Flashf0rward

Chapter 12: Wrath of God

The Man

Looking through the binoculars out at the plains, I took a look at His creation and sighed in its brilliance. He never ceased to amaze me with how much care and love he put into this great Earth that I had the privilege of calling home. I never knew why I doubted His existence before. If these 10 years had shown me anything, it was the fact that even if you can't see something, it didn't mean it wasn't there.

I was interrupted by one of the men riding up to me. Dismounting his horse, he kneeled down slightly. Turning, I looked down at him. "You may stand, my son. Now tell me, what is this news you have brought?" I noticed he was out of breath, and the barest reaches of fear were in his eyes. This is how most of the men were around me. I didn't mind. In fact, I preferred it.

The soldier looked up at me. "Sir, Lyle and Robert have not managed to report back from their patrol. We fear something may have happened to them." I considered this for a moment. They may have been killed by demons, but I felt something else was at play. He was telling me that there was more to this development.

Looking at the man in the eyes, I spoke. "Where were they last?" The soldier pointed out into the fields. "The forest that's about less than an hour away from here, sir." Turning back, I looked through my binoculars at that area. The forest was deserted, uninhabited as far as we knew. The demons never went through there. This was interesting.

Putting down my binoculars, I spoke without turning back. "Mount up." The man behind me spoke. "Yes sir!" He got on his horse and rode away to rally the men. I wondered to myself what path He was sending me on now. Perhaps this was more than just some simple coincidence. Perhaps my purpose was just around the corner. Perhaps.

I heard a rumbling of hooves as the rest of the horses, carrying 25 of the strongest men in the camp rode up next to me. Looking at them, I simply motioned once, then rode off with my horse. They seldom needed to hear me speak to know what I required. I admired the power I had over them. In the old times, He gave them guidance without making His presence known, or saying a word. I intended to do the same.

Our forces galloped across the fields, our steeds hooves trampling the grass beneath us as we flew like archangels towards our destination. As we reached the eastern part of the woods, I suddenly noticed something. Holding up my hand, each of the riders stopped around me. I clenched my fists, signalling all of them to dismount. Then, I gestured with an open hand to the right, then to the left.

They split up behind me, and I got off my horse as well, pulling my shotgun from the saddle. Knowing it was loaded, I walked alongside several of my men. We stalked slowly through the brush, looking around for signs of anything. Even though I'd given no indication as to why we stopped, the men never questioned me. They knew I knew all.

Then, I stopped, hearing nothing but the chirping of birds, and the men stopped with me. I stood and waited, until I heard the birds fall silent. Then, a hellish roar came from my left, and one of the demons leaped at me. I calmly swung my shotgun around and blasted a hole through its chest, sending it back to the pits of brimstone from whence it came.

The gunshot rolled across the plains, and soon, several more of those things came at us. The men opened up with their rifles, the automatic fire flying through the trees. Some killed them, some killed us. I saw a man to my right have his head enclosed inside of the jaws of one of them, then his entire body being slammed up and down and swung around like he was a dog toy.

Aiming my shotgun over at him, I blasted the head off of one of the beasts, vaporizing what little it could think with. Pumping the weapon, the shell ejected out next to me as I fired again, hitting any of the demons that came close to me. One tore up the side of my long coat, and I could feel the fabric ripping. Standing on its head, I fired point-blank into its skull, blowing it to smithereens.

Then, one of them came from behind, and all at once I could feel its hot breath and weight on my back. Its needlepoint teeth sank into my shoulder, and I shouted not in pain, but in need. And thankfully, help was what I soon received. A large machete soon appeared inside of the creature's face, then was removed as the beast was pushed off of me.

Feeling the blood soak into my clothing, a hand helped me up. I saw a man with black, messy hair, pale skin, and freckles hold my shoulders. "Are you alright?" He asked in a whispery voice. Nodding, I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yes. Thank you Giles." Giles Laidlaw was one of my closest decibels. I had chosen him to stand by my side after proving worthy of it several times.

I looked around, seeing the men standing up, some others dead. "How many did we lose?" I asked Giles. "About 3, sir." He said. Walking over to one of the dead bodies that was still mostly intact, I knelt down in front of it. She was young, almost in her mid-20s. Her name was Sarah Blanchard. I brushed her eyes closed. "Rest in peace, my child." I closed my eyes, and the men around me did the same, their heads lowered.

Then, one of the men shouted. "Sir! Over here!" Standing up, I walked over to where the man was, and saw Robert standing there with him, leaning against a tree, panting with his glasses slightly askew. When he saw me, his eyes widened, and I saw fear creep into his eyes. I turned to Giles. "Would you give us a few moments?" Nodding, Giles and the others walked away.

Looking back at Robert, I reached into my coat and pulled out my canteen of water, still relatively full. Handing it to him, I spoke. "You look thirsty. Have some." Looking at me warily, he took the canteen and drank some of it. I could see his arm shaking. After he was done, I took the canteen back. "Now...tell me what happened." I said.

When he gathered the strength to speak, he told me what had happened to him and Lyle. I became more and more interested in this story by the minute. A girl with powerful weapons, a man who could manipulate the air around him. It was truly something extraordinary. "Where were they going? Did they tell you?" Shaking his head, he looked down. "No, sir. But they appeared to be heading north."

Thinking for a moment, I nodded. "Alright then. One last thing, Robert. Did you tell them about me?" Robert didn't speak, but didn't meet my eye. "No." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Robert." I said calmly, but firmly. There was silence, then he looked back up at me with tears flowing down his face. "I'm s-sorry..." He sobbed, looking down.

I took off his glasses and put them in my pocket, wiping his tears away. "Shhh...it's alright." I said. His lower lip quivered as he stared at me. Leaning forwards, I whispered in his ear. "Do you want to know my name?" He nodded slightly, sobbing quietly. "Yes..." I said two words into his ear that I only said to a select few. "Matthias Mandrake."

Then, I raised my shotgun and pointed it at his head. "Wai-" He got out before I blasted his head off, leaving his body to collapse in a bloody mess on the ground. I noticed some of his blood had gotten on my jacket. Wiping it off, I walked back towards where Giles and the others were. "We have someone who knows about us."

Turning to Giles, I motioned into the woods. "There's two of them, likely on horses. Track them, find them, then bring them to me. Alive." Nodding, Giles walked back to his horse and rode off without a word. "Let's head home." I said to the rest of them. I trusted Giles to handle this on his own. He was more than capable.

As the men headed back to their horses, I groaned slightly as I felt the poison that the creature had put into my veins begin to slowly leak out of the wound. I could feel it closing up and healing like it always did. Once again, He spared me death. I knew that my work was nowhere near done. It was just beginning.