6th Horseman, Extremist Edge Series: Part 1 by Anderson Atlas Read Free Book Online Page A

swig. I
know the reason God lets evil exist. I know He wants us to choose,
to earn our seats in Heaven. But I wonder if there might be another
way for us to earn our stripes. I’d build a pyramid, or a city of
gold for you, God. If only you’d deliver me from pain and
sadness.
    The next day I take my wife and seek refuge
at my cousin’s house in Birmingham, Alabama. I choose to not tell
anyone about Ramid or his secret war. I didn’t know exactly what he
was speaking of anyway, but I think of little else.
    Weeks go by. Marian, my lovely wife, eases my
anger with her touch and kindness. My old parishioners do a fine
job cheering me up. I get handfuls of letters. The insurance will
pay to rebuild the church. I haven’t told my wife that I cannot
return to New York. I don’t even know if I’ll be a preacher
anymore. It’s so hard to keep going. It’s hard to think about
anything else but my hate for Ramid. It burns my soul. I can’t
sleep at night. I feel the devil at my doorstep.
    Someone should have told Ramid that secrets
only beget curiosity. I try to ignore the fax about the Stone of
Allah. I try to forget his evil words. But he’s at war. He chose
his side and I’m on the other side. What’s so special about a stone
that they would mount a campaign to erase its existence? Who told
Ramid to threaten my life and my family? Who gave the order to burn
my church? There must be a damning reason they don’t want
Christians to know about the Stone of Allah. There’s a reason I’m a
threat even though I’m ten thousand miles away from Mecca.
    I take a cab to the other side of Birmingham
and end up at a cyber cafe. I use a gift card to pay for the
Internet connection. I can’t explain my paranoia, but I believed
Ramid when he said they were watching me. If this is a war, I need
to know, and I’ll take every precaution I can to protect myself and
my wife. I look up the Stone of Allah online. I find nothing. I
don’t really have much experience with this online stuff. What I
need is a library, a big, old library.
    The sun rises and I leap out of bed. My wife
watches me pack a bag. She doesn’t say a word. I feel a
determination I’d not felt in years. I tell her, simply, that I
need to seek some answers and that I would tell her everything when
I return. Worryingly, she accepts.
    The fax I saw said the Vatican has records on
the Stone of Allah. Finding those records before they are gone is a
top priority. It will explain the war Ramid is fighting and ease my
mind.
    I am at the airport an hour later. I buy a
ticket to Rome with cash and board a plane to Italy.
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

Chapter 1.5
Isabella
Torrioni:
2 Days After the Extinction Event
     
     
     
     
    I t takes New York two days to
completely unravel. The Big Apple falls from the tree and now rots
in the grass. Everyone is getting sick with some kind of flu.
Crowds as big as New Years at Times Square flood the streets. And
just like a fucking tsunami, they sweep from street to street,
burning, trashing, fighting, yelling, and crying.
    I watch it all from the
safety of my apartment window. Across the street some dude stands
at his window and stares like it’s the Macy’s Day Parade or
somethin’. We see each other, lock eyes for a minute. He’s thinkin’
the same thing as me, This is fucked
up . I am thinking one thing he’s
not. Part of this is my fault.
    People run down the street by the hundreds,
no thousands. Shit is goin’ down and I am not prepared. No food or
water. I can’t have that. I run down the empty stairwell and into
the madness on the street.
    The market is at the corner, but the door is
clogged with people. I sock a guy in the gut and force myself
through the jam. Inside, the store is already trashed. Cans roll
around, some are smashed, spreading out their contents. Soda and
juices make the floor slippery.
    The smokes and booze are totally gone. I grab
some bread and a jar of peanut butter and some pads then make my
way to