Tribulation (21 page)

“Six weeks. No
more.”

The Colonel
looked down at his desk for a moment and then began rapidly
scribbling. From where Sam was sitting, they looked like numbers.
He was calculating. “Do you know where they’re going to hit us?
Don’t you dare say the Eastern seaboard either,” he growled.

“Once again,
our British Intelligence couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, but
it looks like they’ll be heading for New York. That’s their most
likely landing.”

The Colonel
screwed up the piece of paper he was writing on and started again
on another piece. Sam ignored him, lost in his own thoughts. His
mind was reeling. Six weeks. New York. An invasion fleet. His
brother. So much to think about. He wondered how Grace would take
the news given her fragile state.

He tried not to
think about her. And yet, even though the present demanded his
attention, the past intruded once again.

The Road

“
And now these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

I
t was at times like this, thought Sam, that he
could’ve used a vehicle. Or the knowledge of how to drive one for
that matter. Despite his best intentions and a surfeit of
opportunities, he’d never taught himself.

It was getting
dark and he was in the middle of nowhere. To be precise, he was
somewhere in Ohio, heading East between Columbus and Zanesville.
Probably not far from Wheeling but he couldn’t be sure. According
to his map, he’d know it because he’d have to cross the West
Virginia River and that river, pre-Rapture, was hard to miss. On
his map it certainly looked big enough.

He needed
somewhere to hole up for the night. Not that he was terribly
concerned about demons – his glamor ability cloaked him fairly
effectively. It was just that he wanted to avoid trouble in general
and not draw attention to himself. If an invasion fleet was on its
way, it would be best if they didn’t know he was travelling in the
same direction. Besides, if he planned to keep this pace up, even
he’d have to rest. That called for meditation and when meditating,
he sometimes got distracted, letting his glamor slip. It would be
best if he had somewhere safer than just open interstate.

He’d set out in
the early hours of the previous day. By his calculations, it was
just over a hundred miles to Wheeling so he’d made good progress.
He always did when he travelled by himself, jogging along at a
steady pace, pretending like it was the old days. Before the
Rapture. Before everything changed.

It was
strangely liberating to be alone again. Lately, he’d had his fill
of human contact. He’d go for weeks without any and get a craving
for companionship but as soon as he’d had some, he needed to get
away. He knew this was anti-social but didn’t really care. It was
not like he meant anything to anyone … but then he berated himself
for being too dramatic. Adam cared about him. And Hikari and Aimi
of course. Grace, on the other hand, he was no longer sure of. He
wondered if she’d come around eventually.

He was glad
he’d insisted on heading off as soon as possible. Adam had wanted
him to wait while the rest of the force he was assembling prepared
itself but the Colonel had agreed with Sam. Thankfully. If they had
both been against him, he would’ve struggled to get out of the camp
without permission. As it was, it had still taken him three days to
prep and finally get out of the base.

The Colonel,
more than Adam, accepted how effective Sam could be by himself.
That was why he was being sent into New York before the defensive
force. Sure, Colonel Wheat had also sent demolition squads ahead
too but theirs was an altogether different mission. The demo squads
were to take out, destroy and ruin whatever church they could find
in the New York area, especially in and around Manhattan given that
was where the forces of the Antichrist were most likely to invade
and establish a foothold on American soil. Without churches, the
demonic forces couldn’t transport themselves instantaneously to the
area. Instead, they’d have to travel in a somewhat normal sense.
This, presumably, included Sam’s brother himself.

Adam had asked
him about this earlier. They were making an awful assumption that
Semiazas possessed very similar powers to Sam. But what if his
powers were different or greater than Sam’s? What if he was able to
transfer to Earth without using a church? Sam had to admit they
were good, relevant questions but the bottom line was that he
didn’t know the answers. They would, however, find out in short
order.

Still, by
destroying the churches, it would hopefully even up the odds. Then
the Antichrist would have to rely on his conventional forces who
fought in a way that any man could cope with. That was the demo
squads’ job.

Sam’s was
altogether different. He would use his ability in sensing minds to
gather a resistance force in New York. He would find any human
survivors and direct them to where they could gather supplies and
weapons. Of course, if they were demon worshippers …

Also, Colonel
Wheat wanted some forewarning about demon strength in the area.
What about demons already in New York? Most, Sam knew, travelled
back to Hell during the day, but some who had darkened places of
refuge didn’t bother. What about if the church demo squads failed
or missed some? Sam would be able to warn the Colonel in time.

Hopefully.

So, here he
was. Alone again. He’d contemplated asking Grace to join him but
she was just too unpleasant as company these days. Just thinking
that made him smile. The thought that she was more unpleasant than
him was almost funny. But it was true. Even though she’d come a
long way from the teary girl he once knew, she would still have
slowed him down.

Besides which,
he hadn’t been able to find her. He’d gone to the barracks that
they shared but she wasn’t around and he didn’t have time to look
for her. It was a shame. He’d wanted to say goodbye. This mission
was described by Colonel Wheat as ‘high risk.’ Sam didn’t know
whether he’d be coming back or not. They might not see each other
again, and it saddened Sam to think that their last words had not
been pleasant ones.

He jogged on,
increasing his pace along the interstate, enjoying the challenge of
weaving in and out amongst the empty cars. So preoccupied was he
with his game that he almost missed it in the gloom - a motel, just
off the road. He swerved without breaking stride, examining it with
his senses as he got closer. He slowed to a walk, just in case he
missed something with his hearing. Nothing. The place was
completely empty. If someone or thing had been here, it was long
ago.

