Destination: At Last

By Josh Perez

The first in a new series, Destination: At Last marks the moments in real time when an angel's hand is forced to call forth the spirits who long ago agreed to defend the natural Earth from the demons threatening to run rampant and demolish everything that is left. What was once called humanity was among the first of mere things on Earth to be killed off, save for a few who dare to survive. They are the Knights, which Destiny has at last called. The problem? Destiny is an angel that is not very popular in Heaven amongst most of the other angels.

It is unfortunate that demons have orchestrated their plans to a new level that renders travel from Heaven to Earth all but impossible for the angels that are Heaven-side. Except Destiny, who has been on Earth before the demons began their work to close off Heaven from the planet.

Demons vs. Angels...minus the armies in Heaven. Can the Knights be what the angels cannot and take back their planet before the monsters enact their final plan to take over the physical universe?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Josh Perez
• Release date: Feb 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9798404021097

Josh Perez

Hi there! I'm Joshua, and I write stories with Christian elements. Primarily, the main demographic I write for is classified as Youn Adult. Thank you for checking me out!

Book preview

Chapter ONE

Few people were left alive on the planet Earth. Civilization as we knew it to be all but gone.

They took it from us.

People didn't live their lives in comfort anymore. If there was anyone left, they hardly lived at all. Instead they spent every waking hour running, hoping to survive another day. That was your average person.

The leadership of nations around the globe didn't exist anymore. They couldn't. Not for a long time before the apocalypse started—the end of days, you've heard of them. Danger, terror, and monsters ruled the world now. There wasn't order, no government. Families were torn apart, crushed to only a handful of survivors, hidden by the ruins of a past world that wasn't not so far gone.

But that didn't mean that humanity had succumb to extinction. No, there were those that tried to rebuild civilization. Since hardly anyone was left to take back the world, the people that felt it was up to them (usually a headstrong individual that assumed their charismatic personality could talk the mountain of impossibility back enough to change things in their favor) had a powerup of self-motivation before they too became meaningless fodder for them.

Some people who were still alive, now no longer, thought it was pointless to stand against the darkness, monsters of the hellish, nightmare sort. Others, perhaps few and far between, were somehow able to stand steadfast in defense of themselves. It was all but unfortunate that they didn't make it in this terrifying reality for long.

The apocalypse (that's what everyone called it) was like none the armies of the world had ever known, much less, were they ever capable of preparing for, but maybe they should have seen it coming. The monsters were always here, just never able to bring on a physical harm to people, but it wasn't until before the end began that they could be seen.

They weren't concerned with political forces. Soldiers of nations that tried to stop them were the first ones that were killed. After that anyone else that dared to fight back was simply dispensed with,, laid to waste in the mist of their own blood. Firearms were useless against them. Bullets passed through their black, shadowy flesh as though they were made of nothing but air. They couldn't be killed. They were impervious to any and all attacks made against them. There was no way out of this nightmare. With food production halted many people starved when their food sources ran out. This now was the planet Earth.

But life did drag on for those that remained, as much as it could. Just before the absolute end, the people left in self-proclaimed power kept assuring to the dregs of humanity: "We will get through this. Humanity is too strong to be defeated. We will win against those who have come to devour us!"

The ones who spoke the loudest against the demons were the first to be killed.

Let's go ahead and move it in, Isaac said into his lapel microphone that was attached to the collar of his charcoal-gray lab coat. I think we're done for today, Denise. We're losing the daylight. His eyes went soft as he peered down at his makeshift table that was situated near the dig-site. Maybe his partner was already coming up from the expansive hole in the ground. Anyone else happening to walk by (unlikely at this hour, or even in this world, as it was) as Isaac waited for Denise's response to come through on the tiny speaker.

Her voice sounded through with an edge to it, as Denise mimicked a staticky break in the sound system. Kkk … Come in, Isaac … kkk … kkk … you're breaking up, Denise said between giggles.

Isaac's pulled his cheek to the side, giving the barest hint of a grin.

