Chapter Thirty Eight
“Sometimes, being a parent is easier than you think. The moment your kid’s at risk, you just do what you gotta do. Nothing more to it.”
–Marquise Jones, “Unnamed”. 5 Months After.
* * *
“Just a little further, Dad,” Evelyn whispered. “We’re almost there.”
They pushed through the brush as distant shouts echoed. Evelyn clutched her rifle tight with one arm while Dad wheezed over her shoulder, his body quaking. All they had to do was make it to the car. Then, they’d escape these monsters for good.
“No more,” Dad gasped, squeezing her shoulder tight. “Let me down, Evelyn.”
“Can’t,” she started, but he had already shoved himself off.
He winced as his body floundered into the nearest tree, eyes closed and hand on his chest. His mouth gaped wide, blood trickling out.
“What are you doing!?” Evelyn panted. “They’re getting closer.”
But Dad said nothing as he kept his head still. Evelyn gulped. She didn’t let herself look at the pallid sheen his skin had gotten, nor the blood that just kept leaking out from his gunshot wound. She didn’t fixate on his broken glasses either, or the arms that had gotten so thin and wiry after so much time on the move without rest.
“Dad, please,” Evelyn said. “We have to keep moving. The Jailors are getting closer.” She shuddered, remembering what that group tried to do to her.
He shook his head. “I can’t do it no more.”
“We’re almost there. Come on. The RV can’t be more than half a mile away.”
He sighed. “There’s no RV, Evelyn.”
She recoiled. “What are you talking about? You said it was there last night.”
“That was before Rick lifted the keys from me. By now, that two-faced asshole’s gotta be halfway to Canada. I’m sorry. But it’s just you and me out here.”
Evelyn gaped. That can’t be… How could that man have stolen their ride after what they did for him!?
Another shout echoed, followed by a pair of gunshots. Evelyn cringed. Zeds were nearby too!?
Her wrists quaked. How could this have happened? They’d been doing so well until now. Dad had gotten that RV a month back, and they’d been going from town-to-town along country roads ever since, keeping a low profile. It was all going great until they happened upon that one man.
Rick. The bastard was practically an inch away from death when they found them. Said he had a family. Said he just needed to get up the road to find them. What he didn’t say was who they were with. A group who everyone called “The Jailors.”
Those guys were bad news. Captured all sorts of folks in the area, especially girls. Evelyn thought it was all talk until they came after Rick. They nabbed her trying to run away, but not before Dad promised he’d save her.
And he did, too. Even after the things the Jailors tried to make Evelyn do… Dad came into their compound and got everyone along the way. She’d truly thought it was over until her father kicked open the door to her cell with a hatred she’d never seen before.
So many bodies… So many goddamn bodies.
But the Jailors got Dad too. They barely made it a mile out before he started stumbling from that wound to his chest, and now, he could hardly move at all.
If the RV wasn’t where they left it, then how the hell would they get out of this!?
“I need you to go,” Dad said.
Evelyn nodded. “Sure, Dad. Let’s keep going. We’re bound to find something.”
He shook his head again. “No, I mean you. Not me. I’m done, girl.”
Her throat tightened. “Don’t say that. You’re Marquise Jones. Ain’t no scratch ever slowed you down before.”
“Evelyn, look at me.”
Only then did he meet her in the eyes. She trembled at the sight. Since when did he get so weak and tired?
“I ain’t gonna make it and you know it,” he said. “If you don’t walk away right now, those men are gonna get you.”
“But you’ll die.”
“Nothing to be done about that.”
Evelyn chewed her lips, unable to move.
“Ah, don’t look like that, girl.” His bloodied hand reached up and stroked her hair.
“I can’t lose you.”
“Then don’t.” He shifted his body with a groan and reached into his jacket. A small radio thing came out, and he placed it in her hands.
“What’s this?” Evelyn asked.
“Oh, just some stupid thoughts from your father. I recorded the whole thing in case something like this ever happened. Guess there’s no use holding back now.”
He coughed again, more bodily fluids coming out. His eyes glazed over as he struggled to stay awake.
Evelyn clutched the voice recorder with all her might. She couldn’t do this… She couldn’t run away… Not from Dad. He was the only one she had in this world.
