To Light Us, To Guard Us (The Angel War Book 1)

by Sean M O'Connell

  Nothing made sense. He could barely tell up from down, and his limbs wouldn’t obey him as he tried to stand. He tasted grit and blood.

  Am I paralyzed? Dead?

  Blackness invaded his head as he watched Brown approach and lift a foot high, poised to stomp out the last bit of breath he had.

  Sluggish thoughts of a pretty white doctor and cacophonous animal calls were stolen away as the darkness cloyed into the corners of his brain.

  Then, nothing but the deepest black.

  Salt Lake City, Utah

  Traffic heading North hugged the road in a persistent gridlock.

  Aaron and Danny were forced to keep to the shoulder of the highway for most of their journey. Reports on the police radio he had commandeered kept rolling in. From the sound of it, major metropolitan areas were emptying out, but nobody knew where to go. Officials were either keeping mum until they knew exactly what was going on or issuing generic statements about the public staying calm and preparing for an emergency state.

  Staying calm isn’t working.

  Already they had passed countless wrecks, hundreds of people laid out beside cars and in the medians in various stages of panic and shock. Aaron wondered how many of the stranded motorists they passed were suffering the same problem as Scott and Bluejean.

  Some of the more alarmist broadcasts picked up by the police walkie were crowing about terrorist plots and nerve agents being deployed in aerosol form.

  Aaron had seen such tactics in action while serving his country, and he didn’t buy it. Airborne weapons weren’t nearly as selective as this seemed to be.

  Still, something strange and new was afoot.

  Even Danny could sense it.

  He was a pretty typical kindergartener. To see such chaos -all of these adults acting scared- really affected him. His husky little arms clamped to Aaron’s sides. Rhythmic puffs of hot, moist breath pushed through the fabric on the back of his t-shirt. His son’s face was buried between the ridges of muscle bracketing Aaron’s spine. The boy had been that way for much of the trip. Aaron’s insides knotted to know that his son was so scared. And yet Danny didn’t cry or complain, he toughed it out in his own little way. It made Aaron proud.

  Seeing another roadblock up ahead, he swung to the gravel yet again. A van was crushed, smoking lightly from a shattered engine compartment. Two burly cowboys stood on the shoulder, in the middle of what appeared to be a heated argument. The grisly remains of what was likely a dog trailed diagonally across the highway.

  “Don’t look Danny.” He warned his son. Bad enough that people were in trouble. His son was an animal lover, seeing a dead dog might prove too much.

  As they rumbled up, one of the men suddenly cracked the other with a crowbar Aaron hadn’t noticed him holding. A hat went flying and the victim dropped loosely to the pavement, unconscious, or worse. Aaron slowed the motorcycle, ready to dismount and police the situation. Only the miniature hands clutching fistfuls of his shirt staid him.

  Things were different now.

  He was a father. His primary responsibility was protecting his son.

  His only responsibility.

  Jumping off his bike and into a fight between two frightened strangers was not in Danny’s best interest.

  The gusting breeze blew Aaron between action and doubt.

  His mind was made up by the smaller version of himself sharing the ride.

  There would be no more vigilante justice, no more Robin Hood battles. Time to take care of his own. All he could do was glare at the assailant as they trundled past the wreckage. Noting the tears in the other man’s eyes, he was able to guess whose dog the greasy smear had been.

  Panic and grief and fear did strange things to people.

  Today was a recipe for all three.

  The trip and its tedious pace chewed up what was left of the day.

  Aaron and his son rolled over the ridge at South Mountain just as the blaze of the sun winked out in its bed beyond the Great Salt Lake. Springtime sunsets in the valley were truly a sight to behold. Almost artistic in their depth of color.

  This evening, Aaron Dayne was more concerned with the fact that he still couldn’t get a cell phone signal.

