“Boss...”
“General,” Daniel corrected with some venom in his tone.
“I'm sorry - General. Our scouting team captured one of their patrols. Three men in total. We are trying to get information out of them, but they have the look of men that will hold their tongues. Would you like me to kill them if we are unsuccessful?”
“No. Not yet. I have something more theatrical in mind for them. I just need to set the stage and invite the proper audience. Tell me of their defences.”
“Formidable. They have walls, and they are heavily armed, and well patrolled. I also suspect that if we ventured off this road, we would encounter mines. We could take them of course. We could break their walls with our tanks, or we could fly our helicopters over them and drop men behind the enemy lines, but the cost would be high. Very high. Many would not live to see the rapture.”
“Death and cost are irrelevant in the face of eternal life. We will crush the heathens beneath our heels because God wills it.”
“Of course,” said Jacob with his head bowed.
Daniel wiped the tears away from the angel's face, but they were only replaced with more as the rain pitter-pattered on its chiselled head. Daniel lowered his umbrella and looked up to the sky. He let the rain wash his face and laughed as he was struck by a sudden epiphany.
“Forgive me, Lord. I did not see your intention even while it was staring me in the face. You have already sent us the means of our victory.”
“General?”
“Perhaps we don't have to die so quickly, Jacob. Your General has a plan.”
1 DAY
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It finally stopped raining, and everyone in New Sodom breathed a sigh of relief. It was as if the world knew what was coming and wanted to give the people one more good day on its soil before things changed forever. The sun rose just like it always did, and its light touched every corner of New Sodom - yet people still felt the looming darkness within their hearts. Despite all of the debates, and all of the battles, nobody knew what was going to come tomorrow, and there is nothing that people fear more than the unknown. Not even Madame Rousseau could give spoilers. Her deck of cards remained silent no matter who asked the question. The thought that this could truly be the end of everything would not escape their collective minds. It led to some strange behaviour among the populace.
Jake Matthews opened his eyes the moment the sun hit his face through the open window. Birds chirped as he sat up in his bed and stared at the clock that hung on his wall. The second hand ticked everything away, and he could hear the passage of time more keenly than ever before. He watched as the seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes to an hour. It felt like no time at all. Jake found his revolver in a shoebox under the bed. He kissed it hello and pulled the trigger. The clock stopped when he wanted it to.
Roy Martin was no Adonis. It had been twenty years since he last even attempted a sit up. That still didn’t stop him from stripping right down to his birthday suit and stepping out the front door to greet the day. He felt so liberated as the air caressed his naked body. A crazy kind of energy made him want to run, so that’s what he did. He jogged the entirety of New Sodom with his old, flaccid cock flapping from one thigh to the other the whole way. He was greeted with wolf whistles everywhere he went. He just smiled, waved, and jogged on his way, happy to show all of himself to all of the people. He had never felt so comfortable in his own skin.
Hank Rogers spent the day with nature. He traipsed through the woods, armed only with his bow and arrow until he caught sight of a beautiful red stag. The sun seemed to rest in the cradle of its horns as he killed it with a steady shot from his bow. He made a fire and spent the evening eating the spoils from his hunt and drinking moonshine. He considered it the perfect day.
Nancy toured the town with her best camera in hand. She took pictures of everything and everyone as they went about their business. Every picture that she took felt like it had some kind of amplified importance.
“A day in the life at the end of life,” said Wally Walters as she took his mean mugging portrait. “Don’t know why you bother, girly. Not like anyone’s gonna see ‘em.”
“Did you ever hear the phrase, ‘Take a picture, it will last longer’?”
“Of course. Said it myself a time or two.”
“Perhaps I want things to last longer. It feels to me like all of this should be documented. People might study it someday.”
Wally Walters gave a dry laugh.
“You’re an awfully optimistic one, aren’t you?”
Nancy tossed a pack of smokes in Wally’s direction, and he caught them in mid-air. His eyes welled up at the sight of the Marlboro Reds clutched in his hand.
“Sometimes optimism gets you the thing that you’ve been searching for,” said Nancy. It was the first time she could ever remember seeing Wally smile.
“Just for that, you can take another picture while I have a smoke. People of the future need to know my brand of choice.”
It was worth it just to get that rare smile on the record.
Raimond started his day by paying a visit to the local hospital. For him, this was now a daily routine. Many were still recovering from the assault on the Governor’s stronghold, but Raimond hadn’t come to see them. He was there to see one person, and one person only. Officer Greg sat in a wheelchair, facing out the window towards the sun. His police blues had been swapped for the white of a hospital gown, and the top of his head was covered in bandages after the surgery to remove the nails from his brain. Dr. Chang had told Raimond that the operation had been a very close thing and that perhaps it would be better to let Greg die. Raimond refused to even entertain the notion. He sat in front of Greg and looked him in the eyes, but the eyes did not look back. They stared out into the distance ahead, but their focus was not fixed on anything. Greg was a prisoner trapped inside his own body.
