The Four Horseman

“Do we attempt to stop her?”
“Fuck no….ouch.”
“Was that his….oh fuck….”
Syn smirked as Johnny turned an interesting shade of green, the blood not bothering him as much as which appendage it was that had just flown through the air. The demon’s scream had gone up by several octaves before it cut off as his head bounced onto the floor. Jimmy had made sure that Zacky kept Gretchen inside and was now glad. Seeing Lilith at work was not meant for humans.
“Where is he??”
The next demon inhabiting the body of a fat middle aged man cowered as Lilith picked up the fallen head and punt kicked it into the mass of fire behind them. She was in full demon form, her eyes glowing as she methodically picked apart Satan’s unfortunate followers who had remained behind. Jimmy had realised immediately what had happened and made his boys turn back, they could not afford to lose Claire and he knew that Zacky was ready to go straight for the main fight.
Which they would currently lose.
“Mother, mother please….”
“WHERE???”
The demon fled the man, its form one of a mist that she wrapped around her hand as it squealed and screamed. Syn was watching with great interest, he wanted to know why they obeyed Satan when Lilith owned them all. They only had to be in her presence to scrape and grovel before her and he knew that eventually one would crack.
“New York!”
Lilith smiled sweetly and banished the smoke back to the underworld as she turned back to her friends. She too was well aware that losing Claire to the opposition was not an option, Zacky’s pain was already growing uncontrollable and she knew they should move on. She motioned to Matt and he pulled Johnny away to get the cars as she walked into Syn’s arms.
“Another player is entering the game.”
“How do you know?”
The dark haired girl was now looking as human as she could manage and pressed herself against him.
“Matt had the same bargain as Zacky and…Holly will also be an asset.”
They walked hand in hand back to the remains of the bar where Jimmy had gathered Gretchen into his arms and promised Zacky that they were on their way. The beautiful boy was a picture of anger, able to see the seduction of his woman in his head and intent on carving a path of destruction through the entire country if he had to. This city was dead and burning, nothing left alive and the flames had spread out further.
“Zacky, take Johnny and Gretchen and the armoured jeep.”
Zacky nodded, his arms around Jimmy were brief as was his kiss for the girl. Syn grabbed him in a longer hug and reassured him that all would be well as Jimmy and Matt took the other jeep with Syn following on his bike. Lilith rode with him, the excitement rising as the vehicles picked up speed. The plague was edging out and all over the roads there were corpses of humans being fed on by the animals. The few survivors were shell shocked and stumbled along, not even noticing the jeeps and the bike.
“Will she be ok?”
Johnny didn’t like the pause that followed his question.
“Yes, he is using her to divert us.”
Zacky bit his lip, knowing that it wasn’t exactly the truth.
“So we can save her.”
Zacky turned, his eyes blazing which made both the humans gasp in awe.
“Claire is mine. I will get her back and make sure that Satan doesn’t fuck with me again.”
A silence fell, both Johnny and Gretchen were grateful to be safe with the Horsemen as they passed more burning towns and dead bodies. It was truly a picture of destruction, as if an atomic bomb had gone off but all the buildings remained standing. This was indiscriminate death, children and old people amongst the dead. Neither of them could fathom a loving god doing this but had a trust in what was happening. Nothing that could be explained logically, just a feeling.
Matt felt the power rolling out in front of him. Jimmy was working even as he drove, the power of death reaching into every building and vehicle. Even the rivers burned and he could see that the looters and renegades were just making it worse. Rioting was everywhere, enhanced by Conquest and War. It was a bloodbath.
“Fun huh?”
Lilith giggled, the sound lost over the roar of the engine as Syn guided the bike around a burning tank and down onto the freeway. There were thousands of miles to go, teleportation was a gift that none of them had unlike Satan and they couldn’t have left the two mortals alone in the mess anyway. Instead Lilith and Syn led the way and streaked ahead clearing human and non human obstacles with ease and a sense of humour.
“I make that three to you….”
Both of them paused as a black cloud streaked out and hit a bus full on. It fell into a ravine with screams echoing and Jimmy’s voice in their heads.
“Ten to me. Catch up you slack fuckers.”
Syn glared and sent a choice finger gesture to the jeep behind. Again the clouds of insects drew in overhead and spread out before them in a wave. People were devoured by locusts, bees, ants and even the lowly worms that pushed out from the soil. Soon the food was turning rancid in the mouths of millions as Zacky added his power and Matt infected the army until they turned on each other. It was an awful maelstrom of power but the survivors found themselves protected and able to find clean water and aid as Lilith used her demons for more benign purposes.
By nightfall they had covered three hundred miles and Gretchen found herself in an aid camp, Jimmy’s arm around her shoulder as they watched a few dozen people being fed and housed in a village that was protected from the chaos. It was peaceful and Jimmy smiled as Matt accepted a beer from a blond haired girl with a ring through her nose.
“Is that…?”
Jimmy nodded, Holly had found Matt within seconds of them arriving, drawn to the tall man who brought food and some trained doctors from fuck knows where. They had distributed it together and were now deep in conversation. It made Jimmy feel much better and having his own girl in his arms was the icing on the cake until he looked over to where Zacky was sat between Lilith and Syn, their arms around him.
“Holly is going to help the planet recover. Now we need to get Zacky his Claire back and then Johnny can get to work.”
The girl blinked and Jimmy laughed, the sound making her smile.
“I thought you were joking.”
“No, short shit is really the second coming and will make a fucking better job of it than the last guy.”
Lilith walked past and smirked, the tale end of the conversation amused her.
“Where is Mr Christ?”
Jimmy pointed to the roof and Lilith headed that way, sitting beside the short man as he looked across the fields of smoke and towards the horizon. He was still linked in with all of it, able to feel the God and Satan interplay, the demons, the people…all of it. Lilith pitied him in that moment and wrapped her arms around him.
“We need to hurry.”
Lilith nodded, she could feel that Claire was in real trouble.
“I have an idea….”

Notes

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