Lake Stonecrest promenade, Panthersville, DeKalb County, Georgia. Tuesday, October 29th, 2019. 21:35.
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Sara walked back. "You'll owe me a few favors, if I go with your crazy plan, Major. And there's a good chance you'll become soldier sushi. I mean, I might fail to intercept the wraith."
"My daughter means the world to me. I don't care if I die," The soldier bared his heart. "And I trust you to not let me die on purpose."
It made Sara as envious as she was touched. She had to resort to Composure to keep a level head.
"I won't promise it, but I might take it into consideration, now," Sara reached into her pack on the bench. "I got something to show you."
Hainsworth waited in silence while she rummaged through the backpack.
"I think you'll want to keep this," She took the medal out of the bag. "Belonged to..."
"Colonel Maloney Smith," he said with a lot of respect in his voice before she could recall the name. "I saw his dogs at the school. Good job rescuing them, by the way."
Sara felt touched by the admiration the dour officer displayed. She respectfully handed him the medal. "Yes, the poor puppies were starving. I rescued them and intend to keep them both."
"I guess they'll be in good hands, I can tell you already like them," he said candidly as he admired the medal. He lowered his voice, "But was there a body?"
She shook her head. Sara noticed Hainsworth had some manly sweat in the corners of his eyes but didn't mention it to him.
"You did great, Sara. I see much of Martha in you. I am sure you'll be great friends."
"Does she have the same potty mouth as me?" Sara jested.
"Goodness, no!" Hainsworth chuckled. "But she's just as hard to convince to do anything she doesn't want to."
They laughed. Hainsworth went back to his Humvee to put the medal away.
"Tomorrow morning, we need to practice on some other undead first. An easier bunch," Sara said. "Your idea of sniping them might not even be necessary. I think it is a risk you shouldn't take. Before you say anything, I know you are willing to put your life on the line for your daughter. I respect that. Let's try my way first, then we see if we'll have trouble dealing with a horde."
"I know the perfect place. Meet me at the Home Depot store on Jonesboro, North of your former home, near exit 55 on the Perimeter."
"I'll be there in the morning," she said nonchalantly. "How did the rescue go?"
"We got all of them. Forty-eight new survivors, and also found a trio of your schoolmates. Mary recognized them and she was distressed by whom we found. Come with me, I'll give you a ride back to the school."
That startled her, "Found whom now? No, I don't need a ride. I'll go in my truck. I have two dogs and a damsel in distress to take back home."
*
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*
Garfield High, East Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia. Tuesday, October 29th, 2019. 22:00.
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The classrooms were full of comatose people wrapped in blankets on gym mats and other improvised beds. The rescue crew brought them here to spend the night, the logistics of moving everyone to Fort Gillem too complicated to do in a single day. Comfort was not a concern, the survivors remembered waking up after spending a whole week where they fell after Armageddon. What these people had was more than the former got.
"What do you mean?" She whispered.
"Any way we can fix that?"
"Like dragons, griffins, and the Kraken?"
"So we are stuck with only shitty undead for now."
"See if you can help them with the System. Maybe grade people by their potential Mana Conductivity."
"Thanks," She reached the infirmary and opened the door.
Bella and Brutus, already walking on their feet although with a little limp, came to greet Sara as she entered. The girl played with her dogs and verbally rewarded their loyalty. After that, she approached Mary. The other girl was keeping vigil over the four unconscious boys.
Simon and the RPG crew, that's who the survivors found. Apparently, Mary insisted to get them on proper beds. The other girl was dozing off on a chair but stood up when she heard the dogs.
"I feel awful," Mary confessed as she stood up and walked next to Simon's bed with Sara. The pudgy teenage boy was immobile, barely breathing.
"You should feel lucky instead," Sara corrected. "You get to apologize to them and clear that guilt out of your mind. Also..." Sara scanned the room before continuing, "your little prank might've saved their lives," she whispered next to Mary and held the other girl's back to support her.
"My what? How?" She asked, confused.
"Did you hear about the time bubble?" Mary nodded. "So, if our plans for the evening worked out, I'd be with them, playing Dungeons and Dragons. They wouldn't be caught in the time bubble, and would probably die."
"Sorry, I don't understand," Mary said, still confused.
"People had way better odds of survival inside the time bubble than outside. They weren't frozen in time, just slowed down to almost a halt. That gave their bodies time to adapt. Sorry about the ugly metaphor, but instead of burning like those everywhere else, they just cooked slowly, so to speak."
"Would my..." Mary started to cry.
