Rapture (19 page)

“Ah, your mother. Now there was a woman. I and a few of my kind knew her well.” His face contorted into mocking sadness. “And such a shame about what happened to her.”

Blood pounded in Sam’s ears. Shouting incoherently, feeling his eyes glowing blood-red, he began pounding on the invisible barrier that separated him from his foe.

The demon watched him silently for a moment. “That’s the spirit,” he said, although Sam could barely hear him. He stood up and straightened his suit, brushing imaginary fluff from his jacket as the chair disappeared. “I think that went well,” he said to no-one in particular.

With a last cheery wave at the furious teenager, he stepped into the shadows. The vapours seemed to wrap themselves around him, and suddenly he was gone.

Alone, only vaguely aware of this fact, Sam continued to rage against the barrier, striking it again and again with all the force he could muster.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

By the time he and Josh arrived at Bryce Valley City, it was almost morning. That surprised Sam; during his research, he’d thought it would only take a couple of hours at most to reach the city from Black Ridge. But then, his calculations were based on walking overland at his own pace. He’d never planned on driving.

True to his word, Adam had cleared the roads all the way through to Bryce Valley - Sam had seen the snowplough they’d used for the job parked next to the jeep just before they left Black Ridge. They had to make a few detours; once to avoid a large pack of Lemure and then where a recently burnt-out truck completely blocked the road. The route wasn’t simple, backtracking and then driving on through a number of small towns, all seemingly deserted. Once they’d got onto one of the state highways, however, it became plain sailing.

During the journey, Sam was quite content to sit back and let Joshua drive, alert but relaxed. He’d seen a couple of Astaroth flying in the distance, but the jeep had easily outpaced them. Joshua kept quiet. If he’d seen the Astaroth, he didn’t say anything. He seemed to know where he was going and for once, Sam was enjoying putting his feet up.

That all changed when they reached Bryce Valley.

Sam sat up suddenly when he realized what was before them. The road leading west was barricaded by the burnt remains of various vehicles. A group of dishevelled humans were sitting on top of the mound, holding a squirming teenage girl. All were armed.

Just in front of them was another car. All the doors were open and two bodies, motionless, blood pooling around them, were sprawled on the pavement next to it.

The barricade was new. When Adam had told them about the route to take, he hadn’t mentioned these people. That meant they weren’t here last time he’d sent out a scavenging patrol. This wasn’t good. Wasn’t good at all.

Their destination, Bryce Valley City, was just off the state highway, and Sam could already see the sign for the turnoff just before the make-shift barrier. Unfortunately, the survivors had already seen them.

“Reverse,” said Sam.

“Yeah, I know,” replied Joshua, already wrestling with the gear box.

Too late, Sam spotted another group of survivors coming up behind them. It was a trap - a simple one, but all the best traps were. Up ahead, the first group were ambling towards the jeep, two of them dragging the crying girl between them.

“Stop your car and get out,” yelled a large man who had positioned himself in front the jeep.

Sam and Joshua exchanged looks. “Do what I do,” Sam whispered to him.

Josh shut off the engine and they climbed out cautiously. Sam left his weapons in their sheaths although his fingers ached to draw them. For his part, Joshua was armed with a baseball bat spiked with iron nails - an effective demon killer. Adam had explained he could not spare one of the machine guns and so had given him the weapon instead. Joshua kept the weapon in his hand but did not raise it. Many of these survivors were armed with hunting rifles and he was not about to provoke them.

As Sam and Joshua moved to the front of the jeep, Sam used the opportunity to assess the situation. Before him were five men; four had hunting rifles, although two of them had their hands full with the girl and had slung theirs over their backs. The leader – the large one who had spoken – had a shotgun. There were another four behind them, but only two had firearms. The others had improvised weapons like the one Joshua had in his hand. Nine to two. Seven to two if you discounted the ones with the girl. Still not very good odds.

The leader, a grizzled middle-aged man with a large paunch, eyed both boys. “Good to see some travellers around these parts,” he said, grinning. Two of his front teeth were missing. “Usually they scream when they see us. Often afterwards, too.”

“We’re just passing through,” said Sam.

“Well, you won’t be passing through here,” said the leader. “Have you seen the barricade, or are you blind?”

He laughed and his men laughed with them, although some of it sounded forced. A few of them were nervously eyeing up Sam. His large athletic build combined with his hood and the strapped-on swords made him an intimidating figure.

The leader stepped right up in front of Sam. He was a big man but Sam still topped him by a couple of inches. He stared Sam right in the eye and Sam got a wash of fetid breath. “So are you blind, boy?”

“No, sir,” said Sam, trying to suppress the urge to slice the man open. He needed to keep the situation as calm as possible.

“You will be in a minute when you find you can’t see your car.” He laughed, but this time none of the other men joined in. “Because we’re going to take it,” he explained to the others. They finally got it and sniggered half-heartedly.

“Right,”he ordered, “Steve, you grab the car. The rest of you search it and see if you can find anything useful. As you for,” he said eyeing up the swords on Sam’s back and hip, “we’ll take those nice-looking blades too.”

“No,” said Sam.

The man eyeballed him. “What did you say to me?”

“Did you not hear, or are you deaf? No,” said Sam again, shifting his feet ever so slightly.

The leader levelled his shotgun at him. “Give me the swords or I’ll put a hole in you so big, I’ll be able to drive this jeep through it.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam could see Josh watching him nervously. He gave him the stay calm signal with the palm of his hand. And then he moved. Fast.

It was over before it even began. Josh hadn’t seen how he’d done it, but suddenly Sam was behind the fat leader with his wakizashi at his throat. The terrified man hadn’t even had a chance to fire a shot.

