Mary squeezed Desmond’s hand. “It’s just so dangerous out there,” she said.
Huh?
Desmond was confused, and trying not to get agitated. Mary had been in a hurry to leave The Sanctuary. And now she was hinting that she wanted to stay?
Why?
Boricio was full of shit. Desmond figured the stranger was simply using his smarts. The guy knew how to survive. From the outside, The Sanctuary looked plenty safe. If Boricio was smart enough to survive on the outside for half a year, he was smart enough to survive in here, too. Even if that meant acting like a religious nut.
Desmond tuned out as John started telling Boricio that there was no luck. The Good Lord had led the way, and they were all better off for it. One new mouth to feed, but two hands to help build the church, blah blah blah. Desmond was crafting an exit to the conversation so he could get Mary alone, at least long enough to empty her mind of whatever was giving it weight, and pulling him down with it.
Boricio told Desmond and Mary how nice it was to meet them again, then turned his attention to John, asking him about work schedules, and seeing if maybe there was something he could do to help everyone out. He claimed he was a whiz in the kitchen, but Desmond was happy to hear John say that the kitchen staff was well taken care of. Desmond didn’t want the stranger touching his food.
Desmond and Mary clearly weren’t needed, so they excused themselves from the conversation, then made it to the behind the barn without further interruption. Luca and Paola were now walking around the hangar, Paola talking animatedly, though Luca still looked sad.
Mary was softly crying before they got to the benches, though Desmond could tell she was trying her hardest not to. “What’s wrong, Sweetie?” he said.
Mary didn’t make him wait. Through a controlled sob, she said, “I’m pregnant.”
Desmond couldn't find his tongue through the thick tangle of sudden shock. At first, all he could do was stare, then he pulled Mary close and started petting the back of her hair. Finally, he said, “Are you sure? How can you be certain? You haven’t actually taken a test have you? Maybe whatever happened in October has affected everyone’s cycles?”
Mary cried harder and Desmond regretted all four of his questions, especially the last one.
He repeated the first question anyway. “Are you sure?”
Mary nodded. “I know my body, and trust my instincts. There’s a baby inside me, Desmond. Our baby. I’m sure of it.”
Desmond laughed, so he could feel alive instead of numb. “You’re sure of it? Now you’re starting to sound like Will!” He laughed.
Desmond had no idea if Mary found it funny. He thought he could feel her smile, but her face was buried in his chest as she surrendered to a shuddering sob. He let her catch her breath as he continued to stroke her hair. “We have to stay,” she finally said. “It’s too dangerous out there, at least on our own. We don’t know what sort of dangers are waiting and I’m only going to get bigger and bigger. From what we’ve seen, there are no doctors or hospitals anymore, Desmond. This is it.”
“There aren’t any doctors here,” he said.
“But there are two midwives, at least. Plus heat and food and guns and a lot of other stuff a baby needs to stay safe. My big baby might be old enough to handle it out there,” Mary glanced toward the gates. “But my new baby doesn’t stand a chance.” She looked at Desmond and held his eyes. “Our new baby doesn’t stand a chance out there.”
Desmond said, “I’ll do whatever you want, go wherever you want, do whatever you think is best. But this place creeps me out. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can find somewhere to settle down.”
“Where Desmond?” Mary had stopped crying, but she was skating along the razor’s edge. “Where else can we find someone to help us have our baby? We thought we found safety at the farm, and you saw what happened there. If John and the people here hadn’t come, we’d all be dead. All of us.”
She was right. John and the nut-jobs had saved them.
“We’ll find someplace safer, with normal people that we don’t need to worry about. Wherever we go,” Desmond said, “I’ll be there. I’ll help you. We’ll find someplace safe. We’ll be safe. We did it before; we can do it again. People were having babies for thousands of years before the first hospital was ever imagined.”
“Yeah,” Mary agreed, “and they had the infant mortality rate to prove it.”
Desmond nodded toward the box with the young girl being punished inside. “How about that, Mary? You want our child to grow up in a place where he or she might get tossed in the box when it cries too loud?”
He would have loved to hear Mary’s comeback, but they were suddenly interrupted by Rei, looking even more smug than normal.
“Yeah?” Desmond said, not even trying to hide his irritation.
“I was wondering if either of you two have seen Brother Will. I would very much like to have a word with him.”
“I saw him a bit ago, but I’m not sure where he went.” Desmond said. “What’s up?”
“I had something I wanted to share with him. Pay no mind; go on with your talk. I’m sure I’ll find him shortly.” Rei made it three steps before he turned back and said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Brothers John and Boricio would like your help over at the church, Desmond. They’re waiting for you now.”
Then he turned and looked at Mary, with a wolfish smile that made Desmond want to rip every tooth from the fucker’s mouth.
“Sarah was wondering if you could help her prepare for our new Brother’s stay. She’s waiting for you now.” He turned and walked away, not waiting for an answer.
