Another Life / Book Ten / The Life Series / Supernatural

The Devil in the Details

I was driving my car on the way back to the bunker with Aiden in his carseat in backseat.

Aiden was crying.

I was trying to call Dean, getting his voicemail.

"This is Dean's other, other cell, so you must know what to do."

I hung up, trying to call Sam, getting his voicemail.

Dean's voice was on the voicemail. "Hey, Sam can't talk right now, because he's waxing, like everything. But leave a message."

Sam's voice was on the voicemail. "Dean, what are you doing with my phone? Dean, come on."

I hung up, trying to call Crowley on 666, getting his voicemail.

"Thank you for phoning Crowley, king of Hell. For demon deals, press one. To report a sighting of that ginger whore Rowena, press two."

I started experiencing blurred vision, hanging up.

Aiden was still crying.

I knew I was about to get sick, pulling the car over to the side of the road, barely getting out of the car in time to vomit on the ground. I started to cough, leaning against the car.

Castiel walked closer. "Ness?" My vision was still blurry. "I came as soon as you called. Are you all right?"

"Cas?" I asked, getting sick again.

Castiel put his hand on my shoulder.

I groaned, sitting up.

"You're not all right," Castiel told me.

I wiped my mouth with my jacket sleeve. "Obviously. What's wrong with me?" Castiel placed his hand on my forehead, looking into my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Stick out your tongue," Castiel told me.

"What?" I asked. Castiel peered into my mouth, diagnosing me. "All right, are we done?"

Castiel looked worried. "No." He held up his finger. "Let me take your temperature."

Startled, I pushed his finger away. "No. That's not going to happen." Castiel helped me stand. Aiden was still crying. I sighed, leaning against the car. "He's been crying like that since we got on the road." Castiel opened the car door to look at Aiden inside, putting two fingers to his forehead. Aiden slowly started to calm down, no longer crying. I sighed in relief, closing my eyes. "Thank you."

"How far are we from the event?" Castiel asked.

"You mean the angel nuke?" I asked.

"Yeah," Castiel answered.

I pointed in the direction behind him. "Ground zero is about a mile down that way."

"That explains it," Castiel told me. "You're suffering from smiting sickness."

I looked at him in disbelief. "That... that's a thing?"

"Yeah," Castiel answered.

I sighed. "Huh. Finally, something I don't know."

"The angels, what they did, it released a tremendous amount of energy, and there's a fallout, so this whole area is poisoned," Castiel told me. "The closer you get to the blast site, the worse your sickness will become."

"How worse?" I asked.

"The last time there was a smiting of this magnitude, Lot's wife turned to salt," Castiel answered.

I looked away. "Great."

"All right, Ness, you need to take Aiden and go home," Castiel told me.