“I don’t know if there’s anyone that she does like,” Caleb said with a sigh as he continued to contemplate the stars.
After a silence, Selia said, “It’s terrible the way she treats him. Eymann, I mean. I’ve been watching him and I see how he just shuts down when she starts on him.”
“It’s probably been his only defense for years.”
She snuggled closer to him, drawing the blanket that was around her shoulders up to her chin. “Thank goodness we’re not like them. Sometimes I just want to tell her to knock it off. She was over there berating him just a little while ago, but now she’s just standing there staring at us.”
“I know. It’s kind of creepy.”
“Do you still feel sorry for her?” Selia asked.
“It’s hard sometimes,” Caleb admitted. “She seems to go out of her way to be spiteful and mean and to alienate people.”
“Did you see the look in her eyes when she was talking about Eymann’s sister?”
“I couldn’t help it.”
“It was almost like she wanted something bad to have happened to her. She probably feels the same way about me. You would think something like this - all that we’re going through - would wake her up, force her to look at things differently and make her appreciate what she does have.”
“You would think,” he murmured.
“She’s not happy that we’ve let the others stay with us,” Selia went on. “She looked positively livid when we were eating. I think she’s mad that we shared our food, but it’s ours to share. We shared with them, too. I just hate the way she acts all pious and holier-than-thou and looks down at everyone else when she’s so selfish herself. She’s the kind of person who gives Christianity a bad name.”
“There are people, unfortunately, who do that and who just don’t get it. But despite all that,” Caleb went on. “We have no choice but to try and get along with her. If not for her sake, then for Eymann’s.”
Selia sighed, too. “It won’t be easy, but I’ll try to do that. I really will. For Eymann’s sake.”
Chapter 11
The next morning, Helice was up earlier than anyone else. After reading her Bible for an hour in the tent that she shared with Eymann, she started to get dressed for the day.
What’s she up to? Eymann wondered as he watched her. He couldn’t say exactly what was troubling him. She hadn’t said a word all morning. She just had that look to her, the one that said something was about to blow.
She pulled her yellow polo shirt over her head, then took her time adjusting her glasses. Yellow was definitely not a flattering color for her. It did nothing for her pale complexion. Her hair was blonde, too, with some streaks of gray beginning to show at the temples. It made her look even more washed out, but Helice didn’t believe in dying her hair just like she didn’t believe in wearing makeup.
Eymann eyed her suspiciously and asked, “What do you have planned for today?”
She just looked at him silently which made him feel even more uneasy. She finally said, “The same thing I do every day.” She shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly, but then admitted, “Right now I’m going to go see how much food is left. If there’s anything.”
“I saw Caleb and Bogard talking a little while ago,” Eymann said, hoping against hope that he could diffuse her before she could find something to blow up about.
At the opening to the tent, Helice stopped in her tracks but she didn’t turn around. “I just hope he doesn’t tell him where we’re going,” she said with her back still to him. “We agreed that there was only room for the four of us.”
Five if you counted Otis, Eymann added silently. Out loud he said, “I’m sure Caleb won’t say anything.”
“And what makes you so sure about that?”
“He hasn’t said anything yet. And they said themselves that they’re only with us temporarily,” he reminded her once again.
Helice whirled around and speared Eymann with a scathing look. “Why is it that you let him make all the decisions?”
“I don’t,” he answered her. “Caleb discusses things with me first. Just like I discuss things with him.”
She made a scoffing sound while her upper lip lifted the slightest bit. All bad signs. “If you’ve said anything to him at all, he hasn’t been listening. Everything we have done so far has been his decision.”
That wasn’t true. Eymann had chosen this place to rest, and he had decided in the first place that they should go to Lauryn’s house. Caleb had only agreed with him after they had carefully weighed all their options.
“We’re making the best decisions we can, after we talk them over.”
“Oh, you think so, do you? You do realize, don’t you, that you can’t change things after his decisions get us all killed.”
Wasn’t she listening to him? Caleb wasn’t making all the decisions.
“What are you talking about?” he asked with a frown. He really didn’t want to do this right now.
“We barely had enough food to eat before they came along. Do the math. The more mouths there are to feed, the less there will be for us and the closer we are to starvation. Any idiot could understand that,” she said as she looked pointedly at Eymann.
“I’ve already told you they are here temporarily.”
“So you say. But how do you know what they are really thinking? They could be lying to us while they are planning to take everything we have.”
“Bogard Atcher is a preacher,” Eymann said. “I hardly think- ”
“A preacher,” Helice scoffed again, but with more rancor this time. “Anyone can say that they’re a preacher. And as for Caleb- When it comes down to making decisions, do you really think he’s going to let her starve?
“No,” she said, immediately answering her own question. “And that dog doesn’t look like he’s starving, either. Open your eyes for a change. Caleb Lydon will feed that mutt before he feeds us. And any other stray that comes along.”
