The Reaper

by S E Lunsford

  “This isn’t about them,” was Bob’s reply.

  “Isn’t it?” Wormwood replied, walking even closer to Bob and the others.

  “Leave him alone,” I yelled out skittering towards them, all the while keeping my eye on the creepers who were shuffling back and forth in place their moans rising to shrieks, as some began to turn tight circles. I vaguely wondered why they weren’t coming any closer as I turned my full attention back to the two angels.

  “Ah, isn’t that sweet, one of the Daughters of Eve showing loyalty, how refreshingly rare,” Wormwood said, his laugh rising above us as the angels behind him followed suit. “Bob you disappoint me, you disappoint our Master. They really aren’t worth all this fuss. One dies and another takes its place. They aren’t worth the dust they’re made of. But, because you are valuable, I will be merciful to you and give you another chance. You dispose of this Daughter of Eve and we’ll forget any of this ever happened. What do you think?”

  My stomach folded over on itself as I looked at Bob who slowly turned his head until his eyes locked with mine. The angels next to him seemed to hold their breath, and the noise around me grew muffled until all I could hear was the beat of my own heart and the sound of my breathing. As his gaze moved down from my eyes to the rest of my body, I realized what he saw, a thin young woman with stringy hair that hung down her back wearing a ripped red dress and a veil tied to her arm. I’m sure he could smell me, because I could smell my own pungent fear infused sweat. Pursing my lips, I felt something wet run out of my mouth and down my chin. I wiped it away seeing that I hadn’t been able to swallow all the blood from my loosened teeth. Looking up again, I met Bob’s eyes which were filled with something surprisingly close to affection.

  He turned back to Wormwood. “I think not,” was his simple reply.

  “We have seen what he sees in them,” Felicia’s angel’s deep voice boomed out over the others.

  Wormwood glanced over at me, his face twisting with hatred so intense that it made me shrink back. “That is a shame that you would choose them, I had so much hope for you.” He said, as he gracefully moved his wings and gently beginning to float upwards. “But, since you love them so much that you would betray your own kind, maybe it’s best that you join them.” He turned to the angels that could barely restraint themselves. “Take his wings.”

  I froze, horrified as the angels surged forward, grabbing ahold of Bob before he could even unfurl his wings to fly. His companions and he lashed out punching and kicking to drive the others back. One angel fell then another under their onslaught as they became a whirling motion of arms, legs and feathers fighting in unison. Even as they fought, others of Wormwood’s kind came into the fray, dragging the two angels that had sided with Bob aside before grabbing him and pushing him to the ground.

  He looked up seeing me standing frozen there and pity rose up in his eyes. “Run,” he yelled as a blade flashed above him causing him to double over in pain as it bit into his flesh. As I turned, I saw his white wing marred with a splatter of blood as it fell.

  The creepers held back as I ran towards the metal doors that were only just beginning to open as Becky threw herself against them. Hands pulled us in through a space barely wide enough for us to fit and the door closed with a thud behind us. I could barely make out the sounds on the other side as the creepers began to shriek, followed by the angels whoops and yells in their triumph.

  Pushing myself away from the men who had let us in, I ran along the wall until it turned to razor wire, craning to see what had happened to Bob. He lay face down in the middle of the road, his two white wings, broken and bloody, laying not far from him. His back was ripped open, shreds of bone and feather still attached at the joint where they had been sawed off. I watched as the creepers shuffled back to the forest, walking by him and his bloody back and wings as if they didn’t exist. Taking a deep breath, I couldn’t smell his blood only the sweet aroma that accompanied some of the angels.

  “Dani?” Becky stood next to me gently grasping my arm her eyes following mine to where Bob lay.

  “We have to go out and get him,” I whispered. “We have to save him,”

  “We can’t,” she said carefully, before glancing behind her.

  “What do you mean? We have to,” I pushed away from her running back to the door. Grasping hold of the metal handle I pulled. It didn’t give. So, I pulled harder arching my body backwards in an attempt to pry the door open.

  “It’s locked,” came a voice behind me.

  “No kidding,” I whirled around lashing out with my fist before my mind absorbed the fact that the voice was familiar.

  Carlisle lay on the ground in front of me rubbing his jaw where I had hit him. A wry smile crossed his face, his eyes twinkling in recognition as he stood up. “Well, I see that we can still expect the same from you.”

  “Carlisle,” was the only word that escaped me. I threw myself at him as he stood until we were hugging one another. I pulled back to look at him.

  “We have to go out and help him,” I said. “We have to help.” I pulled him towards the door gesturing towards the unyielding handle.

  “Dani,” Carlisle said in a low voice, glancing behind him. “There’s something you need to know.”

  “No, no, no,” I said, my thoughts on the outside where Bob lay. “We have to help him. They’ll kill him.”

  “We don’t get involved with the angel’s business,” came a woman’s voice from behind Carlisle.

  Startled I stopped and looked over his shoulder. I tall woman stood there, her dark hair in a severe bob that was reflected in her expression.

  “That angel saved me,” I spluttered. “He saved Becky, when he did that. He got me involved in his business. I don’t know who you are, but he is my business. They ripped his wings off because of me.”

