Walk Through Thorns

Part 5 Chapter 23

Part 5: Sunrise, In the Distance Fading

Chapter 23

Red lights, like brands, strike the front of the car. The hood caves in. The front windshield shatters. Pieces of glass dance through the air, glittering in the beams of headlights. A wet impact, like a butcher throwing meat on the chopping block.

Ragged, pained breathing comes from the front passenger seat. Smoke rises from the dashboard.

Silence from the driver. Somehow, the silence is the most painful thing to hear.

"Dad?"

I woke to a voice speaking with awe, as though in prayer. "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst, at once, into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one."

I opened my eyes but regretted it. It was daylight, and the window into the room wasn't covered. I flinched away, with yellow after burns hanging in my vision. I tried to cover my face, but my hands were tied behind my back. The effort pulled on my broken arm — I yelped like a wounded puppy. My skin felt tender and hot, burning where they touched the floorboards.

"It's a line from the Bhagavad Gita, Hindu scripture," Talmon said, I recognised his voice. "Oppenheimer claimed it came to his mind when they detonated the first atomic bomb."

I asked, "What are you talking about?"

He began to cough, but after a few moments said, "Oppenheimer. He designed the atomic bomb. Do you not wonder, what you would think when you saw it? The nuke. Death, like nothing before conceived of. Unseen radiation poisoning you from the inside. Breaking you down. Making your cells fall apart until your skin sloughs off like mud."

He was insane. He didn't make any sense. But if, I could get him talking, maybe he would give away what they were up to really.

"It's inside you, isn't it?" I said, "The Briarheart."

I felt a hand touch my cheek. His fingertips scraped against my dried out skin. He said, "Its roots choke my lungs. They coil around my heart."

The cult had kept someone captive in a home in Sudbury. Howard had found evidence of it after the fact. They must have me in another safehouse like that. I wasn't chained to anything though, just bound behind my back.

Talmon said, "The Briarheart took me when I was in the Middle East. My unit was ambushed, the survivors captured. We weren't sure who they were, maybe Taliban, maybe russians. Neither. They were all Children of the Briarheart. Just like I am. Just like you'll be."

Someone else in the room coughed. There were more of them, but I wasn't sure how many. I had to keep him talking. And then I had to get out of this alive.

Talmon said, "They planted its roots into our chests. It's consuming us now, from the inside, while it uses us as pawns. We travel the world like a plague, infecting other people as it directs. Before long I will wither away to dust. You will continue in my place, join the others in this town, the infected. You will try to resist like I did. But you can't resist. Not when it is inside you."

I tried to ignore him, to listen to any other noises to figure out where I was. For a few moments I felt my pulse quickening. I was probably going to die. Auntie would get told some made up story about me, just like Greta. I'd never get to kiss Brandon again. No one would stop them from getting to the Heavenly Throne.

"The Throne," I asked, "What is it?"

His hand took a fistful of my hair and dragged me to my feet. He said, "I want to tell you. The Briarheart wants me to offer you to it. Once it is satisfied, I will be free to speak."