The Seventh Seal by J. Thorn Read Free Book Online Page A

found.
    “Can’t you do better than that?’
    “I’m a vet, not a doctor.”
    The priest rolled his eyes and did not press the matter
further.  Alex considered them lucky to have his services, even if most of his
experience had been ridding dogs of fleas.  He walked amongst the cots to check
on the Warriors injured during the First Cleansing.
    Alex circled around to the man they had called John the
Revelator.  He noticed the white band revealed by a missing wedding ring.  A
small, wry chuckle rose in his throat as he realized the priests would not
notice the slight discoloration in skin.  He felt a twinge of guilt for using
the narcotics on the man he believed to be named John, but he could not afford
to have him confront the priests before he had a chance to hear John’s story. The
drugs that Alex used on John would be wearing off soon.  For John’s sake, Alex
hoped he would be on duty when John awoke.
    He found a dry-cleaning tag in one of John’s pockets. 
Another slight smile spread across his face as he hid the ticket in his own
pocket.  The meaningless artifact of genteel daily living took him on a mental
tangent.  Then he thought of his wife and children, and how they were subjected
to the rites of the “Holy Covenant”.
    An old transistor radio hissed from the nearby windowsill of
one of the basement’s windows.  Alex imagined a nun using the antenna to beat
the knuckles of a student for misspelling the word “catechism”.  He was about
to shut it off when a human voice cut through the static.
    “Sons of Liberty rise and toss the Covenant to the fire. 
They are not doing God’s will.”
    Alex froze.  The phrase repeated, then disappeared.  He
looked about at the soldiers on the cots as well as the two priests tending to
them.  Alex held his breath, awaiting a reaction.  He moved closer and turned
the volume down with a disguised motion.  As if on cue, voices rematerialized
from the mono speaker.
    “Hail the riff.  You know where, Sons of Liberty.  Get there
soon.  Two horns up.”
    Alex pretended to work on John the Revelator for another
thirty minutes, hoping the voice would return.  It did not, so he memorized the
phrase.  Writing it down could become too costly if the commander in charge
became overzealous with the body searches.  Alex stored it in his mind and
began to hum “The Burning Time”, by Threefold Law.
    ***
    John slid one eye open, enough to get a blurred view through
an eyelash.  If he could maintain the ruse of unconsciousness, he might have a
chance to escape.  It would take about one minute of conversation before the
priests would see through his unintentional disguise.  He thought about
confiding in the doctor, but hesitated.  He needed more reassurance before
taking that risk.
    The radio on the sill bleated intermittently throughout
John’s time on the cot.  John could make out “liberty” and “to the fire”, but
nothing else. 
    ***
    “Don’t look at me.  Keep working as you are,” John said in a
hushed voice.  He kept his lips tight as he spoke.
    “I thought you were coming around.  Your muscle movement
betrayed you.  Don’t worry, only a trained eye would see it.”  Alex pulled the
surgical mask up over his mouth as he spoke, concealing the movement of his
jaw.  “Who are you?” he asked.
    “My name is John.  I’m not the Revelator or whatever shit
they say I am.  They think I’m a priest, and as soon as they realize I’m not,
I’m dead.  So if you’re not going to help me, sound the alarm and end it now. 
I have no desire to suffer more than I have to.”
    “Calm down, you fucking hothead.  If I was part of the
Covenant your ass would be hanging on a cross down in Public Square.  My name
is Alex and you’re damn lucky your threads are legit.  If they knew you stole
these, man, you’d be in a world of hurt.  Ever heard of the Inquisition?”
    “What’s that?  A metal band?”
    “Don’t be an asshole.  I’m