Bad Turned Worse: A Summary of the Apocalypse

Introduction The flames of the wildfire rose into the sky above the pines, lunging higher and higher like bloodthirsty dragons rushing into battle. Glowing tree trunks sparked and fell, crumbling into red-hot ash. A line of firefighters stood bravely holding their ground, doing their best to contain the fire, but they were slowly failing. The only real hope for containment came in the form of rain, but as the fire had started because of the dead dry June weather, that seemed highly unlikely. So the fire raged onward, drifting closer to the small Colorado town that lay huddled behind it's protective fire-lines. A hospital sat near the edge of the small Colorado town, and in that hospital lay a tall, beautiful woman. Her hair was a dark reddish brown, and her green eyes were wide and intelligent. The power and grace that surrounded her was not diminished by the fact that she was in the middle of giving birth. “Almost there.” the doctor next to her encouraged, keeping a nervous eye on the fire, clearly visible through the window. The hospital was on pre-evacutation notice, even though the town had been reassured multiple times that they were in no danger. “It's getting closer.” one of the nurses remarked, and whether she was talking about the fire or the arrival of the baby, it was unclear. It turned out to be both as the fire flared up again, and as the baby appeared with a wail. The fire was forgotten as the room rushed to take care of the newborn. Several minutes later, the rather ugly creature was gently placed into the arms of the beautiful woman. She stared down at it's face. “It's a girl.” the doctor informed her. The woman nodded and handed the baby back to him. “Joan.” was all she said, “I want her named Joan.” “Alright.” the doctor turned to hand the baby to a nurse. When he looked back at the hospital bed, it was empty. Outside of the window, rain began to fall. Thick and heavy rain, instantly cooling the dry, fiery air and crashing down on the raging flames. Sixteen years later: I've had some bad birthdays. Once I fell off the roof of my house and broke my arm. Another time I ate some cake and ended up swallowing a fake cockroach that my cousin had placed there as a prank. On my fourteenth birthday I threw up six times. But none of those times compared to the thing that happened on my sixteenth birthday. Granted, nothing physical harmed me at the time. I just ended up lying on a balcony, fatally bleeding out from a large knife wound about a month after. Later, I would wonder how such a simple thing as a vision from an archangel would set in motion world-changing events. Life, I decided. Only life could do that to you. Everleigh O'Hara was the beginning of everything. She and I were in the same grade, but we were never friends. At 5'5 and 125 pounds, with long blonde hair and gray eyes she already had her position as popular solidified. She was one of those intelligent, funny cowgirl types who seemed to wear nothing but jeans, cowboy boots and button-up shirts. Nice as she was to everyone, I couldn't help but feel as thought she always treated me as though I were a bit dumb. I couldn't help but agree with that sentiment, however it still irked me. In opposition, I was about three inches taller and twenty pounds heavier than her. My hair was not long and blonde, it was mid-neck length and a dusty reddish brown. Instead of her sparkling personality, I had a weird sense of humor, low intelligence and a habit of cowardice. While she was at parties, surrounded by half the other kids our age, I was wrestling down sick calves and getting kicked by the ungrateful bovines in the process. So it really made no sense that fate threw us together: a scruffy young ranch hand and a flawless rodeo queen. Which just goes to show that it's always the unexpected things that can do the most. I mean, show me another strange pair that ended up simultaneously destroying the world and saving it. As far as I know, there ain't one. “Hey, Joan.” Everleigh's voice spoke from behind me. It was June third, near five in the evening, and I was sitting at the end of a long driveway, fixing a barbed-wire fence. Incidentally, the fence and the driveway both belonged to Everleigh's parents as I worked part time on their ranch. That little fact did nothing to help my relationship with Everleigh, either. For a second I thought about ignoring her, but I finally twisted around and squinted up at her, “Yeah?” I noticed with no small amount of irritation that she was dressed in her customary shiny black cowboy boots and her clean pink western shirt, with her hair curling around her shoulders. It's hard to not be irritated when you're kneeling in the dust wearing a pair of worn out jeans, battered Ariat boots, and an oversized old shirt, with your hair flying about your sweaty face since you only secured it back with bobby pins. “Are you finished?” she asked, gesturing to the watch on her wrist, “It's five o'clock.” “Oh.” I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time, then stood up, “Yeah. At least with this part.” “Alright. My parents sent me out with this.” she handed me a check and stepped forward to exam the fence. I accepted the money, and tucked it and my gloves into my pocket. “Looks nice.” Everleigh remarked, “That was bothering me.” “Well, glad I could help.” I responded awkwardly. There was silence for another couple of minutes before Everleigh spoke again, “Do you need a ride home?” “No, I just live over there. It's a ten minute walk at most. Thanks though.” I started backing up towards the gate. “OK. Well....” she trailed off and put a hand to her head. I paused and looked at her, “Are you alright?” “Yeah, fine, thanks.” she gave me a weak smile and waved me off. I moved hesitantly, watching her to make sure she