Chapter Four: The truth. Or, a shit sandwich without the bread.
"No," Tessa whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. Like she hoped what she was seeing was just the result of being thrown around the room. She really hoped it was.
Except it wasn't. It was fucking happening and it was fucking reality.
Tessa felt like someone had punched her in the chest, their hand going right through and grabbing her heart, squeezing too tight and twisting like they wanted to rip it out. She couldn't breathe, she was choking on air. Couldn't even move.
Amy and Dylan stood in the corner of the room, smiling. Showing pointed teeth. They looked around the room with black eyes. This couldn't be happening.
No. No, no, no! This couldn't be happening, not to them, not to sweet Amy, not to her little Dylan. But they weren't Amy and Dylan anymore. They were something else. They weren't human. But, God, they were them. They looked exactly like Amy and Dylan, who were there just seconds ago. It was them.
They looked at Charlie, "We want to play with your baby," they said in unison, but it wasn't their own voices. It was eerie, the cold, threatening, deep voices that issued from their small, child mouths. And so fucking scary.
"Dylan…Amy," Tessa whispered, pleaded. Michael lifted his gun and Tessa jerked forward, planting herself in front of the barrel, "No! Don't!"
"They're not them anymore!"
Tessa ignored him, taking a step forward, towards them, lifting her hands in an I-mean-no-harm gesture, like she was approaching a wounded animal she didn't want to frighten. They watched her, and she took another step. "They could still be in there. They have to be in there!"
Her back blocked Michael's line of sight purposefully. She knew without question that if he had the chance, he'd kill them. Tessa couldn't let that happen. There had to be a way for them to become themselves again. She didn't even understand why they changed now, of all times. The other man had been headed for them. Was it contagious, then? Did they contract it from him before Tessa shot him?
Tessa shoved the thoughts away; she had to concentrate on the here and now. Even if she'd much rather think about the past.
She took another step and their grins widened, showing their teeth, like she'd stepped right into their trap. Dylan jumped on her, and they fell to the ground just as Michael shot Amy in the head. Tessa let out an anguished scream at the sight of Amy, unmoving, and the way Dylan had attacked her. Dylan's small hand grabbed the switch blade from her pocket before jumping off her and running at Charlie. Michael leveled his gun at him, and Tessa jumped up, pushing the gun skyward as he pressed the trigger, shooting the roof.
"Don't! I'll fucking kill you if you shoot him too!" She snarled at Michael dangerously, close to his face. Michael's face flashed with momentary surprise before shutting down, sweeping his arm down and slamming into her side, throwing her out of his way. He aimed, but Tessa rammed her shoulder into his and he stumbled, losing the shot.
Tessa ran forward, grabbing a hold of Dylan's shirt and dragging him back from where he was attacking Charlie, her and Jeep staving off his attacks. Dylan spun in her grip and plunged the small blade into her shoulder. Tessa screamed, flinging him away from Charlie as white hot pressure exploded around where the blade protruded from her. Luckily it was only pressed in less than an inch.
"Bitch!" Dylan hissed, as Tessa gritted her teeth, her face contorting as she reached up and pulled the blade out of her shoulder, blood dripping down and staining her shirt. She dropped the blade to the ground, her hands shaking at the pain as she gripped her wounded shoulder, staring at him like she had no idea what to do. "You couldn't protect them!" Dylan, or not-Dylan, grinned, like he found it amusing as he gestured to Amy's body, and his own. "They wished it had been you that died instead of your parents!"
The breath left her in a whoosh of air, and her eyes moistened. Tremors ran along her arms, spreading to her body, and her shoulder throbbed like it was on fire.
He stalked towards her slowly, "Your parents never loved you. They used you. You were pathetic as a guardian," he stalked closer, his soft mouth curled into a harsh snarl. Tessa picked up her handgun, lifting it and pointing. Tears slid down her cheeks. "You were a slut, undressing in front of men for money," her finger hovered over the trigger, her hand shaking. She couldn't press it, she couldn't do it. She could save him. She had to save him. that was her Dylan. "You were cheap, dancing around a pole, you were - ," She squeezed her eyes shut and a crack sounded around the diner as a bullet was released. Her eyes snapped open, glancing at her hand. She hadn't pulled the trigger. Her eyes landed on Dylan's small body, crumpled on the ground close to Amy's.
She spun around, her body shaking, her face wet, her eyes wide and saw Michael lower his gun. "No!" she whispered. "No!" she shouted, getting louder, finding her voice. She lunged at Michael, her arms swinging out in wild arcs, even as the jolting movements sent stabs of pain through her shoulder and down her arm, "Why? Why did you do that? Why?"
