the lobby and around the security desk. The janitor was just about to close the door when he saw us.
Wait, wait, wait!
For a split second I could tell he was going to slam the door shut anyway, but a moment of soul searching caused him to wait. “Thank you,” I blurted as I dragged Jennifer through the doorway.
We entered a long hallway that appeared to be a maintenance tunnel. Behind me I heard a woman scream. Turning, I saw the praying woman from the elevator. An angel had grabbed her just as she followed us through the doorway. I could see the angel’s hands pulling on her, one around her waist and the other on her face. I could see his wings wedging into the doorway as she struggled against him, pulling, screaming, trying to get into the hallway with us as the angel pulled her back into the lobby. Before I could react the janitor tried to slam the door shut. The door hit the woman in the face and then caught her arm as it closed. It slammed hard against her elbow, and I could see a small portion of a wing caught in the door near the hinges. Pressing against the door with his shoulder, the man released it suddenly and then slammed it hard again.
During the momentary release the woman’s arm began to pull out into the lobby, but the door caught her fingers in the second slam. One of her fingertips was pinched off and fell to the floor in the hallway. Several small white pieces of feather floated to the floor, landing not far from the bloody fingertip. I could hear the woman screaming on the other side of the door for several seconds, until she suddenly went quiet. Several panicked people were still yelling in the hallway behind me as the janitor locked it and began pushing all of us down the corridor. Behind us I could hear the screams of the judged from the lobby, and something pushing hard against the door.
Chapter 2
Vengeance Is Mine, Sayeth The Lord
"Behold, I am coming quickly, to render to every man
according to what he has done.”
~Revelation 22:12
The next room was a maintenance office and storage area. The large room, lined with work benches and shelves along most of the walls, smelled of paint and oil. An old crappy TV sat on a desk in the far corner. Six of us had piled into the room, the sounds of the chaos in the lobby following behind us.
“What the hell is going on?” asked one particularly panicked man I had never seen before. It was a big building and I generally only knew the people in my particular office. Several responses came, everything from a terrorist attack to the end of days. A sudden debate about religion broke out while the janitor slammed his fist on the top of the TV as if that would speed up its coming on.
Some static and channel surfing suddenly gave way to the unpleasant yet familiar tone of the Emergency Broadcast System. No face came on the screen, no voice through the speakers. Just the constant droning of that annoying tone as words began scrolling across the screen.
“This is the National Emergency Broadcast System. The Department of Homeland Security has issued the following statement; the nation is currently experiencing widespread acts of civil disobedience involving unknown persons. It is advised that all citizens remain indoors. Do not venture outside; do not open your door for anyone you do not know. The US Government, along with the National Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, and FEMA are in the process of establishing martial law for the safety and security of all citizens. Please respect the commands of any government official or representative you may encounter. First responders such as police, fireman, and paramedics are urged to use caution and restraint until assistance