Evil Origins: A Horror & Dark Fantasy Collection (74 page)

Commander Byron took the cup from Father, held it to the
light, and downed the red liquid. A burst of color filled his ample cheeks.

“I can live with it. Maybe you can fill it again?”

Father repeated the process and removed two cigars from his
desk. He unwrapped them, used his cutter to remove the ends, and lit one with
the deep-blue flame from a cigar lighter. He handed the cigar to the Commander
and lit one for himself. Since John’s escape, they’d relocated the field
hospital to a school a mile away. The administrative assistants, with a night
off, chose to pray together in the convent attached to the church. A lone guard
stood by the steps leading up into the entrance. Father nodded toward the man. With
one flicker of his hand, the Commander dismissed the guard, leaving them in
complete privacy.

“Ummm. I love the Acid cigars,” said Commander Byron.

“As do I, my old friend.”

“Although I enjoy it, I’m sure you did not invite me down
here for a brandy and a smoke.”

Father tilted back in his chair. He loosened the white
collar under his black shirt and looked at the commander.

“I need John the Revelator.”

“Of course, of course. Why?” asked Commander Byron.

“He will lead us. I simply know it’s God’s will, and I know
this man is crucial to our victory.”

“Do you want him alive or dead?” asked the commander.

Byron blew fragrant smoke circles into the stillness of the
basement, as the question itself also hung in the air.

“I need him alive.”

“What do you know?”

“Very little. We have a physical description. We also know
he has paired with a vet that helped him escape.”

“Which war?”

Father’s laughter erupted causing the commander to drop his
cigar. Byron had heard this sound very rarely.

“He’s a veterinarian.”

The commander giggled a bit, then a bit more. Eventually,
the medals on his chest shook with each uncontrollable fit of laughter.

“Do you have any intel on the vet?”

The word elicited another smile from Father.

“We have his name, address, business address, and other
random items. It should be enough for you to run through the database and get a
decent profile. That might lead you to John.”

“And him, John?”

“Practically nothing. He is probably not a priest, although
he was found wearing the collar. You cannot let the troops know he is secular
as it could cause, shall we say, public-relations issues? The clerk will hand
you a photo and physical description on the way out.”

“Are you asking me to leave, Father?”

Father waved both hands in the air.

“There is more brandy to drink and more cigars to smoke. Stay
until you’ve had your fill.”

The commander nodded and smirked.

“Not even a priest, eh? Perhaps I can help you with your
parish, the females of the congregation?”

Incensed, Father exploded across the table and grabbed the
commander by the back of the neck. He slammed his face down into the hard, oak
desk twice. Blood from his nose smeared the rest of his face. Before Commander
Byron could even reach for the revolver on his hip, he heard a sharp metallic
click in his right ear.

“Insult me? God will guide this bullet through your diseased
brain if you so much as sniffle.”

The commander raised his gun hand and placed it on the
table.

“Commander Byron. If you ever –
ever
– speak
blasphemy again, I will send you to your Judgment Day. Do you understand me?”

Father let go of Commander Byron’s neck and handed him a
white handkerchief to wipe his face. The commander sat back and grinned at the
priest.

“You are one tough son of a bitch, I’ll say that. It’s no
wonder we’ve been friends for so long. Is there anything else I need to know
about John the Revelator? I think I’ve worn out my welcome here.”

Father fixed his shirt and dabbed the commander’s blood from
his own shirt.

“There is one more thing. He is married to a woman named
Jana. You can use her to draw him out, if she is still alive.”

The commander stood and extinguished his cigar in the
remnants of his brandy. His nose still dripped blood on his uniform. He wiped
it, unconcerned that the seventh broken nose would not heal any better than the
previous six.

“Jana. Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem at all. I’ll start
with the Cleveland white pages.”

He spun around on Father and headed for the door, hoping the
sarcasm would not earn him a bullet in the back.

Chapter
25

The rest of the survivors living in the back room of the gas
station took care of the mess created by Jake. Morning came and washed the
memory of the night away. Jana sat on the floor by Sally and Jay, who cuffed up
his jeans and buttoned his shirt all the way to the top. Jay had a crayon
attached to his hand, scribbling on any scrap of paper he could find. He made a
note for Jana, signed it, and dated it.

