by J. Thorn
Jana’s face twisted in horror. He took Sally and Jay and he knew her name. The manner in which he’d gathered the information worried her the most.
“I am Commander Byron. I serve the Holy Covenant and have been running the First Cleansing in Cleveland.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I asked Sally.”
Jana shook the grogginess from her head.
“Jana,” he said. “That is not a common name. Do you know any other Janas in this town?”
His accent appeared only on certain words and Jana had a hard time placing it. It might have been German or possibly Russian.
“Do you spend your time searching for other Byrons?”
The commander slapped her across the face. His black, leather glove stung Jana’s cheek leaving a waft of tanned hide and a red splotch. She tasted the rawhide on her swollen tongue.
“You would do best being respectful to me. I do not want to harm you but I will if I must. You are already dead to the Covenant unless I say so. If you want to live, you need me and therefore you must treat me with respect. Do you understand?”
Jana nodded her head without saying a word.
“Now. Would you care to answer my question?”
Jana looked over Commander Byron’s shoulder. She saw the top of a glass counter directly behind him and the storefront to his right. He dragged her behind the counter and out of sight of anyone passing the shop.
“No, sir, I have never met another Jana here in Cleveland or anywhere else for that matter.”
A huge grin spread across Commander Byron’s face. His yellow teeth glared at her.
“Yes, that has been my thought too. I can’t tell you how lucky I am. Of all the infidels scurrying like rats around the city, I happened to spot you. Can you believe it, Jana? I was on the streets when you appeared. It must be an act of God, don’t you agree?”
Jana nodded her head. She bit her lip hard, doing her best to keep the tears from flowing.
“How old are you, Jana?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Ah yes, how I remember twenty-three. Nights and lovers last forever at twenty-three, do they not?”
“What are you going to do with me?”
“And where do you live?”
Commander Byron kept ignoring her questions, waiting with patience for the information he needed. The art of interrogation took years to perfect. The commander moved a hand to the knife on his belt and wrapped his fingers around the handle.
“South Euclid. What are you going to do to me, you bastard?”
Another gloved hand rose up and struck Jana on the same side of the head. Her eyes rolled back and then focused on Byron. She felt her face burning, growing puffy and she could taste the salty drip of blood from her lip.
“You will respect me, young lady, or you will have a very swollen face. I’m going to continue to ask you questions. The answers may very well save your life. If, however, you curse at me or show your disrespect I will cut you into pieces and feed them to the rabid dogs in the streets. Nobody but me knows you are here. I have the power to wipe you from the face of the earth.”
“I’ll cooperate, I promise. I’m tired, my head hurts and this tape is giving me a spasm in my back.”
Jana forced a half-smile and lifted her head toward Byron. She opened her fists and batted tears away with her eyelashes.
“If you so much as—”
“Yes, you will kill me. I understand. My back, please?”
Now Commander Byron smiled. He held a pistol to Jana’s head with one hand. The other held a sixteen-inch knife that sliced through the tape on her hands, wrists and ankles.
“Thank you,” she said, with a note of sincerity.
The circulation came back into her limbs and she was able to stretch the muscle spasm from her back.
“May I stand?”
“Sure, my dear, but don’t expect the eye of this barrel to be looking anywhere but at your forehead.”
“What’s next?”
“That all depends on how you answer my questions.”
Jana nodded.
“Go ahead.”
“Do you know someone named John?”
“No.”
Commander Byron punched Jana square in the mouth. The previous slaps transmitted a blunt warning. This one delivered the pain. Jana slumped down in her chair and spat blood on the floor. Her tongue nudged a loose tooth in the front and her lip swelled.
“Don’t lie to me. Do you know someone named John?”
“I don’t know—”
Byron hit her again in the same spot. Stars swirled around Jana’s head. She lost her equilibrium and fell off the chair onto the floor while spitting teeth into her palm.
“I can see your leg is not fully healed. That is where I will be headed next unless you speak the truth. Do you know someone named John?”
Jana pushed the hair from her face and bit down hard into the sleeve of her sweatshirt in an effort to stop the bleeding.
“He is my husband.”
Commander Byron helped Jana back to her chair. He reached for a bottle of water on a nearby table and took a clean handkerchief from his pocket. He poured water on the cloth and dabbed the blood from Jana’s chin.
“You are a very pretty woman and I would like for you to stay that way. It is not easy for a man to strike such a beautiful woman but I must do what I must do for the greater good. I am sure you understand.”
The pain surged in her mouth. Jana managed to nod.
“Take these with this water. It will help with the pain.”
He handed Jana the water and a bottle of aspirin. Jana noticed the Cyrillic characters on the label.
“Do you know that the leader of the Holy Covenant has identified a ‘John the Revelator’ as a key person of interest? He does not want John killed or injured because he wants to speak with him. If you tell me where he is I can get him safely back to Father with minimal pain involved.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
The knife plunged down toward Jana’s gunshot wound. It managed to slice her jeans and lodge in the wooden chair. She gasped and pulled back from the blade.
