She packed Little Betty, gathered up her bags, and continued on to the Virginia hideout. She wondered how she could stop a man who held the world hostage. A few more nuclear attacks and no one on earth would be left alive.
20
Joan sat next to the listless Rio Grande. She stared at the black carapace overhead and didn’t like how the cover blocked the starlight. The river slopped against its muddy banks, sluggish and close to death. Armed Guardians stood watch throughout the area near campfires. Their shadows dark silhouettes from some ancient time lost in antiquity.
Her thoughts launched back to Michael and how she rescued him from lower Hell. She asked him about her mother, a woman she wanted to know more about. Her question always elicited silence or an elusive response. Joan didn’t even know her mother’s name and Michael refused to provide it.
Joan recalled her adopted parents and her childhood. They lived as plain folks who loved her. They died when she turned twenty-five. An uneventful thirty years on earth marked her life. This included marriage, Charles, William, and work, until now.
Now, she faced surprises and secrets. Mysteries within mysteries so deep and frightful she wondered what else lay hidden in her clouded past.
Joan cared less about what happened before God created the earth, before her time. Just to ponder the thought made her head ache. No, she wanted to know why her birth spurred several violent events so profound it caused a spiritual war.
Daisy told Joan her mother lived on earth, so she must have been mortal. What rules did God write and violate for Joan’s sake? If she knew the answer it might help end the war. Too many innocents died at the enemy’s hands.
What Joan did know, Satan’s cadre held an advantage. The enemy used surprise and speed to thwart the angel’s efforts to get close to them. Too many moves stalled the Guardians and not enough people or angels matched the aggressor’s eagerness. The win in Denver left them arrogant and drunk on victory.
Several threats sprouted up at the same time. Raymond’s death, Kami’s unknown whereabouts, Ghost Soldiers, the new Black Army, Hell Force, the enemy came prepared and overwhelmed their forces.
Joan silenced her thoughts. She realized how easy her excuses multiplied. Satan whipped them. Now he intended to annihilate God’s people, shove them into some dark corner within the vast universe. She could not imagine all God’s work rendered obsolete over her simple birth.
A deep dread trembled throughout her lower belly. Once again another hole ripped into the mortal world. The ground rumbled and rolled underneath her like a California aftershock, and for a second she thought the earth groaned in pain. She stood and gazed at the dark skies to the east. A gentle red glow flowered open against the jet-black night. She knew another horror just occurred.
“No,” she said. Her wings and golden armor appeared. Joan shot away from Big Bend National Park and raced into the air.
The red mushroom cloud illuminated the horizon. A brilliant red light broke through the stubborn blackness and lit up the night sky like a Roman candle. Chills raced down her back. Her eyes swept up towards the once dark heavens turning orange and red from the fiery blast.
She met the nuclear wind. The powerful gale slammed into her like a hot wall and brought with it twisted objects both small and large. She fought through the superheated detritus and entered Houston.
Joan stood in the city center engulfed in flames. She faced a world shrouded in fire. Buildings scorched and she recalled her nightmare where the world burned around her in a great hell storm. No one remained alive in Houston. Death came fast and with such brutal speed the victims did not have time to scream out. They died from the horrid nuclear fires, their souls drifting into the great mushroom cloud above her. The phantasmal victim’s accusatory stares riveted her as guardian angels swarmed down from Heaven to guide their charges into a higher and more glorious dimension.
The angel balled her hands into fists. “What do you want from me?”
She gazed above her at the bright red mass bringing to mind cancerous tumors. The winds and fires whipped up around her tiny form adorned in golden armor, a howl emerged. The superheated air melted the human built world into molten liquid. “Jehovah, what do you want from me?” She screamed above the tumultuous noise until her throat became sore.
Juggernaut appeared next to Joan. He stood with his mouth agape and fell to his knees. Hot winds and flames burned around them. He gazed at Joan. “Why?”
