Chapter 47

47: While the adrenalin was still wearing off in Kenn's system, something happened which was not a part of the plan.  The water began to ripple in a gentle way as if a breeze was going over it.  Kenn aimed his revolver at it, but Stratford said, "Hold your horses."  Kenn knew to trust Stratford, so he just watched as the water formed up into the shape of a man.
  "Kenn, you weren't gonna shoot your beloved little brother were you?"  It was Damion.
  "Damion!"  Kenn's eyes welled up with tears.  "I can't believe it!  How?  What?!"
  "To be honest, I'm not sure, but I believe it was brotherly love that made me able to take this body once it was not in use anymore by its original occupant."  They clasped each other in a long, heart-felt embrace.  "I've got some more good news for you.  Let's take a walk to the bathroom."  They walked to the back bedroom and into the small bathroom.  "Go ahead, look into the mirror."  Kenn looked and jumped back as if he had been struck by a blow to the face from a baseball bat.  He turned his head from side to side to verify that what he was looking at was indeed his own reflection.
  "That's my face.  How did that?  What is this?"
  "The nearest I can figure is that when Rend killed Daniel, your soul was released from limbo because Daniel was the one who had turned you into a vampire.  You had never killed anyone so you still a soul.  It hadn't gone to Infurnus.  But once Daniel was dead, you had your soul back and were completely free to kill Rend without losing your soul and becoming a full vampire.  And, as I said before, once you had your own soul back, you displaced mine, but I didn't go into the light.  Our bond kept me here on this plane of existence.  At that point, I chose to take over Rend's discarded shell."
  "You know what this means, don't you?" asked Kenn.  "It means I'm going to have to start shaving again."
  Damion flicked his big brother's ear.  "Shut up, dumbass.  Hey, if you don't mind, I'd like to see if Stratford wants to sit on my shoulder."  It took Kenn a moment to respond.
  "What?  Oh yeah, of course.  He's your bird.  I was just taking care of him for you."  Kenn was still admiring his reflection, not really paying attention to anything else.
  A lump formed in Damion's throat because he had waited so many long years for this moment.  "Stratford.  Hey, my good boy.  You want to hang out with daddy?"  He extended his hand toward Kenn's shoulder, inviting Stratford to perch on his outstretched arm.  Stratford scooted onto the offered arm and hopped a few times until he was nestled comfortably on Damion's shoulder.
  Stratford nuzzled Damion's cheek with his beak.  "I love you, daddy," he cawed.
  Damion wept openly and sputtered, "I love you too, my good boy."
  There were other things to attend to so Kenn and Damion gathered Daniel's body and put it in Kenn's trunk.  They got into the car and drove back to the hotel.  There was still much to do before the night was over.

