Southern Gothic // Joshler

16. Salvation

Gore / Murder / General Horror

"Let's end this fucking town." Tyler said as they hurried down the steps, glancing at the time. Church was about to begin.

The air was thick as they climbed into Josh's car- well, his parent's car, and as they began the drive across town. Josh was nervously holding Tyler's hand, his free leg bouncing as he drove. "We're gonna be okay, right?" He asked.

Tyler nodded. "We're going to be okay."

"Tyler-" Josh started, stopping as they approached a stop sign. He looked over. "If one of those things gets me- please kill me."

Tyler froze up. He knew he'd have to, but he didn't want to face that reality. His hallucinations were so bad that he had almost constantly seen Josh as one of those things, even though he wouldn't dare tell him so.

"Okay."

Josh nodded, satisfied with the answer, before he continued driving again. The rest of the car ride was met with a terrible hushed silence.

Tyler stared out the window, thinking to himself how sorry he was that Mr. Barker had to see what he and Josh were about to do. He thought of his old neighbors, Mr. Willis, Mrs. Fletcher, all the neighboring students. Brendon. Mrs. Olivia. Madison, Zack, Jay. The thought of his siblings was enough to bring tears to his eyes. They were probably alone in the house, unsure of what was even going on. He wondered if they were capable of retaining memories after they turned into whatever they were.

As they reached the church, Josh pulled into a parking spot and put the car in park.

The next few minutes were antagonizingly slow. They pulled up their bandannas over their mouths to hide themselves before grabbing their guns and waiting. It was such a long wait.

"Love you." Josh said softly as he finally opened the door, stepping out. Tyler followed.

"I love you too." His voice was trembling and his legs felt like jelly, but he had no other choice. It was time.

The church service had begun, and they were right on track. Both of them walked over to the door with leaded feet. The wall of silence surrounding them was so overwhelming that Tyler couldn't even hear himself think, let alone anything else. They were really about to go through with this. He prayed to whatever truly existed - he didn't know at this point - that they'd make it out unharmed.

Tyler took a deep breath and took one final look over at Josh, who stared back with such intense love that he felt no fear.

Looking away, Tyler readied his shotgun with his free hand and pushed open one of the doors.

"And we speak in the name of the Holy Father-" Father Urie was at the podium speaking. Exactly on schedule.

"Tyler!" He stopped, smiling warmly at the boy who had just entered. "It's good to see you."

"Josh," Tyler mumbled as Josh followed him in. Tyler's shotgun wasn't long range.

"Now, what are you boys-"

There was a loud BANG as Josh raised his rifle and fired at Father Urie without hesitation. Where there was hesitation in a situation like this, there was death. In a flash, he was crumpled to the ground. Screams echoed from around them.

"One down," Tyler mumbled as he headed up through the pews, ignoring the frightened neighbors surrounding him. "Where is he."

Tyler heard a few gunshots from behind him and he knew the Ushers had been on Josh. There were only ever three Ushers, and he had heard four gunshots. It was successful.