“Why thank you, Jay! It says, ‘To my new friend Jana I like
you Jay November ate’. It’s wonderful.”

“I drew a picture of me and you holding hands,” he replied.

“Yes, I can see that. Maybe you can be my boyfriend.”

Jay blushed without knowing why.

Ruth paced about the back room and looked out the door. Sally
noticed her unease.

“What’s wrong, Ruthie?” she asked.

“Honey, how long we gonna stay here like animals? Worse than
animals, ‘cause we know we’re caged. I realize it was the first place we felt
safe since they attacked us, but I don’t know how long I can stay here. You
know they’s gonna come back for us. It’s a matter of time.”

The Station Crew, as they had begun calling themselves,
looked around at each other. Peter’s absence cast a pall over the group.

“I know,” said Sally. “I was thinking the same thing. We
don’t have much food left here, and the stuff we do have is mostly salty junk. Nothing
to keep us sharp and in the game. My ex has a beautiful house out in Geauga
County. There isn’t another house for miles and it sits on acres of farmland. There
are even old barns and equipment left over from the time it was a working farm.
I’m not saying it’s perfectly safe, but I think it would be easy to spot a
threat coming from a distance.”

“That sounds nice, Sally, but I think I’m heading south
toward Kentucky. I’ve got a brother in Lexington. Nothing says that’s any safer
than South Euclid, but I can’t sit here and wait any longer.”

The others stopped, surprised by the verbosity of Andrew’s
response. He’d spoken very little since the ordeal began.

“Well, you’re all free to do what you want, but I think Jay
and I are heading east.”

Jana lifted her head and spoke.

“I’ll go with you.”

“I’m gonna head into Cleveland to see if my cousin is still
around,” said Ruthie.

They chose a destination and stockpiled bags and purses with
as much food as they could carry, but waited until nightfall before departing. Chances
of being seen would be much less on the dark streets of the city. The group
spent the rest of the day giving each other pep talks and building their
courage to leave the safe haven.

The low sun set behind the empty buildings on the horizon. Ruth
stepped out of the gas station first. She hobbled through the parking lot and
onto Mayfield, heading east into the city. As she approached the edge of the
sidewalk, she turned and waved to the group. Andrew left next. He went due
south on Warrensville Road in hopes of picking up route 271 and taking that
southwest toward Kentucky. Sally, Jay, and Jana stood in front of the shattered
windows.

“Now or never,” said Sally.

“Let’s go mom,” Jay replied.

“Stay as close to the buildings as possible. There’s less of
a chance we’ll be seen that way.”

The two women and young boy maneuvered through a number of
residential streets until they stood on Wilson Mills Road. If they traveled
uncontested on this road, it would take them east out of Cuyahoga County toward
the more rural areas of northeast Ohio. They had a long way to go to escape
urban sprawl.

Jay picked up a rock and threw it over the guardrail. It
tumbled through the weeds and struck something metal. The sound echoed through
the still night.

“No rock throwing, Jay,” said Sally. “Jesus, I never thought
I’d see Cleveland like this. It’s a ghost town.”

“Don’t say that Sally. Let’s hope there are more people like
us, waiting for their chance to move on.”

***

“Sir, I’ve got movement on the street. Do you want me to
engage?”

“Give me the night vision.”

Commander Byron looked through the infrared binoculars,
wincing as they rested on his tender nose. He smeared a trickle of blood from
his upper lip as he spotted three distinct shapes.

“They’re traveling with a kid. They can’t be that dangerous.
Let’s move down and get an eye on them.”

The commander hobbled down three flights of steps to the
bottom of the apartment building. His combat boots smacked the marble-tile
floor and rang throughout the lobby. His forces had stormed this building and
secured it for the Holy Covenant on the night of the First Cleansing. He’d been
using it as command central ever since.

With two soldiers to his right, Commander Byron slid out the
back door and looped around toward the main entrance facing Wilson Mills. His
drew a pistol, and his cane supported a battle-scarred body. The three figures
moved further east. They stopped under the awning of a corner store.

“Follow them, but do not engage without my permission. Understand?”

“Yes sir,” the soldiers replied.

