Hell's Oasis

“Name?”

“Briar.”

“Age?”

“21.”

“So young,” he tsked. Briar looked at the nondescript man. He was neither old nor young. His hair wasn’t blonde, but it wasn’t brown. He had a stuffy air about him and he showed neither interest nor apathy. His skin looked soft and smooth, with no wrinkles or blemishes. He wasn’t beautiful, but he was a work of art.

“So young?” Briar repeated.

“Quite,” the man said.

Briar just stared at him. He stared back. After a moment she blinked and looked around. They were sitting in a beige room. As featureless as the person sitting across from her behind a simple desk. The walls had empty ornate frames as if displaying art, but there was no art. There was a couch against the left wall. Its color matched the walls and was minimalistic in style. Briar thought it looked uncomfortable to sit on. In front of it was an oval, glass-top coffee table. Blank, white booklets laid on the table, kind of like magazines laid out in a waiting room. In the right back corner of the room was a large plant with palm leaves. Briar couldn’t tell if it was real or fake. The chair she sat in was a beige armchair, a perfect match to the couch and she was probably right about the sofa because the chair was uncomfortable. She looked back at the desk the man sat behind. It too was a glass top with blank pages stacked neatly into piles, about a half dozen at least a foot tall on either side of the desk. In the middle was a single sheet of paper with a pen in the man’s hand, hovering over the page. The markings on the paper were shimmering gold. Still, it didn’t look like a language, certainly not any Briar had seen before. The same etchings seemed to also be tattooed on his fingers. They were so drastically different from the rest of his muted self, that Briar was taken aback. The writing was pretty, she thought. She forced herself to look back up and took another glance around the room.

“Where am I?” Briar finally asked.

“Nowhere,” the man answered sincerely.

“It doesn’t feel like nowhere,” she replied.

“And what does it feel like, Briar,” he asked.

“Like the beginning of something.”

The man raised his eyebrows, “It is more like the end.”

“How so?”

“You are dead.” Briar tilted her head at him and then looked down at herself. She was wearing a black ribbed shirt with a pattern blooming from the chest in the shape of a butterfly. It wasn’t her favorite shirt, but she remembered how one day her mother had told her that it was the shirt that most looked like her and that whenever her mother pictured her, she was wearing this shirt. She hadn’t worn it since sophomore year of high school though and she doubted she even still owned the shirt. She also wore her favorite jeans that fit her perfectly with the pink and green paint stains down the right leg. She had gotten the stains freshman year of college when she helped paint banners for student elections. On her feet were the white Converse sneakers that she had dyed with Sharpies and alcohol for a cool tie-dye look. She had dyed them with her elder sister before her sister went to college. Their initials were clearly written on the toes, not rubbed past recognition like the last time she had worn them. Her thick curly hair was down, something she rarely did, but something was holding her hair back away from her face. She reached back and felt a hair ornament. It was something she had bought at a vintage boutique when she was fourteen. Her mother loved anything vintage and would often take Briar and her sister, Cinder, along with her on weekend trips to various antique malls against their wills. Briar spotted the ornament in the hair of a ratty old wig. It was pressed metal painted gold and in the shape of a crescent moon. It was pierced by a golden skewer that had opals in the shape of stars hanging from it in a cluster. Briar instantly fell in love with the piece and begged Cinder to loan her the money to buy it. She never wore it, telling herself that she had to wear it only for special occasions, but no occasion seemed special enough so it sat in her jewelry box in her room. But now she wore it? She guessed being dead was as good an occasion as any.

Briar forced herself to ignore the clothing she didn’t remember dressing in and poked herself in the stomach.

“I don’t feel dead,” she said.

“How did you expect it to feel?” the man asked.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, “Lighter maybe?” She didn’t feel as if anything about her had changed, aside from her clothes that is. She felt solid. Silly as it was, she expected her hand to go right through her torso when she poked her stomach. Briar and the man sat in silence for a moment, blinking at one another.

“What’s your name,” Briar finally asked. It was then the man really seemed to look at her with his ever-changing eyes neither brown, nor blue, nor green.

“You want to know my name?”

She just blinked at him expectantly.

“Souls have given me many names,” he said with a sigh.

“What do you like to be called?”

The man stared at her for a moment.

“You’re a bit of a rare one aren’t you,” he said, “Do you not have any questions about your demise?” Briar simply shrugged.

