'Til Death Do Us Part (2 page)

The blackness was complete
within
and without
the tattered walls which should
have
house
d
my soul
;
I could not see my hand in front of my face. I could not even tell if I was corporeal.

“Michael,” a
n omnipresent voice rang out.

“
God?
”
I answered.

“
Some have called me that, others, have used Zeus, Allah, Jehovah,
and Buddha
.
”

“
Am I dreaming this?
”

“
I am an eternal being that watches over the affairs of man.
”

“
So God then basically.
”

“
My name
,
if I had one
, matters little. Y
ou may use Yoda if that makes you feel more comfortable.
”

“Oh come on, you’re telling me
I
’
m talking to the One God and you
’
re giving me a
Star Wars
reference?
”

“
I did not like Jar Jar Binks.
”

“Nobody did,”
I
shot
back.
“
You seem mighty affable for an omnipotent being that could smite me down.
Or is it smote?”

An older man of indeterminable age appeared before me at some point
. I
n the last flash of a second
,
the blackness had been stripped away
and
replaced by a source of light equivalent to a n
oon
day sun
;
yet I could see no hint
of it
s origin
.

“I didn’t really see You like that,”
I
s
aid thoughtfully. “Maybe I did…
this is rather confusing.
”

“
Would you rather I appear as this
?
”
T
he man surged to over
forty feet tall;
fiery eyes peered down at me
and
a long flowing beard almost touched th
e tips of his sandal-clad toes. His voice booming,
“
I appear as
the person that stands before Me expects M
e to be.
”

“
No, no the old man thing is way better!
”
I yelled up.
“
So if I was a feminist?
”

He sighed deeply but was back to the form of
the kindly stranger before I finished my words.

“It has come to M
y attention that
Poena
has deemed you as h
er
plaything.
”

“
Just now
you figured that out
? I thought you knew everything,
and I figured he was a she
…
almost
had to be. S
he
’
s been messing with my life for decades. Maybe if you had skipped a movie or two I wouldn
’
t be in this predicament.
”

“
I think I know exactly why you
are
in this situation,” h
e said pointing to my mouth.

“Yeah probably right about that,”
I said sheepishly.

“
I will release you from the binding
s
he has placed on you.
”

“
Why now Yoda?
”
I asked
,
testing the boundaries
—typical stupid-
ass Michael Talbot
.

He looked at me
with
a glint of humor in his eyes
;
like a proud father that wanted nothing more than to scoop his wayward child up and laugh but was required to set an example. Who the hell did he have to answer to?

“
Contrary to a lot of fatalistic individuals, I care very
,
very deeply about the world of man. But there are strict ru
les laid down by nature herself
that do not allow me direct intervention.
”

“
You
’
re G
od, what can possibly stand in Y
our way?
”

“
More than you will ever know
.
”

***

What seemed like an
eternity passed as I pondered H
is words. Maybe it
ha
d. M
aybe mountains formed, oceans dried, the planet
died and
was reborn
. A
ll I knew was I love
d
my family and friends and I desperately wanted to be with them. I gulped hard
,
not sure if I was ready for the answer to my next question or not.

“
Am I alive?
”

“
Do you want to be?
”

“
God
,
I had a philosophy professor once tell me the meaning of life.
”

God arched an eyebrow and asked,
“
What was her definition?
”

“
Life is a bowl of snow.
”

“
Did that make any sense to you
,
Michael?
”

“About as much as Y
our question.
”

“Fair enough. Y
ou must answer the first question
,
but I can answer the latter.
”
It was
my turn to arch an eyebrow. “The meaning of life? W
ell that
’
s simple, it is merely LIFE. To live, to breathe, to laugh, to love, to procreate, to exist. It is nothing more and nothing less.
”

“
What about the zombies?
”

“
They are an abomination created by m
an. T
hey are not life, they are the antithesis. They destroy everything in their path without the ability or want to create.
”

“
I w
ould very much like to be alive,”
I begged.

“
Then it shall be so.
”

“
It has been an u
nbelievable honor to talk with Y
ou, but I have to ask one more question.
”

God waited patiently, as H
e watched me struggle to ask a question
that I hoped would not offend H
im.

“
Am I dreaming this?
”

He laughed…
heartily, I might add.
“
Oh
,
Michael
,
you are a fun one to watch. Now get off the street and
hide.
Eliza is coming and she plans on laying waste to the entire city.
”

“Will I see Y
ou again?
”

“
Get your soul back and we will talk some more.
”

He placed the heel
of his hand against my forehead.
I felt as if I were being shot
from
a cannon. The rush of matter as it streamed by at light speed
was
disorientating;
it wasn
’
t until I picked my head up off of the pavement
that
I knew where I was.

“
I
’
M BACK!
”
I screamed
triumphantly
,
then I remembered God
’s—
or my vi
vid dream
’s—
last words and I
tried to get up and make a run for it
.

The
slight woman and the stocky man walked across the parking lot as the sun blazed down. The
four
truck drivers watched as they approached.

“
How stupid do you think they are?
”
Al
,
at
twenty-eight,
the youngest of the group asked.

“
I guess we
’ll see,” their self-
appointed leader Kong
replied.

He had been a decent man when the world still made sense. But these were not normal times
;
he would,
and had
done,
all it took to survive and even thrive
,
including
some things that were not necessary
.
W
ithout the possibility of paying for his crimes
,
he had taken advantage of numerous situations.

Even from across the parking lot he could tell
that
the woman was beautiful
,
but
there was something else there…
something cold, deadly. He involuntarily shivered.

“
She
’
s fucking hot!
” t
he third driver
,
Dom
,
said.
“
Can I have her after you
,
Kong?
”

Kong wanted to say he could have her first
and that
he wa
s getting the hell out of there, but
he stayed put against his better judgment.
H
er beauty only intensified as she approached
,
but so did
his
feelings of unease.
She stopped no more than ten feet from where the men stood. Kong could tell from the men
’
s posturing that they were fe
eling differing forms of unease just
as he was.

“
Are those your trucks?
” t
he woman asked.

“
What
’
s it to you?
”
Dom asked.

Kong noticed the woman
’
s eyebrows furrow.

“I have a proposition,” t
he woman stated.

“
I
’
ve got your fucking proposition right here!
”
Dom yelled
,
grabbing his crotch.

Randy, t
he fourth
—and thus far, silent—
driver
, spoke with laughter in his voice
as his 6 foot 5, 315 pound frame approached the woman, “
I
’d probably break her in half.”