Tara continued to watch the news reporting that the infection was slowly moving north to the United States border. The panic started to spread. The news showed store shelves being cleaned out in a matter of hours, traffic at a complete standstill in large cities as people tried to flee to the countryside, and the phone system almost collapsing as people tried to contact loved ones. Gun stores sold out of guns and ammunition just as fast as the grocery stores, and people were preparing for a war against an unknown enemy.
Cable news started to report that the president was considering the unthinkable and would be making an announcement in moments. As Tara scanned the channels she noticed all the networks were now broadcasting from the White House.
The President stepped to the podium, his wife and daughter close behind. “My fellow Americans and citizens of the world, I have the grim duty to inform every person on the planet that this infection is covering our globe. People everywhere are dying. I am ordering our military and civil law enforcement to terminate any infected people they come into contact with.” His voice was strained with emotion as he glanced at his family again. “Since our military and police can’t be everywhere at once, I am recommending that every citizen take on the responsibly to terminate any person they identify with the infection. For some of you, this message might be too late, as the infection has already crossed our borders. With God's grace, we will be able to survive this plague and rebuild our country. God bless, and I pray for us all.”
As Tara sat in her living room watching the TV, she could not believe what she had just heard from the president. She had done everything Blake told her, but now she didn’t think she could take the waiting any longer. She felt like she was waiting for death. Down the street she heard two gunshots. The reality of death started to set in. She turned off the TV and sat in the rocking chair cradling Kaya in one arm and holding her .45 in the other. She rocked back and forth, trying to soothe Kaya and imagine what would come.
Day 4: Luke Dameon
Pastor Luke Dameon had trouble sleeping that morning, so he decided to get up early. He made his morning cup of coffee and decided to work on his sermon for next Sunday. He started to read from the New Testament in the book of Revelation, chapter six. When he got to verse eight, he paused and reread it:
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the Earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the Earth.
After he had finished rereading it, he placed the Bible on the desk and decided to ponder on it for a while.
Luke Dameon had grown up as a preacher’s son. He had known he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps since he could remember and had wasted no time. After graduating from Bible College and marrying the woman of his dreams, Teresa, he joined his father’s ministry. But it was not long afterwards that his father was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. Within months, he had passed away.
Teresa and Luke then had to look after this flock of people that his father had worked his entire life building up. It was now all on his shoulders. But with the help of his wife, he was able to keep the ministry moving forward. They had never been able to have children, but serving their flock had given them full and happy lives.
After his bible study he walked into the kitchen where his wife had just finished cooking breakfast. As they ate and listened to the radio, they could tell something was wrong. The announcer on the radio was saying something about half the world being infected and people killing each other. Luke and Teresa both stopped eating at the same time and stared at each other, shaking their heads trying to deny what they was hearing.
They ran into the other room and turned on the TV, scanning the channels to see the news. Each station was reporting the same thing: infection, death, destruction, and half of the population affected. It was leaving them with a terrified feeling, so they turned it off.
Teresa turned to Luke. “What should we do?”
“I’m not sure, but I know that whatever happens our faith will get us through. Let us go to the chapel to pray.”
He put on his best white suit, and they both walked into the attached chapel.
After a few minutes, they decided to open the door in case anyone else felt the need to pray with them. They opened the doors and went to the front of the bench, sat down, grabbed each other’s hands, and started to pray. It wasn’t long before a few of their parishioners began to come through the doors. Each one was greeted with a warm hug and a soft, “Bless you.” Within an hour, the chapel was full of members and people who had never been in the church before. Each of them was coming for the same reasons, which were comfort, faith, fear, and not wanting to be alone.
Soon after the chapel filled, Luke felt the need to get up and address the congregation. He turned to his wife and grabbed her hand. “What should I say at a time like this?”
“Just speak from your heart! You are a righteous man. God will tell you what to say,” she said with a soft smile. She squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek. As he looked into her eyes, he smiled and walked to the pulpit.
He stood up front, took a long breath, and examined the faces staring back at him. It was eerily quiet, except for a few women and children softly sobbing.
“Brothers and sisters, I don’t know why God has sent this plague on the Earth. I don’t know what lies ahead of us in the next few days, but I do know that God loves each and every one of you! If we just have faith, he will pass this plague by us, just as he did in days of old when the plague passed the children of Israel in the times of Moses. They that believed marked their doors with lamb’s blood, and the plague did not enter their house.”
He paused for a moment to catch his breath and scanned the group. His heart was full of compassion for them. “Now, some of you might not have the faith to survive what lies before us. But even you can take comfort. I am reminded of the words of the savior:
I am the resurrection, and I am life.
Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet they shall live,
and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end
the first and the last.
I died and behold I am alive for evermore,
and I hold the keys of hell and death
because I live, you shall live also.”
