The Dawn of Destruction, Chapter 16

                             The Dawn of Destruction

Interitus 1 – Book One

            Chapter Sixteen

 

            The people of San Diego had changed. Though they still flooded the streets and the beach, they were quieter now. They were less distracted by the idle pleasures of the world around them; it was like they had rediscovered a deeper portion of themselves. Seth and Phil both noticed this peculiar change as they watched people walk along a rocky beach, just a short distance from the airport. It served to distract Seth from his nervousness, but this same trepidation had stayed with him since the flight. He knew that his home was gone. He knew that everyone was still looking for him; he knew that his name had become the thing of hushed whispers. Nothing could go back to before. For this reason, Seth pulled the hood of his jacket up so that it covered most of his face. He put on some sunglasses that Phil had bought in the airport, hiding his blue eyes.

            During the flight, Seth had hoped that he could return to the city and find that nothing had changed. He hoped that he had simply overestimated Naomi, that the people of the city would not fall under her control. If that had been the case, he would not need to hide himself. But his hope amounted to nothing; everyone seemed to be under her spell. Naomi would use the power of Creation to slaughter the masses, and even worse, she could use the masses as the instrument to make this happen.

            A seaside breeze swept in over the beach, lightly tugging on Seth’s small afro as he tried to decide the best course of action. A part of him wanted to visit his home or whatever remained of it, but there was no reason to do this; it would simply cost time with no possible reward. Besides, Seth already knew where he needed to go. There was only one justifiable destination—he had to go to Naomi’s cathedral. He had a general idea of how to reach the church due to the time he spent in the astral plane, and it was only about nine miles east-southeast of his current location. A large portion of this distance was across a barren field of ashes, having been cleared by a rampant fire from a couple years prior.

            “Let’s get going, Phil. We don’t have time to waste. Every second we spend is just gonna make things worse. We gotta fight her as soon as possible,” Seth whispered.

            But even as he said this, Seth kept his face down and his voice quiet. He was determined to make sure that no one knew he had returned.

            “So is we gon’ do that before eating? I jus’ kinda slept the whole long-ass flight here, man. We should really pick us up some chicken,” Phil suggested as Seth walked toward the east.

            “You’re right, we need to build our strength. Keep your eyes peeled for a grocery store. Once we get to the ash, there won’t be anything for miles,” Seth said as they crossed onto a city sidewalk.

            “I’ll keep my eyes fixed like a hawk, man. I’m hungry as hell,” Phil griped.

            The first several blocks did not offer any help, since they mostly had small businesses and occasional gentlemen’s clubs. However, Seth and Phil quickly found themselves distracted by the elderly couple walking in front of them. Just by hearing snippets, they quickly realized that the couple was speaking about the one topic that had brought Seth here in the first place.

            “I heard that the prophetess was going to explain why she wants to militarize the congregation. What do you think’s the reason?” the lazy-eyed woman asked her husband.

            “I’m not sure. I think she maybe said she only wanted San Diego residents to do that… but I can’t tell if that’s God speaking or just her paranoia. Not that she’s wrong to fear, you know. A woman in her position could have some extreme traditionalists after her. Speaking of, I heard she was attacked recently. Besides, it seems strange to call her flock a congregation at this point; her flock is just about everyone,” the old man replied.

            “And I don’t mean to sound racist of course, but honestly I’m surprised that God picked an Asian woman to represent Him. Especially one that He so clearly blessed in the past, as well,” his wife responded, adjusting her glasses.

            “That girl is quite a beaut, yes. I wonder why He didn’t pick someone from here,” her husband said.

            “Alright now that some fucked-up shit right there, man. This old-ass redneck dude be sayin’ some ol’ racist shit ‘bout how Asians can’t be from here! You know he means he wanted a white dude,” Phil interrupted, startling the elderly couple.

            “Phil, you don’t even believe in God! Please don’t make a scene…” Seth sighed.

            “But this old-ass man be sayin’ some shit!”

            “Honey, you really should be careful. You upset him!” the old woman said.

            “Bitch, who do you think you is?! You basically sayin’ it’s alright for that ku klux cracka to be all racist just so long as he don’t get caught! He and his punk-ass probably so damn old that he worked in Nazi Germany and shit, man. Runnin’ experiments and shit, touchin’ dudes all everywhere with his creepy-ass wrinkly hands, I know how they do!” Phil shouted.