“Please, Dad,” she whimpered. “Just get up and move. Do it for me. Just a little more. I won’t make it without your help.”
“You don’t need me no more, Evelyn. You’re stronger than you know.” He blinked through tears. “Promise me one more thing though.”
“What?”
“Promise that you’ll find love out there, Evelyn. This world’s become a cold, dark place, and it ain’t ever going back to what it was before, but I’ll still die the happiest man in this world so long as I know you’ll be out there, living your life. You deserve to be loved. Don’t let nobody ever try to take that away.”
How can I? Evelyn wanted to say. How could she ever find love in a world like this? Between the zeds and the survivors and all those monsters on top, how could she ever find peace of mind again? Not when the only person she’d ever loved lay on the ground in front.
But as Evelyn met her father in the eyes, he watched back with a confidence that rocked her to the core. He knew she’d find her way, even if she couldn’t see it herself. Like a beam from the sun cutting through the eye of a hurricane, his love still reached out to her, and he cared nothing more than her own peace.
Somehow, that brought her comfort.
“I will, Dad,” Evelyn said, her voice cracking. “I promise that no matter what, I’ll find a way to make it work.”
He chuckled and looked into the sky above, that award-winning smile again plastered across his cheeks. Evelyn grinned back.
But then one second went into the next, and Dad still stared onward without blinking. His chest stopped moving.
It took everything to keep from screaming. Tears clogged her vision, rolling down her cheeks. She sobbed, her body shaking.
Bushes rustled nearby. Shouts grew louder. Evelyn wrapped her fingers around the voice recorder tighter, knowing that she wouldn’t have time to escape this fate.
But still, Evelyn could not take her eyes off her father, locked in that perpetual smile. Even as the walls closed in and clouds blocked out the sun, she could not forget his final words or her promise to him.
She wouldn’t let this world beat her.
* * *
Evelyn executed another Beholder with cold indifference.
“Clear.”
Liam stepped forth. “Think that’s the last one, love.”
She grimaced. “And still no sign of Leah.”
“You heard Ezekiel. If the battle’s gone this poorly for them, they’d have legged it straight to that Watchtower place. We just need to find a truck and we can go after them.”
“Still no sign of one either.” They’d been wandering Elysium for what felt like hours, but after the Pandemonium troops invaded, every vehicle went on the retreat.
And Abraham with them.
“What are we going to do? We need support.”
Just then, more gunshots rang out. Evelyn pivoted into position, her M4 trained to kill as she studied the narrow passage where they’d fled down. I hope that’s Ezekiel…
It wasn’t, but the Beholders did not come either.
Leah rounded the bend, her burgundy scarf trailing behind her sheepskin jacket and jeans, fury in her gaze as she marched forth, her 1911 in hand. More Hunters filed behind, all armed to the teeth.
Evelyn lowered her rifle. “Thank God.”
“Well, well,” Leah said, violet eyes beaming. “Looks like you two made it alright.”
She drew close, and the two shook hands.
“Heard you got crushed under a mountain,” Liam said before enveloping her in a giant bear hug. “Knew you’d find a way out.”
Leah gasped. “Yep, but you’re not exactly helping right now. Do me a favor and let go before I break my ribs again.”
He complied.
“Can we save the reunion for later?” Evelyn asked.
“Of course. What’s the situation?”
Evelyn went on from there, explaining all that had happened. She went as quick as possible. Time was still of the essence.
Leah nodded once finished. “So you think they’ve gone to Watchtower?”
“Way we figure it, nowhere else for them to go.”
“So, you’re gonna need a truck then.”
“Several, and sooner rather than later. There’s no telling how quickly they’ll act now that Pandemonium is lost to them.”
Leah shrugged. “Easy enough. Between the Municipality’s personal armament and the Beholders fucking off, we’ve got more than enough to spare. Shouldn’t be hard to close in on them with our full arsenal.”
One of her bodyguards grunted, his eyes placid beneath a ballistic helmet. “We’ve got a problem, boss. Just heard from Charon on the radio.
“What is it now, Dwayne?” Leah asked.
“The Beholders detonated some charges on their way out. Took out a whole chunk of the Styx.”
