"Well?" said Angie.
Beulah ran to one of the camper’s large tires and wrenched it free. The entire wheel came off, the metal groaning and snapping. She flung it at Angie.
Angie dodged and the wheel raced by. Sharon tried to catch it with her bad hand. She failed and the wheel knocked her from the camper.
Angie ran across the camper to the edge Sharon had fallen from. Sharon lay in the snow just past it. Angie leapt off, aiming her boots for her head. Sharon rolled away and Angie slammed into the ground.
Angie stood as Sharon rushed her from the front. She shoved Angie back, slamming her against the grille of the camper. The camper slid backward across the snow. Angie heard Beulah topple from the camper. She felt the camper jerk as it slid over Beulah. Angie could sense she was still alive.
Angie pulled herself from the crumpled grille and faced Sharon. Sharon was bleeding, bruised and very, very angry. She seethed hatred at Angie.
"Come on!" Angie yelled.
A groaning of metal came split the air. Angie turned as Beulah threw the camper off her. The camper flipped up and over, rushing down toward Angie. There was no time to dodge. The camper slammed down on her, driving her down into the snow and dirt.
Angie clawed at the metal above her, but couldn't find a good hold. She heard Beulah run across the top. She heard Beulah jump and slam down into the camper. The camper crushed Angie further into the dirt and snow.
Beulah slammed down again and again, driving Angie further down. Dirt and snow clogged her eyes, her nose, her mouth. Angie clawed at the metal. All light was gone.
Beulah hopped off, apparently satisfied Angie was dead. Angie wondered if she was. All was dark and suffocating. A deep panic gripped her as she clawed at the metal. She kicked at the dirt beneath her, finally finding a foothold. With a strength that again surprised her, she stood and shoved the camper off her. It flew up and away, crashing down into the snow a few feet from her.
Angie stood in the hole she’d made and took stock. Sharon and Beulah were fighting, punching each other into the ground. Angie leapt from the hole and shoved the camper across the snow.
The sisters looked just before the camper crashed into them. They both fell in different directions, Sharon near where the sword was driven into the ground.
Angie ran up and over the camper, leaping and landing on the prone Beulah. She straddled Beulah's chest, punching her across the face. Sharon was somewhere behind Angie, watching.
Angie punched Beulah again and again. So hard she felt bone split as she slammed Beulah's skull into the ground. Beulah grabbed up at her. Angie grabbed Beulah's arm and twisted it until it broke with a loud snap.
Beulah cried out. Angie punched her again.
"Please!" yelled Beulah. "For the sake of everything stop this!"
"No more plans!" yelled Angie between punches. "No more schemes!"
Beulah kicked Angie off and into the snow. Angie hopped to her feet and ran back. She slammed a boot down on Beulah's leg. Beulah's leg snapped and she cried out in pain. Angie kicked Beulah's side again and again. The storm howled. The sky was full of snow and debris. It blocked out what little light there was.
"Yes!" yelled Sharon. "Kill her!"
Angie looked behind her. Sharon stood there, watching greedily. Angie saw her sword nearby.
She looked down to Beulah. She was badly injured.
Angie ran across the snow at Sharon. Sharon looked surprised for a moment, then angry. She lunged at Angie. Angie dropped to the ground and rolled away as Sharon rushed past her.
Angie wrenched her sword from the ground as Sharon corrected and ran up behind her. Angie leapt to her feet and spun, slicing Sharon across the face. Sharon stumbled back. The gash was large, open and bleeding. Bright red blood ran down her face and onto her black dress.
Sharon stared in shock for a moment, then her anger returned. "You primate whore!"
Angie held the sword outward, pointing it at her. "This ends now!"
Sharon raced across the snow, bellowing in rage. Angie rushed at her, sword ready. She brought her right arm up and ready to strike.
Sharon ducked to one side, grabbing Angie's left arm. She pulled it from the socket and Angie screamed. Sharon howled in victory.