Chapter 46

46: Daniel didn't need directions to the cabin.  He'd been there before.  He also knew exactly how Rend was following him.  Daniel had all the spirits of the Collective in him so he knew all that they knew, but he also retained the memories of his life.  The Daniel part of him wished he could right all his wrongs.  He knew that he couldn't, but this would be his apology to God for all those he had wronged over the years.  The Collective part of him knew that Rend was in hot pursuit even though he couldn't see him anywhere.
  Deep under the ground, in the city's sewer system, Rend could feel every rumble of the jeep overhead.  This fool would soon perish by Rend's inexorable torrent of liquid death.  Up above, Daniel made a left, off the main road and onto a dirt road.  It didn't matter.  If there was running water at Daniel's destination, Rend would not be put off that easily.  Even if he had to surface to continue his pursuit, Rend would get his man.  This would be the last day of Daniel's life.
  Up ahead, Daniel saw the isolated, deserted cabin on the horizon with the foothills in the background.  This part of their plan would soon come to a conclusion.  This would be Daniel's last stand against an enemy of all humankind.  The jeep quickly approached the small cabin, kicking up considerable dust in the process.  No time now to worry about any exposure to the Scathing as an airborne pathogen.  There was no time to think about anything else because there was only one thing on his mind at the moment.
  He screeched the jeep to a halt in front of the cabin and jumped out.  He ran to the front door which he knew would be unlocked.  He opened it and ran inside.  He went around the rust-colored love seat and turned right to go into the kitchen.  As soon as he got there, there was a violent eruption of water from the kitchen sink's drain.  In midair, the water formed up into the shape of a man.  With outstretched arms, this man reached for Daniel Reese while still in mid-flight.  Rend clamped his right hand squarely over Daniel's mouth and nose.  Daniel's eyes went wide, but he didn't give a single sign of a struggle.  The liquid of Rend's hand rushed through Daniel's throat and sought out his lungs, filling them with deadly fluid.
  Rend stood there with his hand over Daniel's mouth until Daniel's body went slack and slumped to the floor.  Rend let him drop like a sack of potatoes.  Excited from the thrill of the chase and the glory of the kill, Rend stood in triumph over his fallen foe.
  Suddenly, from behind him, a strange voice said, "Left eye."  He turned around to find that he was staring down the barrel of Kenn Varson's service revolver.  As instructed by Stratford, Kenn aimed at Rend's left eye and pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation.  There was a huge splash as Rend's entire body exploded backward from the force of the impact of the bullet.
  Kenn knew that Damion's spirit had thoroughly examined Rend's body and found the little brain which was only the size and shape of a dime.  Rend was keeping it in his left eye.  Destroying that was the only way to kill him, but Kenn still wanted to be cautious.  Under his watchful gaze, the dark stain on the old green throw rug stayed just a stain.  Kenn hovered over it with Stratford on his shoulder.