Joan wrapped her arms around the angel. She could find no other way to console him. His family lived in Houston and they all died in the great blast.
Daisy Lane appeared and then Maria. The four stood amongst the ruins and flames and wind. A large crater sat a few feet before the angels. The buildings around the hole rendered to ashes and twisted beams.
The archangel pressed Juggernauts face against her cool armor. He held her as his muscular shoulders trembled from anger and sadness. He sobbed for those who met such a horrible death. “I’m sorry, Tobias,” she said while stroking his black hair.
The winds wailed around the four angels like tortured souls. Buildings crashed to the ground. What beauty once filled the city no longer existed. All burned in the flames and their combined powers could not save the ones who continued to pass away from the earth.
Joan turned to Daisy Lane. “Stay with him, I will be back,” she said to the stunned angels.
The archangel shot up into the terrific cloud and its hurricane winds. Her eyes gazed at the fiery scene beneath her. She forced herself to look away and continue on until the eastern sky turned into a light gray.
Soon the White House appeared before her. Its once pristine beauty marred by bullet holes and gray clouds. A black flag decorated with the pentagram replaced the United States flag. Soldiers dressed in black jumpsuits pointed at the archangel who streaked across the skies and plowed through the White House roof.
Joan crashed through the ceiling. Masonry fell around her in chunks, powdering her golden armor in plaster dust. She landed before David Brown’s desk. David bolted to his feet. Joan floated ahead, clamped her hand around his throat, and threw him.
David’s body slammed against a far wall across the office. He lifted his hand to protect himself. Joan set on him again in a rage.
Her anger rose so high she didn’t know how she wanted to kill him. Once again her right hand clamped around his throat, she could feel his jugular pulse against the web between her thumb and forefinger. She lifted him into the air. “Why?”
David Brown’s legs kicked about like a two year old, he grabbed at her hand. “You kill me, I will destroy them all.”
Joan swept her anger aside and shut off her emotions like a faucet and tossed David towards his desk. He crashed into it and bounced to the floor. By then his security team entered the office. One went to butt stroke her with his rifle. The archangel spun and punched a bloody hole into his chest. He slid to the floor and died.
“Wait, Joan,” David said, his hands thrown up. “I will kill them all. If any more of my men die I will destroy this entire planet with nukes.”
Joan turned on him. Her eyes fell upon the man, a mortal who killed more than any being who every came to earth, more than Armand. “Do you know what you’ve done? Millions have died because of you.”
David staggered to his feet. A crooked smile broke his face. He armed blood from his mouth. “And millions more will die if you and your angels don’t stop attacking us.”
Joan neared him, her hands balled into fists. She read his mind in hopes to pull out codes for the other nuclear bombs. Names, numbers, and random alphabets came at her in a confused blur, his thoughts mushy. For a moment she thought he sung Amazing Grace to himself.
“..how sweet thou sound, that saved a wretch like me..,” David said. He leaned against his desk and laughed. “Alcohol and valium, Joan. It renders your super powers useless.”
“I will do more than kill you, David.”
David Brown nodded his head
, his mouth drooped open in mock sadness. He rubbed his neck scoured with red welts from Joan’s fingers. “I’m not the only person here who can launch nukes you angelic freak.”
Joan eyed him. She wanted to send him off to Oblivion. “How could you?”
“You’re supposed to be dead. Not here, not in my way, not messing with our conquest,” David said. “Don’t you understand? Your time is done and gone, Joan. Go fly away somewhere and leave us to our work. This is your fault. I told you to disband the Guardians.”
Joan continued to approach. “You’ve killed children. Innocents.”
David laughed, snorted. “Then they will just fly off to Heaven. Isn’t that how it works, Joan? Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but none wants death.” He gave her a once over and looked up at the hole in the ceiling. “I want you out of my office. I warned you earlier. You can blame Daisy Lane and Juggernaut for what happened in Houston.”
Joan shook her head. “Monster. You are more horrid than those things from Hell.”
