Beyond Tomorrow

by Leigh Vernon

  "If that man ever makes any mistake, he is getting old," he told her playfully.

  Sarah tried to dispel her fears. "I'm not one who does well with plans, you know? I've always trusted my instincts in situations."

  "And what are your instincts telling you right now?" He asked her in a concerned voice.

  She sighed. "I honestly have no idea - I just feel like that there's something we're yet to go through."

  Justin watched her keenly. Was it that he had changed, or was she the one who was different? Ever since Rachael died, she had been less tough and a bit more emotional towards others. Maybe she was going through a hard time accepting the fact that her only sister was dead, or was it something else that has softened her up? As hard as he tried, he realized he couldn't really put a thing to why she was this different, or the reason he had also changed.

  "Don't worry about it, things are going to turn out okay," Father Albert announced to them both as he came walking towards them from the house.

  Gem also walked towards them. She had a scowl on her face that was hard to miss.

  "Hey, you okay?" Justin asked her.

  She bared her teeth at him and continued to scowl.

  "What's that? An angry smile?" Father Albert asked jokingly.

  If the others found the joke funny, Gem didn't. She ignored their loud laughter and walked away from them. She had only gone a few paces when something hit her from behind and turned in time to see a man grin at her before she passed out. The others were still joking about Gem's scowl when a shot rang out in the air. It missed Sarah by only a few inches, but there was blood on her cheek where the bullet had grazed her.

  "Take cover!" Father Albert shouted to the duo as he ran back into the house.

  Justin helped Sarah back inside, bolting the door immediately they were in.

  "Gem!" Sarah cried out, ignoring the sting on her face. "Where is she?"

  Justin opened the door slightly and peeped outside. The house was surrounded by the armed men. Some of them wore an insignia that he was only too familiar with.

  "Soul eaters," he said to the others, as he bolted the door again. "What are they doing here?"

  The question was directed towards Father Albert, who shrugged and sank back slowly.

  "Why? What's wrong?" Sarah asked, turning to Justin.

  Justin's face was clouded in anger. "The soul eaters would never attack a place where Father Albert was. They have never done so and they would never do so, unless..."

  Sarah understood what he was trying to say immediately. "Father Albert called them here."

  "Why?" Justin asked the man, who was now at the far end of the room. "Why would you do this?"

  The man raised up both hands. "No hard feelings, you know that, but Sam called and offered me something I could never resist."

  Justin went berserk. He grabbed the chair in his path as he walked towards the old man and threw it at him. The chair missed and crashed beside the old man.

  "I freaking trusted you with my life!" He threw another chair, which landed way off target. "Gem trusted you! Sarah trusted you! All of us, we listened as you hatched a plan for us to get rid of this menace once and for all, and then you turn around and betray us?"

  "Oh my goodness, Gem!" Sarah said loudly. "She's in danger."

  Father Albert took advantage of the distraction quickly as Justin stopped in his tracks and headed for the door. The old man opened the hidden door and stepped inside. Justin moved out gingerly. He could see that there was only one way out of the enclosure that the soul eaters had built around them, right into the middle of it all. There was no other way around it unless he wanted the poor girl to die out there. He was afraid to admit it, but he doubted if the girl was still alive.

  "Stay back!" He shouted at Sarah when she also tried to get out. "They will kill you if you're not careful enough."

  She stopped for a while, deliberating on whether he was right or wrong. Then, she brushed him aside and got out completely. The first bursts of gunfire nearly hit her as he pushed her away from them; the shooters had taken vantage positions round the house, and from what he could tell, they had their sights on the door. He was proven wrong when one of them ran towards him, guns blazing. If there was one thing that Justin knew about the soul eaters, it was the fact that they relied on their fame for others to fear having a standoff with them, so they were inexperienced in the art of battle. Justin used that to his advantage, blasting the oncoming man with a strong wave of his hand. The others stopped shooting for a while, stunned by what they had just seen. No one had ever fought back against the soul eaters; everyone was too afraid of them to even try.

  Sarah took a cue from what Justin had done and directed her own blast towards two shooters on opposed sides of two tall buildings. The first one fell to the ground with a loud thud; the second one was suspended by the shattered window of the building he had been hiding in. Hell was let loose after this. The remaining ones fired in all directions, unable to pick out a particular target. Justin crawled to where Sarah was taking cover and tapped her.

  "They don't know where we are. I'd like to keep it that way. "

  She nodded and stayed where she was while he moved deftly to another position. He was very sure of his target before he released two blasts. The first man cried out before he died, but the second wasn't that lucky - he died the instant the blast hit him. Just as he had predicted, the others changed their line of fire, giving Sarah enough time to take out one on her right. There were now three soul eaters left, all three firing in different directions.