Come on, Denise, he said, rolling his chocolatey brown eyes. I don't have to tell you what happens around here after dark. Hurry up, so we can assess your findings for Dr. Light. He should be here sometime tomorrow morning.

Their work in the Babylon and Sippon area of Mesopotamia was a project funded by the Brian Light Observatory of Terra. Dr. Light, the founder and CEO (only Isaac and what was left of the staff still working referred to him by his doctoral anymore) allowed for Denise's project to be greenlit. It wasn't as though money was an issue anymore. The entirety of Mesopotamia's population was virtually nonexistent, also. It didn't seem like anyone was around to stop them.

Denise, she was friendly when it counted, but she understood when it was time to get serious. The fact that she was messing around out here meant that she must have found something exciting on the latest dig. Isaac wasn't here by assignment, not originally. Denise was his friend and colleague, and he was always one to assist anyone who'd asked him.

Isaac looked up at the purple remnants of the dying daylight, and could just make out the stars that were twinkling down at him. He moved away from the table after making his way around it to get closer to the huge pit, so he could peer into the magnificent hole they'd been digging in. It spanned about three miles in circumference, give or take. Essentially it was a crater that appeared to be put here by a meteor, were it not for his knowledge of Dr. Light's permission for Denise to follow up on her own personal project for the observatory.

Denise's excavation helmet finally poked over the edge, and because it was getting dark Isaac flinched away before his eyes adjusted to see her clad in a reflective jumpsuit, much like an underground city employee, flashlight attached to the white helmet and everything. The light beam in his direction as composed himself. Her dark brown hair had been styled in a ponytail before she went down into the pit this morning. Finally he could see her almond hazel eyes, now lost to the natural dimming sunlight. In just a minute or so it would be completely dark at last. Her bright smile that shined back at him because of her hat's light that bobbed with her movement over the edge.

Okay, I have news, Denise said, unable to keep from bouncing from one foot to the other out of excitement. Isaac's tan forehead wrinkled as he waited for her to tell him. She turned halfway around, pulling a map from her back pocket. We've been looking all along the two rivers, right? Both of them ran through the Garden of Eden, effectively watering said garden. What I found proves Dr. Light's initial research correct.

Crossing his arms and attempting to cock a thoughtful eyebrow in the spotlight that she was throwing at him, Isaac lifted himself up and sat on the tabletop. It wasn't his job to press her for details, and even though he wanted to, he waited for her to continue.

I'm getting closer, Denise whispered ominously. We're going to need to excavate farther down into the earth.

Congratulating her, Isaac pulled Denise in for a hug before they began the trek back to their mobile home office that was situated close by. When they arrived Denise pulled open the door and followed Isaac in.

It's going to have to wait until morning, Isaac said, as he stooped down in front of the wall to their side and placed his palm on it and pulled a holographic keypad from it, but we'll get down there. I want to keep Dr. Light in the loop as much as possible about this, and your discovery is exactly what he'll want to hear about. He pulled a cellphone from his pocket and handed it to her. And, of course, the honor is yours. He glanced up at the night sky, dropping his chin down only so he could wink at her. You deserve it, after all. Not a bad progression to a newbie's first project with Observatory Terra.

She took the phone and playfully backhanded Isaac's shoulder. Not bad for my second week in the field, she added with a grin. Isaac watched to make sure Dr. Light answered before he started winding down for the night. Hey, he heard Denise say. When Isaac glanced over, she was distracting herself with something on his desk when Dr. Light must have answered. You are not going to believe this, Dr. Light, but …

Using the same ghost-like keypad, Isaac keyed in another code that produced a similar cot to the one Denise would be sleeping in tonight. His was mechanically slid out of the wall opposite her bed.

As she was speaking with Dr. Light, Isaac found himself thinking about what dangers lay below the surface of the site already dug. So far, everything down there had been secured, but beyond that they had no way of knowing what was actually down there. It was bad enough that they worked in a world that was no longer a safe place for humans. Just the same, it wasn't as if the current state of the world had left any such room for what used to be humanity's most revered and supposedly never-ending achievement in the universe—science.

You needed to be light on your feet when monsters were on the hunt. He knew that firsthand.