The man sighed, “They call me Thanatos, the ferryman, Azrael, the grim reaper, the angel of death, and so on and so forth, but I’m personally rather fond of the name Felix.” Briar looked at him more closely. The grim reaper was supposed to be a scythe-wielding skeleton dressed in black flowing robes. Felix was dressed like a drab office worker drowning in paperwork.

Nonetheless, Briar greeted him politely, “Nice to meet you, Felix.”

“Are you not at all curious about your future?”

“I figured you would tell me whether I was curious or not,” Briar shrugged, “Why rush through it?”

“Well as most souls know there is the Above and there is the Below. They tend to refer to the realms as Heaven and Hell.” Briar nodded along. Briar wasn’t raised in a very religious household. Her parents had good intentions to take her and her older sister to church when they were kids, but for some reason or another, they never did. For this reason alone, she should have been paying more attention to what Felix was telling her. However, instead, she was focusing on how strange it was that she couldn’t pin down the color of his eyes. They reminded her of cat eyes. If you looked at them in the light just right they reflected back at you.

“You will be going to the Below,” Felix said calmly and then paused for Briar’s reaction. She was still staring into his eyes when he sighed and snapped his fingers in front of her face causing her to jump. His knuckles glittered with the pretty golden symbols. She wondered what the writing said.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Briar finally forced herself to focus on his words.

“You, Briar, are being sent to the Below,” Felix repeated. Briar felt her stomach drop. The Below. That was Hell. She was going to hell? She wasn’t Mother Theresa, but Briar just always assumed that if she were a decent person in life she wouldn’t need to worry about her immortal soul.

“Why?” Briar asked quietly, “I wasn’t a good enough person?”

“Unfortunately the Above is closed,” Felix replied as if this wasn’t his first time explaining this.

“Heaven is closed?” Briar questioned, “How? Why?”

“No one knows,” Felix replies, “But it’s forced us to send even the kindest souls to the Below.”

“Don’t you have, like, a place to hold people until Heaven is open again?”

“The Valley,” Felix clarified, “Yes. Those are for the purest of souls. They cannot cross down to the Below so we have no choice but to keep them in the Valley to await a time that the Above opens again.”

“The purest of souls? Like nuns and priests and monks?”

Felix shook his head, “Even their souls have darkness in them. Pure souls are those of infants. Too young to know sin. And animals, only driven by instinct. They know not how to sin.” Briar gasped. Not even the souls of babies and dogs could get into heaven?

“Can’t you talk to God or whoever is in charge?” Briar demanded, “Children should at the very least be allowed into heaven. They didn’t deserve to die and they don’t deserve to be shoved into Purgatory’s eternal waiting room!”

“The Creator has not spoken to us in many millennia. We do not know why they do what they do. We do not even know if they are the ones who closed the Above.”

“Can you get there?” Briar suddenly asked.

“I do not spend time in the Above,” Felix replied, “My place is here, but if I tried, I do not believe I could travel there, no.”

Even Felix the angel of death couldn’t get into Heaven…

“But you’re an angel,” commented, “You were born in heaven, weren't you?”

“I was not born. I have always been. And I am one who does not have a place in the Above. My place is here,” Felix replied.

“Are you able to speak to the other angels? Maybe someone else has more information.”

“Very few have the ability to speak across planes and those who do have been silent.”

“Can you-” Briar was going to ask if the door to heaven could be broken down, but Felix cut her off.

“You have no more time to ask your questions,” he said shortly, “It is time I transfer you to the Below.” Fear froze Briar’s body.

“What is it like?” she whispered, “Hell.”

“Those were the questions you should have been asking,” Felix replied with an almost sympathetic smile. The next thing Briar knew, he was gone.

Briar fell to the cold hard ground. She was no longer in Felix’s office. The first thing she noticed about her new surroundings was the smell. It smelled like burning meat and metal. It invaded her nose so violently, that she started to cough. She could barely breathe the air that was so dry it sucked the moisture out of the ground making it crack like a piece of shattered glass. When she brought up her hand to cover her mouth as she coughed, she noticed that it was stained an orangish red. The ground she sat on was red clay with a thin layer of dust and debris covering it. 

The sky was grey with dark rolling clouds or possibly smoke. Ash was softly falling from them like grey snow. It reminded her of the wildfire that forced her family to evacuate their home when she was 11. It burned for weeks and when it finally stopped the sky rained ash over the nearby area. But Briar didn’t see a fire to cause such a strange phenomenon. All she did see was what looked like a village off in the distance of a dark landscape.

