Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods (9 page)

“
He can not be absorbed?  Is he the one I was sent to find?” 

He didn
’t care what the malak was talking about.  “You have no business with me, demon!” he shrieked.  His voice cracked. 

The malak tore the two enormous broadswords from his back. 
“You will fight me.”

Zeke swallowed.

The demon raised the sword in his left hand and brought it down vertically where Zeke was standing.  The movement was swift, but he managed to step aside in time.  The sword hit the earth harmlessly.  The right-handed sword was already swinging though, and came in parallel to the ground towards his waist. 

Zeke had no choice.  He fell back hard, hitting the ground.  The giant sword whizzed above him.  The malak seemed upset. 

“This is the man he chose?  What a fool!  Trusting the power of a mouse!” 

Before he knew it, both swords were coming down towards his head.  He did the one thing he could think of; he swung his sword upwards to block.  Metal clanged on metal.  The blows were deflected, but the malak hit strong.  Zeke dropped his sword. 

At least I can touch his weapons,
he thought, immediately wondering whether that was really a comfort.

He soon decided it wasn
’t, as the demon thrust one sword into the earth, slashing his side open.  Zeke grabbed himself in pain.

Trying to hold the blood, his life, in his body.

The ghostly monster ignored its sword and picked him up by the neck.  Zeke panicked.  The touch of a malak usually meant death. 

But this malak seemed different.  He was in control of his power. 

“You are no god,” sneered the being into his face.  “Know that if I wanted to, I could snap my fingers and shatter your spine.”  The malak jabbed his remaining sword into the ground by the first.  Then with his free hand, he drew a finger across the bloody gash.  It burned in pain.  Zeke smelled cauterizing flesh.  His clothes became singed around the wound. 

The monster threw him to the ground.  He clutched at his side.  It was completely healed. 
“You are a disappointment.  You believe strength is entirely in your hands.  I will give you a new objective.  Become stronger or perish.”  The malak pulled his swords out of the ground.  In a blinding flash of light, he was gone. 

Zeke sat on the ground alone and rubbed his neck. 

The world was green through the rifles
’ scopes.  From a second storey window, Charlie and Smalls panned the green rubble.  Green monsters fought green fights and bled green blood.  It was like watching twisted television. 

The Un-Nature channel. 

“There’s one!  To your left!” said Smalls in a whispered shout. 

Charlie swung his rifle, a green blur whizzing past his eye. 
“Which one?  There are hundreds of ‘em!” 

“
On top of that pile of rocks.” 

He groaned. 
“You’re not getting this.  Let’s try narrowing it down.  Give me something to go on there ain’t a whole bunch of.”

Then he saw it.  A slow, zombie of a draugr ambled up a pile of rocks, groping with clawless hands.  At the top, another beast was waiting.  The second one was small.  It looked eviscerated.  Skeletal.  But still strong.  It planted its hands behind him on the ground. It pulled its feet into the air like an un-dead monkey. 

The claws on its feet tore the head off the zombie draugr. 

“
That mean mother with the pedicure?” asked Charlie. 

“
That’s the one.” 

“
What are you giving on him?”

“
Let’s say three to one odds you can’t bring him down with one shot.”

“
You’re on.” 

He put his eye to the scope.  The monster was devouring its prey.  A macabre, green meal.  But it was relatively still. 
Money in the bank,
he thought. 

Boom!

The shot exploded in the closed quarters. It echoed off the other buildings.  Charlie checked the draugr.  It wasn’t moving.  “Pay up!”

“
Look again, Chuck,” said Smalls, who was still watching through his own rifle. 

He put his eye back to the scope.  A shriveled green foot twitched.  Moonlight shone brightly off the claws. 
“He’s down, ain’t he?” 

“
Just keep watching.  We’ll see.” 

The monster slowly picked itself up.  Dark green fluid dripped from its shoulder where an arm used to be.  The monster took a few week steps. 

“Well I’ll be damned.  I just nicked the bastard.” 

Smalls
’ hand was already out.  “Don’t be stingy.  You owe me for that last one, too.” 

“
Hang on.  Hang on.  Let me finish him off first.”  The gun echoed again.  The draugr’s head exploded. 

“
Satisfied?”

Charlie pulled out a small wad of cash and slapped it in his hand. 
“Here you go,” he grumbled. 

Suddenly a door in the corner of the room began to rattle.  Something was kicking it from the other side.  Nervous, the two men swung their rifles around. 

The room took up the entire floor.  Like the street, it was a mess of rubble.  All of it an eerie green in the rifles’ scopes.  The offending door was in the corner.

Thump
.  Something kicked it again. 

“
Where does that door lead?”  Smalls asked. 

Thump.

“I don’t know.  The roof, maybe?”  It was just a guess.

“
Did we check the roof?”

“
Didn’t think we needed to.  Can draugr climb?” 
Thump.

“
I don’t know.  Maybe some can.”

“
Oughtta be hard with them claws.”

Thump, thump, thump. 
“Well, obviously something can climb, and it sounds like he wants in pretty damn bad.” 

Charlie checked his gun. 
“How many rounds you got left?” 

Smalls hit the release on the side of the magazine.  It slid gently out. 
“One,” he said.  “You?” 
Thump.  Thump.

“
Three.  Maybe four.” 