Concerning the site, the terrain was pretty tight-packed before the tractors had been able to break through, his partner continued over the phone. "With one of the rigs, I was finally able to get a look inside a new lower level. There seems to be tunnels under Mesopotamia, the farther you dig. No, I used the miniature Viewer before digging. I haven't been to the new level yet. Okay, I shall let him know. See you soon." She clicked the call off and set Isaac's phone on his desk before getting ready to change out of her construction suit.

What was it he wanted to tell me? Isaac asked, standing at the locker that was holding his utility suit. He'd need it for tomorrow.

He's coming here in the morning, Denise said. "Pretty early, actually. He wants to be sure about what I found, said something about dire conditions. I thought he just meant all those murders that have been happening lately, you know, with the demons." She shrugged, popping a couple Fritos in her mouth.

Isaac looked at her, ignoring the fact that she'd pulled his favorite snack from a drawer in his desk and was now eating the corn chips haphazardly.

He put his suit back in the locker, nodding to himself. "We're ready. But if you really did find the actual Garden of Eden, prepare for a thousand-point scrutinization by Brian." A couple years working with Dr. Brian Light told him that established scientist could be more than anal about his, and everyone else's work. Everything needed to be perfect before Dr. Light signed off on a project. It had just so happened that Denise had chosen to continue the search for the Garden of Eden as her coming aboard project to work at Observatory Terra. The apocalypse happening had thrown off her work, so the project had been pushed way back.

Since Isaac started working at Terra he'd learned that Dr. Light offered all of the new employees the opportunity to choose their own entry project. Denise being the hard-edged young woman that she was, she ended up picking from Dr. Light's own roster of future projects that he'd planned to complete on his own eventually. The only reason he allowed her to go forward with the Garden Project, Isaac assumed, was simply because Denise had a tough time deciding what her project should be. With the insistence that Isaac assist Denise with her work, Dr. Light let them run with the plans she'd written up three years ago.

Isaac, being the skeptic he was, hadn't really thought that Denise would find the Garden of Eden. His mind was starting to shift on matters of scientific evidence, of course. The schematics shown to him were precise about the location. In the bible, in the book of Genesis, the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers ran through the Garden. Around the place where Denise had chosen to begin her search was approximate between the two rivers. They had scored the jackpot today. It was looking more and more like Denise's hole-in-one on her first try.

When he cleared his head of reverie, Isaac looked up at Denise, who was engaged with pressing and pulling the keypad from the wall next to her bedside, fidgeting. He headed over to his desk and tapped on it, which transformed the entrance/exit wall into a holographic computer system, compliments of Dr. Light.

I would have done that, Denise excused herself, before ignoring a mighty yawn. But I did serious work today. She pulled a large blanket over her head, and that was the last Isaac saw of her for the night.

Don't worry about it, Isaac said, flashing his trademark boyish grin. I got it covered. We are resting undisturbed in three … two … one.

Neither of them witnessed the almost magical disappearance of their small base from the outside world. If there had been anyone standing outside the mobile, they would have seen the siding and roof shimmering like the humidity of a hot summer's day into the invisibility of nothing. Isaac rolled into his bed, knowing that he wouldn't get any sleep tonight, knowing full well that monsters prowled outside in the dark. All he could do was wait for the morning.

If only there had been nobody standing outside.

Chapter Two

Isaac spent most of the night on the cusp of being awake and asleep. He flinched at every noise he heard from outside the mobile. His mind, for reasons unknown to him, had journeyed back to when he'd started working at Observatory Terra. Dr. Light, the CEO and Director of Geological and Scientific Studies, and world notorious scientist before the end of the world, had gone through great lengths in justifying Isaac's employment. The monsters had already overrun Earth by that time, and the scientist had been in a wealthy financial state to dole out payments for new hires. His popularity had been world renown before everything turned upside down for the observatory.

Aside from all that, however, was where Isaac's life had ended up with him working for Dr. Light. A terrifying twist from what might have been his fate… .

