by SD Tanner
The pilot left them about a mile from where TL assured him Lucie and Gray would meet them. They were in prime farming country in Ohio, but the land had become much the same wherever they went. The earth was dead, the towns abandoned, and everything looked dry, dusty and lifeless. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a herd of animals or a flourishing forest. Time to end this game, he thought with determination. He needed to goad Ruler into a final confrontation before there was no one left who could fight.
Through Ip, TL agreed to meet with Lucie and Gray at the intersection of routes 103 and 37. It was just outside a small town called Mt. Blanchard, and as he expected, there were no signs of life anywhere. When they got to the crossroads, he stood in the middle of the intersection surveying the surroundings and decided it looked dismal. With no greenery, all he could see was the brown land, grey road and a few scattered houses clearly long abandoned. With no people to maintain anything, signs had fallen over, roofs were caving in, and cars with flat tires were becoming bleached and rusted under the harsh sun. Dropping his backpack onto the dirty road, he peeled off his damp ACU shirt and wiped his face and neck with it.
Watching him, Pax clearly decided to do the same. “What the hell is happenin’ to the weather? It shouldn’t be this hot.”
“Global warming?” TL suggested unhelpfully.
Giving TL a filthy look, Pax said, “Don’t be stupid, TL, that’s my job. It weren’t this hot in New York a few months back. It must be a hundred and ten degrees out here and that ain’t right.”
Handing a bottle of water to Ip, he said, “The world’s dyin’ and that’s why we’re here. We need to end this game.”
Ip handed the bottle of water back to him and pointed down the road. Through the hazy heat, there were two figures walking towards them. As they drew closer, Lucie and Gray emerged out of the glare walking slowly, but steadily. Even from a distance he could see Lucie was now a fully-fledged hunter. She was tanned and lean, with no body fat and she looked like a tiny bald child. Gray on the other hand looked well. Still white haired and lanky, with his wire-rimmed glasses, Gray walked with a confidence he’d never seen in him before. He thought the man was relaxed and at peace with himself.
“Hey!” Gray called, as he neared their position. Pulling a cloth from his pocket, he wiped his face and as repositioned his glasses back on his nose. “Damn, it’s hot!”
Grinning at Gray, he handed him the bottle of water. “You look well for a man livin’ in hell.”
Taking a small slug of water before handing the bottle back, Gray said, “I’m feeling pretty good.”
“You should,” TL said, as he shook Gray’s hand. “The woman called Annie and her two kids made it back to our bases. She told us you and Lucie saved them.”
Gray’s face broke out into an even wider grin. “That’s really good news. Hull and his demon army would have eaten the kids alive and tortured her for fun. Those guys are really bad company, but if my being with them helps even a few escape, then I’m happy.”
“Woah, you’ve really changed, Gray,” Pax observed sincerely.
Looking Pax over, Gray replied, “So have you. What’s with the matching tattoos?”
Almost overnight the markings had deepened and spread across their backs, down their shoulders and onto the left side of their faces. Where they’d once been faint, they were now vivid markings that stood out clearly against their skin.
Shrugging, he said, “It’s the sign of the Horsemen, but don’t ask me to explain that. We ain’t got time to get into it.”
“Oh, you don’t need to,” Gray replied. “You’re the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which means you’re the only thing standing between the Devil and mankind.”
Surprised Gray understood something he’d only just learned, he asked, “How do you know that?”
Indicating they should walk together towards the town he’d just come from, Gray said, “Ruler knows who you are and he always did. He’s pretty confident he can beat you this time, and he’s telling everyone hell will reign for a thousand years.”
“That’s pretty fuckin’ arrogant of him,” Pax remarked dourly.
Gray nodded. “He seems to think having the hunters under his control tips the balance of power in his favor. He really hates you guys. I gather you don’t often rule in his favor.”
The sun was beating down, and being surrounded by dry, barren land and dead trees, there was nowhere to hide from its brutal rays. They walked up to the nearest abandoned house, and standing on the broken wooden porch, he peered in through the glassless window frame. It was gloomy inside the single-story house, but with all the windows shattered, there was only the outline of damaged furniture scattered around the room. Ip appeared at his side, and grabbing the sides of the empty window, she nimbly climbed into the room. She quickly made her way through each room and returned with several hunters.
Turning to Pax, he said, “It’s safe, but Ip has a coupla new pets.”
The front door was unlocked, and they all entered the untidy lounge, relieved to be out of the sun. Kicking aside the rubble on the floor, he found several low stools and chairs that were still useable, and turning the squat stool upright, he sat down heavily. Without air conditioning or wind, the room was stifling, but at least they were out of the sun. Pulling more bottles of water from his pack, he gave a bottle to Gray and drank deeply from his own.
Once they were all seated, he asked, “So, Gray, tell us what’s been goin’ on.”
