by Tim Miller
“Ok, hold on a damn minute,” I said. I couldn’t take anymore. “For one, I could easily kill the both of you. Two, we don’t have time to be standing here jerking each other off. Lieutenant, I don’t know the first thing about you, and all you know about me is that someone told you I killed a bunch of people. Tell you what. Let me help you get to the bottom of all this, and then I’ll turn myself in.”
“Oh right. I should just take you at your word,” Majors said. “Fuck that. I’m taking you in right now.” He moved toward me while reaching for his cuffs. O’Brien just stood there, afraid to confront his boss. I wasn’t about to go back into federal custody, or anyone else’s custody for that matter. I didn’t want to kill Majors though; he could prove to be useful. As he grabbed my arm, I swatted his hand away. Without hesitating, he took a swing at my face and caught me in the jaw. The guy was much quicker for his age than he looked. I stumbled back as dove at me, knocking me onto the ground.
As I landed, I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him toward me. It was a move I learned in Jiu jitsu, known as “pulling guard”. If you don’t know what it is, it looks like some weird sex position, but it’s quite effective at defending yourself from your back. He leaned in trying to punch me. I kicked my legs around his head and placed him in a triangle choke. That is basically choking him out with my legs. His face turned several shades of red as I squeezed. I saw O’Brien out of the corner of my eye, watching us wide-eyed.
“That’s enough!” O’Brien finally yelled. “Let him go Charlie!”
“The asshole came after me. I’m just gonna choke him out, I won’t hurt him.”
“The hell you will. Let him up now.” O’Brien ran at me and kicked me in the stomach. I had to release my hold from Majors as O’Brien kicked at me repeatedly. I got to my feet and ducked one of O’Brien’s punches, and hit punched him in his side. He doubled over just as Majors came rushing from behind, plowing into me. I ran into a door and we tumbled through the doorway and into the parking lot. Majors was on top of me punching me in the face and head. I turned my head away and tried to knock him off me, when he stopped. I looked up and he was staring at something behind me. I craned my head around and saw a frog was sitting near my head. Majors got off of me as I stood up. We both looked around and saw at least a dozen frogs along the sidewalk and parking lot. Several were hopping in through the open door.
We walked out to the street and saw total chaos. There were frogs everywhere. Cars were sliding off the road with slick tires after having run over so many. People were running into whatever building they could find. One woman had been knocked to the ground and was covered from head to toe by the things. The second plague was beginning.
Chapter 33
The stench of the frogs was worse than the blood. I’m not sure if they came from the sewers, or if they just naturally smell that bad. The three of us stood there watching the bizarre scene unfold in front of us. It was like something out of an old Alfred Hitchcock movie, either that, or a bad SyFy Channel movie. My face hurt like hell from Majors punching me. The little guy really packed a wallop.
“Holy shit,” O’Brien said. “This really is the end of the world. We better repent or something.”
“Trust me,” I began. “Your god is not what you think he is. Repentance won’t help.”
“But don’t the Bible say—“
“Forget that damn book. It’s all bullshit. Men wrote it; ancient men who didn’t know how else to explain what they were experiencing. God and the Ghost are not gods. They think and act like it, but they’re not.” O’Brien looked like he might cry at this revelation.
“So, what exactly are they?”
“I don’t have time to explain it.”
“Look, kids. I hate to interrupt y’all’s Sunday school lesson, but we are about neck deep in shit if you haven’t noticed,” Majors chimed in. I rubbed my jaw as I looked at him.
“You’re pretty strong for a little guy,” I said.
“Well, no shit. I’m a Goddamn-Texas-fucking-Ranger. You think they hire girl scouts for this job?” Majors replied. Since these were the only two Rangers I’d ever met, I didn’t have any point of reference. One thing was certain, Texas Rangers did not lack in self-confidence. Still, something about Majors seemed off, but I couldn’t put a finger on it.
