Evelyn and her father had been living in Colorado Springs at the time. They had been spared the early outbreak anarchy in the Boston area, but once the government forced martial law and took down most social media sites, no one had concrete answers about where this shit would go. It didn’t help that political partisanship had been the flavor of the time, so an army of demonstrators took to the streets a couple weeks in, convinced that it was all a power play by the government to kill their freedom.
She’d never know how the hollows first got into Colorado Springs. Maybe it was a small CDC lab that got breached during the riots. Maybe some refugees brought them over. Maybe a single one contaminated the water table in a high-density neighborhood. It didn’t matter. Between the lawlessness and the mass migration, the Hollowing spread like wildfire in those Coloradan streets.
Z-Day, people came to later call it. The tipping point where the government lost all control of a dozen major cities. It became the sort of day that people spoke about in hushed whispers as they went from camp to camp, spreading the facts about the outbreak and how fast it was burning. Another tale to explain why the military no longer performed regular house checks while the truth of the undead could no longer be denied. Everyone loved to talk about that day once it happened.
But most survivors hadn’t lived it like Evelyn and her father.
She remembered Z-Day all too well. Remembered the feeling of her father’s hand clenched around hers as they ran down the street. She remembered soldiers gunning down civilians, only for them to get back up. Others merely eating each other, if not chunks of themselves. She remembered blood flowing everywhere, red and black both. Fire burned the ground, smoke was in the air, and everyone sprinted any way they could, searching for exits that were not there. Only a protracted chaos remained around each block. The world they’d known imploded around them, and no one could stop it.
Evelyn never thought she’d have this feeling a second time. Not until this moment.
The Beholders continued their onslaught, murdering any who resisted. If only the two of them could get a little further, they’d reach Elysium.
“There’s too many,” Chantelle whispered when they were close enough to see their target.
Evelyn studied the main street. The Beholders were marching everyone through, with their humvees driving nearby. The tsunami of .30 cal bullets made short work of any entrenchment along their route.
But nobody’s purging the civilians, Evelyn realized. They were all getting shepherded onward, right to the main plaza of Elysium itself.
“I have a plan,” Evelyn said. She pulled a damaged tarp from a nearby dumpster and wrapped it around herself, keeping the M4 out of sight.
“What are we doing?”
“Just follow my lead.”
The pair marched into the open street and immediately got absorbed by the crowd. Evelyn glanced over her shoulder, only to realize that Chantelle had been separated at once. She swallowed the lump in her throat and kept moving.
Little by little, the Beholders forced the workers forth. It wasn’t long before she found herself in striking distance of Elysium, though the doors had been already locked down.
Then she saw the general for this army, and her plans changed altogether.
One of the trucks doubled back, parking in the center of the crowd. Father Abraham left the passenger’s seat and strolled into the open, with a line of Inquisitors blocking the path. He hopped onto the hood of the humvee to give his stature more height. A morning sun cut through the open air, highlighting his tiny form in rays of light. His people were still shrouded in the dark, their weapons trained on the crowd.
Abraham didn’t have a weapon himself. He didn’t need one, either.
Still too far. Evelyn began to shift through the crowd, slowly closing in.
“Citizens of this treacherous city!” Abraham boomed. “Look to me and hear my words. Your leaders have led you astray and brought you all down a path of wicked damnation. They have poisoned not only your minds but also your very souls in the eyes of the Lord.”
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Evelyn shoved another pair of workers out of the way, getting closer to her target.
“When we first arrived,” Abraham continued, “your Head Huntress made a solemn covenant with me. She promised we would forever remain friends and neighbors so long as we respected each other’s space. My congregation held up our end of the bargain! Even when we saw how much vile Sin this city lived under and how much you all were hurting yourselves, we turned the other cheek, like the good people of faith we are. We trusted that we could lead an example through love and acceptance.
“But what did we get for this honesty? How were we repaid for our kindness and peace?” His lips twitched in rage. “Betrayal! For a short time ago, the Head Huntress mobilized the armed forces of this city with the goal of wiping us all out. While she looked me in the eye and shook my hand, she kept her other wrapped around a knife behind her back. This act of treachery was nothing short of the work of the Devil that you all have grown accustomed to praising in these sinful streets.”
Just a little further. Then Evelyn would be in range.
“Thankfully, the Lord intervened against this evil, for while the Whore of Babylon and her army sought to drive a dagger in our backs, God punished her for her hubris. He smote our enemies where they stood while keeping the rest of us safe. That’s right! Your Head Huntress defied the Lord’s power, and he destroyed her for this Sin! A Sin that you all share for following in her heretical ways!”
Her heart stopped in her chest. Evelyn had known Leah was dead the moment she saw the landslide, but hearing the words out loud brought a certain finality she hadn’t expected. He’d even said this would happen. Leah had brought that threat up during the meeting before the raid. Could Abraham have really predicted a landslide would bring her down if she attacked?
Evelyn shook her head and kept moving. This could still end.
Father Abraham beamed, his violet eyes like molten amethyst. “But fear not, my sinful neighbors! For the path back to God is always there for those willing to take it, and we believe in redemption above all else. You all may consider yourselves part of our loving family now. No longer will we turn a blind eye against your Sin, nor will we allow you to destroy yourselves!
“Behold!” Abraham cheered. “The Lord will be mocked no longer. Behold! The path of the righteous has been laid for all willing to take it. Behold! In these hours of revelations, the power of goodness will prevail against all evil. Behold! God is great, and His will be done. Behold!”
“Behold!” the Beholders echoed. “Behold!”
Evelyn was almost there. Her finger wrapped around the trigger of her M4. One quick pop and this monster would be gone forever. Once and for all.
His eyes suddenly fell on her. Onto the respirator she always wore and the sunglasses above. He watched her with an unshakable fury.
“Behold,” he mouthed.
Evelyn raised her M4. Those nearby screamed and dove for cover as she took aim.
Father Abraham didn’t even flinch. “Did you not ask for proof, Evelyn!? Did you not wish to see God perform a miracle for yourself!? Look beyond these walls and gaze upon the evidence that He wrought for you! Do you still deny His power, even now!?”
Her finger wrapped around the trigger, and her target was right there. But Evelyn couldn’t bring herself to do it. The trigger felt impossibly heavy, and the muscles in her hands quivered without thought.
Could it really be possible that she’d been wrong? Evelyn tried to think up alternatives. Of how he could have seen them coming. Or how he might’ve mobilized so many soldiers this close to the Styx. Or how he dropped a fucking mountain on Leah’s head. But no matter how hard Evelyn tried, all explanations seemed woefully insignificant.
The scope grew blurry, and her aim was unsteady as she tried to will her way into taking the shot and bringing this madman down before it was too late.
Then she missed her chance. By the time Evelyn saw the Beholders coming, they were already within arm’s reach. One Inquisitor wrenched the M4 from her arms while the other struck her side. She wheezed as the pain burned through her stomach, and her vision grew clogged with tears. Hands wrapped around her limbs, and she scraped against the ground.
Evelyn opened her eyes again and realized they’d dragged her to humvee where Abraham stood. Right before the crowd of Pandemonium citizens, with thousands upon thousands watching. The morning had come in full swing, and sunlight now highlighted her too.
Abraham puffed his chest high. “There is one more secret that your heretical leaders have kept hidden from you, my good neighbors. Another miracle from the Lord that you were denied. Let us start this new relationship with the transparency you deserve!”
He yanked off her respirator, exposing Evelyn’s vibrant, living eyes for all of Pandemonium to see while she blinked back powerlessly.
“Behold!” Father Abraham roared.