The Beginning of An Apocalypse
Twenty-Eight

“Get off of her!” He shouted when he saw that the figure on top of Cas was someone. The closer he got to saving her the more he could hear what was going on.

“You ruined everything!” the person who was choking Cas shouted. “I was this close! This close! You have no idea what you’ve done!”

Shane could hear the sounds of Cas losing her breath and it forced him to speed up. The adrenaline coexisting with the thought Cas is dying got him to move farther. The closer he got the sooner he realized it wasn’t just somebody. It wasn’t a human test subject. It was Gabriel Everett holding her down by her throat. Screaming into her face and forcing the dust off his body.

Shane grabbed the chunk of concrete and got closer. A large piece of wet metal from the tank was in his way. He grabbed the end of it and hoisted himself up. He raised his arm and the rock with it. He didn’t aim as much as he could, but he was confident in his shot.

“I said Let Her GO!” Shane slammed the rock down and it hit just an inch lower than Gabriel’s forehead. Gabriel’s rants and screams of unfairness ended and he fell onto Cas’s side with a groan.

Shane stared down at him as he huffed. He wished Gabriel stayed dead.

Cas’s coughing brought him back from the thought of continuing the fight with Gabriel. “Cas!” Shane pushed himself down and crouched down beside her. Her once-clean hair was again covered in dust and filled with pebbles. Here throat was red with grey handprints. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Cas said. Shane helped her up to sit and then to stand. The both of them stayed close as they looked at Gabriel who had got himself to sit with his back pressed against another piece of metal that was shaped like a bowl.

“Out of all the things you could have done in your fit, you chose to get rid of the only thing that gave me a future?” Gabriel shouted when he realized he was on the ground and they were above them.

“You were going to kill Shane and me,” Cas said. “You destroyed so many lives!”

“Oh it’s time to get over this,” Gabriel said. “I did what I had to do.”

As Gabriel stood there, Shane and Cas could only look down at him. What they saw was not the Gabriel they were used to. Gabriel’s scalp was bald in some places and some of his skin looked a little flakey.

“For what?” Cas asked. She wasn’t caring for that sickening look of his. This entire time, he looked not alright, but now, it showed. Whether he was sick or it was from an injury, she didn’t care. He didn’t deserve that. “Tell me what you did and why you had to do it.”

“Is that all you want?” Gabriel huffed. “A reason why I killed your family and the others?”

“I would love to know,” Cas said. “So I would know everything when I either end your life or get you to spend the rest of your life behind bars.”

“That won’t be possible,” Gabriel said. He pushed his head to the side and then back up. “Well, option number two.”

“Why?” Cas asked. “Are you–”

“I’m dying,” Gabriel said like he had to hurry up and get it out of there. He didn’t know why he even said it so loud. But it did feel like another boulder was lifted off him.

“What?” Cas asked.

“I mean, you do look like it,” Shane said.

“Thanks,” Gabriel said as he rolled his eyes. “I’ve been dying since I was seven years old.” Gabriel forced himself to sit up straighter. He didn’t want to tell them about any of this, it was supposed to be solved with only a few people knowing.

“How have you been dying since you were seven?” Cas asked.

“Do you have cancer?” Shane said making them both look at him. Cas looked back at Gabriel with the possibility of that being true and waited for him to reply. “Or something?” Shane eventually added.

“It’s not cancer,” Gabriel said. “At least I doubt it.”

“Then what is it?” Cas asked. “Because if you’re baiting me, I will have no choice but to shoot you.”

Gabriel wanted to believe she wouldn’t shoot him. That it would go against her nature as who she was, but he never thought she could do half the things she had done, so maybe he might want to listen. “When I was seven, I had this little pond in the backyard. There was a dying fish in it, I didn’t know it was dying at first, but then it wasn’t moving. So, with a seven-year-old kid, that didn’t go down well,” He said and avoided eye contact. “Anyway, it started raining. I was watching the fish and the rain from my bedroom window when there was a crack in the sky. And–”

“Should we be listening to this?” Gabriel heard Shane whisper to Cas. “Or should we just go? What more can he do anyway?”

“If you don’t want to listen,” Gabriel said louder than both of them. He waited for them to turn back to look at him. “Then get that gun out of my face and let me go.”

Cas pushed her shoulders back and stood up straighter. She tightened her grip on the gun. “We’re listening.”