The others hushed as the implication became apparent.
Leah groaned. “You aren’t saying what I think you’re saying, are you?”
“I am,” Dwayne said. “We’ve got hollows pouring into Pandemonium…
“Lots and lots of hollows…”
* * *
A tsunami of desiccated corpses marched through the streets of Pandemonium, drawn by the gunfire and explosions. Those who remained all rushed to safety. Even though rezzers were the superior fighters and had little to fear from simple bites, their problems compounded when so many hollows grouped together, especially with their conventional defenses so weakened by the ongoing battle.
What should have been a simple extermination thus evolved into a city-wide crisis as everyone fought against a third armada without end. Bullets and missiles were launched into this invading force, but for every hollow killed, ten more were there to replace, clawing into anything with the slightest bit of sentience. Everyone who couldn’t get to safety was swallowed by this army, with or without a cloak.
And it was inside this grey sea where a convoy of armored trucks rolled through, spraying thousands of bullets from minigun turrets in a hopeless attempt to thin this horde out.
“Gun’s overheating!” one of the drivers announced through the radio. “Need covering fire!”
“Still down here!” another said. “What’s the hold-up back there?”
Another gasped. “Fucking Beholders… Engine’s sputtering. We’re losing horsepower!”
“For fuck’s sake, why won’t this herd end!?”
“Too many fucking hollows,” Leah muttered, leaning into the front of their armoured truck and grabbing the radio for herself. “Alright, here’s how we’re playing this, everyone! Trucks One and Two, shift to the left lane and slow down, then turn back between Trucks Four and Five. My truck will take the lead until we reach the drop point.”
They affirmed her command.
She turned to Dwayne. “Hook due south once we reach the next block. That’s our clearest shot to head them off.”
He saluted, one hand still on the wheel. “Roger, boss.”
“Where you going, Leah?” Liam asked as she clambered to the back again.
“What do you think? To clear the way.”
She tapped her Hunter ally on the shoulder from his seat on the roof-mounted turret. In a flash, their positions swapped, with her on the .30 cal Gatling gun, and him manning a grenade launcher below. The forward trucks parted ways, leaving room for theirs to drive through. Dwayne kept an even pace as Leah yanked the electric rotor online. Six barrels of destruction spun into motion.
The Head Huntress concentrated all her firepower into hollows in front. Corpses evaporated from where her bullets splattered through the endless herd, forming an open line. Brass casings rained from above as they roared out of the rotary barrels, countless times per second.
And Evelyn watched from the back, her eyes fixed on the horizon. Watchtower protruded out from the ruins of Los Angeles, a lone monument reaching into the heavens above. It was there where rezzers kept an eye on all activity inside the California basin, and it was there where they would have to go next.
We’re coming for you, my baby girl. Just hold out a little more.
The truck shifted south, with Leah eviscerating more hollows between. Some of the rearward trucks took the cue and launched grenades of their own, opening the path further up. Viscera continued to burst through the air.
“Best place to shepherd the hollows is that park a mile south from here!” Leah shouted over the roar of her turret. “We make enough noise and they’ll be drawn there instead of the city!”
“What about the northside breach!?” Dwayne shouted back.
“Charon’s on defense! We’ll have to trust that he can see that fight through once the herd slows down!” she glanced over to Watchtower as well. “We’ve still got our own war to end. Tell everyone else to keep the hollows busy while we head for Abraham!”
“Understood!”
He relayed the commands through the radio. The other drivers echoed their agreement, seeing the Head Huntress in action.
The hollows were truly unending. Evelyn’s vantage inside Pandemonium had not done this herd justice. Father Abraham hadn’t just lured a handful of undead into this valley. He’d practically cleared this side of the country of anything that could move. Millions had been brought into this valley, if not more.
After this I looked, she considered. And behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…
Sure, like all else, much of the translation became lost in Abraham’s version of Revelations, but this was an uncanny appearance that could not be denied. An Armageddon had been unleashed, flooding the valley with an army of the dead. If there ever was a time for the skies themselves to open and the world to end, it would be here and now.
Evelyn grit her teeth. They didn’t have much time.