“Say what you want, bitch. I stopped you cold in your tracks,” he said and flicked a hand at her. “Leave my sight before I make you shine my shoes with your tongue.”
“I will be back, David. And you will not like your death.”
David glanced at his Rolex watch. “You still here? It’s time for me to eat breakfast.”
Joan frowned. Her heart ached for those who died in the nuclear fires. She could not have imagined the pain they suffered. As an archangel she turned pain on and off at will unless she fought a Hell spawn. But the mortal souls who died in the torment did not enjoy such a luxury.
The archangel spread her wings and floated up towards the hole she made in the ceiling, her brown eyes locked on the man beneath her. “I will come for you.”
David grinned and grabbed his crotch and tugged. “Did you know Raymond shat his pants before he died, Joan? God what a stink,” he said and broke out in hysterical laughter. “I killed him. Me.”
Joan deadened her heart. She spread her wings and soared up through the roof with tears streaming down her cheeks. A human just gained the upper hand on her, a supreme being. He exercised enough power to stop an archangel from killing him and she didn’t know how to correct it.
21
Tobias watched Joan fly up into the red whirlwind. Cars melted and exploded before his eyes, buildings with brick and concrete facades blackened. The beautiful city he once knew sat awash in flames. Rage shot through him, so strong his tears no longer poured down his face.
Tobias could not save everyone. Maria remained by his side, her face pressed against his. People on fire ran in the thousands throughout the streets. Hell on earth. A woman clutched a small bundle to her chest, a tiny leg kicked out from the blankets to spasm before both melted into ashes before his eyes.
Horrors raced by the two angels lost in grief and helplessness. Manhole covers exploded, street lights twisted and melted over like wilted weeds. The black macadam on the streets bubbled and melted into an oil thick soup.
Juggernaut leaned over on his hands and knees. His hair draping his shoulders. Everyone he knew in Houston died. His parents, uncles and aunts, General Perkins, all met their deaths in the fiery blast. So many at one time the immortal strength he savored seemed to seep from his bones.
The angel swallowed a breath drenched in heat, smoke, chemicals and a burn he knew the mortals suffered to inhale. He needed to collect himself or more would die. In the distance he thought a chuckle filtered through the madness.
Daisy Lane stepped before Juggernaut and Maria. “We have company.”
Juggernaut lifted his head and stood to his feet. Several Ghost soldiers emerged from the raging blaze. Heat waves shimmered, distorting the group who approached the three angels. Their struts bespoke arrogance. The one in front, adorned with two black horns on its head delivered a hard smile as if someone told a funny joke.
“Juggernaut, Maria, and Daisy Lane,” the apparent leader said. “We meet.” He lifted his hands at his sides, the others stopped.
Juggernaut walked by Daisy Lane. “Who are you?”
“General Zhu,” he said. “I wanted to check out the human’s handiwork. And I cannot complain. What about you?”
Juggernaut drew his sword. The two angels behind him drew their weapons. Guttural screams continued to fill the air. Buildings crashed to the ground, more cars exploded in the distance. A fire engine engulfed in flames rushed by the group and continued on up the heated street.
Juggernaut forced himself from the silent shock the nuclear blast shrouded him with. He leaped forward with sword raised, intended to cut down General Zhu. The demon drew a scimitar and deflected Juggernaut’s attack.
Maria and Daisy Lane charged ahead as the other Ghost Soldiers slid their weapons from scabbards to defend themselves.
Juggernaut and General Zhu fought hard amongst the growing rubble and death. Their sword strokes executed with fast flourishes failed to cut the other down. All the fighters engrossed themselves in battle as the city burned in the background.
Juggernaut focused on one goal. To kill the monster who found pleasure over those who died in the nuclear attack. He wanted revenge, pure and brutal. He wanted the war to end.
Distant shouts broke through the firestorm’s steady roar. Guardians in armor arrived amongst the flames and chaos led by Jason. The warriors slaughtered the Ghost Soldiers until General Zhu fought alone against Juggernaut.