Pastor Dameon began to feel a little dizzy and he held the podium for balance. “I can’t stop now. These people need me!” he thought. He bowed his head and said, “Let us pray.
“O God, who created us and gave us birth, we beseech you to hear our prayers. In this, our time of trial and need, we pray that you will protect us from this evil that is spreading across our planet. We know that you are all powerful, and we acknowledge your hand is in all things. We also know we are weak, and pray that we might not waver in our faith, but humbly submit to thy will. Amen.”
When he finished his prayer, he collapsed on the ground.
Luke’s eyes fluttered open. He noticed that he was in his bed surrounded by his wife and a few men and women from the congregation. He thanked them as they left the room. His wife put a cold rag on his forehead.
He smiled at her and put his hand on her cheek. “My head feels as if it is about to explode. Also, my body feels like it is on fire.” His voice was strained.
Teresa looked at him with sad eyes and tear-stained cheeks. “You have a fever of 104… We tried calling 911, but the phone system is down. A nurse in the group said that we should give you some ibuprofen. We did, and it seems to have worked a little. Try and get some rest.”
As Luke closed his eyes and drifted off into unconsciousness he could hear in the background people speaking.
“I have heard that after the fever sets in, it’s only hours before they turn. We should kill him now before he wakes up as one of those things.”
“No!” Teresa shouted. “I know Luke. His faith will get him through this! Now please go join the others.”
Luke then heard nothing but silence.
Luke’s subconscious mind slowly started to awaken. He knew he was dreaming and remembered how he had felt before he became unconscious. He started to wonder if he was dying. In the distance to his right he could see a bright light. Inside the light stood a man, and he was beckoning him to come forward. He felt a strong urge to walk to the light, but he paused and thought of his dear wife.
Luke wrestled with what to do. He had taught his parishioners over the years that in the end, the light is where you want to be. But he knew that if he entered the light, he would never see his wife in this life again. For a moment, he was torn with what to do. But the light had a strong pull, and the man inside kept encouraging him to enter. He knew it was his time to go and that soon enough he would see his wife again.
Luke walked towards the light, slowly at first and then faster. It wasn’t long before he was suddenly pulled to a halt. He looked down and noticed a large golden chain around his waist. He grabbed at it and tugged on it several times, but it wouldn’t budge. He followed the chain with his eyes down into the vast darkness. In the midst of the darkness was a beast with glowing red eyes. It was holding the end of the chain.
The man in the light started shouting. “Please run and enter the light before it is too late!”
Luke tried his hardest to move, but he didn’t make any progress. The chain held him tightly.
Once again, the man in the light shouted. “Why don’t you come? Don’t you want to enter the light?”
Luke realized that he could no longer speak. Then suddenly the beast on the end of the chain slowly began pulling it towards him. Luke tried to resist, but it was no use.
The only thoughts running through his mind were of wanting to be in the light. But as he was dragged closer to the darkness, his thoughts turned to the beast. Right before he was in front of the beast, he was pulled through a wall of fire. Instead of a burning sensation, he felt like it was cleansing him.
Luke was only a foot away from the monster. He stared into its blazing black eyes, and he felt like the beast was staring into his soul. Then for some strange reason, Luke felt an immediate bond with this monster. After a moment of peering into each other’s souls, they embraced. At that moment Luke ceased to exist as he transformed into the beast.
He let out a monstrous roar. “Welcome, Brother, to our glorious cause! Now lead these newly cleansed brothers and sisters and purge the world of its uncleanness,” the monster bellowed. “From this day forward, you will no longer be Luke Dameon but are reborn as Lord Dameon.”
Day 4: Lord Dameon
Lord Dameon didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but slowly he opened his eyes. It took some time for things to come into focus. When his vision cleared, he noticed a woman standing over him. He felt that he should know her but it seemed like it was from a dream. The feeling only lasted a few seconds as he looked into her eyes; they were the eyes of the unclean. Anger began to swell inside him.
Lord Dameon could see the woman gasp as she stared at his face and looked into his eyes. She turned to run from his presence, but Lord Dameon grabbed the woman’s head with both hands and just stared into her eyes for a moment. The woman tried to pull back with a terrified look on her face. Lord Dameon paused for a moment then plunged his thumbs deeply into her eyes. The woman’s screams only fueled his rage. Blood and tears ran down her cheeks. He threw the woman against the wall, and she hit it such force that it cracked the sheet rock. She sank to the floor, motionless.
She was in shock and moaning slightly. Lord Dameon turned and walked into the kitchen. He scanned the room for something specific. Then he noticed the set of knives in the corner of the kitchen. Quickly, he walked to the knives and pulled the biggest one out of its holder and headed back to the bedroom. As he approached the woman he kept thinking to himself, “I need to get this thing to shut up.”