Desmond and Mary knew they were being watched, so they wiped their eyes and each walked toward their assignment. He hoped she would listen to reason, and that they’d be gone from The Sanctuary before much longer.
The end of the world had jumbled man’s laws, and Desmond wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay before he made sure Rei quit breathing for good.
* * * *
WILL BISHOP: PART 3
Will waited until lunchtime, when the guards thinned to nearly nothing, just one man on the main house roof and one at the front gate, then made his way to the rear gate leading to the cemetery.
The rear gate was left unguarded, secured with only a padlock – easy enough to pick open with a paperclip and a tension wrench.
He’d have to be quick. If he wasn’t back before lunch was over, he’d have a tough time getting in undetected, and would probably wind up sharing a cell with Carl, wherever the hell they were holding the kid. Or worse, inside a box beside the girl, Rebecca.
Will picked the lock, slipped through the gate, stepped from the path and raced into the woods three inches deep with snow, still frozen from the night before. His eyes scanned the forest, hoping like hell he wouldn't find any monsters. He didn’t think they would, but to hear people talk, you’d think the woods were infested. Maybe they were, but everything looked eerily quiet at the moment. No birds chirping and no animals foraging, nothing but a light, cool breeze and creaking of trees.
Where is it?
He’d seen it so clearly in his dreams; it hadn’t been far. Will was fairly certain it was just south of The Sanctuary, circled by forest on all sides except the west, which faced the front entrance.
He glanced at his watch. 12:35.
Lunch would be over at 1 p.m., and then the back of The Sanctuary would be filled with workers, laboring on the church.
Will walked deeper into the woods until the stone wall of The Sanctuary was only a suggestion. He wondered if he should have gone north of The Sanctuary. If so, he was screwed. He’d been walking a while and wouldn't have time to make an about face that mattered.
His heart raced as he glanced at his watch again.
12:45.
It was as if time were speeding up to conspire against him.
Where is it?!
He was turning back in defeat when he saw what he’d left The Sanctuary to
find.
The white tarp covering the car, exactly as he had seen it in his dreams.
He raced over, whipped the tarp off, then drew in his breath with a whistle.
There it was, just as he’d seen in his dream. Some sort of modified BMW Z8. If the dream was correct, which of course it would be, the guns were in the trunk. Will searched for the tree he’d seen in the dream. The tree with the hole in the trunk.
It took him a moment to find. Once he did, Will reached into the dark, damp hole, and found the keys The Sanctuary’s new visitor had hidden. He carefully pushed the trunk button, hoping like hell he wouldn’t accidentally set off the alarm. The trunk popped open, putting the large black bag of weapons on full display.
Will grabbed the bag, which felt like it weighed 50 pounds, then shut the trunk, put the bag on the ground, and pulled the tarp back over the car. He slid the car keys into his pants pocket, and glanced at his watch.
12:54
He raced back to The Sanctuary, heart pounding in his chest as he sucked in deep mouthfuls of freezing air.
At the wall, he squatted down and opened the bag, careful not to get snow on his pants. He withdrew a Glock and a box of bullets. He slipped the shells into his pocket, and the gun behind his waistband in the small of his back, hidden by his jacket, then hid the bag against the outer wall, behind a small cluster of trees, where it wouldn't be seen unless someone was looking directly at it.
With the bag concealed, Will raced to the gate, scanning the yard beyond. He could hear others, not too far off, but had yet to see them. The gate was fairly well hidden at the rear of the property, behind the barn and maintenance shack. Unless someone was in the rear of the garden, behind the barn, or walking along the rear wall, he was reasonably covered. Will stepped inside the gate, closed it, then retrieved the padlock he’d taken when he left and clicked it shut.
He turned around, and saw Brother Rei standing there.
“Hello,” Will said, acting perfectly normal, no idea what he’d seen.
“What were you doing?”
“I thought I heard someone out there,” Will said.
Brother Rei eyed him suspiciously, then walked toward Will and looked outside the gate. “Did it sound like a person?”
“I’m not sure,” Will said. “I thought so. But it could have been a demon, maybe?”
“I’ll have some men search outside,” Brother Rei took Will by the elbow, leading him away from the gate. Will hoped they didn’t search so well that they found either the weapons or the car.
“Come with me,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you. We need to talk.”
Will swallowed the lump in his throat, and followed Brother Rei back to the main house, the gun in his back a 12-ton stone that might fall out and crush his cover at any moment.
**
Brother Rei led Will to a room on the bottom floor of the main house. Will didn’t know if the office was Brother Rei’s, The Prophet’s, or someone else’s, but it was sparsely furnished. Just a desk, with two wood and leather chairs on either side, and a large metal filing cabinet against the back wall. On the desk was a manilla folder with a stack of papers inside.
“Have a seat, Brother Will.”