“I believe you,” Commander Byron said. “When is the last time you saw him?”
“He was heading to a Halloween party on the thirty-first. I waved to him from the window as he drove away.”
“Very good, Jana. Where was this party?”
“His friend Reggie’s house in South Euclid.”
“Do you know where it is?”
Jana paused. She looked down at the knife and slid her tongue through the raw openings in her gums.
“Yes.”
“I am so glad to hear that. It appears you and I will be traveling companions. How far is it from here? I am not fully acquainted with, how do you say, the ‘Mistake by the Lake’?”
“That’s an old joke. It was never funny.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“A few miles. Will we be driving?”
The commander stood and walked toward the counter. He grabbed a book of matches from a dish sitting on top of the glass case. Byron lit a match and applied it to the reeking stub of a half-smoked cigar. The initial stench made Jana gag. She felt the aspirin crawling up her throat but managed to force it back down with another swig from the water bottle. The commander shook the match and tossed it into a stainless steel sink behind the counter “No. If he is there the sound of the vehicles would alert him. Given our respective physical limitations it will take us time to get there but I believe we must sacrifice comfort for the success of the mission.”
He motioned with a cane to his right leg.
“However, we have plenty of time. How does your schedule look for the next three or four days?”
“I might have to comply but I don’t have to put up with your shitty attempt at being funny.”
Commander Byron laughed. Bursts of smoke launched toward the ceiling fan while his hearty chuckles propell
ed them out.
“This is true, my dear, you do not. But I think you will find our partnership much more tolerable if you do. I am sure you want to see your husband again, correct?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You see, then. We are partners. I deliver your husband to Father and you both get to live. Given the situation in this town, I’d say that is a deal worth taking.”
“Why is this happening?”
“My dear, I don’t think you are in any position to ask questions.”
Jana slumped back down in her chair.
“Can you at least tell me who is behind this invasion?”
“An invasion implies takeover by a foreign and hostile power. I’d like to call it a liberation.”
“Liberation from what?”
The commander shook his head and looked down his nose at Jana. He shuffled to the chair next to her and sat down. The recent activity caused sweat circles to bloom under his arms. Jana could taste his musky body odor.
“From yourselves. You have forsaken God. You have forsaken goodness and now, like the Great Flood, He is cleansing the earth of its evil.”
“That is nonsense. Who has ordered this?”
“Father received the message from upon high. He leads the Holy Covenant, and with my help has executed a successful First Cleansing.”
“This is the United States of America. We tolerate religious freedoms. We don’t impose them on our citizens.”
The commander stood. He took two long drags from his dwindling cigar and snubbed it out on top of the counter.
“God’s law supersedes man’s. You have wandered. It is time for the shepherd to bring you back home again.”
Jana stared at the commander and shook her head at him. Byron waited, anticipating another barrage of doubt.
“When do we leave?” Jana finally asked.
“You are a wise conversationalist, young lady. You quit pushing when you realize nothing is left to gain. We will leave tomorrow morning. I have no fear of traveling during the daylight hours. We have the authority of Father and the Lord Almighty behind us.”
“Commander, promise me you will not harm me or John.”
“I promise I will deliver you to Father unharmed. From that point on, it is God’s will, not man’s.”
Jana found a space in the storeroom. She used cardboard boxes to furnish a sleeping pad. The commander and his twisted sense of chivalry created a similar one in the store, giving Jana her privacy. Jana’s mouth ached and breathing brought a cool pain to the exposed nerves of shattered teeth. She turned the recent events over and over in her mind as she drifted into a fitful sleep.
Commander Byron waited until he heard the rhythmic breathing of the woman. He moved toward the front door and stared out into the empty, black streets. The lack of noise stunned him the most as he stepped outside.
Byron spent his entire adulthood in the bustle of urban life or war, both of which drummed on the ears of their participants. Mortar rounds, machine gun fire, tanks, sirens, boom boxes and road construction—all of it was gone. An occasional howl from a lonely dog or the rumble of a military truck heading to an unknown destination were the only remnants of the former lifeblood of the city.
Let it rot to hell, he thought. Nothing but cesspools of so-called humanity. Millions of poor, destitute souls soiling each other for an opportunity to buy yet one more piece of plastic garbage.
Commander Byron ripped the silver crucifix from his chest and threw it to the ground. With a steel toed boot he crushed the soft metal into the cold asphalt. He pulled a yellowed journal from an inside pocket and moved a finger over the faded handwriting.
God is profane. A loving God does not punish his creations. He does not send war, pestilence and disease. He does not ravage the faithful. God is for fools and the weak, those unable to think for themselves.
Byron hoped Father was buying the ruse and he could finish his life with a shred of peace and dignity. He made a side deal with Sully and his Worms. They agreed to bring John and Jana to Father, using them as bait. Sully had intel on John and Father gave Byron information on Jana. Once Sully and Byron had Father at the house, they would assassinate him. Byron wanted free of the priest’s hypocrisy. He was dying of cancer and felt compelled to right the wrongs of his lifetime by striking down the leader of the Holy Covenant from the inside. Sully’s reasons for killing Father were more personal. He had a childhood vendetta to execute.
