Heckel Casey (38 page)

Everyone laughed.

Jerky finished dishing up a plate for Rose, then one for herself.

Breakfast conversation was light since Heckel and Sela couldn't talk much because their mouths remained constantly full. Jerky entertained everyone with jokes.
Who would have thought an angel would have a joke gene,
Sela mused. Jerky even had a few off-colored ones that were actually hysterical. Rose interjected a few jokes about God that were hilarious. Every time she was done telling one, she looked embarrassed and would look up into the sky as if asking for forgiveness.

"Naw, it's cool," Jerky said tapping Rose's arm.

After a few more jokes and halfway through a large cinnamon roll, Sela asked, "Is this a good day for a battle?"

Total silence.
Oh great. Now I did it. What a way to wreck the mood. Just call me Debbie Downer,
Sela thought as she bit into the cinnamon roll.

Very tranquil and with much confidence, Jerky stated, "Yes, it is. A very good day."

Rose was sitting next to Sela and she put her arm around her waist. Her touch was very comforting. "Heckel will be victorious. We can feel it," she said softly into her ear.

"Damn straight. He da man," Jerky said punching Heckel's arm. Heckel nearly choked on his roll.

After a few more stories from Jerky, Sela looked over at Heckel. His head was down and he appeared deep in thought. Even after all the pep talks, she couldn't help but have a wave of dread wash over her. She got up and took Heckel by the hand.

"Come on, Heckel. Let's take a walk to help digest this wonderful breakfast." Sela pulled him to his feet.

Jerky and Rose were already cleaning up. Rose told Jerky to leave and get ready. Sela had no idea where Jerky went, but figured maybe she was going to pray or something.

Heckel was quiet the whole time they were walking. He had his arm around Sela's waist and every so often would just give a slight hug. She wanted to cry each time but held it together. She promised herself she would not break down. It was important she should show the same strength and confidence he was demonstrating.

Heckel spotted a large boulder to sit down on. The skies were cloudy, but every so often the sun would peek out. The temperature was slightly cool. Sela started wondering if Heckel wished it were a nice warm day instead.

"So, what do you think of the weather?" she asked feeling awkward.
What a stupid thing to ask,
she admonished herself.

"It'll be good. I'm just glad it's not raining. You know how Oregon can be."

Heckel went on to recount how, before the collapse, he had run marathons and always preferred it to be a little cool, but still sunny.

"When are you leaving?" Sela mumbled, hating that those words were coming out of her mouth.

"Shortly," he answered. "Say, when we all leave would you say a prayer for us?"

Sela started crying.
Crap.
She wasn't going to do that, but Heckel's asking for the prayer thing flicked her switch. "Absolutely. However, I've been praying every day since we first met and you told me about Madeline," Sela said sniffing.

"Yeah, me too," he said.

As they sat in silence for a few more minutes, Sela sensed that Heckel might be praying, so she offered her prayers for everyone's safe return and a final defeat of Madeline.

"Well, I guess it's time," he said as he jumped off the boulder. He reached over and lifted Sela up in his arms. She hugged his neck so hard she thought she heard his neck crack. When he set her down, she kept her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. She did not want to release his lips. Slowly, the kiss softened and she melted into his arms. They held each other for a long time.

"Heckel Casey, you damn well better come back to me and our baby." Tears flooded her eyes and spilled over onto her face.

He looked at her and wiped the tears off. "I will. I promise," he said into her ear. His breath made her shiver.

They hugged a little while longer in silence.

When they got back to camp, Jerky was ready. She had on a leather vest and gloves. A large sword was at her waist. Her hair was done in long braids held together with a leather headband. Sela almost giggled, thinking she looked like an extra in the old TV series,
Xena: Warrior Princess.

"Heckel, you should take Tempest. He's faster," Sela said.

"Nope. Speed won't be necessary. Hope knows me."

"Speaking of hope, I know I'm packing plenty of it," Jack said as he rode up to greet everyone. "Good morning. How about that breakfast?" he asked rubbing his stomach. "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."

"Poor choice of words, Jack," Heckel said, giving him an admonishing look.

They chatted so easily about the food and the weather as if it were any other morning.

Jerky whispered something into Heckel's ear. Heckel nodded and slowly lifted his head to look at Sela.
I knew it was time,
she thought. The tears didn't even slowly emerge; they gushed forth as if suddenly a detonator had been pushed at the Hoover Dam. Heckel's long passionate kiss and embrace caused her insides to ache as well as the baby to kick.

"I felt that," Heckel said, laughing. He leaned his head down to her belly and whispered, "I'll be back soon. Take good care of your mother."

She inched backward, staring at Heckel. Sela tried to smile and wave, but it was the most painful thing she ever had to do. Heckel mounted Hope and held out his hand for Jerky to swing onto the horse's back behind him.

"Pray for us," Jack said as he moved his horse forward.

Heckel just waved.

Chapter 36

The silence behind me was eerie as nearly two thousand men and women followed. When we reached the large, grassy field at first everyone was puzzled. Where were Madeline's soldiers?
Maybe they gave up,
I thought.
Yeah, wishful thinking. Madeline probably wanted to be fashionably late.

Gradually, a soft thumping sound inched its way across the field. It grew louder and louder. The first appearance of the demonic army grew on the horizon. The demons spilled over the hill and began to form line after line across the field. They held large clubs, machetes, swords and a few pistols. Their grotesque, slobbering appearance worked as one of their best weapons. I had seen a lot of horror movies growing up and these things could scare the crap out of anyone.

