Deicide

Dust to Dust

 "Why is the Ark up there?" Asked Jessica.

 "Why not?" I asked. "It's not like any other part of this whole thing has made any sense at all."

 "Thank you for that, Garrett," the Devil said. "It's up there because the angels put it up there."

 "Let's go get it," I said, starting for the entrance.

 "Not so fast," the Devil grabbed my shirt collar. "Did you really think it would be as easy as just walking in?"

 "Is it not?" I asked.

 "No. When I pointed up there, I meant up there. It's in the lightning rod."

 "Oh shit, really?" Jessica asked.

 "Yeah, and it is no easy task to get up there," the Devil said.

 "Can you somehow make it easier?" I asked.

 "I can stop time," the Devil shrugged.

 "You can stop time?" I asked, "Why have you not used this before?"

 "I don't know," the Devil said defensively.

 "Well then yes, please do that," Jessica said.

 Suddenly everything stood still. A pigeon was in mid flight over my head but suspended in air. People all around us were in mid step, in the middle of actions but frozen. It was like being inside of a picture.

 We entered the building. The people in the lobby were also frozen.

 "This is surreal," I said, snatching a hot dog from a frozen man and eating it.

 "You realize we have to take the stairs," the Devil said.

 I exhaled but remembered my promise to God.

 "Okay, let's do this."

 * * *

 "Phew, we're here."

 I practically threw myself at the floor when I reached the top, drenched in sweat and out of breath.

 "Wow you're out of shape, Garrett," Jessica said jokingly.

 "You're out of shape, that was over a hundred floors," I panted.

 I got up and the Devil pushed open the door. 

 There was a disturbing silence that came with being outside with time frozen. Not even wind moved.

 "It's weird how silent it is," Jessica said, brushing her hand against mine. My heart sped up and when I looked at her I could see that she was blushing.

 There was a ladder leading up to the lightning rod. The Devil climbed it, followed by me, followed by Jessica.

 "Here," the Devil said, pointing at a section of the base of the lightning rod. He punched through it and yanked the section off.

 Inside was an object in no way related to the Indiana Jones version. 

 It was a small wooden box, about the size of a microwave with some words painted on it that had faded long ago.

 "Sweet," I said. I used the Blade like a crowbar and tore the lid off of the box.

 Inside was just a ton of dust.

 "How much do we need?" I asked.

 The Devil took out a cloth pouch. "This much," he filled the pouch with dust.

 "We're done," he said.

 Going down was easier because we didn't have to. The Devil was able to teleport us away from the city.

 The whole world became distorted as we departed.