by SD Tanner
Finding Nelson in the small town on the island, they sat inside its only Church to talk. It was a simple red bricked building with tall, wide windows filled with stained glass, and rows of wooden benches facing a pulpit. Behind the plain wooden pulpit was a life size statue of Christ on the cross. It dominated the room, and with his suffering face, it made clear this was a room for worship and prayer.
Nelson was preaching again, just as he had before the outbreak. In his restored role as a spiritual leader, he chose to live at the back of the Church and travel around the island wherever he was needed. Looking up at the modest pulpit at the front of the rows of benches, he could easily imagine Nelson speaking to his flock, and didn’t doubt this was one of the happiest towns in Eden. Ip once told him Nelson was the Archangel Gabriel, and with his calming nature, Nelson was the only person he thought might really be from the other side.
“What’s bothering you, Gears?”
“I think I’m on a fool’s mission, Nelson.”
“Why’s that?”
“There’s nothin’ goin’ on here. Jus’ some dumbass called Cain with his Crusaders and Followers, but that’s not a problem we need to solve. Man can sort his own out.”
“But isn’t he claiming to be the Son of God?”
“Who the hell cares what he claims to be? I can tell ya I’m a Twinkie, but it don’t make me one.”
Nelson chuckled deeply and said, “No, it certainly doesn’t, Gears.”
Leaning forward on the dark brown wooden bench, and placing his elbows on his knees, he said seriously, “I don’t think there’s a problem. I’ve got Pax and Ted setting up Axe’s army. TL’s working with Jack to pull the Council of Eden together. I’m getting’ the bases and comms back up.” Pausing and sighing, he added, “But I dunno why. There’s no enemy worth my time here. I can’t understand why Ip’s brought us back. Maybe she jus’ missed bein’ with us.”
Laughing again, Nelson said, “With all due respect, Gears, Ip has never struck me as the sentimental type. If anything, she’s somewhat detached.”
Other than him and his brothers, Ip had only ever seemed to be attached to a boy called Isaac, who was also infected with the counter virus. For some reason he never understood they called one another brother and sister. Nelson had adopted Isaac as his son, but being infected with the counter virus, Isaac was technically dead and he’d gone with all the other hunters when Jacob called them home.
Being the Horseman of Death, Ip never seemed concerned about anyone dying. Even when she was on earth she had no concept of time, and with her naturally calm temperament, he couldn’t imagine she’d miss them so much she’d call them from their graves. When he met her, there was an instant connection between them. At the time he hadn’t understood why, but once he became aware of who he really was, he understood they were always together. It didn’t matter whether he was awake or sleeping for centuries, when he woke again, they would always find one another. The Horsemen of War and the Horseman of Death were bonded for all eternity, and she would always be by his side bringing peace to his turmoil.
“Have you asked her why she brought you back?”
“Course I have, but she never says anythin’ that makes any sense. You know what she’s like.”
Ip was behind the pulpit studying the large statue of Christ on the cross, and Nelson asked loudly, “Ip! Why did you drag these good men from their graves?”
“He knows. It is his brain that refuses to grow,” Ip replied wearily.
“See what I mean? She never makes any goddamn sense.”
“Be patient, Gears, you always want to run before you can walk,” Nelson chided gently.
Climbing onto the pulpit to study the statue of Christ with Ip, Nelson asked, “Do you know who he is?”
“No.”
“But if you’re a Horseman, then you should have met him.”
“Is he in hell? I cannot tell.”
“No, he’s the Son of God and he came to earth to save us.”
“I cannot see, he is blind to me.”
He thought that if he didn’t find out why he was on earth again, he was going jump off the nearest cliff and make himself dead in a way Ip couldn’t wake him. Knowing he would do no such thing, he scoped around his mind trying to think of a way to unravel the question of why they were back. Maybe Mackenzie with his precognition could tell him what was coming.
