Disclaimer: Well, we all know Stephen King owns the original story. Micah, Danny, etc. and COTC 2 are owned by Paramount; Delilah, Zephaniah, Jakob, and Samuel are owned by me, and Rachael is owned by...well...herself! Part 1 Micah and Danny awoke to a strangely quiet house. Danny peered out of the door to the bedroom he shared with his father and met Micah's cold, black eyes. "Micah, something is wrong. I just know it." "Yes, there is. It feels like death." Micah replied in an odd voice. Danny walked slowly toward the room that he had heard his father "sinning most vigorously" in the night before, his heart pounding and his palms sweating. He slowly turned the doorknob and what he saw made him scream out loud. It was the rapidly decaying bodies of his father and Angela, still locked in the embrace of slumber. Micah came up behind Danny and silently surveyed the scene. "Not by our hands.," he whispered to the air. "Micah, this isn�t natural," Danny suddenly choked out, "they�re becoming dust before our eyes." "No, it is not. Not the work of He Who Walks Behind The Rows." "What?" "He has not brought this upon us. He has not released us." "Then I don�t think we can be the only ones." -------------------------------- Danny shakily got dressed and paced in the foyer, waiting for Micah to be ready. Suddenly Danny heard the phone ringing in the kitchen. It was Lacey. "Danny what�s happening?" "I don�t know. Me and Micah were about to try to find out if anyone else is alive." "Micah? You�re not going to bring him here are you?" "Well, why not?," Danny asked, confused, "Why shouldn�t I?" "He�s.......not right. You should be careful." "Okay, Lacey, I�m hanging up now. We�ll be over in a little while." He hung up before she could say another word and turned to Micah who was now standing in the doorway. "She doesn�t trust you.," Danny said carefully. "No, she doesn�t." "Well?" "Try to convince her, Danny. I know you don�t want to see her dead." With that the two boys walked out of the inn and onto the dusty street. They were soon met by Mordechai, whose wide grin faded when he saw the blank expression on Micah�s face. "It is not He, then? Not a reward?" "What have we done to merit such a reward, Mordechai? There was still much work to be done." "A punishment, then? Was our work not good enough?" "No, once again the adults have poisoned the earth. This time they have suffered the ultimate punishment for their sins." Mordechai nodded his head silently and then turned to Danny, "And you?" "And me, what?" "Are you now one of us?" "Where else have I got to go?" With that Danny started to walk in the direction of Lacey�s house. Micah watched him walk away for a moment. He then turned to Mordechai and said, "Come, we follow.," and headed in Danny�s direction. --------------------------- Danny knocked on Lacey�s door. He jumped slightly when Mordechai and Micah came up behind him. A few seconds later Lacey opened the door. Her eyes were red and puffy and she appeared very distraught. "Oh Danny!," she cried, flinging herself into his arms, sobbing loudly. Danny shifted uncomfortably and let Lacey sob into his shoulder for a few minutes. Slowly the sobs subsided and she looked up at Danny and gave him a shaky smile. Her smile faded when she saw who was behind him. "Why did you bring *them* here?!" she asked, her tone accusatory. "I brought them here because they�re my friends and we are trying to figure out just what the hell happened here, Lacey!" "Ask them! I bet they don�t care! I bet they�re even glad!" "Lacey, please, this is a hard enough time for all of us. Please calm down." Danny pleaded with Lacey, casting fearful glances at Micah and Mordechai, who were both watching the exchange with only a slight amount of interest. Micah was growing tired of the girl�s rantings and decided to tell her as much. "Lacey, we are all *unnerved* by this recent turn of events. That is no excuse, however, to accuse Mordechai and I of something that we could never do. Other children do not have the support of He Who Walks Behind The Rows, nor are they organized as we are. You should be thankful that we do not turn our backs on you for all of your past blaspheming." Lacey stared open-mouthed as the leader and his most trusted follower walked calmly away from the house. Danny looked back and forth between them for a moment before grabbing Lacey�s hand and running after the boys. They stopped in from of the cornfield and Micah turned to Lacey and said, "So, are you one of us?" Lacey looked at Danny, then Mordechai, then finally at Micah. "Yes, I guess I am." Micah nodded and gestured for them to follow him into the clearing. As they were walking Mordechai dropped back slightly to walk next to Danny. "You know we�ll be keeping