Mercy (The Last Army Book 1) (11 page)

I froze in place, captivated by the pastor’s impressive display of confidence upon the stage. Karla seemed to have forgotten all about Amy. She stood next to me, her gaze fixed on Brother Tim—but she crossed her arms over her chest and squinted as if staring at a bright light.

“Many of you believe you’ve seen the terrible power of hell this week,” Brother Tim said, stabbing downward with his index finger. “Satan’s fallen angels were made flesh before your very eyes, our great cities crumbled to dust in a matter of seconds, the sun itself darkened, and the moon turned to blood… even your trusted cellphone has failed you,” he added, fishing one from his pocket and displaying it to his audience before tossing it aside. Subdued laughter rippled through the crowd. I giggled, too, but stopped as soon as I saw Karla’s face. Her squint had turned into a scowl.

“This guy’s a clown,” she whispered.

Brother Tim resumed his sermon once the laughter had died down. “Fear has naturally taken root in your hearts, but I’m here to tell you that this is not the time for fear. This is the time for joy. The Lord, in His infinite mercy, has given us one last chance to repent our sinful ways and accept Him in our hearts as our Lord and Savior.” The pastor raised his Bible. “All of these catastrophes have been prophesized in scripture—signs given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ to prepare for His coming. The Enemy will try with all its might to confuse us in the face of even greater trials yet to come, but we must stay strong, trusting in the Lord and His promises of everlasting life!”

“Amen!” shouted the enthusiastic crowd. Out of all the people near the front, only Karla and I remained silent. Some of the guards standing at the bottom of the bleachers—whom I hadn’t noticed until then—looked straight at us with subtle frowns on their faces.

“Come on, let’s keep looking for Amy; I have to get back to the clinic soon,” Karla said, giving an apprehensive glance at the guards. I nodded and walked behind her, following the sickly sour smell still clinging to her from the clinic. I wondered how well Brother Tim’s words of joy and life would’ve gone down with the wounded patients squirming in agony back there.

“Hey, I think I see her.” Karla tugged on my coat sleeve as she stared ahead of her.

There she was, surrounded by a dozen laundry girls. She clasped her hands against her chest, as if in prayer. She didn’t even blink as her dark green eyes followed Brother Tim’s every move, a dumb smile on her face. The crowd erupted in another “Amen!” but Amy remained static as though oblivious to his message but mesmerized by the man himself. A few of the girls around her noticed me staring at them. They whipped their faces away and murmured amongst themselves. One of them tapped Amy on the shoulder and glanced at me. Amy sighed and shook her head, directing her attention back to the stage.

Fine, be that way… you miserable bitch.

I grabbed the back of Karla’s jacket, pulling her toward me. “I’m leaving.”

“But why? Come on, don’t be childish.” She tried to grab my hand. I pulled it back in time.

“Just tell Amy I’m sorry for what happened at work. I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it.” I shoved my way deeper into the crowd before she could answer.

I wanted to patch things up with Amy. I really did. The hundreds of hurtful quips I’d gotten from her over the years seemed silly compared to what we’d been though in the last couple of days. I had hoped that with Karla’s mediation we might’ve cleared up that morning’s misunderstanding, but obviously Amy wasn’t ready for that yet. At least I had tried. Next time she would have to be the one carrying the peace pipe.

Brother Tim kept preaching through our little drama, but only once I’d put a few hundred people between me and Amy could I focus on his words. With so much resentment stirring up inside me, I was in no mood to praise Jesus, but I still found the pastor’s voice strangely comforting. I blinked away the tears welling in my eyes and decided to hang around a while longer. I probably wouldn’t get to the school gym in time for lunch anyway.

The atmosphere soon turned somber, however, as the pastor began listing people whose faith had been tested in the bible: Abraham, commanded by God to kill his only son; Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers, and a few other biblical characters that sounded only vaguely familiar to me. The crowd kept a grim silence as he recounted their trials, but they cheered as he detailed how their faith had been strengthened by their trials and ultimately rewarded by God.

