Epilogue

Clevis walked toward the barn through the carnage of the barnyard while shaking his head in wonder. Of the 127 men that attacked the ranch, only twelve men had been captured alive and every one of them was wounded. Three had run from the barn in a panic screaming for the police to save them from the monster.

Jonas appeared in the doorway with Brian and Anna behind him. Jonas was looking around the barn yard with a sad expression.

"Did you get him? Was Carlos Cruz killed?" Clevis asked anxiously. He noticed Brian pale and Anna flinch at the questions. He didn't think the flinch was from the blood dripping from all three of them.

"He was killed," Jonas said with a voice that sounded like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"You shot again," Clevis said with concern as he rushed up to his friend. "All of you were shot."

Jonas shook his head with a slight smile and said in a tired voice, "I must be getting better at this. That's one battle that I haven't been shot or hit by a flying car and another with just a flesh wound."

Anna started shaking as the adrenalin that fuels the body during battle started leaving her system. