The Great War (Surviving the Zombie Nightmare Book 5) (2 page)

Eric scowled at the comment but answered, “Eric Bayne.”

“Good,” Michael said, “What do you want?”

“What?”

Michael’s eyes returned to a bright and brilliant blue, “That is the information you require of me; is it not? You demand to know what our plan is and what I am doing here. I am asking you in return. What do you want Eric?”

Eric shrugged in irritation, “I don’t know. I want to wake the fuck up so you stop talking to me. I want my dog back. I want this stupid war to be over. I wish I had been killed in some random mugging a dozen years ago so that I would have been long dead instead of some chosen one when the zombie shit hit the fan.”

“You want out?” Michael asked in a louder voice than he had used so far.

“Yes!” Eric yelled.

“You want out of being the chosen one for us. So you then want to serve Satan himself, right?” Michael demanded.

“Shit, no I don’t want to serve Satan. I won’t either,” Eric said matter-of-factually, “I’ll tell you that for sure right now. I don’t serve you and I damn sure won’t serve him.”

“You stubborn fool!”

Eric stepped forward, “What the fuck did you call me?”

Michael, the Archangel suddenly stood to his full height and at that moment he looked larger and more imposing than Lucifer ever had. He looked down at Eric and said clearly and loudly, “I called you a stubborn fool because that is what you are! Are you blind? Do you not have the sense to get in, out of the rain, as you humans like to say? You are so self-important Eric and so independent. Do you know why? How could you be so foolish as to not know why you are the way you are?”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at but you should know that tall guys in armor have received a head-rolling sword strike from me before. I won’t hesitate to do it again.” Eric scowled up at the massive angel.

Michael laughed a loud and rumbling laugh and sat back down. After a minute he clasped his hands together and quietly repeated, “You, Eric, are a stubborn fool. You are a stubborn fool because God made you that way. The one who crafted you in your mother’s womb made you the way you are. The answer to every question about you is that you are that way, act that way and behave the way you do because God made you that way and yet you refuse to admit it to yourself and serve him.”

“People do not always stay the way that God meant for them to be,” Eric argued. “Assuming that God exists, which is pretty hard to deny at this point, people do not always behave or live in the way I would imagine he intends.”

“You are correct Eric,” Michael said with a smile, “You are absolutely correct. I did not say that everyone is the way they are because God made them that way. Eric, I said that you are that way because God made you that way. See, many humans choose to go against their natural make-up. So very many of you, even the ones you revere from history sometimes refused to follow the path that God had for them. You, however, have followed the path God had for you to an exact point that few humans have ever equaled.”

“You mean,” Eric grew more confused by the second, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Eric, you are exactly who God wants you to be, in the time He wants you to be this way, for the reason He wants you to be here. Don’t assume that everything you hear from Satan, the father of lies by the way; is truth. For example, he would have you to believe that he now can do anything he wants and nobody knows. He can get anything he wants passed God himself and nobody can get anything passed him. Isn’t that what you think?”

Eric shrugged, “Pretty much I guess.”

“It might surprise you to know then that I was sitting here for the entire time Lucifer was speaking to you. I was here the entire time and he never knew it for a second. I can assure you that if he had known that I was here,” Michael smiled, “He would have faded away much more quickly. He, though a liar and deceiver to the ends of time, is not a fool. He knows his place and only seeks to take all of humanity down with him when he burns. Only a human fool would believe that anything he says is true. He wants the throne of heaven,” Michael laughed loudly. “He knows he cannot achieve that goal. It is only something he says to sway you away from the path that God has for you. You’re job now is to stay the course of your life. You have been gifted with many amazing superhuman abilities. I assure you that when the need arises, you will receive even more amazing gifts. You must not allow Satan or anyone who does his work, to sway you. If you do, all of your abilities and gifts, present, past and future, will fade away. I assume you understand now what your choice actually is as well as what likely rides upon what you choose. You don’t have to like that you are the last hope for the salvation of the currently populated human race. You do not have to continue to serve as the warrior you have served as in the recent past. At least now you know what the world will lose if you stop as well as what you will lose if you decide to stop. I must leave you now but I will leave you with one piece of advice. The female human named Destiny is a wild card. She is severely self-serving but in many ways so are you. We cannot say for certain what her choices will be from this point forward. That is the beauty of freedom of choice that you humans have. However, as long as she is willing to fight by your side, you would do well to use her tools wisely. Convince her that she should fight by your side until the end and the two of you will be able to do more together than the sum of your parts. The choices are yours.”

