Path of the Horseman Read Free

began, but it was a cold place with
nothing to do but learn about the world above us. I’d been about
ready to lose my mind, when the seal was broken, and we were
free...
     
    Light seeped through the pinnacles over our
heads, dousing us in its warm glow. I breathed deeply, savoring the
taste of fresh air for the first time. It was cool and soft, a
gentle lover’s caress to my lungs.
    I stood up, and welcomed it.
    The four circles of light swelled and grew,
until they conjoined into one glorious, gold sphere. I wanted to
close my eyes and bask in it, but I feared that doing so would make
the light disappear and cast me back into darkness.
     
    My brothers converged to my side, each one of
them trembling with anticipation. We continued to stare as a
single, beautiful voice descended through the light and melted into
our ears.
     
    It is time.
     
    The sharp smell of petrol fumes took me out
of the memory, but didn’t change my mood. It was safe to say I was
more pissed off now, given how hard I shoved the gas pump back into
its holder.
     
    I yanked open the driver side door and threw
myself in, angrily restarting the SUV.
     
    The Cherokee finally coughed to life, my
saving grace to get the hell out of this dead city.
After six months here, I knew the streets well. I was able to find
a route and squeeze through the literally lifeless traffic and
drive out to the highway. Or the sandway, as I called it these
days.
     
    I hoped the long, quiet drive would calm me
down, but it only reminded me that I was the reason for the
silence.
     
    I was asked to create a virus that would wipe
out every living soul on the planet. With the amount of knowledge
force fed into my brain, deciding on the Plague was almost too
easy. Humans have feared the undead since the dawn of time. And why
wouldn’t they? What could be worse than shooting at an enemy that
feels no pain, no exertion, that travels in packs, and that
multiples faster than jackrabbits on ecstasy and speed? I thought
it would be funny to watch the humans, who had spent years thinking
they were prepared to handle an undead apocalypse thanks to media,
paranoia, and Hollywood, see just how unprepared they really
were.
     
    For the first few days, it was amusing. The
government tried to cover it up and get everyone to stock up on
survival kits and stay in their homes. They would handle the
situation, and it would all be over soon. That’s when Simon started
doing his part. He snuck into grocery stores with my help and
turned the food inedible. Even dried goods became scarce. He went
out into the wilderness and starved the animals and evaporated all
the water in the lakes. Simon turned forests into nothing but
dehydrated trees and sand.
     
    The humans began to lose their minds. Lack of
food was making them insane. They had to get outside and find food,
salvation, anything. Then it was Kade’s turn.
     
    He’d already been running around on his own,
setting everything and everyone he could see on fire, starting
mutinies in the armies, and aggravating packs of Plagued so they
would find their way into heavily populated areas. It was too easy
for him to turn man against man. He was right in the middle of it
all, laughing and smiling and covered in blood.
     
    Logan didn’t do as much as people might think
he did. Sure, he did his job and killed everyone he touched, but
there was always a heavy sadness around him when he did it. The
Plagued didn’t have souls after my virus killed them, but since
they were walking corpses, he focused on those who were still
living and breathing. He would appear out of nowhere, cloaked from
human eyes, and watch people die until it was time for him to make
their deaths permanent. Logan was the most powerful of us, able to
extend his skills across the world so he wouldn’t skip anyone.
Logan hated his job, but he was really fucking good at it.
     
    It took two months for the human population
to be cut in half. I figured the angels would be showing