  Not far away, rolling smoke belched from three of the four main cell-block buildings at the prison. His mind quickly ran through scenes of guards and officers fainting in spells like he had seen so many do today, guns and keys and access codes skidding across the floors. No doubt the opportunist animals imprisoned within would have taken advantage of whatever chaos their sickly luck afforded them. Equally alarming was the absence of responding emergency vehicles. Not a single ambulance or squad car.

  Was the system really stretched so thin?

  All Hell is breaking loose and there isn’t even a fire truck around.

  Things had been bad when he left the valley. Hours later, they were rapidly getting worse.

  “Hang on buddy.” He warned Danny. “Time to go fast.”

  When Aaron and Danny finally pulled up in front of the quaint house, Xerxes and Pig were waiting. Wet streaks of slobber and nose-prints on the window evidenced their eagerness.

  Danny, his little trooper, slid off of the hot bike, exhausted.

  Tired as he was, the boy still waved Aaron away when he tried to pick him up.

  “I’m not a baby, Dad!”

  Thick little legs tromped up the walk toward the door with an urgency born of hunger.

  Aaron had promised him macaroni and cheese and grilled peanut butter sandwiches.

  The dogs waited inside the doorway, jumping up and down and scratching at the floor. They always made a big fuss when Danny showed up. He was their favorite person. The boy gave his canine companions constant attention, and more than a few table scraps.

  Behind the rising and falling heads of the hounds, Aaron saw a broad shadow fill the entryway. This friendly eclipse brought a great sense of relief along with it. The round hips and signature waddle could belong to only one grumpy woman.

  Collie.

  She had no other family to take care of. She must have come here as soon as she found her nephew missing from the zoo. Aaron cringed at the thought of having to answer for not taking care of Bluejean, for not even leaving a note.

  She opened the door, scowling for a second at Aaron before cracking a huge grin and spreading her jiggly arms wide to embrace Danny. The little guy disappeared almost completely into her pasty flesh and flower print. The dogs shivered in the doorway, not from cold, but from excitement. They wouldn’t leave the house until Aaron gave the go ahead.

  Pig pawed the air and Xerxes drooled his request.

  Aaron acquiesced with a click of his tongue.

  Over two hundred combined pounds of dog bounded onto the front lawn in happy relief.

  Aaron patted each of them for a moment, taking comfort in their solid warmth. They leaned a little harder against him, even Pig. It had probably been a rough day for them too, all smoke and sirens and panic on the breeze blowing through their yard.

  Collie finally let go of Danny and shooed him inside to wash up for dinner. The dogs chased after him, licking and bumping all the way. Even in his exhausted state, he loved it.

  She rounded on Aaron and, to his surprise, opened those fleshy wings up to him too. He hugged her, and found her trembling. Worried.

  “Collie, I.. something happened. Blue is at the hospital. He and Scott both…”

  She shushed him and waved it off.

  “I already talked to Allie.”

  Relieved jaws slapped shut.

  Aaron had a thousand questions for Allie, for anyone with answers. But he saw the pools below Collie’s eyes and thought better of pressing the issue now. The smell of food came drifting from inside. He was hungry.

  Reading his mind, Collie gave a knowing smile. Though with her severe mouth it looked just as much like a frown.

  “Come eat.”

  She fed them both spaghetti, meatballs and garlic toast.


  It was delicious.

  Danny ate and ate and ate like growing boys are expected to do. Aaron had one big helping and guzzled water. The meal revived him, fueling him for whatever came next.

  Collie leaned her rump against the oven and clucked at him softly, halfheartedly trying to convince him to rest and wait and let somebody else handle the crisis.

  But Aaron had seen the overworked police and firefighters and National Guardsmen all the way up and down the state, and he knew that his help was actually needed.

  “At least take my car Aaron. That motorcycle isn’t safe.”

  But she knew on the choked streets, the bike was more practical. Even if it weren’t, she had no hope of talking him out of it.

  “You leave your guns here young man, you don’t want to go shooting anybody.”

  But she knew it was unsafe in the panicked world, and he had shot people before.

