Story Notes:
This story is set on EARTH. our earth, you and me earth. you get the idea.Pokemon copyrighted to nintendo, blah blah blahdy blah blah
Chapter 7
The portal had been open for over ten minutes now and showed no signs of closing. For a while, they all just stood in shock, staring at the huge rip in space as it sucked up various objects and materials and spew others out at the same time. Melody and Michael turned to will, who was still enthralled by the blue ball in the sky. When he noticed their looks, he shook his head and began to sputter, trying to think of how to begin to explain this. Even he wondered what it all meant, there was only guessing and theory now to guide him onto what caused this.
"Why is this happening?" melody asked "why now, why not before?"
"I don't know...you couldn't have caused this alone" he said, pacing over the creaking wooden floorboards "There isn't any force on earth that could naturally do this"
"But it's there! And we were the only ones who knew anything of it!" Michael said "What's going to happen now? Is it going to close and seal the two worlds off again?"
Michael tried to think this over in the short amount of time before will came up with an answer. First one portal had opened, bringing melody with it. Then another on the other side of the world, dropping a Cyndaquill onto a farmers lap, now this huge opening. There wasn't even a pattern to it all, random and chaotic, as Will called it. And what to do now? Stay here and risk getting caught? No doubt the military would be the first thing to respond to this. A "threat" to America, a country in which the military often fired first and asked questions later, would be absolved with guns. They would be trying to exterminate all creatures that come through that gate, maybe capture a few for study, but either way Melody was in danger. Will began to answer his question
"There is nothing in my work that constitutes portals of this size!" he said "dimensions shifting around, occasionally interacting on a quantum scale. To have something like this would requi-" he stopped there, deep thought shown etched onto his brow. He went through many expressions when he was thinking; Shock, horror, fear, despair, realisation. He stumbled slightly and lost his balance, trying to grab hold of the dresser but taking his laptop down with it. The smashing of the screen didn't even faze him and he sat on the ground, looking like a doll drained of its colour.
"c-collapse" he said shakily
"What?" Michael asked
"c-complete and utter collapse" he said "The dimensions are at the point where they are close enough to merge"
"W...what does that mean?" Melody asked cautiously
"It means that....our two worlds will become one" Will said, trying to lift himself off of the floor "Everything will be sucked in to one new dimension...land, oceans, stars....everything"
Michael didn't know what to say, let alone what to do. Only one thing came to his mind at the moment. Run. Something bad would be happening soon, they had to get as far away as possible, make sure no one sees them. Maybe if they were far enough away, they would miss most of the inevitable war that was to break out soon. He walked to the closet and began grabbing random clothes, anything as long as it fitted, was taken.
"What are you doing, Michael? Melody asked as she looked over at him oddly
"We have to leave" Michael said
"Why?" she asked again, this place was an anchor for her, the one hope of getting home. And now they were having to leave?
"The army will be coming soon. Men with guns with cut off any routes of escape and shut down all the roads. We need to move while they don't know what's hit them" Michael said, throwing all the clothes into a suitcase, and then trying to help will up from the ground. Will was still shaken, how Michael managed to keep himself calm was a mystery, maybe it was all the time around these strange phenomena.
"But this is your home! Our home!" she cried "We've been here for as long as I came to this world, and now we're just abandoning it!?"
"If we don't get out of here, they will kill you!" Michael said an angry sadness in his voice "You're a threat to them! The human race can be a hostile one"
"You're not hostile" she said quietly
"Well...I...I guess I'm different" Michael said. Different. That word struck so many emotions in him. He had always been seen as different, treated as different, felt different. Like he was separate from the human race, a race of self destructive idiots, and what was he? A man who wanted nothing more than someone whom he could love, a thing so many others wanted but cared not for who they trampled to get it. And in melody, he thought he had found that. But how can he and her stay together when all this is happening? They were now both dangers to each other. Why? Why couldn't they just be left alone? Left alone to live a quiet and loving life of their own, without this new war coming to smash their dreams. Not just melody's dreams, but Michael's as well.
"Please..."just do as I say, I don't want you to get hurt again....I really don't" he said "I won't stop you from going home if it comes to that...but please...don't hurt yourself for now" his words carried love and heartbreak as melody slowly rose from the bed and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled close to him, Feeling the beat of his heart, something that would never fade for her.
