Wesley Snipes - Talon of God

Talon chuckled at that, and then his voice turned serious. “Are you all right? How’s Will?”

“Actually, we’re all doing great,” she said, looking over her shoulder at Will, who seemed to be nearing the end of his patience. “How are you? I mean, you’re clearly alive, but are you—”

“I’m fine,” he said, and to Lauryn’s surprise, she believed him. Life as a doctor had made her very good at picking up hidden pain in people’s voices, specifically over the phone, but despite everything she’d feared, Talon really did sound just fine, and very determined. “And Lincoln is dealt with, thanks to you.” She heard the grin on his voice. “I got your present just in time.”

Lauryn glanced up at the shadow in the sky. “Well, if there was ever a time we needed miracles, it’s now. You’ve seen the sky, right?”

“I have,” he said grimly. “What’s your plan?”

Lauryn blinked in surprise. “How did you know I had a plan?” She’d only just thought of it herself a few second ago.

“Because you always have a plan.”

His instant, confident answer was the best compliment anyone had ever given her. “I think I’ve got something that might work,” she said. “Do you remember where my dad’s church is?”

“I do,” he said. “I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

“We’ll meet you there, then,” Lauryn said firmly, glancing at Robbie, who nodded. “Drive safe, the streets are crazy.”

“Same to you,” Talon replied. “Have faith, Lauryn. We’ll get through this.”

“I know,” she said firmly. “I do. And, Talon?”

“Yes?”

“I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“As am I,” he said. “See you soon.”

Lauryn smiled and cut off the call, turning to Will, who was waiting impatiently.

“Why are we going to your dad’s and not getting out of town?”

“Because we have to finish this,” she said firmly. “If we run, all of Chicago’s going to fall to this. But I think I’ve got a plan for how to save these people.”

“I don’t know if there’s any saving this,” Robbie said, his voice cracking as he finished turning the car around, finally facing them toward the gate he’d busted down on the way in… as well as the crowd of monsters waiting beyond. “This situation’s only gotten worse since you went in. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole city was infected by now.” He shook his head. “I’m not even sure we can get back to the South Side.”

“We have to,” she said. “Look, if there are any sane people left, they’ll be at Dad’s.”

“How do you figure that?” Will asked.

“Because Z3X can’t make people be monsters,” she explained. “It can only augment the sins that are already there. But my dad’s congregation is full of the most legitimately godly people I know. If anyone can resist this outbreak, it’s them.”

“Wait, so we’re betting on the prayer circle?” Robbie said, shaking his head. “We’re dead.”

“Just drive,” Lauryn said, placing her sword in her lap. “I’ll explain the rest once we get there. Right now, you need to drive, and I need to think.”

“Then get in the back,” Will grumbled, moving over. “I’ll take front.”

“And do what?” Lauryn asked, climbing out of her seat into the back.

“Improvise,” Will said, grabbing Robbie’s tire iron off the floorboard. “The rest I’ll leave to you.”

Lauryn blinked. “Really?” Because blind trust wasn’t an attribute she normally assigned to Will Tannenbaum. But when she gaped at him, he just shrugged.

“This kind of thing will change a man’s perspective,” he said as he climbed into the front. “We’ll get you to church. You just make sure you know what to do when we get there.”

That was the last thing she’d ever expected him to say, and it made Lauryn smile. Her brother, on the other hand, looked like he was going to hurl. “Just hold on tight,” he muttered, revving the engine. “It’s about to get bumpy.”

The words were barely out of his mouth before he floored it, shooting his sports car right up the wrecked gate and over the transformed monsters lurking on the other side. For a moment, they were airborne… and then the car crashed back to earth, bottoming out in a shower of sparks and swerving wildly before Robbie got control again, flooring the pedal as they raced back down the street and back toward the smoke-stained skyline of Chicago.

And overhead, the vultures screeched in delight as the phantom castle began to emerge from the clouds.

Getting home was even more terrifying than driving to St. Luke’s mansion had been.

Before, the shuffling figures had just been glimpses, shadows in the dark, eerie emptiness. Now, the illusion of stillness was completely gone, and in its place, monsters openly roamed the streets.

Even knowing they were just transformed people and not actual monsters, there was no other word that fit. Everywhere Lauryn looked, creatures with ashen skin and bloody eyes, wearing the tattered winter clothes of normal Chicago residents, roamed the city in huge hunting packs. There were no more cars, no more screams; even the sirens had gone silent. In the time between when they’d arrived at St. Luke’s and when she’d come stumbling out, the entire city had been dragged under by the spreading virus of Z3X, and as the last uncorrupted people on the streets, Lauryn, Will, and Robbie had the attention of every single one.

“I can’t shake them!” Robbie screamed, spinning the wheel as he changed their course again and again. “They’re everywhere!”

“They’re hunting us,” Will said, keeping his tire iron close. “Like animals.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lauryn said, clutching her sword as she watched the black shapes chasing their car in the mirror. “Just get us to Dad’s.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Robbie yelled. “I—”

“Robbie!”

“What?”

“Don’t panic,” Lauryn said, quietly now. “I swear to you we can get through this. We’re still in a car, which means we’re faster, and if any of them get close, Will and I will—”

A jolt cut her off as something huge crashed into the car, almost running them off the road. By the time Lauryn recovered, she realized it was a man, or what was left of one. A huge boulder of a human, his skin grown over in giant plates, had bowled into the side of the car like a charging bull. He was still there, too, holding the car back with his massive hands as Robbie frantically gunned the engine, squealing the tires to no avail. Will was leaning out the window, bashing at the thing with his tire iron, but the demon man didn’t even seem to feel it as he broke the windows one by one. He was about to rip the passenger door off when Lauryn leaned out through the broken rear window and swung her golden sword at him.

The attack was reflexive. Lauryn still had no idea what she was doing. She just flailed her weapon. But even though she hadn’t put any thought or skill into the attack, someone upstairs must still have been looking out for her, because the blow struck clean, slicing through the demon’s clawlike hands where they gripped the door. The moment his hold vanished, the squealing tires grabbed the pavement, and the car lurched, shooting them down the road to safety.

“That,” Lauryn gasped, pulling her sword back inside. “I’ll do that.”

“Right,” Will panted, looking impressed despite himself. “Good job.”

“I swear,” Robbie muttered, gripping the wheel with both hands as he looked around at the black, nightmarish shapes in the rearview mirror, “if I live through this, I’ll go to church every day. I’ll never touch drugs again. I’ll—”