Isaac's home life growing up had long since been one used to poverty, not exactly middle class but surviving, as one in his position did. When he first met Brian, it was in the middle of a struggle for his life. Those monsters, which Brian had termed demons, when they first made themselves known to humanity as sentient, physical beings, jumped him. He remembered not being able to touch them physically able to touch them, as they moved in otherworldly ways that was much too quick for anyone to fight against. There was no way he could have defended himself, but they could cast all kinds of manner of pain on him, mostly mental torments. It was the worst torture he'd ever experienced. His body felt as though it burned from within, he remembered, and he'd cried out, begging for them to stop. The fear of being so close to death but not being able to cross into that domain was in itself a kind of anguish that felt as though something inside him wanted nothing more than to escape from beneath his skin.

He'd never be able to forget what that felt like.

It was anyone's guess what had taken place that night, on that lonely and empty road. All he could recall was that he'd been walking back home from his own college graduation party. That's the moment when the monsters had chosen to attack him, much like lions cornering their prey before they closed in for their strike.

They'd been watching him.

He couldn't lay a hand on any of them, of which there were 4 or 5, he couldn't remember. It seemed like they'd all been frightened off by an intense light that he felt for than he could see. It was like a flashbang had just gone off behind the beasts, as Isaac lay on his back watching the monsters close in on him. Moments later Brian found him on the ground and unconscious at the observatory's front entrance. He'd been brought to that specific place, but he'd just assumed that Dr. Light had saved him and didn't question anything thereafter.

Isaac shook his head. It didn't really help to subdue the memory, but it allowed him to realize what time it was. He brought his wrist up and noticed his watch was still fastened there. It was getting close to daylight—5:50am.

The nightmare was a staple to most of his nights. Work would be calling soon enough, so he turned his attention to the cot across the small living area. Denise was still asleep, breathing softly. The sound was peaceful enough that he thought he might actually get in an extra wink in before first light, but he made the mistake of turning his cheek into his pillow—where his eyes caught the always bothersome electric red light of numbers on what would sound in less than a minute. Isaac had assumed that Brian would call before he arrived, so it probably wasn't necessary to set the alarm clock. The fact that he had was just out of routine. Aggravating routine.

Denise groaned with passive-aggressiveness. What time is it? she said, the half there-half-not-there presence of her groggy mind, absolutely there.

Isaac looked at her the best he could in the dark. He hurriedly flicked the alarm switch off before it sounded. Time to get up, he said. I'll get the coffee started. He sighed before rolling off his cot.

Ugh … Dr. Light's gonna want my report, she said, as she tumbled off her cot, not nearly awake enough to break her fall with her hands. Ow … She picked herself off the floor, rubbing her forehead.

Isaac went over to help her to her feet, looking at her with concern in his eyes. She woke up quick after that.

You alright? That didn't look fun.

Uh … yeah, she replied, seemingly more bothered than injured. How's that coffee coming? Don't think I need it to wake up, anymore, but I'll have some.

Isaac nodded to himself. Coming right up.

Dr Light arrived promptly at 7:00am, after Denise and Isaac had downed a few cups of Observatory Terra's own brew. Both were grateful for the caffeine, but Isaac more so than Denise. She was the observatory's resident coffee extraordinaire. Whether or not it actually helped her job performance, Isaac didn't have the slightest clue. At least, she was doing her job. That mattered more these days.

This is great work, Denise.

After Brian had taken a cup for himself, he sat down at the desk and read over the report, turning page after page with the occasional ohs and ahs of interest. His gray gaze seeming to leave no stone unturned. If Isaac knew anything of his friend and colleague, it was that Brian had a keen eye for detail. It was extremely rare that he missed anything, in regard to his own work, so any compliment coming from him was not borne of undue circumstance. He always said what he meant to say, rarely apologizing for anyone else's mistakes.

Isaac stood back a few feet from his colleagues, with his arms crossed over his solid chest—a token gained from his life before working for Dr. Light. He listened and offered a smile, as well as a nod in Denise's direction whenever appropriate. Otherwise, he kept silent as Brian read over the report.