"Okay Michael...Okay" She said slowly "Let's get going, find a new home for us"
Michael smiled, leaning down to gently kiss melody on the forehead. He took the suitcase and threw in a few more random items, before ushering them all down the stairs. He grabbed as much tinned food as he could from his pantry and loaded it into the back of Will's car, trying to get all they would need for survival; he also grabbed his sketchbook and a few pencils. Such a thing would allow him to record their travels, and keep sane. As he and melody gathered the last things and loaded them into the car, they stood in the doorway for a few seconds, saying goodbye to the old home. The place that they had both called a sanctuary was a sanctuary no longer, its old walls seemed to creak in sorrow as they shut the door, and slowly, left the house they loved.
Will sat in the backseat, while melody as Michael took the front. Michael started the car and put it into gear. The old machine grunted as it lurched forward, down the gravel road. They came to the end of the gravel and hit tarmac, turning onto the main road. The roads were deserted at the moment. Everyone was probably trying to stay indoors, sheltering from the storm. They drove, thoughts filled their minds. Where would they go? Who would they meet? Where will they end up? Will wondered what would happen to the world now, melody wondered what she and Michael's relationship would come to now, and Michael wondered how he could keep them all safe. They drove for hours, eventually hitting the open fields, various farmhouses were scattered throughout the area. Michael only stopped once at an abandoned gas station to refill the petrol tank. Thankfully, the pumps were still active and no one was around, theft was the last thing on his mind right now. They also took a few things from the station itself, mostly foods and tinned goods. As the dusk loomed on the horizon, Michael spoke up.
"We need to find a place to sleep" he said, weariness in his voice "We could camp in the woods"
"What woods?" will said, looking out the window at the rolling fields "this is a farming area"
"Good point" Michael said, mentally cursing his stupidity "maybe one of the buildings, everything abandoned.
"But someone could find us" Melody said "They're bound to come back"
Michael sighed; the exhaustion was getting to him. He looked around. They had entered a small town, but everyone had clearly already left. No cars, no people, the place was a ghost town. He spied an underground car park. The barrier was broken but it looked like it led to a good amount of cover. Michael pulled the car off the road, driving down into the underground cavern. He found a place near the wall futurist from the entrance and parked the car. He hopped out and ran to the entrance; he yanked the chain gate down over the entrance, securing the area. He walked back to the car; melody and will were out already, stretching their legs a bit.
"We'll be safe in here...hopefully" he said as he turned the ignition off "for now we should get some rest"
"Good idea" said will "we can keep going in the morning, find some sort of safe house"
"That'll be tough in these conditions" Michael said, he and melody climbed into the back seat of the old car. Will took front seat and laid his head back against the headrest, falling to sleep rather easily. Melody and Michael lay down in the back, arms wrapped around each other, savouring the warmth between them as they drifted off to sleep.
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Michael was awoken by a loud crashing noise just as dawn was breaking. Melody and Will were still asleep, but the banging noise came again with a slight creaking this time. Michael got up and opened the car door, looking out to the gate. With a loud crash and bang, the gate fell before his sight, revealing three silhouettes. He stepped out of the car and moved to the wall, ducking into the shadow, hoping not to be noticed. The three silhouettes moved forward and scattered through the parking lot. He heard one of them yell
"Anything you find, jus' take. Anyone you find just, beat them and take their shit"
Michael realised from the pitch of the voice that these three must only be around eighteen. Great, crazed youths, just what he didn't need now. He slowly ducked in front of the bonnet of the car as one began to move towards it. The boy squinted into the shadows before calling out
"Hey! There's someone's car here!"
His friends turned and ran towards the car; Michael silently thanked himself for closing the door. The three youths moved in and peeked into the windows, catching sight of Will and Melody
"Jus' some old fart and one of the freaks" he said "wakey wakey!" he raised a baseball bat and poised himself to strike the window. Michael leapt from the shadows and quickly delivered a punch to the jaw, sending the boy reeling backwards. He quickly moved to swing at other of the boys, connecting with his gut, but missed the third coming up behind him. He felt a thud run through his body as the boy punched the back of his head, ending in splitting pain. He blindly swung to hit the boy, but missed and ran into the car instead. The jolt awoke both melody and Will, they looked put to see will trying to fight off three kids, but failing. Will quickly opened his door and jumped out. He grabbed one of the kids and tried to pull him away, but an elbow met with his mouth and he fell back. Melody also bounded out of the car, pushing one of the boys away via telekinesis, he skidded across the tarmac. Michael managed to regain his bearings and delivered another punch to the second boy, sending him stumbling back a few steps. The third was nowhere to be seen, but a shriek brought Michael attention to his location. He was holding Melody by the waist, a knife aimed at her throat.