She flailed blindly, and her fists connected with hard, unyielding flesh. "I could have saved them! Why did you do that?" she screamed at him, wanting to hurt him the way he had hurt her. His face remained stoic and unreadable, and he grabbed her upper arms, restricting her movements, making it impossible for her to keep hitting him.
"So you didn't have to."
She wrenched herself away, her hand covering her mouth as she broke down, her eyes leaking salty liquid. Tessa gasped, her face crumpling, her body convulsing as she lost feeling in her legs, her heart numb. She collapsed to the ground, but before she could hit it, Michael grabbed her again, his strong arms bringing her back up, pressed against his chest. For a moment, she fought him, slamming her palms into his chest. He didn't flinch, and when she realized nothing she did to him would affect him the way she was now, she stopped. No pain she could inflict on him would make him feel the way she did then, in that moment. Her heart couldn't break because it'd already been ripped out and torn to shreds that no amount of superglue could stick back together. Tessa choked on a sob before suddenly, like the dam broke, she couldn't stop crying, her face pressing into his shoulder. He didn't move, didn't do anything, just held on tight.
God, she'd failed them; she was supposed to protect them, Christ, she'd promised nothing would happen to them. And now they were dead. Gone. And she was all alone in the world on the brink of destruction. The last things they'd seen were people screaming, people trying to kill them. Nothing good, nothing pleasant. Nothing but fear.
"I think I'm going to be sick," she whispered, but Michael didn't let go and she didn't throw up. She couldn't look at them, their bodies. She hurt. Her head, her back, her shoulder and her heart. She hurt.
"The weakest are possessed first. They were just kids," Michael whispered close to her ear, but she wasn't listening, she couldn't hear him over the screaming in her head.
I was going to shoot my own brother! She screamed at herself, torturing herself with the images, the blame. I couldn't save them!
She pushed away from Michael then, and without his arms holding her up, she fell to the ground in a heap, but she dragged herself forward to Dylan's body, right next to Amy's. She cradled his head in her lap, brushing back his curls, before doing the same to Amy. Small droplets splashed on their faces.
"No," she moaned quietly, rocking back and forth, her voice raw. Her throat clenched. Her body shook, "I'm so sorry," she keened, a soft wail.
Then she was being gathered up into arms again, and she fought them, her arms flailing. They were her kids! Her damn kids, and she was going to sit there and stay there forever, with them!
Because their bodies were all she had left of them now. She'd never see them smile at her again, in the way that just made everything better, pushed away all her doubts and worries and made what she was doing worth it. She'd never hear them laugh, the infectious sound making her heart swell in contentedness, letting her know that the life they had, the way they were living wouldn't last forever because there was a light at the end of that tunnel that would lead them to something better. She'd never feel their small arms wrap around her, making her feel incredibly loved and needed. Never again.
She didn't think she'd be able to last for as long as never.
She was lifted up, and the fight left her.
"Move them away," Michael said, his words rumbling through his chest and onto her skin. She let herself be carried away from them, out of the main area and into the small office. She stared glumly at nothing. With one hand, he swept at the items on the desk, pushing them back to make a small space. He placed her on that spot, the desk pushed against the wall, her feet dangling and not reaching to the ground because she was too short.
Tattooed hands braced against the edge of the desk on either side of her, his face lowering down so he could lock his blue eyes on hers. "There was nothing you could have done," he said firmly, his voice soft and low. "Nothing."
Dead eyes looked back at him, and he wondered if she even heard him. Then she said, in a voice so devastatingly sad, "Then why do I feel so guilty?"
He looked at her intensely, earnestly, his blue eyes piercing hers, "It's not your fault."
She looked at him and he looked at her, neither saying anything. Then he left her sitting there, and her eyes drifted to stare blankly at a wall as he left the room, going back out to the others.
"Amy and Dylan are gone," she said it out loud, just to add salt to her wounds, rubbing it in. "They're gone. And it's my fault."
She breathed in deeply, and that bergamot, sandalwood and patchouli mix swamped her nose. It jolted through her and she glanced at the jumper of Michael's she was still wearing, frowning. There was a rip in the shoulder now and it was coloured red.
From where Dylan had stabbed her. Except…it hadn't been Dylan.
It hit her like a ton of bricks and she pushed herself off the desk. Yeah, she hurt, but Dylan and Amy were dead. At least she was alive. At least she could still hurt.