“Fine,” Gabriel said. “Well, to continue, there was this green light in the sky, and down came this… meteor. It came right into our backyard. It hit the pond, where my fish was. And without any thought, Seven-year-old me ran down and outside to replace out if he was okay. The meteor wasn’t that big and it was on the other end of the pool. But my fish… My fish was alive.”

Gabriel smiled like he had envisioned it almost. He saw the power of life coursing through the fish’s body. “It was swimming round and round and being all lively. It couldn’t do that an hour ago.”

His smile faded when he got to the obvious of why he was telling this story in the first place. “My fish never let me pick him up, but this time I caught him. I was holding him and then he bit me. I drop the fish and look at the bite. The meteor was green and then my wound was green and then I passed out.”

“The fish bit you and your wound turned green?” Shane asked.

“Yes, the meteor was infusing itself with me,” Gabriel said. “I woke up in the hospital, no effects. Three months later, I started having bad headaches and clumps of my hair was falling out. Six months later I was throwing up food, and most of my real teeth were gone.”

He sighed, “Then it happened.”

“What happened?” Cas asked.

“That I found out I wasn’t just sick but I was also not so… human anymore.” He didn’t know any better way to phrase it. Not that they’d understand if he’d tried to phrase it any other way. He had to remember they weren’t smart.

“What do you mean?” Cas asked.

“Well, how can you be human when you died and come back?” Gabriel asked. He looked them both in the eye and saw them trying their hardest to wrap their minds around it. He watched them try to understand and see how it happened. “I was seventeen and my symptoms were getting worse. I was in the bathroom puking and the next thing I know… I’m dead.”

“You were dead? Figuratively?” Cas asked.

“I was dead. I woke in the hospital with people staring at me like I was some miracle from God. They said I had died and I had been dead for hours. But I wasn’t so dead then, because I was alive.”

“So you–”

“I’m sick and I’ve died,” Gabriel said interrupting Shane or Cas from speaking. “Since dying and coming back isn’t a natural occurrence Liza’s mom kept an eye on me like I was the plague and–”

“Liza’s mom?” Cas asked. “Like… Liza Locken from the–”

“She’s my cousin,” Gabriel said. “Is that what is important right now?” He waited for Cas to think about it and nod with an acceptance and a revelation of past interactions with her. Now it all made sense, it seemed. “Anway, I was experimenting on dead things trying to bring them back to life. Trying to save myself, Liza found out, went to her mom and since my parents were dead, she came to confront me. She wanted to shut me down so we fought and the fight turned into her being stabbed.”

“You killed her?!” Cas asked, her voice getting a little too loud.

“I’ve killed thousands,” Gabriel said. “Yes, she was nice to me, but it didn’t matter that much to me. I couldn’t make it look like she killed herself, so I stayed the murderer and let it go. Liza hasn’t stopped suspecting me though, she used your boyfriend to try and bring me down. Again.”

Cas looked over at Shane who looked only half surprised. He looked more enlightened now that Gabriel explained all of this. C

“So that’s why I’ve done what I had. I’m dying and I don’t want to stop it, I’m trying to use what’s killing me to heal me.”

“That’s how you’re going to justify all this?” Cas asked. “What’s happening to you, it’s sad but you killed thousands of others.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Better them than me.” He knew that his words were only going to make Cas’s face turn a little bit red, but he was being truthful. He believed it, better them than him.

She was going to call him sick but stopped herself. He knew he was sick and he possibly even enjoyed it. And she’d called him it so many times before. Saying it again would do nothing, it wouldn’t even make her feel any better.

“Get up,” Cas said after a long time of thinking. With all that time spent silent, even Shane was about to say something.

Gabriel didn’t fight her on that. He placed his hand on the large slab of cement and pushed himself up to stand. He wiped his clothes off the best he could as he stood and waited for what order at gunpoint he was going to get.

“I won’t kill you,” Cas said. “If you are just going to die anyway.” She lowered the gun, but not completely away from Gabriel. “You are going with us and you are going to stop that alien. Then you will help us replace Marcus and you will save him.”

“You know it’s not–”

“Shut it,” Cas said making Shane almost look at her and Gabriel close his mouth. “You will do what I say unless you want to die now instead of later. If you save Marcus, then… Then I will let you go.”

“To the police so I can die in prison?” Gabriel asked. “If I have to die I’d rather die with some dignity.”

“I’ll let you go,” Cas said. “That’s it. Whatever happens, after Marcus is saved is up to you, not me.”

