'EPILOGUE' TO DOOMSDAY

Chapters 1-10 can be found in book 1, 'Prologue to Doomsday'.

Chapter 11

There are now six of us. Our friends, Jeth, Tara and Binq are loyal and fierce. Together we are prepared for this challenging quest ahead of us.

We have been together for the past four years. Our journey has been fraught with danger. Things have not gotten any better. The world was desolate and people had turned against each other. All fighting for survival at every given moment.

We had not yet found a permanent place to settle down. There were a few possibilities. but safety issues rendered them unsuitable.

There was that attack by a pack of rabid dogs a week ago. We shot a few, Tauren had managed to procure a small handgun from one of the soldiers at the fort. The others got scared and ran away. Today, however, we have a much bigger problem.

Jeth was with me, Tara and Tauren were together. Tara was three months pregnant, and Aros and Binq were friends, she was a handful. Fearless and reckless.

Binq had strayed from the group for a bathroom break. After a rather long absence, Aros went looking for her. When he didn't return, we all went in search of them.

We found them surrounded by a group of evil looking men with weapons ranging from swords, to guns, iron pipes and an odd assortment of arms. One would think Tara would be scared. She was not.

"Wow, look at all you big strong men, one little woman and ya'all are armed to the teeth. Put them down and fight like men, come on." She was goading them.

Some were laughing, some were coming menacingly forward, Others were just waiting for something to happen. The big surly one, obviously the leader, just stood there glaring. The others were looking to him silently. He was about to give an order when there came a great flapping of wings.

If it were a bird, it was a very large one. The men started to run. We stood there paralyzed.

The thing dropped down on two feet in front of us.

A woman, an extremely attractive woman, impeccably dressed. In an apocalypse?

WITH WINGS. Beautiful variegated colored wings.

A feather could have knocked us over, as they say.

'Run, you dogs," she shouted at the backs of the grown men speeding down the street. "Let's not meet again, or we will spill your guts and feed it to the real dogs. You know how hungry they are."

She turned her attention back to us.

"Hello, now who have we got here," she stepped closer to Tara and sniffed. "This one is ripe, ready for the plucking." She laughed, a tinkling throaty sound, almost a sensual undertone.

She lifted her long neck and warbled, like a bird. Suddenly the sky was filled with the loud whosh, whosh of many pairs of wings. Five more women appeared, flitting to the ground.

All as flawlessly dressed as she was.

It was weird, but it almost appeared that the women were switching from female to male form and then back to female. It was like an intertwine of the same body changing in and out. Neither did they seem to be of any particular race. They were particularly stunning.

"Cut it out, the first woman yelled."

We were mesmerized and rooted to the spot. I doubt any of us breathed since this all started.

"Hey," she clapped her hands and we seemed to wake up, gasping for air.

"Who are you," Tara stepped forward and touched her wing, always the most curious of all. "Are you angels."

They all laughed.

"We got wings, but we ain't no angels baby," the raven haired one said.

"I am AMON, leader of over 40 legions of hell."

"This is Amy, a president in hell."

"Meet Cairn, she appears as a bird when the need arises." With a great sprint and majestic soar a thrush soared into the sky, twirled and came back to land as a woman,

Tara and Binq clapped.

"This is Andras, the raven haired."

"Allocen, the multi-talented."

"Azael, cohabits with women."

She lifted her hands and as if one they rose into the sky and were gone. Not big on goodbyes it seemed.

There was silence for an extended time.

So not zombies, but angels, but kinda not angels.

Chapter 12

"I wonder what she meant by Tara is ripe for plucking," Tauren mused. We all started to talk at once, "who are they," "where could they possibly have come from." "what the 'ferrous oxide', they have wings, wings, it must have something to do with the asteroids."

We fell silent again.

"Do you think they mean to harm us. I know they saved us, but they could have their own agenda for us." Aros was getting worried. He suggested we find shelter for the night.

Jeth, who was established as the leader of the group had been silent this entire time. We were hoping he had some ideas.

"I talked with a few people along the way who mentioned a new species of people, they had not really met them, only heard of them. They want to establish a new world order. I'm now guessing that we have met them. If hell is here on earth, how are we going to hide?"

"We need to find them and gather more information about who they are, and what they hope to accomplish. Do they mean to harm us?. We need to find out what dangers are ahead of us."

We were all shaking our heads in affirmation. These were unusual times and even more unusual occurrences were presenting themselves.

The air quality had improved over the years, we could now go without masks depending on where we were. We made sure Tara always had the spare to assure she stayed healthy.

Chapter 13

Tauren too had a gift. Our dad had given him a small bag filled with seeds. Father had loved to plant. We always had fruit trees in our garden. Such a fond memory. Tauren had planted a few and they had tiny shoots coming in. He guarded them like they were his children. He toted them around in a makeshift carrier on his back. One apple tree, one orange tree and one PEAR TREE, we all loved pears. A new world would need plants and lots of fruits for healthy living. My father was always planning ahead.