an eye on her.," he said in a low voice, gesturing slightly towards Lacey. "Yeah, I know. But I won�t let anything happen to her. Right now she�s just scared is all." "We all are, Danny. We all are." Mordechai then walked quickly up to Micah, whispering something in his ear. Micah turned and looked at Danny, an unreadable expression passing briefly on his face. Soon they were at the clearing, which was already occupied by many of the others, including Jedediah and Ruth. ---------------------------- The look on Jedediah�s face was one of relief when he saw that Micah had entered the clearing. He had had no idea how to answer the children�s questions and was getting tired of hearing Ruth ask "Where�s Micah?" every five seconds. "Micah, I�m so glad you�re all right!" Ruth said, stepping forward as if to hug the leader. Micah quickly stepped away and turned to talk to Jedediah,effectively ignoring the annoying blonde. "Is this all?" heasked, sweeping his arm at the small circle that had gathered around him. "Well, yes, but others are probably coming.," Jedediah replied,somewhat timidly. "No probably�s, Jedediah. They should be here now! I want aparty sent out to gather all of the remaining children in this town." "Sure, okay, we�ll leave right now.," replied Jedediah, grabbing a few kids and shoving them out of the clearing . "What are we going to do, Micah?," Ruth asked, looking down at the ground. "We shall wait for a sign. We will stay together and wait for He Who Walks Behind The Rows to tell us what to do. Until then we will do what we have always done." The crowd of children sighed in relief, almost in unison. They had been afraid before, but Micah had given them a purpose. "Micah, shouldn�t we have the kids live together? Younger with older, so that no one will live alone and everyone should be close to one another?" Danny asked, breaking the short silence. "Yes, our newest brother Danny has a very good idea. Once the rest of the children arrive we will make arrangements for living quarters." Micah smiled at Danny, glad that he had decided to make him part of the flock. The rest of the children soon gathered and Micah, Danny, Mordechai, and Jedediah put together groups of children and Micah decided in which homes they would live. -------------------------------- It was about three days later when a thunderstorm hit the small town. Lightening crashed, wind whipped, and thunder rumbled. The rain came down in torrents. The small children cowered in their beds, while the older ones stood at the windows to watch. And while all this was going on, He Who Walks Behind The Rows was creating a human daughter. Lightening struck the middle of the cornfield, and when the smoke cleared a young girl, clad in a lilac colored dress, was huddled on the ground, soaked and frightened. Part 2 It was early in the morning when Jedediah heard the soft cry coming from somewhere near the corn. He furrowed his brow in frustration and tried in vain to hear it more clearly but he couldn�t. Clearly he would have to go see Micah about this one. He slowly slipped on his pants and buttoned up his shirt, tucking it into the pants and pulling the suspenders over his shoulders. He pulled on his dull black shoes and quickly laced them up, then stood up and stretched his arms above his head. On his way out the door he looked into the mirror and ran his hand though his hair. At the last minute he grabbed his hat and pulled it securely onto his head. It was about five after five when he knocked on the door to the house that Micah shared with Danny. After a few minutes he got no answer so he tried again. Just as he was about to try the third time the door swung open and a barely awake Danny peered at Jedediah through half closed eyes. "Yeah, Jedediah, is there something wrong?" he asked. "Yes, as a matter of fact there is. Ummm, can I see Micah?" Danny looked at him for a moment, then nodded shortly. "Yeah, he�s almost always up by now. Wait here." As he waited Jedediah pondered all the craziness that occurred in the last few days. Not even counting the apparent deaths of every adult on the earth, there was still the strange ascension of Danny to Micah�?