I couldn’t help wincing as Brother Tim narrated each cycle of divine tests and rewards, though. It just didn’t seem like a very healthy relationship to me—at least not by human standards.

The pastor motioned for his audience to quiet down. The buzz from the crowd dwindled until all I could hear was my heart, pounding against my chest in anticipation of what the pastor would say.

“Our faith will also be tested, as even greater trials await us.” Brother Tim spread his arms as if enveloping the crowd. “Though our town has been spared by the Lord from destruction, the Enemy will try to snuff out this lone beacon of hope among so much despair…

“This will not happen. I have no doubt that as long as we trust in the Lord, we will make it through whatever lies ahead. Never forget that we are not alone in our struggles. Stay strong in your faith, and a new sky will greet us tomorrow, as clear and warm as the love that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has for every one of us.”

For a few seconds, only the hum of worried murmuring could be heard, but little by little, the congregation came back to life. A few scattered cries of “Amen!” rang out, each one answered by several more, until the triumphant mood spread out throughout the crowd.

I remained immune to their joy, sensing there was something Brother Tim was keeping from us. Brighter days might’ve lain ahead of us, but I knew I was in for another sleepless night.

I woke up to the sound of explosions. Unlike the previous night’s distant murmurs, these blasts rang clearly, like a booming growl. The hardwood flooring beneath the thin mattress I shared with Karla trembled. I pushed the blanket away and sat up, my gaze darting across the dark school gym. The lamps hanging from the high ceiling glinted as they swayed from the shock, reflecting the paltry red light that filtered through the windows.

“Oh, God. What was that?” a nearby woman asked. The nervous whispers and tremulous prayers of the women and children sleeping at the gym echoed in the darkness. A girl cried, calling for her mother. No one answered. My chest tightened, and my heart beat harder and faster. I shook Karla, still asleep next to me.

“Karla, wake up. Get up, for Christ’s sake, something’s going on,” I whispered, struggling not to scream and cause even more panic. Brother Tim’s ominous prophecies occupied my muddled thoughts.

“What… what’s wrong, Becca?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I don’t know, but it sounds like an attack.” I slipped on my boots. “Get up, we’ve got to—”

A long stream of thundering cracks shattered the uneasy atmosphere, plunging the room into chaos. The women shrieked in terror and ran blindly toward the exit, trampling over each other. I grabbed Karla’s arm and dashed for the nearby wall, out of the terrified mob’s way.

“Oh shit, they’re here,” I said, my voice almost a squeal. Duller gunshots joined the bursts of heavy fire. The shooting couldn’t have been more than a mile away, to the west—probably by the machine gun at the entrance of town. “Come on, get your shoes on, and let’s get out of here!” I screamed.

Powerful beams of white light swept the gym from the narrow windows near the ceiling as a bright light outside—a flare—slowly made its way to the ground. The flare illuminated the squirming mass of almost two hundred people flocking at the exit, as well as the crumpled bodies of over a dozen injured women and children left in their wake. A few of them managed to get on their feet, but most writhed on the ground, crying for help. The white light fell upon Karla and me. It burned my bleary eyes, but I managed to help Karla tie her tennis shoes. I bolted off the floor, dragging her along with me, and ran for the exit, skirting the injured refugees still moaning on the ground.

“Becca, wait. We have to help them!” Karla struggled to release my grip on her arm.

“There’s no time! If we stay here, we’re dead.” I grabbed onto her with both arms as I charged forward. A pitiful wail rose from the floor as I stepped on something soft, but I only gritted my teeth. If those monsters caught us inside, there’d be nowhere to run to.

By the time we reached the exit, most of the women sleeping at the gym had already squirmed through the threshold. A rush of cold air hit my sweaty face as I stumbled outside. Scores of people ran in the streets, fleeing the gunshots to the west. Karla finally stopped struggling, her eyes fixed on the smoke columns rising at the outskirts of town. Lights flashed in the night from the gunfire just a few blocks away.

“Come on, Karla, we’ve got to run!” I screamed, pressing my face close hers. She nodded, tears already brimming in her eyes, and followed me without hesitation.