He tried some
doors. Several of the rooms were locked and he didn’t want to
advertise his presence by smashing them open. Perhaps he was being
overly cautious, but he didn’t want to use his telekinesis either.
It was a power to be used as a last resort, not like a pocket
knife, to be pulled out at every convenient opportunity. He thought
like a normal person. Where would the keys be? He’d only been in
one other motel in his life and that one had been unlocked. And
then he had it. The office. He looked around. Several doors down, a
filthy sign was swinging back and forth in the warm breeze. He
wasn’t sure but he thought some of the letters potentially spelt
‘office’.

He jogged
towards the sign, conscious that he didn’t have very long. There
was a church nearby - he could sense it – which meant that demons
wouldn’t be far away. His guess had been a good one. It was the
office. Behind the counter he found a row of hooks. Three of them
still had keys on them. He grabbed all of them and walked back
along the line of doors, trying any that were locked with all three
keys. Finally, one of them worked.

Not willing to
throw caution to the wind just yet, he checked out the room
carefully, including the bathroom. Caution was one of the reasons
he was still alive. The one time he forgot it, it would kill him.
The room was empty and surprisingly, rather clean. Sam suspected
that it hadn’t been opened since the Rapture. There was a light
film of ash and dust on the bedspread but he shook that outside
first, making it relatively dust-free.

He stood
outside the door for a few moments, relishing the gathering
darkness. The dark was still his time. It still filled him with a
sense of power. Under other circumstances, he’d be out in it, but
he had priorities. A job to do. He couldn’t shirk his
responsibilities. In the distance, he heard a howl. Lemures. They
were out, and not too far away either.

With a sigh, he
returned to the room and locked the door, ensuring the curtains
were pulled so that no prying eyes could see inside. It was almost
pitch black. Perfect. He sat on the bed and settled himself into
lotus position, mentally preparing himself for a good three hours
of intense meditation.

A noise roused
him out of his trance some time later. He checked his internal
clock. It had only been just over an hour. He scanned around with
his senses. Nothing … but something felt amiss. Something was
different and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. And then he
noticed it – a slight glow from behind him.

He rolled and
drew both swords in one graceful movement, landing in a crouched
position facing the shimmer of light. What he saw made his heart
lurch and then almost burst. Unnoticed, his swords clattered onto
the carpet, swords that usually no man could knock from his grasp.
But this was no man and this certainly was no combat situation. It
was something he wasn’t and couldn’t prepare himself for. Something
that he’d prayed for during the last three and a half long, long
years.

“Hello,
Sunshine.”

Sam didn’t know
what to say. His tongue felt thick and swollen in his dry mouth. He
felt dizzy. He didn’t know what to do, how to act. It had been so
long. And then, his body started moving of its own accord as if it,
and not his brain, knew what to do. He walked towards her and into
her welcoming arms. Into the arms of the only woman he’d ever
loved. The woman he’d grown up with, spent his childhood with, and
whom he’d thought lost to him forever when she ascended to
heaven.

Aimi.

Aimi

“
I call'd the devil,
and he came, And with wonder his form did I closely scan; He is not
ugly, and is not lame, But really a handsome and charming man. A
man in the prime of life is the devil, Obliging, a man of the
world, and civil; A diplomatist too, well skill'd in debate, He
talks quite glibly of church and state.”
Heinrich Heine,
Pictures of Travels - The Return Home (no. 37)

“
Now the serpent was
more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He
said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any
tree in the garden'?"
Genesis 3:1

H
e lost himself in the embrace for what seemed like
hours, hoping and praying that she wasn’t just a figment of his
imagination. He had to stop himself from actually pinching his arm
to confirm that she was real.

Aimi. Here.
With him.

She squeezed
him back just as tightly, her tiny frame stronger than he
remembered. She pulled her head back slightly and their lips found
each other. Their first kiss in years. At first he felt clumsy and
awkward. Sam had only ever kissed one girl – the very same girl who
was locked against him now. He wasn’t exactly well-versed in the
passionate arts. He began to panic, worrying that he was doing
something wrong, that she would leave him again because of his
inadequacy.

He sensed humor
emanating from her mind and tried to pull back, suddenly angry and
embarrassed. She was laughing at him - at his kissing technique.
After all this time, he’d ruined everything. But she didn’t release
him and his resistance and anger was only half-hearted. He really
did want to kiss her and he realized that she was only laughing
because he was so anxious.

Just relax,
Sunshine. Everything is fine. I’ve missed you so much.

Sam pulled
back, this time too strong for her, and looked at her in amazement.
Her beautiful, gentle brown eyes stared back at him, eyes that he
remembered and yet were somehow different. He hadn’t been wrong.
He’d definitely heard her voice inside his mind.

Yes, you
did.

He heard her
again and checked her face. She was smiling at him. He had so many
questions that his mind was almost overwhelmed. But they could
wait. All he wanted to do right now was kiss her. Kiss her and
never stop.

He fell back
into her embrace and hugged her fiercely to him as their lips met
again, this time with more passion. He let go of his inner turmoil,
self-doubts and just went with the feel of Aimi’s mouth on his.
Maybe his kisses were clumsy but he no longer cared. He just wanted
to be with her again. He sensed her becoming lost in the passionate
moment too, and he moved his arms from her waist, further up her
back. And then his roving hand found something unexpected. He
stopped suddenly, frozen in shock for the second time in
minutes.