Our Future
Chapter 10: Mid-Day Crisis

“Should we go inform Daniels that it’s time for him to leave?” Gabriel asks.

“We should go talk to Michael about Mark. He isn’t safe with the Father,” I reply quickly.

Gabriel understood there was just something off about the guy.

We found Michael with Rider visiting the young children and giving them any toys or new clothes or bed essentials.

“Michael,” Gabriel exclaimed quietly.

He nodded in the direction of the door way and Michael accompanied us out to the hall.

“You know the young boy and older man we brought in?” Gabriel asks.

“The Father and Mark? Yeah, are they leaving or do they want to stay longer?” he replies.

“Nathan is concerned for Mark’s well-being. There’s something off about the guy. We think, for safety reasons, that The Father should leave and Mark shouldn’t accompany him,” Gabriel replies.

“Well, we’ve had enough conflicts in the past week, if he’s not willing to let the boy go we might just have to let them go,” Michael replies calmly.

“He’s three years old! What if he was your brother?” I exclaim annoyed.

“Do you have any evidence that The Father has done anything...wrong to Mark?” Michael asks.

I don’t get the chance to answer because the pain from a vision interrupts my thoughts.

I see Mark screaming and trying to scramble away from a tall dark figure. The figure emerges into the light in the old woodshop/gym here in the school and it’s Father Daniels.

The boy starts crying as he comes closer. I try pushing the vision away so I can assist Mark but the vision won’t let me go.

Father Daniels covers the boy’s mouth to muffle his screams, he sniffs the boy.

What the heck is doing? It’s creepy. He’s doing this to a three-year-old! I knew something was wrong with him, he’s into kids!

The vision finally fades and I take off.

“Nathan!” Gabriel calls.

“Where are you going?” calls Michael.

They both pursue me down the hall and up the short staircase.

The woodshop door is closed but the light on the railed off area above is on.

I waste no time, once I’m inside I can hear who I assume is Mark, crying.

I race up the staircase at the opposite side of the room from the door.

At the top is Mark with Father Daniels on top of him.

Mark’s face is wet with tear streaks.

I push the Father off of Mark and pick him up and carry him back to the top of the staircase.

“Did he hurt you?” I ask quietly, trying not to frighten the boy any more than he already is.

“Sort of, he was doing scary things,” whines Mark.

Gabriel and Michael arrive a few seconds later.

They see Father Daniels, Mark and me.

“Get out,” says Michael pointing down the staircase.

The Father doesn’t argue he was caught doing the one thing that was not okay in any community unless it was a community of child-sex offenders.

“It’s okay, Mark. Calm down. He won’t do it again, okay?” I whisper quietly. “Are you tired? I can bring you to meet some other children who live here and you can get some sleep, too.”

“Okay,” he replies quietly.

Now that I think about it, Mark would have been born shortly before or after the apocalypse started. What had happened to his parents? Has Daniels done more that torture a young child?

I carry Mark back down the stairs to the hall and to room 102 where the children stay.

Gabriel follows us well Michael makes sure Daniels has exited the building.

We bring Mark down to the room where Sam and Anna slept and got him settled in. Anna made quick friends with the young boy.

We left soon after, and did what we did best. Disappear.

What was this? Tragedy and Celebration Week rolled into one? A lot of good things had happened but also a lot of bad.

The roof was our safe haven this time. The wind was an added companion to our vigil.

Life used to be so simple.

Gabriel and I used to have a life, sure I never would have come to terms with my sexuality if the apocalypse had never happened and Melody hadn’t died but we still would have been happy.

I wonder what kinds of professions we would have gone into.

Love makes the world go round and without Melody and Quinn it spun a bit slower maybe it sped back up a bit when Gabriel and I admitted our love, too. I don’t know.

I hated responsibility; in what world were kids in charge? No world I knew of, mainly because they weren’t as wise and experienced.

I released my wings to flap freely.

I sat near the edge with them wrapped around me to keep me warm, fall was coming. Gabriel accompanied me to the edge and held my hand as if he was worried I’d jump.

I’d never do that. Sam and Gabriel needed me but sometimes it felt hopeless. Was the world ever going to go back to normal?

I missed it. School, friends, birthdays, everything.

Tears fell from my eyes and dotted the pavement of the roof.

Gabriel wrapped his arms around me in comfort and placed his chin on my shoulder. No communication was needed when you had a mind-reader for a lover. I was glad I didn’t need to explain what was wrong.

His own wings wrapped around us to warm us and comfort us as well.

As much as I loved our time, it had to end. It always did. And as always it left a hole where emptiness now was from being together.

I could feel his heart beating against my spine, he was nervous even though no one ever came up to the roof. He started to pull away but I held onto his arms not wanting the emptiness to come, yet. He walked around me so I could see him and he could see me. He looked concerned, I didn’t want him to worry so I let go, and my arms fell to my sides. He lifted them back up and hugged me again. He kissed my neck in the process which tickled, I laughed and flinched away.

“Sorry,” he whispered, smiling.

He kissed my cheek and then my lips. He then rested his head on my chest with his arms around my waist.

Maybe we could live like this, who cared if there was zombies?

Maybe we weren’t supposed to stay here until all the zombies died. Maybe we were supposed to venture out and explore. We would run out of food in this area eventually and have to move.

Maybe that was why we ended up being angels so we could help transport these people to a new area so they could continue living.

If we did do it though, we’d have to wait till Abele healed so we didn’t harm him further.

Whatever we did hopefully it was the right thing.