Behold A Pale Horse

“Think we’ll make it?” Larry asked.

Murry shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Don’t know, man,” he replied.

Larry opened up the cooler and pulled out a beer. He popped the top off and began to guzzle the Bud. The noises outside were still the same. Great humming and buzzing noises.

“Wonder what’s going on out there,” Larry said.

“Stick your head out and see,” Murry told him.

Larry shook his head. “I’m not wondering that much,” he said.

They were silent again. The Marine still lay in the corner, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

“Is he doing any better?” Larry asked.

“Can’t tell,” Murry replied.

“He was stupid,” Larry replied.

Murry nodded. “Thought he was being a hero,” he said.

“Still stupid,” Larry said.

The noises continued. Every so often an orange light would pass by the lone basement window, casting a strange light on those taking refuge within. Larry, Murry, Clancy, and the wounded Marine, all hiding from the world outside.

“I wonder if anyone else made it to safety,” Larry said.

“I’m trying not to think about that,” Murry said.

Larry nodded. “Sorry I brought it up,” he said.

Murry shook his head. “It would be brought up sooner or later anyway. Best to just deal with it.”

“How do you deal with something like this?” Larry asked.

Murry shrugged his shoulders. “If I answer,” he said, “That gives the impression that something like this has happened before. That’s not the case though. I can guarantee you nothing like this has happened before.”

“Maybe it has,” Larry said.

“How do you figure that?” Murry inquired.

“Maybe this has happened before,” Larry said, “But those things weren’t perceived the same. Maybe they were called gods.”

Murry tilted his head in thought. “It’s an idea,” he said, “Though I doubt it’s worth much.”

“I doubt that too,” Larry replied.

The Marine moaned again. The wound in his side was looking worse and worse.

“He ain’t gonna live much longer,” Larry said.

Murry nodded and took a sip of his beer. Murry did not guzzle or chug beer as most men did. He sipped it, slowly, almost like wine.

“What should we do for him?” Larry asked.

“Kindest thing we can do is put him out of his misery,” Murry said, “Probably the best thing we can do. If the pain gets worse and he starts screaming, he’s liable to attract those things. We take care of him before that happens, we buy ourselves a little more time.”

“I don’t like it,” Larry said.

“I didn’t say it would be easy,” Murry said.

“It’s too bad,” Larry said, “He might have been of some help to us.”

Murry shook his head. “He’s no officer,” he said, “An officer would be of help. He would have just been a follow orders man. Those are never useful. They can’t think for themselves. They rely on command to do the thinking for them. And at a time like this, when command is gone, they think they can fall back on the bravado and spirit they saw in the recruiting posters. This guy’s finding out that can’t be done the hard way.”

“He had good intentions,” Larry said.

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Murry said, “All he did when he charged at the things was get himself noticed and knocked down. You saw how easy they did it. Almost nothing.”

Larry nodded. “Not just him either,” he said.

“That’s right,” Murry said as he took another sip of beer, “Everyone. I don’t think I’ll forget that sight. As long as I live, which might not be very long at all, I’ll remember that. You saw it, didn’t you?”

“I was concentrated on running,” Larry said.

“I turned,” Murry said, “They were towering in the air, coming on down the street, ripping everything up. It was like one of those science fiction B-movies, you know, like, Attack of the Crawling Eye, except it was really happening. And all the people running. All of them, screaming and running. I saw the unlucky ones. They just blew them aside, like refuse.”

“Stop it man,” Larry said.

“I cannot,” Murry said, “I cannot stop. They didn’t either. They kept coming in those metal contraptions. Great colossi from beyond the stars come to reek havoc on the human race. I’ve never seen anything like them before.”

“Hopefully we won’t see them again,” Larry replied.

Murry nodded. “I hope to God you’re right,” he said as he took another sip.

The Marine suddenly tensed up with a gasp. Then he went limp and ceased to breath.

“That was quieter than I expected,” Murry said.

“And behold, I saw a pale horse,” Clancy said, breaking his sudden silence. His words, taken from the book of the Bible devoted to the end of the world, had a ghoulish and macabre tone to them, uttered in the basement of an old church.

Murry nodded, “A pale horse indeed.”

The men were silent yet again for a time. Then Larry spoke up again. “Do you think we’ll make it?”

Murry shrugged his shoulders. “Ninety percent chance of thunderstorms,” he said, “Ten percent chance for partly cloudy skies.”

The noises continued on as the three men sat in silence, waiting for their pale horses to come galloping up.