Hey guys! I am so glad that you enjoyed the last chapter, I know that most of you don't like Ben and think he is an angel or an 8ball controlled by Gabriel, but I am here to tell you that he is in fact...GOD! lolol NOT REALLY! He is just a normal human being. I think that he seems so "perfect" because when we are in love/lust, our emotions make everything about the person seem "perfect". But as I said before, stick with the story, because it's going to be loooong! I already have up to ch15 planned! So yea, this is going to be an in depth story. Anyway- I took a break from packing- I finally have a new place to live *NO MOLD* and I am so happy! So I will probably update again tomorrow. Love you guys, thanks for reading, and please review! xoxo
They had been on the road for two days, taking turns driving and resting on the side of the road. Gabriella was behind the wheel, and at the sound of Michael snoring softly she glanced over to see his mouth hanging open slightly. She giggled softly; it seemed so undignified for an archangel to snore. Gabriella turned her attention back to the road, and saw a fork in the road ahead.
She consulted the map that Michael had taped to the dash, and noted that she was supposed to turn left. As they continued to drive, Gabriella noted that the map seemed to indicate that they were headed to the California coastline. She was excited at the idea of finally seeing a beach in real life, and not just in books or pictures.
Half an hour later Michael woke to the feeling of the humvee coming to a stop. Gabriella had pulled into an abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere, and was stepping out of the car. She glanced over to him and noticing he was awake smiled, "Hey sleepy head. I'm going to try and get some gas to fuel this bad boy up. Care to stand guard?"
Michael nodded and exited the humvee as well, flapping his wings to bring him up on top of the gas station roof. Gabriella went over to the large manhole covering the supply tank of gas and opened it, coughing at the fumes. She ran a hose down into the tank and began sucking on one end, trying to get gas to come out. She choked and spat gas out of her mouth, putting the end of the hose into one of three gas tanks.
She took a swig of water and rinsed her mouth a few times, spitting out the water when she was done. Soon, the three gas tanks were filled and she pulled the hose out of the tank. Gabriella took one of the tanks and refilled the humvee, storing the rest of the tanks and what remained in the last into the back of the humvee. She grabbed her 9mm from her pack, checking to make sure it was loaded.
She waved a hand and got Michael's attention, "I'm gonna go see if there's anything left in there that we can use." Michael nodded, though he thought it very unlikely. Anyplace that hadn't been stripped by survivors in the first few years of the war had later been stripped by Vega or Helena. He turned his eyes back to the sky and kept watch while Gabriella went into the store.
Gabriella kept her gun at the ready and walked quietly into the gas station store. She cleared the area quickly and began her scouting. There were no painkillers or medical supplies left. She moved into the backroom and found in a box in the back a handful of jerky sticks, some painkillers, and an empty gallon jug that could be used to store water or gas, whatever they deemed most necessary.
After looking around Gabriella realized there was little else of value, and headed out to the humvee. She loaded her finds into the back and slammed the hatch shut. Realizing she still had her gun she reopened the hatch to put it back when Michael called out to her.
"You might want to keep that out." He pointed east, and she saw two figures moving towards them rapidly. She swore and leaned into the humvee, grabbed the AK-47, sniper rifle and a box of bullets and climbed onto the roof. She tossed the AK to Michael who caught it deftly and leaned forward slightly, measuring the 8ball's pace.
She set up the rifle, adjusting the sights and trained on the 8ball to the right. She called out to Michael, "Got the one on the right." He made a soft noise of agreement and then raised the AK, preparing to take off into flight and fire. Gabriella tracked the 8ball as it got closer, and when she felt it was within her skill range, fired. She grinned when she heard its distant shriek as the bullet tore through its right shoulder and wing.
She heard the flap of wings behind her and knew Michael had taken off. Moments later the AK fired at the other 8ball, hitting it numerous times, but still it came. She realigned her sights on the other 8ball and aimed for center mass, firing. She watched as it fell from the sky, about 100 yards from the gas station. She pulled her 9mm from the waist of her pants and flicked the safety off, running towards the grounded 8ball. She could see it was a male and it was struggling to rise, hissing at her.
She kicked it in the head and pointed her gun, "Why did you attack us?" He laughed and said nothing, hate glaring in his eyes.
She fired another bullet into his left shoulder and wing, smirking when the 8ball screeched. She pointed her gun at his face, "One more time, why did you come after us?"
It laughed, "The reason matters not, you and the traitor will die."
She growled with frustration and when it tried to lunge up at her she fired a round straight into its head, ending its unnatural life. She turned to check on Michael and saw him grappling with the other 8ball. She ran towards him, and yelled, "Down Michael!"
When he sank to the ground she whistled at the 8ball and when it turned to her, she double tapped it in the head.
After waiting a moment to ensure it wasn't going to get back up, she ran up to Michael who was leaning against the humvee, blood covering his chest. His face was more pale than usual and his breathing was shallow and rapid. Swearing, she pushed aside his jacket and found a stab wound and a large scratch from where the knife had dragged across his chest. She pulled off his jacket and tossed it aside, taking off her own button down shirt and tying around his shoulder as a tourniquet.
Slipping her arm under his, she pulled, "Come on flyboy, I need you to help me here."
Michael's eyes were glassy with pain as his eyes found hers, "You called me flyboy."
She smiled tightly at him, "Yea well I'm less mad at you. Now let's get in the humvee and get the fuck away from here, yea?" Michael nodded and tried to lean less heavily against her.
