Shaun Jeffrey: Dead World

“No!” Ben screamed.

Anna skipped out of reach and swung the club again. This time a smaller branch towards the tip of the club pierced the man’s skull. Anna released her hold and the man fell back and landed with a hollow thud on the ground, the branch impaled in his head.

Anna backed away, waiting for him to stand back up. She struggled to draw breath.

Ben stepped forwards and Anna grabbed his shoulder to hold him back.

“Why’s he not coming back?” Ben asked.

“Don’t go near it.”

Zeke cautiously approached the man. “He’s not moving. Is he… dead?”

Ben chuckled. “You can’t kill a God. That’s why they’re called Gods. Don’t you know anything?”

“I get that dip shit. So if you’re so clever, why isn’t he moving?

Ben pulled a quizzical frown.

Anna released Ben and stepped towards the body and gingerly kicked its arm before scooting back. The man didn’t respond. She stepped forwards and tried again. The man didn’t move.

“You killed a God,” Lucy whispered, hands clutched to her chest.

Anna shook her head. “Look at him. Look. If he’s dead that means he’s not a God. The church has lied to us for all these years. I don’t know what they are, but they’re not Gods. Your grandmother was right. Now look. See the truth with your own eyes, all of you.”

“Of course he’s a God,” Ben said. “He probably wasn’t ordained, that’s why he died.”

“Listen to me, Ben. They’re not Gods. It’s just a man. A mortal man who’s now dead.”

Lucy slumped to the ground and buried her face in her hands, sobbing.

Ben stood with his arms folded across his chest, staring down at the man.

“I don’t understand.” Zeke shook his head. “Why would they lie to us?”

Anna crouched next to Lucy and put an arm around her shoulder, hugging her tightly. “I don’t know. But when all your Gods are dead, who do you pray to?”

Isaiah knocked lightly on his mother’s door, then stepped inside without awaiting a reply. Mother Charles was seated in her usual spot underneath the window, rocking and mumbling under her breath. She gave her son a quick glance and turned away. Isaiah observed her for a moment and then sat on the edge of the bed, facing her. Their knees nearly touched, forcing the old woman to cease rocking and stare directly at him.

“Mother, what you told Anna, the stuff about there only being one God; you’ve got to stop saying those things. Anna believed you… I think that’s why she ran away.” Isaiah looked down at the floor and swallowed. He turned back to his mother and took hold of her hand. Her wrinkled skin felt cold and made him shiver. “Now I’ve got to go bring her back. The Governor says she must be punished. Don’t you see? This is all because of what you’ve been saying.”

Mother Charles snatched her hand back. “It’s you who must understand, my son. I’ve been alive on this Earth a long, long time. I’ve seen men’s evil, but the evil the Governor and his men are perpetrating here is beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed. I spoke the truth to Anna, Isaiah. I chose her over you because I knew she’d listen, whereas you had your head buried inside a book and grew blind to everything else around you. You don’t even know what’s going on with your wife, right underneath your very nose, do you?”

Isaiah reared back. “What’s going on with my wife? What are you on about? I… I don’t understand.”

Mother Charles didn’t reply. She sat back in her chair, pursed her lips, and turned away.

Isaiah sighed. “This is just more of your ramblings, isn’t it? You’re obviously ill. When I return, I’ll try to find someone to help you. Maybe I’ll be able to find some information in one of my books. I think I remember reading—”

Mother Charles sprang forwards in her chair, eyes wild. “To hell with your books, Isaiah! To hell with them, I say. There’s only one that matters. Do you remember? I gave it to you… long ago. Did you ever bother reading it? Or have you been too busy buying into the garbage they feed you? If you don’t wise up, you’re going to lose them, don’t you understand? You’ll lose Anna and the children, and you won’t have anyone to blame but yourself. You may tell yourself I’m ill, but that’s not going to make things easier for you. Open your eyes, boy! Go. Find your family, and take them as far away from here as you can get.”

Isaiah sat in shocked silence, mouth hanging open, staring at his mother. After a moment he leaned forwards, kissed her weathered cheek and stood up.

“Goodbye, Mother. Hopefully I’ll see you again soon.”

Mother Charles had already shut him out and returned to her rocking and muttering under her breath, her gaze once again unfocused.

Isaiah watched her for a moment more, sighed loudly, turned, and hurried from the room.

Back in his cell, he started packing for the journey, placing a few clothes and necessities in a pack. When he finished he stood and stared at his bookshelves until he spotted the book his mother had given him many years ago. He pulled it out and flicked through the pages before stuffing the book in the backpack with the rest of his stuff.

Isaiah tramped through the woods, eyes trained on the trees where the sunlight was fading and shadows crept in. Unused to the rough terrain he kept tripping and he felt vulnerable being outside the walls of Sanctuary, but he had to admit to a sense of peace. The flora and fauna were a sight to behold with verdant swathes of green and beautiful flowers, the likes of which he had never seen before.

The only people who ever left Sanctuary and ventured into God’s country were the scavengers who sold or traded what they brought back in the market. Sometimes they returned with strange items, the purpose of which no one could fathom. Other times they returned with food. Meat was a rare and precious commodity and Isaiah and his family hardly ever ate any, but he had partaken of the odd rabbit and once or twice, he had sampled cow and pig, the rarest form of meat. He recalled the uproar one day when one of the scavengers herded a live cow through the gates and the animal stampeded around the courtyard before ending up in the garden where it started eating the produce before someone killed it.

A couple of the scavengers were now leading the party, following signs and tracks that were invisible to Isaiah and everyone else, but which they said were made by Anna and the children. The scavengers wore chain mail beneath their clothes. From a book Isaiah had learned about the ancient form of protection used by men called knights. There were only three sets of chain mail in Sanctuary and they had been passed down from scavenger to scavenger. The chain mail protected the men from the Gods who the church said attacked because they were often angry that mortal man should venture into their domain.

Aside from the two scavengers and Isaiah, the rest of the group was comprised of a couple of enforcers, Roman, and a couple of the brethren. The enforcers were tasked with protecting Sanctuary, because aside from Gods, the land was populated with Demons too. But that was the way. Where there was good, there was also evil. Yin and yang. Positive and negative. The Demons were marauders, bands of people who took what they wanted by force.

The air smelled of pine and mulch, an aroma Isaiah found pleasant. Living in such close quarters in Sanctuary he had never experienced anything other than the odours of his neighbours, and they were not always particularly pleasant. He was saddened it had taken the fleeing of his wife and family for him to experience it.

More shadows mingled with the foliage as the sun sank further below the tree line. Isaiah’s heart beat faster, due only partly to the exertion, which he was unused to. His legs ached from top to bottom. He didn’t know how long they had been walking, but when they started out the sun had been at its peak.