The trucks reached their destination, an open park stretching for several acres. Leah relayed more orders. A group of Hunters quickly set up pyrotechnic launchers while the others formed a parameter. Fireworks exploded above soon after, drawing all hollows within miles and thinning the wave that wandered through the Styx. The trucks laid into the incoming herd with all their might.
Not their truck though. Leah took their two strongest vehicles and soared due East, heading straight for downtown LA. The roads cleared up soon after, and all the hollows’ attention focused on the fireworks display behind. What few undead that crossed their paths were quickly crushed beneath heavy-duty tires, no more ammo wasted.
The closer they drew, the more Watchtower climbed in prominence. Even before the Hollowing, this skyscraper was one of the most iconic in Los Angeles, shaped like a tall, round tower, with a crown that framed the rotunda on the final floor. Whitestone encased crystalline glass sheets along its length, now reflected grey under an overcast sky. The whole monstrosity stood well over one thousand feet tall across seventy stories. It rose as the singular monolith too. All nearby buildings had either fallen through the occasional earthquakes that plagued this part of the world or by controlled blasts from the rezzers to keep its foundation from ever getting compromised.
And to Evelyn’s dismay, a second sea of hollows had congregated nearby. As their truck came in range, she heard passionate hymns of the Holy Word recited from where speakers had been affixed to the first floor’s windows.
He’s been planning this for weeks, she realized. The goal was always to bring Leah here and perform this ritual the second he got his hands on her.
She winced, once again the fool for not seeing this coming.
“Bloody hell,” Liam said as he eyeballed the hollows. “How are we getting through?”
Leah beamed from behind her turret. “Same way as always.” She activated the electric motor again, prepping for another slaughter.
But the windows suddenly lit up as enemy muzzles flared to life, pelting their vehicle under waves of bullets. Dwayne swerved further down the street and Leah dove into cover as the gunfire rocked the truck’s frame. The other truck screeched to a halt behind.
“Dammit,” she said. “Anyone got eyes on them?”
Evelyn nodded. “Second floor. I’d say eight shooters, give or take.”
“Any chance you can take another angle, Dwayne?”
He shook his head. “Street’s too crowded, boss. We’re lucky to have gotten this close. Speaking of…”
Hollows hobbled into view, drawn by the vehicles. Hunters leaned out of the other truck’s windows, laying into the crowd. They dropped as quickly as they appeared, only to be replaced by more. Others filed in from adjacent streets, moments later.
Leah stroked her scarf. “Not good. Can’t get too close without losing any cover that turret gives, but we won’t have much time to get indoors before they send out their trucks as reinforcements.”
The radio crackled. “We’ve got movement over here, Leah. It’s coming from the garage!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me… Already?”
Evelyn watched the hollows getting murdered behind, her brow hardened. They were so close. Too close to not risk it all. Not when their daughter’s life was in jeopardy.
“How far you think it is to the door, Liam?” she asked. “A hundred yards, give or take?”
“I’d say so. Why?”
“Who do you think are the two fastest sprinters in the world right now?”
It took a moment to catch the implication. “You can’t be serious… You want us to go in there alone?”
“Yes. This is our baby girl, honey, and we don’t have time to waste anymore.”
His eyes widened as he considered the prospect, but as he watched that same building as her and understood their circumstances, his cheeks turned bright red.
He grabbed her hand. “Let’s get our daughter!”
She smiled, her heart fluttering. “Leah, do you think you could cover our approach?”
“You mean from the army of rabid undead and shooting squad of cultists? For you, why the fuck not?” She climbed back onto the turret and signaled the other car. Distant Hunters gave the thumbs up before doing the same. “You won’t have long. Once those trucks hit the road, we’ll be bogged down taking them out.”
Evelyn nodded. “Understood. Then let’s get this over with before the moment’s lost.”
She and Liam leapt out of the truck, blocking it from Watchtower’s line of sight. The two thrust their acrylic visors down and tightened the straps of their hardsuits, guns ready for use. Dwayne reversed as the minigun spun into motion again.
Bullets clattered against the truck the second they entered the main road, but Leah unleashed a torrent of her own. Glass and concrete exploded from the second floor. The shooting stopped.
“Go, go!” she ordered.
