His work done, he set the knife down on the altar. He picked up the slice of liver and held it up, looking at the flickering candlelight shining through it. It was beautiful.
"Please, Lord," he prayed in a low whisper, "cleanse your servant that he may be worthy of this gift. In Jesus' name."
He placed the slice on his tongue, closed his mouth and chewed. There was a time when the flavor repulsed him. No longer. He had learned wisdom, and understood that the ways of the Lord seemed foolish to the eyes of the world. The flavor was glorious. It was holy.
He swallowed.
"And please Lord," he continued, "may this boy have been the one. Bless us that we may have fulfilled your demands and may receive your blessing. Allow us to walk among the dead without fear."
His mind turned to the intruders, the boy and girl who had spied on their ceremony. He hoped the good men of the flock had dealt with them. He even hoped they could be brought into the flock. That way, no more death would be necessary.
He turned to gaze up at Zach. The precious boy still hung from the wooden cross, his pale flesh stark against the open red gap in his torso.
Joel had resisted the Lord's call at first. He had deliberated within his spirit. He had even considered the commands to be the voice of the Enemy. But eventually, the still small voice had won out. Like Abraham with Isaac, one did not question God's commands. No matter how strange they may seem. His ways were not Joel's ways.
The last bit of resistance Joel had felt was against the command to hang the children on the cross. Surely God would not command such a thing. But God had shown him the beauty of it. As Jesus' sacrifice gave the world life, so would these children give the elect life.
And surely it was true. Zach had glowed. Glowed. None of the children had glowed before. Surely it meant they were getting close. Maybe they had even arrived.
"Thank you, young Zach," said Joel. "And thank you Lord."
* * *
Angie stood in the bedroom she shared with her two children. Dalton sat on the bed, his arms crossed and his jaw set. Maylee stood in one corner, leaning against the wall, looking down at the floor. They were otherwise alone.
Angie adjusted her weight on her cane, the pain in her ankle making her even angrier. She looked at Dalton. "What the hell were you thinking?"
Dalton glared back at her.
"You'd better start talking, young man."
Dalton sighed. "I just want to do something useful."
"Seriously? After you went sneaking off into the woods alone? You seriously go and endanger yourself that same night?"
Dalton uncrossed his arms and sighed. "I just want to do something! I'm no good to anyone! I never do anything to help around here!"
Angie shifted her weight again. She drew in a breath, trying to calm down. Her chest was pounding. She'd had enough. Too many times of seeing her children nearly die. Too many times of seeing her children intentionally endanger themselves. "What was all that blood-drawing shit, then?"
"That wasn't going anywhere!" Dalton looked like he was going to stand and then thought better of it. "And Zach seemed like he knew something!"
Maylee snorted from the corner. "You saw what happened to Zach."
Angie looked at her. "You stay out of this, young lady. I still think you should have turned back."
Maylee pushed herself from the corner, yelling now. "What the hell was I supposed to do? Chain him to the fucking wall? He just shows up in the middle of the woods and—"
"You should have brought him back!"
"We had to save Zach!" screamed Maylee, stepping across the room to the bed.
Angie raised an eyebrow. "Well you didn't do that, did you?"
They all stared at each other in silence for a while. Angie felt sorry for saying that, but was in no mood to show it.
Dalton spoke up from the bed. "Mom..."
Angie snapped down at him. "Shut up, Dalton. You need to realize you're just a kid."
Dalton's face turned red. He looked between Angie and Maylee. "Yeah, well, Maylee's a lesbian!"
A few seconds of silence passed.
"Don't be ridiculous, Dalton," said Angie. "Stop trying to change the subject."
Maylee gave her a strange look. It took a second for Angie to recognize it as hurt.
Shouting came from outside the room. Stomping feet down the hall. Then a pounding at the door.
Angie sighed. "Oh what the fuck is it now?" She stepped to the door and opened it.