Usually when one of these angel-types finished talking, there were a lot of questions that went unasked or answers that Eric still wanted to hear. This Michael fellow was alright. At least he sat down and talked eye to eye and said everything that was really going on. It did make Eric wonder if there was a ranking system with angels like their seemed to be with demons. Some angels he had seen seemed positively worried about what the Devil and his demons were able to pull off. Michael didn’t seem worried for thrones of heaven at all. It seemed that, if Michael was to be believed, that the only thing that was really at stake here was the condition of the entire human race. Satan wanted to take the entire bunch down to hell with him apparently.

What had seemed like an easy choice according to Lucifer had been clarified by Michael. According to the leader of the demons, Eric had to either choose to keep fighting and die or join forces with the bad guys and rule. Michael seemed to suggest that if Eric chose to go the ruler route, he would actually lose everything. It came down to who could be believed and trusted the most. For someone who spent their life in a church pew that might be a really easy decision. Eric was not that person however.

Michael seemed to be okay with Eric just like he was. If Eric was going to be true to who he knew he was, then he also could not just simply believe what these supreme beings said. He would have to go through each day, one day at a time, and make his decision walking. That is how he thought best anyway; on his feet with sword in hand.

One thing still troubled him however. Satan had warned him that he would be on his knees in a battle very soon. That seems to suggest that Eric will be close to defeat or close to giving up; one or the other, if not both. Standing here in the aftermath of a vision with the scene still firmly intact, Eric could never imagine being brought to his knees on the field of battle if his legs were still attached.

Was it possible that this Devil of devils and demon of demons was to be believed? Should Eric take Michael seriously that all he had to do was continue doing things the way he did them and expect more superhuman gifts? What about this stuff concerning Destiny? They didn’t know any more than Eric did what the woman would choose to do but Eric should attempt to convince her to fight by his side until the end; unto death? That did not seem like something that he would do and therefore – assuming they were so similar – he doubted Destiny would either. All the same, it could be promising if the two of them somehow could be blessed with more abilities together than they had separately. As the scene began to fade, Eric knew that he had a lot of thinking to do even after he woke up. Things just got even more confusing than they were before and that was more troubling than anything else.

When Eric’s eyes first opened, he couldn’t see a thing. It wasn’t like he had slept too hard or something like that. He could see only bright white lights. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that the bright lights he had seen during the vision were affecting his ability to see clearly right now. For lack of a better thought of how to deal with it, Eric decided to simply close his eyes once again.

The next time he woke up, Eric could at least see well enough to know what was in front of him which was a big improvement. Unfortunately, the fact that he woke up again meant he had been asleep once again. The only good news there was that this was one of the few times he could remember that he slept for any length of time without seeing a dream or a vision of any kind. The bad news was that he could hear movement, which meant Destiny was already awake and he did not like that at all.

“Well, well, well, look who rejoined the land of the living.”

Eric sat up and looked over to where the female voice had come from. Standing there was Destiny, in the flesh. She was wearing tight black pants and a white sports bra with no shoes and her hair down. It really was a pity she was such a painful enemy of his; she was stunningly beautiful. Eric smirked and said, “If
you
had a brunch with Satan you might not have woken up at all. Do me a favor. Next time you see me sleeping that long, just fucking kill me.”

“I can’t do that Bayne,” Destiny said with a shrug, “God might get angry with me or something. You are the chosen one to get us through this right?”

Eric stood up with a heavy sigh, “Yeah, something like that. Being the chosen warrior for the heavenly hosts right now just means getting zombies, demons and idiots thrown directly into my path and only being able to trust someone who has already cut one of my limbs off. Maybe you should try it.”

Destiny turned around and grabbed a can of food randomly from the counter, “No thanks. I’d much rather be damned than take over the spot you’re in. By the way lover boy; there is something you ought to know. You should see the way you look at me; like you’d rather slice my head off than trust me for a second. Well, you aren't my first choice of roommate either.”

Eric grabbed a can of food for himself; his was chili which was quite lucky for a safe house. He looked to Destiny, “That’s about right.” Seeing that the can she held was green peas Eric said, “Why the hell did you pick green peas instead of chili? I think this is the last can.”

Destiny turned towards him and struck a sexy pose; running her finger down her chest and across her stomach, “You think keeping in this condition is easy? I can’t eat canned chili and still be sexy enough to distract someone like you on the battle field.”

