Heckel Casey

Madeline's cackle followed by two more energy balls pitched by Barker. I quickly jumped forward, missing them. I felt my hand on my sword. Wrapping my fingers around the hilt, I threw the sword with all my might. It landed dead center in Madeline's heart. The speed of the sword was so fast I saw that it startled Barker. Before he could react, I bolted upright and threw myself on top of him. We wrestled on the ground. I reached down and grabbed his wrists so he could not summon his magic balls of fire.

'Sorry I'm late,' a voice from overhead said. I glanced up and saw Jerky.

The young woman instantly transformed into the large cat and immediately ripped into Barker, biting on his head and neck. I felt the man go limp, thinking he was dead. When I looked down, he was gone.

Jerky transformed back to the young woman. She walked over to Madeline who was still sitting upright with my sword lodged deeply into her chest. She tried feebly to pull it out.

'So Madeline, what can I say? You tried. You gave it your best shot, but it's time to send you away. You lost.'

With blood dribbling out of her mouth, she laughed. 'Maybe for now, but evil always has a way of surviving. Mankind is drawn to it like a moth to a light. Just look at your miserable history. The scales will tip in our favor once again. We will-'

'Oh, shut up,' I said, yanking the sword out of her chest and with a powerful swing of my arm, decapitated the bitch.

'Time to kill the body,' Jack yelled and all my soldiers raced forward to finish the battle.

I sat down exhausted. Jerky was by my side.

'I thought you were dead,' I said softly putting my arm around the young woman.

'Hard to kill an angel,' she said. 'We're pretty tough. We have to be, hanging around with humans all the time. You put us in some pretty awkward situations like rock climbing or hang gliding. Not the smartest things to do if you ask me.'

I laughed. We sat there watching the demons trying to fight or run. It didn't take too long to finish business.

Jack came staggering back and sat down next to me. We all sat in silence for a long time.

The afternoon sun was sliding down to connect with the horizon as we rode into our camp. Sela was standing by our tent. I watched her fall to her knees, as did many of the other women.

I rode Hope into our camp, dismounted and immediately Sela wrapped her arms around my neck. The squeeze of her arms began to cut off my air supply. I reached up and took her arms, gently pulling them away so I wouldn't pass out.

'Is it over?' she asked.

'Yes. Madeline is no more and her demon army is destroyed. We are back on the right track.'

She kissed me for the longest time.

'Oh my,' Sela said.

I saw her reach down and hold her stomach.

'My water just broke,' she said with a huge smile on her face. 'Our baby is coming.'

Vonnie immediately went into action. She barked commands like a general on a battlefield. Missy took Hope away. Vonnie helped Sela lay down on the ground near the fire pit.

'Heckel, grab your sleeping bag and bring it out here,' Vonnie shouted. 'Jack, go fill some buckets with water.'

We both stood wide-eyed and dumbfounded. My feet felt like they had just sunk deep roots into the ground.

Vonnie clapped her hands several times and shouted, 'Move it, now!'

Jack and I nearly collided as we rushed to complete our task. When I returned with the sleeping bag, I opened it up so Sela would be able to stretch out on top. She used part of it to cover her legs.

'Now, Heckel, go find some old shirts we can use.' This time I did trip over a rock.

'Be careful,' Sela shouted. 'And hurry back. I need to hold onto to you.'

I came back with several old cotton T-shirts. Jack had filled a large bucket of water. Vonnie instructed him to build up the fire and heat the water.

For the next twenty minutes, I held Sela's hand and helped her bring our son into the world. 'He's magnificent,' I said as Vonnie passed our new baby over to Sela.

'Did we ever come up with a name?' I asked Sela as I wiped the sweat from her brow.

'No, we didn't,' she answered, staring at the baby wrapped in one of my old shirts.

'How about…' I started to suggest a name as my son slowly grabbed my finger.

'Heckel Junior,' Sela said smiling at me.

I began to protest when everyone around us agreed heartily. My son looked at me and smiled.

'See, he likes his new name,' Sela said.

'Fine. Heckel Junior it is.'

Epilogue

Little by little, small groups of my followers-no, my friends-left the camp. As each family or individual left, they would stop by to thank me and wish us well. My smile muscles got a heavy workout.

The fall season was a mild one, much to everyone's relief. In fact, your typical cloudy, rainy Oregon put on its best behavior and blessed us with warm, sunny days. Sela recovered quickly and began her new role as the world's best mom. Of course, neither of us got much rest for a couple of weeks. We looked like rejects from a zombie movie because of the lack of sleep. Jack's hunting skills kept us fed and we were much indebted to him and Vonnie for taking such good care of us.

About three weeks later, it was time for us to go. Jack and his family decided to go with us. We packed up everything and started a trek toward the coast. It wasn't long before we found two small farms near each other. That winter was a bit tough, but we survived.

The following spring was a special one. As Sela and I took a walk, we were in awe of how everything was so fresh and vibrant. It felt like the world was…brand new.

'What now?' Sela asked as she repositioned the carrier holding Junior.

'We sow, we reap, and we live a good life,' I said, letting fresh dirt sift through my fingers.

The decades passed and our world slowly rebuilt itself. One day several people came to our farm and asked if I'd be president. Oh, hell no, I thought. I respectfully declined and told them my leadership days were over. They thanked me. As our communications and media returned, we were informed of our government being restored. The person leading our new country did a fine job getting us back to our Founding Fathers' principles.

It felt so good to trust people again. Virtues such as kindness and patience were restored along with common courtesies. And above all, respect. I had to smile one day when Sela and I went into a nearby store. I held the door open for a young lady and she said, 'Thank you.' Those two simple words made everything we had fought for worth it.

Heckel Junior grew to be a charming young man. His two sisters also were perfect kids, taking so much after their mother. We were very proud parents.

I was in my mid-seventies when it started again. By it, I mean, the appearance of evil. At first, I just couldn't believe it. I even had to take my glasses off and rub my eyes. I must have been noticeably troubled because Sela came out the front door, walked across the porch and sat next to me. She put her hand on my knee. 'What is it, Heckel?'

I shook my head slowly and tried to tell her it was nothing. She kissed me on the cheek and went back into the house to finish baking chocolate chip cookies, my favorite.

Picking up a pair of binoculars from a small, wicker table, I focused the lens. Gradually, his appearance