So far, Caleb had been nothing but kind and generous and although Eymann wouldn’t admit it to anyone, he liked being around both him and Selia.
“She knows how to get her way,” Helice said with new venom lowering her words.
“Who?” Eymann asked, startled because for a second it seemed like she had read his mind.
“Selia. She knows what kind of bait to use when there are men around.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked cautiously.
“She already has her boyfriend wrapped around her finger and apparently that isn’t enough. People like that are toxic, Eymann. Toxic. Somebody needs to do something before it goes any farther.”
“Before what goes any farther?”
“What’s going on around here.”
“What are you planning to do?” Eymann asked, starting to really worry now.
“Do?” she echoed. “I’m not going to do anything, but I am going to see what’s for breakfast.” Without another word, she left the tent.
Eymann followed her out and found her looking over the foods that had been laid out on the table. She gave Eymann a smug look but didn’t say anything.
“Another celebration?” she asked Selia.
“I guess you could say that,” Selia answered her. “We’re celebrating that we’re here together and that we have enough food to eat.”
“We can only hope that’s the case,” Helice commented under her breath. “Because that’s all we might be left with: Hope.”
“There is only one hope for humanity,” Bogard Atcher said as he joined them. “The same hope we had before all this started.”
He sat down and began to say grace at Selia’s invitation.
“Amen,” everyone murmured when he was done.
“With all that is happening,” Bogard said. “It’s still important that we not forget the important things.”
“Just what do you think is happening?” Caleb asked him.
Bogard hesitated. “My thoughts on what may be happening are only
theories. Some people might even think they are too radical.”
“Radical or not, why don’t you share your- theories with us,” Helice prodded him.
He looked straight at Helice and said, “You may not want to hear them.”
Something dark glittered in her eyes for a moment. “Why don’t you try me?”
“I think we may have caused this,” Bogard said as Selia set a biscuit on his plate.
“What makes you think that?” Caleb wanted to know.
“Because everything happened too fast for it to be a random act of nature. Things fell apart in too many places at one time, all over the world from what we can tell. The evil forces that have always existed,” he went on. “Are still here. I believe they have been waiting for their chance to use technology for their own evil purposes.”
“What evil forces- ” Helice began.
But Caleb cut her off by asking, “What purposes would that be?”
“To destroy mankind.”
Silence fell over the group gathered around the table.
“This shouldn’t come as a surprise,” Bogard went on. “Mankind has been going down some frightening paths in the last few decades. Technology in itself is a good thing, but we were experimenting with mixing species, tampering with DNA, and yes, even reanimating the dead. We have been willfully defying the One who created this world and gave us life. And this may be the result.”
Caleb thought that over. “So what are they?” Caleb asked. “Are they dead? Undead?”
“They’re definitely not alive,” someone said. “They’re just shadows of who they used to be.”
“Maybe not even that,” Bogard said soberly. “My theory is that we have done something unnatural to our bodies and made them hollow vessels that should be dead but aren’t, thereby creating the perfect vessels to be inhabited by- Evil.”
“Evil?” Caleb echoed. “Are you saying that you think these are something like demons that we’re seeing?”
“I have no idea what they actually are,” Bogard admitted. “I’m only saying it’s something to think about. They appear to be dead, but they are still functioning in a limited way. A very violent and bloodthirsty way. Have we created bodies that are empty shells like the kind left behind by locusts, bodies that can be taken over by beings that are ferocious flesh eaters, and from what we can tell, soulless?”
“Is that what you taught in your church?” Helice asked.
“It wasn’t a subject that was necessary to discuss,” Bogard replied. “Then.”
“How clever of you to have figured this all out on your own,” Helice said, barely keeping the sarcasm out of her voice.
But Bogard was undaunted by her derisive tone. “I wouldn’t say it was clever.”
Helice wasn’t about to let it go. “You realize that your theories don’t mean anything since nothing you’re saying can be proven.”
“Or disproven,” Eymann was quick to add.
“Do you have any theories of your own?” Bogard asked Helice.
“Maybe the people who turn are the unsaved ones,” she said.
“That would make all of the living saved,” Bogard said. “And I haven’t seen that to be the case.”
He was right, but Helice had an explanation for that.
“Maybe it’s a point of seeing what happens to a person after they die,” she said.
“Hopefully the souls of the departed are still going to a better place,” Bogard said. “I suspect that is the case, but the flesh is just a tabernacle, temporary housing as it were.”
“The Bible does talk about evil spirits and unclean spirits inhabiting human bodies,” Eymann said.
“Are you talking about demonic possession now?” Caleb asked.
“It was common enough in the New Testament,” Bogard answered him. “We have no way of knowing whether what we are seeing is the same thing. Something seems to have changed though. These walking dead creatures have an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Something must account for that. The history of the world is full of stories of vampyric demons who devour the flesh of living people,” he went on. “There are vampire-like creatures in Hindu mythology that are said to be the original inhabitants of India. They were supposed to have been here long before humans walked the earth. Here’s the interesting part. They were supposed to have had the ability to possess corpses and to use those bodies to feed on people.”