"First, I'm gonna kill her, then I'm gonna kill all of yous'!" He yelled, pulling the knife closer. He pulled the knife back and thrust down. A spray of red mist erupted from his head before it could connect. A large hole in the middle of his forehead and a shocked expression on his face, he fell back and hit the ground, blood pouring from the wound.
Michael turned to see another silhouette holding a smoking rifle near the entrance. Holding a large bore smoking rifle aimed at them. He lowered it and yelled to them
"Come on, come on! Those others will wake up soon!" he said. Michael ran to melody and helped her up; she was trembling slightly as he carried her to the entrance, will following behind. The man who had called them was a tall one, with fiery auburn hair and a strong face. He was dressed in a black shirt and pants, a white colour around his neck. He spoke quickly, as if the situation was about to get worse.
"I take it you're looking for some place to stay, so follow me and keep low, I'll take you to a safe house" he said. He turned and took off without another word, Michael and Will followed close behind. They ran for about five minutes before turning into a small church, the entrance was only a painted wooden door, but it had numerous bars across it, all ending with a great iron padlock. The man produced a key and opened the door, removing the iron bars and bringing them inside with him. Michael and will hurried in as he set the bars up along matching lines on the inside of the door. Michael sat melody on one of the pews and sat beside her, she hugged close to him, still shaken from the fight. Will stayed standing and waited for the man to finish barricading the door. When he had he turned to him and grinned a very large grin, his face stretched as if it had been worn down by years of use.
"Sorry for the scare" he began "A couple of boys hung around town, hoping to score some free things from abandoned homes and such" he spoke with a slight Irish accent
"Who are you?" will asked cautiously, this man was holding up in a church with a gun and shooting off stray people, very suspicious in will opinion.
"Oh how rude of me, Father McCarthy at your service" he said, moving towards the front of the small wooden church, past the old worn out candles and stray prayer books. "Most of my friends call me Tom, though"
"A gun wielding priest?" Michael mused; the man hesitated slightly, as if lost in the words.
"Just defending myself and others. "And ye who kills by the sword shall perish by the sword"" he said fluently, quoting scripture to emphasise his point. Reached under the alter and placed his rifle there. "May I offer you some food? I got plenty of it"
Michael was about to refuse, but his stomach betrayed him, growling intensely. The priest chuckled and ducked into a small office at the end of the hall, returning with some canned fruit and beef jerky.
"Help yourself" he said heartily, sitting on one the pews and taking a bite of some of the jerky himself. Michael opened a tin of fruit and handed it to melody, along with the small plastic spoon that came with the tin. He and will grabbed some too and began to eat, noticing the priest saying a quick prayer before he did so, odd for a man who had just killed someone. They ate in silence, but halfway through Michaels curiosity got the better of him and he spoke up.
"Why did everyone flee from here?" he asked "It's a long way off from that large portal"
"You think that was the only area affected?" the man laughed "We had many a thing happen here, even if it was only for a few minutes. Creatures appeared, everyone got scared"
"Then why are you still here?" Will cut in
"I thought I'd say in the church and help anyone who came along, people need hope in these sorts of times" he said, with a slight weariness in his voice "I couldn't just abandon this old church, I've been here too long"
Michael knew how he felt, having lost his home of over five years, the place grows on you...becomes part of the family. He noticed something odd about the priest though.
"You were handy with that gun, father" he said, a slight incriminating inflection in his voice
"Please call me Tom..." he said, skimping around the question "Shooting is a hobby of mine" he said
"I didn't see a rifle range"
"-birds mainly" he said quickly. "Now can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot" said Michael, aware of his ironic choice of words.
"Why are you travelling with that creature?" he asked curiously "she doesn't act like any of the ones I've seen"
Michael sighed and began to recount the story of what had happened over the past two weeks. HE told him of the portals, how will came in offering help, how he and melody had fallen for each other. The priest was rather taken aback by this but continued to listen. He told them of the giant portal opening and how they were now running and trying to find a new home. As Michael finished, the priest leaned back and slowly thought about it all.