  “Your son needs you here.”

  In actuality, she knew that Danny would be fine in the house, with the dogs and her.

  “You don’t have to do this, Aaron.”

  He did have to.

  His friends and wife were in trouble. His home was being threatened by an uncertain menace. It wasn’t a matter of choice, he had to get out and do something.

  Eventually, Collie gave up her protestations and shooed him out of the kitchen.

  She didn’t need or want his help in cleaning up.

  “Go find that boy and get him into some pajamas.” She ordered.

  Danny had already crashed on the couch, buried between his canine companions.

  The trio snored contentedly. Danny’s chubby face fulshed rosy from their furry heat. His serious little forehead was wet. From his own sweat or the dogs’ slobbery kisses, Aaron wasn’t sure. He would probably sleep for the better part of a day.

  Aaron kissed him lightly, careful not to disturb him. Thick emotion welled up when he watched his son sleep.

  Pig lifted his head and offered a plaintive whine..

  “It’s alright boy, go to sleep.” Aaron whispered.

  The dog just sighed and nuzzled Danny’s neck.

  Aaron stepped lightly on his way back to the kitchen.

  There he found his informal Auntie scrubbing pans.

  “Collie, will you stay here with us until this is over?” he asked gently.

  She would.

  “There is plenty of food for a while. I’ll get more on my way back here too, and I’ll bring Scott and ‘Jean back when they get released from the hospital okay? We’ll make this home base.”

  She pursed her lips and sighed through the nose, hand on a hip. Motherly despite having never borne children of her own.

  “Alright Aaron James Dayne. You be careful. And bring the family home. Every last one of them.” Her voice quivered a bit. Uncharacteristic

  It was her family too. She loved and needed them all as much as he did.

  He wouldn’t let her down. He couldn’t let her down.

  Aaron left the house again, careful to lock the door behind him.

  Outside, the smell of Collie’s pasta surrendered to the smoky wind.

  The night sky shone eerily bright with fires and floodlights.

  Reluctantly, he mounted his motorcycle again and pulled away from the house where his most precious possessions now slept.

  Neighborhood dogs barked incessantly as he trundled past.

  All of the windows in all of the houses and apartments were lit up like Christmas.

  People tried to chase their fears away with electricity and bulbs.

  He worked his way back to the hospital, street by street, only stopping once to help a nine year old boy carry his dead dog back to the house.

  The boy told him a scary man had come after him and that the dog had attacked the man. Then the man had killed the dog.

  Aaron looked at the flattened rib cage and bits of gore clinging to the retriever’s long coat and doubted the story. It looked more like a car accident to him. But he didn’t correct the crying boy, out here alone in the wild night with his dead best friend. Instead he picked the dog up and laid it in the soft earth of a garden. The boy came out of the house again with an old blanket from Rover’s bed. Together they covered the body and the boy said a prayer.

  He cried while Aaron tried not to.

  Salt Lake City, Utah

  A mob had gathered outside of the hospital.

  Hundreds of civilians pressed into the ambulance bay, crying and heckling the soldiers assigned to hold them out.

  Aaron took in the whole scene, assessing the situation, weighing the risks.

  He heard the broken messages of quarantine coming from the overhead speakers.

  The impersonal message drifted out over a mass of bodies, rife with worry. Aaron was able to pick out the requisite cast of characters that somehow established their presence in every crowd:

  There was the righteously angry mother, whose children deserved help above all others.

  The confused older folks, who needed help the most but were easiest to ignore and push aside. The bullheaded young men, whose desperation and simple fear made them both useless and dangerous.

  A bad mix.

  He saw the clutch of broad construction workers mumbling to one another and fingering their tools. This pot was about to boil over.

  Aaron opted for finding another entrance.

  First, he tried reaching Allie via phone call.

  No luck.

  He circled behind the hospital to the outpatient clinic entrance. If it was possible to gain access somewhere, he would likely be able to move freely inside the hospital campus.