TL told him how Ip persuaded the town leaders to join them. Apparently, one trip to hell was enough to make them realize the universe hadn’t changed, even if the world had. Max said Mackenzie was in hell, and it made him wonder if Ip could find him there.
“Honey, have you found Mac in hell?”
Turning to face him with a puzzled expression, she said, “The Devil has hidden him well. Where he is, I cannot tell.”
If Ip couldn’t find Mackenzie, maybe he could and he asked, “Honey, can ya take us to hell, like you did the town leaders?”
The walls of the simple brick Church began to drip with blood, sliding slowly down the stained glass in the windows and pooling on the wooden floorboards, spreading through the cracks. The statue of Christ moved. The once plaster figurine came to life, pulled its hand from one side of the cross and began to pluck at the nail pinning its other hand. The sound of screeching laughter echoed through the empty room, and the benches around him shuddered and shook, adding to the growing noise. From the corner of his eye, he saw a fluttering motion. Turning his head, a cat-sized gargoyle showed its sharpened fangs in a wide smile, then flicked and arced, spinning through the air. The floor under his feet shook, and bright red blood began to trickle down the widening cracks from the front of the pulpit. Behind him, he heard a loud whumping sound, followed by a blast of air that stank like an open grave filled with rotting corpses.
Without bothering to turn to see what had happened behind him, he asked almost tiredly, “In hell, are we?”
“What are you talking about, Gears?” Nelson asked.
“Oh, I dunno, Nelson. Rivers of blood, living statues, monsters, stench of the grave…usual shit.”
Nelson glanced around the Church, and looking confused, he asked calmly, “Seriously? What are you talking about?”
Either Nelson had become immune to the strange life they were all leading, or he wasn’t seeing what was happening to his Church.
“What are you seein’?”
“My Church.”
While Nelson spoke, the statue of Christ had freed itself from its cross and was staring at Nelson as if puzzled to see him there. The head of the statue began to melt, shifting in a fluid motion, and another face replaced the first. No longer serene, the skin became ruddy, and the eyes began to glow a vivid red. Behind the statue, wings of leather emerged, and its body bowed slightly under the new weight. Drawing its hands to its chest, the fingers became claws, and seeming to lose interest in Nelson, it shrieked a piercing cry and flew through the hole of the caved in roof behind him.
“Did ya see that Nelson? Your statue jus’ left.”
Still looking confused, he replied, “No, it didn’t.” Turning to look at the statue, he added, “Oh, well it was there a second ago.”
Finally standing up, he climbed the pulpit and asked, “Honey, what the hell is goin’ on here? Why can’t Nelson see what I’m seein’?”
“Hell is not a place to be. You only see what you believe it to be.”
“Are you sayin’ hell doesn’t exist?”
“It exists as we do too, but if you are true, there is no hell for you.”
That meant hell wasn’t a place, but a state of mind. If a man had no darkness in his soul then there was no hell to see. Nelson really was Archangel Gabriel. His soul was pure and hell simply didn’t exist anywhere in him, so he couldn’t see what he didn’t know. Studying the blood soaked Church, he realized his own mind wasn’t pure, but why would it be? Horsemen lived in the bridge between pure evil and pure good, and they had to be a little bit of both, otherwise they wouldn’t be a
ble to live as men and able to judge mankind.
Nodding to Ip, he said, “I understand. Where are the children Max saw in her vision? Are they here?”
By way of reply, the Church disappeared and he saw four small cages, each with one of the five-year-old replacement Horsemen crouched inside. They didn’t look like they’d been harmed, but they didn’t look happy either.
Walking to the cage with the little boy called Ant inside, he asked, “Who’s holdin’ you prisoner?”
Ant didn’t reply and continued to look through him as if he wasn’t there. Turning to Ip questioningly, she shook her head and said, “You cannot talk to what is not there. This is a future, but you are not here.”
“But this will happen?”