“Congratulations, Greg. You made it. The rapture is almost here.”
There was a pot of mashed up fruit on the table beside Greg. Raimond picked it up and spooned some of it into Greg’s mouth. Greg couldn’t even work his mouth enough to swallow it. It came right back out and dribbled down his chin.
“Oh, dear. You are a mess. But don’t you worry, Jesus is going to come and fix you right up. After that, he is going to have the flesh skinned from my wicked hide while you watch. You still believe that, don’t you, Greg? I mean, it would be a shame if our time together has broken your faith. It’s really all that you have left. Without that belief, all that’s ahead of you is more of this. The miracle of life.”
Raimond got to his feet and patted Greg’s hand sympathetically.
“I’ll still come visit you. Every day. Without my son, you’re the closest thing that I have to family. We have an intimacy that no one else could possibly understand.”
Raimond left and went to enjoy the rest of his day in the sunshine. Greg had no choice but to remain where he was.
Karina Katana had set herself up in the corner of Cafe du Monde with a face paint table. She had painted herself in the fashion of Vincent Van Gogh's 'Starry, Starry Night' with deep blues swirling into golden stars all about her body. She wanted to be something beautiful, and she could think of nothing more beautiful than the work of Van Gogh. Children came from far and wide to be painted by her expert hand, and even some adults too. Gus brought Sasha along and sat her down in the chair in front of Karina. Karina smiled down at her warmly.
“What do you want to be, Sasha? You can be anything you want. A fairy? A unicorn?”
“I want to be tough, like you,” she said.
Karina frowned at her.
“Tough? Why do you want to be tough?”
“Bad people are coming. I need to be tough.”
Gus placed a hand on Sasha's shoulder.
“You don't need to worry about bad people, Sasha. You're safe here. Mr. Winks will protect you.”
“Show me your arms,” said Karina.
; Sasha raised up her arms so that she looked like the letter T.
“Flex them for me,” Karina instructed.
Sasha flexed her arms like a bodybuilder during a posedown, and Karina nodded her head in approval.
“You look plenty tough to me,” she said.
“Maybe,” said Sasha. “But I want you to make me look tougher. I want to show them my mean face.”
Karina laughed and dipped her brush into some green paint.
“I'll see what I can do.”
Karina began the first stroke of what would become an army camouflage pattern.
Remy Laveau investigated the state of New Sodom's defences. He had been encouraging people everywhere to remain vigilant, for though it might be their last day on earth, it might also not be. Remy was determined to have a say in the matter regardless of how things went. He found more than enough volunteers who were willing to man the posts. He had patrol teams working round the clock outside New Sodom’s walls, though one team hadn't come back in quite some time and he was starting to worry. He had sent people to investigate, but there was no trace of them anywhere. If there was an enemy already out there, he would have to wait for them to show themselves. He had people up on the walls, and people guarding the gates. Others were manning anti-aircraft guns, and he had set turrets and ambush points all throughout the territory. If the enemy got through the walls, they would bleed for every inch they advanced. Remy was confident that they could at least make a fight of things no matter what the angels threw at them.
“It won't be enough,” said the angel Gabriel, appearing at Remy's shoulder. “Lay down your weapons and accept the fate that is coming to you. Throw yourself at God's mercy. He has been known to forgive.”
“You know I'm not going to do that, so why waste the breath?”
“I care for your soul, Remy, as I do for all of God's children.”
Remy laughed.
“I'm starting to think that you don't exist. That you are some fiction that we have collectively conjured up from our minds because we are all obsessed with our own demise. I think that you are a false angel, Gabriel.”
“You would deny me, as Peter to Christ, even after all you've been through and all you've witnessed?”
“I would. I don't know what's coming. I don't know if you are of God, or of the devil, or something else entirely. What I do know is that for the first time we will finally have a battlefield to sort it all out. All things are proven on the battlefield. We will see what you are then and if you bleed the same as us.”
“Then I shall give you an expensive lesson, Remy of New Sodom. One that has been bought with your eternal soul. Let it be known that on the eve of battle I offered you my hand, and you denied me. You and your people will forever be damned.”
“Gabriel, how about you eat shit?”
With a flutter of wings, Gabriel disappeared.
“See you soon, my man. I've got a bullet prayer just for you.”
Beth stayed at home that evening with supplies that she had raided from the food stores. She diced the onions and the garlic, and she seasoned the chicken. She browned the sausage and threw everything in a pot with all kinds of exotic spices to make the mouth pop. She finished off by stirring in rice and chicken broth to make the first jambalaya she had seen in years. It was always one of her favourites. She lit a candle for herself at the dinner table and put batteries into her CD player so she could listen to Enya. She sat down in front of her plate, ready to tuck in when there came a slow and deliberate knock on her front door. She sighed at her plate and forced herself back onto her crutches.
“This had better be good,” she muttered to herself as she went to answer the door. “Raimond, what are you doing here?”