As Sharon held her broken left arm, Angie turned the sword around in her right hand. Ignoring the pain, she twisted herself around while pointing the sword behind her.
Angie slammed backward, driving the sword into Sharon's stomach.
Sharon sucked in her breath in surprise. She let go of Angie's left arm.
Angie dropped to her knees, pulling the sword downward and slicing Sharon open. The sword came free and she rolled away, turning to look.
For a moment Sharon stood there, looking shaken and stunned. Then the split down her middle came open and organs spilled out. Blood and meat and viscera. Sharon's face went pale and she dropped to her knees.
"What..." she started. She never finished. She fell over backward. Black, nebulous shapes rose from Sharon's body. They twisted and writhed, tormented and furious. They blacked out the sky and roared over every sound. They hung in the air for a loud, angry moment, then fell back into the earth.
For a moment everyone stared. Beulah stared from her prone position on the ground. Maylee, Dalton and Park stared. Angie stared, wondering what she had done.
Groans came from the mob of corpses. Angie turned on her knees to see.
The corpses jerked and bucked. White muck poured from their eyes and mouths. They fell to the ground, writhing. All of them. The entire mob of thousands fell, coughed up white goop, and were still. As dead as they had always been. They began disintegrating into white foamy glop.
Angie felt the other towns, the other places ravaged by the dead. She saw the dead collapsing as one all over the world. She saw people in Europe, Asia, Africa, everywhere looking on in surprise as the corpses who had plagued them simply fell down and died. Angie laughed with astonished joy.
The animals who had been amongst the corpses stood, staring. They blinked their eyes and looked confused. Like they were wondering what had brought them there. They wandered off, no longer interested.
The sky overhead cleared. Gray turned to blue. The storm settled. What trees were left standing, and the surrounding snow, were calm.
The townsfolk cheered from their perches on the roofs and windows.
It was over.
Over.
"Holy shit," said Angie, panting. She became aware of her wounded arm. She could feel the blood grouping around it, wanting it to heal. She called on what little medical knowledge she had picked up in her previous life. Reached back to the old days of working at the hospital. Using her good arm, she placed the bad one palm down against the ground. Crying out in pain, she put her weight on her shoulder and snapped it back into place. She sat back, moving her wounded arm and grimacing.
"You did it," said Beulah.
Angie turned on her knees. Beulah was standing as best she could. She cradled her broken arm and balanced on her good leg. She looked at Angie in shock and admiration.
"You did it!" she said again. "She's gone! Do you realize what this means?"
First, Angie sensed all of Beulah's towns standing down. Beulah hadn’t told them to. She didn’t need to. The need for the sacrifice was over. All the children were saved and free. She felt the relief of the whole world.
Then Angie felt the world settling into order. Everything made sense. Everything had place. A purpose. A plan.
A grand design.
Angie stood.
Beulah kept talking. "Think of what I—of what
we—
could do now! Think of the great things your people could accomplish under my guidance! With no more chaos to impede me!"
Angie walked toward her, dragging her sword at her side. "Oh yeah, sounds great."
"Doesn't it though?" said Beulah wistfully as Angie drew near. "You've done well, Ang—"
She stopped as Angie drove the blade through her stomach, looking at Angie in surprise.
"No more grand designs," said Angie. She pulled the sword free and Beulah fell.
Beulah rolled onto her back as Angie dropped to her knees next to her. Blood spilled from Beulah's mouth.
"No!" said Beulah. "You can't."
Angie crawled on her knees closer to Beulah. "No more schemes. We'll all be free. We have to be free." She held the sword up over her head, pointed down at Beulah.
Beulah held up her hand to stop her. "Don't! You don't know what it could do! It could tear the universe apart!"
Angie shook her head, holding the sword over her. "No. No more. We have to be free. We're in charge now."
Beulah stared at her with wide, blood-rimmed eyes. "You could destroy everything!"