“Maybe yes and maybe no, the facts of life have yet to flow. What you see is not what you know.”
“If we leave, will this happen?”
“It will be as it is seen, but I do not know what it means.”
“But you dunno when it’ll happen?”
“There is no time that any can tell. Everything that can exist is within the walls of hell.”
“I see your problem now, Gears,” Nelson said quietly.
“You can see ‘em?”
“Yes, they’re in cages in a room with a prison cell.”
The room looked like a cavern to him. The rock walls dripped damply with slime, the floor was pooled with blood and in the distance, he could hear someone screaming in pain. Staring intently at the wall next to the cages, he saw the faint outline of bars on a cell, and realized that under the cavern was another room, made almost invisible by the rocky surface. Just as he hadn’t seen his Church disintegrate into a vision of hell, Nelson wasn’t seeing a cavern either.
“What else can ya see, Nelson? Is there a window or a door?”
“Yes, there’s a door leading out of the room.”
Turning to Ant, he said steadily, “We’re comin’ for ya, son, we jus’ gotta find you. I made a promise and I won’t break it.”
Ant couldn’t see or hear him, and continued to stare unhappily out of his cage. Frustrated, he turned and followed Nelson out of what he now understood was just a room. Outside was another cavern, and unable to navigate himself, he blindly followed Nelson up what appeared to be a craggy set of slippery rocks, but were actually a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, Nelson opened what seemed to be the wall of a cave, and a large barren, dead desert appeared in front of him.
“What are you seein’, Nelson?”
“It’s a stadium.”
“Can you see any signage?”
“Yes, it says welcome to Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers.”
According to Pax’s letter, Cain’s men operated on the west coast and Los Angeles was in that area. It was a region that was under Cain’s control, and he assumed the replacement Horsemen were kidnapped by Cain, but why would Cain want the children? How would he even know who they were? Cain could only know that if Ruler told him. Cursing quietly, he realized Ruler hadn’t left Eden, but he’d certainly gotten a lot smarter about their war.
“Dammit, Nelson, we’re bein’ duped.”
“How?”
“Cain would only know to take the kids if Ruler told him to. It means Ruler hasn’t left.” Sighing, he added, “Honey, get us the hell outta hell.”
The desert disappeared and he found himself standing in the middle of the road outside the Church.
“What now, Gears?”
“We have to find Cain.”
Chapter Twenty-Three: Pax
“Now, ya see, that ain’t good.”
Below them, a woman was running and dragging two children aged about eight by the hand. Frantically looking over her shoulder, she stumbled, regained her footing and continued to run along the road, before disappearing into a small house with broken windows.
“Take us down.”
Landing a short distance from the house, he looked along the leafy road for her pursuers. The encroaching forest impaired his line of sight, and he couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the rotors.
“Get on the ground and take cover!”
His trainee squad of three men and two women scrambled to the ground, and after a comical shuffle between them, awkwardly made their way into the deep green bushes on either side of the road. Stupid, he thought irritably, facing off like that, they’re more likely to shoot one another than they are the enemy. This was one of his better squads, but they were useless and he shouldn’t have to tell them to get onto the same side of the road. Now the squad was split, if any enemy were travelling by vehicle or beast, they’d end up shooting at one another across the road.
Sighing and speaking to the pilot through his headset, he said, “Take off and stay near. We’ll probably need an emergency evac.” Hesitating before he too jumped to the ground, he asked, “You do know what that is, right?”
“Roger that. Hatch trained us,” the pilot replied blandly.
At least someone knew what the hell they were doing. Still watching the road, he stamped into the bushes opposite the house and said irritably, “Get your asses across the road.”
While his squad scrambled out of the bushes, getting caught on the thorny, spiky branches, he sighed again at the ruckus they were making. They couldn’t seem to train them enough. Every day for the past six weeks, he and Ted had taken them out on mission after mission. Not that they found much going on. There’d been no more sighting of the Crusaders, mostly they landed outside a town, were warmly welcomed by the people and force fed a hearty meal. If anything, he’d noticed his ACUs were getting tighter, and BD had accused him of developing a bit of a potbelly.