“Stop, boys,” he yelled at his men as he saw them readying their weapons. “Don’t shoot.” He dropped his own weapon from suddenly nerveless fingers.

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen now,” said Sam in his ear, quietly but enough to carry in the sudden silence. “Me and my friend are going to drive off down that road,” he said, nodding towards Bryce Valley City, “with my swords and everything in our jeep. And we’ll take the girl too. Do you understand?”

The man nodded very carefully, conscious of the razor sharp blade beneath his chin.

“You aren’t going to follow us and you’re certainly not going to shoot at us. Because, I’ll come back and I will be angry. Trust me when I say this: you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. Understand?”

The man nodded again, sweat running down his brow. A dark stain was spreading in the front of his pants.

Sam dragged him onto the battered rear of the jeep. The two men holding the teenage girl released her. She ran off and jumped into the passenger side of the jeep. Joshua got in the driver’s seat and started the engine. They drove off, the other rag-tag members of the gang watching helplessly as they took off with their leader.

When they were two miles down the turnoff to Bryce Valley, Sam ordered Joshua to stop on the side of the road. He kicked the fat man off the jeep where he lay sprawling in the dirt. The girl got out and kicked him, once, twice in the stomach. Sam flinched at her viciousness.

“And remember your promise,” said Sam, wagging a finger at him. “Don’t follow us.”

The man glared at him but kept silent. The girl kicked him again for good measure and then clambered back in the passenger seat. She still hadn’t said one word.

As they roared off down the road, Joshua started laughing.

“What?” asked Sam, slightly confused by his good humour.

“I can’t believe you said that.”

“What?”

“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. Do you think you’re the hulk or something?” He laughed again.

Sam found himself smiling although he was just telling the man the truth. He wouldn’t like him when he was angry. No-one did.

Bryce Valley city wasn’t much of a city. In the tourist season, the population swelled to thousands. In the offseason, the residents numbered only one hundred and fifty six. Currently the population was six, not including Sam, Joshua and the girl they had rescued.

All six of them, the entire population, faced the three teenagers with loaded rifles.

The oldest of the men was carrying a heavy calibre machine gun. “Who did you say you were again?”

“I’m Joshua, this is Sam and this is, uh … “

“Grace,” said the girl.

“We’re from Black Ridge. Adam sent us. Told us to speak to Big Tom.”

The man nodded, stroking his silver beard. “That’s me alright.” He looked thoughtful. “Adam sent you, huh? He must have had good reason.” He turned to the five young men who were standing behind him. “Put your guns down, boys. If Adam said they were okay, then they must be. Blake, put the kettle on. Come on in,” he said to them, gesturing with his rifle.

He led the way into the stone block building. It was solidly built with iron bars on the windows and doors. It was also one of the few buildings still standing in the town. The others looked like they had burnt down.

Inside, the place was a veritable Aladdin’s cave. It must have been the general store before the Rapture, and shelves of supplies, mostly still full, were stacked up so high they touched the ceiling.

Big Tom led them to a large table and offered them chairs which they gratefully accepted. One of the young men, presumably Blake, set down a cup of coffee for each of them.

“So, what’s old Adam up to at the moment?”

Joshua shrugged. “The same as everyone else, I suppose. Trying to stay alive.”

“Why did he send you to me?”

“We need to get to Los Angeles,” said Sam.

Big Tom took a slurp of his coffee and looked at Sam sideways. “Why?”

“Adam thought it was important. Is that good enough for you?”

Big Tom chuckled. “You’ve got some balls, young man. Coming into my house and asking for my help without a good reason. Do you think me and my boys have lasted so long because we just took people at their word?”

Sam nodded. “I understand, sir, but I don’t know if I can trust you. Yet.”

“You’re lucky I’m still listening. Adam and I go way back. We were in the special forces together.” He ran his fingers through his beard. “Ok. How about we do it this way? You tell me what you need first and we’ll go from there.”

“Well, it looks like the state highway is blocked. Did you know that?” asked Sam.

“Yep. Those boys set up a couple of days ago. Bit of a thorn in my side. Me and my sons were planning on paying them a visit in the next day or two.”

“Well, you might want to do it even sooner. They’re creating trouble. That’s where we found Grace here.”

Sam nodded towards the small teenage girl. He hadn’t really looked at her before. She had dirt plastered all over her body and her clothes were torn in parts. Lines of tears left dirty tracks on her face. Grace looked from Sam to Big Tom but didn’t say anything.

Big Tom looked grim. “We’ll sort those boys out first light tomorrow, as soon as the demons go.”

Sam felt a surge of hope. Big Tom was obviously a good man, worthy of his trust. “So, I was thinking of going overland, at least until we get to Las Vegas.”

“That could work. It’s about 200 miles as the crow flies to Las Vegas. I’ve heard reports that there’s some law and order around there, so the roads will hopefully be clear. Or it’s about thirty miles to the interstate, but you’ll be pushing your luck going that way. The roads will be blocked and there’s gangs of survivors out there who’ll rob you and kill you for your boots.”

“Overland definitely sounds good. At least until Las Vegas,” said Joshua.

Sam agreed. “Then we’ll need some good maps, some hiking boots, tents, food, water and whatever else you can give us.”

Big Tom shook his head sadly. “You don’t ask for much, do you? It may look like we’ve got a whole lot of supplies here, but I’ve got five hungry boys to feed, plus I give whatever I can to Adam and the Black Ridge lot. You need to give me a real good reason, otherwise the answer is going to be no.”