, and that meant leaving the safety of the trees and making their presence known.
He knew the moment they were. Ashar could feel that they were being watched. There was no sense of welcome. He hoped that it was misperception, that they were being sized up as enemies as any stranger would be in a time of war. If that was all it was, they would be left alone.
Irv had told him that backpacks and beards were the common look of a Wanderer. Ashar played with the zipper on his coat, feeling the metal as it slid over the tracks. He could see no movement from any of the buildings around him, no signs that anyone lived in the area at all. “Irv, is this what all of the towns are like now?”
Even Irv, the most traveled of them all, seemed out of sorts. He was walking as though his pack had taken on extra weight, and his steps were slow and heavy.
“You okay?” Ashar asked him.
“This place is creeping me out, Ash,” Irv responded in a whisper without looking up.
“Me too,” Carl said behind them.
“Something's wrong with this place,” Adam added.
“Lets just find the church and be on our way,” Carl recommended, daring to look up and glance around. “Any idea where it is?”
Ashar was following his gut. The only sign he had seen in his dream had been the one welcoming people to Harpersville, and they had not seen that yet. He expressed that he did not know where the church was, and his words were met with dismay.
“Someone has to be friendly here,” Irv muttered. “We just need to find someone who will talk to us.”
Eyes darting, steps hesitant, they continued forward until Irv bumped his arm and motioned ahead. A steeple rose up in the distance. He nodded at Irv and they shifted direction to head toward it. They were exposed now.
A man appeared from a house, stood and watched them. Ashar heard Irv’s audible swallow.
“Is this Harpersville?”
The man stared Irv down at the question, cold and menacing. He gave each of them the same penetrating unfriendly glare before walking away, unresponsive, leaving them to continue their search.
“The church is on a hill,” Ashar said quietly. “There’s a cross painted above the double entrance doors. It’s painted white, has stone steps leading up to it.” The details were only helpful if they could find someone that would talk to them. Another man moved out of the shadows, and like the man before, he gave them no sign of welcome. He only watched as they passed by.
The sun disappeared behind a cloud, the light darkening.
Adam told them he was getting a headache. The steeple was still a beacon ahead of them. “Drink some water,” Ashar suggested, not wanting to stop.
Adam fumbled with a water bottle, spilling water down his coat as he drank. He began to cough, more water sputtering out in front of him. Suddenly the bottle of water fell, and he gripped his head and moaned, then doubled over. “This place is evil!” he exclaimed. “They’re whispering to me!”
Alarmed, Ashar began to pray aloud, hoping for help in some way. He watched Adam lift his head, his eyes wide with fear, his gaze swinging back and forth among them. “Can you hear them?”
Carl grabbed Adam’s arm and propelled him forward. “Let’s find shelter and get off these streets,” he said shortly, guiding Adam along.
They didn’t know where to go. The doors they passed were locked. Windows were boarded.
The sun was still hidden away, the sky an eerie shade that looked as though it bled, hovering over Harpersville as though it were alive with death. Adam was whimpering now, babbling incoherent sentences and waving his arms randomly in the air like he was shooing away flies.
Shelter was not presenting itself, and it was getting darker and darker.
“We need to leave!” Adam suddenly gasped, looking panicked and stricken.
Ashar had not ceased praying.
“What’s going on in your head, Adam?” Carl demanded. His own anxiety was obvious. It trembled along his arms. His lips chattered. He was sweating, his eyes dark with fear.
Like shifting shadows, a group of men approached them, at least a dozen. Ashar stopped, stepping backwards. His friends were behind him. The men in the group all wore long black robes and a few of them carried red candles that flickered in the air, giving off a pungent scent, red smoky tendrils rising.
Ashar knew they were in trouble. A quick glance around them revealed several townspeople standing, emerging from hiding places to watch, undisturbed by the intimidating group that approached the strangers.
“Ash?” Irv spoke, uncertainty and fear coloring the word.
“We’re going to run,” Ashar instructed quietly. “Carl, take Adam. May God be with all of you, my friends. Run!” he finished with a shout.
