Morning Star Full Novel

Chapter 23

Private first class Jack Adams looked to his watch. It read 0535. The recognizance team had been out for more than six hours and had settled in for the surveillance of the city. The sun had cracked the plane of the horizon and shot forth-long shadows across the tall grass prairie.
"How long have we been sitting here?" Pvt. Easton asked.
"About three hours," Adams replied.
"How long are we supposed to sit here?"
"Until the captain contacts us on the radio with orders."
"What if he is dead? What if the his radio is broken?"
Adams sat silent for a moment looking out upon the city two miles before him. He again looked to his watch and took a deep breath. "I’ll give him till 0600."
"Then what?"
"Then we’ll head back!" Adams shouted.
"Why don’t you just contact him?" another man asked.
"We have strict radio protocol we follow. I am just following orders!"
The ATV sat quiet, parked in the tall grass close enough to observe the city, but not close enough to be detected. Movement could be seen around the city and a steady stream of smoke rose from one of the buildings inside. Through the binoculars, Adams could make out tiny figures all about the city. He could not tell if they were human.
"How many rounds do we have left for the pop gun?" Adams asked the machine gunner at the back of the ATV.
"About eight hundred rounds I think. They won’t last long at thirty rounds a second," the gunner replied.
"I have movement!" Easton yelled pointing to the sky above. The men looked up and strained to find the object he was pointing at. "It’s one of those flying things that attacked us when we parachuted!"
"Keep down!" Adams whispered. "I don’t think it has seen us."
The winged creature flapped its great leathery wings in graceful arcs as it slid though the blue sky above. Nothing but wispy clouds surrounded the creature overhead.
"Crap!" Easton said as he watched the creature slowly bank to the right and circle above the ATV like a vulture. "Kill it!" he whispered to his commander.
"No!" Adams whispered back. "Not until it is a direct threat. I don’t want to alert anymore of these things to our position."
The creature broke off its circling pattern and slowly descended to the ground landing thirty feet in front of the ATV. It folded its wings and stepped forward parting the tall grass with its seven-foot frame. The gunner held it in his sights.
Adams stood in his seat and drew his pistol on the creature and yelled. "Stop!" The creature stood still, blinking its red eyes, examining the ATV. Sniffing the air around the men, it flared its nostrils and dipped its head examining the ground. The creature raised its canine head and looked at Adams in a curious way, as if he were trying to place his face.
"It’s a freaking animal! Shoot it!" Easton yelled.
"Shut up!" Adams barked back not taking his eyes off the creature. His gun sighted on its massive head.
"I may be many things, but an animal I am not," the creature spoke through its toothy jaw.
Adams lowered his gun a few inches and curled his brow, shocked that the creature just spoke to him. He waited a moment to suck this all in and then asked, "What are you?"
The creature stepped forward, then stood on its thin gangly hind legs raising its wings. "What do you think I am?" it asked.
Adams thought for a moment. "I have no idea what you are, but if you take one more step forward you will be a dead one for sure."
"Who are you?" it asked.
"Pvt. First class Jack Adams U.S. Marines," he replied.
"Are you the son of man?"
One of the men in the back seat spoke up and said to Adams, "I think he’s talking about…"
"I know what he’s talking about. I spent more time in Sunday school than I care to remember. I never thought it would actually come in handy some day," he replied to the solder. Adams raised the gun again to the creature and pointed it between his red eyes and said, "No, I am not the son of man. Are you supposed to be some sort of demon?"
"Some sort you ask? I am the real thing Pvt. First class Jack Adams."
"You’re searching for the messiah? What makes you think he is here?"
"He is here, somewhere. The Morning Star has seen to that."
"Morning Star? Who the hell is the Morning Star?"
"He is the master of this domain."
"Satan?"
"That is one of his many names," it replied.
"So this is Hell?" Adams said with a chuckle.
"You find this funny?"
"No I don’t. If this is Hell then what is that city doing over there?"
The creature turned its head and looked over its shoulder at the city behind it. "Have you ever heard of Sodom?"
"The city destroyed by God? You’re telling me that he sent the city of Sodom into Hell?"
"You will soon see for yourself. It is just a matter of time."
"What do you mean by that?" Adams asked, his arms aching from holding up his pistol.
"You will soon become a permanent resident of the city."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"I do not plan anything. It is the masters plan."
"Looks like I can do pretty much as I please. I could put a bullet in your skull if I wanted."
"True. You still have free will. God gave that to you. Once you are reborn into Hell, all freedoms will be rescinded."
"How does one become reborn?"
The creature licked its lips and bared its teeth. "All souls he takes, he claims for his own."
"Takes? So you are saying as long as I am alive he has no power over me."
"Correct, but it is only a matter of time for you are trapped here for eternity. You can not live forever."
Adams felt a hot flush as the message struck home. Gritting his teeth, he pulled off a single shot between the creatures’ eyes knocking it back to the ground. It sat motionless.
"Is it dead?" Easton yelled.
"I don’t know. Get us the hell out of here!" Adams shouted to the driver and sat back in his seat.
The driver started the ATV and put it into gear. With a spin of the tires on the grass, they turned around trying to avoid running over the creature on their way back to camp. The gunner sat on his pedestal locked into position ready to fire upon any other creatures that may follow.
"There’s another one! Turn around!" one of the men yelled.
"There all around us!" another screamed.
From all directions, swooping down were the leathery winged creatures attacking the ATV. The men pulled their guns and fired at them as the ATV bounced along the uneven surface.
"We’re not going to make it back to camp!" Easton yelled.
"Head for the city!" Adams yelled to the driver. "If we’re going down then we’re taking out as many of them as we can!"
With that order, the driver turned the ATV around and headed towards the city at 50 mph.