�s right hand in the midst of all the chaos. Everyone had always thought of Mordechai as the one to turn to when Micah couldn�t be found or when they needed quick advice. But the way Danny had handled the housing situation a few days ago and the way he had helped hand out daily chore schedules made him seem like the more responsible one. Not to mention the fact that he was more level-headed than Mordechai, and had more than just the desire to please He Who Walks Behind the Rows on his mind. Yes, he was loyal, there was no question in that, but he also knew that the kids needed to be kids, and they would be more willing to serve He Who if allowed some slack. Micah had grudgingly agreed, mostly because he knew it to be true himself, as He Who had undoubtedly showed him thus. So, Jedediah and Mordechai had become housemates. Mordechai had been angered, that was for sure, but he knew that Danny was not one for violence and was more than glad to take the role of Micah�s ultimate enforcer. Now, as for he himself, Jedediah didn�t know exactly where he belonged. He was one of the elders, yes, and the younger ones looked up to him, but out of the four of them, he often felt quite helpless. As Micah had often told him, they all had a purpose and his was surely just waiting for him around the corner. He just wished it would get here soon than later. "Jedediah?" The simple word jolted Jedediah out of his thoughts and he looked up. Micah was standing in the doorway, dressed as always in black. He had a pensive look on his face, and Jedediah was glad that the leader was not angry with him. "Yes, Micah. I heard something in the cornfield. A cry of some sort. Not animal, though. Definitely human, young." Micah closed his eyes for a few moments and then looked at him, a sly smile on his face. "Thank you for telling me, Jedediah. Wake Mordechai if he isn�t already awake and meet Danny and I at the barn." The look on Micah�s face was one of dismissal, so Jedediah quickly mumbled his thanks and left the dark home in a hurry. ---------------- Mordechai was having the nicest dream(usually not at all something we normal humans would want to see) when he was jolted awake by Jedediah shaking him roughly. "What do you want Jedediah? We have a half an hour before breakfast and I would like to sleep." "I�m sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, Mordechai, but Micah demanded that we meet them at the barn." Jedediah said sarcastically, knowing that he wouldn�t be able to get away with any such thing once Mordechai was fully awake. Mordechai groaned, knowing exactly who "them" meant and hating it. "Why? If I may ask such a thing." he mumbled from under his blankets. "I heard something and apparently Micah thinks we need to check it out." Jedediah smiled slightly to himself, smug over the fact that he had discovered something Mordechai hadn�t. "Oh, good for you. Well, please leave my room. I suppose we should leave as quickly as possible." Mordechai threw the covers off the bed and glared at Jedediah, causing him to roll his eyes and mumble something about why he had to live with such a self-righteous jerk. ------------------------ Meanwhile, Micah was discussing the possible meanings of this cry with Danny. "This may be the sign that we have been waiting for, Danny." "Do you think so, Micah? I hope so." "He Who Walks Behind the Rows has indicated to me that whatever is in that field is of great importance to us. However, He will not elaborate or give me clearer signs. Without them, I am unsure of what to expect." Micah admitted. Danny nodded in sympathy. He knew that something had been distressing his friend in the past two days and it wasn�t just the more-than-overt signals he had been getting from Ruth. Nor was it Lacey�s continued bemoaning about their way of life. It seemed as though Micah was getting antsy about their new direction, or lack thereof. They cared for the fields, took care of the gardens, the church, and their homes, but they had no real sense of what He Who Walks Behind the Rows truly wanted. What was the most disturbing (to Micah anyway) was that Micah himself hadn�t received a vision yet. It was in Danny�s opinion that maybe a vision wasn�t needed yet, and that maybe they had to settle into their new lives before He Who would show them the new way. Or maybe this was how He Who had envisioned the world, and so nothing more needed to be done. Micah, however, would not let it rest and as the first, then second, then third day passed, his temper grew shorter and he stayed in his room a lot more, no longer seeing the children to answer their questions. Danny shook his head to clear those thoughts. Standing, he looked at Micah. "Shouldn�t we be going now?" Micah nodded, "Yes. As quickly as possible." When they arrived at the barn they saw that Jedediah and Mordechai had already arrived. Mordechai was standing stiffly to one side while Jedediah was standing on a wooden crate, trying to catch a glimpse of what he had heard crying in the field. Micah knew that Mordechai and Jedediah were not friends. At best they were allies, at worst they were competitors. He knew that Jedediah did not wish to have Mordechai�s position as enforcer, and if Mordechai knew Jedediah as well as he should have, he would know it too. However, Mordechai�?