It all became a blur. Evelyn rushed forth with all her speed, Liam by her side. Between Leah on the minigun and a dozen Hunters in support, a wedge formed in the hollows’ ranks. The Beholders were just as powerless. The second any shadow appeared along the rim of the second floor, Leah redirected, honing in on their enemies with mechanical precision. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, they were protected the whole way through.
They reached the door, and Evelyn gave their guardian angel a final salute before dipping in. Liam lunged through a second later, and Leah’s truck drove off, ready to engage their next enemy.
Then they were alone. The pair quickly reached into their rucksacks and drew respirators. Now that they were in close-quarter combat, they needed every ounce of protection they could get.
But Evelyn studied her respirator for a moment, with the faux fur padding and matte black plastic frame. The very same given to her at the start of the outbreak, once again needed to save her daughter’s life.
She slipped it over her mouth and lowered the visor again, covering her face beneath a veil of cold rage.
Not even God would get to see what came next.
* * *
In and out, Evelyn. In and out.
The air recycled through her respirator, flowing at a metronomic pace. Evelyn’s mind remained blank as she marched forth with her husband by her side, M4 raised. She didn’t see the darkened hallways with an infinite number of hidden threats or the hollows that slowly limbered behind where they had broken through the entrance as well. No, Evelyn saw nothing other than the stairwell in front.
She only saw Leah’s scared face, alone with no one to bring her love.
The two raced down the hall as one. No words were needed. No decisions to be made. Both knew the priority at hand, and how little time they’d have. Abraham’s voice thundered through the building’s speakers as he recited the book of Revelations. Only so many verses left before he reaches the bowls. They had to hurry.
They reached the stairwell and pierced through the narrow gap between. It winded up, and up, and up. Out of view, with only the tiniest sliver of light at the top.
Liam’s eyes glazed over as he took in the full scope of this beast. “How many flights did you say again?”
She sighed. “Too many, honey. We’re gonna have to move double-time.”
A hand suddenly flashed into view a few floors up, dropping a small object. It clattered at their feet. A grenade!
Evelyn scooped the grenade up and threw it back at its sender. Not a second too soon. The upper floors vanished under a cloud of fire and shrapnel. Grunts rolled out.
More shadows appeared behind them, but Liam laid into the Beholders before they could get close. The bastards dropped as shots took them in the heads.
The two nodded and moved, their guns scanning for threats in front. Movement appeared under the screen of smoke as they reached the second floor. They both fired at once, and the Beholder dropped. Another appeared an instant later, only to face the same fate. They kept moving.
Floor by floor, the two marched up the staircase, their weapons ready for use. Each level was identical to the last, save for a single number identifying where they were.
3.
Whenever the slightest hint of a threat appeared, both exterminated it on sight. A few shots came in retaliation, but the Beholders had concentrated their forces when fighting the trucks and were too slow to respond.
20.
The further they climbed, the slower it became. Their stamina began to slacken, and it became harder to concentrate. It wasn’t long before each took turns, with one keeping watch while the other lowered their gun to save on energy. Even if they couldn’t stop for a second, this was now a marathon and not a sprint.
30.
More Inquisitors rushed down, ready to stop them at all costs. Their shots were precise as they tried to bring the two humans down, but Evelyn and Liam were the more experienced marksmen, and did not let these monsters get in their way. The firefights became sporadic as their enemies struggled to hold a defense.
40.
Evelyn winced as a shot took her in the chest, but her attacker died a moment later.
She collapsed into the wall, the air trapped in her lungs. Blood sprouted from the wound at once. She immediately probed along the edges, front and back. The sigh was heavy as she breathed deep, quickly taking bandages from her rucksack to stem the bleeding.
“Evelyn…” Liam started.
She groaned. “It’s fine.”
“Love, you’ve been shot!”
“The bullet went through. Nothing vital hit.” She shook her head and stood back up, then lurched back into a march. “Can’t stop. Not for a second.”
She barreled onward.
50.
Evelyn blinked through the pain, her breath gargling beneath the respirator and visor fogging with sweat. Liam was no better. Even uninjured, his older age was his enemy, and his legs quaked with each step.
But neither slowed for long. When one began to fall, the other picked them back up, their shared adrenaline compensating for all else.