"I don't know, Mary. Maybe, maybe not. These guys still had horrible odds of survival. We found a hundred survivors, but thousands upon thousands of dead people too.
Mary hugged Sara. She cried for a while, then chuckled, "You aren't wearing a bra!"
"Yeah, not even panties either, I'm going commando," Sara snickered. "Total slut."
"You smell of barbecue," She added between hiccups.
"I was burning meat, so to speak. I'll explain it later. How about I take you and the dogs back to my place? I bet you'll love it."
"Your place?" Mary asked, skeptical.
"Don't make me blindfold you," Sara joked. When Mary didn't call her bullshit, she resigned to go through with it.
*
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*
Garage, Sky Pencil, Panthersville, DeKalb County, Georgia. Tuesday, October 29th, 2019. 23:30.
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Sara parked the Silverado in the hotel's garage and released the dogs. "Hell," she commanded to keep them from going too far. Then she helped the blindfolded Mary step off the truck.
"Where are we? A garage?" The blindfolded teenager asked, guessing the location by the reverberations and smell.
"Something like that. This way."
Sara left the bags and the dog paraphernalia in the truck. Once she showed Mary her place she would come to fetch them. Using her key card, she opened the master elevator. It dinged and opened the doors.
"An elevator? Where are we? Downtown? No, it doesn't make sense."
Sara hissed a stifled chuckle and pressed the penthouse button. She felt her stomach sink as the elevator accelerated them upward.
"Floor twenty... and a lot," Mary guessed when the elevator stopped, dinged, and the doors opened.
"A what now?"
"We're above floor twenty, that's for sure. I counted the whooshing sound as the elevator passed the division between floors."
"Smartasses. I'm surrounded by smartasses," Sara complained. Taking Mary's hand, she gently tugged, "this way."
They walked down the corridor, through the living room, and out into the balcony. Eric's corpse was long gone, burnt in the pyre.
"It's cold and windy," Mary described. "Are we on a balcony?"
"Bella, Brutus, sit," Sara ordered. She then guided Mary to the railing. "Hold tight and don't get too close. I'm taking the blindfold off."
Sara kept a hand around Mary's waist and pulled the blindfold with another. Mary let a squeal-screech as she took in the breathtaking scenery in front of her.
The celestial abode shone with millions of dots of light, unchallenged by mortal lights. The milky way was a bountiful stroke of silver paint sprinkled across the firmament. The Moon was long gone, hidden behind the planet's curvature three hours ago. Viewed from this up high, the placid waters of Lake Stonecrest reflected the celestial atlas, doubling the marvel, framed by the opaque vegetation at the borders, now pitch-black. Some smoke rose to the south and light from the still-burning collective funeral pyre cast shades of yellow, orange, and red on the lake.
"Shut up," Mary gasped. "Where are we?"
Sara giggled, "My place, silly. I told you."
"You took it over?"
"No, the dead owner gave it to me. He died in the Jacuzzi and I met his ghost. A stylish guy, the mayor's son. He designed this hotel and gave me the deed," Sara smugly recounted. "We even signed it with his digital certificate."
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Turning around, Mary saw the lights on and grinned, "You have electricity?"
"The roof is covered in solar panels. The building is almost self-sufficient."
Mary made a coy smile, "Can I... move in?"
Perhaps the other girl believed that was a seductive move, maybe from some soap opera or movie. But it failed to move Sara as she had no romantic interest in women.
Sara rubbed her chin, pretending to give it some thought, "I do need a maid. You know, there's twenty-something floors of apartments and a lobby full of dead people's fluids to clean up."
The other girl's cheeks became red with anger, "I can't believe it, after all, we..."
Sara broke into laughter, "You fell for it! Don't get angry! Yes, Mary. You can move in with me. Tomorrow, we'll get the U-Haul and bring your stuff here. It will be you, me, Bella, and Brutus. But now it is late, let's go catch some Zs. Not the brain-eating kind."
Mary fidgeted a bit, "Do you have anything to eat? I'm feeling a bit peckish."
Sara grabbed the other girl's hand. "Sure. Do you want a Big Mac?"
Mary's eyes shone.
*
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Penthouse, Sky Pencil, Panthersville, DeKalb County, Georgia. Wednesday, October 30th, 2019. 00:40.
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With a belly full of post-apocalyptic fast food, Mary took one of the guest bedrooms on the top floor. Sara sat on the bed next to Mary for a while and the two talked until Mary finally calmed down enough to sleep.
Perhaps their bond was already strong enough to be a true friendship. Sara wasn't against the idea. Though she might need to talk to Mary about mimicking her behavior. Mary should do Mary's stuff, that's what Sara considered right.