“Okay,” I said. “My guess is that the Ghost will be in or near another church. That’s been his thing so far.”
“What the hell is ‘the Ghost'?” Majors asked.
“It’s that thing that has Maria. The one causing all the chaos. We find her, we find the Ghost, and I can stop it.”
“First, who the hell is Maria? Second, what Ghost and just what the hell are you talking about?”
I tried to get Majors up to speed as quickly as I could. I’d already explained it all to O’Brien, it didn’t sound any less crazy as I told Majors.
“And you know all this how? You special or something?”
“Yes, I am special. I’m not just any preacher. I have a few tricks up my sleeve myself. Just ask your buddy over there,” I said pointing at O’Brien.
“He does boss, he’s a bit of a freak. He can do some weird shit.”
All this male bonding was starting to get on my nerves. I hadn’t bonded with anyone my whole life. Now in the span of a week, I’d had sex with a girl who I seemed to feel something for, and was now fighting with two Texas Rangers as if we were all brothers. This was almost more distressing to me than taking on the Ghost. It made me wish I could just slip away for a few hours and kill someone in my old-fashioned way. That would have to wait, unfortunately. I had a feeling I’d get the chance to kill soon enough.
“All right,” Majors said. “I’ll take preacher boy here and we’ll check out some churches on the north side. O’Brien, you take the south.”
“L.T., that’s going to take forever. Both sides of town are huge,” O’Brien protested.
“Yes, I am aware. We aren’t going to get any help with all this chaos, so we have to work with what we have, which is just us. And you,” Majors said, turning to me. “Don’t think you’re off the hook. I’m taking you along so I can keep an eye on you. And I think O’Brien is right, you seem to have a handle on this no one else does. So you might be able to help. If not, I’ll just shoot you where you stand and move on. Got it?”
“Right,” I said.
“Good, now let’s go.”
We ran outside toward Major’s pickup. “Run” is a strong word, actually… We hopped and leaped over what frogs we could. I felt them squish under my feet as I ran across their soft little bodies. Amidst all the frogs, I noticed the sky was still red. I wasn’t sure what that signified, other than more plagues to come. We climbed in the truck as frogs jumped onto my lap and by my feet. I threw or kicked them out as fast as I could and closed the door.
“Damn that’s some crazy shit!” Majors said.
“Yeah, that’s an understatement. So where we headed?”
“I think up to Live Oak. There are some big churches up that way. Something tells me people would be headed to church in all this. He might like a big crowd.”
I was impressed at his insight, so I left it be. Seemed like as good a place as any to look, despite it being a bit of a drive. Live Oak was at least thirty minutes away in the best of traffic. Getting onto I-35 was easy. However once we reached the downtown area, traffic was bumper to bumper and not moving at all.
“Shit, I shoulda known,” Majors said. “The whole city is freaking out. God knows how many accidents we’ll have to sit through.” We finally worked our way to one of the exit ramps, and pulled off at Cesear Chavez. “May as well try the side roads. Can’t be any worse.”
As we drove along, he was right. Traffic was all headed away from us, trying to get away from downtown, not go toward it. However, gradually traffic slowed down for us once again.
“Now what is holding everyone up? Majors asked. Looking ahead, the air looked hazy. It looked like a hug
e, dark cloud was heading toward us. Majors got out of the truck to see what was going on. I had a bad feeling, so I stayed in the truck and watched as he walked toward the fog. Other drivers had gotten out to watch as well. The cloud’s movement looked odd, though. It’s movements were fluid, almost as if it were alive. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind when Majors came running back to the truck as if his hair were on fire. He jumped in and slammed the door while scratching himself feverishly.
“Gnats! It’s a huge swarm of gnats. Tons of them and they itch like hell!” He was practically having a seizure trying to get the tiny insects off himself. I grabbed the owner’s manual from the glove box and began swatting him all over his back and arms. Looking out the window I could see the cloud of gnats had moved in, surrounding us in every direction. As I kept swatting, gnats started coming through the truck’s vents and were suddenly all over me. The itching wasn’t too bad at first, but suddenly felt like my skin was in fire. Things had just gotten a whole lot worse.
