The Seventh Seal by J. Thorn Read Free Book Online

She
pulled a jacket from the closet, just as the light went out.  At first, she
thought the bulb had died; but when she looked out the window, the entire
street sat in darkness.  A distant boom, like eager thunder, rattled the old
double-sash windows.
    She hobbled down the steps in the dark and stopped in the
kitchen.  The table and chairs lay scattered, and long gashes revealed the
inner padding of the living-room furniture.  A black mouth yawned at Jana where
the missing television once stood.  She glanced around the room, anticipating
movement and hoping not to see it.  Jana opened the fridge and finished the leftovers
from the Chinese restaurant she had visited with John the other night.  The
cold lo mien unsettled her stomach, but she managed to hold it down.
    Bright headlights flooded her living room and Jana heard men
yelling outside.  She crawled under the kitchen sink and pulled the cabinet
door shut with the towel rack.  The old pipe stuck in her back, and the smell
of dish detergent and brown lettuce made her gag.  Muffled sounds, a pause, and
then a crash broke the momentary silence.  Beams of light scurried across the
ceramic tile floor as if chasing cockroaches.  Jana took a breath through her
mouth, attempting to keep the odors from giving her away.
    “Nothing on this level, sir.”
    “Check upstairs.”
    Jana heard one set of boots leave, while the other did not
move.  The first man returned to the kitchen.
    “Lots of blood, but nobody.”
    “A body?”
    “No sir, but they’ve lost a lot of blood.  They either died
on the street or are bleeding out in a gutter somewhere.”
    “And do you want to take the chance that even one Infidel
survives?  Do you?” the man in charge screamed at the subordinate.
    “No sir.  I am a Warrior of Christ.”
    “Then find her.  We know she was the only one here.  The
head of the First Cleansing reported one Jane Doe in the bedroom.  Dead women
don’t walk.  Find her.”
    “Yes sir.”
    Jana heard the man run out of the kitchen and back through
the living room, his boots cracking off the hardwood floor.  She thought of the
time she and John spent sanding and staining the floor.  She thought of all the
money and sweat they put into rehabbing the tired, old house.  Jana forced the
tears to stay in place.
    The pair of boots remained after the other left.  He opened
the fridge, and Jana heard a hiss and pop, and realized he’d opened one of
John’s Iron City beers.  Her back throbbed from the pipe and her leg began to
twitch.  Every muscle in her body screamed to be free of the dark, confined
space.  The soldier chugged and discarded the beer with a careless toss.  The
bottle of Iron City met the ceramic tile with a pop, sending shattered glass
flying everywhere.  The boots moved toward the back door.  Jana heard them
clomp down the steps and rattle off the asphalt driveway.  She waited as long
as she could before coming out.
    The dark house sighed except where the three kitchen windows
invited a bit of light from the gray sky.  Jana knew she was alone, the
intruders convinced she was no longer there.  Her aching thigh reminded her of
the wound she suffered earlier.
    Suddenly a memory burst into her head: she recalled waving
to John from the window, teasing him with her naked sensuality.  She remembered
lying back down on the bed, pushing her face into his pillow, rollicking in his
scent.  A few minutes after he left, it sounded as if her house slid into the
depths of hell.  She recalled bellowing footsteps coming toward her bedroom,
leaving just enough time to draw the sheet up to her chin.  A flash of light, a
loud crack, and that was all she could remember.

 
    Chapter 12
     
“Do you think he’ll survive, Alex?”
    “He passed out. He’s not been shot in the head.”
    The priest looked at the man that came to serve reluctantly.
Alex brought rudimentary medical skills that would have to serve until a real
doctor could be