  The woman coolly surveyed me for a moment as I glared at her. “Open the door so she can see,” she said.

  Two men in uniform came forward and unlocked the door, pushing it open just enough for me to look out. My breath caught as I saw nothing on the road. Bob’s body and wings were gone, not a spot of blood or a feather remaining to show where he had been. Confusion rose up in me as I turned back to the woman.

  “They take care of their own,” she said before turning her back on me. “Close the door, we’ve got other issues to deal with right now.”

  The door grated closed behind me as I leant against the concrete wall folded my arms across my chest and tried hard not to slump forward.

  “Don’t get too relaxed,” Carlisle whispered, as he took my arm and led me forward. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Chapter 12

  “What? Why?” I whispered.

  We were walking down the main street of the town. The small shops that used to sell touristy items were on either side of us, their windows either smashed or blocked with sheets of plywood from the inside. I wondered where they got the whole pieces of wood from, and how they managed to put the fence up without being turned or eaten by the creepers or any of the other creatures the angels made.

  Carlisle motioned for me to be quiet as we made our way further into the town. The ripple of blue water with white caps was a long way off in front of us. I could barely see the blue past Becky’s shoulders as she walked next to the tall woman. Every once in a while, the woman leaned down to talk to her. The third time this happened, they both glanced back at me before turning forward again making me wonder what they were saying. I thought I could trust Becky, but apparently that wasn’t the case. A fist sized knot formed in my stomach as I thought of that misplaced trust.

  “Is everyone else here?” I sidled closer to Carlisle if that were even possible.

  He nodded sternly keeping his eyes focused on the backs of those in front of us.

  A low rumble began coming from the direction of the ocean. We all froze as it rolled through the ground and under our feet, before losing its strength as it settled somewhere behind us.

&
nbsp; “It’s happened just like we knew it would,” the tall woman woman’s voice floated back to us. “Let’s get everyone to safety…”

  Her words were cut off by the shriek of an alarm that sounded over the town.

  I looked up trying to see if the angels were anywhere in the early morning light, but only saw the watercolor like streaks of blue, white, orange and pink.

  Carlisle grabbed my arm as people seemed to pour out of every building at the ready even as the alarm abruptly cut off. I glanced around in wonder, dazed at so many people in one place before Carlisle began to drag me off to the side.

  “Come on,” he growled as he went down a side street. I worked to keep up, adrenaline pumping its way into the far corners of my body and giving me a jittery awareness that was lacking just a moment before.

  A hand gripped my other arm making me shudder. I twisted around, reaching out with my foot and kicking out. Becky jumped just out of my foot’s reach, her fingers continuing to wrap their way around my arm gripping tightly. Gritting my teeth, I shook her off as I followed Carlisle deeper into the town towards the water.

  “Dani,” Becky hissed behind me.

  “What?” I ground out as Carlisle ducked into a house making his way through to the bedroom.

  As I ducked inside the house I saw it looked surprisingly well put together. A sofa with a floral print sat along the front wall with matching curtains hiding the boarded up window behind it. Other pieces of furniture sat looking completely normal, or what would have passed as normal before, as we followed him into the bedroom to find him opening up drawers and the closet. A row of small windows near the top of the far wall let in the strengthening sun, casting the room in a murky brightness.

  “Here,” he said, throwing pants, a t-shirt, hoodie, socks and boots at me. “Get changed.” He glanced over at Becky. “There’s clothes your size too. Be quick.” Looking fixedly at each of us in turn he walked out the door closing it in his wake.

  Another rumble shook the ground as I quickly ripped off what was left of the dress and pulled on the clothes noting the soft fabric of the shirt as it slid over my body. I would have liked to have taken a shower, but this wasn’t the first time I’d had to dress and run, or just run.

  “What is that?” I asked Becky as another rumble shook everything throwing her into a chest of drawers as she pulled on the jeans she found.

  “Leviathan,” she said as she pulled a hoodie over her head.

  “Like the sea monster?” I reached down to tie my boots.

  “Sort of,” she said.

  “Don’t tell me,” I said standing up, and settling into my clothes. “The angels made them.”

  “Sort of, but that’s not important. Look Dani, I know what you’re thinking but I’m not,”

  “You don’t know what I’m thinking,” I snapped before I opened the door turning to glare at her as I did so. “But, if you want to come along with us go ahead, just make sure you know where your loyalties lie.”

  She nodded. “I do.”

  “And why isn’t it important? Isn't it attacking?”

  She jsut looked at me and shrugged, as we made our way towards the partially open front door where Carlisle stood waiting, his attention fixed on the people moving through the street. Pushing in next to him, I saw there were a lot more people out there than there were when we had gone into the house, which I realized was actually a small cottage complete with window boxes full of colorful flowers.

  “We have to get the others,” Carlisle said. “Then we can go out the back way along the water to the north.”

  “There’s a gate there,” Becky said. “The going’s a little rough once we get outside, but everyone else will be going out to the south instead of the front to avoid the creepers.”

  “I thought everyone here was immune?” I asked keeping my eyes on the street where people were strapping on full backpacks and heading to the south like Becky said.