Juggernaut shoved the demon back and sliced off his sword arm. The beast howled in pain, stumbling from the armored foe and his companions.
“This is a new world, Guardians. A new world.”
Juggernaut lifted his blade to cleave Zhu’s head. The general vanished like a phantasm. The angel’s mind whirled, lost in anger and sadness. He turned to Daisy. “Can we save them?”
“We can try.”
Jason stared at the scene with glassy eyes. “The Guardians are taking as many as they can, Juggernaut.”
Juggernaut placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Let’s do our best. Set your tears and shock aside and save the others.”
22
Joan flew from the White House enraged and frustrated with tears streaming from her eyes. David must have gloated in her retreat. She wondered what God wanted her to do, how He wanted her to figure out the madness spreading throughout the world. Every step they took forward an invisible fist slammed them back twenty paces. She stroked her wings hard and pushed herself towards Texas.
Joan’s mind searched for clues, some meaning hidden amongst the death and blood. She considered herself a smart woman and could figure out problems quick, but this went beyond intellect. Michael told her she thought too much. Did she miss something, a crucial piece to destroy the enemy and send them all back to Hell?
Satan and his followers ruled the earth, held an upper hand she could not accept. She found it impossible for them to conquer and destroy and gain victory after victory. Her archangel skills should have crushed them from the start. But it didn’t. Her failure enhanced their arrogance, made them bolder.
For a moment she pondered the Guardian’s disbandment, but would the enemy stop the killing. Satan and his minions would laugh and want more. Their goals bent on total destruction. Those who loved God would either convert to Satanists, or die. She would choose death, but not all. Some wanted to live, even if they sold their souls to Lucifer.
Joan discovered she needed to step back and gaze at the entire problem. Somewhere a hole within the enemy waited for her sword blade to slip into.
The mushroom cloud still glowed over Houston. Not as big as before, but the sight caused her to gasp in awe. It burned in red, orange, and yellow, blue lightening flashed from its turbulent edges, smoke rose in thin tendrils from the ground as secondary explosion bloomed up around it.
The land beneath her sat covered in scorched trees flattened to the ground, houses burned down to their concrete foundations. The area would be poisonous for centuries. Her eyes p
icked out burning cars and trucks. A few people still ran on, some covered in flames. Their pained cries pouring up to the skies filling her ears.
Joan swept down and began to gather them up in her arms in ones and twos. The Guardians, impervious to the nuclear fires, already started the gruesome and heartbreaking work to try and save lives. She took the victims to Big Bend National Park where thousands already lay on the ground, their bodies withering in pain, moans and shrieks filled the entire area.
She laid a young boy on the ground, his body blackened to a crisp. His horrid moans joined the others around them. Her eyes met General Black. Tears covered his face as he worked to help the few he could.
Black looked up at Joan. “Who did this, Joan?”
“David Brown.”
Black straightened. Guardians continued to drop the wounded and dying off near the river. “We have to disarm the nukes before he decides to do this again.”
“How do we accomplish that, Gerald? David told me if we interfere he would destroy the entire world. I couldn’t read his mind, he was either drunk or on some type of drug.”
Black’s glassy eyes swept around him and he headed off to the command tent. “I refuse to let someone like David Brown stop us, Joan.” He went inside the tent and returned with a black laptop computer. He walked towards Joan and flipped it open and began to type.
“Can you stop him, Gerald?”
“Oh, I can stop him, Joan.” He struck the enter button and waited. “If Patricia is still alive I’m going to send her into the Pentagon.”
“Why there?”
“To upload Initiative 13. It’s a nuclear disabling virus,” he said with his eyes locked on the screen.
The computer shrilled and Patricia Jones appeared on the video. “General Black.”
Black turned the screen so he and Joan could face the ex-presidential advisor. “We got a big problem here, Patricia.”
Angels of War Battle of Archangels (Book 3) (Angels of War Trilogy) Page 8