  That's new, Justin thought. He went on all fours and crawled back to Sarah. He signaled for her to copy what he was doing, and they moved back to the house. Only one of the shooters was raining bullets there, and he was a very easy pick for Justin, who blasted him from a good angle. The remaining two were either too foolish or something else as they stopped shooting for a long time. Justin sneaked up behind one and stabbed him in the back with the sword. The man wanted to scream, but Justin's hand prevented him from doing so. There was only one of them left now, and he trusted Sarah to have him taken out, so he jumped out of his hiding and walked towards the building. The first shot caught him in the torso and as he bent in pain, another one buried itself into his behind. He screamed and howled as he went down before the shooting stopped suddenly. Sarah had done her part, albeit late.

  ---

  While the gun battle ensued, Sam gathered all his patrons and told them to get rest for the Ascension.

  "By this time tomorrow, all of you will be regarded as gods!" He finished, raising his glass of wine up.

  "To the future!" One of them cried our joyfully. The others joined, and they toasted.

  While the conversation went on and wine passed around, Sam called the Governor to a silent place and asked him to open his palm.

  "There's nothing wrong with my palm," the man said as he opened his right palm.

  Sam grabbed his arm and pressed something into the open palm. Something sizzled and the smell of burning skin filled the air. The Governor pulled his hand back and yelped.

  "What was that for?" He asked. There was pain in his voice.

  "Nothing is ever free. There's a price to pay for everything," Sam answered and walked away from the man, who was blowing on his palm continually. He joined the others and mixed freely amongst them, not giving a hint as to what he had just done.

  ---

  Sarah helped Justin back into the house and placed him gently on the ground. He was still howling in pain, but she didn't see any blood from where he had been hit.

  "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked him. "I’m beginning to think you're overreacting."

  He stopped shouting and touched his behind. There was no scratch there, and the pain was gone.

  "You know, I thought I was dead there for a minute," he said to her as he turned over and sat down.

  "You have no idea," she replied. Then she got up suddenly. "Gem!"

  They both
ran out at the same time, nearly crushing each other by the door as they sped out. They went in opposite directions, calling out the girl's name. It was Sarah who found the girl first. She ran to where she was lying and called her name several times, thinking she was just unconscious. When she tried to lift her up, she saw blood and knew Gem was dead. Sarah gently pulled the girl to herself and cried bitterly. She gnashed her teeth and swore to avenge her. Justin found her cradling the dead girl and just stood behind her. He was also devastated to find out Gem had died in such a terrible manner.

  "Come on," he finally said after a few minutes. "We have to go now."

  She dropped the girl gently and turned to face him. "Go where?" She asked bitterly. "Everywhere we turn to, someone is either trying to kill us or we're getting betrayed by those we trusted, or, let me see - we lose someone very dear to us!" She finished her statement by pointing towards the dead girl on the ground.

  For a moment, Justin didn't know what to tell her. He was as angry as she was and most of the things she had said were true; they had nowhere else to go and no one to turn to.

  "We can't stay here either," he told her softly. "There's nothing to stay for. We have to find a way to beat this guy once and for all."

  She nodded like she understood what he was saying. "Okay. So, what's your plan?"

  The question wasn't one he was expecting. There had been a plan before and it had been Father Albert's plan. It dawned on him that Sarah had been right about her suspicions of things going wrong with the plan. Now, the plan was no more - it had crumbled with Father Albert’s betrayal.

  "Justin, what's your plan?" She asked again.

  "I don't know!" He snapped. "I don't know."

  She turned away from him and began to walk towards the other side.

  "Sarah, where are you going?" he asked, following her.

  "Where else?" She fired back and dropped walking to face him. "I'm going to kill that..." she didn't finish the words.

  "What? What is it this time?" He asked, baffled by her sudden silence.

  "Justin, we need to run," she said softly. Her gaze lingered behind him.

  "Why?" He asked, and turned in the direction she was looking.

  There were more men approaching them with force, more than anyone could handle. He tried to take a head count but the cars kept coming in with more and more of them. The first wave had already gotten to the house and were forcing their way in.

  "Sarah, run!" He shouted at her and they both took to their heels.

  They ran blindly, unsure of where they were going but knowing they had to keep running. Sarah kept muttering to herself as she ran. Justin kept a straight face, trying to figure out why Father Albert had betrayed them despite the relationship they had for so many years. Someone fired a shot and it hit the building to his right. Justin stopped and turned. Three cars were in pursuit; they had men hanging out the windows and firing at them as they ran. He watched Sarah go before he began to walk towards the cars. The first one drifted around him, obviously trying to give the gunman a better shooting position. It turned out to be the wrong move, as Justin blasted the tires off. The drift made the car hurl itself against a building, smoke and fire in its wake as it crashed loudly. Justin turned and began to run again. He found Sarah waiting at a corner.

  "We can't outrun them," she said to him. "We need a better plan."

  He looked around their surroundings. There were alleys that were going to be difficult for cars to navigate through, but easy for them on foot.

  "We'll have to get them to follow us a bit farther," he told her, pointing to a narrow alley. "We'll box them in and take out as many as we possibly can."

  "Then what?" She asked. "What do we do after that?"

  Justin stopped to think; this wasn't the way things were supposed to be. This wasn't how anything had been supposed to turn out.

