Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

were bad news for Sam,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
    “What?”
    “It’s your fault. He didn’t go to places like . . . that , before . . . until you came along!”
    Will wanted to scream.
    Do you think I made your son gay? That he wasn’t that way before he met me?  
    But what was the point? That’s how Trudy thought, and how she always would. To her, being gay was a choice, and the wrong one. So she needed someone to blame for “making” her son gay. For his entire 40 years prior to meeting Will, Sam had been straight as an arrow. Then BAM!, Will turned his preference like some sort of gay vampire. It was ridiculous, but no easier to change than the weather.
    Will bit his tongue, as was custom with Trudy. He’d let her have her drama, then wait for her to calm down, as she always did. Anything else would only make matters worse. Trudy was barely polite to Will on the best of days, even though Sam claimed she really did like him. There was no way he was going to get into an argument or try reasoning with her today. Sam could’ve been jumped outside of a church, and Trudy would find some way to blame his lifestyle or Will. Besides, some part of Will understood her anger. She was afraid. Hell, Will was afraid. Civility sometimes went out the window when you were afraid, especially when a loved one’s life was in danger.
    The sound of the waiting room doors opening heralded the entrance of the surgeon.   Trudy went to him so quickly, Will didn’t have time to follow. By the time he did, he would have felt like he were butting into the conversation. So he stayed put, about 20 feet away, tilting his body toward the conversation while trying not to be too obvious, watching Trudy’s reactions for any sign of what might be happening with Sam.
    “A coma?!” she cried, “I want to see my son!”  
    A coma?  
    Will’s heart froze in his chest; the unthinkable suddenly reality – Sam could wind up a paraplegic, regardless of Will’s intervention. Had fate found a way around his loophole as it had so many times in the past?
    He flashed back to the last words they’d had as Sam was leaving for the day. They were unkind. Will told Sam he was a fool, and they were going to lose everything on what, sentimentality and an unwillingness to let go and lean into the inevitable?
    The surgeon led Trudy away from the waiting room.
    Will started to follow, but the surgeon, a Greek man with dark eyes and darker hair, turned to him, and said, “Are you family?”
    “He’s my boyfriend,” Will said. “We live together, so practically, yes.”
    “No,” Trudy said, glaring back at Will. “He’s not family.”
    They left Will standing in the hall, devastated, the words robbed from his mouth.

    * * * *

WILL BISHOP: PART 2

    Kingsland, Alabama
    The Sanctuary
    March 25
    morning

    “Jesus, that’s a giant cross!” Desmond said, pointing to the massive wooden cross erected overnight, or in the misty morning hours, in front of the church. It dwarfed the original cross, still standing to its left, by almost half, and looked sturdy enough to hang someone from.  
    “Is there a crucifixion on the schedule today?”  
    A chill ran down Will’s spine. The cross was even more menacing under the light of the sun than it had been in the shroud of his dreams. Given that everyone was already dressed in funeral black, a crucifixion didn’t seem entirely impossible, even if Will hadn’t seen it in his dreams.
    “If you’re gonna take the Lord’s name in vain, I suppose that’s about as close as you can get to an appropriate use of blasphemy.” Will laughed, trying to smother his chill.  
    Desmond said, “This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”  
    “You’re telling me, ‘brother.’” Will said, and they both laughed.
    They were on their way to breakfast, about 50 yards from the table, when Desmond pointed to The Sanctuary’s front gate. “You know anything about that?”
    Will didn’t, but it took him approximately one second to not like it a bit. “No idea.” The sun was bright above, making the white of the snow scream below. He made a visor with his hand to improve his view, but it didn’t help much. “But it looks like we have a visitor.”
    Brothers John and Rei were standing by the gate, huddled beside a handful of their most intimidating men. The stranger stood in front of the huddle, slightly inside The Sanctuary, too far for details beyond the dark thatch of hair and the