He looked dapper as always, standing on her doorstep. A boutonniere decorated his jacket's lapel, and his hands were behind his back as his polished shoes shuffled on the spot.
“A lot of people outside doing all kinds of things, but I noticed one missing. One person cooped up in her home while people do what people do.”
“You came all the way here just to tell me you noticed I was missing?”
“Sure. The way things are, don't you want to be noticed, Beth? I've noticed you.”
Beth tilted her head and looked at Raimond as if seeing him for the first time.
“And what is it about me that you've noticed?”
Raimond sniffed at the air and smiled. The smile brightened what was normally a rough face.
“I've noticed that jambalaya that you are keeping to yourself in that dark, candlelit house.”
Beth looked back towards her dinner table, embarrassed.
“Oh, that. It's just...”
“Don't matter what it is. It smells delicious. I just so happen to have something that might go well with it.”
One of the hands emerged from behind Raimond's back, bearing a bottle of wine.
“And for the lady of the house.”
The other hand emerged bearing a bouquet of wild roses. Beth opened her mouth, but couldn't speak.
“What say you? Got enough jambalaya for two?”
Beth hopped out of the way and left an opening for Raimond to enter.
“I'll fix you a plate.”
It was a full house in the Mister Sister drag queen bar, and Princess was busy dispensing drinks to those who really needed one. For every person that had a plan for their day, there were ten that didn’t. Most of those people decided that getting drunk was the best option. Princess could hear snippets of all the conversations at the bar as she traversed from one end to the other.
“I think tomorrow is going to be like the promise of a good fuck,” said Haley Straus. “All that foreplay and build up only to realise that the main show ain't all that and is over before you know it.”
“Who the fuck is God to judge anyone?” said Joe Kelly. “He made His own damn bed, and now He is trying to make us lie in it. Any fault with us is a fault with Him.”
“I think that nothing will happen,” said another bar patron. “We'll all laugh about how stupid we've been, and life will go on as normal. I give it a year before we're sitting on our asses watching reality TV again.”
Jason Palmer just rested his head on the bar and said the same thing over and over again in the same mournful tone.
“Why? Why? Why?”
Princess shook her head and threw her dish towel onto the bar.
“You know what? All of you, get the fuck out of my bar.”
“What was that?” said the man with his head on the counter.
“If all anyone’s going to do is talk about tomorrow then they can go do that someplace else. I just want to drink in peace and forget about things.”
“What's crawled up your butt?”
“That's it. All of you, get the fuck out!”
No one moved.
“Oh, you didn't hear me?”
Princess grabbed a shotgun from behind the bar and fired it up into the roof. Pieces of ceiling rained all about her as she scowled at the bar patrons.
“How about now? You hearing me now?”
“Shit! Okay, okay, I'm going,” said one.
“What the hell?” said another as they walked for the door. Those that were sitting away from the bar were slower to move.
“That means all you motherfuckers!”
Princess reloaded and eviscerated one of the unoccupied chairs. They moved a lot faster after that.
“Go home. Be with the people you love.”
Some lingered a moment to take as much drink as they could carry, but it didn't take long for the full bar to turn empty. Princess sighed and poured herself a drink, then she thought, fuck it, and drank straight from the bottle. As she was necking the bottle and staring at the hole she blew into the ceiling, she heard the door open, and someone step inside.
“What the fuck did I just tell you all? Do you want me to blow your little peckers off?”
“I figured you'd make an exception for me,” said Re
my.
“Oh, it's you.”
“That's all I get? Oh, it's you?”
“You can get yourself a bottle if you like.”
Remy did just that, picking out the tequila from behind the bar.
“You know,” Princess began after a deep swig from her own bottle. “I told everyone to go and be with their loved ones, so what the fuck are you doing here? You made it pretty clear that there is no love in this for you, so why would you want to spend your potential last moments with a sorry, old drag queen like me?”
Remy sat opposite Princess and joined her in drinking straight from the bottle.
“Because I lied,” he said.
“You lied? What does that mean?”
“That I love you.”
“Bullshit. I'm just some curiosity for the Voodoo King to explore. Something else to fuck while he waits for death.”
“No, you're more than that. It's not often that people will hear me admit this, but I've been a fool. I've kept you close to me, but also apart from me out of some weird idea of protecting you. I never knew which day could be my last, but here we are, at the end of it all, and we're both still here. We made it. I buried my feelings for you because I couldn't deal with them and deal with what I had to do for this community. But even with the finish line in sight, the one thing I want to do more than any other is to tell you how much I love you. Princess, I am with the person I love.”
Princess was crying as she set her bottle down.
“You really are a fool.”
“I know.”
Princess crossed the bar and kissed her man deeply.
“What are we going to do?” she asked him.
“I don't know about tomorrow, so let's just do tonight.”
“I was hoping you'd say that.”
JUDGEMENT DAY
CHAPTER TWENTY
Killing Angels Page 19