Gabriel looked away and thought it over. He was being stared down by a gun and he would be killed if he declined. But he could also possibly die if he agreed to help. Cas had to understand or at least know on some levels that Marcus is a lost cause. She’s been locked up, but she has seen what he’s done. Seen the state he was in. It would take a miracle to bring anyone back from that. He was brought back to life, but this was totally different.

And did they also expect to get rid of Agatha to? Because that would be even more of an impossible thing. How could they even do that? It was hard enough to bring Agatha down to earth and keep it contained.

“What if I can’t save Marcus?” Gabriel asked. He raised his hands up in a hope that Cas’s sudden raise of the gun wouldn’t mean his death. “What if?”

“If… If you can’t save him, which you will,” Cas clarafied and made sure they all understood that. “But if you can’t, then… Then I’ll still let you go,” she said almost defeated. “But you need to try your hardest to save him. Use whatever you can and give it your all. Only then will I accept if you can’t save him.”

“Fair enough,” Gabriel said. He bit the inside of his cheek for only a second before he looked up at both of them. “Deal. I will try to save Marcus, but will not be responsible if I can not help him. And you both can not hurt me, shoot me, anything that could kill me.”

“Anything else?” Cas said. “Before we agree to this.”

“I want to take both you and Marcus’s DNA after I get Marcus back and you. I won’t do any more tests on you or kidnap either of you. But I want your blood.”

“Okay,” Cas said. “But you need to get that alien back up to space. That thing is the only thing that can’t be given or stay.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to do that, but I’ll try and let the government deal with that. They could do at least that much I guess,” he muttered the last part to himself. He didn’t know if they could, and he doubted it would end happily, but what else could he do?

“You know this is all a suicide mission right?” Gabriel asked.

Cas and Shane both looked at each other and back at Gabriel. They both nodded because they both knew that this was a battle with odds stacked a little too high. It was a mission that could fall and destroy them all if they let it. Even if they fought it, it could be so easy to fall and never get back up. But they weren’t going to back away, they were going to do something whether it killed them or not.

Gabriel sighed. “Fine. Just put the gun away.”

Cas lowered her gun but didn’t take her finger off the trigger. She watched as Gabriel forced himself up from the rocks and stand face to face with all of them. “So, what’s the plan?” He waited for them to tell him something, not that he thought they had a plan. He was going to be the one who came up with the plan. After all, he knew all of the monsters the best.

“Agatha and all its creatures are attracted to water,” Gabriel said. He pushed past both Cas and Shane and started to walk out of this broken-down place he once thought of as his kingdom. “For some, it settles their hunger, others… they just like it. If we want to replace Agatha and even Marcus, water is where we do that.”

“That’s going to be hard, right?” Shane asked. He walked forward and caught them both. He climbed out of the gigantic hole following Gabriel and then helping Cas out too. “There’s so much water around us.”

“It would be hard, but Agatha can turn into a 100-foot monster, I think if it goes anywhere then we’ll know about it. We just need…” Gabriel adjusted his eyes to the bright light of the outside. He looked around and back at his building. The right side of the building, he guessed. He turned and started to walk to the front of the building where hopefully he would replace all the evacuated employees and guards. He did.

“Wait,” Cas shouted. She walked over and stood beside him. “We’re doing this together. You’re not running off and doing whatever you want this time.”

“I wasn’t going to do anything without your say-so. I was just going to get a phone from one of them idiots,” Gabriel told her. He pointed to one of them and waited for her to give him the say-so to do what she would have done. If she would have left him alone, they may have already would have found where Agatha was and start making a plan.

Soon, Cas nodded her head and Gabriel got a phone. He didn’t have to go far to replace the many news clippings and articles. Not just about Agatha but about him. About how they knew it was him who had done all this now.

He ignored that and scrolled down a little. “There’s your kid.” He handed the phone to Cas and she snatched it from him. She looked at the article that was posted just minutes ago. It was about the latest sighting of Marcus. And there he was. Front and center of the photo. She couldn’t tell much of what he looked like because it was so blurry. But she could see he didn’t exactly look like Marcus anymore.

She didn’t look at that and read the article. He was just spotted coming out of the woods and heading toward San Fransico Bay. She read more, and it said that they couldn’t be sure where Marcus was headed but everyone in that area should watch out.

