“Need a ride, man?”Before he even heard the words, Asher dove through the open door of the taxi, feeling the acceleration as the car sped down the abandoned road. Behind him, the Leviathan let out a scream that rent the sky, voicing its deep rage.
“Hey man, lucky I was in the neighbourhood,” the driver said.
Asher looked into the driver’s ID and saw the warm smile and familiar eyes of Andre.
“What the hell is that thing?” Andre shouted as he skidded down the street. “I can’t even look at it.”
“It’s the Leviathan,” Asher answered, “and I think it might be the end of the world.”
“No shit! Like from the Bible? I always thought that stuff was just to scare the kids, you know? Shit. What do we do now?”
“How did you know I was there?” Asher asked.
“Had no idea, man, just driving along picking up customers, you know?” Andre said, still thundering down the road as fast as possible. “Saw you in the distance and nearly didn’t recognise you but then I thought of my wife and I knew I had to come and get you.”
“Well, I appreciate it,” Asher said lifting himself into the seat properly.
“Hey, no problem, my wife’s doing well, by the way,” Andre turned the wheel hard heading into Manhattan proper.
“I’ve got to get home, man,” Andre said, “can’t leave the kids alone at a time like this. You’re welcome to come - you have any family, man?”
Asher thought of the phone ringing in Netanya, with no one coming to answer; his father’s spirit speaking from the grey wasteland of Sheol; he thought of Virgo, the evening they had spent together in the Palace of Understanding.
“No, no family.”
Where did he belong?