Lord Dameon slowly walked to her and whispered in a soft voice, “There, there, it is better this way. Once the filth of this world has been cleansed, we can build a better world.” With one swift stroke, he plunged the knife deep into her chest. She gasped for air frantically until blood spilled out of her mouth. It was only a matter of seconds till the twitching stopped.
After the task was complete, he walked outside. The sun felt warm on his face, and he peered down the nearby streets. There were bodies lying everywhere, and gunshots filled the air. He could hear screams of his brothers and the unclean all around him. A couple of men and a woman trudged up the street towards him, completely covered in blood.
All three people stopped in front of the old white church. He noticed their yellow eyes and said, “Welcome brothers and sister. Let us go and gather the rest of our brethren and purge any uncleanness we find, and we will build a new world from the ashes of this abomination.” They did not reply but followed Lord Dameon.
Together, they started wandering the streets. Every cleansed person they encountered joined their group.
As they approached the end of a street, a woman ran out from behind a large bush and straight into Lord Dameon’s arms.
“Bless you, Pastor Dameon! I knew that someone would send help for me.” But as she examined him, she noticed his eyes.
He grabbed her and embraced her tightly. “Now, now… it is better this way,” he whispered as he snapped her neck. She fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Soon their group grew close to a hundred. Lord Dameon led them all back to the church. Once there, he gave orders for his brothers to continue scouting out the surrounding area, gathering any of their brothers and sisters they found, and disposing of all others. He ordered the women and children to start cleaning up the bodies and gathering provisions from every house and store. They were to bring them to the church because it was where he would start to rebuild San Clemente and their new world.
Lord Dameon knew instinctively that everyone would follow his orders. He could sense they all accepted him as their leader. To him and them, the world was now in perfect harmony.
Day 4: Blake
It was no small feat to separate nearly 100,000 Marines. Even more difficult was finding places to detain 50,000 Marines. But after a couple of hours, the job was finished. The detained Marines were separated into four groups of over 10,000 each. Each of the areas they were assigned to had once been set up as a detention center to house enemy combatants in case a hostile country tried to invade North America. Each detention area had a ten-foot tall fence with razor wire on the top and was the size of two football fields. There were only two gates in and out, and there were a few small tents in the center surrounded by portable latrines. In the last decade it had mainly been used to store equipment.
Blake had been assigned a company of 200 soldiers to guard the west detention center. He positioned a third of soldiers to guard the north gate and another to the south, with the rest patrolling the perimeter. Each soldier was carrying an M-16 and a sidearm. There were also two Hummers with fifty-caliber machine guns parked at each gate. They all had orders to shoot to kill anyone that tried to escape.
Blake slowly paced the perimeter, making sure that every soldier knew what his job was. As he walked the perimeter he wondered if he really could give the orders to shoot and kill so many of his friends and fellow soldiers. As Blake rounded the final corner, he noticed Stetson leaning against the fence. He decided to see how he was doing.
“Hey Stetson, how are things going in there?”
“How do you think? This really sucks. I wish it was me out there and you in here,” he said with a slight grin.
“Yeah, I know. How are the other soldiers taking it?”
“There are a few that are seriously starting to freak out, but most are professionals and handling things the best they can.” He kicked the ground absently. “You know what the worst thing is? It’s the waiting. I wish this damn t
hing would get started if it is going to happen.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be OK. You’re too damn stubborn to let something like this change you.”
Stetson turned and pressed his face against the fence and stared at Blake in his eyes. “Blake, just remember your promise if I change.”
“I will,” Blake replied solemnly.
Blake’s heart ached, and he couldn’t look his lifelong friend in the face anymore so he gazed at the ground. “But it won’t come to that.”
“Promise me.”
Blake sighed. “Fine… I promise.”
Suddenly, one of the lieutenants called Blake on the radio. He quickly walked away, not wanting to see his friend’s pained expression anymore.
It was only a few minutes before the first of the soldiers started to exhibit signs of the infection. They were immediately taken to the medical tent where they were given medication by the quarantined staff to help ease the fever and pain. After fifteen minutes, ten percent of the compound was infected, and the medical tent was over-filled.
Soon some of the soldiers in the compound began to panic, while others broke down and cried. Many of them rushed to the gate, begging to be let out.
“Look, I’m not infected!” some of them pleaded. It wasn’t long before shots could be heard around the base as undoubtedly soldiers were fulfilling their orders and shooting anyone trying to crawl over the fences.
Blake’s company remained at their posts, keeping their composure and remembering their commitment to duty. But once the infection started and the shots were firing, Blake noticed the terrified looks on many of their faces. He knew that all hell was about to break loose, so he quickly made his way around the compound to reassure his soldiers that they could execute their duties.
AB (The Blake Reynolds Chronicles Book 1) Page 5