Chapter 45

45: On the drive to the school, everybody was a little tense.  Jeffrey wanted to lighten the mood a little.  "Hey, Lowe.  Remember when my mom used to read that children's book, 'With What Shall Orange Rhyme?' to us when you'd spend the night when we were kids?"
  "Oh yeah, that was my favorite book growing up.  That little orange was looking for something to rhyme with orange.  My parents never got it for me so I only heard it at your house.  That and "Sevender the Ever Growing Tomato' still make me laugh."
  "Yeah, my mom had her moments.  She'd do all the voices and shit.  We couldn't hardly sleep whenever she would do that shit.  Oh man, was that fun."  Jeffrey's jaw tightened as he apparently remembered some not so fond memories of his mother.
  "I think my mother was at her best when I was a little boy.  After that, she just kinda didn't know how to deal with me as a teenager.  I think she would have been happy if I just stayed five years old all my life."
  Lowe looked Jeffrey in the eye.  "Well, shit.  You were quite a hand full."
  "Oh yeah, look who's talking.  All I have to say to that is, 'apple sandwich'.  'Nuff said," said Jeffrey.
  "Hey, how was I supposed to know what color her hair was?" asked Lowe and they both laughed at the memory.
  "Anyway, I know my mom did her best, but it's like she hardly even knows me anymore.  I think I didn't turn out the way she had expected.  That scared her, but I just had to be me and she didn't know how to handle my transition into adulthood.  Like she just couldn't my adult choices because she had her own ideas of what I should do with my life.  I hope she can eventually come to see me as an equal and not as her baby anymore.  I love that woman and it would just mean the world to me."
  "Hey, man.  She'll see what you're capable of right now, you know?" said Lowe.
  "Yeah, I know."  Jeffrey pulled up into the parking lot of Wolf Cub Elementary.  They had encountered a few of the Revenant, but the walking dead were too slow to pursue the black truck.  "Well, here we are.  We should leave the engine running.  We wouldn't want to have any possible delays to our departure.  That would be tactically disadvantageous.  Oh, shit!  There's one now."
  One of the undead came around the corner of the building and headed right at them.  Alex picked up a rock and threw it at it's head.  He hit it, but didn't smash it's brain.  It fell to the ground.  Chadwick then stomped on its throat several times until its head was reasonably disconnected from its body.  It stopped moving then, though the eyes continued to follow their every movement.  Lowe kicked the head and it turned face down, still attached loosely to the neck.  They could still hear its teeth clicking shut periodically.
  Alex looked around and saw that the coast was temporarily clear.  "We should go in."
  "Dude, I'll keep a lookout and be the getaway driver," volunteered Lowe Freq.
  "You got it, Lowe," said Jeffrey.  Since Chadwick had been in the school previously, he knew where the cafeteria was.  He led Jeffrey and Alexander there.  Inside was still chaos because the five Revenant were still at large.  The Defectors were busy fending for themselves so the three men divided up to locate Sandy.
  Jeffrey roamed the halls, checking every door to see what was open.  Several of the classrooms were unlocked, but empty.  At the end of the hall was the office.  Inside was the body of the secretary.  He stepped around her desk to check the Principal's office, which was in the back of the office.  Bad idea.  The secretary was not quite dead yet.  She felt better now that food was here.  She thought she'd go for a walk now.  Jeffrey had other plans.  He grabbed a paperweight off her desk and bludgeoned her repeatedly.  "No, please.  Don't get up on my behalf.  I insist.  I was just on my way out anyway.  It's summertime.  Relax."  He continued his search.
  Chadwick went upstairs.  A corpse in a janitor's uniform accosted him.  Chadwick backhanded it hard, but it kept coming at him.  The zombie still had a mop in its hand.  Chadwick snatched it away from him and swung the handle and hit it on the neck, audibly cracking its spine.  The ghoul fell clattering down the stairs.  Chadwick thrust the mop to the floor and dusted off his clothes.  He took one look down the dark hallway and stooped down to reclaim the discarded mop.  It was better than nothing.
  None of the Defectors paid any attention to Alexander and he made his way through the cafeteria to the kitchen.  He saw there was a door leading to a large walk-in food pantry.  He turned the light on and spotted Sandy lying on the floor by the bags of flour.  She was tied up and gagged with a t-shirt.  He went to her and helped her to sit up.  He untied the shirt that was around her lower jaw.  "Mrs. Ahn, I'm going to get you out of here.  I'm with G Bomb, I mean Jeffrey, your son."
  Sandy blinked weakly several times.  She opened and shut here mouth trying to get it to unstiffen.  Alex undid both the knots around her wrists and around her ankles.  Sandy futilely licked her dried lips with her equally dry tongue.  The dust and dirt on her face was disturbed only by the long-dried streaks of tears.  Alex found a measuring cup and filled it with water from the industrial metal sink.  He brought it to her and helped her to sip it.  Her hands and feet were blue from being tied up for so long.  He knew she would have to be carried out.  Jeffrey waled into the kitchen then and Alex called him over.
  "Mom.  Oh, God.  You're alive.  Are you OK?"
  "She's not well.  You'll need to help me get her to the truck.  Where's Chadwick?"
  "He was right behind me.  Let me tell him where we are."  Jeffrey went out the kitchen door and soon came back with Chadwick.  The three of them were able to manage to lift Sandy and transport her to the truck.  They put her into the back and piled into the seats.  "Now let's make our eggsit and geddon outta here," said Jeffrey.  Lowe Freq put the truck in gear and sped off to the amusement park.
  "Dude, what was that eggsit, geddon shit?" asked Lowe Freq.
  "The Korean word for egg is geddon.  It was a pun," explained Jeffrey.  Lowe Freq just rolled his eyes and groaned.  They made their way to the hotel where the rest of the plan would take place before the end of the night.