Ashar did not wait to see if the others obeyed, but turned and ran.
He could hear the men beginning a chant behind him, the sound a strange familiar drone. He had heard them in his dream, he realized. The chant was a mimic of voices rising as one, speaking words unknown. He had known they were walking into danger, but he had expected it to be related to One World Order or Axis somehow, not a random group of wicked men with ill intent.
He prayed as he dodged between houses and around corners. “Protect my friends, God. Send help! Let us draw wisdom and courage from your endless supply.” He spoke aloud, and tried to instill all the authority he could muster. God was the only hope that they had.
Arms surrounded him, yanking him back, cutting off his air. “Your will be done,” he breathed before blackness swallowed him.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Sir, we have the boy.”
Eitan rose at the words whispered in his ear, cutting the meeting short.
He gathered his things quickly and followed Lazar from the room.
“Where is he?” he demanded the moment he had pressed the scrambler button in his pocket.
“Harpersville.”
“The war?” Eitan’s fingers itched to send the missive he had already composed, the only plan he had been able to come up with for just this moment.
“Harpersville is ours. He is safe there until extraction.”
An extraction that was Eitan’s responsibility. Thus far, Afion knew nothing about Ashar’s disappearance. Or Kara, who still remained missing.
He dismissed Lazar with a wave of his hand and set off down the hallway toward his office. There, he could send his message to Eron. Alric had told him the man was safe. It had taken him some time to find a way to contact Eron, but if Eitan’s suspicions were correct, the hacker had been the one behind Alric’s escape.
Eitan hoped Eron would also be the one to keep Ashar alive.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The pain was unbearable, like a hundred knives slicing into him at once. Ashar screamed his protest, his body convulsing in an attempt to separate from the source of the pain.
The chanting rose, whispers that rose to a crescendo and then crashed down again to hum with merciless torment.
His brain sought death to end the suffering, his heart searched for the God who could end it all. He cried out for his Savior, begging Him to take him and end the pain.
A knife sawed, metal against bone, his unborn wings flickering misery inside of him. Ashar begged his unknown captor not to take his wings, prayers against the evil pouring from his mouth through his tears.
The inky dark claimed him again, only for his body to convulse him back into the pools of anguish. His blood coated him, cold and hot fire emptying from his veins, a blanket over his ribs.
Death snaked jagged rivulets through him, seeking his last breath.
He saw them then. The ones he had seen coming to save him. The light emana
ted from each of them as they walked steadily from different directions toward the church.
The closest was the first man he had seen in the dream. His dark eyes gleamed with power. The air shimmered with light as his wings rose behind him, and suddenly an army of angels joined him, wings spread wide and swords drawn.
Peace flowed through Ashar’s body, and pulled him into a numb, slumberous state. He watched each step of the man’s approach. He watched him reach the church, and place one foot on the lower step.
Time shifted and slowed, and the blood leaving Ashar’s wounds thickened and clotted. Today was not the day God would welcome him home. His mind carefully sifted through the influx of stimuli happening and wisely concluded that his purpose had not yet been fulfilled.
God allowed him to see the man enter the church, and descend the stairs to where the altar he lay on was hidden. A machete ended the chanting, sliced through to sever the veins of the wicked. Ashar saw the angels fighting with the man as though they were one, the strength and might of an Almighty God enabling the man to fell his enemies.
Breath heaving from the man’s chest, Ashar watched him pause in his victory. His head fell back and his eyes closed. He prayed against the foul unholiness of what he had interrupted, his hands splayed out at his sides, the machete held by two fingers.
The angels surrounding the man faded away. Dark hair tumbled forward as the man breathed out and made his way to stand over the prone body on the altar. Ashar’s body. The man was looking at him.
Ashar watched shock pass over the man’s face as he examined Ashar’s bloody back. The stone was cold and rough against his cheek. Ash understood. The man was discovering that the secret he carried was no longer his alone.
Freed from the supernatural place he had been allowed to go to view the events of his rescue, to be held away from the hands of death, Ashar weakly lifted his head to meet the man’s eyes.
Seal Two Page 20
