“You are no son of mine, yet you dare to claim you are!” Maslow wails.
With that he throws the heart down and crushes the head between his hands. Then a long, loud scream, and he walks off. Michael, now with the sword, throws it back at Maslow. It turns in the air and just before it hits him he spins and catches the blade between his hands.
“Belial, I know where you are going.” Michael says. “And you will need this more than me. I assume you will remain on your side, and I on mine, at least for now?”
“At least for now, indeed, Michael. A prophetic name to give your son, Mr. Madden...” Maslow says as he walks off toward the mountains.
Chris and I stand in awe.
Michael turns to us. “There seems to be order once again. He and I met and fought in the skies before the world turned. We will meet again. He will remain under The Cabox Mountains with the rest, and there are many. I will stay here in the mountains to make sure. If he tries to leave, I will be waiting with a sword of my own.”
Chris and I feed on the remains of Healthies. It has been too long without a meal.
“Michael, I am not sure what went on here and don’t expect an explanation.” I say.
He answers back “Pretty much exactly what you think went on here, did. I am fully aware now.”
“Even so,” I say, “I’m just glad you are alive and well. We are going to head south where it’s warm, then to Hawaii where there are Healthies. Oahu is loaded with Deads and I bet all it needs is a leader, and we need an army.”
I look at Chris and she nods in agreement.
“I have to ask you a question. The religious implications here are staggering, I know. With all that is going on, the dead rising to be more specific... I don’t find this hard to believe. Having said that, who was right?”
“What do you mean?” he answers.
“Which religion?” I say. “The dead walk and God has left us. Who gets into heaven? Is heaven really gone? Who is going to make it? Which religion was right?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Then he says “There is and always will be good and evil. You pick a side the day your soul leaves the Guf to enter your infant body. It’s just that simple.”
“So no one right? Or we all are, sort of?” I ask.
He smiles and walks toward The Cabox. “I’ll see you soon, Dad. Belial won’t stay down for long. He never does.”
I sit and watch him walk into the mountains until I can no longer see him. I miss him already.
Chris and I continue to feed on the remains, being careful not to eat any of Legoni’s force. We sit and talk, and the only plans we can come up with are to get back in the Assault boat. We can head to the mainland and then cross Canada somehow and get to the west coast, then find a way to Oahu.
Or we could take the Northwest Passage to the Pacific. It’s open now, but we would soon need a bigger boat. Chris jokes about organizing a fleet of ships once we get to Oahu and sailing the seas like Pirates. We could attack Healthies on various islands and make our way to Australia.
Any way you slice it, battles have been won but the war is not over. Our war, and Michael’s. I’m sure we will have more brushes with religion come true. I know we will not have it easy. But neither Chris nor I will feel satisfied until we know we have done everything to kill every Healthy there is on this earth. Does that make us evil? I don’t know. If we are to believe Michael, I chose sides before I was born. I am now only following through on that decision. The freedom that belief affords me is almost like a drug. I am who I chose to be, and that cannot be changed. I could truly be damned. Let’s hope I made the right choice, because if I wasn’t religious before, I sort of am now. Right now though, we are both exhausted. Time to get some rest; we have a long journey and life ahead of us...
End
Het Madden, a Zombie Perspective: Book One: WRATH 2012 Page 20