Chapter 44

44: Daniel safely arrived at the school and saw that something was terribly wrong.  When Chadwick had left, he left the door wide open.  The Revenant had full access to the Defectors who were staying inside.  Luckily, there were only about ten of them.  Daniel was quite well versed in many of the world's fighting techniques and had a vampire's strength to boot.
  He quickly set upon the nearest of the undead, an overweight, red-headed, lady wearing only a slip and bra.  She was terrorizing a young Hispanic lady so Daniel grabbed the corpse from behind and snapped her neck.  She fell to the ground and stopped moving.  One grabbed him from behind so he did a sweeping kick, violently throwing it off its feet.  Once it was on the ground, he punched its face.  This action, plus Daniel's strength equalled the zombie's head completely caving in on itself.  He pulled an orange, plastic chair into his grasp and used it to swing at the head of an approaching cadaver.  A metal chair leg caught the corpse's chin and nearly ripped its entire lower jaw off.  It still kept coming so Daniel swung again and the thing's head came clean off.  Well, not entirely clean.  Blood sprayed everywhere, along with chunks of rotted flesh.
  At the far end of the cafeteria, Daniel spotted Rend's red aura.  Rend had formed his right hand into a heavy, blunt appendage and was delivering some blunt force trauma to a zombie's noggin.  With that one down, there were five of them left.  Daniel had not come here to destroy the Revenant.  He had come for Rend, so he called out to him.  "Yo, Rend.  I'm here to rescue Sandy.  If you don't mind, I've got her in my red jeep.  I'm going to take her back to my cabin in the foothills where the Untaken are all quite safe from the Revenant and awaiting our return.  Oh, by the way, Mina says hello."  Daniel waited until he saw Rend start to come after him, then he ran to the jeep and started the engine.  He had a mannequin wrapped in a blanket in the back of the jeep and made sure Rend got a good look at it before he gunned the engine and fled.
  Rend saw the green aura around Daniel and that made him a threat to his plans.  Daniel would have to die.  Instead of pursuing on foot, Rend reverted to his liquid self and slunk off into a gutter.  With the water of the sewer systems, he was in his element.  He could feel the vibrations of the jeep above him and was able to follow Daniel's every turn.

Chapter 43

43: Kenn and Daniel had worked out a plan to destroy Rend and they knew they could coordinate it with Jeffrey's mission to rescue Sandy.  Kenn took Stratford and left in his car to set his plan in motion.
  Jeffrey decided to take Chadwick, Alexander and Lowe Freq with him to the school.  Daniel was going to travel to the school separately in the red jeep that Chadwick had acquired.  Daniel was the diversion in charge of luring Rend away from the school so that Jeffrey could locate and recover Sandy and bring her to safety.
  "G Bomb."
  "What up, Lowe?"
  "Why do me and Alex need to go?"
  "I need your help, man.  Along the way, we may run into some of the Revenant.  Once we get to the school, we'll bump into Defectors.  We need extra eyes to find my mother once we get there and we need someone to stay with the truck so we can make a fast getaway.  I wouldn't have asked you except for the fact that I trust you.  I know you care about my mom too.  This is a really dangerous mission, but I've known you since we were three years old.  There's no one else I can think of that I would want right there with me.  You're my best friend, man."
  Bill put a hand on Lowe's shoulder.  "Are you familiar with the teachings of Confucius?"
  "A little.  Just what my grandma taught me when I was a kid," replied Lowe quietly.
  "He once said, 'When love is at stake yield not to an army.'  I've known you since you were this tall, Yong.  I remember when Jeffrey got the chicken pox, you still came over every day to play with him and you caught them too. I've always admired the bond you two have."
  Bill turned to his son and put his hands on his shoulders.  "Jeffrey, I want you to know how proud of you I am.  You have turned out to be quite a courageous young man.  Your grandfather would be proud.  One of my father's favorite sayings by Confucius was, 'A heart set on love will do no wrong.'  Since we've been here, I've seen that you have pursued your dreams with all your heart and you seem to be very happy.  In my eyes, that makes you successful in life.  I trust that you will pursue this rescue mission with just as much heart.  You mother needs you.  You will save her."
  Barney walked up to his son and said, "Daniel, you know that Rend will not chase you without the intention of killing you.  This may be a suicide run, son."
  "Yes, I'm prepared for that.  You know, when I was younger, I used to think a lot about the nature of sacrifice.  I mistakenly thought that the more you hate giving something up, the bigger the sacrifice and, therefore, the more it would be appreciated.  I thought about the sacrifice that Jesus made.  I thought he made the ultimate sacrifice because of what he had to give up, but I was wrong.  What he valued more than his own life was the lives of the people who would be saved by the spilling of his blood.  Why?  It comes down to one thing: love.  There is no sacrifice without love and with love, there is no sacrifice too big.  Father, I'm sorry for all I've put you through all these years."
  "Daniel, I am nothing but proud of you at this moment.  I finally have my son back.  I thank God for that."
  "I am honored to know you, Daniel," said Bill with a deep bow.
  "I've done many things in my life that I regret.  There is no amount of good I can do to repay it.  I only pray that I can do enough to help those in need."  Daniel hugged his father, then got into the jeep and drove off to the school.  Jeffrey embraced his father as well, then his group of friends made their way to Bill's black truck which was parked just outside the hotel.  Jeffrey noticed a distinct design in the rust patterns of the truck.
  "Well, I'll be damned.  It's a yin and yang symbol right there in black and rust.  Buddha has spoken.  It's a sign that we will be successful.  There will be a mass pilgrimage of Buddhists to see this miraculous sign."
  "Dude, there's gonna be a mass pilgrimage of Revenant to our asses if we don't get the hell out of here," said Alexander.  With that, they loaded into the truck and drove in the direction of Wolf Cub Elementary School.