And fucking hurt, she did.
Here fate was, handing her a shit ticket that would either lead to fuckville or lifecity, and she had a choice to make. She could let this break her, she really could; it would be so easy, she'd just let the overwhelming depression and guilt take over and slide into it. It was the easy option. Like what Sandra was slipping into. Or she could man up, and push through, use that burning hate in her chest that made her want to scream 'fuck you' while giving the finger to the world, to her parents, to those things that wanted to kill them all. It would be harder, tougher, and it was going to hurt for sure. But she was strong.
And she was nothing like Sandra.
She'd see Amy and Dylan again soon enough. But not today. Not now.
And she had to do this now, she had to pull herself together and fight the fuck back, or she was never going to come out alive. She was alive, for Christ sakes. Yes, she deserved to grieve for them. She deserved to mourn their loss, and cry and not talk to anyone ever again. And they deserved that from her. And they deserved it done right. Not now. She needed to keep herself alive long enough to mourn them properly.
She stumbled out of the office, clenching her jaw so she wouldn't cry anymore, though her eyes stung and were still moist. If she just held onto that pain, used it, maybe she'd be able to survive long enough to mourn them properly.
"I'll go," Percy was saying when she walked out. They looked at her, and Charlie tentatively reached out, wrapping her arms around Tessa's shoulders in a comforting gesture. Tessa let her. It was nice of her to try to be comforting. No one had done that for her in years. No one had tried to look after her. She pulled back from the hug, and Charlie left one arm around her shoulders, like she was cradling her. Tessa sniffed, swiped at a few errant, defiant tears that managed to escape, and crossed her arms over her chest.
Her eyes strayed for a moment to the spot where their bodies had laid minutes ago. They were gone, any traces gone, like it never happened. Her heart clenched, and she figured maybe it wasn't entirely destroyed; it hurt too much for it to be gone. She felt scarily empty.
"Hold on," Bob said, stopping Percy when he turned to leave after dropping his gaze away from her. Nobody liked to see a woman cry. Bob fixed his demanding eyes on Michael. "You better start talking."
Michael looked down a moment, then nodded, heading towards the kitchen where he'd set up all his weapons and ammunition. They followed him, gathering around and waiting as he switched on a gas-powered lamp. They didn't have power, but they still had the gas. Michael looked up from across the bench, in a suddenly brighter room where it was easier to see.
"The last time God lost faith in man," Michael said seriously, his eyes running over them. He looked so in control, ready for anything; his face held none of the fear and worry that everyone else's did, just purpose. "He sent a flood. This time he sent what you see outside."
"Are you saying this is the apocalypse?" Percy asked, a tremor in his voice.
"I'm saying this is an extermination. Those things outside are just vessels. They're possessed. The weakest willed are the easiest to turn," he said, his eyes resting on Tessa.
Her eyes closed for a second as the pain in her chest doubled. Charlie ran her hand up and down her arm, almost absentmindedly. "They were just kids," she whispered to herself. Of course they were easy to turn.
"Possessed by what?" Kyle asked. "Demons?"
"No," Michael said simply. "No. By angels."
"No, no, no, wait, no, hold on son," Percy said, holding up a hand, "I don't know what book you've been reading, but in my version, the angels are the good guys."
"Well, the truth, I'm afraid, is never that simple."
Didn't Tessa know it.
"Horseshit!" Kyle called. "Now I'm not a pastor, but I never heard of no ice cream man or old lady eating raw meat, jumping on the ceiling with baby teeth, so I don't know what the fuck you talkin' 'bout!"
"Hold on," Jeep said, raising the issue Tessa had been wondering. "How do you know so much about this?"
"Because until last night, I was on their side."
"So you're saying - ,"
Bob cut Jeep off, "Yeah, yeah, that's right, and yesterday I was fucking Santa Claus," he said sarcastically, making it clear he didn't believe a single word Michael said. "You know this is crazy, right? I mean, I don't even believe in God!"
"Well that's just fine Bob, he doesn't believe in you either," he said, refilling the guns with the bullets. "He doesn't believe in any of this anymore."
"I knew this day was coming, I just didn't think I'd be around to see it," Percy said, almost to himself.
"Oh come on Percy, what are we even talking about this for?" Bob shouted. "Angels and possessed people! It's not real! It's not-," he trailed off in disbelief, not even able to finish his sentence.
"Have you looked outside, Bob? I mean, those people aren't exactly our regular customers!" Percy snapped.