�s one-track mind made it difficult for him to see things from a reasonable perspective, and probably not even He Who Walks Behind the Rows himself could have convinced him otherwise. Inwardly Micah sighed. Perhaps it would have been best to leave Mordechai out of this, but he would have taken that as the ultimate offense and would never have forgiven Jedediah for such an act of "betrayal." It wouldn�t have mattered if Micah had made the decision to not include him, Jedediah would have had to spend the nights with one eye open, and Micah would not do that to his only other sane friend. That was it, really. It was for an entirely selfish reason that he wanted to protect Jedediah. Micah was alone, in the end. But having actual friends made his life somewhat bearable. It didn�t truly matter that He Who Walks Behind the Rows had given him his essence, making him the Leader. He was still, deep inside, human and all he really wanted sometimes was relief. In fact, soon after the Plague hit he had felt his connection to He Who Walks Behind the Rows lessen and that fact both frightened him and filled him with a certain joy. Frightened in that he didn�t know whether he could be just Micah anymore, and joy in the fact that perhaps he could be if he wanted. But no, he knew now that although his role as leader might have changed, he was still the Leader and as such still had a responsibility to his followers and his God. Blinking once or twice to clear his thoughts, which always led him to brood for quite some time recently, he looked up at Jedediah. "Do you see anything, Jedediah?" Jedediah looked down, momentarily startled by the "sudden" appearance of Micah and shook his head. "Nothing, Micah, perhaps we should search, then?" "Yes, we will spread out and search alone. If you find anything, notify me immediately." Micah did not want to search with Mordechai and he knew he could not pair him with Danny or Jedediah. Thus, they searched alone. ---------------------- It was about 20 minutes later when Mordechai yelled Micah�s name about halfway across the field. "Micah, you had better come and see this!!" Micah ran (possibly for the first time in his life) towards the sound of Mordechai�s voice. When he finally reached him, he found his enforcer standing in the middle of a scorched clearing. At his feet lay an unconscious young girl, possibly fifteen or sixteen. Micah kneeled down and rocked back on his heels. He looked at the girl in wonder, and gently reached out a hand to brush her tangled hair from her face. She moaned and turned her face to get out of his reach and he let his hand drop. He looked up at Mordechai with a question on his face. "Did you find her this way?" "Of course I did Micah. I knew that she must be what we�ve been waiting for. I didn�t want to do anything wrong to her.," Mordechai huffed. He couldn�t believe that Micah would have even thought such a thing. It was just wrong! "Yes, I realize that Mordechai," Micah replied, trying to placate his volatile friend, "I didn�t mean anything by it, of course." Mordechai looked down at the fair skinned girl and then at Micah. "Would you like me to carry her back to your house?" he asked, not-so-subtly indicating that he thought Micah couldn�t do it. Micah frowned at the tone in Mordechai�s voice but said nothing. "Yes, Mordechai, thank you." Jedediah and Danny, meanwhile, watched the whole exchange in silence. It was obvious to the two that Mordechai wasn�t happy with Micah and vice versa. Neither could believe the tone that Mordechai took with Micah, and were even more shocked that Micah hadn�t called Mordechai out on it. Danny decided right then and there to have a serious talk with Micah about the whole unpredictable situation later. --------------------------- A while later Micah sat in the first floor guest room while the strange young girl slept on the bed. He watched her with more than a fair amount of interest, desperately wanting her to give him some answers. He shifted in his chair in the corner, heaving a deep sigh. After Mordechai had put her down on the bed he had practically ran out of the room, calling out excuses on the wind. Jedediah lingered by the door a moment and then followed Mordechai, telling Micah he had a wealth of chores to do (which he really did). Danny stayed the longest, standing in the doorway watching Micah watch the girl, before he too left, telling Micah that Lacey was probably looking for him and he didn�t feel like having yet another argument with her. He did, however, warn Micah that a talk was coming and an issue needed to be resolved. Micah agreed. So now he was just watching the girl, a thousand questions running through his mind. "Who are you?" he asked the sleeping figure.

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