Chapter 42

42: Rend returned to the school disappointed by his failure at the hotel.  He knew he needed to take control of the people under him or he would have no chance of carrying out his ultimate goal.  He saw that Richard had come through with enough supplies to last them at least a few weeks.  "Good work, my children.  You have done well.  The hotel is well protected so we will need to band together and go in order to defeat the Untaken.  Richard, I will be planning our attack, but in the meantime, I need you to organize the transportation for everyone to the hotel."  Just then, there was a noise right outside the door.
  Chadwick, who had followed Rend to the school, was in the hallway listening to Rend address the Defectors.  When he had heard enough, he turned to leave, but tripped on a lunch tray on the floor.  The sound echoed in the empty halls.  He ran down the hall and out the door into the parking lot.  There had been two Revenant outside.  One grabbed his shirt when he tried to run past them.  He swung his right fist and knocked its jaw out of alignment.  This caused the zombie to loosen its grip.  Chadwick ran away as fast as he could.
  The Revenant turned away from him because they knew there were more people inside the school.  At a nearby house, Chadwick was a jeep which he climbed into.  It was red, which happened to be his favorite color.  Alright.  He got into the driver's seat.  Scanning the area for any more zombies, he saw the coast was clear.  He had some knowledge of cars and was able to figure out how to hot wire it.  Now it was just a matter of driving back to the hotel.  Much safer than being on foot.  Once he got back, he told everyone what he had seen and heard.

Chapter 41

41: All around Marble Cliffs were living people who had not chosen to be a Defector or Untaken.  Many of them knew very little of what was going on except that the town was deserted.  There was no TV, radio, internet or phones.  This was a particularly hot and arid day.  Small pockets of people had gathered together to try to figure out the situation, but no one had any way of knowing what fate had befallen Marble Cliffs.

  The wind started picking up and a little girl pointed off into the distance.  When people saw what she was pointing at, they crouched protectively to the ground, covered their ears and shut their eyes and mouths tight.  They were no strangers to dust devils and this was a big one.  All kinds of flying debris assaulted their flesh, while pieces of paper and empty plastic bags swirled all around them.  The noise was horrendous.  This inexorable barrage kept up for almost two full minutes and then gradually moved on its way.

  One by one, people started to cautiously open their eyes and get up from the ground.  Sand and dust was in their hair, all over their skin and in some of their ears.  Those with pockets found that sand and detritus had completely filled those as well.  Shoes, shirts, pants.  Nothing remained completely untouched by the fiercely invasive debris.  Twigs and other sharp objects had caused cuts and scrapes.  All around them, trash cans were overturned and tree branches were downed.  The area was generally a horrible mess.

  This wasn't the worst of it because, by the time an hour had elapsed after the dust devil, not a single person who had been outdoors was left standing.  Many of them had gotten home or to shelter of some sort.  Most of them just ended up lying on the ground in the dry heat of an Arizona summer.  They had all been exposed to the Scathing and their bodies were ravaged by the disease.  Of course, they didn't stay down long.