After Sara heard the other girl softly snoring, she went out to the rooftop patio. Excited and afraid, she found it hard to sleep. She had a productive day, saved a lot of people, found more schoolmates, gained a lot of Skill points... and made important connections.
Not to mention that tomorrow was a big day, one in which she would go against her usual proclivities and risk injury or death for the sake of others.
Abby was correct. During this last month, she learned a new emotion after interacting with all the ghosts and the desperate survivors. After witnessing people sink to the bottom of despair, after offering, at least to one person, a former rival to boot, her hand in succor. Knowing that Mary was safe and sleeping soundly after spending weeks in abject horror trapped in her bedroom with her dead family rotting in the same house warmed her chest in a way she found starkly strange but oddly comfortable.
It was a feeling she could get addicted to. Also, respect. Hainsworth of all people came to ask for her help, after the meeting where he attempted to force her to work for him. The way Kelly and Bret, and even Keynes looked at her earlier at the school. Something Sara always craved, something she never knew the definition of. A missing piece in the puzzle was her previous seventeen years. A sense of belonging, accomplishment, and more concepts she couldn't grasp.
Tomorrow, she would help people take the first step in getting out of their enclosure, of reclaiming their nation, President Ted Cruz's survival notwithstanding. She would also reap tons of Skill Points, Sara wasn't trying to fool herself into believing she was some sort of hero.
She wouldn't let herself become some sort of messianic allegory. No. Should she stand to gain nothing, she would've refused Hainsworth's plea and told him to let his daughter take her chances with the hot air balloon.
Her mind felt fuzzy and oddly alert. The ambient Mana concentration near the lake empowered her with each breath.
Leaning against the railing, She took in the sight. A sky above, a sky below, a bit fuzzy because of the gentle waves on the gigantic lake. In her heart of hearts, all she could see was already her domain. Sara thought about hiring [Farmers], not ordinary farmers but people with the Class. They would work her fields and share in the bounty of both land and the System. With her commission for running the System, she could hire all sorts of people.
Some could think about dumping all that extra income into their own Skills and becoming the world's strongest. Sara wanted to turn a new leaf and become someone who didn't just take or steal from others. That was what she did to survive back in Seattle. Post-apocalyptic Sara would share her wealth. Not through donations, she wasn't that selfless but she also didn't want to be selfish either.
Her heart felt oddly warm and fuzzy, despite the cold of the late Fall night.
"Yes?" She replied absentmindedly.
"Yeah, it's dangerous. I know. Thanks for hedging it. Look, I..."
Sara hummed and nodded. She waited for the fairy to make up her mind and choose her words. Though she sensed something suspicious about their choice of words.
"Now. And not any of the previous twenty-something days," suspicious Sara remarked in an accusatory tone.
Sara sighed. It was hard to believe Abby was being forthcoming with any information but antagonizing the fairy might backfire. She would take whatever power she could to improve her odds of survival.
"Pain. Is it worth it, though?"
"I'll try to believe you. And Abby, thanks," Sara said softly, trying to be diplomatic. "I wish we could be partners, true partners. I mean, I cannot excise you, can I?"
"But you will be fine," Sara accused.
"No more gaslighting, please."
The girl shook her head slightly. Trust, especially Sara's trust, was a rare commodity. "Okay, let's give it a try. What should I do?"
With another conflicted sigh, Sara went to the master bedroom and opened the nightstand drawer. Her precious mementos were all there, save for her foster father's knife always on her belt and her mom's portrait on it.
"Would you be proud of me, mom?" She asked for the photograph.
With a knot in her throat and the feather firmly in her hand, she went back to the patio.
*
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Rooftop patio, penthouse, Sky Pencil, Panthersville, DeKalb County, Georgia. Wednesday, October 30th, 2019. 01:00.
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"What now? Am I activating the System Core now?" She asked, eager to receive a yes. Giving humanity the power to fight back would be very good.
"Yeah, should I brace myself? Never mind, I'm going to sit." Sara took one of the chairs next to where she found Eric. The ghost, not the corpse. She still had to clean the hot tub. "I'm ready. What earth-shaking revelation you have for me?"
Silence.
Then the bomb dropped.
Abby confessed as a murderer converted into a true apostle.
Silence.
The words sank slowly.
She couldn't believe what she just heard.
Sara's whole world rumbled and cracked. She trembled and her vision spun as blood fled from her extremities. Her stomach lurched toward her spine, and she squeezed the feather.
"WAS VERACHIEL MY FATHER?" She yelled in surprise and fear, staring at the feather.
