Apocalypse *Under Construction*

Chapter 13

It took a while for Tess to stop crying, even John was struggling to hold himself together. I just stayed stone faced. I couldn't show how much it hurt not to have her here. El was gone. As we walked, I thought back to the fire that engulfed the building. It was blue, almost unnatural. Whatever sorcerer had caused that was way more powerful than me, than any of us. I was so locked in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed John had stopped walking until I walked into him.

"Ouch. Sorry" I muttered. I looked up at him, to see why he stopped. There was a sign, one that told us how far to Brisbane. I remembered Mal's prophesy and the Elders words, and gasped lightly.

"We have to go there now."

"Will it take long, John?"

"I don't know, Ash. Probably only a week or so" I nodded at his words.

"We should stock up then head off"

"No."

John and I turned, shocked to see Tess standing in a defensive stance, holding Weds away from us, her teeth bared. "No one is using my child to end a war, to kill anyone." John's eyes widened.

"You would rather die in an apocalypse, then train your child up to wound the humans enough to end this shit?" John's voice was hard. Tess narrowed her eyes, trying to stop her angry tears, and nodded slowly.

"I will not lose this child as well" I froze. She never talked about him. She never mentioned her son. Last time she did, she was blood-deprived, delirious and begging. Tess's son was an older kid, born only when Tess was 19, he was with her and Weds, up until his father, a soldier, showed up.

"I want him with me, he's normal" Tess quoted what he'd said perfectly. "He put the gun to Weds head, and told my son to stop crying, grabbing him so roughly... He was only 9 oh god only 9" Tess had muttered everything, it was jumbled and broke our hearts to hear. Soon, John caught a rabbit and Tess was fed. El and I had avoided the topic, and most things involving family.

Hearing her talk about him now only indicated how desperate she was. And how much she wasn't going to budge on the subject. How much work we would have to do to get her to change her mind. I cleared my throat.

"Tess, I get that you don't want to lose her, but we already lost one of us to this sh-"

"Exactly! El is already gone! I'm not going to lose W-" She cut me off, tears falling freely yet again.

"If she is what they say she is, you won't! She'll be too strong for them!" John's angry voice boomed over Tess's desperate one. I groaned as Tess snarled at John, both glaring horribly. They began to bicker, getting louder and louder, and with each decibel, a pain in my chest intensified.

I soon fell to the ground, gasping for breath. John stopped yelling when Tess called my name.

"Ash?"

"Ash, what's wrong?" Their voices molded together but I wasn't listening. Distantly, other sound was becoming noticeable, a few words. Soon I was lying on my back, my vision blurry as John and Tess stood over me. The words became clearer and I soon recognized the voice. El. Three words was all I heard before I blacked out.

"It isn't her"

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