            Seth knew that his friend was not actually angry, since in the past, Phil rarely took ignorance personally. However, Seth wondered if his goal was to actually make a difference, or if Phil just wanted to mess with people in a way that others might call justified.

            Suddenly, the old woman swung her cane and tripped Phil onto the concrete, startling Seth and a few wide-eyed passersby.

            “Don’t you go callin’ me a bitch or my husband a Nazi!” she shouted at Phil. The woman then turned to Seth and added, “I apologize for my language. Please carry on and have a blessed day.”

            The woman then walked into a store with her flustered husband. Phil rose in embarrassment from the ground.

            “That ain’t hurt,” he said, and almost immediately, he started to veer toward the fast-food restaurants on the next block over.

            Seth asked, “So… am I not supposed to comment on-”

            “Nope.”

            The block of fast-food restaurants was only an intersection away at this point, but already Seth began to feel uneasy. Phil, being Phil, would want to stop in every store and try to eat it all, while Seth would continuously object for health-related reasons. But at the same time, this was also the most direct route to the field of ash. Furthermore, Seth had recently noticed a sign that advertised a grocery store just past the fast food; he simply needed to make it through without losing Phil in a restaurant.

            “Seth! Check this shit out, man, they got two new chicken sandwiches up in here,” Phil said, running across traffic to a McBurger’s on the other side of the road.

            Seth sprinted across the street, further upsetting the motorists who had already stopped to yell at Phil. Seth grabbed Phil at the last second before he would have entered the McBurger’s.

            “No! No fried foods, all that processed fat can make it harder to fight! Remember, whatever we eat is gonna be our only fuel. It’s gotta last us for a really long walk and then a fight with Naomi and who-knows-how-many of her cronies. We won’t stand a chance if you have a stomach of grease!” Seth reprimanded him.

            “You right, you right. How ‘bout we go next door to Petey’s Pizzeria and get a huge-ass pepperoni pie? It’s on me,” Phil offered, and then he jogged to the next shop.

            Seth calmly walked by the pizza shop and grabbed Phil by the sleeve. He pulled Phil away from the shop, although Seth could smell the delectable aroma of pizza as he walked by.

            “What’s a pizza gon’ do? It’s tomatoes, man, they’re vegetables!” Phil argued.

            “Tomato is a fruit, Phil. Besides, it’s bloating,” Seth retorted, continuing to drag Phil through the row of businesses.

            “What about Mr. Shake’s All-You-Can-Eat Milkshakes and Grill?” Phil lobbied.

            Seth did not even answer this. Instead, he just kept on trudging forward since they were almost at the next intersection. Seth finally saw the grocery store and noticed that it was in a run-down building, but at least it could be healthy.

            “Man, Seth, anyone could be in a grocery store. Someone might recognize yo dumb-ass! Give me the money and I’ll get our food,” Phil reasoned.

            “Alright, here’s a twenty. Get a box of rotisserie chicken and maybe some milk, nothing else. Maybe some fruit, and that’s it.”

            Phil nodded and walked into the grocery store. With his hair hidden by his hood and his face hidden by sunglasses, Seth watched the slow traffic of the city roll by. As he watched people in their cars and on the streets, he sensed that the once-strong apathy was starting to fade. Many citizens were religiously awakened; they had emerged from their personal bubbles and taken time to notice the people around them—other people with hopes and dreams. They believed themselves to be a part of something greater. In a way, this connectedness had made them better people, but Seth hated knowing that their connection was an illusion imposed by a degenerate liar.

            As Seth watched a smiling woman hand out religious pamphlets, he mentally remarked at the joy she shared with those around her. However, Seth himself had never been a very spiritual person. In fact, he had often seen people using religion as a way to justify discrimination. But as he watched people strike up friendly conversation on the street, Seth wondered if Naomi’s regime was actually having a positive effect. And in a way, this meant that Naomi was no different from many other spiritual leaders; she merely capitalized on their vulnerability to get what she wanted.

            “Seth, I got all you need right here!” Phil announced, grinning widely as he approached from the other end of the sidewalk instead of the store that he had entered.

