• I looked at the pathway to my once house, now a living Hell. Bloody shoe prints indicated a running fashion. They were followed by blood streaks; bloody, dragging feet. The left shoe print turned a little to the left, had turned to face the pursuant. The right shoe print slid, had slipped face first into the grass. The dragging feet continued, hastened perhaps. The grass showed the outline of a Louisville Slugger. The panicked body saw, picked it up, and at the last possible moment, swung. Blood nailed the pathway, a spat here, a spat there. The dragging feet slid back a foot, but nonetheless, retook its course. The bat was swung again as the impression in the ground deepened. More blood, but the dragging feet continued. Grass was ripped from the roots as the heels dug in to the ground, asserting a more stable position. Bam, bam, bam! The bat made numerous contacts, but those feet kept dragging on as the heels hesitantly backed away, new and old blood still on them. There were dark circles, numerous ones, but all tiny. The feet lurched and… crack! The top half of the bat flew into the western part of the lawn. The feet fell onto the grass. God’s tears fell unto my head and streamed down my blood-soaked face. I panted and I felt my pulsing veins. Time jumped out of its stall and continued on, unaffected. I let the broken bat fall from my once tense grip. I sunk to my knees as I just stared at the body whose life I had just taken… no, that wasn’t life; that was a mockery of nature. My son lay broken before me… no, that wasn’t my little boy, my little Rodrigo, who I had given life to. That was a monster who had decided to wear my son’s face. Blood caked its blank, slacked face. Crimson flowed unto emerald. I sobbed nonetheless. I had pleaded with him to stop, but still he came. I had no choice, the bat was just… I composed myself and opened the front door. Welcome home, Mom.

    The night before the world came to an end, I stayed up late…

    I stepped into the doorway to Tartarus. The bitter copper assaulted my nose. Oh god, oh god… My breath left my body. The buzzing of hundreds of flies was everywhere. I leave state side for one week and everything goes to hell. Liquid life was sprayed all over the walls. It was on the couch. In the distance, amidst the silence I could hear faint barking. Oh, sweet Jesus, what the hell happened? I had just realized how badly I had been shaking. I snapped out of it. I softly called for Danny. I treaded slowly, listening for any dragging feet… I threw up. Danny lay on the kitchen table surrounded by flies…there were teeth marks all over his body. What-what kind of monster had done thi-…? Rod. It had been Rod. He had not only murdered his father but he was a cannibal now too? Poor, poor Danny, my love. To have his life taken in such a fash- Wait. Where was Lisa? For that matter, where was Lucy? My eyes wandered up to the top of the stairs. My breath was once again stolen. No, no, no! I screamed inside, at least I thought so. Looking back on it, I’m pretty sure I had been screaming out loud. I ran upstairs, as well as one could in heels. Jennifer Wilson climbed up the stairs, screaming at the top of her voice for her already damned children. She ascended into that dark abyss that was the second floor. Then, moments later, the shrill came. The shrill of a woman who has just stumbled across the bloody remains of her legacy. I could hear her stumbling in the dark, screaming and crying simultaneously. Then her right heel broke.I stumbled and fell backwards. The heel of my shoe snapped and I tumbled down the stairs. Blood seeped from my forehead. I sobbed into my hands. It had nothing to do with that fall; no, those tears were for my little angels. My dead angels. Everyone I loved, dead, either eaten alive or with their heads bashed in. What had happened? The Reds’ missiles should have obliterated everyone here, not cause insanity. Not cause my eldest child to murder his siblings and fath-… What the hell was that?!? I ceased my crying and listened. The door was closed, but I could hear something. I crawled to the door, slowly. The smacking of lips. What is that god awful noise? I was able to raise myself up to the peephole, and the resulting image caused me to hold my mouth to stifle a scream. There were four or five people on hands and knees, devouring what was left of Rodrigo. One of the monsters tore something akin to muscle from my son’s corpse. That’s when I screamed. I was able to cut it short; however, they heard. With Rod’s flesh in its mouth, the creature looked up at me. I saw its white eyes. The others stopped their gory feast and turned to look at the door. They all arose and began dragging themselves toward me. I shrieked and ducked, praying they wouldn’t see me. They began to pound at the door. Hah! They couldn’t break it; I was sa- The window. Crap! I saw their silhouettes as the same idea dawned unto them. I ran, although my heels were such hindrances. I saw a pair of Lucy’s track shoes. I kicked off my heels and grabbed those and ran as the window in the den broke. The things just fell in. They just moaned as they got up. I couldn’t watch anymore; I ran. I bulldozed through the sliding door. Not the smartest thing to do, but it occasionally jammed and I didn’t want to risk them catching me as I was trying to open the door. The broken glass cut my limbs, and tore my skin in several places, but the adrenaline kept me going. Tears streamed down my face as I ran from my haven.