Briar stood up, brushing the red dust from her clothes. She looked up at the sky. She could see a muted moon behind the smoke. She couldn’t see any stars though. 

Despite the lack of sun warming the ground, Briar still expected it to be hot. After all, the landscape was similar to a desert, and Hell was supposed to be fire and brimstone. But it was far from it. It felt like winter in the Midwest. She shivered as she made her way toward the village, rubbing her arms to keep warm as she went.

Briar thought back to what Felix said. As she tried to picture herself back in his office though, the memory blurred. She couldn’t remember what he looked like or what his voice sounded like. Only single words floated through her mind like typewriter text. Above. Below. The Creator. It was strange. She had only been sitting in front of Felix a moment ago. How come it felt like he was a distant memory? It made Briar uncomfortable so she pushed the thoughts or what little thoughts she had away and concentrated on the village before her.

It looked primitive with the small buildings made from the same clay as the ground. Briar expected to start seeing people appear as she passed the boundaries of the village, but the dirt roads were empty. Maybe everyone was asleep in their beds. She glanced in the glass-bare windows as she passed, but all she saw were dark uninhabited rooms. Was Hell just her having to suffer through loneliness?

“Are you brave or new?”

Briar looked over her shoulder. Behind her stood two young teenagers. A boy and a girl. They were both blonde with blue eyes and covered with freckles. They looked like siblings. Maybe even twins. It was the girl who had asked the question.

“Hello,” Briar turned toward them, “What are your names?”

“I think she’s just stupid,” the boy said.

“Excuse me?” Briar questioned.

“We should warn her,” the girl said to her brother.

“Why?” the boy asked, “Maybe she deserves what’s coming for her.”

“What do you mean? What’s coming for who?” Briar looked from the boy to the girl, both of which seemed to pay her no mind.

“What if she doesn’t?” the girl suggested.

“Ask her,” the boy shrugged.

The girl turned back to Briar, “Are you an innocent sent to the Below or are you a sinner sent home?”

“Are you talking about the gates to heaven being closed?” Briar asked.

“Wait, does it matter?” the girl interrupted, “No one in the Below is truly pure, and if so they will be tainted before long.”

“Can you tell me how long the gates have been closed?” Briar asked, “Do you know why they were closed? And where is everyone else? This place is a ghost town.”

“So should we warn her?” the boy asked, turning back to Briar.

“Warn me about what?” Briar asked with a frustrated huff. As soon as the words escaped her mouth she felt a chill run down her spine. The siblings just smiled at her. Briar didn’t notice the silence of her surroundings until that moment. It seemed unnatural. She couldn’t even hear the wind blow.

“Living souls, are afraid of the dark,” the boy said quietly, “That is why they seek shelter when night falls.”

“In the Below,” the girl continued, “darkness truly does hold nightmares. Souls know to hide from the creatures.”

“Souls? Creatures?” Briar repeated. These two children suddenly seemed older than they looked and very threatening.

“Yes souls,” the boy said with a pretentious smile, “Like you.”

“And creatures,” the girl grinned, “Like us.”

“Y-you,” Briar took a step back.

“Yes, creatures like us,” the boy repeated with a nod. Suddenly their eyes started to glow red. Briar could feel the heat of their stare.

“Would you like to know what we are?” the boy asked. Briar’s throat went dry, but she could feel herself nod.

“They call us hounds,” the girl replied, “when we find a tasty soul, we call the Beings.”

“B-beings,” Briar gasped. Instead of answering, the siblings opened their mouths unnaturally wide, revealing razor-sharp teeth, and let out an ear-piercing scream. Briar slammed her hands over her ears. The screams dissolved metallic cackling. Briar’s heart thudded in her chest as she turned away from them and ran.

“You can’t run,” she heard the boy call.

“She can’t hide either,” she heard the girl giggle. Briar ignored them and continued to run, ducking down a dark alley. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She could feel something chasing her. She came out of the alley onto another dirt road. She could feel whatever it was gaining on her. Suddenly a shadow flew over her, blocking out what little light shone from the moon. A body landed in front of her. She skidded to a stop and tried to backpedal as she took her first look at the predator she had suddenly become prey for. 

