Just a Little Death

Chapter Thirteen

Spring Break

We piled into Pete's car. I took the front seat and no one argued. I typed the city into the GPS and secured it to the dashboard.

"As soon as we get back I'm going to the archangels to talk to them about helping us." Ruthie leaned between the front seats. "Road trip! Who's excited?"

Everyone glared at her and she sat back with a huff. "I'm just trying to make good of a bad situation."

"We're going to a city that is literally sitting on top of fire. There's not a whole lot of good in this situation." Kaleb closed the door. "So let's just go play with the demons and get this over with."

I leaned my head back and watched as we drove through the city. Every person wore a medical mask and some went as far as to wear protective eye wear. Guns were seen on several hips in an open carry and I could only imagine what it would be like if someone drew their gun. I glanced back at Aeron squeezed against the driver side back door. I wondered how all the unbalance affected him and the others. Aeron seemed a little more on edge where the others seemed calm and collected.

Kaleb had been worried. His constant need to check on things and make sure they were as bad as the media portrayed them had gotten worse since I was gone. Now, Pete. Pete seemed right at home amongst all the plague.

I could barely tell a demon from a human still. I leaned my head against the window as the houses gave way to dead orchards and farmlands. I closed my eyes and tried to pull up the number of deaths and nothing came. "Death truly has gone." I whispered. "The death toll is zero right now."

"We'll get him back. We'll get all of them back. We just have to locate or at least know which gateway the seals are near." Pete pulled the car past another one on the highway.

"We already know that Death is near the gateway here." Ruthie stated. "They wouldn't have dragged her all the way through hell without her noticing."

"I was unconscious." I grumbled. "But I don't think I was. The place they had to have taken me to Lucile must have been close too."

"We'll figure that one out when we get back. Let's take advantage of spring break and deal with the City on Fire, Centralia."

We passed the rest of the drive to the first border with simple chatting about parties Aeron had held while I was gone, or what geeky thing Kaleb had discovered or built. I smiled at the stories and found I had missed them even though I wasn't aware how long I'd been gone.

Pete slowed the car as we came to a border patrol. Concrete roadblocks lined the road, and the only break to move through was guarded by two men with large guns slung on their backs. Their fatigues told me that they were from a branch of military. Their faces were blocked by large respirators with built in visors.

The car stopped and the men flanked the car, each of them opening the doors.

"Please step out of the car so we can examine you for signs of the plague." The voice of one sounded almost mechanical through the mask.

We all slowly got out and held our hands up to show we had no intention of attacking.

"Lift up your sleeves, please."

I pulled up my sleeves with shaky hands. I had nothing to hide, but I didn't like being ordered around.

"Shirt please, just up enough to see your stomach."

My hands hesitated. "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable with that." My breath sped up at the idea of someone seeing the wounds crossing my body.

"We can't let you pass until we know you are showing no signs of the plague."