    I remember the Heavens opening and the screaming of Angels, and all I could think of was, “s**t. Today was a bad day to wash the car.”…

    I must’ve been wandering in the streets for a couple of hours, but it felt like years. With Lucy’s shoes, I was able to protect my feet from all the broken glass in the street. But suppose a blade may have cut through the sole and into my foot? I know it wouldn’t have hurt whatsoever. I’d bleed sure; after all I was still human. But just because I would bleed didn’t mean that I would feel it. I looked up into the sky. It was scarlet. The bombs had destroyed the air over the western sea board. I listened. There was not a sound. I fell to my knees and cried my heart out. What poetic justice. The biggest polluter on the planet was crying in the middle of the street because of the red sky and she couldn’t hear a damn bird. I wiped my tears and continued on. There were no sign of those things. There must’ve not been a lot. What do I do now? Survive. That was easy enough right? But what the hell did I have to live for? My family was gone. I highly doubted that my 9-5 would call me for running late. I laughed hollowly at the thought of those things being phone operators. A person would answer the phone and only hear a long moan. I recomposed myself. Yeah, sure I could survive. I’d seen George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead.” What I would need would be some protection. Danny had a 9mm in a safe. But those things were in the house. Yes, things. I couldn’t bring myself to call them that word. I don’t know what it was, but it may have been my mind not wanting to accept this ******** up reality. And besides, I didn’t know the combo to the safe. The baseball bat had taken far too long to kill Ro-… I still couldn’t believe I had done such a terrible thing. I was forced to blink back tears. No, there would be time to grieve later; right now, I needed a haven, a safe zone. The vault in the bank. Of course. I could open it from the inside and lock it, and I’m sure the security guards wouldn’t try to stop me.


    I went to bed in Hawaii, in Paradise, and woke up in Hell…

    Oh god, they were everywhere! As I made my way downtown, I noticed that there were thousands of them just wandering around, aimlessly. The stench of their decaying flesh only made the situation worse. I was able to sneak around them by circumnavigating the city. There it was; Mutual Funds R Us. The stupidest name ever for a bank, but right now I could care less. I saw salvation in it. I was going to make it, I wou- There were survivors… A couple of big men. Oh thank god! They could protect me. I ran over to them, yelling to get their attention. The biggest one turned and the moment he saw me, he grinned the ugliest smile I had ever seen. He motioned to the other two and they both turned and gave me that same hideous smile. They rose.
    “Well, well. Look what we got ourselves here boys,” the leader cackled. I ran up to them, ecstatic to find some people who were sane. I panted and bent over to put my hands on my knees.
    “Oh, thank you so much! Thank you so mu-” I was cut off by the leader putting his hand under my chin and painfully pulling my face up. He looked me over. My cheeks flushed, causing the other two to laugh. What was going on?
    “Looks like we got ourselves a toy, men.” The leader laughed as his hand went for my blouse. He ripped it open. Deeply disturbed and embarrassed, my arms immediately covered my bra. The others laugh and the leader tried removing my arms. I fell backwards, inciting the thugs to try, right then and there. I screamed, but no one would hear me. I crawled back and found a piece of glass. The leader had an animalistic ferocity in his eyes; he would do anything. He came at me again, but this time I slashed the ******** eye. He howled a wounded animal’s cry.
    “You b***h!” He bellowed. The other two leapt at me, but as I raised my makeshift knife in defense, ready to kill, we all heard and turned our heads to the rhythmic thumping of a helicopter. Forgetting me for a second, the thugs, even the stupid bleeding one, shouted at the helicopter. Their human side emerged as they wanted rescue from this wasteland. The copter hovered in place. And then there was blood everywhere. The right side thug’s head had exploded. Blood soaked his friends. They ran in different directions. Shots were fired at the copter, causing the sniper to miss me by inches. I scrambled up and ran, still holding the glass with an open blouse. More shots were fired, but all I saw was the bank. I dove in.