“Ruler has Hull travelling around Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana finding survivors. With the land dying and supplies drying up, it’s not difficult for Hull to convince people to join him. People are frightened and desperate and they don’t think there’s another option. Of course, not everyone is prepared to let a demon possess them, but anyone who doesn’t join them is tortured even after they’re dead. You know the drill, but they’re particularly cruel when it comes to the children. It seems hell has no use for the young and they’re fed to the demons.”
Looking both angry and disgusted, TL observed, “You only value children if you value the future, and there’s no future worth having in hell.”
Gray shook his head. “I don’t value my future, TL. I know I’m going to hell, but that knowledge makes me want to save people from my fate. The people who are joining Ruler know damn well what they’re doing, and yet they still do it. They’d be better off dead than to side with the Devil. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”
He nodded. “Ted once told us it was a numbers game and I agree with him. That’s why we’ve always welcomed people to our bases, no matter how hard it’s become to keep ‘em supplied. I figure the more people who stand against Ruler, the better chance we have of gettin’ rid of that little shit.”
Taking another gulp of water, Gray nodded. “You’ve been on the right path all along, Gears. I think that’s why Ruler’s stepped up his game. He knows you’re building an army with something to live for, and his plan only succeeds when people think there’s no other option.” Putting his bottle of water on the messy floor, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “I made you some notes. This is a list of the number and location of demons, weapons, vehicles and hunters Hull has managed to put together. It’s a substantial list, and now the demons retain their human skills, he’s been able to train them to fight like soldiers.”
Pax shook his head. “There’s no way he can train them in such a short period of time. They’ll be bad soldiers and they’re more likely to shoot themselves as they are us.”
“It doesn’t work like that. All he has to do is train one and they can share what they learn.” Holding his up his hand, he added, “Don’t get me wrong. Humans possessed by demons don’t make good soldiers, and to be honest, they’re a cowardly bunch, but you need to know they have basic weapons skills.”
Taking the paper from Gray, he began to scan down the list. “This ain’t good. He’s got over thirty thousand humans possessed by dem
ons, a thousand armored vehicles, a hundred birds, eight howitzers and an Abrams tank. Even if they can only use these weapons at a basic level, we’re in a lotta trouble.”
“There’s more,” Gray said unhappily. “It seems that without the will of man to hold hell in its place, the gates to hell are opening and the dead are haunting the earth.”
He nodded. “Yeah, we know. Mac used his demon to show us what’s happening around us. We’re also experiencing equipment failure, and one of our people has been badly hurt by somethin’ no one could see.”
“That’s the tip of the iceberg. Right now Ruler is too busy building his army to manage them. Anything they’re doing now is on their own initiative, but if he finds the time, he can use them against you wherever you are.” Leaning forward, Gray said intently, “If you don’t get this sorted soon, then it’ll be too late and you’ll have no one left to fight Ruler with. He will literally kill everyone in their beds.” Leaning back again, he added with a grin, “You’re just lucky the Devil doesn’t have an organized mind, or he’d have switched tactics by now.”
“Why hasn’t he?” TL asked curiously.
Gray smiled smugly. “Well you can blame Hull and I for that. Hull desperately wants to beat Gears in battle, and I assured Ruler it’s the smartest thing for him to do, plus I think the idea of beating the Horsemen of the Apocalypse in a dramatic way appeals to him. He really wants to kill you all. You’ve pissed him off and he’s got quite an ego on him. Let’s face it, pride is one of the seven deadly sins, and he’s the Devil, so I think he’s a sinner.”
Aside from learning the strength of Ruler’s army, Gray wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know. “Then me and that little shit agree on one thing. We need to bring this war to an end before we run outta time and he ends it for us. I need you to tell Ruler to meet with us so I can goad him into a final battle. I want that battle to take place at the Ranch in Red River County, Texas. Do you think you can convince him to meet us?”
Sounding doubtful, Gray replied, “I’m not sure he’ll agree to that. He’s pretty wary of Death. He doesn’t trust her. I get the impression she can kill him, maybe not permanently, but she can weaken him.”
Turning to Ip, he asked, “Is that true, honey? Can you damage the Devil?”
“If I kill then he will be ill.” Poking him in the arm, she added, “But only if he knows his day is done, or he will return to have more fun.”
“That’s true,” Pax commented. “She’s already killed him once and he came back jus’ fine. Ugly, but fine. Somehow we gotta make it clear there ain’t no point to him comin’ back, but I dunno how we do that.”
He wasn’t sure either, but the first step was to get Ruler to agree to a final conflict. Turning back to Gray, he said, “Tell Ruler we wanna negotiate.”
“What can I offer him to make him agree to talk to you?”
“Tell him the babies are at the Ranch. We know he wants ‘em, though I can’t rightly say I know why.”
“Are they at the Ranch?”