Hopefully we would soon find a permanent home for the trees, and for Tara before she got too tired to travel.

Chapter 14

We had been traveling for two day between random stops for shelter and rest wherever we could find it.

Suddenly a sturdy 4 wheeled makeshift vehicle pulled up beside us. It was obviously put together from many different parts. Everyone was at the ready to fight.

To our surprise, two scared tattooed men jumped out, handed us the key, dragged a two wheeled vehicle from the back and sped off.

Consternation was on all our faces. Whoosh. This time a handsome male landed on the bonnet of the car.

"There are directions in the van, follow them to safety, we will be expecting you." Whoosh, He was gone.

We were contemplating taking the vehicle and fleeing, but could we outrun winged beings. Furthermore we were not exactly in a bargaining position.

"For the sake of the women, especially Tara, I think we should give safety a chance," Tauren said.

We all agreed, we were tired and needed a chance at something permanent. Anything was welcome. We had to put our fears aside and decide to brave the unknown. I was the only one who knew how to drive.

We drove for a day and a half, Tauren took the wheel, learning to drive was not a great challenge for him, he learned fast. By the second day he had mastered the art. Then it was Jeth's turn. They worked it out pretty fast again. The others could wait.

We passed the tattooed men and company a day before, they glared at us, but did nothing. We knew they had been forced to turn over their vehicle, why?, we were sure we would soon learn.

A few hours later the sound of a fast approaching vehicle could be heard. I was driving. We had 2 sturdy bottles of gas, obtained by what means we did not know. We were just happy to have it. I kept driving, they sped up beside us and tried to wave us over. There were our tattoos and friends. We were in trouble.

They tried to ram the vehicle, I swerved and avoided it, righted the vehicle and tried to speed up. They were faster, I was forced to pull over. They wanted the van back, and they wanted the women. Were were outnumbered two to one. Jeth and the guys jumped in front of us. Tauren had his weapon, but was wise to keep it concealed. The others had only bravado.

A fight ensued, fists were flying, guys were falling and the girls joined in with stones and whatever we could find to throw in. Suddenly one of the men brandished a huge gun and fired a shot. The fight stopped. They grabbed us and started to shove us women into their truck.

Where were our winged saviors anyway. They got us all into the vehicles, and we started back the other direction.

The vans screeched to a halt. Drivers were evicted by an unseen force. The doors flew open, the men went flying. They were grabbed midair and thrown with such strength we never saw where they fell.

An unearthly voice proclaimed "proceed.". We asked no questions. We piled into the van and drove with purpose. We never saw who saved us. Just the voice.

By now we knew that there was a definite plan for us. We had no choice but to comply. How can you fight the invisible.

Chapter 15

We arrived nest day. A settlement had been started. Houses were being built. There was a large river on the outskirts providing a water source. Upstream was water, and downstream fish. There were even low hedges with berries along the banks.

Someone directed us to a large house built is close proximity to the river. Inside we were met by one of our multi-dimensioned savior. Andras, the raven haired. Wordlessly she directed us to a dimly lit office.

Another handsome well dressed man beckoned us in.

He gestured towards the chairs. We sat down. Next time we looked up he looked like a totally different person.

Shape-shifting, winged, invisible bad assed women. Count me in.

She finally returned to the shape of Amon. Leader of 40 legions of hell.

"You are all here because we want children to replenish and multiply the earth. You will be safe here. Join the others here and live peacefully. You are free to leave if you wish to do so." She looked pointedly at Tara, then back at me.

"Where would we go." I asked. She smiled a knowing smile. We had nowhere to go.

We looked at each other and silently accepted. I had pulled Jeth aside earlier and told him that we were also having a child, he was elated.

"We accept you offer. Thank you." Jeth replied.

Whoosh. She has to stop doing that.

Raven haired Andras appeared and motioned us out. We were showed to a communal building where allotment of housing and jobs and chores and rules were allocated.

On the wall facing the entrance was a huge biblical type tablet. It depicted the winged beings ripping apart a huge asteroid. Was this what happened to us. Was that why there was mystery surrounding what happened that night. Many questions. We just stared and hoped for answers later.

We were given an unfinished house with two rooms completed. We were free to do with it what we wanted. Tomorrow rules and jobs would follow. Today food and rest.

Although we are thankful for a permanent home, there is always a catch to everything that is offered.

If these were hell's angels. Where were the godly ones. Where was God, we whispered. Surely at some point there is going to be a reckoning between the forces of good and evil.

The world is being replenished by hell. Has God given up on us.

We do not have the answers, for now we will plant father's trees. We should have apples in maybe six years, The plants are growing really well, we had found pots along the way and we found a cactus.

Tonight we sleep. Tomorrow we begin anew.

Cover photo by Unsplash