Hope and Undead Elvis by Ian Thomas Healy Page A

woman's eyes were nothing but charred, empty sockets. Hope winced in anticipation of the agonized scream, but no shriek came.
    "Please…" The woman's voice was only a hoarse whisper, and smoke escaped her mouth when she spoke. "Please… kill me."
    "God…" Hope wanted to say more, but she felt paralyzed.
    The woman shifted a little at the sound of Hope's voice. Soot fell from her charred skin like snow. "I can hear you. I thought you might be an animal at first. Or maybe I'm dreaming. Are you real?"
    Hope found her voice. "Yes."
    "I'm Mercy." She coughed. Black chunks hit the ashes below her. Hope cringed. "Nice to meet you."
    "Hope. I'm Hope. God, are you in a lot of pain?"
    "No," croaked Mercy. "I can't feel anything at all."
    "Who did this to you?"
    "The Righteous Flame."
    "Who is that?"
    Mercy gasped and more black slime trickled from her mouth. "Please. Please kill me. I can't… I don't want to remember. My eyes are burned up and I can't cry."
    With a fluttering of wings, two of the familiar dark birds settled onto the top of Mercy's cross and regarded Hope with their baleful eyes.
    "Those fucking birds again," she whispered. "Why are they following us?"
    "I wish I could see them," said Mercy. "I miss birds."
    "Not these birds. They're evil. Like demons or something." Hope thought about trying to take a shot at them, but she only had four bullets left and one was already earmarked for Mercy.
    "Like the Righteous Flame." Mercy shifted a little in her bonds. Charred flesh crumbled away from her.
    "Who is that?"
    "They."
    "Who are they?" Hope shivered at the thought of people who would do things like this. Had they burned up the forest?
    "They're bad people, Li'l lady." Undead Elvis's voice was hushed as he held a hand down to Hope.
    "How do you know?"
    He bent his head forward, eyes still hidden behind his sunglasses. "Good people wouldn't do this."
    Hope reached back for the Shepherds' pistol. It fit in her hand like it had been made for her. She raised it toward Mercy. "I can't. I'm not a killer."
    "Hope…" Undead Elvis startled her by using her name. "Look at her. She's dead already. You need to set her soul free."
    Hope wiped her eyes and nodded. Since Mercy couldn't cry, Hope would cry for her. "Who was your companion, Mercy?"
    "Her name was J-Justice. We were… traveling together."
    "I understand." Hope stepped over to stand beside the burned woman. "I'm going to set you free now."
    "Thank you. I… I love you." Mercy choked out the words. Despite her profession to not feel any pain, Hope could tell the woman was in agony. She raised the pistol up and placed it underneath Mercy's chin. Before she gave herself any more time to think it over, she pulled the trigger.
    Mercy's skull and the tissue within it muffled the gun's report, but the black birds squawked and flew away nevertheless. The woman slumped forward, her life extinguished at last.
    The pistol dropped from Hope's nerveless fingers. It made a small puff of ash where it hit the ground.
    Hope collapsed, sobbing. "It's me, isn't it?"
    "What is?" Undead Elvis knelt beside her and touched her cheek with an intimate tenderness.
    "All these people, they're all dying because of me. The Shepherds, Gabe, Asher, and now Mercy and Justice."
    "Justice was already dead when you got here." Undead Elvis stroked her face as if he could caress away her tears.
    "And I killed Mercy myself. Oh God, Elvis, I never believed. I never believed in God or Jesus or any of that crap and look at me. Look at me now." She raised her eyes and saw her reflection in his sunglasses. Her face was streaked black like the horrible monstrosity that she felt she'd become. "I'm the Angel of Death. Everywhere I go, I bring death to those who look upon me. The world has ended, and I'm left behind to mop up the remainder."
    "You don't believe that, do you?"
    " I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds ." Hope's voice was bitter. "Everyone, everything around me dies. Even you, Elvis. You're a