            In his right hand, Phil held a bag with the logo for McBurger’s on the side. An intense aroma of enticing food emanated from the bag—the unmistakable scent of several chicken sandwiches. His other arm carried two oversized milkshakes and a small box of delicious-smelling pizza. The scents clotted together in the air, covering Seth’s mouth with a layer of saliva. The hunger possessed him, even though Phil had clearly defied his wishes.

            “Are ya mad?” Phil asked, reaching into the bag.

            “Phil… how’d you get all that for twenty dollars? That’s amazing!”

            “And here I thought you and yo uptight self was gon’ be mad at me! I know a good-ass deal when I see one! Hey, how far are we from that field?” Phil asked, carelessly stepping in front of traffic.

            “It’s like three more blocks ‘til we’re there. And then, let’s feast!”

            Even though they still had a while to go before they would reach the ash, it did not take long for Seth and Phil to see the vast wasteland in the distance. Whenever the wind swept in from the east, it carried ash and sooty soil from the wasteland to the city. And when they finally came close enough to clearly see the cinder meadow, the blackness on the eastern horizon looked more foreboding than they expected. In a way, it felt like they would be walking for hours through a cemetery. After all, many homes and businesses once stood on this same ground, but now it was now nothing more than a pile of ash. Everything that once tood was now indistinguishable from the blackness of the earth. As Seth took his first step on the stained soil, a shiver slivered down his spine.

            Phil looked around suspiciously, unsure what to make of this place. Shrugging, he reached into the McBurger’s bag and began devouring the first chicken sandwich. Phil revealed the true extent of his appetite as he tore into his food, causing Seth to take a step aside.

            “Mmm, Seth, you gotta try this shit, man. It’ll get yo mind off them torched spirits you think be watchin’ you,” Phil said with his mouth full.

            Phil held the other chicken sandwich up to Seth’s nose. Seth shook his head because of his uneasiness, but his famished stomach would not let him dismiss a meal. Before long, Seth accepted the sandwich and sank his teeth into it. Since he had denied it for so long, his first bite splashed saliva onto the delicious meal. Even though he knew the chicken sandwich was loaded with grease and cholesterol, he scarfed it down in just minutes. He then moved onto the pizza, and when he finished it, Seth had eaten almost half of the food in just twenty minutes.

            After walking for many more minutes, the sun started to sink beneath the western horizon. The sunlight hit the skyline and cast long shadows across the blackened ground. These shadows fueled Seth’s discomfort, but Phil was entirely unconcerned. Instead, he simply tossed his trash onto the ash and continued walking without a second thought.

            “Phil, I don’t think the people who died here would appreciate that,” Seth said.

            “They dead, what they gon’ do to me?”

            On the other side of the sky from the setting sun, Phil and Seth peered through the darkness and saw a light on the eastern horizon. As they walked, Seth glanced back at the trash that rested on the ground, drifting in the wind behind them.

            “I hate to say it, but I think Naomi’s done a lot of good for a lot of people. They just seem so… happy. I just wish it wasn’t all a lie,” Seth commented.

            As his joyful face suddenly turned solemn, Phil shook his head and said, “We can’t waste no time thinkin’ like that. Gotta keep our eyes on the prize. You got any ideas?”

            “Yeah. When we approach Naomi’s cathedral, we’ll wanna figure out a way to get to her. I can’t say for sure, since I basically got all my info from a dream, but Zheng made it sound pretty real. She lives deep underground in this giant chamber. Problem is, I don’t think I can Destroy enough of the ground to get us down there. Hell, we’d probably miss! We may have to fight our way through to the elevator.”

            “Alright, that’s cool. Seth, tell me honest now. Are we gon’ die? It’s okay if we do, long as we drag her sorry-ass down to hell with us. I jus’ wanna be clear about it,” Phil said.

            With a quiet sigh, Seth nodded and answered, “I hate to say it, but we have to think of this as our final battle. That way, we’ll do everything it takes to defeat Naomi. I’m sorry.”

            At last, the sun disappeared beneath the western horizon. Aside from the afterglow, the only light left was the pallid glow in the east. As Seth and Phil walked toward the light, they began to hear whispers in the darkness. At first, it was an ambiguous sound emanating from the night; they could not tell if the whispers were real or just a creation of their own trepid imaginations. They could not tell if it was the sound of the breeze sifting through the ashy topsoil. They feared the possibility that it was someone hidden in the darkness.