They ran to the opposite side of the road and disappeared
into the silent gloom of the evening.

***

“I remember these places from my own childhood. This store
used to be an ice-cream parlor. My parents would drop us off with a buck or two
and we’d spend most of our time trying to decide what flavor milkshake to get.”
Tears welled up in Sally’s eyes as she spoke. “He’ll never have that
experience.”

“Sally don’t. Jay needs you to be strong. If we start to get
emotional, we might as well give up now. Hold it together.”

Jana’s words gripped Sally. Her eyes widened and she shook
her head.

“Sorry, you’re right. Let’s move through. If I remember
correctly, there should be a sandwich shop up here a bit further, on the other
side of Wilson Mills. If we can get to it, might be a good place to sleep.”

“Maybe, but we’re going to need to cover more ground if we
only venture out at night. Otherwise, it’s going to take us a long time to get
out of the county.”

“True, but what’s the hurry? I don’t think our old lives are
waiting for us to return.”

“Let’s get to the shop, Sally. Maybe we’ll luck out and find
food. Whaddya think Jay?”

The boy put his head down and did not respond.

The number of buildings defaced with the pentagram astounded
the trio. Jana tried not to imagine how many people had been murdered during
the recent ordeal. Her mind continued to struggle to keep it all in
perspective. If it hadn’t been for the superficiality of her flesh wound, she
would be one of the damned too.

Alley cats hissed and whined in the distance, sending a
stray dog into the street. The dog loped down the middle of Wilson Mills Road,
flaunting his newfound territory. He grasped a hunk of flesh in his jaws. The
dog stopped to look at them, but then continued on its way. Sally pulled Jay
close to her leg until the mangy beast entered an open door on the other side
of the street.

The sub shop Sally described stood on a corner. A stone
bench sat out front on the sidewalk. A book store stood on one side of the sub
shop and a chiropractor’s office stood on the other side. Empty doors guarded
both of the adjoining businesses. Glass sparkled in the diffused glow of the
moon. The wooden door to the sub shop remained on its hinges, but barely open.

“Take Jay and go around the corner. Wait there until I come
for you. If you hear a struggle, run and don’t stop.”

Sally nodded and led Jay by the hand around the corner and
out of sight.

Jana took the handgun from the back of her jeans and held it
in front of her face. She did not know how to fire it, but hoped its appearance
might scare off potential threats. She slowed her breathing. With her left
foot, she pushed the door to the sub shop open. A pungent, unidentifiable odor
washed over her.

Jana stood on the threshold for a couple of minutes, waiting
for her eyes to adjust to the total darkness inside. Overturned chairs
materialized, with tables pushed against the wall opposite the counter. Other
than the chairs, the rest of the shop looked untouched. Jana could make out the
outline of wire shelving units that held chips and other snacks. A dead cooler
stood in the corner, full of warm soda.

Jana removed a penlight from her bag. The LED beam cut
through the inky blackness, revealing the store through a tight cone of
blue-tinged light. Paw prints and a pile of feces appeared underneath the
cooler. Jana thought she may have found the private stash of the stray dog they
had passed earlier. As she moved the flashlight around the shop, it became
apparent to her that this particular spot had been spared a fight. There were
no bodies, no bullet holes, and no bloodstains.

She walked through the shop. The counter sat on her left and
the tables on her right. She went to the very end of the counter and paused. Jana
watched enough action movies with John to know it made sense to put her
flashlight above the handgun. She winced and paused at the thought of John, but
kept her focus and pushed painful thoughts of him from her mind.

In one motion, Jana spun and stood behind the counter,
facing back toward the front door of the shop. The area behind the counter was
empty. She turned back around and faced a door that read “Employees Only”. She
gathered as much courage as possible and placed her hand on the doorknob. The
cold shock made her pull her fingers away. Jana heard her heartbeat in her
ears. She tightened her grip on the knob and turned it to the left. The door
swung open and inward on cranky hinges. The beam on her flashlight zipped
across a collage of boxes, papers, and trash cans. She saw the outline of a
desk in one corner and the glare of porcelain behind another door. Jana spun in
a complete circle two or three times until satisfied that nobody hid in a dark
crevice.