Tessa let loose a short, hysterical laugh that held no amusement or joy, "Yeah, and my kids attacking a woman with a pocket knife wasn't exactly a common occurrence either!"
"Wait," Audrey said, her voice raspy from crying, as she looked up at Michael, "So are you here to protect us?"
A pause. "No, not you. Her," he nodded towards Charlie.
Shock registered on her face, "Me? Why me?"
"Because your child is the only hope humanity has of surviving."
A shiver ran up Tessa's spine. "Are you saying - ," she started saying slowly, but Charlie started laughing like it was a joke.
She sobered up real quick when she realized he wasn't kidding. "Wait, wait, wait a minute, this can't be happening to me, I mean, I'm nobody, I'm just a waitress! I don't even own a car," she said, like a plea.
"None of that matters anymore. Either your child lives or mankind dies."
"Her kid…" Tessa began, "You're saying her kid's the next fucking messiah?"
"Yes."
"This is a load of crap!" She shouted, her voice edging up, "We need a messiah because God's sick of us, sick of our shit? You're saying that because we didn't turn out the way he wanted, he's just going to kill us? This is fucking bullshit."
"You all wallow in sin, you walk it, live it, love it," he replied.
Tessa shook her head, stepping away from Charlie and towards Michael. She was having this argument with him, no one else, no one else mattered as she focused her gaze on him. Her hands formed fists, clenching tight to stop herself launching an attack at Michael.
Her kids died because of this. And she was going to fucking sort it out.
"No, no, that's not good enough. He's mad about that? Without hate, there'd be no love, without bad, there's no good. You can't have one without the other; He made it that way, if you want to believe that God's real! Then He gave us free will, to make our own choices! If He wanted us to be perfect, He shouldn't have fucking given us free will! A mother doesn't stop loving her child because they're bad, so no, it's not good enough!" She yelled heatedly, taking steps forward, closer to him until she was staring him down across the bench, the only thing separating them. Even then, she leaned forward closer. "It's not good enough!" She slammed her hands down onto the countertop, making the weapons jump slightly from the force she exuded. Her shoulder stung as the vibrations ran up her arms. "It's not good enough that Amy and Dylan died because He's had enough."
"You humans excel at finding new ways to hurt each other. Over five thousand years He's watched you do exactly that," he said, devastatingly calm.
"Well you know what? While He was looking at all the bad, He was missing something pretty fucking important then, wasn't He?" She panted, crossing her arms. A wave of dizziness hit her, but she pushed it back. She was pretty sure she was beginning to lose feeling in her arm. Then again, it hurt too much to be numb just yet.
"And what's that?" He seemed genuinely curious.
"He missed the love. The compassion, the kindness, the generosity. He must have missed those people trying to make the world a better place, because there's a lot of them. He must have missed those times when a parent would give up their own life for their child, for their sister, brother, friend; the ultimate sacrifice. He must have missed those moments between lovers when all they felt, all they could feel, was an overwhelming, all-consuming, burning love for the other, a barrier where nothing as horrible as violence and bloodshed could penetrate through, because in that moment, there was nothing else but them," Tessa said passionately. "He must have missed all the good things about being human."
Michael stared at her, his head tilted to the side as he contemplated her.
"He's judging the whole of our species by the actions of a few. He's blinded by His vision of what He wants us to be like; He's only seeing the bad. What about the good? Huh? What about the good?" She said, her voice going softer now that she'd gotten it out of her system, everything she needed to voice aloud. Which brought her back to her main point, "What did Amy and Dylan die for, then?"
No one said anything. Then Kyle spoke up.
"So are we supposed to hold those things off until the baby gets here?" he asked.
"That's it."
"I'm only eight months pregnant," Charlie said.
"This shit can't be happening man," Kyle said incredulously, looking around in utter disbelief.
"How're we supposed to survive here for a month?" Sandra asked, her voice low and empty as she stroked Audrey's hair.
"We won't have to."
Charlie squeezed her eyes shut for a second before looking over at Michael, "It's coming soon, isn't it?"
"Yes. Listen, I simply don't care what you people believe," he said, looking around at them. "And those things outside, they don't care either, they just want the child dead," he pointed at Charlie's swollen belly. "This first attack was a test of our strength. The next will be a test of our weakness. Now we can sit here and discuss it, or you can try and help me. But believe me… something much worse is on the way."
"What do we do?" Jeep asked, taking it in his stride surprisingly well.
"We need two people on the roof all the time, and we'll take shifts," Michael began.
