I said, “That’s because we’ve been ignoring the elephant in the room. It’s not about us. Our story ended with our human lives. We no longer require care and feeding, and pretending otherwise is frustrating us to madness. Stop acting. Stop trying so hard. We are already free. Let’s focus on freeing them.”
Heads nodded, a change swept the room. Yes, free them, free them.
The tension ebbed like pressure dropping in an airplane, giving way to intense relief. Ravaged ghouls smiled. In letting go our humanity, we briefly felt the joy of being alive.
In minutes, a caravan of vehicles was pulling out of Loveville. For the first time, the town looked truly post-apocalyptic, streets littered with debris, buildings and cars engulfed in flames, fire hydrants spewing. By morning, there would be nothing left.
PART II
Divine Providence
CHAPTER SEVEN
PROPHETS
Ditching Uri Miska and not daring to look back, Todd Holmes and Ray Despineau bolted for the train station as fast as their wobbly legs could carry them.
“Wait, man, wait-look!” Ray was pointing at two of the bicycles recently abandoned by their friends.
“Yes! Grab ’em!”
It was somewhat disturbing to be riding bikes again; the boys were still traumatized, waiting to be jumped any second by Xombies. Riding up the hill was a nerve-wracking slog, but on the downside, they flew.
Spread out before them was the center of Providence: on the left, the clustered towers of downtown; on the right, the marble-domed State House; between them the canal leading to Waterplace Park and the Providence Place Mall-and the train station.
Blazing down Waterman Street, the two boys hurtled between abandoned cars and shot across the junction of two creeks, cutting through empty parking lots up to the train station’s main entrance. The train itself was in the tunnel underneath the building, but they could hear the rumble of its engine and smell its diesel exhaust. It was for real.
Dumping their bikes at the taxi stand, the boys barged into the dim terminal and tripped over a bunch of people kneeling on the floor, rudely interrupting the murmur of prayers.
Ray went sprawling over a bearded old man. “Whoa, shit, sorry!”
Out of nowhere, a snarling, monstrous creature with yellow eyes and huge fangs appeared, driving the boys into a corner. It was a large mandrill baboon.
One of the worshippers called, “Don! Down, down!”
The baboon reluctantly backed off, and an old man came forward-the man Ray had tripped over. He was wearing a robe and sandals, and had a long gray beard, like some biblical patriarch. Eyes adjusting, the boys could see other old men in robes as well.
Moguls, Ray thought, remembering what Miska had said. Resurrected Moguls.
There were maybe a hundred people in the room, and hundreds more in a long line leading to the mall.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
The boys were speechless, spellbound by the sight of so many human beings out in the open. What’s more, they appeared totally defenseless-no face protection, no body armor, no weapons of any kind. And there were women among them. The women all wore similar winged bonnets, and were corralled in a small group separate from the men.
Finding his bearings, Todd said, “I’m Todd Holmes, and this is Ray Despineau. We want to join you.”
“Are you… anointed?”
“Anointed?”
“Sealed with the Blessed Sacrament.”
“The Sacrament, right! No, um, I don’t think so. We just got stranded here because our ship was attacked while we were foraging for supplies. It left without us.”
“The Lord Adam gathers the Righteous, Praise Be Upon Him.”
“Awesome,” Ray said gloomily.
The man asked, “Have you come seeking Miska?”
“Not really,” Todd said. “Actually, we’re more like running away from him.”
“You’ve seen Miska!”
“Yeah, he was right over in Fox Point. Very weird dude.”
“Todd, shut up,” Ray said, sotto voce.
“Well, hallelujah! This is surely a sign.” The old man called to everyone in earshot, “Brothers, the Lord Adam has sent us two guides in our search for the Evil One. They are the seal on our Covenant! The Oracle has spoken true!”
Amid the hallelujahs and amens, Ray asked, “Sorry, what’s this Covenant?”
“It is Man’s truce with Eve. After the Blue Apocalypse, Man had no Covenant, and in his zeal to avenge Adam, he offended the Goddess Eve. She summoned Her Blue Furies to visit the Sons of Adam with plagues wherever they took refuge, driving them first out of Providence, then out of Valhalla. For thirty days and thirty nights, the Apostle Chace led the Adamites through the wilderness, praying for a sign, their numbers dwindling as the imps of Miska stole their souls. Until finally their sufferings were rewarded: They witnessed the Resurrection of the Prophet-the Prophet Jim! The first Resurrection of many, including my own!”
“Jim?”
“Jim saved us! Jim anointed us against the Hellions, that now we may walk freely upon the land!”
“Wow-how do we get in on that?”
“You must submit to be Sanctified.”
“Definitely. We submit.”
“Kneel down.”
The boys knelt.
“Now close your eyes and open your mouths.”
Trading a wary glance with Ray, Todd asked, “Why?”
“Just do it!”
Taking a deep breath, the boys closed their eyes and opened wide. They flinched as something cold was sprayed in their throats, a bitter-tasting mist. Gagging, they tried to talk and found that they couldn’t-their mouths wouldn’t work. The deadness rushed through their bloodstreams and instantly soaked their brains, killing all their senses, stopping their hearts, but before they could panic, they passed out.
CHAPTER EIGHT
TODD HOLMES
Perhaps it was the sight of those women that caused Todd Holmes to dream of his own mother. Awake, he blocked her completely out of his mind. He knew the term for it: “post-traumatic stress syndrome,” but he always thought that was just something that happened to soldiers in wartime. Now, in his sleep, he remembered all.
“You must really think I’m dumb. Boy oh boy, you must really take me for a dummy.”
“Huh?”
“Listen, if you hate me so much, why don’t you just go live with him? I’ll tell you why: because he wouldn’t put up with you. You think he wants that responsibility? Don’t bet on it.”
“What are you talking about, Mom?”
“What am I talking about? That’s a good one. Oh, that’s funny. Fun-ee.” Her voice warped like a pane of glass just before it broke. “Don’t play dumb with me. You’ve been seeing him behind my back. Oh my God, how could you, how could you?”
“Seeing who?”
“Your father!”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Why?” She laughed. “You of all people ask why. Oh, that is funny, after all we’ve been through together because of that man. Who do you think keeps a roof over our heads? Who do you think has worked and slaved away to keep us out of the gutter? Not him! He couldn’t care less! And now you stab me in the back! My own son! I can’t believe it, I can not believe it. Oh my God!” At once she seemed far away, lost and weeping in hurt reverie. “What did I ever do to deserve this?” she sniffled. “What did I ever do?”
“Nothing,” Todd said. “It’s not always about you.”
She returned to him, resentful eyes brimming, “You want to know how I found out? Oh, you’ll love this one. He came by yesterday, the bum, looking for forgiveness. He actually had the nerve to ask if he could take you to the plant with him! I couldn’t believe it!”
Unable to listen to any more, Todd made for the door, but his mother jerked him back by his dreadlocks. That wasn’t the worst; when she was really mad, she twisted his piercings.
“Ow! Mom!”