Elton stood on the other side, obviously very mad. "How's the excellent leadership going?" he said, nearly spitting out the words.
"What the fuck do you want, Elton?"
"I'm here to tell you to keep your fucking kid away from my granddaughter!" He jabbed a finger at Maylee.
Angie frowned at him. "What?"
Elton stepped in closer, his voice dropping but still venomous. "You know what Carly tells me today? She tells me you and your perverted daughter are an item! Been doing it behind our backs for fuck knows how long."
Angie looked at Maylee, who was looking down at the floor, arms crossed.
She looked back at Elton, thoroughly confused now. "What?"
"You heard me," he said, stepping back. "And it stops now. Carly insists on still being your little servant or whatever. But you keep her the fuck away from your weirdo daughter."
He turned and stomped off down the hall. People were looking out of their rooms, staring at Elton and at her. Angie shut the door.
She turned back to Maylee. Silence hung for a few seconds.
Maylee spoke first. "Mom, I..."
Angie felt like she was going to break. The pressure was too much. The children, Elton, the constant break-ins, the crazed flock and the tales of weird women in the woods. "For fuck's sake, Maylee. Don't we have enough going on without you experimenting or whatever the fuck teenagers do?"
Maylee opened her mouth and shut it. She fell silent, stepping back and crossing her arms. She looked hurt. Furious.
Angie realized what she had said. "Maylee, wait, I didn't mean..."
"Shut up, Mom," said Maylee, her voice choked. She wiped tears from her cheek. "For fuck’s sake, just shut up."
Angie looked between her and Dalton, close to tears. She was embarrassed, guilty. She had no idea what to say.
She choked it down, stepping back to the door. "Now both of you stay here. I've got to figure out how to get the kids, and you"—she pointed to Dalton—"hidden somewhere before the fucking First Church Of The Cannibal Jesus shows up."
She opened the door and stepped into the hall, shut it behind her, and stared down the empty hall.
What the fuck was she going to do now?
Fifteen
Angie leaned on her cane, looking around at the town square, which was filled with children slowly climbing into the beds of three pickup trucks. Guards and other townsfolk helped the children in. The sky was blue and the air cold but clear. Maybe this will work, Angie thought. Maybe.
"You sure this will work?" said Park, walking up next to her. He adjusted the rifle strap on his shoulder.
"No," said Angie, limping over to the nearest truck. "But Maylee said they were followed at first." She reached the truck and leaned against the side. "She said she ‘dealt with it’, and believe me I do not want to know what that means. But, it’s very possible someone saw them come back here. Which means all these kids are in danger."
Angie thought of what Maylee had told them she’d seen. She guessed Park was thinking of it too.
"Fuck if that ain’t the truth," he said.
Lilly came up, shuffling her small feet through the snow. Her pink plastic boots were split on one side, held together with duct tape. Her coat was ripped and torn, but wrapped around her tightly.
"Move it, dipshit," she said, pushing past Park and heading for the truck bed.
Park stepped to one side. "You're the boss, your highness." Lilly grabbed hold of the open tailgate and struggled to pull herself up. S
he grunted, kicking at the ground.
Angie wanted to help, but held herself back, leaning in to Park and whispering, "Just let her do it. She's not afraid to go for the eyes if you piss her off."
Park watched Lilly struggle and swear at the tailgate. Angie wanted to help the little girl, but she'd learned not to. The last time she'd tried to help with something, Lilly had screamed and cried for most of the day.
"How's it going there?" said Park.
Lilly grunted with effort. "It's going to Go Fuck Yourself Town." She kicked at the ground one more time then pulled herself in. She stomped her feet on the extended tailgate, knocking the snow from her boots.
"I'm impressed," said Park.
"I bet taking a shit impresses you," Lilly said, walking across the truck bed. She reached the cab, turned and sat.
Park considered this. "Depends on what I ate the day before."
Lilly leaned against the cab. She rolled her eyes.
Park turned to Angie. "This guy West's got rooms for these kids?"
