The Rapture

“It was worth it,” he thought.

The clouds were bleeding; the sky pleading for a cleansing rain that would never come. Smoke and lightning danced in triumph. In the distance, sirens wailed for retaliation and vengeance.

“Damn them! Damn them to Hell!”

In the streets, bloated bodies collected in drifts. “They brought it on themselves.” He smiled at the carnage. Everything he had worked for, all the wonderful things he had planned could now begin in earnest. Now that there was no opposition.

He rubbed his eyes. It had been a trying day. Awakening at dawn with the horde outside his door. He had known then and there what must be done. He could not allow them to win. Too much hung in the balance. His family depended on him. Their way of life was at stake. The very fabric of the Universe would fray should the Enemy prevail. Evil would never trump good.

The Enemy proved strong. Their numbers and strength outmatched everything he had at his disposal. Except for It. They must have thought he was weak and lacked conviction. Ha! He proved them wrong! How dare they oppose what was right and good for everyone. The good will always prevail, no matter the resistance. No matter the outcome.

He smiled again, satisfied that this day would bring great change. Great change, indeed.

The wind picked up, screaming in horror. The clouds bowed before a growing light in the East. In the innermost recesses of his mind, in that place where only he and God could enter, he heard a still, small voice.

“You have won,” it said. He was exultant! “You have won. You have succeeded where all others have failed.”

The corpses littering the streets began to twitch. “What is happening? General! Something is happening outside!” Slowly, they began to glow, and lose shape. Instead of rotting flesh, they became light incarnate, dancing heavenward.

“You have won,” the voice said again. “You have succeeded in instituting order. Yet you have lost sight of what I taught. You have earned your Hell. Now go and live in it.”