The final four. Mark had always thought of it as basketball, a tournament to see who was the most dominant in the country.
He would never have imagined it could be a term for the last four alive.
Charlie had gone into shock. Darrion sat in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth, her hands to her mouth, sobbing. Judd cradled his arm, and there it was.
The thousand-yard stare.
Mark shook, the knife making small nicks in Nicolae's skin. The antichrist looked at him and laughed. Mark looked back at him, and he saw the sadistic glee in his eyes.
"Why don't you help your friends?"
Mark dropped his knife at the words. He wasn't going to help them. The words that normally would make him run to the person who needed him most now made him want to run from them all.
That fucking bastard.
Mark's eyes swept the room again. Charlie, curled into the fetal position, eyes open but not seeing anything, his breathing barely noticeable. Darrion started laughing hysterically and Mark turned his head away from his little sister who had gone insane.
His eyes fell on Judd.
Judd's mind was filled with the screams of their dead friends. His failures – particularly his failure to be there for Vicki at all times – flashed vividly across his eyelids. The war had done this to him.
Mark should know.
Judd, still not looking at Mark, said one word. "Charlie."
Mark painfully walked over to Charlie and knelt before the boy. He reached out a shaking hand, half expecting the ever-so-vulnerable Charlie to reach out and take it. Mark pressed his fingers to Charlie's neck, feeling for a throbbing that would tell him he was alive. His chin trembling, Mark gently pushed Charlie to his back and pressed his ear against his chest. Nothing.
Judd's voice, defeated, reached Mark. "He's dead."
Mark moved away from Charlie, numbly nodding his head. "Shock."
"Only one of us is getting out of here." Both Judd and Mark turned their heads to see Darrion, now completely insane. There was a glint in her eyes, something Mark could only describe as demonic. She crawled towards Nicolae, eventually straddling him.
The muscle in Mark's jaw jumped.
She pushed Nicolae over, unbuttoning his pants.
Judd closed his eyes, and a solitary tear fell from his left eye.
Darrion pressed her body against the antichrist's, reaching over his head for his knife. She wrapped her hand around its handle. "Might as well not be me."
Judd's eyes snapped open in time to see Darrion puncture her heart with the blade.
Carpathia chuckled and moved her body off of him.
Judd turned to Mark. "Kill me," he said.
Mark searched Judd's eyes for any trace of insanity. Instead of craziness, Mark saw that Judd was clearer in his mind than either Charlie or Darrion had been before they died.
Mark shook his head. He couldn't kill his best friend. "I can't."
Judd shot a glance at Carpathia. "Listen, Mark, if you don't, he will." His ees searched Mark's. "Please."
Judd was pleading with Mark. Desperation filled Judd's eyes. In the green sea of his eyes, there was peace. Just a small shred of it, but it was there. Judd had resigned himself to death. But so much sorrow filled his eyes. It was as if an anchor had been dropped and it dragged down the forest of Judd's eyes. His eyes were heavy, heavier than most kids his age.
Mark shook his head. "I can't kill you. Listen, Carpathia's a sadist, he'll kill both of us. We'll go together."
Judd shook his head, pain in his eyes. "Are you an idiot, Mark?" His voice was thick with sorrow. "Only one of us is going to live. Carpathia loves to inflict pain, and the way he can provide the most pain is to kill me."
Mark shut his eyes and pressed his lips together, shaking his head emphatically. No. You are not going to die. I am not going to let that happen.
Mark felt a hand on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Judd crying. Judd licked his lips. "He wants Vicki to feel the most pain possible."
At this, Mark understood. It wasn't Judd telling him that Vicki thought he was worthless; it was Judd telling him to get her to move on, to hate him. I can't do that.
The two boys heard a slow clap come from Nicolae Carpathia. "Well done, Judd Thompson. Very well done." He cracked his knuckles. "You are going to die."
Judd looked down at the ground and nodded very faintly. His voice was almost inaudible. "I know."
Mark couldn't keep the tears away. Judd was a hero – a hero dying for the villain. He turned to Carpathia. "Just one last goodbye. That's all I ask. Just one goodbye for my best friend."
Carpathia opened his mouth to deny Mark, but he looked hard at the two boys. He saw the destruction in their lives – most of which he had caused. They were brothers, in Christ, yes, but also brothers by love. He couldn't deny them this one request.
"All right," he said, his voice gentle. "One last goodbye."
Mark immediately turned to Judd and pulled him into a hug, sobbing into his shirt. Years, years of pain and grief and frustration showed through the tears both men cried.
Judd pulled away. "See you in a little while, brother."
He turned and walked to Nicolae Carpathia and nodded once. Carpathia nodded in return, and for the first time, it seemed as if he didn't want to kill someone.
Nicolae stretched out his right hand towards Judd and pulled at the air. Judd's body jerked as Carpathia struggled to pull the life out of Judd.
He had a lot to lose, thought Mark. And he loved life every single day. It didn't matter how much life sucked. He loved it.
And that was when Mark realized that this was the cruelest death that Nicolae had ever been a part of, and it was because Judd had lived life as a person everyone loved and everyone could go to.
Nicolae was now sweating as Judd's knees went out from under him.
He's still fighting. Don't give up now, buddy.
A voice – Judd's voice – echoed in Mark's head. I have to go now. I'll see you later.
And with that, Nicolae finally pulled the last bit of life out of Judd Michael Thompson, Jr. Judd's eyes were still open and Mark looked to Nicolae with pleading eyes.
Just one nod. That's how Mark knew.
Nicolae respected Judd.
The antichrist disappeared from the room, and Mark made his way over to Judd's lifeless body. He looked at the hero of them all and gently closed Judd's eyes.
"It wasn't a shame to be the only person to watch you pass from this world onto heaven," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "It was an honor."