“No, of course not,” TL replied abruptly.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: I can see clearly now (Gray)
The woman and her two children had survived and that made him feel almost deliriously happy. It was as if saving the three of them made up for all of the bad things he was having to deal with every day. He bore witness to the vile deeds of the demon super hunters, and without drugs to blur his mind, he saw Ruler and Hull as orchestrators of evil that needed to be purged from the earth. Both were rage-filled, selfish, brutal and cruel, and they were everything he hated in himself, but his decades of being a politician taught him to lie to himself and hide his emotions well. When he was with them, he convinced himself there was nothing wrong, and he stuffed down his compassion until he couldn’t feel it anymore. Now he was sitting with Gears, Pax, TL and Ip, he could finally relax and breathe easy for the first time in decades. A tension had left his body and he realized he was happy. He didn’t think he’d ever felt joy before, and he wondered if the lightness he felt in his head and heart was happiness.
“Whatcha smilin’ at?” Pax asked good-naturedly.
Pax always reminded him of a big, sandy colored Labrador dog. Being six feet tall, but a wide stocky build, the man always seemed to be slightly on edge, and bounced around on the balls of his feet in a way that never struck him as threatening. TL was tall and lean and the kind of man he felt he could talk to. Looking over at Gears, and seeing his hulking frame squatting uncomfortably on the low stool, he realized he’d never struck him as human. The man had a presence and he always seemed to occupy more space than his large frame needed. He supposed Gears was imposing in a way he always wanted to be, but never was. Ruler always called Ip an imp, and now looking at her shaggy blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, he had to agree. She was oddly detached which made her fearless, and unless she was killing, he always thought she seemed bored. Having never paid any attention to religion, he’d no preconceived ideas what the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would be like. If he’d given it any thought, he would have assumed they’d be dark, threatening and judgmental. Smiling to himself, he thought the Horsemen were more human than they were immortal and that comforted him. They were powerful enough to judge, but fragile enough to understand what it was to be human. Who better to judge man than man?
Still smiling, he said, “I was just thinking about how the four of you are the force that keeps the universe in balance.”
Pax raised his eyebrows. “And that’s funny, why?”
“You’re not better than us. In fact, you’re just like us. I expected judgement to come from above and not from an equal.”
“Judgement can only ever be made by an equal,” TL replied simply. “Punishment comes from above, and it’s not for us to determine man’s penalty.”
It hadn’t occurred to him that even if they rid themselves of Ruler, man might still be punished. “Does that mean even if God wins then we could still die?”
“Man has always died,” Gears replied pragmatically. “But mostly that’s nature and not God’s doing.”
TL nodded. “The big difference between God and the Devil is, when you die you go home.” Winking, he added, “But where home is depends on what choices you’ve made in your lifetime.”
Ruler had made his intentions quite clear, and he already knew where home was for him. “Why do you think the virus happened?”
Sighing heavily, Gears said, “It seems man loses his way and he must make a choice between doing good or being bad. That’s always true in small ways for everyone in their own lives, but sometimes the universe decides it’s time for the whole of mankind to choose and then we get to rule for man.”
That was pretty much how Ruler had explained it to him. “Why did you rule we should live?”
Gears snorted and TL replied, “Man can be selfish, greedy, lazy, self-focused and stupid. In fact, man spends a lot of time behaving that way, and sometimes needs to be reminded what’s really important about being alive. Ruler is good reminder why we should treat one another well. If you take unkindness, laziness, disrespect and arrogance to an extreme, you get Ruler. The question man needs to answer is, do they want to be like Ruler? If the answer is no, then they need to behave decently to themselves and one another.” Warming to his point, he leaned forward and said, “Look at our bases. People work hard to contribute to the group, and they put their lives at risk for the greater good. They toil to produce and then give what they make to others. Through these actions they’ve created everything they have. Sure, in the past some of what man achieved was through abuse, but most of the good in the world was created by people working together to create something lasting. When man poured their energy into going in the same direction, cities were born, technology was advanced, and life became better for everyone and not just the few.”
Recognizing his own past weaknesses, he nodded again. “Is that why you chose to rule in man’s favor?”
“Man mostly does good,�
� Gears replied steadily.
Pax snorted. “Maybe, but you gotta admit they were gettin’ pretty patchy at it.”
TL nodded. “And that’s why we’re here now. Man was getting kinda patchy, but since the virus destroyed pretty much everything, people have had to choose.”
Having witnessed the death, violence and hatred under Ruler’s domain, he sighed. “But they’re not all choosing to side with you.”
“We’re not a side, Gray.” Waving his notes at him, Gears added, “There’s more people at our bases than there are with Ruler. Our main risk is the hunters and the hauntings. If it weren’t for them, then man would win against Ruler without question. This is an unusual circumstance, but I’m confident it will end as it should.”
“Why are you so confident?”
“Because I am War,” Gears replied loudly.
Before he could question him further, Pax launched into him, knocking him from his chair. “Incoming!”
The room around him exploded into a cloud of dust and he felt himself being pulled along the floor. Fighting to regain his feet, he found himself in the small kitchen behind the lounge, and he coughed to clear the dirt from his mouth. He could hear the Horsemen calling to one another.
