Page 61 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
“I guess my perspective has shifted. I’m feeling more glass half-full about things.”
Eric didn’t reply, but out of the corner of my eye I could see him watching me as we reached Sheep Meadow, a vast swath of green grass normally dotted with people sunbathing or tossing Frisbees. We had the whole place to ourselves, though, which felt special, likewe were the only people left in the city. Parking his bike on a paved pathway where he could keep an eye on it, he joined me on the lawn, sinking down next to me with a faint sigh.
“This feels weird,” he said after a while.
“Why?”
He gestured to the Midtown skyline in front of us, marred by plumes of dark smoke. Off in the distance, sirens wailed. “Doesn’t this bother you?”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “Of course it bothers me. But it’s almost over.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I have it on the highest authority. Like, literallythe highest.”
He studied me carefully as I opened the box of cereal and passed him a spoon. “You think this is all going to stop? The riots, the panic, the disappearances?”
“Yup. Now stop worrying and eat some cereal.”
Doubtfully, he dipped his spoon into the box while I popped the cap off the bottle of sparkling cider. Bubbles fizzed and danced as I took a sip, imagining as I did so that it was incredibly expensive champagne. Once things returned to normal, I promised myself, I’d track down a bottle of the good stuff and celebrate in style. For now, though, this would have to do.
We were quiet for a few minutes, passing cereal and cider back and forth while distant shouts washed over us, carried by a cool breeze. This was nice, I decided, in an apocalyptic sort of way. The grass was soft, the sunlight was warm, and though Eric looked decidedly tense, that would change once he realized we were going to be okay. Then we’d have nothing but time to figure out this whole relationship thing.
My feelings of contentment ended abruptly at the nearby soundof frightened yelling. Three people ran toward us across the grass, strung out in a line. In the lead was a middle-aged white woman with a backpack bouncing on her shoulders, eyes wide and mouth open. Behind her was a tall Black man wearing another backpack, followed by a teenaged girl who looked like their daughter. “Help us!” the woman screamed as she caught sight of us. “It’s coming!”
Eric rose to his feet and I scrambled upright as well, heart suddenly pounding. What did she mean,it’s coming…?
Reality stuttered and lurched sideways, and then the Thing hovered behind the teenager, one slender hand fastened around her arm. Her devouring was swift, punctuated by a single scream as her body disappeared into the swirling shadows of the Thing’s face. Then it flickered and reappeared behind her father, snatching him from the ground as if he weighed nothing. He twisted and fought, hands scrabbling at the sharp lines of the bloodred suit, but there was no escape. “Jessica, run!” he cried as he was shoved into that hungry darkness. Some twenty feet ahead, the woman went sprawling onto the grass with a pained grunt. As she started to push herself upright, spidery fingers tangled in her hair and hoisted her off the ground before she, too, was devoured.
It had taken mere moments to end their entire family.
No no no no no no.This couldn’t be happening. I’dstoppedthis. Where was Sukariel? I looked around as if I’d find the angel standing just over there, but there was no sign of it. Maybe it was calling up its toughest angel bros, the ones who’d done all the smiting and sword-swinging in the Bible, and a gang of heavily muscled angels was up there somewhere, cracking their knuckles and preparing to kick some Abomination butt. Yes. That had to be it. I turned to Eric, preparing to grab him and run, but a chill went through me when I realized he was frozen in place, gaze fixed on nothing, balanced onthe ball of his front foot as he tried to race toward the doomed family. Just like when the Thing had taken Ms.Kettering, the world around us had stopped, the distant sirens silenced.
We must stop meeting like this, the Thing greeted me as it floated closer, wingtips dangling above the grass.
“Are you following me?” I asked hoarsely.
You’re very special to me, Colin. You gave me my freedom. Do you know how long I was imprisoned?
“I do know,” I rasped, striving for a note of defiance, “because I know what you are. You’re an Abomination.”
Very good, it congratulated me.And do you know what that means? We are what lurks beneath the fragile veneer of civilization, the desires and impulses that your petty laws try to restrain. We arose from the darkest depths of humanity itself, given form and purpose by your endless capacity for evil. We cannot die.
I swallowed convulsively. “I know more than that. I know your name.”
I have many names. The Sumerians called me Ka Etutu, the Maw of Darkness. To the Egyptians I was Ammupeht, Swallower of the Waters and the Sky. Which name do you know?
“The-One-Who-Hungers.”
Ah, yes. The Canaanites named me that. Do you know why?Slowly, it drifted closer.I am the gnawing hunger of the starving child, the grasping hunger of the rich man, the bloody hunger of those who take from others. I am the emptiness that can never be sated. I am you, Colin, and your hunger for power. I amallof you, and soon enough, you will all be me.
As terrified as I was, a single question burned at the front of my brain. “Did—did you choose me?”
An emaciated hand reached out as if to stroke my face.Of course. Did you think it was a coincidence that we found each other?
The air left my lungs in a rattling wheeze, as if I’d been punched in the gut.
Your rage, your desperation, that hint of savagery lurking just below the surface—you smelled so delicious. Add a dash of imminent death and, well, I couldn’t resist. I knew you were just what I needed.