This wasn’t where their daughter died.
55.
The hollows weren’t far behind. Though they moved at a snail’s pace up staircases, they could keep doing so indefinitely, especially when motivated by the smell of blood. Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat as their real estate lessened, with the Beholders still holding their own in front, and the hollows closing in behind.
60.
Evelyn’s feet dragged like lead within her steel-toed boots, and her arms shivered against the weight of her M4. Her hardsuit was stained red where her bandage had been soaked through.
Liam collapsed into the wall.
“Bloody hell,” he gasped. “And I thought you’d be the one suffering.”
Evelyn rubbed his shoulder. “We’re almost there, Liam. Just a little more.”
“I’m only slowing you down, love. Go on. I’ll take care of the hollows while you get our daughter.”
Shades of her dying father flashed before her eyes, and she yanked him up at once. “Don’t you dare say that again! We’re a family. We do this together, or we don’t go at all.”
His brow furrowed with the realization, and he launched back into the climb without another word.
65.
There wasn’t much time or space left to work with. The hollows were now trickling in, one after the next. Liam and Evelyn could only move so fast, their bodies at the cusp of collapse. Ammo began to get burned as they fought enemies on both fronts.
The hollows below, and the Beholders above.
70.
They were almost there. Just a few floors remained. But this part entered the open, with the rotunda looping around the last few levels and the ruins of LA sprawled away.
With the fresh air seeping through the cracked windows, they hit their final burst of energy, sprinting up the last flights of stairs.
73.
As they reached the end of the staircases, a flurry of bullets clattered out a barricade at the top. Evelyn dove back into cover, but even that respite was non-existent. Hollows floundered around the bend where they had come, their mouths salivating for the meal before them.
Liam fired into the rear while Evelyn tried vainly to get a clean shot against the Beholders. Both sides shifted positions, with the hollows closing in and the Beholders moving to flank. She fired with all her might, but they did not go down.
Then she heard a sound pervade through all else. A whimper. A sob. A baby’s cries.
Her baby.
And Evelyn saw nothing but red. With a shriek, she ditched the M4 and sprinted forth, her body now numb to pain. The Inquisitors’ eyes bulged, seeing her rush straight on, but her hands moved on their own accord and swapped to the Sig Sauer before they could react. She put her enemies down without batting an eye. Undead brains shattered against her fury.
The way was clear. Liam scrambled behind and thrust the Beholder’s barricade to block the stairs. Evelyn swapped her half-empty magazine for one now full. Only a single door remained at the center of Watchtower’s rotunda on this uppermost floor. Their daughter wailed within.
They kicked the door open in unison.
Seven Friars formed a circle around a central bath, with Father Abraham in the center, raising their daughter high. All heads twisted their way, their devout faces shifting to frenzy the moment they made eye contact. The Friars dropped their bowls and rushed to intercept them at once.
Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Evelyn and Liam wasted no time in executing these monsters. Leah’s wails peaked as she flinched against the gunfire, clothed in a white dress, clean and clear as mountain snow.
Only Father Abraham remained. Still in his simple button-down and trousers, with the priest’s collar on top. But as he watched his brethren get gunned down, he didn’t quake in fear, nor look the least bit concerned. He merely grinned like a madman as he watched them both.
“Heavens!” he shouted, cheeks spread wide. “You’ve arrived just in time, Blessed Father and Mother.”
Evelyn caught sight of the bath. Barely enough to support Leah’s size, like the ones used to christen holy water. But the liquid within was viscous and tainted black, its composition fused with HBRS pseudo-cells.
“You put her down, right this second!” Evelyn ordered.
“Now, why would I do that? We’re so close to seeing the Lord return! The seven bowls have been poured, and now God’s wrath will come!”
“No, it won’t! You’re only killing a little girl.”
Leah screamed in agreement.
But Abraham smiled wider, his violet eyes alive in the shifting braziers beside. “How can you say that, Blessed Mother? He brought miracles for you to witness, and He has done everything to bring us all together in this final moment of sweet Revelations. Only through His power was this all possible!”
“Except that He hasn’t!” she countered. “I know the truth, Abraham. God has nothing to do with this. It’s only ever been your lust for power.”
