Chapter 4: 'The Foundations of Apocalypse' Part 2

Buildings are shown from above. The skies were filled with those feathered celestial creatures. The sun had turned completely black, which no doubt is shown on the other side of the world giving a faint light that keeps mankind from being engulfed in darkness.

The forests are burning. The oceans are stained with blood and the stars are about to fall upon the earth. Judgment has begun for all. The plagues wait patiently until the time when the gates of lamentation open.

And atop one of the tallest buildings in a well-known city in the world, that female angel watched it all with a soft expressionless smile.

"This is fun!"

She says. This time her smile is true, very different from the smile she flashed at that poor human a few hours ago. She feels the pleasure of God's judgment on earth. Her broad gray wings tremble ecstatically. Her exposed ribs squeak as an angelic laughter, the laughter of an extremely beautiful voice echoes in the far reaches of heaven.

"Haniel, don't you think you're overreacting a little? We are doing our job, I don't think we should amuse ourselves with the suffering of poor defenseless humans. Those times are long gone, lady."

With his elegant tone of voice, covered by a thick white fog, the one they call God's messenger appeared. Spreading his small white wings, dropping some feathers into the world, he showed himself behind Haniel with a soft friendly smile. He had short brown hair and a beautiful androgynous face. Pale skinned like a ceramic doll; a look of brown eyes; covered by white and silver cloaks; a symbol of the strength and divine color of the deity lying upon his throne in the far reaches of the cosmos and sky.

He descended gracefully surrounded by a certain aura of golden divinity.

"Gabriel? What are you doing here?"

Haniel looked confused and immediately her expressionless face showed. She quickly pulled the lantern out of her black cloak and held it up with its blue flame.

"I'm delivering messages like there's no tomorrow. I was already expecting that, when this time came, I would have so much work to do. At least the Almighty doesn't get as angry as in the Old Testament anymore so I can take a break or two. Besides, we have plenty of time to spare until it's all over."

"Shadow time? The time for this event is too short for us angels. Time flies by, you know? I have my work to do too, but for now, I have my troops delivering their messages to humanity. We're just about done."

"That's good, Haniel. But I recommend you keep your emotions in check a little. If God concentrates, he'll be able to see you and he'll get angry. You know how he gets when you upset his beloved creations."

"Hoo... I understand. I'll hold back. Good job, Gabriel."

"Same to you, Haniel."

Stepping back a few paces, Gabriel looked at Haniel and spread his wings. After that, in just a second, he took flight straight towards the "Silver City", the place where the "Divine Mandate Creations" reside. He soared high in the sky while being watched by Haniel, who in turn witnessed how the sky shattered like glass as Gabriel traversed the dimensions.

Knowing there was no one else with her anymore, she smiled again.

"Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel. You don't understand the fun of it all anymore, but that's because you're the messenger. I am more than that. I am glory incarnate sanctified by the hands of creation. You will understand at some point, of that I am sure..."

In Haniel's mind, at some point everyone will understand how much fun God's creations can be and how that spans the sky. She wants to accomplish that.

That's why her feathers will be more than just 'locks of hair.'

'To those who find a use for it ... I'd like to see them up close.'"

...

...

"Do you like being alone?"

Thomas' voice echoed in the empty classroom.

There stood Sam, who stared into the darkness of the night in silence, constantly thinking about the safety of the man who raised him. He had gathered six tables together to form a sort of platform on which to sit. That platform was near the window of the classroom, a classroom located on the third floor. He is sitting on that platform, still and silent.

"Aren't you going to answer me again, do you want me to hit you again?"

Sam didn't answer. He just stare into the darkness in silence.

This made Thomas feel overwhelmed. For a child to be ignored is extremely irritating. So he climbed onto the platform of tables and sat down next to Sam; he watched the night beside him.

In a dark sky with faint red hues, a full crimson moon shone dimly casting faint sunlight on the other side of the world. In the background strange things could still be heard passing in the distance. Distant creaks, screams lost in the emptiness of the darkness.

"This is horrible."

Thomas said. Sam this time did answer him.

"I know..."

They were practically two children watching the night sky stretching far and wide. In this world that was broken, just watching silently as mere spectators. It was that way for a few long seconds.

There wasn't much to say really. No need to stress everything that was going on. That gave way to this comfortable silence.

But like a normal child, questions arose in Thomas' mind. So he wasn't going to stay quiet for long.

"Are there any animated series you like?"

A pretty random question, but it was the first one this kid chose to follow up the conversation with.

Sam's answer was something Thomas wasn't expecting, though.

"I don't watch animated series or anything like that. The only thing I have in my house is a bunch of books. I read a lot, I guess."

"Books..."

Thomas didn't like that. He's very bad at reading. He can't keep his eyes on a book for more than two seconds without getting bored.

"What about video games?"

"...I've played minesweeper."

"What are you, an old man?"

"I'm only 17."

Thomas frowned and looked at Sam. He analyzed him from head to toe as if making sure of something and then nodded his head.

"I thought you were 20. You look awful."

"Say what you want, I don't care."

After Sam's very disappointing reaction, Thomas turned his gaze back to the darkness of the night.

"I'm 11 years old. My birthday is January 12. When's your birthday?"

"Haa..."

Sam sighed and stepped off the platform of tables. He walked over to the door leaving Thomas alone. The boy certainly thought Sam wasn't going to answer, but as he reached the door, the teenager before leaving, said to him:

"May 25. Besides, you ask too many questions. Shut up a little and don't bother anymore."