It was a rather lanky figure. It wasn’t exactly human. The skin was grey and the feet looked like they belonged to a bird of prey. The torso was that of a marble sculpture. Its pectorals were large and his abs were defined. It even had the V to its hips that women tended to love on men. It led to slim hips and strong thighs. Briar gasped as she realized the being was nude. She dragged her eyes up to its face. It had the features of a model with a dimpled chin and high cheekbones, but its eyes made bile rise to her throat. Its eyes had no irises or pupils. They were just white globes in its head similar to that of a monster fish from deep below the sea.

“You look like a nice snack,” the being said sweetly as it flipped its waist-long raven hair over its shoulder. It had a beautiful voice, but it did not soothe her nerves. Instead, its voice further awakened her primal need to run.

“Come here,” it said.

“No,” Briar refused. The being frowned.

“Why not,” it asked. Briar didn’t answer.

“Maybe an introduction will put your mind at ease. My name is Drayak. Your’s is?”

“Briar,” Briar let slip out before slapping a hand over her mouth. Why did she answer him?

“Briar,” Drayak repeated, “Lovely. Now that we are properly introduced, please come here. I promise only fun times.”

“By you or me?” Briar wondered out loud. Drayak smirked.

“You are not an easy one to trick,” it sighed, “I will have a grand time. You, however,  will admittedly wish for your nonexistence.” Briar’s stomach dropped.

“So if you wish,” he continued, “You can try running again.” The sarcasm in its voice told her that if she did run it would inevitably catch her again, but her feet were already retreating down another shadowed alley. She had to hide, but where? She looked around as she ran. Were there any openings or doorways leading inside the clay buildings? Maybe she could hide in a closet or something. She couldn’t see any, but she noticed some of the clay bricks weren’t even. Briar looked up. The building wasn’t high. She could do it. With a deep breath, she launched herself up the wall, desperately clinging to the uneven bricks.

“Oh Briar,” she heard Drayak call. Its voice encouraged her to move faster. She was up the wall in a matter of minutes. She rolled onto the roof with heaving breaths. She had never been one for physical activity. If only her gym teacher could see her now. She sat up and let out a piercing scream as she saw Drayak smiling at her from across the roof of the building.

“Do you give up now?” Drayak asked, bored. Briar couldn’t help, but cry out in despair.

“Please leave me alone,” she begged.

“You started out promising. Don’t bore me now with your useless pleading.” Briar looked around her quickly, trying to find a way to escape, but also not wanting to tear her eyes away from Drayak for more than a second. Could she jump back down? She looked back down to the alley, but her earlier thought of it not being too high seemed like an understatement now. She couldn’t fall from that height and remain intact. She’d break something. Though could she break her bones if she were already dead?

“Jump,” a voice suddenly called up to her. The voice didn’t belong to Drayak. Drayak’s voice was methodical and eerily soothing. This one was deeper and more demanding.

“We’ll catch you. Jump down,” came another voice. Briar looked closer into the shadows below. There was someone there. Two someones. She snapped her eyes back to Drayak as she caught movement from it out of the corner of her eye. It had taken a step forward, but before it could take another, Briar pushed herself back over the edge of the roof, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt her body drop. A pair of arms caught her torso while another pair caught her legs.

“It’s a demon,” the person who had caught her legs said in a panic.

“Not hounds?” the other said.

“No! Demon. Demon! Run!” Briar was dropped to her feet. A hand slipped into hers and she was pulled forward while two hands pushed her from behind. She ran with her two rescuers. They were men she now saw. The one holding her hand was a dark-haired, tanned-skinned guy with a rather impressive build. The second guy who now ran alongside her was tall, even taller than his companion, with shaggy blond hair and confident air about him, proven by the crooked grin he gave Briar as the three ran. Briar heard the sound of Drayak dropping to the ground behind them, urging her to run faster. 

“I know I said I was getting bored, but now I’m getting annoyed,” Drayak called out to them. Briar pushed herself hard to run as fast as she could. She had never been so scared in her life. What would happen if it caught her? Obviously a fate worse than death considering she was already dead. She looked at her new running mates. They didn’t seem that concerned. The blond one even seemed to be having fun as if he were competing in a race rather than running for his life… afterlife. The tan one looked over his shoulder. Was Drayak gaining on them?

“We can’t keep running until sunrise,” he said to the blond one, in a calmer tone than Briar was comfortable with.

“Right,” the blond one agreed, “Wanna give him the ole runaround?” Who were these two?

“You take the girl,” the tan one replied. Briar tried to follow what they were saying, but between their vagueness and her terror, she was lost. Suddenly the tan one dropped her hand. Even though it was easier to run that way, the loss of his hand felt as if she had lost a lifeline. Briar tried to shake off her fear as she forced herself to match the guys’ speed stride by stride.

