Merlin stood at the cross, already a few rungs up. He held out his hand as if he could just pull Justice with him. Maybe he could. Magic.

Why didn’t Merlin just magic them out of there? Couldn’t he blank them all out and just walk through the crowd all Jedi style telling them they weren’t the ex-ZoCOS members they were looking for? Why did they have to die?

Final decision. He looked back at his team. Could he go back to killing zombies now that he had so much doubt?

No. He was a good guy now.

But couldn’t he do more good in the world alive? He could go on talk shows or something.

Except, people who believed zombies were people and tried to rescue them were ridiculed. No one would believe him; no one wanted to believe the zombie making them coffee was a human after all. It was better not to understand, not believe, so after all the effort, Justice would just end up back here. Maybe a big demonstration was important to get people talking.

Merlin tilted his head and grinned. “Stay and be a bad guy or a slave, or come with me.”

His white-blond locks waved in the breeze like a hair model’s. Aside from the mundane clothing, it was easy to see him as magical. His face was pale white, flushed at the cheeks, pink lips cherubic. All Merlin needed was wings, which would’ve looked more natural than the oxford and red jeans.

God. What was Merlin doing? Here he was, contemplating suicide with a stranger. And yet, what choice did he have? He felt more awake than he had in a long time. Justice followed Merlin, crawled up the pole with nothing but the handholds. With his last moments of life, he observed the pleasing curve of Merlin’s ass. If that was the last thing he was going to see in life, he might as well enjoy it.

The cross wasn’t built for two. It creaked and moaned as they climbed higher and higher until Merlin grasped the top rung. He turned back and patted his butt, indicating Justice should crawl up on top of him. “Hold on to me.”

Merlin gazed before him. The air caught his hair and lit it up. Merlin looked so dreamy with those pale eyes, so beautiful.

Justice crawled up another couple of rungs. Merlin wrapped himself as tight as he could against the pole, and Justice wrapped around him. The two of them being up there definitely caused the cross to bend, leaning them first back over the roof over the church, which would’ve been a nasty drop but survivable. Then it sprang forward, leaving them to stare at the hard concrete they’d land on if the material snapped.

Maybe that was the plan. Die together in this ball. Oh well. At least he wasn’t going to die alone.

Merlin raised both arms to the sky, and he started to sing. His body vibrated as he belted out a beautiful tune. Was he singing Coldplay?

The words started to rise and take physical form. Letters connected, forming lattices out of clouds in silvery blue, a wispy soft dais with a short ladder that appeared before Merlin’s hands.

He ducked down to speak to Justice. “You first.”

Justice reached for the thickening bar of white. Though it looked soft like a cloud, it was hard and cold similar to iron. He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled himself up onto the platform.

Merlin followed, continuing his song even as he got to his feet. His voice was soon joined by many. A choral version of a Radiohead song, maybe? Justice fancied he could see fairies flitting around, joining the song, but maybe they were just bits of clouds forming a long ramp that grew farther than he could see.

When he turned, he saw Merlin was looking down at the ruckus on the ground. ZoCOS ran back and forth on the perimeter. Ambulances and fire trucks joined the fray. They pointed up and shouted.

In the distance, helicopters were rushing toward them.

Justice ran up the ramp.

“Hang on, Justice, the bridge isn’t done yet.” The song went on without Merlin singing.

Justice was too frazzled and pumped to wait. There were too many helicopters, too many guns pointed at them. ZoCOS wanted them, and probably wanted them dead for what they did and what further damage they could do. “They’ll get us. They’re coming right for us!” A second ago, Justice had been willing to die, but seeing that was never the plan, he found he really wanted to live.

In fact, the helicopters were coming for them. One breezed between them, not slowing down, not wrecking on the platform, indeed, not even aware that Justice was standing there.

In shock, Justice watched them go by. “What?” There were so many questions to ask, but they all began with that word, so Justice decided that was the word he was going to stick with.

Merlin caught up to where Justice stood on the ramp as it continued to form and grow into the sky. “We’re going to my house. We call it Mount Olympus.” He leaned in and whispered, “No relation.”

“Mount Olympus? What, are you Zeus now?” Now Justice was scared and confused, which really pissed him off. It wasn’t every day he was standing in the air, held up by some weird rig of support that came out of nowhere.

“No, I’m still Merlin. You just find a nice house on the market, find you’re in a position to buy it, and you do. My great-great-grandparents were good investors, what can I say?” Merlin smirked in that super-annoying way of his and then passed Justice on the ramp. He looked down at his feet for a moment and then took a step and began to glide up smoothly. “Mind the gap.”

”What is that? An escalator?” Justice marveled but was still grumpy and afraid. In spite of that, Justice peered down, squinting until he saw the pattern in the clouds moving up, then took a step and found himself riding into the sky.

An escalator to the heavens. Why not? It seemed to be that kind of day.

~~This series will continue in daily increments through the end of March 2026. After that, it will be once a week on Tuesdays~~