He scoffed. “Do you really think all this could be the work of a simple man? Ridiculous! God created the Holy Word! God chose this pilgrimage! And God will see His kingdom reborn when His vessel purifies all the righteous in this world! I am nothing but His servant, as I have always been.” Tears formed in his eyes. “Don’t you understand, Blessed Mother!? This is what He wants! Can’t you feel it!?”
Up until this moment, Evelyn had known where Abraham stood. Just a greedy conman on a quest to dominate all that remained in this world. Another enemy to be put down without remorse.
But as she looked into his impassioned eyes, she no longer saw the charismatic pastor with a brainwashed cult at his beck and call. Abraham was a true believer in his own righteous cause.
People believe in all sorts of things, whether you try to convince them otherwise or not, he’d once said. The goal isn’t to wonder why they believe. It’s to question what you’ll do for yourself.
In an isolated world without hope, how better could one protect oneself from the cruel fate of the Hollowing, but with an indomitable, unquestionable faith in something greater? How far would one go to see that vision reached if for no reason than to never see it challenged? There could be no greater existential risk than doubting this self-assured faith.
That was Father Abraham, and only now could Evelyn pierce through the facade that not even he could see he’d created for himself.
He was a simple man. A lonely man. So terrified of the dark that he clung to the tiniest sliver of light. Even if it meant burning anything in his path to keep the embers of hope alive a second more, that dream of God’s love was all that kept him sane. With his world falling apart at the seams, there was nowhere left to hide but inside his own delirium.
Evelyn let out a deep breath.
What were his Beholders and all they’d accomplished, but one man’s fruitless attempt to stave off his own mental decay? Just an endless spiritual void that could never truly be filled. Why? Because it was built on his forced compliance, not authentic love.
And where did Evelyn really stand in his eyes, but a fellow spiritual guide that he couldn’t defeat through normal means. As this standoff came together, she could see this truth coming together, now framed under a new lens.
Abraham had been so desperate since the beginning… So intent on proving his faith to Evelyn… Not because he wanted to convert her into some blind zealot, but so he could have nothing more than a single real friend in this world. Even in this moment, his devout eyes shone no motivation other than to have someone gift him that missing companionship.
The one he’d never known for himself. Not really.
It was a truth as heartbreaking for Evelyn as devastating for Abraham, but no sympathy could be spared here.
Not when her daughter’s life still hung in the balance.
Evelyn dropped her pistol and raised her hands. “You’re right, Abraham. I didn’t see it until now, but you’ve been right this whole time. God’s speaking to me, and he’s telling me the truth.” Liam raised his voice, but she shushed him and advanced a step. “Why don’t we take a second, Father? Why don’t we see His wrath wipe every Sinner away? Together.”
Leah wriggled in his arms, but tears flowed down Abraham’s cheeks.
“You can feel it, can’t you?” he asked, still locked in frenzy. “You can feel God’s presence?”
She took another step. “More than that. I can see the end of the Beholding. Just like you said, it’s all so very close now.”
The air escaped from his throat, somewhere between a gasp and a chuckle, his mind drunk on his fantasy. “The Lord’s fury will finally burn all this vile Sin away.”
“It will,” Evelyn agreed, her finger slithering to the small of her back, where she kept her combat knife. “All you have to do is embrace God’s love.”
Only then did he realize what was about to come. He flinched as Evelyn drew her combat knife, but reacted too slowly. She’d already hurled the blade forth.
It spun thrice before landing in his eye. The other curled back, and he fell without another word.
But so did Leah. She screeched as her tiny form struck the concrete floor beside the bath. Evelyn darted forth and wrapped her arms around tight, and Liam did the same a moment later.
“It’s okay, Leah,” she sobbed. “Don’t cry.”
“We got you, love,” Liam agreed, ripping off his gloves to get a better grip on her. “Mommy and Daddy’s here, and we’ll never leave you again.”
Leah cried and cried, and the tears flowed down Evelyn’s cheeks. But where her daughter wailed in pain, her tears came from happiness. She’d witnessed a true miracle and not some sleight of hand. Even at the end of all that had ever been, her family had been brought back together.
And no one could take away that love.