"You really love her?" he asked "even though she isn't human?"
"Yes, with all my heart" Michael said, melody slowly smiled at this "If you don't care for it then please just put up with it"
"My boy, I've seen many an odd couple in my years" he said in a father like tone "This is by far the strangest, but It sounds like you love her as if she was human, and that's good enough for me" a slight look of sorrow crossed his face quickly, but Michael recognised it just as fast
Michael was sure this man was hiding something. But before he could wonder further, a burning smell caught his nostrils. The scent became heavy in the air as the priest rose and walked to one of the windows. He gasped as he a large group of boys standing outside; throwing what looked like wine bottles. A loud crash and a burst of fire leapt through one of the windows
"They're throwing Molotov cocktails!" He said as he ran to the rear of the alter again. He leaned down and grabbed his gun, along with several others. He a pump action shotgun to Michael and an ungodly large pistol in Will. They both caught them clumsily but managed not to set them off. The priest grabbed a few more guns as well as a grenade or two from below the altar and climbed up a ladder on one of the walls, unlocking a roof hatch.
"What kind of priest is he?" Michael wondered, a man of God packing so much firepower.
"Come on!" He called to them, beckoning them to follow. Will went up first, followed by Michael and then melody. As they ducked onto the roof, the priest motioned for them to get down; they did so as he took a place by the steeple, aiming into the group. He fired a warning shot, throwing dirt up in front of the boys. But they reacted by pulling out their own firearms, mostly pistols, and began to fire upwards while hooting and hollering. The priest ducked behind the steeple next to Michael, reloading his large weapon. This was not the man Michael had talked too; his eyes were hard and focused, scanning the battlefield for any opening. He reached back and fired, hitting one of the boys square in the chest. Melody was launching random objects at the group, bricks, logs, paint cans, anything would do. She tried to confuse them, but they just fired randomly up at the roof. Will was trying to aim at one boy, slowly counting to three before pulling the trigger. The blast was large enough to send the pistol back, whacking Will in the face. Michael turned to the priest and yelled over the gunfire
"What the hell is going on?"
"We're being shot at" he replied matter-of-fact
"I know that! But what kind of priest keeps an armada of guns in his church!" Michael yelled, he pointed the gun out from the steeple and fire randomly into the crowd, realising he hit something after a yell of pain was heard.
"To be honest, I wasn't doing the Lords work all my life" he said, pulling the pin from a grenade and throwing it behind him. A yell was heard and the cluster scattered as he aimed from the ones broken off from the group. "I was in a mercenary guild first, a sniper to be precise"
He reloaded, slipping five new bullets into the gun
"I'm not proud of that life" he said, sorrow in his voice "and I hate to have to return to it now"
Michael looked back and saw that only two boys remained. Michael aimed and fired as one lifted another Molotov, dropping it as the pellets impacted on his body. The other youth was running for his life, already three hundred yards away from the church. The priest aimed and stilled his breath, firing the gun as a loud bang erupted. The bullet travelled through the air and hit the boy right in the head, shredding bone and flesh. Michael was amazed that he didn't even have a scope on the gun.
Michael leaned back as he allowed himself to relax, the adrenaline wearing off slowly. But something new caught his attention, the smell of smoke. The priest slapped himself as he realised they were now trapped on top of a burning building, the flame licking at the roof. Melody looked down over the edge; Michael wondered what she was doing before he saw her jump.
"Melody!" He yelled. His heart jumping as he scrambled to the edge, looking down for her. He was surprised when he was lifted off the roof along with Will and Tom. He scanned the scene and law melody concentrating on them, her brows furrowed, as they were slowly brought down to earth. He gasped as he touched the ground and was realised from Melody's psychic grip. He lay there for a few seconds before slowly rising and surveying the area. Melody too looked out among the bodies of the dead, her expression slowly turning to a look of regret. Tears welled up in her eyes as she began to sob slowly, bloody ground staining her white dress. Michael sat down next to her and pulled her close, allowing her to sob into his chest. He too let out a few tears, is this what their new life would be like? Pillaging and killing when needed? Becoming strong and killing the weak to survive? He didn't want that life for them. He looked out over the street now bathed in the blue morning light
"What do we do now?" he croaked
"Keep moving, find a safe area..." Tom said remorsefully "Christ, I'm going to miss that old church"
As they started their way back to the car, various birds circled over the corpses of the battle, a grim reminder of their first real battle for survival, and a reminder that there may be many more to come.