And he left the classroom without another word. He seemed to vanish into the darkness of the hallways without a trace.

A deep silence filled the scene after Sam left.

Oddly enough, Thomas was relieved to be left alone this time because, knowing no one was around, he hid under the tables. There he curled up in a corner and hid his face between his knees. Then he began to cry silently. The warm tears ran down his face until they fell to the floor. 

There his sobs slowly faded with time, but the sadness that lingers in his heart still lives on like an annoying flame that hurts him.

...

...

As he slowly walked away from the darkened classroom, he heard the child's cry. He felt nothing about it. That child was still a stranger to him, so it didn't affect him in the least. If he had time to worry it was about his father.

'And that person is not coming back."

James, that young soldier, hasn't returned since he left in search of more people four hours ago. For now there are only two of James' companions guarding the door, but somehow that didn't feel reliable to him.

If people show up ready to attack, two people would not be enough to defend everyone sheltering in this building.

'Five women, nine children including him'."

Referring to Thomas.

'Nothing assures me that they could have found my father, but... please...'

A selfish wish, it was no more than that. Sam felt lonely if he didn't see his father, but feeling that way was too hypocritical, as a few hours ago he had nearly thrown himself off the top of the building.

And he understood that.

So he walked through the halls of the school until he reached the lighted area. There stood the five women who had been rescued. The ages of the five were between 25-35 years old. It appeared that four of them were mothers while the youngest of them all was standing next to her presumed younger brother.

Sam tried not to look at those women as, if he did, those memories would return, resulting in the same scene as at the school.

Anyway. It was the third floor of the building. Here were only those who were rescued. On the second floor were the teachers who were still in this building when James and his fellow soldiers requested it to house the victims of this event.

"It seems there was also one or two other students."

But that wasn't certain yet. For the moment he continued to make his business of walking around this school and reconnoitering the entire perimeter. If he was going to stay here until more help arrived, he should at least memorize the location so he wouldn't get lost since the building was so large, but....

"I guess it was going to happen any minute now."

Being so deep in thought as he walked without noticing, he realized that he didn't know where in the building he was. He still had one way left to guide him, though.

The windows showing the outside of the building were a good way to guide him. Fortunately, the window in front of Sam pointed directly at the door of the school, which gave him an idea of how to get around the place.

"...A light on the road."

Glowing and moving at a moderate speed, the light slowly slowed to a stop in front of the school. It was James' military van. But there was something odd about it all.

James got out of the truck in desperation to open the door of the truck bed. When he did so, only a little girl and her mother got out. They were stained with blood as was James, who said something to those guarding the door. From the gestures on his face, Sam deduced that he was in a hurry.

A gentle draft of wind suddenly blew past him. The adjoining window was open, which for a moment caused him to look to the left. As he did so, his eyes widened slightly as he saw a figure in the darkness of the corner. It was a girl dressed as a schoolgirl. Sam couldn't get a good look at her because that girl simply turned the corner and walked away. 

For a moment he felt his heart leap out of his chest at the sight of a female figure in the darkness, but after realizing it, he looked away to forget the fright that girl gave him.

"She must be one of the students in this school who couldn't return home after what happened."

So it didn't matter much after all.

Regarding Private James, Sam wanted to know what was going on. He guided himself with the windows to go back towards the refugees and ask what had happened and if his father showed any signs of being nearby.

...

...

"Turn off all lights!"

James ordered his military buddies, and those in the van with him instantly obeyed. They ran around the school looking for lights on and instantly turning them off. They also made sure to gather everyone on the third floor of the building.

Sam arrived just in the nick of time, but saw something that made him feel worried.

It was a mother and daughter. A young mother with a 3 or 4 year old girl in her arms, crying inconsolably, soothing her frightened daughter. They were traumatized, as they did nothing but cry while hugging each other tightly.

"What was it...?"

He whispered. James, who was touching his head in pain heard him and answered:

"Those things... they looked like people... they looked like people, but... but they weren't... they weren't..."

Little Thomas arrived on the scene accompanied by one of the soldiers, who in turn carried an assault rifle in his hands. The soldier, with dark skin and shaved hair under his green camouflage cap, looked very frightened. He had blood splattered on his uniform, which, accompanied by Private James' words, was scaring everyone.

Thomas also wanted to know what the hell was going on as to why the soldiers would come back in that state, but James said something before Thomas could ask anything.

"I need everyone to be quiet. No one is to make a sound. They are going to hide in one of the classrooms and not come out of there for anything in the world. There will be no explanations this time. We don't know what's going on either, but it's something we can't defend ourselves against."

No, this didn't make sense. This couldn't stay like this. The children are frightened by James' desperation. Sam wanted to know what happened, what these people saw.

"Tell us...what did you see out there?"

James clutched his head with both hands.

"It's like in those zombie movies you run across out there at the cinema, but it's much worse. It's horrible... we can't fight it..."

Hearing that statement, everyone fell silent and a strange noise began to echo in the distance. It was heavy footsteps, as if a crowd was approaching.

...

...

Haniel was flying over the skies of the world. She watched as finally the first act of this apocalypse began. 

"This is fun. This is so much fun. I haven't felt like this in millennia. It finally begins."

One of the writings of the prophet John has come true once again. With this, those who died rose from the cold ground to receive their judgment and put to death those they have murdered in their lives.

To be continued...