Eric glanced up, looking closely at the track her finger took across her body, “Pity,” he looked back down at the can, “I can eat anything I want and still make you want to jump my bones.”

Destiny shook her head, “Oh my god.”

“Eric works just fine,” he said smugly, “And don’t get any ideas about trying to sexually assault me either. I’m a pretty tough bastard. If you try to rape me, you might end up getting your ass kicked by me yet again.”

“Honey,” Destiny said as she walked back into the other room, “I could have a thousand guys like you at the snap of my finger.”

“Darling,” Eric said, “Since we are using pet names now, you might well have had a thousand of the best and toughest men on this planet. But you have never seen or had anyone that is anywhere near me.”

“Mandy enjoyed it so much that she switched sides.”

Eric didn’t even look at her, “If you want your ass kicked, just keep talking.”

“If you think you can kick my ass, just walk right over here and I’ll cut off your other hand,” Destiny said proudly. “This time instead of turning it in to someone in a building somewhere, I’ll just shove it up your ass.”

They sat there in silence for a few wonderful minutes and Eric began to wonder just if there was something to what the Michael Archangel guy said. After all, it would be difficult to deny that someone somewhere had taken care of him by setting up this place. Sure, they used a traitor in the making to find the spot but it was a great spot just the same. It had a stash of food, well water to drink and to clean off with. The demons had no way to find it if Mandy’s information could be believed. Suddenly he wondered something and regretfully had to break the beautiful silence to get an answer. Turning to Destiny he asked, “Does Organic Ascendancy know how to find this place? They say the demons have no way to find us here but does O.A.?”

Destiny didn’t look up from her spot on the couch for a while. When she did, she had a thoughtful expression on her face that Eric knew he had not seen. “I’ll answer that question if you agree to honestly answer one of mine.”

Eric squinted but finally nodded because the information he needed was worthwhile, “Sure. My question first though.”

Destiny rolled her eyes, “Of course. O.A. had no idea where you were after you left that cottage by the lake. They sent me out to fight with you because that was the only way we knew to find you for sure. I should add that they did have a tracker on me, just under the skin on the back of my hand. I removed it long before we got here though.” She held up her hand which showed a small scar. “Now, my question.”

Eric sighed, “Shoot.”

Destiny sat forward, “You said earlier that you had a brunch with Satan. Many times you’ve talked about dreams and visions. I have never seen anything like that or really even heard of them. There was one guy who claimed to have a line to the angels or something but I have my doubts. Do you really talk to angels and have demons appear to you? What would Satan have to say to you? That just seems crazy.”

Eric smirked, “It sounds crazier to me than it does to you, I promise, and I’m the one who has this shit happen on a regular basis.”  He looked up but could see no sign of humor or anger on Destiny’s face this time. She actually was interested in an answer. He eyed her suspiciously, “You’re serious aren’t you? You really want to know what it’s like?”

Destiny kept the oddly normal expression and said, “Yeah,” she placed her mostly empty can on the floor next to the sofa and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees. “What’s it like?”

Eric scowled at the odd way she was sitting and looking at him. For a few moments he wondered what her game was. Was she trying to lull him into a false sense of security so that she could stab him in the back literally? Maybe she was just trying to get information on angels and demons and how they work? He knew that it was actually possible that she wasn’t even actually on his side at all. She could still work for O.A. and be part of an even more underhanded and elaborate scheme to get Eric to drop his guard. Finally he looked closely at her, “I don’t buy for a second of hell that you are actually my friend suddenly. You need to know that I don’t trust you. Not only that but I actually believe that you still work for those O.A. assholes and are just part of a big scheme against me. For those reasons I am not going to answer your question unless you answer one more for me.”

Destiny rolled her eyes quite normally, “That figures. God, you are so full of your damn self aren’t you? The entire world is out to get poor little Eric Bayne aren’t they?”

Eric threw his hands up, “Well fuck, yes they are Destiny. When you are claiming to be my partner and expect me to believe you, that pretty well means the whole damn world actually is out to get me. It is hard to argue against.”

She sighed, “Oh, gosh, whatever. I want to know what it is like because I never believed in any of that stuff. I don’t really buy it much right now. It makes me wonder who is really in control in this crap and when it will ever stop. I’ve been a soldier, a fighter and a warrior for all of my adult life and then some. Everything I have ever achieved, I worked, fought or killed to get. If you want me to answer another dumb ass question just to ease your poor little feelings, then go right ahead and ask it. Understand this though,” Destiny sat forward and pointed at him, “You are the one asking the question. Don’t fucking ask it if you have already decided not to believe my answer. I do not have the patience to deal with that right now, so if you aren’t going to buy what I have to say anyway, don’t ask the fucking question.” She sat back onto the couch and hugged her knees to her chest again.

