“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.
“Then get the fuck out of here.”
“But—”
“Now, son.”
And that time, I didn’t correct him or tell him he wasn’t allowed to call me his son. I followed his instruction without further hesitation. It was time to get my girl out of there.
Smoke seemed to fill the sky around us, and I wasn’t sure if that was just in my head or not. No matter which road I tore down with Ayda wrapped around me, sirens sounded close by. No matter which direction I looked up at the sky, it was gray, taunted with ashes.
“Something’s not right,” I muttered to myself.
My skin prickled, but even though I wanted to turn around and head back to The Hut, I found myself listening to the memory of my father’s words.
Do you trust me?
Motherfucker.
I carried on through to the outskirts of Babylon, heading for the one place that was still a sanctuary to me.
Pete’s tree.
But demons lurked on those roads that day, and with death still lingering on my fingertips, I began to panic that all my sins were catching up with me.
Fire at the back.
Fire from the sides.
And now what looked like fire up ahead, rising from the tree that held all the memories of my long-lost brother and our time together as young boys.
“No,” I breathed in a panic, twisting the throttle to pick up speed. Ayda tensed around me, her arms tightening as she sensed the shift in my mood. Thick plumes of black smoke rose up the branches of the tree, spreading until the once green leaves on it turned chargrilled. Those damn sirens seemed to be following us now, and as I skidded to a halt at the side of the field, all I could do was drop my feet to the ground, stand up over my bike, and stare as my youth and memories turned to ash before my very eyes.
Hell had arrived on Earth—my own personal Hell.
Babylon was burning.
Just as I said it would.