wasn't going to pass out. When I was satisfied that she was alright, I turned and headed briskly down the road. I had barely walked five steps, though, before I heard a light squeak, then a loud thud behind me. Sure enough, when I glanced back, Everleigh was lying face down in the dirt. Before I could stop myself, I started giggling. Finally she was the one who tripped and not me. But as I wandered towards her, I realized that she wasn't moving. “Everleigh?” I called. She showed no signs of life. Now I was a little concerned. Hopefully she hadn't just keeled over and died on me. “Everleigh.” I repeated, kicking her arm slightly. Still nothing. Trying not to worry too much, I crouched next to her, and rolled her over on her back. Her eyes were shut, and fluttering like she was in REM sleep. Did she had narcolepsy? “Everleigh!” I shouted and slapped her lightly. Her hand twitched in response, but that was it. Pulling out my phone I called her parents. “Hello? Yeah, um your daughter just passed out at the end of the driveway.” I told Mr. O'Hara when he answered. Three minutes later, he and his wife appeared in their large red pickup. “What happened?” Mrs. O'Hara asked when they got out. “I don't know. I started walking off and then she fell down.” I replied, gesturing to her prone body. “Might be heatstroke.” Mr. O'Hara said, then looked back up at me, “We'll take it from here, thanks Joan.” He leaned down and picked Everleigh up. She still remained comatose. I watched them set her in the back of the pickup and back up their driveway before walking away. Marlene was outside in the front yard when I walked up to my house. She had adopted me at birth, after my real mother gave me away. She was a nice looking, pleasantly plump, short woman in her late thirties with light brown skin and shiny pitch black hair. I always wondered why she had adopted me right off the bat, instead of waiting to marry and have her own children. She never volunteered the information though, and I never asked. “Hey!” she called as I walked up, “How was work?” “Fine. Everleigh passed out though. Don't know what's wrong with her.” I answered sitting down on the deck. Marlene finished watering her favorite rose bush and sat next to me. “Heatstroke maybe?” she offered. “Yeah. There was just something kinda weird about it. She's never passed out before.” I mentioned. “Well there's a first time for everything.” she said wisely. “True, I guess.” I agreed and we sat silently for several minutes. Marlene's old tomcat, Henry wandered up to us and wound himself around our legs. I seized him and wrapped him up in a hug. Marlene watched us, half-smiling before she looked over her shoulder at the house. “I've got to go make a call.” she said, “You can stay out here though.” she patted my shoulder, then got up and walked into the house. I watched her go. “You can stay here” was code for “leave me alone, this is private”. Usually she didn't make private phone calls, so I casually stood up and wandered over to the screen door. Leaning against the side of the house, I strained my ears and to my surprise, heard two voices. “Should I tell her? She's sixteen now.” Marlene sounded anguished. The other voice, also a woman's, but older and stronger somehow answered with, “Not yet. I don't want her worrying prematurely.” “Prematurely? I don't think it's too soon. I've been watching the weather and just gets crazier and crazier each day. Besides, I've heard the Seals are still breaking.” “They are. Gabriel is taking care of that, at least he said he was. We need to let Joan go until the prophetess speaks to her.” “And when will that be?” Marlene asked. “Depends on Gabriel. You might have to explain some things, though. I don't trust him.” “Never met him, but I'll be happy to clarify.” “Goo-” the other woman's voice broke off, and I hastily stepped away from the door. Sitting down on the steps, I grabbed Henry and started roughly petting him right as Marlene stepped back onto the deck. “Made your call.” I asked brightly. She nodded, “Come in and wash up while I get supper going, K?” “Alright.” I set Henry aside and followed her into the house. As I walked through the kitchen, I carefully looked around for the other woman, but no one was there. Maybe I had imagined the conversation. But no, I wasn't that creative. “Hey, who were you talking to earlier?” I asked Marlene, “I thought I heard a second voice in here earlier.” “What?” she looked up at me from where she was peeling a potato. Her eyes narrowed and I stepped back, aware of the danger I had just awakened. “There was no one else in here.” Marlene said. Her tone wasn't necessarily harsh, but it was darn close, “I just called an old friend.” “Oh OK.” I nodded, and let it go. I was still pretty certain that I had heard what I heard, but I didn't want to push it. We both moved around the kitchen in silence for the next five minutes, before Marlene paused in front of the window. “Joan.” she said, snapping her fingers at me, “Everleigh just pulled up.” “Everleigh?” I leaned towards the window and saw her blue Ford sitting in the driveway, “What's she doing here?” “I don't know. Go talk to her.” Marlene encouraged. I reluctantly set the cloth I was holding down, and stepped past Marlene. For a second, I paused in the entryway of the house until Marlene's voice carried from the kitchen, “Get out there.” “You get out there.” I mumbled and opened the door. Everleigh was still in the truck when I walked out onto the deck. I crossed my arms, and waited for her to get out of the truck. “Hi.” she called. “What's up?” I replied flatly. She looked like she might vomit. “Um, I need to talk to you.”she answered. I mentally recoiled at the words, since I genuinely believed they would never be true between Everleigh and I. “Well alright.” I sat down on the steps, “Shoot.”