I glanced over at my people and the looks on their faces changed. It was as if fear slithered out of the ground, up their legs and settled in their chest, causing everyone's shoulders to sag and eyes to pop.

Immediately, I had to do something. That projector in my head started to play the scene from
Braveheart
where Mel Gibson, with blue war paint on his face, makes a riveting speech. "I don't think I'd look good with blue war paint," I muttered under my breath. Jack gave me a puzzled look. Nonetheless, the scene spurred me on. I turned Hope around and faced everyone.

At first, the words came slowly. "Everyone," I shouted. "Listen to me." Hope began walking out in front of the soldiers across the field.

"Today, we fight for everything that is good."

Several guardian angels jumped off their horses and stood tall.

"Today, we bring us back to the light."

Slumped shoulders began to rise.

"Today, you will be strong."

More people stood taller, chests pushed outward.

"Today, fear is not part of our vocabulary."

The hint of a murmur commenced.

"Today, you will fight for your families, for your friends and for all that is still good on our planet."

A roar rolled across the soldiers in front of me.

"Today, we will push the darkness back, once and for all."

Everyone erupted with shouts. Arms lifted in the air.

"Today, you are God's warriors and you…will…be…victorious!"

No longer did anyone appear defeated or scared. Fear had been stomped back down into the ground.

Just after I finished my pep talk, several large dark forms appeared in the sky, flanking each side of Madeline's forces.

"Holy Mother of God," I heard Jack mumble. "What the hell are those?"

"Crap! Dragons," Jerky said. "Okay, no problem."

"Dragons? I thought those were just myths," I turned and said to Jerky. Before she could answer, I heard her call out for help.

"We're on it," a young man said running up to Jerky. An older man was right behind him. Two other angels and their counterparts came up as well. The three angels grabbed the men by the wrist and pulled them along.

As they ran, the angels quickly transformed into large dragons. The men held on tightly as the three large dragons soared into the sky.

"Wow, that's something you don't see every day," Jack muttered.

"Guess we have some dragons as well," I said to Jack.

"Actually, dragons probably never really existed," Jerky said. "But we can't let them have any advantage now, can we? So, we improvise."

"Improvise?" I asked, feeling suddenly as if I were a jazz player who didn't know the chord changes.

Jerky shrugged her shoulders and grinned from ear to ear.

"For the light and all that is good," I yelled, and kicked Hope forward. As I sped across the field, I looked down at Jerky. She smiled at me and transformed into a large cat. Now, when I say large, I mean one that was almost the size of Hope. And as for cat, we're not talking about a fat lazy Garfield-type cat. No, we're talking something like a lion on steroids. The creature looked at me and roared. Its fangs were over a foot long.

"Wow, Jerky, you're…" The cat looked at me again and roared. I also swear she smiled and winked at me.

The demons came closer. I looked up and saw the dragons already engaged. It looked like old WWI fighter pilots. They would fly at each other, strike a blow and dash off. One of Madeline's dragons was already falling to the ground.

The two opposing front lines were almost upon each other. The demons appeared even bigger. My throat tightened and my tongue was like parchment paper. Jerky roared again as if to comfort me. I smiled at her and raised the sword I had.

Within seconds the two forces connected with an amplified whack like you would hear if two huge 18-wheelers collided.

Immediately, there were screams.

Most of the guardian angels had transformed into various ferocious animals with exaggerated proportions. Teeth, fangs, claws were in abundance. Some took to the air.

Soon I was surrounded by several demons. Jerky ripped into two of them immediately. Their throats were bitten into, spewing a shower of blood. The large cat killed with lightning speed. Something grabbed at my leg. I spun around with my sword and decapitated one of the demons. The next sight stunned me and I froze. Another demon was holding a large spiked club and was rearing back to strike Hope. I pulled the reins hard and Hope went on her back haunches. She kicked violently at the demon and one of her hoofs connected with his head. The demon went down and Jerky finished the job.

"Time for you to get out of all this mess, Hope," I said dismounting. "Go be safe. I need a ride home when this is all over." I slapped the horse's behind and Hope raced across the field to higher ground.

Jerky stayed at my side the entire time. We worked together taking down demon after demon. As I figured, demons might have been big and scary, but my men were smarter and more agile. At times, I glanced across the field. It appeared we were winning. We were pushing them back.

Suddenly, a loud horn blasted and the demons retreated. Our men cheered.

Jack yelled for our side to pull back as well. Time to get a second wind. He came running over to me and with a big smile on his face reported that our losses were light. I looked at everyone standing around me. In spite of heavy breathing, wiping of brows, bloodstained clothing and many sitting on the ground to get a much-needed rest, each man and woman sported a huge grin.

Then a sound thundered across the field. The deafening howl was directed right at me.

"Heckel!" The people had to cover their ears it was so overwhelming.

My name reverberated again across the field with such hate and loathing.

Showdown time.
It must be high noon
, I thought.

Now every old western movie I had ever seen flashed across the movie projector in my head. I snickered. "Looks like it's gonna be the O.K. Corral all over again," I muttered. Jerky was standing next to me as a young woman again.

"Not a good idea," she said. "We're winning and she knows it."

"I'll be fine. I whooped her ass once before. I can do it again," I said dropping my sword. "Besides, take off the head and the body will die."

"Send her back to hell," Jack said.