"I don't know if he's got rooms, but he's got the resources. His home's like a fortress."
Park’s eyes took in the children scattered among the three truck beds. "Well, I hope he's got some cookies or whatever the fuck." He climbed into the truck, and turned around to offer his hand to Angie. Angie took it and climbed in, using her cane to support the rest of her weight. They both stepped toward the back as more children piled in behind them. The two trucks on either side were filling up fast.
Dalton came into view, headed for the truck to Angie's left.
"Dalton," she said, waving him over. "Over here."
"More room in this one," H said sullenly, climbing onto the tailgate. He sat down among the other children and a few guards sat next to him.
Angie frowned but let it go, telling herself Dalton would be okay with the others.
Maylee walked into the square, her bat strapped across her back and her arms crossed. She stopped, looking at each of the trucks in turn. Her eyes met Angie's briefly. She had no expression on her face. She turned, still blank, and headed for the truck to Angie's right.
"Maylee..." Angie called out.
"It's better if we split up," she said, her voice flat and even. She climbed into the truck and walked toward the back, carefully stepping around the children packed into the bed. "I'll watch over this truck," she said, sitting with her back to the cab.
Angie looked at her a second longer, then leaned back against her cab. She sighed deeply.
Park gave her a quizzical look. "What? She's right."
Angie wiped at her eye. "Shut the fuck up, Park. You don't know what you're talking about."
Park fell silent. The guards who were staying behind finished the last preparations on the trucks—checking the tires, the lights, anything that could potentially give out. These days, a breakdown could be painfully fatal. Satisfied all was in order, they moved to the tailgates and shut them one by one. Dunwoody climbed into the driver’s seat of Angie’s truck and shut the door.
Several guards went to the gates and started pushing. The gates swung open, creaking in the cold air. Angie turned her head and peered through the cab at the widening gap. The sky was clear, the sun bright. There were no signs of corpses or crazed animals. No storm appeared to be coming, either.
Angie stood, pushing herself up with her cane. She slapped on the top of the cab behind her. "Ready!"
The truck shifted forward, slowly turning and heading for the gate. The other two trucks followed suit. Angie sat back down as they passed through the gates.
Maybe, she thought, this would go off without incident.
And for a good fifteen minutes, it did. The trucks bounced slowly in the snow, moving up where they knew the road roughly to be. The snow was too thick to be sure. It was risky, but every trip in the snow was. A ditch or hidden rock could pop a tire and that could mean serious danger.
Angie's truck was in front. The truck behind her held Maylee and another group of children. The third truck was behind them, with Dalton and the rest of the children.
They went around a bend in the road. A large field went off to one side, leading up and over a hill. The remnants of old truck treads crisscrossed it, mostly covered by snow. They knew the field was safe to drive over, and it provided a good shortcut across the winding road that led to West's.
The trucks stopped there, the lead truck waiting for Angie's go-ahead. She looked over the field, then all around them. She was amazed how still and quiet everything was, and wondered briefly if she should be worried.
Finally she thumped on the cab behind her. "All clear! Let's move!"
The trucks moved off the road and into the field. They began slowly rolling across it, bouncing in the snow and brush underneath. The trucks changed formation to travel side by side. Angie looked between her two kids in each truck. Neither would look at her. Dalton maybe just hadn't noticed. Maylee was clearly not looking at her. It broke Angie's heart. She cursed herself for not saying something earlier.
For several minutes, the only sound was the steady crunch of tires on snow. If Angie didn't know better, it would have seemed the craziness of the last few years had never happened. These were just three trucks full of children rolling across a snow-covered field. Which was pretty odd anyway, when she thought about it.
They reached the hill and went over. The other side was clear. They went down, crunching in the snow. The sky was bright and clear, the air cold but calm.
A few more moments passed and Dunwoody called from the driver's seat, almost drowned out by the crunching tires. "You seeing this?"