“That mean’s he could be–”

The scream hit them all. They all froze and jumped. But there wasn’t time to do any of that when they looked and saw one of the men in a white coat down on the grown. When his white coat turned red and someone— Something was on top of him.

“Go, Go!” Gabriel said. He grabbed Cas’s shoulder and flung her towards Shane. She stopped before she could make it to Shane and tripped backward. She caught herself before she could fall to the ground. She looked over and saw people running like a spooked herd. But some of them weren’t making it that far. Too many were falling and screams were the only thing to be heard.

“We need to get out of here!” Shane shouted to Cas. “Let’s go.” He didn’t have to grab her arm this time. She put the phone in her pocket and pushed herself up and with Gabriel, they ran.

“What are those?!” Shane shouted to Gabriel. They ran to the other end of the building in hopes of safety.

“Seemed like test subjects 67 and 71. Both code oranges!” Gabriel shouted as they ran.

“Code Orange is bad right?!” Shane asked as they made it past the building and into the trees.

“It’s medium,” Gabriel said. “But they will kill you.” There was code red, orange, and yellow. Yellow was dangerous but not so dangerous that they had to be worried if they escaped. Orange was medium which means they would kill you, but they were unlikely to start a pandemic. Red was all the ones that would be able to cause an entire world’s extinction.

Seventy’s within the range of yellow and Marcus is within the red.

Gabriel looked back and almost wished he hadn’t. Escaped subject 71 had finished ripping through a new hire’s neck and had spotted them. Heard them. It got up from them, and through its blood teeth and coated eyes, it ran towards them.

Gabriel pushed Cas out of his way and jumped up the hill. He grabbed onto the tree trunk and lunged himself up further into the hill. He looked back to see Shane and Cas struggling to get each other up. Subject 71 getting a little too close for their liking.

“Are you going to stand there? Come on!”

“A little help would be nice!” Shane shouted as he pulled Cas by her arm. Her foot was stuck in a root and Subject 71 was not going to give he a headstart to get out and escape. “Get down, and step out of it. Then I’ll pick you up!” Shane shouted. He let go of Cas and let her stand by herself. She grabbed her ankle and pushed until her leg came free. She went to grab Shane’s hand again and get away from the monster trailing behind her.

She grabbed Shane’s hand, but not tight enough. She was barreled into and fell from the small hill. She and Subject 71 rolled and was stopped by a slab of concrete. Cas grabbed onto its slimy shoulders before it could bite her. She held it up and used all her strength to keep it there.

“Cas!” Shane shouted. He jumped down from the hill and went after her. Before he got to her, Cas had kicked Subject 71 and even though it didn’t feel anything, it was a powerful hit and knocked it off of her. She spun around and used the rock to get up.

Subject 71 got up and stood between Shane and Cas. It could go after either of them and they could either escape it or one of them could be killed. Maybe both of them if they weren’t careful.

Subject 71 decided before they could. It went after Shane rather than Cas. It all happened in a second. A split second where none of them could react.

Subject 71 had charged Shane. Shane tried to back up and Cas ran. But the bang stopped them. The roar from Subject 71 shattered their eardrums and froze them. Their eyes became less blurred and they looked. They looked at each other, Cas was safe. Shane was safe. Subject 71 was on the ground, a bullet hole through its head.

They looked up at Gabriel who was the only one they thought could have done it. But it wasn’t him. He didn’t have a gun. He stood there in just as much shock as the two of them. He turned his head with them and they looked at where the shot came from.

Liza.

She stood there further up the hill. She let her pistol hang at her side as she stared at them both. “You guys take forever on everything it seems.” She pushed herself down the hill. She jumped over the logs and stood ten feet from Gabriel. She glared at Gabriel before she ignored him entirely.

A second longer and she jumped from the hill that Gabriel stood on and stood in front of Subject 71. She raised her gun and fired it one more time. Cas almost jumped, but by now, she was used to the sound of gunshots.

“What are you–”

Gabriel interupted Shane before he could speak. “I’ve shot that thing seven billion times. It won’t die and It will kill us. Let’s go!”

“Right,” Shane said. He moved to get around Subject 71 and grabbed Cas’s hand. She let go of his hand and jumped over the body and to the hill. Trying to hold each other as they climbed up this hill was what got them in this mess the first time.

Once she was up and Shane was up, she made sure he wasn’t bitten or scratched. He couldn’t fall to this disease. He couldn’t become one of those monsters.