Isaac had read it already. What Dr. Light was looking over now were schematics and layouts of the terrain of the geological land masses over and under the dig-site. Mostly it was desert land interspersed with grass the closer to the rivers you got closer to. These biblical locations included the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, the small countries of Iran and Iraq that had all but dried up as the demonic entities wrecked this side of the planet. They seemed to favor the new world to the old world, however, Denise had mentioned to him a few days ago. Shrugging matter-of-factly, she'd pressed on with the Garden Project.

When he was finished looking over everything, Brian passed looks between his two colleagues, as if he'd no other choice left to him. From her report, the gray scientist said, it looks like this may be the real deal. He got up and leaned against the desk. What do you think, Isaac? You've read it.

Isaac had grown used to Dr. Light putting him on the spot in front of the few other employees of the observatory. It always seemed like Denise and he were lumped together, as though they were partners and would be working together a lot. So it came as no surprise to him that Brian made him the official overseer of Denise's project.

Isaac looked at Dr. Light's hard-lined face, noticing that his gray locks had grown a little longer than he remembered from six months ago, when they'd embarked on this dig. Also, his hair was almost stark white now. If Brian had gotten older, then so had Isaac, he realized, which caused him to frown.

I think it's better that we continue trying to get a better look at the depths before heading down there, Isaac replied with his usual, thoughtful disposition. We shouldn't necessarily take the lack of demonic activity here as a green light to look before we leap … or drop. But, as always, Dr. Light, you have the final say on the matter.

And if you look at my conclusion in the report, Denise added hastily, "I suggested we don't … leap … inside that broken ground. I mean, like Isaac has already stated—along with my own beliefs on the Garden of Eden being a true biblical location, this discovery could open up a huge can of worms that we aren't prepared for. After Isaac glanced at her, she clarified, I wasn't prepared for."

Isaac couldn't help his right cheek from pulling his lips to that side. There was nothing he could say for or against Denise's argument on the matter of vying for a deeper excavation. He knew that she was all for it, but also understood that they were all better safe than sorry.

Dr. Light looked at Denise, considering her words for a moment, but then he glanced at Isaac. My own advice, he revealed with a toothy smile. "We are better safe than sorry. I've been constantly updating our Starlight Satellite System, and that's definitely at your disposal. Your portable Viewer, Denise, now has the capability to log on. We can do a deep scan from the console here if you like." He leaned away from the desk and brought over a chair from the miniature table in the kitchenette, taking his seat, glancing her way to make sure if she was paying attention.

Denise seemed to come alive just before she made her way to stand beside Dr. Light, as he deactivated the mobile station's functions that Isaac and she were used to using. The entire setup retracted, so that the room they were all standing in changed back to normal living space of a mobile home.

Now that that's done, said Dr. Light, handing a small device the size of an old Gameboy to Denise, you finally get to take our satellite for a spin.

Isaac's eyes widened playfully, because this was a rare occasion indeed. The last time he was fortunate enough to get to use the Starlight Satellite System he'd had to earn that right. Denise must have really done something special in Dr. Light's eyes, for him to let her take his most prized possession out for a drive. Brian used to say that he'd built the satellite in his late father's garage.

Congratulations, Isaac said, nudging Denise's arm. My first time using the Starlight Satellite was put towards deep space viewing, out of a curious interest, but after this Dr. Light pretty much gives you freedom to use the satellite in your free time. Just … try not to go crazy with it.

Both Brian and Isaac shared glances at each other.

Denise's hazel eyes, Isaac had noticed in their past working together, took on the color of whatever was the dominant color in her surrounding environment. Just now the stark white of Dr. Light's hair as she stood beside him caused them to appear much lighter, or maybe it was her happiness of the moment.

So I'm pretty sure the Viewer is going to show us a major difference than what we're used to seeing on the original subterrain photographs, what with all the demons running around in the world today. Denise studied the device she held firmly onto before she looked at Dr. Light. She was waiting for his direction.

Dr. Light offered a reassuring nod. The first thing you may want to do is get the satellite's camera to zoom in on the site, he said. "It's really a mind-muscle thing, the