The approaching gunfire spurred us on block after block as we ran through New Jerusalem, escaping the battle raging behind us. Families poured out of their elegant homes in their nightwear, some the smaller children still hanging onto their dolls and teddy bears, and fled with us. Only a handful of people ran in the opposite direction, toward the fight. At first I thought they were the police, or even soldiers, judging by the military-style equipment and clothing on some of them. Their white armbands dashed my hopes. I took a glimpse of the shotguns, handguns, and rifles they carried, and wondered how long they would last against the demonic assault.

More of the town’s militia made an appearance as we crossed into Main Street. A few of them took cover behind the cars parked along the road, weapons trembling in their unsteady hands. Most had taken shelter inside the stores’ second floors, the barrels of their rifles and shotguns poking from the windows. They opened fire.

I glanced over my shoulder. The demons had almost caught up with us. Their glowing red eyes left a burning trail of light behind them as they rushed forward. Enraged roars and howls erupted from the dozens of monsters behind us as they took the barrage of deafening gunfire, but it barely slowed them down now that their prey was in sight. I ran with renewed strength, grabbing Karla’s hand to make sure she wouldn’t be left behind.

Three of those creatures leapt up to the stores’ rooftops, and just like at the city, they dashed ahead of their demonic brethren to cut us off. One of the smaller monsters pounced on a man firing a hunting rifle from the bed of a red pickup truck just a few feet ahead of me. The truck shook as a brief wail rose from the back and ribbons of blood shot up to the sky.

The terrified crowd pressed against the opposite side of the road, away from the carnage, pinning me down. I lost my grip on Karla’s hand.

“Keep running!” I shouted. She did as I said, her face bathed in sweat and tears.

A semicircle of five guards formed up between me and the monster on the truck, opening fire on the demon while it gorged itself on their friend’s corpse. Sparks and dark blood covered the truck. The creature howled as it swayed under the volley, and it finally slumped off the side of the vehicle, onto the sidewalk. The guards struggled to reload their weapons, hands shaking with undisguised terror. A much larger demon leapt onto the pickup truck. It crumpled the truck’s thin steel body with its ape-like paws as it clutched onto it and bared its yellow fangs with a deafening roar.

Those of us witnessing the scene took that as our cue to run. So did one of the guards, who broke formation and fled along with us, overcome by fear.

“Ed, you coward, come back here!” one of his companions screamed. He didn’t. The slim man soon ran alongside me, his long black hair bouncing with every stride, a strong smell of urine enveloping him.

A brief discharge of gunfire rang out behind me, followed by terrified screams. Ed turned terror-struck eyes toward his slaughtered comrades. A demon landed a few feet in front of us. A single red eye glowed on its face, and a scaly black tail whipped behind it, like a frenzied snake. I staggered back, stumbling onto the pavement. With a squeal, Ed grabbed the pistol holstered under his arm. It slipped from his grasp. He tossed it around like a hot potato, but it landed on the ground, next to me. He ran away once more. The monster let him through, its murderous gaze focused on me.

I went for the gun. The demon lowered itself, ready to strike. I raised the handgun, aiming for the large bulging eye smack in the middle of the monster’s face. I pulled the trigger—

Dammit!

The trigger resisted my pull more than I expected, throwing my aim off before I squeezed out a shot. A wave of pain stabbed my wrist. The noise and flash from the shot left me dazed for an instant. I took aim once more, fighting off the gutted feeling in my stomach. The creature’s eye remained intact.

It actually smiled at me.

The demon contorted its monstrous jaw into a grotesque grin, displaying rows of small jagged teeth like stone arrowheads. I wrapped both index fingers around the trigger and yanked on it again and again as I closed my eyes and screamed through gritted teeth. My ears rang out with every shot until the screams of the people behind me were drowned by a high-pitched whistle. A warm, putrid gust of air hit me in the face—the smell of death.

Oh, God, please…

Someone tugged on my arm. I opened my eyes and found the demon crumpled on the ground less than ten feet away. It lay in a pool of corrosive black blood, sizzling on the pavement. Its sides had been riddled with bullet holes and its eye shot out.