Liza jumped up and she followed after them as they started to run again. They were sure Subject 71 was already after them. It was alive again and going after its next meal. They could easily be that meal.

They ran out of the woods and onto a road. They all stopped there. Their hands were on their chests as they took painfully large inhales of air. Their hearts beat too loud, and saliva built up in their mouths.

They had to stop, but they also had to keep going. There was no way to kill those monsters and if it was after them still… It wouldn’t be good for them.

“We should keep going,” Shane managed through his pants. “It’ll be after us.”

Cas nodded and Liza was able to stand herself up straight. Gabriel couldn’t answer them, he was on the other side hacking up his lungs. Cas and Shane both looked at each other and wondered if this was because of the running or because of what he told them.

When Gabriel was finished he looked at them and gave them a look that showed he wanted them to move on. There was nothing to see there. Gabriel wiped his mouth and stepped closer. “So, what do we do?” He asked.

“Are we going after that alien thing?” Liza had asked.

“Us three are,” Shane said. “You’ve helped us back there and thank you for that, but we can take it from here.”

Cas looked at Shawn almost confused. She looked over at Liza who stared at him for a long while.

“What did I do so wrong?” Liza asked. “I got you in like you wanted.”

“Then you brought me in on a death sentence then ran away as soon as things got bad. You even closed the door, probably locked it!” Shane explained. He put his hands on his hips and his eyes raised. “I know you completed the deal, but you left us there to die.”

“I did what I had to do,” Liza said. “And trust me, I know I should have left the door open at least. But I have two things that I want. Him–” She pointed at Gabriel. “-Dead or suffering for the rest of his life. And two, keeping myself alive. I will not apologize for keeping myself alive.”

Liza’s expression softened. “But I am sorry I left you for dead. I could have done more.”

Shane looked the other way. He couldn’t look at Liza and he didn’t want to. He knew what he would think if he did and he knew what would happen. He didn’t know if that was the smartest idea to have her with them. Gabriel was enough of a risk and a prisoner that they didn’t need the extra weight.

“Shane,” Cas said. She knew that something happened between them and she knew Shane and what he was thinking. Why he wasn’t looking at her? She also didn’t like what she got from what happened. She didn’t like what Liza did, but what they were doing now was something totally different.

Something she caused… But couldn’t end alone.

It wouldn’t end well with only the three of them. They needed more people, even bad self-interested people. “We need her,” she said to him.

“Yeah, listen to your girlfriend,” Liza said. “If you are going after Tar-boy and that alien, you’ll need me.”

“Don’t call him that,” Cas said. If Liza continued maybe she would let Shane call the shots and kick Liza to the curb.

“Fine,” Liza said with her hands up. “I’m just saying what everyone else is calling it–Him.”

Gabriel turned to face both Shane and Cas. “You aren’t serious right?” He asked. She looked at Liza who seemed calm in her anger, but he knew what rage was boiling underneath her expression. “She only wants to come along to replace any way to throw me under the bus. To kill me.”

They both knew that was true.

“You both and Marcus need me,” he started. “You actually need me. If you let Liza follow along, she’ll try and carry out her sick plan and Marcus will be gone. Is that what you want?”

If not all of them, Liza saw what he was trying to do. She couldn’t blame him, he was partially right. She would be looking for any chance and would be thinking about every chance to throw him under the bus.

Shane sighed. He looked over at Cas and shrugged one of his shoulders. “What should we do?” He asked her because she was the one who wanted and needed Marcus saved more than anything. He wanted it too, but he wasn’t his relative. He wasn’t the one who could choose if it was time to let Marcus go. Even if it was for the better.

“You can come with us,” Cas said after the long pause she took to think. Gabriel threw his arms up and turned around. His arms went to his sides and he continued to shake his head in disapproval. But he knew he wasn’t in power and it made him shake his head even further.

“But,” she said firmly. She looked at Liza and made sure she understood she was serious. “You try something. Anything that could be seen as a threat, you will have to go.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Liza said. “I’ll be fine.”

“I need you to be serious,” Cas said. “This is life or death.”

Liza dropped her act just a little. She nodded her head to Cas. “I understand. I won’t kill Gabriel unless he gives us all a reason.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You can’t get over it can you?”

“You killed my mother, how could I get over it?” Liza said.

“My parents died, I got over it,” Gabriel said. “I killed her parents, she’s still standing beside me.” He pointed to Cas half-noticing that she was there watching him.

