The Omega Existence

Chapter 24

It had been a week since their dramatic escape from the winged demon. Ben sat in a large chair at the far end of the old, living room, right beside the old writing desk covered in his old texts and manuscripts. This old room had been a haven for him once before when he had written the book that foretold the destruction of the world.

Ben sighed inwardly as he repeated the thought in his mind… demon. It seemed like he hadn’t genuinely accepted the reality of what was happening until he had stared into that creatures eyes as he stood before it and Abigail in a last ditch effort to bide her more time. His memory flashed back to the thoughts screaming in his head, his desperate desire to join his wife and daughter and leave this God forsaken land. He was so prepared for death. Until he looked into the demons eyes and realised that he might die, but his soul would not be released, the creature would hold onto his soul like a buried treasure to tear and shatter until there was nothing of him left.

“Are you okay Ben?” Andrew asked, jolting Ben from his dreaming as he felt the man lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ben’s rueful smile was understood, yet Andrew seemed satisfied that he had at least made the attempt.

“What are we doing Andrew? We don’t know a thing, we’re useless, and somehow we magnanimously decide that we have to find this child. For all we know, he’s already been delivered to heaven in the protective embrace of angels.” Andrew stared at him, judging the depth of his despair he guessed. He would often do it before saying something horribly indifferent. It was a trait Ben had taught him through his own actions.

“We can’t give up.” He replied casually, as if that simply solved everything.

“Sounds like something Sandra would say. She always was a stubborn woman.” Ben replied, his heart aching for his wife. Andrew smiled as he looked outside the window, out into the once green luscious garden, now looking purple against the strange red mist that now blanketed the atmosphere.

“I recall she wasn’t the only stubborn woman you had to deal with.” Andrew’s reply made Ben smile as he pictured Cassey, her arms crossed as she stared up at him and demanded Daddy go to work, now.

“Remember her first words Andrew? I still can’t believe it after all these years.” Ben reminisced. Realising this was the perfect time to try and test his theory about Andrew, or rather the creature that looked like Andrew.

He chuckled before beaming as proud as it were his own child before repeating in a high pitched imitation of Cassey “Unki Ando, Unki Ando!” Moving his hips in mock imitation of how she used to scold them both before his laughter faded away.

“If Sandra ever found out that, she’d have throttled me,” he continued.

“You’re lucky I spent the whole weekend trying to teach her how to say mommy before Sandra got back from Dallas.” Ben added as he sighed in relief, no one knew that story. It was possible that the demon knew everything about them, but he just couldn’t believe that anyone who wasn’t Andrew, could act so much like Andrew.

“Ben,” Andrew said, suddenly intensely serious.

“I’ve never known a wiser man than you. You may not want to accept it, but you are here because God has a plan for you. You need to stop fighting him and open your heart to him. I know you miss your family, but you will never see them again if we can’t do what God needs us to do.” Ben glanced outside to see the blood filled world outside. It was just the beginning. Written or not, there would be catastrophes to come that would shake the very foundations of the world. Lives would be lost, souls would be tortured, demons flayed, and angels would weep.

He looked back to meet Andrew’s intense gaze which remained on him. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to sigh and criticise and shift the blame, but deep down within his heart, something clicked. Andrew was right. From the moment he had his family taken from him, he had not been able to sleep. He had desperately longed to hold his wife Sandra or hear the sweet sound of his daughter’s voice. When the reality that they had been taken from him seeped into his mind, he had turned his back from God in outrage. 

“Okay Andrew, you’re right. It is time that I turn back to God, asking for his forgiveness. Perhaps then he will show us the way.” Andrew nodded as they both heard in the distance the sound of someone being sick in the toilet.

“Does she know?” Andrew asked; finally he must have understood.

“Probably, no one has spoken about it to her. She must decide what she wants to do with it.”

“You wouldn’t make her keep it?” Andrew enquired

“To bring the child into a world, that’s about to be destroyed? No, I don’t have the resolve to advise her in this.” Ben replied with a sigh.

They both fell silent as Kyung padded into the room, her small frame making little noise as she rushed to the fireplace and sat in the chair just before it, her new favourite place.

“What have you learnt from the network?” Ben questioned.

“Just the basics, most servers around the world are down. There are pockets of connections still littered here and there. From what I can tell, Italy is gone, apparently Elen Dragalov did not appreciate countries in her jurisdiction being nuked, she retaliated with her own barrage that’s destroyed most of the western world, of course, not before they released their own barrage of nukes.” Ben’s heart sank as if the last shred of hope he had clung to had been severed.

“Oh, it gets better, apparently Dennis Mcnaught had a bright idea to attack the eastern continents so Zhing Xu couldn’t gain enough power to take control after the aftermath, and well, the Indian trading company sought to take advantage which won them their own set of nukes from Zhing in retaliation.” Ben couldn’t fathom how they had even survived such cataclysmic events. He hadn’t heard anything, felt anything, no massive quakes or resounding alarms. The reality just wouldn’t sink in. Perhaps his mind simply couldn’t comprehend the destructive forces that had played out, the scale of humanity’s destruction on a scale never imagined possible.

He looked outside once more and noticed the rolling thick clouds in the blood red sky and a sudden thought struck him.

“Those clouds… aren’t clouds are they?” Andrew looked out before slowly shaking his head.

“They are the beginning of a nuclear winter that will blanket this earth, perhaps as quickly as a couple of months, I don’t know.” Andrew confirmed Ben’s worst fears.

“What’s in a couple of months?” They turned to see Sarah staring at them, arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Winter,” Andrew replied. “Hope you like the cold.” He continued, offering a wink before he moved off to chat to Kyung. Ben eyed Sarah as she continued to stare at him. The glare became uncomfortable, and he shifted under her gaze, wondering what it was about her that made him so hesitant.

“I’m pregnant.” She blurted, nearly giving Ben a heart attack as he quickly began studying the window outside in an attempt to hide his shock. When he looked back at her, he could see Andrew picking up Kyung and carrying her out of the room, giving him a long apologetic look as he made his escape.

“What will you do?” He replied, unable to think of a better reply.

“What do you mean?” She replied, and Ben cringed inwardly as he realised he had once again put his foot in his mouth, some wise man I am he thought.

“Will you keep your child? Or would you like to… get rid of it.” He asked.

“What would you do?” She threw the question back at him as she walked up closer, uncomfortably close. Ben thought about the question, he remembered the joy he felt when Cassey was first born. The love he had from her from the moment he knew they were going to have a child. Then the image of her being taken from him flashed into his mind. The pain he lived with every day. Was it worth it?

“I’d keep the child.” Ben replied, smiling as he stumbled onto another epiphany. Two in one day he thought, today he was truly being blessed by the Lord.

“Thank you Father.” Sarah replied.

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to call a priest?” She asked, looking puzzled. Ben smiled as he heard the words of the Lord God spoken through this tortured soul’s lips.

“Yes it is child, Father it is.”