Angie stood in the moving truck. Using her cane for both support and balance, she turned and looked out over the cab. A long dark line ran through the middle of the field.
She squinted at it as Park stood next to her.
"Whadya think?" she said.
"Not sure…"
The trucks drove on and the line grew larger and more distinct. Something, or a group of somethings, blocked the way ahead. The trucks slowed, their drivers uncertain.
After a few more seconds it became clear. The field was blocked by a long line of corpses and animals, all standing perfectly still. Corpses of all shapes and sizes, intermingled with bears, bulls, bobcats, boars and numerous other wild beasts. They stayed in place as the trucks drew near. The guards in all three trucks stood, pointing rifles at the line. Angie held up her hand and the trucks stopped approximately fifty feet from the line.
Angie looked up and down it, squinting into the cold wind. The corpses were moaning and the animals growling, but they did not move. They stayed in a perfect line, blocking the way across the field.
"What the fuck?" said Park
"Everyone be careful," said Angie, already calculating how quickly they could safely drive the other way. It wasn't much. Thankfully, corpses were slow. Animals, though, were another matter.
The line parted at its center. The guards cocked their rifles. Angie kept her hand up. The corpses in the middle of the line stepped aside, almost orderly in their stumbling.
A blonde woman emerged from the opening the corpses had made. She was wearing a long black dress that trailed in the snow behind her.
The woman calmly walked forward, the corpses closing rank behind her. They remained perfectly still. The woman walked across the snow, stopping approximately twenty feet from the trucks.
For a moment she smiled at them in silence. Angie and the others stared at her. The wind rustled the trees at the end of the field, but the skies stayed clear.
Finally she spoke. "Hello everyone."
Angie said nothing, watching the woman carefully. The others shifted nervously in the trucks. The corpses and animals stayed in place.
"First off," said the woman, still smiling, "I'd like to thank whoever had the idea to leave my sister's protection. All her little chosen ones gathered together. It's like a beacon. And now that you've left her protective barrier, I can see it. It's beautiful
. Tell me, where have you been hiding them all this time?"
The children shifted nervously among themselves. Angie could almost feel their fear.
Next to her, Park moved his rifle to point at the woman.
"What are you doing?" said Angie to him.
"Remember Beulah? The crazy lady I told you about?" said Park, balancing the rifle on the cab. “She said she had a sister. And if I really saw the things Beulah did, this woman’s more dangerous than some dead people and some animals."
Sharon raised an eyebrow, her smile starting to fade. "You met Beulah? How's she doing?"
"She's fucking weird and creepy," said Park.
"Sounds like Beulah," said the woman. Her smile was almost gone. One by one, the rest of the Guard was following Park's lead, training their rifles on the woman. Angie wasn't sure they were wrong.
"And what's your name?" said Angie, raising her voice to be heard across the field.
The woman took a step forward, ignoring the rifles trained on her. "Surely you've heard about me by now. My name is Sharon."
Angie's back was growing tight but she refused to show it. She gripped her cane and stood her ground. "And what do you want?"
"Isn't it obvious by now?" said Sharon, smiling again for the briefest of moment. The smile fell. "I want you fucking primates gone!" She screamed, louder than her voice should be.
A force moved through Angie and the others, almost knocking them over. It was a rumbling, pushing thing. Angie hadn't felt anything like it. She didn’t enjoy it.
Sharon's voice dropped to normal. "And those little brats are getting in my way."
As one, the children screamed from the trucks. Panicked, terrified screams.
"Fire!" yelled Angie, more on instinct than strategy. Whatever this woman was—and Angie doubted she was human—she wanted her dead. Wanted it on a primal level. She feared her in a way she hadn't feared anything in a long time.
Park and the guards fired, almost as one. The bullets thudded into Sharon and she stumbled back. Angie saw at least thirty rounds hit her. Sharon fell back into the snow.
Park lowered his rifle, cocked it, then moved it back. "And now she gets up..."
World Memorial Page 20
