The former Dominion of King Edward, Vermont, The Time of Xir

"Kids, you don't want to do this." Archie says with a warning tone in his voice to the majorette and trumpet boy, his hands kept high up in the air. Archie had no need of the gun holstered by his side after all. The invisible hand was a far better weapon.

"I'm sorry sah." the trumpet boy whispers, regret coloring his face, "But its like Ms Claire says, we need a way to get to paradise, away from this damnation."

"Get away?" Marco demands angrily, "You think running away with Claire's going to save you? You're just going to die with her. Wake up!"

"I don't unnerstand?" the majorette slurs her words slightly, her face a rictus of concentration.

"The Herd is here for the Immune woman and her child." Archie explains, "Claire plans to take both of them with her to Maine. Get the picture?"

An uncomfortable silence settles over the group as the pair of teenagers consider Archie's words. The majorette swallows hard and gives the trumpet boy a slightly distressed look, looking for answers that her friend does not have.

"The Herd tracked that woman right to our doorstep." Marco strikes while the iron is hot, "You think they'll give up the chase so easily?"

"No walls, no allies out there in the virus waste." Archie follows up, "The Infected will run Claire to the ground. And both of you with her."

"We've already arranged a car and supplies in the next town." the majorette says, "Claire has actually been planning this escape for some time."

"Hah!" Claire smirks, "Once again the Father's words have been proven correct. Didn't I tell you dears that we could believe in him?" The majorette and trumpet boy nod solemnly at this rhetorical question.

"You bitch." Marco growls, venom dripping from his voice, "You were planning to abandon us all along! And I trusted you to fight at our side!"

"I was going to invite you to come along as well Marco." Claire snorts, "But then you had to take Eddie's side when the Father was here doing his good work. So no paradise for you."

"Wait, wait." Archie cuts in and interrupts Claire, "Are you telling me that you knew the Herd was coming all this while?"

"That's right." Claire smiles broadly, "I did. The Father told me that doom for this kingdom was coming. And he was going to save all of us you know? But then again, there's the saying about horses and water isn't there?"

"Xir lies! It lies! Lies!" the Immune woman cries out in protest, sobbing all the while, "It will ruin all of you!"

"Shut up." Claire demands and slaps the top of the Immune woman's head hard, "Only perfection will survive the virus. And Great Xir will share that perfection with all of us."

"So now you know sah." the tumpet boy sighs, "We had been planning this for a while. I wish it could end differently, but ..."

"Are you doing this because Eddie no longer loved you, Claire?" Marco shoots back furiously, "He's dead now you know? Killed by that so called perfect being."

"Eddie got exactly what he deserved." Claire blares, "Oh, I was good enough for him when he was just a trucker, but after the virus? Building that harem of his with the servant girls behind my back as if I didn't know. I knew alright. I knew everything!"

"Claire ..." Marco's tone becomes surprisingly gentle.

"Shut up Marco." Claire snaps, "You knew as well, but didn't care. I get it. Its none of your business. Fair enough. But none of that is relevant to what's going on right now."

"Then what is relevant?" Archie replies, sweating bullets from the stress.

"The end of the world." Claire rolls her eyes, "This world is finished and only those admitted into paradise will survive. But I suppose it doesn't matter to you Archie. You look like you're about to drop dead from AIDS any moment."

"I most certainly do not have AIDS." Archie answers in a completely flat voice as Marco subtly shifts the grip on his rifle.

"Like I said, all that doesn't matter." Claire shrugs, "My dears and I are going to paradise and you two are not. The end."

"But what about the future? Your futures?" Archie asks the trumpet boy and majorette directly. From the corner of Archie's eye, he notices Marco's stance tense, as if the man was ready to spring into action at any moment.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Future?" the majorette repeats sounding rather confused, "We stay in paradise obviously."

"Eunuchs don't have a future." Archie says and lets the realization slowly sink into the pair, "That's what both of you will become if you follow Claire."

"Ms Claire ..." the trumpet boy begins but the woman quickly shushes him.

"Archie's just stalling." Claire harrumphs, "Do both of you want to keep living or not?"

"Yeah. I want to keep living." the trumpet boy whispers, "I'm going to enter paradise and keep on living there."

"No Virus. No Herd." the majorette says, psyching herself up, "We just need to prove ourselves worthy."

"That's right and -" Claire begins but her speech is cut short by Marco abruptly bringing his rifle up and letting rip with a long burst. A hail of lead shreds the torso of the trumpet boy, sending him jerking backwards down the mouth of the tunnel.

A stunned silence overwhelms Claire and the majorette at this sudden turning of the tables which is quickly interrupted by the mousey nursemaid staggering out of the tunnel, one hand clutching the wound in her gut and the other holding the barrel of the trumpet boy's rifle. Before anyone can react, the nursemaid swings the gun like a club straight into Claire, catching the former Queen in the cheek. Claire looses her balance and face plants on the ground, allowing the Immune woman to get back up to her feet. The pair then bolt down the tunnel, back to the safety of the settlement.

Marco grunts and pivots neatly, the barrel of his gun homing in on the majorette. But he's just a second too late.

"Bastard!" the majorette yells and swings her rifle in an arc as it barks angrily at Marco and Archie. Time slows for Archie as death approaches. And he calls up a debt owed.

Invisible Hand, balance the accounts. Let no debt go unpaid without interest.

With this mental command, a pallet of cash burns up against Archie's chest, causing painful blisters to sprout. As the cash is reduced to ash, Marco's left leg suddenly twitches, sending the man stumbling forward, blocking the majorette from Archie's line of sight. Marco blazes away with his own weapon in panic, but it does nothing to stop the incoming bullets from puncturing his entire body. By the time Marco sinks into the dirt, gurgling on his own blood, the majorette is flat on her back, breathing her last as well.

"Shouldn't have taken the PPE without paying, buddy." Archie comments idly as Marco expires face first in the mud.

"Damn you." Claire curses, back on her feet and gun pointed squarely at Archie, "Hiding behind someone else right to the end. Just can't stand getting your hands dirty, huh?"

Archie brings out a wad of bills and hums as the cash burns up in a flash of smoke, "You never paid for the whiskey you stole from me didn't you?"

"What are you -" Claire says but her voice suddenly hitches. The obese woman sinks to her knees in agony as tears begin to pour down her cheeks like twin waterfalls.

"My, my. That whiskey has gotten everywhere in your body hasn't it?" Archie continues, walking steadily closer to Claire, who by now is gagging and choking as well.

"Nnnhhh." Claire groans as water begins rushing out of her mouth as well. Her skin begins to wrinkle, drying up rapidly as all the moisture vanishes.

"Still, I would like the whiskey you stole back." Archie snarls, "Every single drop of it."

Claire extends her hands, grabbing desperately at Archie's legs as the torrent of water coming from the mouth flows unabated. Archie kicks the woman away derisively and watches as she desperately tries to stop vomiting up the last of the water in her body. With both hands extended, the former financier makes a wringing motion, as if he was squeezing a dishrag dry.

"Auughh!" Claire screams in agony as water bursts out from every pore, soaking her clothes in a macabre parody of sweat. Her entire body shrivels like a raisin and Claire sags to the ground, a hideous flabby mummy. A tiny trickle of golden fluid dribbles from Claire's mouth as she pays off her debt to Archie with her life.

"And that's that." Archie states calmly, listening in on the battle between Xir and the Herd raging in the background. He'll have to retreat back to the settlement, if only to avoid becoming squashed between those two giants.

With his decision made, Archie descends into the tunnel without looking back.