"Why is this happening?" melody asked "why now, why not before?"
"I don't know...you couldn't have caused this alone" he said, pacing over the creaking wooden floorboards "There isn't any force on earth that could naturally do this"
"But it's there! And we were the only ones who knew anything of it!" Michael said "What's going to happen now? Is it going to close and seal the two worlds off again?"
Michael tried to think this over in the short amount of time before will came up with an answer. First one portal had opened, bringing melody with it. Then another on the other side of the world, dropping a Cyndaquill onto a farmers lap, now this huge opening. There wasn't even a pattern to it all, random and chaotic, as Will called it. And what to do now? Stay here and risk getting caught? No doubt the military would be the first thing to respond to this. A "threat" to America, a country in which the military often fired first and asked questions later, would be absolved with guns. They would be trying to exterminate all creatures that come through that gate, maybe capture a few for study, but either way Melody was in danger. Will began to answer his question
"There is nothing in my work that constitutes portals of this size!" he said "dimensions shifting around, occasionally interacting on a quantum scale. To have something like this would requi-" he stopped there, deep thought shown etched onto his brow. He went through many expressions when he was thinking; Shock, horror, fear, despair, realisation. He stumbled slightly and lost his balance, trying to grab hold of the dresser but taking his laptop down with it. The smashing of the screen didn't even faze him and he sat on the ground, looking like a doll drained of its colour.
"c-collapse" he said shakily
"What?" Michael asked
"c-complete and utter collapse" he said "The dimensions are at the point where they are close enough to merge"
"W...what does that mean?" Melody asked cautiously
"It means that....our two worlds will become one" Will said, trying to lift himself off of the floor "Everything will be sucked in to one new dimension...land, oceans, stars....everything"
Michael didn't know what to say, let alone what to do. Only one thing came to his mind at the moment. Run. Something bad would be happening soon, they had to get as far away as possible, make sure no one sees them. Maybe if they were far enough away, they would miss most of the inevitable war that was to break out soon. He walked to the closet and began grabbing random clothes, anything as long as it fitted, was taken.
"What are you doing, Michael? Melody asked as she looked over at him oddly
"We have to leave" Michael said
"Why?" she asked again, this place was an anchor for her, the one hope of getting home. And now they were having to leave?
"The army will be coming soon. Men with guns with cut off any routes of escape and shut down all the roads. We need to move while they don't know what's hit them" Michael said, throwing all the clothes into a suitcase, and then trying to help will up from the ground. Will was still shaken, how Michael managed to keep himself calm was a mystery, maybe it was all the time around these strange phenomena.
"But this is your home! Our home!" she cried "We've been here for as long as I came to this world, and now we're just abandoning it!?"
"If we don't get out of here, they will kill you!" Michael said an angry sadness in his voice "You're a threat to them! The human race can be a hostile one"
"You're not hostile" she said quietly
"Well...I...I guess I'm different" Michael said. Different. That word struck so many emotions in him. He had always been seen as different, treated as different, felt different. Like he was separate from the human race, a race of self destructive idiots, and what was he? A man who wanted nothing more than someone whom he could love, a thing so many others wanted but cared not for who they trampled to get it. And in melody, he thought he had found that. But how can he and her stay together when all this is happening? They were now both dangers to each other. Why? Why couldn't they just be left alone? Left alone to live a quiet and loving life of their own, without this new war coming to smash their dreams. Not just melody's dreams, but Michael's as well.
"Please..."just do as I say, I don't want you to get hurt again....I really don't" he said "I won't stop you from going home if it comes to that...but please...don't hurt yourself for now" his words carried love and heartbreak as melody slowly rose from the bed and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled close to him, Feeling the beat of his heart, something that would never fade for her.