“Come on, get up!” Karla yelled as she pulled me off the ground. I couldn’t believe it—she’d actually come back for me. “Run, you fucking moron!”

Hearing Karla swear snapped me out of my trance. Still clutching the gun, I ran after her, glancing back to see four guards beside the demon’s corpse, firing at the approaching monsters. The muzzle flash from their guns outlined their disparate silhouettes, but I couldn’t see the faces of the people who’d saved me. Out of all my desperate shots, I’d probably only hit the creature’s eye.

We ran until the end of the block, where an armed woman waved for us to enter the building behind her. With the demons gaining on us, we rushed straight into the stout, two-story building—a bank. We crossed the lobby’s polished floors, past the teller area and into the offices. As we leapt up the cramped stairs to the second floor, I feared the bank’s broad windows wouldn’t pose much of an obstacle for the approaching demons, but we reached a steel security door guarded by two armed men at the top. They let us through, as well as a handful of people running behind us, and slammed the door shut.

The two guards proceeded to barricade the door with file cabinets and heavy wooden desks. Four other guards fired down at the street from the second floor’s small windows, each gunshot ringing loudly within the enclosed offices. Defenseless civilians huddled against the wall farthest from the street. There were at least fifty men, women, and children inside, their cries and prayers muted by the gunshots.

“Oh, it’s you girls,” said the woman who’d waved us into the bank.

I took a second to recognize her. She was the young woman strolling outside the church last night who’d warned us to stay out of trouble. Her small hands trembled as she clumsily loaded her shotgun, and her long chestnut bangs stuck to her sweaty forehead, but she had the same carefree smile on her face.

A thunderous growl rattled the steel door. A demon stomped up the stairs and crashed against the door with a strident bang. The guards threw themselves against the hastily erected barricade, pushing against the monster as it assaulted the door with frenetic rage. An ear-piercing screech set my teeth on edge as claws scraped on steel. The people sheltered inside the bank screamed as they rushed to a corner of the room.

“You girls better step back. This door won’t last long.” The woman pumped her shotgun.

“Come on, let’s go!” Karla shouted, pulling on my coat. The weeping and praying from the people crowding in the corner intensified as the demon kept charging at the door.

I thought back to the morning of the earthquake, my school crumbling around me while I could only crawl under a desk and pray. This time it was different. Although I wasn’t any less scared, this time I could fight back. These monsters could be killed. I looked at the gun in my hand. It seemed puny when compared to a rifle or a shotgun, and it must’ve only had a handful of bullets left, but I still could make a difference.

“Go ahead and hang back; I’m staying here.” I gripped the gun with both hands.

Karla shoved me against the wall. “No you’re not!” she screamed, her eyes red from crying. “Please Becca, I don’t… I don’t want to lose you, too.” Her voice broke up as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

I grabbed her hand. “I don’t think anyone’s making it out of here alive, Lala. I’ve just got to do something.”

She bit her lower lip and sobbed as she slumped down on the carpet. I tried to find the words to cheer her up but found none.

I walked up to Shotgun Lady’s side and aimed my gun at the door. The demon struck it again, tearing off one of its hinges. A burning red eye stared at us from the other side. I gasped, and tightened my grip on the gun, which rattled in my hands.

“Scared?” the woman asked, looking at me out of the corner of her brown eyes, shotgun fixed against her shoulder, an easy smile still etched on her face.

“No… not at all,” I whispered. I tried to mimic her smile, but my jaw trembled. The monster bashed the door again, pushing back the two guards at the barricade. They inched away from it and readied their guns.

“I’m scared too… of dying. But I’m not scared of death.” She turned to face me with her bizarre smile. “I know there’s something better waiting for us at the other side.”

I wished I could believe her. I had to believe her. With my eyes fixed on the twisted steel door, I fished my silver cross from under my coat and gave it a kiss. It kindled memories of my parents rather than of my half-assed faith. I imagined meeting them on top of a fluffy cloud, surrounded by a hazy white glow. Clichéd as my brief fantasy was, it warmed me up inside.

“See you on the other side,” I said.

The demon charged at the door once more, finally bringing it down.