  "At least, we'll have a chance against them," he said finally. "We'll decide what comes after later. Right now, we need to save both our lives."

  Sarah nodded like she understood what he was trying to say. He was right; if they were going to do anything else, the first thing was to stay alive first.

  "You go that way and corner around," he told her. "I'll lure them in."

  While Sarah followed his directives, Justin ran back to the cars. The drivers had packed and some of the men had gotten down, spreading out as they did. He realized their plan wasn't a good one with the men on foot now, and they had seen him before he could change direction. There was only one option left.

  "There he is!" One of them screamed and a number of gunshots rang in his direction.

  Justin fled, taking twists and turns in a bid to avoid getting shot at. Some of the men took hot pursuit on foot while the others climbed back into the cars and drove after him at full speed. One got close enough that the bumper nearly hit him before he made a sharp turn. The driver didn't expect that, and he had his foot pressing down on the accelerator. Justin's swift turn made him try to maneuver quickly and he lost control of the car. It tumbled and crashed with full force against a building.

  ---

  From where she was hiding, Sarah saw two enemies approaching with their guns in front of them. She waited silently until they were past her before she came out of hiding.

  "Hello boys. Looking for me? “She asked as she kicked the gun out of the first one's hand.

  The second guy turned to shoot at her and she used his partner as shield, moving closer as the man fired continuously. She dropped the body as his gun jammed, and punched him hard in the throat. He gasped for air and dropped to the ground. Sarah took off his uniform and put it on. It was time to even the odds.

  ---

  Another car was coming fast at Justin as he ran. The driver must have discovered what he was trying to do as he kept him in sight, allowing for a gunman to fire at him continuously. Justin stopped running all of a sudden, making sure the car had gone past him as they were next to each other. Before the driver could stop and make a turn, Justin was behind them. He threw a powerful blast at the car and watched it flip. The driver was thrown out, hitting a building, and the two others were trapped in the car as it crashed down, killing them instantly. Justin walked to the car and grabbed two guns; he might as well get some shots off them as well.

  Sarah hugged the shadows as the others came running along the alley which she had brought down the two men. One of them bent to examine the one who had been stripped and told the others to stay sharp. They spread out and began to comb the area. It was exactly what Sarah wanted; it was going to be hard to face them as a group, but scattered, she had a chance. The turned to another side of the wall as the first one approached. She waited until he was within her reach before she grabbed him and shot him twice in the stomach. Despite muffling the sound with his body, the others heard the gunshots and turned instantly.

  "She's right behind us!" One said to the other.

  They opened fire at once. Sarah ran back and hid behind a wall. They kept shooting until they were at close range, giving their positions away as they did. She went on her belly and hit the first one in the knee. As he cried and screamed, she shot him in the head. The other one became confused, and kept yelling as he fired shot after shot in her direction, but Sarah had changed where she was. She approached him slowly, glad that he was scared and trigger happy. He didn't see her until he stopped to reload, and she grabbed his gun and shot him in the face.

  Justin had taken out two more cars, but he was now out of bullets. They must have figured out his trick as they stopped the cars and all of them came down with guns in their hands. While they fanned out, Justin found Sarah quickly.

  "There's too many of them," he said, with bated breath.

  "You’re telling me," she replied. She was down to a few bullets and there were bruises on her left knee.

  "We need to get off this alley. If they find a way to box us in, we won't make it out of here alive."

  She nodded and waited for him to point her in t
he right direction.

  "This way," he said to her, dragging her along as he moved.

  From where she was, Gianna watched the body cams of some of the men as they fell. She studied the skills the two of them were using against the obviously ill-trained men she had sent after them. She had to admit that they were both good; Justin was tactical and liked to draw the enemy out, while Sarah liked to approach them up close before finishing them off.

  "Not bad," she said out loud. "Not bad at all."

  There were three men in the car with her: the driver, whose hands were glued to the steering and two others in the back.

  "You two," she called to the ones behind her. "Circle round back. See if you can draw them out."

  The men nodded and got out of the vehicle.

  "Drive," she ordered the driver, who nodded instantly.

  ---

  A church building stood amongst the magnificent buildings that graced Grey Street. Many of the buildings had been built long ago, some of them now converted into historical landmarks that gave the city its standing honor as one of the oldest since the dawn of the new age. Justin and Sarah ran into the church, locking the door after them as they did. Surprisingly, there were as many as twenty men in it, all of them discussing silently amongst themselves. The moment the duo ran in, three turned on them with raised guns.

  "What do you want here?" One asked. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

  "Uh, we're sorry to barge in on you like this," Justin answered. "It's just that there are some bad guys after us and we could use a place to hide till they're gone."

  "Oh yeah?" The man answered again. "You've come to the wrong place. This is a church, not the police station."

  Justin sighed. "I know this is going to be hard for you to believe, but we really need your help right now. We won't be long, just long enough for them to get tired of looking and head back to where they came from."

  A big man spoke from the group. "Justin?" He called.

  Justin also recognized the voice that had called him. "Gabe, you proud bastard!" He answered.