Will sat in the seat in front of the desk, as if he were about to interview for a job, rather than sit through the interrogation he expected. Will had seen the way Brother Rei was watching him lately, like a dog trying to divine the meaning of life. Brother Rei knew something was off about Will, and was trying to figure out exactly what it was. Or maybe he thought something was off about the whole lot of them, and Will was the easiest to go after. Mary and Desmond would defend one another, as they would Luca or Paola. Linc was roughly the size of a shit brickhouse, and men like Brother Rei never went after men like Linc unless the odds were heavily stacked in their favor.
Will was the weakest link, the one most likely to break their group’s chain.
“I’ll be right back; I just want to tell the others not to disturb us,” Brother Rei said, excusing himself from the room and closing the door behind him.
Will looked around, plotting the sudden escape he might have to make. The office window was barred, as were most of the windows on all three of the houses, so jumping out the window was out of the question. The room was small with no other doors, so if things went south, he’d have to go out the way he came in, then contend with whoever was standing guard.
“I’m sorry,” Brother Rei said, re-entering the room and taking a seat in the leather chair behind the desk. “Now, let’s get to know Brother Will a little better.”
“Okay,” Will said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair, gun pressing hard against the small of his back.
“A little birdie told me that The Prophet isn’t the only one who dreamed of October 15 before it happened. That you, too, had visions.”
“Well, I’m not sure I’d call them visions,” Will said, not sure where Brother Rei was headed with his line of questioning. “They were more like dreams that happened to come true. And it’s been months since I’ve had any.”
“You and I both know that nothing just happens, right?”
“I suppose,” Will said.
“And what did these vis . . . dreams tell you?”
“Not a whole lot,” Will lied. “Just bits and pieces, really. The one thing I remembered most was the date, of course. And that a lot of people would disappear all at once.”
“Rapture, you mean?”
“Well, I’m not sure what to call it,” Will said. “Nor did my dreams explain it, really.”
“And how long have you been having these dreams?”
“Decades, on and off.”
“And you never thought to warn anyone?”
“Well, I warned people I worked with at the Air Force. They thought I was crazy.”
“People can be doubting of The Truth. So, what did you do in the Air Force? Did you fly?”
“A bit, at first, but then I was a researcher, of sorts.”
“Of sorts?” Brother Rei said, eyebrows raised. “What does that mean?”
“It’s too complicated to explain,” Will said, wishing he’d said something with a thinner skin of truth. The truth was something he couldn’t explain to most people, let alone a fundamentalist who saw things in two ways, either of God or the Devil.
“Why, because I’m just a dumb rube who doesn’t understand technical jargon?” Brother Rei said sharply, his eyes no longer disguising his disdain for Will.
“Did I do something to offend you?” Will asked, surprised at how quickly Brother Rei had dropped the courteous act. Will wanted to calm the man, and get the hell out of the room before things got out of hand. This was not part of the dream, and Brother Rei’s interference was a danger to everything.
Brother Rei smiled, though his smile had the warmth of an igloo. “How did you come to meet the boy? This child with such powers?”
“Luca? I dreamed of him,” Will said. “Something told me I’d meet him, and I did.”
“Something. Not God, though, right? Because God doesn’t speak to you?”
Will wasn’t sure what to say. There wasn’t much room for navigation. He could tell the little weasel wanted to pick a fight; it was all Brother Rei could do to keep his fist from suddenly swinging at Will. This man was a bully, a power-hungry one at that. Will had seen his kind, dealt with his kind, plenty of times before. He was a petty little man with inadequacy issues, looking to make a name for himself, however he could.
Brother Rei was looking for a reason to spar with Will, but Will was smarter than the weasel by a wide berth. Will wouldn’t give in to the attempts. He would remain calm in the face of Brother Rei’s fury, no matter how quickly it rolled to a boil, or how high the bubbles rose.
“So, tell me, Brother Will. How close are you to Luca?”
Will didn’t like the innuendo in Brother Rei’s voice or the arch in his left eyebrow when he said ‘close.’ Had Brother Rei discovered his secret,
or was he simply guessing? In any event, homosexuality didn’t equate to pedophilia, and Will would have to hide his outrage if that’s where Brother Rei was going with this.
“What are you asking?” Will met Brother Rei’s dark eyes, almost daring him to voice his ugly suspicions.
“Just trying to figure things out, is all,” Brother Rei said with a devious smile. “Do you think Luca is possessed?”
“What?! That’s crazy.”
“Do you not believe in demonic possession? Have you not seen enough of what’s happened outside, or been paying attention enough to know what it means?”
“Don’t you have better things to do with your day than spend it asking me questions about my faith? What is the point of all this?”
“The point, Brother Will, is to determine which side of eternity you and your little group are standing on. Brother John may have been fooled by your act, but I’m not so naive and trusting as he.”
“If you don’t trust us, then why have us here?”
Brother Rei smiled at this as if it were some kind of joke, and that it was all he could do to keep his laughter contained. He leaned across the desk, lowered his voice, and said, “You’re right; you shouldn’t be here. Please, let yourself out.”
Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone) Page 37