Angie paused, staring down at her. She looked to the children standing against the far wall. They all looked back, scared but hopeful.
Angie turned her head and looked at Maylee. At Dalton.
She looked back to Beulah. "You shouldn't have messed with my kids."
She drove the sword downward into Beulah's chest. Beulah screamed up into the open air, so loud Angie thought her eardrums would burst. Angie twisted the blade and rammed it down sideways, slicing Beulah's chest open.
Beulah screamed louder and white light shot out from her in all directions, blanketing everything. A roaring noise drowned out every sound.
For a moment there was nothing but roaring noise and blinding light.
Then silence.
Angie opened her eyes.
She lay on her back in the snow. The blue sky was above her, still and peaceful.
She blinked, wondering what had happened.
"Mom?"
Angie sat up. The ruins of the back end of town lay everywhere, torn apart by whatever had come out of Beulah. Rubble and metal were strewn around. The guards and townsfolk stood, looking confused but unhurt. The children at the far end stood, bunched together and terrified, but fine. Carly and the guards stood near them, shaken but unhurt. Angie looked to the other side. Park, Maylee and Dalton stood there, wind-blown and dazed. But fine.
"Kids?" Angie said.
They ran to her as Angie stood. Her whole body ached. The blood coating her was now dried and flaking, falling away by the second. The pain in her ankle returned, but the wounds from the battle seemed to have healed. The blood had protected her.
The battle
, thought Angie suddenly. She shot up in fear. The sisters were gone without a trace.
Slowly, the power Angie had felt faded. She was a beat-up thirty-something again. That felt sixty.
Her children reached her and hugged her tight. She hugged them back.
"Shit, Mom," said Dalton. "That was awesome!"
Angie pulled back but kept them close. She raised an eyebrow at Dalton.
Maylee nodded. "It kind of was."
Park walked over. Lilly had found him and was clinging to his side.
"Got your little buddy?" said Angie.
"Can't get fucking rid of her," said Park.
Angie smiled and turned to the children. She limped over in their direction, holding on to Park and Maylee for support.
They drew near and the children walked across the barrier. The moat was now empty, except for a thin layer of dried blood clinging to the bottom.
"You guys okay?"
The children nodded.
"Told you we'd save you," said Angie.
They rushed up and hugged her as one. Carly ran past them and hugged Maylee.
"Did you kick all manner of ass?" said Carly.
"You know it," said Maylee, and kissed her.
Angie let go of the children and looked to Park, then limped away, heading for a cedar tree next to where a wall had been.
"What's up?" said Park, following her. Dalton followed him. Maylee let go of Carly and stepped off after them.
"Do things feel different to you?" said Angie.
Park thought about it. "Kind of."
"It's hard to place," said Maylee.
"I want to check something…" said Angie, limping to the tree and leaning against the bark. She smacked the side. It was firm and sturdy.
"What are you doing?" said Dalton.
"Something Beulah said," said Angie, “something about me killing them and destroying the world." She smacked the tree again. "But this guy seems pretty sturdy."
She turned to put her back to the tree.
“So what do we do now?” said Maylee.
Angie shrugged. “Whatever we want.”
“Yeah,” said Dalton, “whatever we want.”
Angie rested against the tree. The air remained bitter and cold, but it felt wonderful on her cheeks. The townsfolk, guards, Carly and the children looked dazed but happy. Angie knew they felt what she did. They felt free. All of them did. A weight had been on the world so long no one had known it was there. A controlling force had manipulated them all for so long no one had known any different. Generations of people, thousands of them, had lived and died under this weight. Controlled by this force. And now it was gone.
They were free. It was scary, bracing, and wonderful.
Angie turned to look at the tree. A small cluster of leaves disintegrated. They simply turned to fine dust and blew away.
Angie stared for a second. They all did.
She smacked the tree again. Nothing else happened. Everything was fine.
"Yeah," said Angie, "let's not tell anyone about that."
"Okay," said Park.
THE END
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