Shaken, stirred, tears rolled freely down her face. Sara was livid. "Then who?"
'Fucking hell', was the only thought she could formulate. 'I'm a what now?'
Her balance almost faltered and the night sky spun. She would fall down if she wasn't seated.
Her breath was intermittent, her hands shook, and her temples pounded. Should she have the ability, thunderbolts would be crashing down on Earth. She wanted nothing more than squeeze every drop of golden blood from that stupid ball of feathers, then hammer down the fairy's cristal. Frost spread on the chair. Her mana was bouncing wildly around her channels.
"Why?" She mumbled. "Why me? Is this the reason Verachiel came to me?"
Sara stood up and started to walk around, gesticulating wildly. She had half a mind to toss the feather over the railing. Fuming, She had no control over how loud she was speaking.
"I can't fucking wait and let you gaslight me forever. Withhold information and whatever agenda you have. What am I, your fucking puppet? What's the end goal here?"
Abby didn't reply.
"Thought you would cowardly shut your damn crystal mouth. So. You met my father. He was a Cherub? One of those fountain angels?"
Abby waited for a while, to see if she would scream more. Sara waited for an answer pacing around the swimming pool, the wooden deck creaking underneath her heavy steps.
Abby projected an image in her mind. The hologram floated in front of her. A vaguely humanoid being, with four wings and a shifting head, that she couldn't quite focus on. It sometimes looked like an animal, or a bird, then a person. Focusing on the head gave her headaches.
In awe of the apparition, Sara reminded herself of how she felt when meeting Verachiel. Her negative feelings quickly vacated. Then they came back when she noticed that the Seraph could've asked for anything and she would agree, so awestruck she was.
"Damn," Sara deflated. The sight of the Celestial creature, even if it was a hologram, vacated her animosity.
Abby confessed.
"You? I thought you were..."
The girl massaged her temples, "I have a Cherub living inside me?"
"So, I'm half-Celestial. What about it? Where is the power up, and why does the Status Screen state 'human'?"
"Another lie?" Sara accused.
"You don't sound so sure of it," Sara pointed out. "What's the catch?"
She wasn't ready to go along.
"Fucking secrets, dude!" Sara rambled. "I have half the mind to not do it just out of spite. Like, why can't you be more straightforward? Ever since I broke the time bubble, you only mentioned Verachiel's contingency plan, regretted it, and things went downhill from there. I was a fool for taking you in. How can I be sure you are not manipulating me for some nefarious purpose right now?"
"You promised Verachiel something."
She went back to her cold chair and sat on it. Bits of frost flaked off and drifted away snowflakes.
"Fucking shit, Abby. I'm grasping at straws here. Everything you two made me do, from the ghosts to the survivors, to this stupid System thing, do you have any idea how everything sounds false from here? I'm disgusted. Worse, I don't even know how I can remove you from me. Or if my thoughts are my own. I feel like a puppet dancing to your song."
"Fuck you. What am I? The Messiah? Fuck that, of course not. Sorry, God, for blaspheming. Was my birth date also a joke or was it an omen?"
"A what?"
"A demigod?"
Her fingertips tingled with electricity. Her mind raced and she barely grasped what the fairy was trying to say.
"You do realize it sounds anything but a coincidence. What else? Was I born of virgin birth?" She shuddered. "There I go, blaspheming again. Damn, you, Abby."
Sara rubbed her temples, "Fucking gross, dude. Never tell someone their parents had sex. Why was my father on Earth, waking around in disguise?"
"Did my mom know?"
"What was his name? And do Celestials have genders?"
"Hell sent someone to kill him. Is that it?"
Sara wept. Only after she had cried her fill did she ask, "What happened to him?"
"Was he the reason Verachiel came to me?"
"Why then? Forget it, you can't answer shit. Why didn't he try to come back or, like, not get himself killed in a stupid war? I needed him!"
Sara let her head hang. She still had a few tears, the sad mixing with the angry ones.
"Did he... talk about me?"
The girl missed the fairy's choice of pronouns at first. Even if that was a lie, Sara wanted to cling to it as much as she could. She leaned on the table and wept.
"Did Hell have anything to do with my mother's death?"
She sobbed and blew her nose on the hem of her dress. As her brain caught up with the conversation, she noticed it. "Wait, you said they. Who's they?"
She snorted and sobbed. She stared at the feather clutched in her hand. "I don't feel like doing it. No, fuck all of you."
In her frazzled mental state, she missed the hint. Spiteful Sara was sold at "piss Verachiel".
"What should I do then?"