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

stage displaying a ballet of gore. Desmond and Will each managed to take down a creature or two each, though it was hard to tell for sure as Paul and Ricky seemed to put a shot in every one of the bastards. There were enough broken bodies to make a true count difficult, but Desmond guessed there to be enough body parts strewn about to account for 20 or so of the fiends.  
    When their last bullet casings clinked on the concrete, Paul and Ricky hopped back into the truck, leaving Desmond and Will standing outside confused.
    “Are we canceling our shopping trip?” Desmond asked, following Paul and Ricky back inside the vehicle with Will behind.  
    Paul glared in the rearview. Ricky remained silent.  
    Will turned to Desmond and said, “Seems our righteous new friends have been taken by surprise. Those creatures were attacking in formation, which I’m guessing they haven’t seen before. So, Paul up there, has to swing back to The Sanctuary and make a full report. That sound about right, Paul?”
    Desmond figured Paul would keep doing his Ricky impersonation, but instead, he snapped back.
    “They’re Demons , not creatures,” Paul said. “They’re Satan’s minions, the very same that The Prophet has warned us about. You saw how The Good Lord protected us back there. You can’t deny the truth.”
    “What I saw,” Desmond said, voice cool, “Was a couple of well-trained crack shots hitting every one of their marks with high caliber automatic weapons. The Good Lord would’ve been looking out for me and Will a little more, too, at least if he saw fit to make sure we’d left The Sanctuary with better guns.” Desmond couldn't help the last words ringing in a sneer.  
    They cancelled their shopping trip. The drive home was silent. Desmond could feel Will’s burning disapproval, which was fine. It only echoed Desmond’s own disapproval of allowing himself to be dragged down into the ridiculous emotions of the situation. He knew better than that. That’s what he’d been doing for the last decade – working with people online and off, always making the compromise that would satisfy the majority. Now, here, he was acting like a petulant child. Junkie behavior, throwing tantrums when he didn’t get what he wanted, which made sense since what he wanted more than anything right now was Mary.  
    Part of him wished that he’d never driven back to Warson Woods, but kept driving that morning of October 15. Survival is a hell of a lot easier when it’s a table for one. No one else to worry about. Nobody else to keep track of. Nobody else forcing him to act against his instincts by catering to the whims of a religious despot. Desmond had his own ideas of sanctuary and they had nothing to do with some archaic rules handed down by imaginary beings and interpreted by delusional at best, deceptive at worst, men.
    Yet, as they drove back to the compound and swung into the hangar, he knew that such thinking was futile. He’d grown to love Mary and Paola, Luca too. And hell, he even loved Will, if only in the role of Crazy Uncle. So he’d continue to play along until he thought of a better plan.
    Desmond opened his door to the sounds of panic.  
    “What’s happened?” Paul yelled to a passing guard. The man made a sharp detour then a beeline toward the hangar. His story was half out of his mouth before his legs stopped walking.  
    “Rebecca and Carl are missing. We can’t find them anywhere. Last time anyone saw them was just after breakfast. We searched all the buildings of the compound without success. The Prophet says we should now start searching the woods.”
    The porch creaked across the way as John’s feet hit the bottom stair. He crossed the courtyard, came into the hangar and slapped Desmond on the shoulder, handing him his holster with a Glock inside it. “Come on,” he said. “We’re going to find Rebecca and Carl.”
    John then turned to Paul, “Desmond and I are going to circle round to Dawn Creek Road and will search the woods on the north end. Lenny and Eli are gonna take the south end. We’ll all meet up in the middle, okay?”
    “Yes, Brother John,” Paul said.
    John turned, walked into the hangar and climbed into a silver Audi that looked so new, every mile on it had to have come after October 15. John turned the key and the Audi hummed to life. Desmond was surprised by the sudden turn of events, but understanding would have to wait. He nodded an adios to Will, then joined John in