    As a kid, I knew the world would end, but I pity the poor b*****d who foresaw this nightmare…

    I hid behind a teller’s desk. The thumping I heard was either the copter or my heart, or both. This place was empty. I eventually got up, and saw the corpses. However, I didn’t feel sick this time. I had grown used to it over the course of a few hours. After searching each body, I found all the keys to the vault. If I was to make it mine and mine alone, I needed to make sure no one else could open it. I walked down the hall, and realized the electricity was out. But until I got to the basement level and turned on the backup generator, it was going to be darker than night. I looked for a rent-a-cop’s body. I found my perfect specimen. He was hunched over a table. But wait- he was littered with bullets. There were no tear or bite marks; this man had been murdered in cold blood. This, of all things, sent shivers down my spine. But after seeing those bastards outside, I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. I got his Mag Lite and I saw his pistol. Unholstering it, I turned the light on and walked down the hall.

    Even Bush ain’t stupid enough to go into Abaddon...

    I heard one thing and only one thing in that hall: Absolutely nothing. I had found it; my sanctuary. I kept the light on at all times. I continued my voyage in the darkness when I heard a loud growling. I whipped around flashing my flashlight down the hall. I could only hear my breathing, but wait! What was that? Some sort of footsteps. I spun again, and once more, I heard that damn rumbling. Then, stupidly, I realized that the noise was none other than my stomach. I hadn’t eaten since I had gotten back stateside yesterday. I blushed at my own stupidity. I was hungry, and the lack of water was making me delusional. I would have to find food soon. But right now, I needed to get down that tunnel. My stomach ached, but I could put it off until I got the power back on. With only the Mag Lite as illumination, I continued my journey into Hades. Wait, what? Hades? God, I haven’t read any mythology in years. Snap out of it! This isn’t the damn time. I continued my journey into the darkness, the underworld. Shut up, Jen! What’s wrong with you? Focus! I could hear dripping in the distance. Dripping… could it be the tears of the damned, those left in the dark? Cut it out! These are the last ideas I should be thinking about. And why this obsession? Maybe it was a way to keep walking. But why would I walk, when I had the nagging idea that I was walking into Pluto’s throne room, with the king himself in the cathedra, ready to judge me. Wait, judge me? Judge me for what? What the hell did I do? I hadn’t done anything wrong. No, au contraire; I tried to do good! I talked to them, but the damn Reds wouldn’t listen. But…maybe that’s why I was being punished. I had failed. I shook it off. Now was not the time to sulk on what I did or didn’t do. Now was the time to get the generator running. I moved quickly, ignoring all the sounds my mind conjured. It seemed like a far journey, and so my mind wandered once more.

    Well, I had heard the preliminary report, and I braced myself for the horror on the other side of the door. But Lord have mercy, no pictures ever prepare you for the real thing. What we found was the Void…

    We were out of options, it’s true. But the fact that I had a presidential summons made the situation look even worse. I shook my head on Air Force One, peering out at a future wasteland. Why, why me? Why was I charged with saving America? Yeah, I was the best lobbyist in the business maybe 20 years ago, but that was 20 years ago! I sighed. I was going to Mother Russia to talk them out of committing annihilation. Goddammit! I slammed my fist on the tray in front of me, spilling my food and coffee. I began to cry. What did they want from me? Too much is what they wanted. I closed my eyes. It was going to be a while.