Eric eyed her suspiciously but decided that she had a point after all. If all he was doing was looking for a reason not to trust her, he already had plenty of those. What he needed to figure out was if he actually had it inside of him to believe her at all. What was it that made it so easy to distrust her? Was it just that she was the one to cut off his hand? She had said on many occasions that she just did her job; she honored the contract. It was why she had killed in the past according to her and could be the one and only reason that she took his hand. Finally he decided that he had the ability to defend himself if she decided to turn against him again. He may as well as the question that was really bothering him.

Looking to Destiny he said, “Okay I’ll ask the question and really try to believe what you say as an answer. You are wearing some neat little outfit there today. That’s fine except that means you packed for this little trip. I don’t understand why you would really have plenty of things packed unless this was a planned job for O.A. Are you really finished with O.A.?”

Destiny laughed and it was once again very normal; something he wasn’t accustomed to from her. She said, “Bayne, you’re really something. You saw that they tied me up and left me as bait to get you there. You saw that they left the two of us to fight demons, zombies and die. How in the hell could they have planned that? I guess plan A was that I died and this is plan B? Come on!”

“If you aren’t going to answer the question,” Eric said quietly, “I will not be able to believe you because I cannot believe an answer you do not give.”

“Oh, for god’s sake!” Destiny yelled, “No, I do not work for Organic Ascendancy anymore! They turned on me and tried to kill me, Bayne!”

“So why do you have a bag packed?”

Destiny threw her head back in frustration but looked back down with a calm expression, “Because I was not going back.”

Eric scowled, “What?”

“They had all of this stuff planned for the new mother of the human race or something and wanted me to be their little baby factory.” Destiny shook her head, “They were always about advancing the human race, but I never thought that meant they wanted to create super soldiers or something crazy like that. I mean, we both probably know from history class somewhere along the way that people who try to create a master race are not usually on the right side of the moral compass. I didn’t want anything to do with that shit, so I discreetly packed a bag and planned to not go back once that mission was over.” She shrugged with a faint smile, “I guess I didn’t pack the bag as discreetly as I thought. But that was before I knew anything about their deal with demons. Once I knew that they were throwing in with them, I was completely done. No way was I going to work with a damn demon again. That Bullosky guy had a demon-like thing working with him – the one you killed at the stadium way back – and I never want to work with that again.” She finished with a healthy laugh.

Eric shook his head, “Why is that funny? I was all ready to believe most of that but you burst out laughing?”

Destiny looked at him with a big smile, covered her mouth to smother the laugh and then said, “I’m sorry. It’s just that I was ready to leave them one other time before that.”

Eric sat forward, “Oh?”

“Um, hmm,” she nodded, “Remember when I was fighting alongside you and Mandy and I was acting like I wanted to join you for good?”

“Yeah,” Eric smirked, “How could I forget? You having lulling me into that false sense of security is why I find it so easy to not trust you now by the way.”

Destiny laughed again, “It wasn’t false you moron!”

“Huh?”

She stopped laughing, “I was there to take your hand. That was the job but for the first time in my adult life I wanted out of a contract. You are an incredible warrior, just like me. Why would I want to take away your ability to use your hands as weapons? I would much rather kick your ass straight up – not that you are a pushover now though of course. What I really want is to get rid of these fucking zombies and, seeing now that they are really real, the demons as well. You were doing that already. I thought that I might really be able to join you and I was legit in being on your side. It was kind of awesome to kick ass alongside the famous Eric Bayne instead of having to fight against you all the time.”

“So what happened?” Eric asked, “If that is true, why did you go through with the mission?”

Destiny smiled and hugged her knees again, “Because you made it clear that you did not, nor would you ever, believe me. You and Mandy always assumed that I was lying and only planning to double-cross you. Ironically, your distrust of me is exactly why I went through with it. You made me feel like the only people who would ever trust anything about me was O.A. so I did what they sent me there to do. Honestly, I did it because you fucking deserved it you stupid bastard! If you had just trusted me for a second, you would still have two hands and who knows what we could have done against the demon and organic ascendancy alliance? Now we have nothing, barely even a vehicle. I guess all we have is each other, and you don’t trust me. That’s fine though because I don’t trust your ass either.”