“We’re almost there,” the tan one announced.

“Almost where?” Briar asked through puffed breaths. Neither answered her. Instead, they both turned a sharp corner. If it wasn’t for both boys grabbing her forearms, and helping her turn, she would have run straight into a wall. The tan one quickly freed Briar’s arm and turned right down another alley. Before Briar could attempt to follow him, the blond one dragged her left and then the ground disappeared from beneath Briar’s feet. The blond had yanked her down into a hole in the ground? She landed hard on her butt. The blond reached up and slammed doors over the opening in the ground. They were in a cellar? Darkness swallowed them up, but the blond still managed to find her and drag her back into the room as far from the doors as possible. Briar’s heart froze in her chest with dread. Why was she somehow even more terrified down in a dark safe hole, than when a demon was chasing her. She did her best to steady herself before she spoke, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to completely erase the fear from her voice.

“Where are we,” Briar started to ask, but a hand was slammed over her mouth.

“Ssshh,” the blond whispered in her ear. It was then Briar realized that he had an arm wrapped around her middle with her back pressed to his chest. Briar shoved his hands away to create some distance between them.

“What about your friend,” Briar argued in a whisper.

“Graham will be fine,” she could hear the frustration in his hushed voice, “We do this sort of thing often, but we’ll be fucked if the demon hears us down here so be quiet until I say, okay? Supposedly they can’t go underground, but I don’t want to test that theory.”

“That thing really was a demon?” Briar squeaked. He snatched up her hand and squeezed it.

“We’ll answer your questions when it’s safe. Now please be quiet.” Briar felt the urgency in his voice. She nodded, but when she realized he couldn’t see her nod she squeezed his hand back. Satisfied, he tried to take his hand back, but Briar was reluctant to let him go in the dark. She guessed he realized that because he let his hand remain in hers.

It seemed like they waited there in silence for hours. Briar strained to listen closely to any sound outside. She was both dreading and praying to hear something or anything that would tell her what was going on. She almost screamed when the cellar doors swung open. She slammed her free hand over her mouth. She felt the blond’s hand tighten around hers almost painfully. They both held their breaths and looked at the dark window that was the cellar opening. A man dropped down and the blond sagged with relief and jumped to his feet.

“Graham,” he sighed, “Man you scared us. You lost it?” Graham turned to make sure the cellar doors were closed tight behind them. The blond barreled into the man from behind in a tight hug.

“You had me worried,” he declared.

“Get off me, Seth,” Graham said as he easily peeled Seth off him. It was too dark to see the two where Briar was sitting. They were simply massive shadows. A shiver ran down her spine.

“Is it gone?” Briar whispered. Both boys looked at her as if they had forgotten she was there.

“I managed to lose it,” Graham answered, “But it may still be prowling around. We may be safe here, but I wouldn’t push our luck by being too loud.” He looked at Seth who gave a curt nod in agreement.

“Did you see the kids?” Briar asked.

“Kids?” Graham repeated.

“Before the… demon showed up,” Briar explained, “There were two kids. But there was something… off about them.”

“They were probably hounds,” Seth replied, “They look really close to normal souls, but they’re not. They used to be, but the demons changed them.”

“Changed them how?” She questioned.

“Into like their lackeys,” Seth said, trying to find the right word.

“Their pets,” Graham offered.

“The point is that they’re no longer the souls they once were.”

Briar was about to ask another question when Graham shushed them. He herded them back into the corner of the cellar again. She was confused at first, but then she heard a voice. A beautiful voice that made her hair stand on end.

“Where did you go, little friend?” Drayak called. The voice sounded so very near, that Briar started to tremble. She turned into one of the guys’ chests. Which, she did not know, but she clutched the sides of his shirt in her fists. She pressed her face into his chest and tried to calm her panicked breathing. Strong arms wrapped around her.

“How could you run off with strangers like that?” Drayak called, “You and I were the ones properly introduced. You should come with me instead. What if I promised not to torture you until the end of time. You can become one of my hounds instead. I treat my hounds nicely. You’ll get lots of scraps. You haven’t experienced pure joy until you’ve tasted the sweet essence of a tortured soul.” As it talked it sounded like it was getting closer and closer until Briar swore it was right outside the cellar door.

