For the past couple of days, Sal and Jasper had been experiencing premonitions, which neither could remember.  Again, Sal woke in a stir, and again he couldn’t remember why.  Out of compulsion, Sal checked his ammunition and food supplies.  He’d need to grab a first aid kit and his crowbar.  The clothes he wore were ripe from over a week of wear and tear, but he was no worse off than anyone else.  Besides, spare ammunition and other supplies would better take room in his back pack than a change of clothes he didn’t have.

            The shack where Sal had made his bed held a cracked mirror, where he caught a look at his face.  A beard was beginning to obscure his chin.  Had Sal not remembered previous days, he might have thought he’d blacked out and woken up at home in the woods.  His stubble was gray, but at least it hid some of his forming wrinkles.

            After sliding his feet into his boots and lacing up, Sal stepped outside in search of Jasper.  The lack of a steady routine had killed the relevance of time, and as Sal woke, he noticed that the sun was about a half an hour away from slipping under the horizon.

            We don’t have much time, he thought.

            As he walked through the junk yard, several of the children tried to attract Sal’s attention.  He ignored them in search of Jasper.  Maybe the other soldier could shed some light on the situation.

            He found Jasper toiling away under the Station Wagon.

            “I guess you’re going to say that we have to leave soon,” Jasper said.  “I’m making sure everything’s okay with our ride.  I’ll have my bags packed in twenty minutes.”

            “Sounds good.”

            Sal dropped his bags near the car and moved through the junk yard in search of his daughter.  He found Adeline putting the younger children to bed.  When she spotted him, the girl took Sal’s arm and led him away from the children.

            “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” she said.

            “You have enough supplies to last for a few weeks; maybe a month. In a while, maybe you can return home with a small group and see if there’s anything left if things get bad enough.”

            Sal sighed and kicked some rubble.

            “Me and Jasper are going away for a while.  We think there might be someone out there who can help.”

            If they couldn’t find others, most of the children wouldn’t make it halfway through the winter.  Adeline knew it too.  Sal could see it in her eyes.

            “Did he suffer?” Adeline asked, referring to her dead lover.

            “Sunny died instantly,” Sal replied.  He remembered the deer’s head plunging through their jeep’s windshield.  “He was a good man to have around in a pinch.  I wish he was still with us.”

            Adeline’s eyes dropped to the ground as she nibbled on her lower lip.  Without a whisper, the girl turned around and walked away.

            Sal continued his search for Sarah, dreading how she might react.

*

            Lost and abandoned: both words described Leonard Reed’s mood as he skulked in his quarters.  Enough of his flock had either slipped away or had been executed for desertion under his rule.  Reed couldn’t afford to show any weakness, so he hid.  He told Griffin that he’d needed to rest for the coming conflict.  It was partially true, but Reed’s true intentions had been to wait for some sort of word from God.

            Since Cooper had returned, Reed had ordered the assembly of a fleet.  Whatever troops remained would be sent forth on a holy crusade.  Unfortunately, his followers continued to flee.  If he was to maintain a formidable fighting force, Reed would have to move out soon.  He also hated to see the saved damn themselves out of fear.  They’d been loyal before their messiah’s assassination, but now their faith wavered.  His followers needed a task.  They needed a goal.

            On his knees, with hands pressed together, Reed prayed in desperation.  He needed guidance, but hadn’t heard from God in days.  As the divine silence continued, Reed wept from his good eye.  His devotion to the messiah had carried him to where he was.  Reed was the youngest and most favored of the divine guards.  Before that, he’d fast become a hero on the battlefield and quickly climbed through the ranks.  In the aftermath of their messiah’s death, General Fitzsimons had raised an army in an attempt to stray the flock from their leader.  The divine guard had chosen Reed to lead them into battle.

            He’d led them to victory because the messiah had spoken to Reed.  Now in his God’s silence, attrition continued.  Just over four-hundred soldiers remained.  On his knees, with hands wrapped so tightly together that his knuckles turned white, Reed quoted verses of his holy books in prayer.  As the tears continued to roll from his eye, his desperation turned into fury.

            How dare his God abandon the flock when they needed guidance?  Why had God allowed Himself to be killed by one bullet?  Why had God allowed His body to become a mockery of His glory as another lowly leper?

            These thoughts are blasphemy, Reed realized.  He needed to purge the serpent from his mind.  He needed to stop questioning his God, when the answers were right in front of him.  Life was a test, and how could the flock be ready to enter heaven if they’d been guided the whole time.  The test wasn’t about Reed, or keeping his flock alive or pure.  It was about their loyalty.  God wanted to know if his soldiers were willing to march off to certain death for Him.

            God hadn’t abandoned His flock after all.

            “Thank you my lord,” Reed said.  “We’ll be ready to leave by midnight.”

*

            When Sal returned to the station wagon, he saw Sarah standing by the car with crossed arms and narrowed eyes.

            “You can’t go out there,” she shouted, before Sal reached a civil talking distance.

            “There’s nobody else,” Sal said.

            Jasper packed supplies into the station wagon, feigning deafness.

            “Who’s going to take care of those kids?”

            “You and Adeline were doing a fine job before we came back.  You can manage for another few days.”

            “You’re just going to die, chasing a dream?”

            Sal knew his daughter wouldn’t understand unless she started having premonitions.

            “I can’t lose you too.”

            “We survived just fine outside for days before finding you.  We’ll survive this no problem.”

            “Tell that to Wade.”

            Sal bit his tongue before he could say something he’d regret.  Until she bent down to pick it up, Sal hadn’t noticed the back pack at his daughter’s feet.  As she tossed it through the opened rear passenger side window, Sal reached for the bag.  Sarah pushed him back, preventing his fingers from closing around the shoulder strap.

            “You’re not coming with us,” he told his daughter.

            “What if one of you gets hurt?  If the two of you die out there, then we’re all dead.”

            “We’ll be fine.”

            “Then you should have no problem taking me with you.”

            Refusing to argue with his daughter any more, Sal sidestepped her and moved towards the driver’s side door.  As soon as the arguing father and daughter stepped out of the way, Jasper had opened the passenger side door and climbed inside.  They had to leave soon.

            Sarah grabbed her father’s arm, but he shook loose.  As he strapped into the driver’s seat, the rear view mirror showed Sarah climbing into the seat behind him.

            “Goddamnit!” Sal shouted.

            “I’m not getting out unless you do.”

            “I don’t think she’s going to budge,” said Jasper.

            Sal lowered his head to the steering wheel and sighed.  After a moment he started the car and drove out of the dump.

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