Chapter 34
Cars crashed all around us as Major’s truck leapt forward. Someone had plowed into the back of us. The gnats were all over us, I could even feel them going into my nose and mouth. Majors was trying to say something but he couldn’t speak. I looked up to see another car skidding sideways and slamming into the side of the truck. The airbags deployed as my head jerked about. We slammed into another car when I grabbed Majors and pulled him out of the vehicle. We had to get off the streets before we got killed.
We worked our way through the street and into the first building we could find. It was a deli. When we stepped in, the smell of fresh sandwiches was disrupted by gnats buzzing up my nose. A few still made it inside, but the door sealed well enough to keep them out for the moment.
“What in the hell is going on Charlie?” Majors asked.
“It’s the next plague, gnats.”
“Aren’t they supposed to happen further apart?”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t know how literal the Ghost is taking it either.”
“Are they almost over with?”
“You kidding? There’s ten total. We’re on number three.”
“Well, shit.”
“Not yet. They keep getting worse.”
I noticed strange movements in the streets as I looked through the glass door. There were a group of Hispanic men with guns outside running toward us. One of them fired when he saw me. Thankfully the round hit the wall near the doorway and not the glass door itself. It had to be cartel guys. They must have been following us.
“We got company,” I told Majors. He drew his pistol. “Some of these guys are carrying AK-47s. Not sure how much good that thing will do.”
“You might be surprised—” before he could finish, more gunfire erupted from outside. The few people who were in the deli ran toward the back. One woman went down hard as a bullet struck her in the back, spraying blood everywhere. Majors and I ducked behind a table while getting as close to the ground as we could. Of all the things I’d been through in the past few years, gunfire was something I could never get used to. I’d have made a horrible cop. Guns were so loud and intrusive. Knives were small, quiet and personal. A round ricocheted off the floor just a few feet from my head. I pressed harder against the floor and tried to slither behind the counter where Majors already was hiding.
One of the men came through the broken glass as the gnats swarmed into the deli. The large man didn’t seem effected by the tiny bugs swirling around him. Despite my best efforts, I bumped the side of the counter as I lay behind it. I could see through a crack between the wall and counter. The man looked right in my direction and pointed his AK-47 right at me. Or at least where he thought I was, which he was right. If he was going to shoot, then this would be it. The counter was made of thick wood, but it wouldn’t stop a barrage of AK-47 rounds. I’d figured this battle with the gods would be the end of me; I just figured thought my end would be more epic than being shot in a deli by some thug.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the end, but instead I heard the man gasp, and the gun fall to the ground. I opened my eyes and saw Majors standing behind the man with his hands on him. But the big Mexican wasn’t a man anymore, he was a pile of what looked like white crystals. The other cartel thugs were standing around in the same state.
“What the hell?” I said.
“Salt,” Majors said. “I turned them into salt.”
“What? How---“
“I’m like you Charlie. I’m a Nephilim.”
Chapter 35
“What are you talking about? You a Nephilim?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Earlier he was acting as if he had no idea about anything biblical. Now he says he’s just like me. Before Majors could answer, two more men came storming in. They hesitated when they saw their two partners as giant lumps of salt. That gave Majors enough time to draw his sidearm and shoot both of them in the chest. I watched them fall where they stood. Their timing was kind of handy, actually: the gnats seemed to focus more on the salt and dead bodies, causing the air around us to thin out a little.
“I said I’m like you Charlie. I’m part Nephilim. As you saw, I can turn people into salt. Unlike you though, I’ve known what I am for a long time. There are actually several of us. We’ve also known who you are; been watching you for a while.”
“Watching me? What for? You guys some kind of weird cult?” I know I sounded like a raving lunatic, but this was getting to be too much. I had no idea even who I was, let alone that there were others out there.