"I'll go," Percy offered, walking out.
"Yeah…Me too," Kyle said, following behind him to the ladder that led to the roof.
"We'll need to board up these windows, in the morning; the first attack's over. And we need to be ready."
Tessa swayed slightly and she blinked, throwing a hand out to steady herself. Michael glanced at her, his eyes landing on her shoulder, "You're going to need stitches."
She looked to where he was looking and saw where not-Dylan had stabbed her. Michael's jumper that she was wearing now had a much larger stain, and it was warm against her skin, sticking to her. Now that she was looking at it, she felt the steady throbbing that matched to her heartbeat as blood was pumped out slowly. It fucking hurt.
"Oh." She grimaced slightly.
Michael asked Jeep, "Is there a first aid kit?"
He nodded, "I'll get it."
"You're going to want some privacy," Michael told her.
She just nodded, following his instructions without really thinking, heading towards the bathroom; that seemed like the best place to stitch someone up because it had running water for one, and tiles for another, which were easier to clean. But when she got in there, she walked back out, because it was dirty and the last she heard, bacteria wasn't the best thing for open cuts. She didn't feel like being infected and then having to lose her arm. She liked her arm right where it was.
She walked back towards the office, stopping at the kitchen to get a bowl of water. As she lifted her arm up to grab it, she nearly screamed as pain sliced right through her shoulder. Her other hand flew up to cup her shoulder and she winced, clenching her teeth, "Holy fuck," she panted.
Then Michael was there, grabbing the bowl for her, filling it with water before following her towards the office. That was probably as good as she was going to get privacy-wise. She really didn't want an audience as her shoulder was stitched up.
Jeep appeared in the doorway, handing Michael the first-aid kit before disappearing, probably back to Charlie. Tessa could see he was in love with the pregnant woman; his adoring eyes followed her every movement, watching her closely. When she needed something, he was here to give it to her.
Michael shut the door.
Hey, Guys :D
How's it going?
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Bit sad, huh? But there wasn't much else for it, I suppose. Death's a really major topic to cover so soon in, though it's in the movie soon in, anyway, but I'm not sure I really captured or conveyed what it would feel like in Tessa's situation. Anyway, I hope you weren't too disappointed. Thanks so much for reading!
And thanks so much to those who reviewed, favourited and alerted! I tend to update my stories according to the general interest (expressed in reviews) that my stories receive, so I always get way too excited when I get reviews for this story, because the archive is so small, and because I just love writing this story. So, thanks so much to those who reviewed –you guys really make me want to write more :D
Anyway, on to the replies;
Watergoddesskasey: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it and will continue to read. I hope you enjoyed this chapter then, as well! :D Thanks so much for reviewing again for me!
DoubleL7: Aw, thank you so much! Seriously? It blew your mind away? Wow, thank you so, so much! I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it so much! Haha, thank you so much for reviewing again! It means so much to me, and I'm so glad you'll keep reading! And that you want me to keep writing – I hope you liked this chapter! :D
: Oh no, I'm so sorry then! It had to be done – Amy and Dylan had to go! I hope you didn't hate it too much! Thanks so much for taking the time to review though! It really means a lot to me!
Haphazard Suy: Yeah, me too! I love reading things like that, where there's detail in the small things. Sometimes, I just blast through a chapter, and I don't stop and really write about the smaller things. I try, but sometimes I forget! Great! I'm glad you think she's reasonable so far – it's really tricky for me! But thank you! I'm so glad you're interested in how I proceed with this story, and I'm glad you thought the cliffhanger was clever :D Thanks so much for reviewing again –I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Fanfreak4ever: Oh, My God, thank you so much! I'm super stoked you think it's well written! Thank you so much! I'm glad you want to read more! Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter too then :D
Sakai213: Gah! Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Tessa is definitely a toughie (it's how you know she's totally going to survive this extermination!), and yeah, she loves those kids. That's why she's so heartbroken now! I know! I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but the chapter was getting a little long, so I was like 'yeah, there seems good to stop' :D Mean of me, huh? Haha, thanks so much for reviewing! Seriously! And I hope you liked this chapter!
DiabloFenrirCerberus: Aw, thank you! I'm so pleased you seem interested in reading more then, if you want me to update! Thanks so much for taking the time to review this, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D
Regin: Haha, thank you so much! I'm so stoked you like it, love it, and…lust it? Haha, jks! Thank you so much for taking the time to review! It means so much to me and I'm so glad you seem to be interested in reading more! Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter too!