    So ‘dem boms came outta the sky an da hole dayum worl goes to Ell. Jaysus H. Christ…

    I walked face-first into the electrical panel. I cried in pain and swore as I stepped back. Damn piece of- wait a minute! The generator. I squealed like a little school girl. I found it! Yes! I dropped the Mag Lite. The power button on the generator was glowing cerise. I turned it on. I heard the whirring of mechanical gears. I applauded at my success. The red, emergency lights turned on. I howled with happiness, and then… I screamed.


    The squad was spread out over downtown New Haven. Those thugs had run and so did the woman. God, the phrase “clean up” makes me shiver. What was I doing out here? What did they want from me? “It’s your duty,” they say. I say, “It’s your bullshit.” I sigh. These badlands… I hate them. My family was more than likely dead and I couldn’t be there for them. Well, no time to sulk. We were officially on a Search mission. Unofficially, we were on a Search-And-Destroy mission. We had to find the two remaining brutes and that woman. If the damn people didn’t fire, we wouldn’t be here. Not that I had wanted to kill an attempted rape victim, but having her shot from a copter instead of pure execution sounded a lot better. Well, that was the government for yo- BAM! What the hell!?! Me and the other two soldiers hit the floor, expecting fire. There was none. More shots were fired. I realized we weren’t being shot at. I looked around. The bank had red lights. Wait a minute… Red lights?? Someone had turned the emergency power on! I closed the distance between my index and middle fingers on my left hand and pointed to the bank, waving them. The other two nodded their heads. We hunched over and ran. If our targets were there, we’d find them.

    There were dozens of them. They were all moaning. Dammit! If I hadn’t been lured in by the seducing generator, I would have heard them. My scream had caught their attention and they began to move towards me. I pointed the gun at the nearest one. My hand was shaking horribly. I pulled the trigger. Nothing; it wouldn’t budge! Oh s**t! I didn’t know how to work the damn thing. I shook violently. I backed away, crying. No, no, no, no!!! I slipped and the gun fell out of my hand. It hit the floor and went off, shooting the nearest one in the shin. The echo rebounded all the way to the lobby. It fell face forward and broke its nose on the hard concrete. But still, they lurched. As they circled around me, I raised my arms over my head. This was the end. Then I was showered in blood as thunder boomed on a loop. Bodies hit the floor as did bullet cartridges. I looked up. And I snarled. Yes, I had been saved from those monsters, but as an act of equivalent exchange, the bastards who had tried to rape me were here. The one whose eye had been slashed, now covered his wounded eye with makeshift bandages. He and his friend were holding Uzis and grinning those repugnant smiles.
    “Well, well. What have here? The little b***h that ruined my handsome face.”
    “The last time you were handsome was when our 43nd President was a genius,” I growled back. The smile was wiped off his face.
    “You better watch your tongue.”
    “You’re right I’m sorry. GO ******** YOURSELF!” I screamed. He got angry and he marched over to me. I guess he or his buddy hadn’t seen my red eyes. I heard myself reduced to growl and snarls. He was never even going to get a chance. What was it that my dying father had told me when I told him of my diplomatic mission? “Give ‘em hell, kid.” That’s right. Give ‘em hell, kid. That’s where I ******** up. But don’t worry, daddy; I’ll give these guys all the hell they never wanted. I felt myself licking my lips. I was going to savor this.

    After seeing the s**t I’ve seen, I can honestly say that Hell is going to be a vacation. After all, there were no more people. It would be too hard to be a human. “He, who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man…”

    We ran into the bank. I motioned to my partners to take the western and eastern corridors and to call on the squawk box if they found the targets. I would take point and go down the north western corridor. I stood at the top of a flight of stairs. It would seem that they would go to the basement. I heard some voices. I moved quickly, but silently down the flight of stairs. I saw shadows at the end of the tunnel. I paged the others on a private channel and told them that the targets were in the basement. They acknowledged and headed to my location. The woman had yelled. There was a scream. Then gunfire. I moved quickly. As I popped out of the corridor, blood nailed my gas mask. One of the brutes’ throat had been torn out and his jugular vein responded accordingly. Everything slowed to a crawl. The guy with the slashed eye laid dead, his throat also missing. There were also bullets all around him. The other one had fired at the leader’s attacker, only for himself to be mauled. I finally looked at the attacker. I was paralyzed with fear.