“I knew about you since sometime before the Bishop turned up. Nephilim give off a unique aura or energy. You may not be able to tell right now. Only those of us who know what we’re looking for can see it.”
“So how do you know what to look for? Oh, and by the way, thanks for helping me out when the Bishop was doing his thing,” I grumbled. “I cannot believe you left me to fight him all by myself.”
“We thought of intervening with the Bishop, but you seemed to have a handle on it.”
I wanted to punch him in the face. We could have probably taken down the Bishop without killing seventy-thousand people if I’d had some help.
“You arrogant asshole! You know how many people died because of what I had to do in there? What if you’d helped? We could have saved some lives and still stopped him.” I was breathing heavily, and, without realizing it, had covered the space between us. I was standing right in front of Majors, glaring into his eyes. “How many others like us are there?” I asked shakily. I really wanted to punch him in the face.
“Calm down, son. It wouldn’t have been any different. There’s only six of us, seven including you. We stick together but try to stay out of sight of regular folks. We call ourselves the Bastards of the Fallen.”
“How catchy.”
“I like it. Most of us live here in the southwest. I’m not sure why, but this part of the country seems to be a hotbed for the supernatural.”
“So I’ve noticed,” I said. “So, were you all planning on getting involved here? Or were you gonna let me figure this out on my own, too?”
“If we weren’t going to get involved, I wouldn’t be here. I had to wait for the right time to reveal myself. If these plagues let up a bit, I can get the others together so you can meet them. We need to work together on this one. The Bishop was bad, but the Ghost is no joke.”
It was so weird hearing Majors talk like this. Seemed like a few minutes ago, he was a badass Texas Ranger who took no shit and only knew what was right in front of him. How he’s the bastard offspring of a fallen angel who can turn people into blocks of salt and talking about God, demons and fallen angels. Then again, nothing should surprise me at this point.
“What about O’Brien? I asked.
“He’s got enough to keep himself busy for a while.”
“You don’t think he’ll get himself killed?”
“He should be fine on the south side church hopping. Besides, with these damn gnats, he’s
probably holed up somewhere.”
We made our way back to the truck as the gnats began to thin out. I was relieved that they were dissipating, but knew another plague would be coming soon. Majors pulled out a satellite phone and dialed. He walked to the rear of the truck so I couldn’t hear. After a few minutes he climbed back into the cab.
“Okay, we’re gonna meet up tonight. There’s a pavilion near the river. We’ll meet up there,” he said.
“Tonight? We could get hit with another plague before then.”
“Plagues are coming regardless. May as well see what we can throw at the summbitch.”
As much as I hated to admit, he had a point. Until we got a location on Maria, and/or the Ghost, we would be chasing our tails and trying to survive each plague.
“So what do we do in the meantime?” I asked.
“I suggest we find shelter. What plague is next?”
“Flies,” I said. “You really don’t know what the plagues are?”
“Just because I’m part Nephilim don’t make me a Bible scholar. I never thought much of it till the Bishop showed up. That’s why you’re probably the most valuable out of all of us. After what you did in the Alamodome, I’d say the most powerful too.”
We climbed into the truck and headed further downtown to find a place to hang out before the flies hit. I wasn’t sure whether or not to look forward to meeting the others. Guess if it didn’t go well, I could always kill them.
Chapter 36
We got a room at the Drury Hotel downtown. They tried to tell us they were closed, but Majors showed his Ranger star and they suddenly had a room for us. We weren’t tired, but we needed to rest up before the next plague hit. We’d just gotten to our room when I saw them through the window; flies, millions of them, or at least enough to make the sky go dark. Majors turned on the TV to local news. There was a pretty anchor lady named Elsa Ramon discussing the plagues. She said they were hitting all over Texas, from Eagle Pass clear up to Dallas. Even El Paso had felt some of the effects, but not as intensely.