            “We’re close. That’s the church,” Seth whispered to Phil, temporarily drowning out the terrifying murmurs all around them.

            Seth and Phil sped up as they crossed the charred field, but as they walked, a cold breeze swept over them. The air grew colder for many more steps. At last, the cold felt so strong on Seth’s face that he realized with a shock that he had run into a person.

            “Stop. Who are you?” said a man standing in front of Seth. The man firmly held Seth’s face in his cold right hand.

            “Andy Jones,” Seth said quickly, dispensing the first name that came to his mind.

            “That’s strange. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before,” the voice retorted.

            A blinding white light suddenly emanated from the radiant church, like a flash of lightning that did not disappear. Seth pulled back and covered his face to protect his eyes, but between his fingers, he saw at least a dozen gunmen surrounding them. Their rifles pointed toward him. Seth and Phil then dropped to the ground, and Seth Destroyed a large portion of the field beneath his feet; a crater opened and swallowed them both. Bullets fired through the ash and dust which flew from this crater, and one struck Phil in the left arm. Seth landed in the crater and tried to get hie bearings, but Phil was distracted by the intense pain. He rocked his body back and forth to dispel the urge to scream.

            The dust quickly settled inside the crater, and Seth strained his eyes to see through the fading cloud. However, he could not say anything to Phil since this would give away their location. Although he expected to see the gunmen creeping closer to the crater’s edge, he looked up and saw a muscular silhouette leap onto a gunman’s back. By swiftly rearranging his body, the silhouette jumped off one enemy and executed a flying kick on another. He pushed off of this one and threw his body into the air while several gunmen fired shots. Because they were untrained and stood in a large circle, the gunshots became friendly fire. In an area where once four men had stood with their rifles, only one remained. A moment later, the acrobatic attacker knocked this one to the ground as well. With a quick glimpse through the dust and ash, Seth saw the powerful light illuminate Zheng’s face.

            Zheng caught sight of Seth and Phil, though he made sure to not give away their location. When he landed from his jump, Zheng quickly dropped to the earth and hoisted one of his fallen enemies to use as a shield. The man was alive and unconscious, but his body armor did not need him awake. Zheng lifted him and charged toward the nearest gunman; he used his human shield like a battering ram and slammed the enemy into the dirt. But after two more bouts of this, Zheng ceased his onslaught and threw his human shield onto the ground.

            Just after he slammed into the ground, the human shield erupted into blistering flames. At this same moment, Zheng swerved around and saw two other soldiers burst into fire. All of the other gunmen were horrified; they shouted to each other and ran away in all directions. Billowing smoke and the stench of burning flesh flooded the air. Zheng was the only person still standing above ground, causing him to fear that the fiery assault might target him next.

            “What was that?!” Zheng shouted through the smoky dust.

            “Zheng, don’t stand still! If this is who we think it is, he can ignite air in like four seconds, so move!” Seth yelled as he crawled toward the crater’s edge.

            As he approached from the west, Felix announced, “Relax, Destruction. Your two friends have done nothing to deserve divine retribution. I will not kill them unless they try to protect you.”

            Seth suddenly realized the tactical disadvantage of the crater he was stuck in. Because its walls were steep and slippery, he had no way to escape before the air at the crater’s opening burst into blue fire. Embers randomly dropped from the fire and into the dusty space, practically raining fire on Seth and Phil.

            “As long as we dodge the raining embers, we should be alright,” Seth said to Phil.

            “Seth, you a real dumb-ass sometimes, I swear. Tell me, what does fire burn? It consumes all the oxygen, man. This some basic chemistry! Lavoisier be rollin’ over in his grave right now.”

            Seth groaned as he realized that Felix meant to suffocate them beneath a curtain of flames. Therefore, he sprinted up the crater wall and threw his left hand as high up as possible while jumping. His hand struck the fire, and then Seth used his Destruction of energy to wipe out the flames. While Seth then fell back into the crater, this gave Phil the perfect opportunity to aim his knife. Felix, on the other hand, retreated across the field while flailing so that Phil would miss.