  “Most of them are” she said, “But no one wants to get bit. That’s just gross.”

  “Wait,” I held out my arm blocking her from coming even further towards the door. “So almost everyone is immune here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How?” I asked, searching her carefully blank expression for the answer.

  “Dani, we don’t have time for this,” Carlisle said beginning to move into the street, pushing a knife up his sleeve.

  “We don’t not have time for this,” I said, crossing my arms and staring at Becky who opened her mouth to speak.

  “It’s their blood,” Carlisle said behind me. “Now can we go?”

  “What do you mean their blood?” I whirled around to look at him. He glanced away discomfort settling on his features as he tried to avoid looking at me. “What is it about their blood?”

  He sighed. “Dani, you’re not going to like it, but they figured out if they had,” he paused. “If they had a certain type of blood then they were immune to the infection.”

  “What? Like type O, or A or something?”

  “Sort of, but, not really,” Becky answered, squeezing into the doorframe next to me and looking up and down the street where there were considerably less people than there were before. “We have to go.”

  “Look she’ll explain things as we go get the others,” Carlisle said, taking off down the street as Becky and I followed.

  The rumbling had stopped but that didn’t put an end to the exodus from the town. We joined with others on another street. The bulk of the crowd was going south like Becky said, but some were heading in other directions too. Quite a few men in dark green uniforms were heading to what seemed like the center of town, where the Community Hall would have been before.

  Carlisle ducked into a side alley heading down to the end where it spilled out onto another street, before diving into a building and a stairwell that we climbed quickly to the third floor. I glanced out a window at the crowded street below. It was obvious they had all been trained as they wound through the streets towards the southern end of town their backpacks in tow. Children grasped the hands of their mothers, or fathers, or other adults. Most of the adults grasped the hands of a child on either side as they hurried away.

  “Stay here,” Carlisle said, “I’ll bring them right back, then we’ll head out.”

  “Okay,” I said, as I continued to stare out the window wondering why the groups of people looked so odd.

  “It’s the kids,” Becky said.

  With her words, the groups came into sharper focus, and I realized she was right. There were more kids than there were adults. It looked like their ages ranged from 5 to 12, with a smattering of teenagers too. I could feel my brow draw together in confusion.

  Everywhere Cassie and I had gone had revealed the fact that there were precious few survivors in the aftermath of the angels release of the creepers. In all our travels, we had never even seen one child beyond Rosalie and Jasper, which was why so many children in one area seemed almost impossible.

  “What about the blood?” I asked.

  She sighed next to me as she watched the children too.

  “Early on, before I got here, there was someone in the original group who had survived multiple creeper bites, and when I say multiple, I mean, like, tons of them,” she said.

  Looking over at her, the picture of Chris at John’s bunker and the scars that marked his body came to mind. Shaking my head, I tried to get rid of the image, but it seemed dogmatically insistent on staying, bringing with it a sneaking suspicion.

  “They figured out that if the blood was injected into someone else, somehow it changed the blood of the person it was injected into, and then they became immune to the creepers’ bites too,” Becky continued. “In fact, not only were they immune but if the creepers bit them there was an adverse reaction, something the creepers seemed to sense. So, they avoid those who have that blood, and, they usually go for those who don’t.”

  “Where is he now?” I asked quietly.

  “I didn�
�t say it was a he,” she responded looking over at me.

  Footsteps came down the hallway echoing down the stairwell.

  “Dani,” Rosalie cried out as soon as she saw me, laughing as she launched herself at me in an invisible cloud of rose scent. I wrapped my arms around her small frame as she clung to me, the others came into view.

  “OMG,” Cassie cried out, as she threw her arms around Rosalie and I. “I was so worried about you.”

  “Me too with you,” I said, as the others crowded into the stairwell. Their faces reflecting the expression on mine of joy and relief that we were all safe and together again. Even Robert stood at the back of the group a smile on his face. Becky stepped to the side to let all of us crowd together. Pulling back and wiping at the moistness in the corners of my eyes, I saw that we weren’t all here after all.

  “Where’s Chris?” I asked, looking from one to the other before settling on Robert who looked down.

  “That’s the problem,” Carlisle said as the others went silent. “He’s here.”

  “Just not with us,” Rosalie piped in.

  “Where is he?” I asked, smoothing her blond hair back into her ponytail as she looked up at me.

  “The building in the middle of the town,” was Edward’s answer.

  “Where those men who looked like they’re in the military were going,” I said, more to myself than them.

  “Pretty much,” Carlisle said.

  “We’re going to have to get him,” I said, as I looked out the window where people still continued to leave the town.

  Silence met my words. They stared at me with varying degrees of pity.

  “There’s no way we can get in there,” Carlisle said quietly. “They have him heavily guarded and they’re not going to let him go.”

  “Is that true?” I asked Becky.

  “Pretty much,” she replied. “They’ve had a transport for him ready to leave at any time in case of an evacuation because he slipped away from them early on.”

  “Why do they need him? Can’t they just use their own blood?”

  “No, they tried, in fact they even tried to synthesize the same elements in the blood and weren’t able to do it,” she said. “From what I heard the results were pretty gruesome.”