Crouching down and burying himself in the ferns in what looked like a cluster of blackberry bushes, he said quietly, “We’re gonna make our way towards the house and rescue the woman and the two kids.”
“From what?”
“Whatever the hell is chasin’ her.”
“How do you know she was being chased?”
“She hadda be runnin’ from somethin’, now didn’t she?”
The abandoned house was surrounded by dense, deeply green ferns, thorny bushes and thick trunked trees. It was impossible to move through the area without branches pulling at their uniforms, and he winced at the noise they were making. He and Ted drilled the squads about wearing full combat gear, complete with loaded tactical vests, medical packs, backpacks, water bags and spare batteries. They weren’t finding discipline easy to enforce, and the squads complained they didn’t need to carry water or food, and their gear was too heavy. Despite having the water from the Lake of Life, he flatly refused to rely on magic to take care of any wounds, and trained his squads to use more traditional medical techniques. His decision only added to the growing contention between them, with the troops claiming he was being cruel by choosing to leave people in pain when they could be instantly healed.
He didn’t trust this new world, it made no sense and he was sure it wouldn’t last. If he didn’t train them properly, they wouldn’t be prepared for the real world he believed would come around again. If anything, Eden was deskilling man, and when life resumed its usual rough course, they’d be like pedigree pets and wouldn’t know how to survive.
There was nothing like a burning platform to motivate people and without one, their squads were mouthy, resentful and resisted their training. Over the past weeks, he’d developed more respect for Axe. The man had achieved a miracle by getting them all in one place and armed, but turning them into soldiers was proving to be trickier than he could have imagined.
They were nearing the side of the house and he ordered softly, “Halt. Stay outta sight. Tim and Jenna, you’re with me.”
Using the bushes clustered against the walls of the brick house to conceal his presence, he slowly moved around the corner of the property to the front door. While Jenna and Tim copied his movements, the bushes behind him continued to rustle.
“We’re friendlies,” he calle
d quietly.
Standing up to peer through the broken window, he thought he saw movement inside the darkened room. Suddenly the head of a young girl popped up, and tapping him on the top of his helmet, she giggled and said, “You’re it.”
“What?”
“You’re it, silly. Now, we get to chase you.”
“Nicky, come here!” A woman’s voice cried sharply.
Another head appeared at the window, and finally standing up and peering into the gloom, he saw a face he thought he recognized.
“Oh my God, Pax!” The woman shrieked in delight. “It’s me, Annie. Is TL with you?”
“Do I know ya?”
“Yes, we met at the Marine supply base after TL rescued me from Ron and the super hunters, don’t you remember?” Clearly seeing his confused expression, Annie continued, “It was right before you all left to fight Ruler.”
He had no recollection of the woman other than her face was vaguely familiar, and he certainly didn’t remember the little girl with her. Looking down at the happy face of Nicky, he asked, “Wasn’t there another kid with ya?”
“Yes, that’s Marky.”
“Why’d ya run into the house?”
“We’re playing hide and seek,” Nicky replied triumphantly.
Sighing to himself, the two shooters next to him sniggered and one asked, “Can we stand up now.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Where’s TL?” Annie asked.
“Travellin’ the towns settin’ up the Council of Eden.”
“What do we need that for?”
“To stop your kids from growin’ up dumb,” he replied dourly.
The woman clearly knew TL, and judging by her interest in him could well be one of his brother’s conquests. Not that he remembered meeting her, but he didn’t make a practice of following TL’s trysts. His latest girlfriend, Faith, was one of the worst choices he’d ever seen any of them make, and he’d dated some questionable women in his time. On the other hand, if Annie could chase Faith away, he was more than happy to take her back to Axe’s base to meet TL.
