Blood Cult by Edwin Page Read Free Book Online Page A

through the doors of death.’
    ‘What if some survive?’
    I shook my head and smiled knowingly. ‘He’ll not allow that to happen.
We’re all called before Him now. It’s time. Those who didn’t die in the strikes
will fade away like ghosts due to the radiation poisoning. There’s nowhere to
hide from it and nowhere to run.’
    ‘What about those who made it to bunkers, members of the government or
the military?’ asked Clive.
    ‘They can’t stay in them forever. For a time they’ll huddle in the confines,
wondering at the world outside, wondering at the fate of those they loved. Then
they’ll be forced to venture out when their food and water dwindles to nothing.
They’ll be faced with the destruction and devastation wrought by God, by a
world in the throes of death. They’ll see his power and know that theirs’ is as
nothing in comparison, finally seeing the foolishness of their arrogance and
contempt, but it’ll be too fucking late.
    ‘Everything they held dear will have passed away; their power, wealth,
possessions, those they loved. They’ll be the ones left to mourn as they starve
and the radiation sickness slowly takes hold. They are going to suffer.’ The
final statement was said with relish.
    ‘How can you smile?’ Clive looked at me in disbelief.
    ‘It’s what they deserve. They placed themselves in the roles of gods,
false gods whose power was a temporary illusion. They spent most of their sorry
lives watching as so many struggled and did they lift a goddamn finger to help?
They deserve to fucking suffer!’
    ‘Surely there’s some way to survive this?’ said Dodge, standing with a
forlorn look on his face as he stared across the parking lot.
    I stepped over to him and placed my free hand upon his shoulder. He
turned to me, his gaze haunted by what I’d said, the middle of his brow deeply
furrowed.
    ‘You’ve already outlived millions, probably billions. Now you’ll all bear
testament to the glory of God.’
    ‘Glory?’ He stared at me as if I was insane.
    I nodded. ‘Yes,’ I replied, giving his shoulder a squeeze of reassurance.
‘You’ll see the truth of it in time.’
    I released him and took a step back. ‘We need to get the food. The longer
we stay the more likely others will begin to realise they should be doing the
same.’

7
    I turned from
the fresh loaves resting on the kitchen counter as Bob entered the room. ‘Do
you think anyone will still come?’ I asked as he went to the sink, crouching
and opening the cupboard beneath.
    ‘What do you mean?’ he asked, looking over his shoulder.
    ‘To the Women’s Group meeting this evening.’
    Realisation dawned. ‘I doubt it, but then, Hildie never was aware of
anything much other than herself. She probably hasn’t even noticed anything’s
happened apart from discovering her tanning bed isn’t working.’
    ‘It’s spray-on,’ I responded with a thin smile as he peered into the
cupboard and began to root around.
    ‘There they are. I knew we had some.’ He pulled a red box from the
shadows and turned to face me as he stood, holding it out towards me so that I
could see the picture of candles on top.
    I nodded, my thoughts still dwelling on the meeting that was scheduled
for that evening. ‘Should I make some sandwiches just in case?’
    ‘Is that what I think it is?’ he asked, turning to the view out of the
window beside him as regular tapping began to filter into the room from outside.
    ‘I sounds like…’ My mouth hung open slightly as I went over to stand
beside Bob and stared out into the large back yard with its flower borders,
seeing Chrissie playing jump rope and counting off each skip.
    ‘I didn’t even know she had one,’ I commented. ‘She must have dug it out
of the back of her wardrobe.’
    We stood and watched her as our sense of surprise was replaced by
melancholy in the face of her childhood innocence. Her rediscovery of simple
joy thanks to the absence of electricity or phone reception