  Unless the quarantine was compartmentalized.

  Only one way to find out.

  The rear entrances were much less guarded. A pair of Guardsmen flanked each.

  Most of the manpower had been distributed to the west-side doors, where the press of frantic bodies was more than hospital security could handle. Aaron felt a long-dormant pride swelling at the efficiency and simplicity of a soldier’s life. These men were secure in the company of their comrades and in the certainty of their duty in this crisis. His pride bordered on jealousy. It would be nice to have all of the fear and anxiety aimed, shaped and focused by commanding officers.

  He would not try to force his way past these soldiers like he had done with the small-town sheriff. Bigger guns, better training, and larger numbers meant that his chances for success were virtually zero. He scanned the building for a point of ingress. The windows were too high. Scaling to any open ones would be too obvious.

  Then he found it.

  The outpatient pharmacy had a drive up window.

  Clearly the technician had been called to a more urgent task inside of the hospital. Eventually, somebody would notice the opening and close it up or assign a watchdog.

  For now, it was Aaron’s way in.

  He crammed his muscular shoulders through the narrow window and shimmied the rest of the way in, thankful that he had opted to leave the bulk of his guns back at the house in case Collie needed them.

  Minutes later, Aaron was standing beside Scott Fitzpatrick, shocked to the point of disbelief.

  “I’m telling you A.D., I feel better than I ever have in my life. Ever.”

  Aaron said nothing. He examined the big man head to toe. Not a mark on him.

  “Impossible.” He frowned.

  His old friend was equally astonished. Scott turned his hands over and over.

  “Look. Remember this crooked finger? It’s straight now. And listen…” He rolled his shoulders back and forth, a movement that formerly caused him serious discomfort and made a sound like grinding boulders. “..nothing.”

  “I don’t get it Fitz. I watched you break that hand. The bones were sticking out for God’s sake! You cracked your head at the zoo so hard I thought you might be dead.”

  Aaron felt strange arguing against such good fortune.

  “I can’t explain it, but I feel incredible.�
� Scott persisted. “No more aches and pains. No more sinus problem. I am one-hundred percent. Better than one-hundred percent even!”

  “I thought you were dying.”

  “What do you want me to say? I’m not. Something definitely happened, and I don’t know what, but I can feel that it’s for the better.”

  Aaron was incredulous at his own incredulity. He couldn’t help it.

  “For the better? You almost bit your own tongue off!”

  Scott just shrugged and raised his eyebrows, unsure of what to say to his disbelieving friend.

  They were interrupted by a sweet, but exhausted voice emanating from the doorway.

  “I see you found our star patient.”

  Aaron turned to see Allie trudging toward them. Her scrub shirt was fresh, but the pants were covered in brown iodine and salt stains.

  She fell into his arms for a brief hug. In that moment Aaron could feel her wash of relief and urgent love. Smells of shampoo and sweat battled in her hair. Pride swelled in him at knowing that she had been working straight through the mess, helping one patient after another.

  Scott reached over and gave her a tender squeeze on the shoulder with one giant hand.

  “thanks for your help Al.”

  She shook her disheveled head in his direction and waved off his thank you.

  “Honestly we didn’t do much for you big guy. Aaron brought you in. We sedated you. Your seizures intensified through the sedation so we restrained you. Then you broke the restraints, so we cleared a room and eight of the orderlies laid on top of you while you puked your guts out and thrashed around. Not long after that, you crashed again and woke up a few hours later looking better than ever. Medically, it makes no sense.”

  Scott nodded soberly. “I know. It’s a miracle.”

  Allie, ever the medical professional, took her turn as skeptic at this.

  “There are no such things as miracles Scott. Every illness and every cure has an explanation.”

  “Of course Allie. But look at me. Sure, maybe something set me to tremors and something you did stopped them, but what about my old injuries? And the scars that aren’t there anymore? Remember that one on my thigh from scout camp Aaron? It’s gone too.”