"Okay Michael...Okay" She said slowly "Let's get going, find a new home for us"
Michael smiled, leaning down to gently kiss melody on the forehead. He took the suitcase and threw in a few more random items, before ushering them all down the stairs. He grabbed as much tinned food as he could from his pantry and loaded it into the back of Will's car, trying to get all they would need for survival; he also grabbed his sketchbook and a few pencils. Such a thing would allow him to record their travels, and keep sane. As he and melody gathered the last things and loaded them into the car, they stood in the doorway for a few seconds, saying goodbye to the old home. The place that they had both called a sanctuary was a sanctuary no longer, its old walls seemed to creak in sorrow as they shut the door, and slowly, left the house they loved.
Will sat in the backseat, while melody as Michael took the front. Michael started the car and put it into gear. The old machine grunted as it lurched forward, down the gravel road. They came to the end of the gravel and hit tarmac, turning onto the main road. The roads were deserted at the moment. Everyone was probably trying to stay indoors, sheltering from the storm. They drove, thoughts filled their minds. Where would they go? Who would they meet? Where will they end up? Will wondered what would happen to the world now, melody wondered what she and Michael's relationship would come to now, and Michael wondered how he could keep them all safe. They drove for hours, eventually hitting the open fields, various farmhouses were scattered throughout the area. Michael only stopped once at an abandoned gas station to refill the petrol tank. Thankfully, the pumps were still active and no one was around, theft was the last thing on his mind right now. They also took a few things from the station itself, mostly foods and tinned goods. As the dusk loomed on the horizon, Michael spoke up.
"We need to find a place to sleep" he said, weariness in his voice "We could camp in the woods"
"What woods?" will said, looking out the window at the rolling fields "this is a farming area"
"Good point" Michael said, mentally cursing his stupidity "maybe one of the buildings, everything abandoned.
"But someone could find us" Melody said "They're bound to come back"
Michael sighed; the exhaustion was getting to him. He looked around. They had entered a small town, but everyone had clearly already left. No cars, no people, the place was a ghost town. He spied an underground car park. The barrier was broken but it looked like it led to a good amount of cover. Michael pulled the car off the road, driving down into the underground cavern. He found a place near the wall futurist from the entrance and parked the car. He hopped out and ran to the entrance; he yanked the chain gate down over the entrance, securing the area. He walked back to the car; melody and will were out already, stretching their legs a bit.
"We'll be safe in here...hopefully" he said as he turned the ignition off "for now we should get some rest"
"Good idea" said will "we can keep going in the morning, find some sort of safe house"
"That'll be tough in these conditions" Michael said, he and melody climbed into the back seat of the old car. Will took front seat and laid his head back against the headrest, falling to sleep rather easily. Melody and Michael lay down in the back, arms wrapped around each other, savouring the warmth between them as they drifted off to sleep.
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Michael was awoken by a loud crashing noise just as dawn was breaking. Melody and Will were still asleep, but the banging noise came again with a slight creaking this time. Michael got up and opened the car door, looking out to the gate. With a loud crash and bang, the gate fell before his sight, revealing three silhouettes. He stepped out of the car and moved to the wall, ducking into the shadow, hoping not to be noticed. The three silhouettes moved forward and scattered through the parking lot. He heard one of them yell
"Anything you find, jus' take. Anyone you find just, beat them and take their shit"
Michael realised from the pitch of the voice that these three must only be around eighteen. Great, crazed youths, just what he didn't need now. He slowly ducked in front of the bonnet of the car as one began to move towards it. The boy squinted into the shadows before calling out
"Hey! There's someone's car here!"
His friends turned and ran towards the car; Michael silently thanked himself for closing the door. The three youths moved in and peeked into the windows, catching sight of Will and Melody
"Jus' some old fart and one of the freaks" he said "wakey wakey!" he raised a baseball bat and poised himself to strike the window. Michael leapt from the shadows and quickly delivered a punch to the jaw, sending the boy reeling backwards. He quickly moved to swing at other of the boys, connecting with his gut, but missed the third coming up behind him. He felt a thud run through his body as the boy punched the back of his head, ending in splitting pain. He blindly swung to hit the boy, but missed and ran into the car instead. The jolt awoke both melody and Will, they looked put to see will trying to fight off three kids, but failing. Will quickly opened his door and jumped out. He grabbed one of the kids and tried to pull him away, but an elbow met with his mouth and he fell back. Melody also bounded out of the car, pushing one of the boys away via telekinesis, he skidded across the tarmac. Michael managed to regain his bearings and delivered another punch to the second boy, sending him stumbling back a few steps. The third was nowhere to be seen, but a shriek brought Michael attention to his location. He was holding Melody by the waist, a knife aimed at her throat.