“
Great,” said Smalls, clicking the magazine back into place.  “Well, let’s go answer the door.”  They advanced slowly, trying not to trip over the junk on the floor.

Thump, thump.

They spied a deadbolt.  Still latched and holding fast after nearly eight years. 

“
One of us gotta do it.”  They each held up one fist. 

They counted together. 
“One, two, three.”

Charlie chose rock.  Smalls chose paper. 

“Not my day,” the big man grumbled as he stepped forward to twist the deadbolt. 

Before he reached it, the door burst open.  He screamed and raised his gun.  The figure came face to face with the weapon and screamed, too.  Both men heard it scream and screamed again. 

“Get that thing out of my face!” yelled Zeke, pushing the barrel of the gun away. 

“
You’re alive!” shouted Smalls, who calmed down first. 

“
Of course I am.” 

“
How did you get in?”

Zeke looked angry. 
“Well, when you didn’t answer, I just kept on kicking.” 

“
No, I mean . . . well, we’re sorry, but . . . does this stairwell lead downstairs?” he asked. 

“
Used to.  Looks like the bottom level caved in, though.  I got in from the roof.  Street is swarming with draugr, but there’s none out back.  Good thing, too, because you missed the ladder hanging from the roof.” 

Charlie and Smalls looked at each other sheepishly in the dark. 

“So where are we anyway?” 

“
We’re still betting on a prison,” said Charlie.  “Saw some stuff in the street looks like it used to be a fence.  Razor wire and all.”

“
That tower we saw earlier,” added Smalls.  “Looks like there were others that were knocked down or something.” 

“
Great,” said Zeke, not much caring for the details of the prison.  “You find any medical supplies?”

Charlie reached for a table with some bags on it.  He pulled out a small box and threw it to Zeke. 
“Jackpot.  One box of self-adhesive bandages.  Assorted sizes.” 

“
Great.  Then we’re set,” he answered flatly. 

“
The mission was a bust.  They must have sent us out here for some other reason.”

“
Yeah.  I figured that out on my own.”  He thought back to what the malak had said.  Zeke was the one it was
sent to find
, the
one he chose.
The one
who
chose?  “Let’s skip to what’s important.  How are we going to get out of here?” 

“
The car should still work.  The only problem is getting to it.” 

“
We tried clearing out the draugr after we holed up in here, but they just kept coming.”  Charlie paused.  Zeke wasn’t happy.  He continued meekly.  “So then we started weeding out the fast ones . . .”

“
Let me guess.  When that didn’t work, you started making bets.  Right?” 

The two big men glanced at each other sheepishly. 
“Uh . . . no?” 

“
Great.  Just great.  How many bullets do you have left?” 

“
Best case scenario or worst?”

“
Let’s go with worst.”

“
Four,” said Smalls.

“
And the best?” 

“
Five,” said Charlie.

“
Jae-Ho and Daniel.  Where are they?”  He pressed forward, trying to assess the situation. 

“
They fell behind.”

“
Daniel made it to the tower, but they got Jae-Ho.”

Charlie pointed at a nearby table. 
“We have radios,” he said helpfully. 

             
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”  He dashed over to the table and started flipping switches and turning knobs.  Pulling the small microphone to his mouth, he said, “Daniel, this is Zeke.  Do you read me?  Over.” 

             
He released the button.  No answer. 

             
“Daniel.  They said the draugr got Jae-Ho.  Are you hurt?  Over.”

             
Nothing. 

             
“Daniel, are you there?  Come in.  Over.”  His voice was more urgent. 

             
Still, no answer. 

             
Charlie stepped forward slowly.  “I don’t think you understand. 
We
have radios.  He don’t.” 

             
Zeke banged his head down on the table and rested it there.  “Then since the two of you gambled away your own defenses, I guess
I’ve
got to go check on our little friend myself.”  He stood.  “How do you get outside?” 

              Smalls and Zeke peered cautiously out of a broken window.  They didn’t want to attract any unnatural attention.  The ground floor was not secure—the men had protected themselves by barricading the stairwells and hoping the draugr couldn’t climb.  The creatures seemed to have lost interest in the building, though. 

             
Zeke wanted to keep it that way. 

He raised a radio to his mouth, held the button, and whispered,
“Most of these guys look slow.  I think I can take them, but cover me anyway.” 

“
You got it!” boomed a voice from the small handset.  “I got your back. 

“
Shhh!” urged Zeke in a frantic whisper.  He glanced around, but the draugr didn’t seem to hear him.  He continued.  “Now this is important.  You don’t have many shots left, so don’t shoot unless I get hurt.  Got it?”  He released the button. 

“
Got it.”  Charlie whispered back. 

“
This is important.  Trust me to take care of myself.  Do
not
fire unless it’s absolutely necessary.” 

“
I read you, pal!” he shouted again.  Zeke switched off the radio for safety.  Then he clipped it to his belt. 

Turning to Smalls, he explained,
“Your job is to bar the door as soon as I’m out.  Then, you can cover me from the window, but save your ammo if you can.” 

“
Understood, sir!”  he whispered, all business. 

“
Good.  I’m going.” 

Without another word, the swordsman dashed out of the door.  It slammed shut behind him, then came the sounds of scuffling as Smalls built a barrier behind it.