That gave everyone food for thought. Eymann thought about those things out there. Did they look demonic? Yes, there was no denying that.
“And there are stories all over the world that talk about giants who had a taste for human flesh,” Bogard went on. “Even the Native American tribes, all of them, have the same stories.”
“Are you talking about the Nephilim?” Eymann asked.
Helice gave an impatient sigh as she looked in his direction.
“It’s not something people generally talk about, Helice,” Bogard said to her. “But the Nephilim were very real. The Bible gives a very clear account of them in Genesis.”
Helice’s head snapped up. For a moment Bogard Atcher had sounded just like her father.
It’s not something we talk about, Helice.
We’ll just keep this secret between us.
And all that talk about appetites and human flesh.
“What you really mean to say is that we have no control over our own bodies,” she said in a very low, very suppressed voice.
“It is the spiritual that is important,” Bogard clarified.
“You mean the things that no one can see. The hidden things. The secret things. That’s what you’re trying to get people to believe, isn’t it?”
Eymannn looked confused. So did the others.
Bogard frowned and looked at Helice a little closer. “I don’t believe in forcing my views on anyone.”
“Of course you don’t. Just the people who are weak enough to go along with your radical ideas.”
“Helice!” It was Eymann. Like everyone else at the table, he was appalled at her outburst. He should have seen it coming, but he was shocked all the same.
Without saying another word, Helice stood. When she left the table, no one stopped her.
“It’s all right,” Bogard said, trying to smooth everything over. The man must have really thick skin, Eymann thought. “We’re all dealing with a lot these days,” Bogard went on. “And like I said, those are just my theories. I’ll be the first to admit that I could be wrong about any one of them. But I would like to say one last thing. I would like to remind everyone of the recent, massive vaccine push. It was worldwide and unprecedented. Was it a coincidence, or wasn’t it? I’m just asking you to think about it.”
Eymann had one more question for him. “Is it your opinion that we are living in the end times? The tribulation mentioned in Revelation?”
“The Bible says that no man shall know the hour,” Bogard answered him.
There were so many predictions. Eymann had thought he understood it all. Before. Now he wasn’t so sure. Bogard Atcher had given him a lot to think about.
“Are we committing murder when we kill them?” Eymann wanted to know.
“I don’t believe so” Bogard replied. “Sometimes we have no choice.”
That seemed to relieve more than one of them.
“Hopefully there are people out there who have some kind of immunity,” Selia said. “Maybe we have immunity.”
“That’s possible,” Bogard said. “But as I said, there is only one hope for humanity. The same now as it was before. Salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
He heard voices from a distance. He recognized one of the voices, but the other voice was one he had never heard before. There was a pulsing agony in his head that got worse with the slightest movement, which was something he could not completely avoid because he gradually realized that he was in a moving vehicle.
Apparently he had blacked out. But where was he now?
He remembered the man with the cha
ins, and the one with the rifle. He also remembered the cement truck coming down the road. After that, not so much.
He reached up with his hand and very gingerly explored the cloth that was tied around his head. Some kind of bandage from the feel of it.
He tried to sit up but a nauseating wave of dizziness immediately rolled over him. He sank back down again and the dizziness receded, but only slowly.
“Are you awake now?” he heard.
Ren’s voice.
“If you want to call it that,” Rafe whispered. “What happened to me?”
“A bullet grazed your face.”
So that was the reason for all the pain.
“Just grazed?”
“Grazed deeply. But you’re lucky it wasn’t any worse.”
“Where are we?” Rafe wanted to know.
“Don’t worry about that right now. We’re safe. How are you feeling?”
“Like a mule kicked me in the side of the head.”
“You look like it, too,” Ren said. “You’re going to have one hell of a scar.”
It must have been the driver of the vehicle who asked, “How’s he doing?”
“He’s awake,” Ren answered him.
“He know what’s going on around him?”
“Mostly, I think,” Ren replied.
“Who is he?” Rafe asked.
“The driver of the cement truck,” Ren answered.
“I thought you looked like you could use some help,” Rafe heard the man say.
So he had run that cement truck off the road on purpose. It was a wonder the man hadn’t gotten himself killed.
“He probably saved both our lives,” Ren said.
There wasn’t any probably to it, Rafe thought. They’d both be dead if he hadn’t come along.
“Much as I’m thankful to you for saving our asses,” Rafe began, taking a moment to grit his teeth against the pain as they hit a bump. “I gotta ask you: What were you thinking?”
“There wasn’t much thinking about it,” the man replied. “There wasn’t time.”
“Where’d we get this vehicle?” Rafe asked next.
“He hotwired it and then siphoned some gas,” Ren told him.
Deadrise (Book 7): Bloodlust Page 11