"First, I'm gonna kill her, then I'm gonna kill all of yous'!" He yelled, pulling the knife closer. He pulled the knife back and thrust down. A spray of red mist erupted from his head before it could connect. A large hole in the middle of his forehead and a shocked expression on his face, he fell back and hit the ground, blood pouring from the wound.
Michael turned to see another silhouette holding a smoking rifle near the entrance. Holding a large bore smoking rifle aimed at them. He lowered it and yelled to them
"Come on, come on! Those others will wake up soon!" he said. Michael ran to melody and helped her up; she was trembling slightly as he carried her to the entrance, will following behind. The man who had called them was a tall one, with fiery auburn hair and a strong face. He was dressed in a black shirt and pants, a white colour around his neck. He spoke quickly, as if the situation was about to get worse.
"I take it you're looking for some place to stay, so follow me and keep low, I'll take you to a safe house" he said. He turned and took off without another word, Michael and Will followed close behind. They ran for about five minutes before turning into a small church, the entrance was only a painted wooden door, but it had numerous bars across it, all ending with a great iron padlock. The man produced a key and opened the door, removing the iron bars and bringing them inside with him. Michael and will hurried in as he set the bars up along matching lines on the inside of the door. Michael sat melody on one of the pews and sat beside her, she hugged close to him, still shaken from the fight. Will stayed standing and waited for the man to finish barricading the door. When he had he turned to him and grinned a very large grin, his face stretched as if it had been worn down by years of use.
"Sorry for the scare" he began "A couple of boys hung around town, hoping to score some free things from abandoned homes and such" he spoke with a slight Irish accent
"Who are you?" will asked cautiously, this man was holding up in a church with a gun and shooting off stray people, very suspicious in will opinion.
"Oh how rude of me, Father McCarthy at your service" he said, moving towards the front of the small wooden church, past the old worn out candles and stray prayer books. "Most of my friends call me Tom, though"
"A gun wielding priest?" Michael mused; the man hesitated slightly, as if lost in the words.
"Just defending myself and others. "And ye who kills by the sword shall perish by the sword"" he said fluently, quoting scripture to emphasise his point. Reached under the alter and placed his rifle there. "May I offer you some food? I got plenty of it"
Michael was about to refuse, but his stomach betrayed him, growling intensely. The priest chuckled and ducked into a small office at the end of the hall, returning with some canned fruit and beef jerky.
"Help yourself" he said heartily, sitting on one the pews and taking a bite of some of the jerky himself. Michael opened a tin of fruit and handed it to melody, along with the small plastic spoon that came with the tin. He and will grabbed some too and began to eat, noticing the priest saying a quick prayer before he did so, odd for a man who had just killed someone. They ate in silence, but halfway through Michaels curiosity got the better of him and he spoke up.
"Why did everyone flee from here?" he asked "It's a long way off from that large portal"
"You think that was the only area affected?" the man laughed "We had many a thing happen here, even if it was only for a few minutes. Creatures appeared, everyone got scared"
"Then why are you still here?" Will cut in
"I thought I'd say in the church and help anyone who came along, people need hope in these sorts of times" he said, with a slight weariness in his voice "I couldn't just abandon this old church, I've been here too long"
Michael knew how he felt, having lost his home of over five years, the place grows on you...becomes part of the family. He noticed something odd about the priest though.
"You were handy with that gun, father" he said, a slight incriminating inflection in his voice
"Please call me Tom..." he said, skimping around the question "Shooting is a hobby of mine" he said
"I didn't see a rifle range"
"-birds mainly" he said quickly. "Now can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot" said Michael, aware of his ironic choice of words.
"Why are you travelling with that creature?" he asked curiously "she doesn't act like any of the ones I've seen"
Michael sighed and began to recount the story of what had happened over the past two weeks. HE told him of the portals, how will came in offering help, how he and melody had fallen for each other. The priest was rather taken aback by this but continued to listen. He told them of the giant portal opening and how they were now running and trying to find a new home. As Michael finished, the priest leaned back and slowly thought about it all.
"You really love her?" he asked "even though she isn't human?"