Briar’s scream was muffled by the chest she was pressed into, as the cellar doors suddenly shook on their hinges. The arms tightened around her and she felt another hard male body press against her back sandwiching her between two walls of muscles. Then there was a loud crack.

“Fuck,” one of the boys said, the one that stood behind her. Briar hadn’t realized that her eyes had been shut tight until she opened them to the loud crash. Dim moonlight flooded into the room. The ashen clouds pulled back just enough to allow the moon to backlight the demon’s terrifying form.

“I found you,” Drayak sang out gleefully.

“It’s okay he can’t reach us,” the one holding her said. She looked up. It was Graham she had grabbed onto for protection. She looked over her shoulder. She couldn’t see Seth pressed against her back, but she could see that he was holding what looked like a spear simply made by a tree branch that had been sharpened to a point. Was he going to fight that thing? Briar hoped he wouldn’t risk it. She didn’t think he would win.

“Silly boys. Hand me the girl and I will leave the two of you be,” Drayak advised.

“Fuck off,” Seth growled.

“What a mouth on you,” Drayak commented, “Maybe I can interest you in a deal.” It tried appealing to Graham, whose grip tightened so much on Briar that she was starting to have a hard time breathing. But she didn’t care. His grip was comforting. Seth’s response was comforting. They weren’t going to trade her to the demon.

“You can’t reach us here and it will be sunrise soon,” Graham said. Drayak made an impatient sigh.

“Who says I can’t reach you down there?” it asked in a deadly tone. It had finally dropped the polite pleasant voice it had been using. Its voice now sounded like pure poison. Briar swallowed down a terrified sob. Graham turned them so she was in the corner, hidden from view by his body.

“Well you are right regardless,” Drayak said dryly, “And we do detest sunlight. I will leave you here tonight. I’ll be back though. And Briar was it?” Briar hated her name from his lips. It sounded like an omen.

“Your bodyguards won’t save you next time.” With that Drayak left. The three didn’t move. Briar strained to hear the demon footsteps walking away, but all she heard was the labored breathing of her, Seth, and Graham. They all stood still for what felt like hours. It was Seth who finally broke the silence.

“Shit, that was terrifying.” He sagged and slowly dropped to the ground. Graham stepped back and released his hold on Briar. Briar, in turn, ungripped her hands from his shirt. She followed Seth’s lead and leaned back against the wall, letting herself slide to the floor.

“Are we safe?” Briar asked with a quaking voice.

“For now,” Seth said, “Demons only visit this village once or twice a month. We won’t see that thing again for a while.”

“And the next time it shows up we’ll be safe in here. Not out in the open,” Graham added.

“How will we know to hide?” Briar asked. She was starting to calm down a bit, fear ebbing into curiosity.

“Demons only hunt at night,” Seth shrugged.

“We’ve guessed that they’re eyesight isn’t so good during the day. Too much light blinds them. Whether that’s true or not, no one has ever seen a demon in the daylight,” Graham explained. Seth sighed as he looked up at the gaping hole where the cellar door once was.

“We’re gonna have to fix the door.”

“We’ll do it later,” Graham replies, “For now let’s get some sleep.”

“Sleep?” Briar questioned, “We’re dead, aren’t we? We still need sleep?”

Seth and Graham looked at each other as if they were deciding which one wanted to explain the concept of an afterlife to the newbie. Apparently, Graham lost because he spoke.

“We still crave human necessities,” Graham said, “Food, water, shelter, companionship, sleep. It’s just that the lack of any one thing doesn’t cause death. We feel the pain of it but we will never die because we’re already dead. We rarely get water or food. But we’ve managed shelters even though we barely have the material to make them. Sleep is the one thing we have plenty of. So we take advantage of it.”

“I imagine you must be exhausted after a night like that,” Seth pointed out. And he was right. Now that the adrenaline was leaking from her body, she could feel her muscles loosen and her body start to sag.

“We’ll show you around after a few hours of shut-eye,” Graham suggested, “How about that?”

Briar nodded, feeling her eyelids drooping already, “Okay.” She closed her eyes and rested her head back against the wall. Her mind was racing. What was she going to do? Would this be her world for the rest of forever? How long could she last? And why was Heaven closed? Surely these two guys who selflessly risked themselves to save her deserved to go to Heaven. Would Heaven ever be reopened? And would Felix call back the souls wrongfully sent to Hell or were they stuck there forever? Thankfully her mind didn’t ponder these things for long before sleep mercifully took her down into darkness.