    My god, this was amazing! I had taken both of them down within seconds of each other. Their blood was dirty, but ********, that only made it better. I chewed the flesh between my teeth and then I smelled sweat. It couldn’t have been them; they had no time to scare themselves shitless. I looked up to the trembling Special Ops. I snarled and crouched into my leaping position. His rifle was shaking uncontrollably. I got it; this guy was green. He had never pulled the trigger on a human, had he? I smiled a twisted and horrible grin. I leapt. He jumped out of the way and I began to run down the hall. He shouted at me to stop. ******** him; I was on a high and I wasn’t going to let it slip away. But he wasn’t alone. His buddies were running down the stairs. The one in front stopped and yelled in surprise at my sudden appearance. He raised his rifle. I shoved him out of my way. He fell off the stairs and cracked his head on the concrete. I cackled and his friend screamed. I needed to shut him up. I tore his gas mask off. The young face behind the mask startled me. He was so young, no more than 18. He reminded me of Rod… Rod, poor, poor, sick Rod. Let me put you out of your misery. His flesh was so tender. Blood seeped down the stairs and off the side. His blood and flesh still fresh, I left the bank, on a killer’s ******** high.
    The beginning is the end is the beginning…

    My CO arrived on the scene. It was a goddamn blood bath; two of the targets mauled, and 2/3 of Echo Squad, dead. I was still shaking violently. My god, tell me what I had seen down that hadn’t really been that. The remaining target, a monster. I realized what I had to do. I jumped to my feet, much to the anger of our Commanding Officer, but I could care less. I ran past the firing squad. They had captured the rebels who had fired at us earlier, and were ready to fulfill orders. I ran, cocking my Desert Eagle, Shots went off and citizens hit the floor. I could care less. I needed to find that woman.

    Hunger….blood, yes! Thoughts… ********. Needed…needed. RAWR!!! Yess,yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss-

    I cried at the pitiful state she was in. She was in a feeding fest with the others, around a corpse. She had shown all the signs, but the fact that she was degrading so quickly could only be explained one way. Somehow, she had repressed the animal, until her sanity broke. It had been noted before, but I just couldn’t- GOD DAMMIT! I screamed. All the others kept on eating, but she turned her head and looked in my direction. Her eyes were white. Yes; it was end stage. I got down on a knee and I stroked her cheek. She didn’t attack me. Instead, she nuzzled my hand. I took off my helmet and gas mask. Tears streamed down both our faces. She wasn’t completely gone. But, it was irreversible and she would degrade further. Mustering all my strength, I got to my feet and pointed the gun to her head. I pulled the trigger, and she hit the floor. I sank to my knees and sobbed. The others smelled new meat and began to lurch to her body. I executed every ******** one of them. I kept crying looking at her white eyes. I closed them. My CO yelled.
    “Private Wilson! What the hell are you doing?!”
    “I’m sorry, sir,” I sobbed, “I needed- I had to end it.” He saw her and his cheeks drained of color.
    “I’m so sorry, Rod. I never could imagine- Had I known she wasn’t here, I never would have drafted you.” I holstered my gun and looked at my once house, now my Hell. Lisa’s boyfriend laid in the pathway, gnawed on and head bashed in. There we were; stuck in the abyss as the angels crowed in heaven at our failure, at our hubris. God’s tears rolled down my face.
    “Let’s go.” I turned and walked away into the distant. The bombs were inbound. Operation: GOLGOTHA has ceased.    (The author would like to thank all the survivors who gave their testimonies of Armageddon.) -Rodrigo Wilson, Heaven Is Lost