"Yes, with all my heart" Michael said, melody slowly smiled at this "If you don't care for it then please just put up with it"
"My boy, I've seen many an odd couple in my years" he said in a father like tone "This is by far the strangest, but It sounds like you love her as if she was human, and that's good enough for me" a slight look of sorrow crossed his face quickly, but Michael recognised it just as fast
Michael was sure this man was hiding something. But before he could wonder further, a burning smell caught his nostrils. The scent became heavy in the air as the priest rose and walked to one of the windows. He gasped as he a large group of boys standing outside; throwing what looked like wine bottles. A loud crash and a burst of fire leapt through one of the windows
"They're throwing Molotov cocktails!" He said as he ran to the rear of the alter again. He leaned down and grabbed his gun, along with several others. He a pump action shotgun to Michael and an ungodly large pistol in Will. They both caught them clumsily but managed not to set them off. The priest grabbed a few more guns as well as a grenade or two from below the altar and climbed up a ladder on one of the walls, unlocking a roof hatch.
"What kind of priest is he?" Michael wondered, a man of God packing so much firepower.
"Come on!" He called to them, beckoning them to follow. Will went up first, followed by Michael and then melody. As they ducked onto the roof, the priest motioned for them to get down; they did so as he took a place by the steeple, aiming into the group. He fired a warning shot, throwing dirt up in front of the boys. But they reacted by pulling out their own firearms, mostly pistols, and began to fire upwards while hooting and hollering. The priest ducked behind the steeple next to Michael, reloading his large weapon. This was not the man Michael had talked too; his eyes were hard and focused, scanning the battlefield for any opening. He reached back and fired, hitting one of the boys square in the chest. Melody was launching random objects at the group, bricks, logs, paint cans, anything would do. She tried to confuse them, but they just fired randomly up at the roof. Will was trying to aim at one boy, slowly counting to three before pulling the trigger. The blast was large enough to send the pistol back, whacking Will in the face. Michael turned to the priest and yelled over the gunfire
"What the hell is going on?"
"We're being shot at" he replied matter-of-fact
"I know that! But what kind of priest keeps an armada of guns in his church!" Michael yelled, he pointed the gun out from the steeple and fire randomly into the crowd, realising he hit something after a yell of pain was heard.
"To be honest, I wasn't doing the Lords work all my life" he said, pulling the pin from a grenade and throwing it behind him. A yell was heard and the cluster scattered as he aimed from the ones broken off from the group. "I was in a mercenary guild first, a sniper to be precise"
He reloaded, slipping five new bullets into the gun
"I'm not proud of that life" he said, sorrow in his voice "and I hate to have to return to it now"
Michael looked back and saw that only two boys remained. Michael aimed and fired as one lifted another Molotov, dropping it as the pellets impacted on his body. The other youth was running for his life, already three hundred yards away from the church. The priest aimed and stilled his breath, firing the gun as a loud bang erupted. The bullet travelled through the air and hit the boy right in the head, shredding bone and flesh. Michael was amazed that he didn't even have a scope on the gun.
Michael leaned back as he allowed himself to relax, the adrenaline wearing off slowly. But something new caught his attention, the smell of smoke. The priest slapped himself as he realised they were now trapped on top of a burning building, the flame licking at the roof. Melody looked down over the edge; Michael wondered what she was doing before he saw her jump.
"Melody!" He yelled. His heart jumping as he scrambled to the edge, looking down for her. He was surprised when he was lifted off the roof along with Will and Tom. He scanned the scene and law melody concentrating on them, her brows furrowed, as they were slowly brought down to earth. He gasped as he touched the ground and was realised from Melody's psychic grip. He lay there for a few seconds before slowly rising and surveying the area. Melody too looked out among the bodies of the dead, her expression slowly turning to a look of regret. Tears welled up in her eyes as she began to sob slowly, bloody ground staining her white dress. Michael sat down next to her and pulled her close, allowing her to sob into his chest. He too let out a few tears, is this what their new life would be like? Pillaging and killing when needed? Becoming strong and killing the weak to survive? He didn't want that life for them. He looked out over the street now bathed in the blue morning light
"What do we do now?" he croaked
"Keep moving, find a safe area..." Tom said remorsefully "Christ, I'm going to miss that old church"
As they started their way back to the car, various birds circled over the corpses of the battle, a grim reminder of their first real battle for survival, and a reminder that there may be many more to come.