She pulled the passenger door open and helped him into his seat. She ran around the humvee, tossing the AK and the sniper rifle into the back, and then slid into her own seat, locking the doors. She consulted the map and could see that there was an area marked caverns about 25 miles away. She gunned the engine and took off, glancing over to Michael and saw that he had slipped into unconsciousness. Soon enough she saw the sign for the caverns and turned at the indicated road, hoping that they would be safe here.
When she saw the first few caverns or caves, or whatever the hell they were, she continued driving. After another two miles she pulled past the mouth of one of the caves and backed in slowly. Once she was back in enough that the humvee couldn't be seen from above she turned off the humvee. She checked on Michael who was still passed out, and decided that she would leave him here while she scouted.
She pulled her gun out and locked the humvee, proceeding into the dark of the cave. She flipped on the flashlight attached to her gun and saw that the cave dead-ended about 100 feet in. Pleased, she headed back to the humvee and unlocked it, pulling out the sand colored tarp that Michael had packed, and using the climbing gear he had also packed, hammered it into the floor and ceiling of the cave, creating a tent of sorts for them. She left one corner undone so she could let carbon monoxide from a fire out, and air in.
She went outside the cave and scouted for branches, twigs, anything to be burned. Half an hour or so later, she came back with an armful of dried bushes, and set about digging a hole in the ground, filling it with the dried branches. She used a tiny amount of gas as lighter fluid and tossed a match on it, pleased when it burned.
She went to the humvee and saw that Michael was awake, but looked pale. She noticed that his wounds were still weeping blood and knew he needed stitches.
"Come on; let's get you out of here so I can take a better look at that." Michael nodded and swung his feet out of the humvee, groaning when he stood with Gabriella's assistance. She led him over near the fire and had him sit again, going back to the humvee for her medical supplies. She had been well stocked, courtesy of the Senate.
She kneeled in front of Michael and unwound her shirt before cutting off his shirt, needing to see his wounds. She used a pair of tweezers to pick fabric and large chunks of dirt out of the wound. She rinsed the wound with some water and then, after rubbing the needle in iodine and heating it, began to sew up his wounds.
She whispered "Sorry!" to his hiss of breath between gritted teeth.
Michael shook his head, "I've had much worse." She glanced up at him from her stitching and raised a brow, "Really?"
Michael nodded and pointed to his chest with a weak hand movement, "My brother Gabriel stabbed me through the heart."
She leaned back, and stared at him, "But that's how you kill an angel."
Michael nodded, his eyes locked on hers, "Yes. One of the last acts of my Father before he disappeared was to raise me and send me back." He saw Gabriella's eyes widen. She stared at him for a moment and then leaned back towards his chest, intent on finishing the stitches.
When she was finished she handed him a bottle of water and a stick of jerky, "Eat and drink. You'll pass out again if you don't."
He accepted the bottle of water but waved off the jerky, "Thank you, but no."
She gave him a disgruntled look and walked away, "Fine pass out again."
Gabriella went to the humvee and pulled out a sleeping bag, rolling it out on the ground. She helped Michael to stand and removed his boots before having him lay down in the sleeping bag, bunching up his jacket beneath his head for a pillow. She stood over him for a moment and then shook her head, smiling at him tiredly.
"I'll stand guard tonight. Get some rest." Michael didn't even try to protest, his body was already heading for sleep.
Gabriella sat on the hood of the humvee with a blanket wrapped around her, munching on a jerky stick. She didn't think that Michael's wounds would get infected; she had treated them as best she could. Besides, they had antibiotics if they needed, she just hated using them. As night fell she became sleepy, but did pushups and walked the perimeter on and off so she stayed awake.
After a long night, undisturbed by 8balls, she went back into the cave and roused Michael. He got around quickly for a guy who had been stabbed she thought, smiling to herself. She pulled down the tarp and stored it in the back of the humvee. She kicked dirt over the coals of the fire and looked to Michael, "You good to drive?"
He nodded, "I'm feeling quite rested for having had my ass kicked."
Gabriella looked at him in surprise, and when she saw he was raising a teasing brow laughed. She climbed into the passenger seat and pulled a blanket over her, falling asleep before they made it back to the main highway. Hours later she felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. She woke slowly, wondering why she was moving. When she realized where and who she was with, she nodded.
Gabriella sat up and stared out the front of the humvee. They were driving up a long paved driveway towards a huge house….mansion? She hadn't ever seen one, but this seemed to fit the description. When the humvee came to a stop behind the house, she looked out and saw that the house sat on a cliff, and that the only other view for miles was trees and ocean. She moved out of the car and stretched, sniffing the salt air appreciatively.
She turned to see Michael moving to stand next to her, and smiled softly. "This is amazing!" she spoke softly.
Michael smiled softly and nodded, "Its sights like these that make me awestruck at this world. Even though it has been irrevocably changed, it still holds such beauty and wonder."
Gabriella nodded, staring out at the waves, crashing over and over again against the beach. "Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting" she murmured softly.
Michael looked over to her, and made a questioning face. She smiled "Ralph Waldo Emerson, my mom used to read him to me."
Michael nodded, "He is right." The stood for a long time together, simply watching the sun set, casting a rainbow of colors over the sea. Michael's heart felt lighter, he knew Gabriella was still upset with him, but she had called him "flyboy" again. Surely she couldn't be that angry with him.
Gabriella watched the sunset with Michael and wished Ben was there to see it with her. She missed him already. Michael glanced to Gabriella and knew from the look on her face that she was thinking of Ben.
Miles to go indeed he thought wryly.