The Flames of Hope Ch 16

Chapter 16~Some Bonding Time
It had been about 6 hours of driving before we arrived in Salt Lake City. We pulled over for awhile in order to allow everyone to have a restroom break.

“Alright everyone,” I called to them. “We are leaving in half an hour with or without you.”

Everyone nodded before they all went into their respective directions. The city was mostly disserted in my area and I walked over to an electronics store with a few TV’s in the window. There was a special alert on television with a news anchor I didn’t recognize started with her news story.

“That’s right John,” she began. “A large number of people all over the country have dressed in zombie costumes and started marching down streets. When questioned if this was some kind of protest, they weren’t using any kind of response and simply moaned. More on this story as it develops. In an unrelated note, ocean currents off the east and west coast seem to have changed as large storms are forming off the coast…”

After that I walked away and thought about what this could mean. If Hades had already fallen, the Underworld would be in chaos and the dead may not pass on to the afterlife or even worse, the dead could be coming back. I just hoped they didn’t feed on brains, or maybe I have been watching too many zombie movies. What would happen if I became a zombie?

“You wouldn’t look nearly as good,” said a man on a bench. He looked to be in his early 50’s and was in a jogging suit. I didn’t pay him much attention until I remembered I hadn’t said that thought out load.

“Dad?” I asked and a small smile kept onto his face, but it wasn’t the large familiar smile I was used to. “Aren’t you too busy delivering messages or something?”

He looked down at his phone which hadn’t made a sound the entire time he was sitting there so maybe it was just on silent.

“Not a whole lot of deliveries these days,” he said and the small smile that had been on his face disappeared, but I knew what he meant. With all the gods being captured, I guess sending a letter from one god to the other isn’t at the top of his To-Do list. “So how has your trip been?”

“Oh you know how it is on the open road; a monster here, a god trying to kill you there,” I answered trying to lighten the mood, but it still felt like there was a dark cloud over us.

“I know what that’s like. You should hear about the time I drove from New York to Disney World. It took me over eleven seconds,” he said as if there was some kind of amazing story behind it, but for some reason the fact that it probably took him less than half a minute to get there made me wonder what could happen in such a short amount of time.

“Maybe later,” I said as I waved my hand as if to brush him off.

“I hope there is a later,” he mumbled under his breath, but then looked up at me with a smile that was hard to look at, possibly because I knew it was a fake one. “Sure, after this whole mess is done with we’ll go on a road trip.”

“So is there anything else?” I asked, trying to break the awkward silence that had developed.

“Nope,” he said as he rose from his feet. “I just wanted to see you,” he said as he placed a hand on my head and pushed it down a bit as he rubbed it. I felt it lift from my head, but when I looked up the elderly jogger was nowhere to be seen.

“Bye Dad, it was good seeing you,” I said to the winds that blew around me, hoping the message would somehow reach him.

“Who are you talking too?” Sammy said as he walked up to me. I hadn’t noticed his approach and I guessed I was just too in thought. I probably looked pretty sill just talking to myself next to a bench.

“No one, just thinking out loud,” and then I tried to change the subject. “So you’re about to have a birthday soon, right?”

“Tomorrow actually,” he said back, but I could hear the annoyed tone in his voice and I knew it wasn’t the best topic. He still wasn’t claimed and I was the one that promised him that he would be claimed by then. Now I felt like an idiot for saying it. “I just kind of wish it would happen already, and if it doesn’t, then my parent is missing out.”

“Right, good point,” I said as I wrapped a hand around his shoulder and we headed back toward the car. Unfortunately, I was doing the same thing my father was doing when we talked. As I talked to Sammy, I too had a fake smile across my face as I wondered how things could get any worse. Although, the fact that things couldn’t get much worse was a relief from my mind. That was until we passed the park and like a wave, the green grass and trees turned a sick shade of brown as they seemed to die.

“So should we check that out?” I asked.

“Couldn’t hurt,” he said as he pulled a sword out of his sheath and I did the same with my hammer. Why couldn’t things just be simple for a change?

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive