Relic

Journey

We set off at dawn. Just as Samael ordered. I shocked when I realised it would be just the two of us going and even more so when we went through the abandoned city and onto what was once a motorway now turned into a barren landscape with a abandoned cars and road that could barely be seen beneath the dust and dirt. The armored car we set on in was full of cans of fuel prepared for the long journey ahead. Samael drove with purpose his eyes focused on the road avoiding anything that may cause us to tear up the car. I wondered absentmindedly who taught his to drive or if he had just known how to. We drove nonstop in silence until I begged him to stop so I could relieve myself.

As I walked back to where he waited in the middle of the road movement at the corner of my eye caused me to stop. I stood still, muscles tense ready to run or fight and watched. I looked to my left where I saw the movement just beyond a wreckage of cars. There was a beaten up lorry and overturned shipping containers just beyond it. Shelter... enough for rebels to hide out in... to survive. Or merely just a group of thieves waiting for their next victim.

I heard Samael shut the car door and looked quickly to see him slowly approach the place I had been watching. He must have sensed the movement too. We heard some shuffling and mutterings causing me to draw my gun before a barrage of bullets came from the shipping containers hit Samael. He grunted before pulling his own gun and firing back. He moved with inhuman quickness even more so because he was clearly hit and injured. I moved towards the container.

"Get in the car Rhea!" He barked from a behind the cars. A yell of pain sounded directly after and a body was hurled across the road. I froze and trained my gun on the man waiting for him to move but he didn't. Instead he laid ther looking broken. I heart rate shot up. Adrenaline pumping through my veins. "Get in the car now!!" Samael's voice came at me above the sound of gunfire and yells from countless other people. I couldn't see him or the assailants so booked to the car getting into the drivers seat and turning the ignition. I was just about to put it into gear when all gunfire and yelling seased.

I paused and waiting my chest hurting with every breath and second that passed without seeing Samael appear. A minute passed and my worry got too much for me. I got out of the car. Gun in hand, safety off and rounded the shipping container now riddled with bullet holes. The closer I got the louder my heartbeat rang in my ears. The hair on the back of my neck rose in anticipation of what I would find once I got to the opening.

Once I got there I saw a man with a gun at Samael's temple. The man was dressed in dirty fatigues. His back to me. Blood ran freely from his leg and shoulder. How had he managed to get an Archangel in a seemingly vulnerable position was beyond me. Samaels eyes, blazing gold, flitted towards me and the man tweaked my presence as he turned his head to look Samael leapt onto him grabbed his head twisted. The stranger slumped to the ground at Samael's feet. Neck broken. He was clearly dead. My knees felt weak as I turned my eyes to the rest of the scene. Four more bodies lay on the ground, unmoving. Samael took one step towards me before his legs gave out and he faltered. I returned my gun to the holster of my him and went to him. As I neared I saw the damage in all its painful glory. He had been hit.... bad. Blood darkened his already black long sleeved tshirt and trousers. I knelt in front him trying to assess the damage.

He wouldn't die. Bullets couldn't give Archangels this easily. And one ould have barely cause him to pause but Samael had more than a few holes in him. I grabbed his face, urging him to look at me, needing to see he was gonna be ok even though I knew he would be. He groaned and grabbed one of my wrists with his big bloodied hand. His golden ringed eyes caught mine before he squeezed them shut in pain and made to stand. I moved to his side putting one of his arms over my shoulders trying to help him. I felt blood from one his wounds run down my neck as we stood and limped out way back to the car.