Byron lit another cigar. He stepped on the sidewalk and pulled the collar of the wool coat around his neck. The awakening spirit of the winter solstice opened an eye from its deep slumber. December would bring the beast completely out of the receding autumn.
A plastic bag danced down the middle of the road. It spun and twisted as if part of a silent ballet. Commander Byron lifted his hand and curled his finger inward, a gesture summoning his hovering guards.
“Yes, sir,” they said.
Both men snapped to attention. Byron tried to avoid gazing at the two silver crucifixes hanging from their necks. He shuddered and pulled his coat together at the neck.
“The woman is secure. I will need to update command on our situation. Move into the ground floor of the building across the street. Put your crosshairs on the door of this shop. If anyone but me tries coming in or out, shoot them dead.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
He watched the men trot across the street and step into the yawning hole of the front door. Byron pulled the satellite phone from his breast pocket. He dialed the number and waited for a series of clicks and beeps to pass from the earpiece to his head. A groggy, disconnected voice crackled through on the other end.
“What do you have to report?” Sully asked.
“I’ve found her,” Byron said.
“Bring her to me.”
Chapter 29
The morning broke over drifting snow and barren trees. Alex fumbled through his bag in search of soggy cigarettes. John stood in the frame of the window, a single silhouette in the exterior wall of the factory. He blew smoke into the frigid air sending a puff of nicotine toward the low, gray ceiling.
“I hate November in Cleveland,” Alex said.
John turned and offered a battered pack of cigarettes to his partner. Alex’s eyes lit up. He reached for a smoke while pulling a lighter from his pocket.
“I can’t tell you what I’d do to you for a large chai latte,” John said.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t involve getting to second base.”
“I dunno know, you’re kinda hot.”
The joke fell flat as Alex was preoccupied by thirst. John hitched his pants up and straightened his jacket.
“When do you want to move out, Alex?”
“Soon. This place smells like death. You got any more soda?”
“Yeah, three cans left.”
Alex walked back into the gloom.
***
Crystal flakes of snow tussled and spun their way to the frozen asphalt. Alex and John abandoned the factory and scurried like roaches through the urban wreckage. They decided to move back toward John and Jana’s house on foot. Walking six miles might prove to be difficult but it would keep them concealed better than a vehicle. John hid the keys of the truck under a sewer lid a block from the factory.
John led the way through the remains of Little Italy. Mayfield Road ran through the immigrant community and proceeded up Murray Hill into Cleveland Heights. During the festive summer month of August, the Church held a carnival for the Feast of the Assumption. Restaurants and bakeries pulled tables onto the sidewalk and sold their wares to smiling and hungry pedestrians.
With the Holy Covenant in control, John and Alex avoided the blocks surrounding the parish on Mayfield. They stopped for a moment behind an apartment building. The bell tower of the church loomed over the top of the building, keeping a watchful eye on their movements.
John ran through the parking lot and entered the back of a playground as Alex followed his lead. Th
e swings moved back and forth as if they were propelled by the spirits of children who used to ride them. Snow accumulated at the bottom of the shiny, metal slides.
“Let’s take a breather,” Alex said.
John nodded and pulled a bottle from his bag.
“We’re really in the open here,” John said. “How about we move towards Murray Hill? If we can get to the top, we’ll be about halfway there.”
Alex looked around, surveying the area.
“Not trying to creep you out, but maybe we should climb through Lakeview Cemetery rather than going up Murray Hill. The rock on one side and the condos on the other create a nice little tunnel where we could end up being fish in a barrel.”
John nodded. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”
They set off from the park and navigated through back alleys until they came to a black, wrought iron fence. It stood seven feet high with a three inch space between bars.
“Now what?” Alex asked.
“Follow me.”
John led the way through heavy underbrush to a break in the fence. It was mostly intact amidst a slew of empty beer cans and plastic bags that littered the area. Delinquent teenagers had dug a hole underneath it allowing access to the graveyard.
John crawled underneath the fence first and came out the other side with uneven brushstrokes of dark mud on his clothes. Alex followed with a look of disdain.
The headstones inside the fence crumbled under the weight of time. John ran his hand over a couple. The ravages of the elements ate away the carvings of an ancient undertaker. An “R” or an “S” stuck out but most of the granite looked like it was scarred with acid.
Alex followed John through the cemetery and through clumped rows of gravesites and expensive monuments to the elite. The body of a U.S. President was buried here, as well as other famous and important people of the twentieth century. A number of crows flew to a tree with sagging branches. It looked like bony fingers alone on top of the hill. Their fluttering and cawing grabbed John’s attention.
“What are they up to?” John asked.
“Don’t know.”
“Aren’t you the vet?”
“Yes, and I can’t tell you how many crows I’ve treated,” Alex said. The sarcasm was as cold as the early winter day.