            But because Felix was preoccupied with evading Phil’s knife, he did not notice Zheng creeping up on him from behind. Just a second away from striking Felix, Zheng stomped his right foot onto the earth; Felix jumped and spun to face his attacker. The recoil of this stomp pushed Zheng into a slight jump as well, and so he executed a powerful flying kick against Felix’s chest. Felix slammed onto the ground on his back.

When Zheng landed, he took off running toward his enemy. A split second later, Zheng smacked his hands against the sides of Felix’s head. This disoriented Felix, so in a desperate counterattack, he flailed his arms so he could catch his attacker’s hand. However, Zheng dodged by jolting backward and then jumping upward; his ankles barely dodged Felix’s fingertips. When Zheng landed on the ashy ground, he sprang forward and slammed his foot into Felix. But before the impact could send him flying backward, Felix pulled his hands in and grabbed Zheng’s foot.

            With his hands fastened around Zheng’s right ankle, Felix activated his power and tried to boil Zheng’s body. But after a few seconds of stillness, Zheng stared proudly at his ankle, and then he pulled Felix in and kicked him again. The impact was so great that Felix almost flew into the crater.

            “Why didn’t you burn?!” Felix demanded.

            “When I was in astral plane for eight year, I reach tertiary state of consciousness—I find place hidden away in corner of this universe. Everything there feel like perversion of our world. This dark place is made of great evil, but it gave me a most profound understanding. I have prepare to fight this evil, so I am not to die from your power. This is side effect of control I have over body,” Zheng explained.

            And though Felix did not understand what Zheng meant, he slashed his right foot out and swept Zheng off his feet. When Zheng started to fall, Felix grabbed him and used all his strength to throw Zheng toward the crater. Zheng landed just outside the edge, but Felix then ran up and pushed him. Zheng landed in the crater beside Phil and Seth.

            “The three of you have proven to be skilled fighters, which means it would be a waste to kill you. To defeat evil, we must confront evil. That is why I am bringing all of us to the domain of Creation—to the demon who dwells beneath our feet like the devil,” Felix proclaimed.

With that, Felix closed his eyes and concentrated on the earth beneath the crater. Seth, Phil, and Zheng exchanged unsettled glances; they had no idea what was happening, but they also had no way to stop it. The ground beneath them quickly became noticeably warmer, but the heat did not scorch or melt their shoes. Zheng grabbed his friends’ arms as Felix unleashed his power on a tremendous tract of earth. Suddenly, a square of ground beneath them began falling straight down. Seth, Phil, and Zheng all dropped to the ground and dug their hands into the dirt so that they would not fly off the falling platform. At the edges of the falling square, they saw the glow of lava.

            “Damn, Felix musta turned a deep-ass column of ground into lava!”

            The molten ground carried the platform as it descended, almost like they were rafting on an underground waterfall of lava. They plunged toward Naomi’s underground chamber on this geothermal elevator. As they fell on the trembling platform, just meters above a deadly cascade of magma, Seth and Phil shook in fear. Seth thought about Destroying their kinetic energy, but if he did, he ran the risk of simply falling into the lava.

At last, the platform emerged through the roof of a chamber. For a brief moment, Seth saw a labyrinth that was filled with lava. He then activated his energy Destruction, forcing the falling platform to come to a stop. He held it there in mid-air as they watched the lava pour into the underground chamber, filling the giant maze.

            Just a short distance away, Naomi ran away from the sudden influx of molten earth; the lava chased her through the maze like a tsunami. She Created a ladder to the top of the walls, and she climbed it as soon as it materialized. Meanwhile, Seth pulled his back and let the platform fall. The three friends saw that there was lava all around them, so they waited for the perfect moment to jump.

Seth and his friends landed on top of a rock wall, already sweaty from the nearby heat of searing lava. They watched bubbling magma pour through the labyrinth, and eventually it stabilized just a few feet below the top of the maze walls.

            To make matters worse, Felix drifted through the dripping incision in the roof, carrying a plastic parachute-like object. He used the large parachute like a hot-air balloon and gently landed on a wall, far away from Seth and Phil and Zheng.

            Naomi stared from a distance at the arrival of her assailants. She placed her hand over her mouth as the morbid urges in her head strived to taste blood once again.