“Hey,” Shane snapped. “Watch it.”

Gabriel didn’t bother to apologize. He stepped back a step and disengaged with Liza. They were right, they had no time for this. He had no time for this. He felt himself getting weaker. The more energy he used the more he could feel his end coming to him. And he used a lot of his energy running. He wouldn’t have much longer if they sat around and did nothing.

Cas took a step forward. This had to stop and they had to get moving. “We don’t have time for this. We have to get to the bay. That’s where Marcus will be.” She looked over at Gabriel. “What do we need to get him and get him out safely? If the alien will be there too…”

“Oh, it’ll be there,” Gabriel said. “So will Subject 71 and 67 if it’s done with its feast back there. They’ll all be there.”

“We need weapons,” Liza said. “My little gun won’t do anything.”

They all looked at Liza and Gabriel. She may not have the guns they need, but she seemed to be the type with a few guns. But Gabriel specialized in these life forces. He’s been studying this a lot longer. And he was living in one of the most secure places in the world it seemed. He must have a few big guns for them to use.

“I live in a penthouse across the city,” Gabriel said. “I don’t have guns there. And the guns I do have, are in my destroyed lab.” He looked at Cas with a smile knowing that she was the one responsible for this entire problem.

She almost glanced away, but she kept her eyes on him. “You have to have some contacts or something,” she said. “You’re like… one of the top people in the world.”

“And that’s not a compliment,” she added before he could soak that up. “All of you are words I can not say.”

“I’ll still take it,” Gabriel said. “And yes, I do.”

He wiped some more dirt stains off his clothes that he found. “I don’t suppose you have that phone with you?”

Cas remembered the phone that she had read where Marcus would be. Where he was headed. She was wearing an outfit that Gabriel had given her before all this happened. She couldn’t remember if there were any pockets in her outfit. But she didn’t remember throwing the phone either. She patted herself down and phone the phone in one of the small pockets on her pants.

She grabbed the phone and turned it on. It still worked. She handed it to Gabriel and he took it. He typed in a number and held it to his ear. He pushed down a threatening cough and waited for his contact to pick up.

Cas, Shane, and Liza all watched as Gabriel worked something out with his contact. After five long minutes, Gabriel ended the phone call and stopped before he kept the phone for himself. Shane snatched it and gave it to Liza. “You don’t keep it.”

Gabriel nodded his head. There was no point in fighting or lying. “We have to get to the main road,” Gabriel said. “There will be a helicopter waiting for us. We can get to the main road and we get guns, a helicopter, and maybe some more help.” He was sure they all knew, four people were not good enough.

“Then let’s go,” Shane said. From where we were before… I’d say…” Shane looked around and came back to where he was. “I’d say we have to go west and we’d hit at least a road that isn’t dirt.”

“Then we better get walking,” Liza said. “It’ll take us a while and we’ve been here too long.”

They all walked in a close huddle that made it easy for Cas to stand beside Shane and Gabriel and Liza were being watched. They weren’t in the back and they weren’t exactly in front.

“Are you alright?” Shane asked in a low tone to Cas. So much has happened, he was sure she wasn’t.

“Not in the slightest,” she said. Her expression looked light, but Shane could see through that and he wished he could help her out somehow. So he was going to continue with their plan. Maybe that would help Cas out. “But we’re doing something and we’re going to save Marcus. That’s what I’ve been trying to do this entire time.”

“Learned anything from that?”

“I’m too confident that I can do everything myself?” Cas asked. She shrugged. “I’ll look back at all this and take in the lessons, but right now, I just want to get Marcus home.”

“We’ll get him home, Cas,” Shane said. “Everything’s going to go back to how it was.”

“Yeah…” Cas almost said more, but she stopped herself. She focused on right now and what they were going to do. They had to stay focused on now and not on how things were or things that weren’t so important.

The walk to the main roads was not as quick as they would like. But they got there before the helicopter did. When the helicopter landed they all climbed in and strapped in. Gabriel told his pilot to take them to a storage facility he used to store things. No live and deadly creatures though.

Shane and Gabriel left to grab the guns and even possibly bombs that they would be using while Cas watched over Liza. Cas and Liza weren’t friends and they both knew it. It was most likely they would both gladly never see each other when all of this was over. But they could be going to their deaths. They’d be each other’s last seen faces and maybe they shouldn’t hate each other too much if so.