The sound of a falling body echoed around the snack bar. The glowing substance flowing from the decapitated corpse slowly spread over the linoleum, making a quiet hiss.
Alexander calmly took a napkin from the table and began to wipe the blade of the sword, not paying attention to the shocked faces around.
- What the fuck?! - a young man in a police uniform woke up first.
He abruptly got up from his seat, snatching theтабельн "Glock" from the holster. My hands were shaking, but the trunk was aimed exactly at Alexander's chest.
- Put this fucking weapon down IMMEDIATELY! - the policeman shouted. - Hands behind your head!
"Kyle," Alexander recalled the character's name. "A young cop, nervous, but not a coward. He is one of the last to survive in the movie."
- Calm down, officer, - Alexander held out, leisurely hiding his sword under his coat. - I'm not an enemy.
- NOT AN ENEMY?! - Kyle was on the verge of hysteria. - You just KILLED an elderly woman! In front of my eyes! I cut off her HEAD!
"It wasn't a woman," Alexander objected.
- WHAT?!
The rest of the visitors were clinging to the walls. Charlie stood at the counter, pale as chalk, pressing her hands to her stomach. An elderly couple - Howard and Sandra - held hands, not understanding what was happening. Young soldier Jeep looked intensely at the door, ready for battle.
- She was an angel, - Alexander calmly explained. - An angel sent to kill Charlie's child.
- Are you fucking? - Kyle didn't put the gun down. - What angel? What kind of child?
- The one in her stomach, - Alexander nodded at Charlie. - If he is born, the end of the world is canceled. Therefore, God decided to act radically.
Silence reigned. Everyone looked at him like a madman.
- Listen to me carefully, buddy, - Kyle said slowly. - You just killed a defenseless old woman. And now you're talking about angels and the end of the world. Put your sword down and raise your hands. Slowly.
Alexander grinned:
- You know what, Kyle? You can try to shoot. But then I'll break your hand with which you push the trigger. And it will hurt. It hurts a lot.
There was no threat in his voice - only a statement of fact. Kyle felt goosebumps running over his skin.
- How do you know my name? - he whispered.
- It's a long story, - Alexander shrugged. - You'd better listen to what I'm telling you. In a few minutes, a real hell will begin. And I'm the only one who knows what's going on.
- Some kind of nonsense, - Howard muttered. - Sandra, we're leaving here.
- You won't go anywhere, - Alexander stopped them. - They're already here.
- Who's here? - Charlie asked in a trembling voice.
- Angels, - Alexander replied. - Lord's warriors. They came to destroy humanity. Everyone except the chosen ones. And the chosen ones are those who will help kill your child.
"It's... it's impossible," Charlie whispered.
- Maybe, - Alexander replied harshly. - God is tired of people. From their sins, wars, violence. He decided to start over. Flood 2.0, only this time without an ark.
Kyle was still holding the gun at the ready, but his hands were shaking harder:
- Even if... even if it's true... Why should we believe you? Who are you?
Alexander thought about it. What should I tell him? Is he a servant of the Devil? What came here from another reality? Will they believe it?
- My name is Alexander, - he began cautiously. - And I... let's say, not quite an ordinary person. I have information about what's going on. And abilities that will help us survive.
- What abilities? - Jeep asked incredulily.
- See when you need it, - Alexander replied evasively.
Suddenly it got dark in the snack bar. Suddenly, as if someone turned off the sun.
Everyone turned to the windows. It wasn't night behind the glass - there was something much worse.
The sky was covered with a huge black cloud. But it wasn't an ordinary cloud. It moved, pulsated, made a strange buzzing sound.
- What is it? - Sandra whispered.
Alexander approached the window and looked upstairs. The cloud consisted of millions of tiny dots that swarmed and swirled in the air.
- Flies, - he said. - A cloud of flies. One of the ten Egyptian executions. The first sign of the end of the world.
The hum was intensifying. The flies covered the sky so tightly that neither the sun nor the clouds were visible. Only black, moving mass.
"This... it can't be real," Howard muttered.
- Maybe, - Alexander replied gloomily. - And this is just the beginning.
Kyle slowly lowered the gun. His face was gray with horror:
- If it's true... if it's really the end of the world... then what should we do?
- To survive, - Alexander answered briefly. - To strengthen this place. Prepare for the siege.
- To what siege? - Charlie asked.
- Hundreds, and maybe thousands of creatures like that grandmother will come here soon, - Alexander explained. - But they will be in other bodies. Children, adults, old people - it doesn't matter. Angels can settle in anyone.
The jeep checked its machine gun:
- I have a weapon. But if there are thousands of them...
- Conventional weapons are ineffective against them, - Alexander warned. - But it's better than nothing.
Suddenly, the radio behind the counter started cracking. The music was interrupted, and the excited voice of the announcer was heard:
- ...I repeat, these are not exercises. Mass riots have been recorded throughout the United States. Citizens behave extremely aggressively. The police are not coping with the situation...
The voice was interrupted by a hiss.
Charlie grabbed her mobile phone and tried to call:
- There is no signal, - she whispered. - Not at all.
Kyle took out a walkie-talkie:
- Base, base, this is Kyle Williams. Answer.
Only the crack of the air.
- Communication is blocked, - Alexander said. - They don't want people to coordinate their actions.
- Who are "they"? - Howard asked.
- Angels, - Alexander patiently repeated. - Heavenly army. Seraphim, cherubim, archangels - all the holy brotherhood decided to make a genocide.
- But why? - Sandra didn't understand. - Angels are kind...
Alexander grinned bitterly:
- Kind? Have you read the Bible? Angels destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. All the firstborn in Egypt were killed. The world was drowned in the time of Noah. They are not kind - they are the doers of God's will. And God is sick of people.
- Then why are you helping us? - Kyle asked suspiciously. - If you're not an ordinary person...
"Good question," Alexander thought. - "What should I tell him? That I am the servant of the Devil and fulfill the mission? No, definitely not that."
- I have my own reasons, - he answered evasively. - Let's say, I'm not thrilled with divine plans.
Outside the window, the hum of flies was getting louder. And in the distance other sounds were heard - car signals, screams, shots.
- It's starting, - Alexander said. - We need to act quickly. We close the windows, barricade the doors. We collect all the weapons we find. And we pray that there will be enough ammunition.
- Wait, - Jeep stopped him. - And how do we know which of us is real and who is possessed by an angel?
Alexander thought about it. It wasn't really explained in the movie.
- The obsessed behave strangely, - he said. - They say things they shouldn't know. Their voice and habits change. And most importantly, they hate Charlie's child. They are terrified of him.
- What if an angel inhabits one of us? - Charlie asked.
- Then I'll kill him, - Alexander answered calmly.
Kyle raised his gun again:
- It sounds like a threat.
- It's not a threat, - Alexander shook his head. - It's a promise. I won't let the angels get to the child. Even if you have to kill one of you for that.
There was a heavy silence.
"You're crazy," Howard whispered.
- No, - Alexander objected. - I'm a realist. And this child's only chance to survive.
He went to the window and looked at the road. Car headlights appeared in the distance. A lot of headlights.
- They're coming," he said. - It's time to prepare for war.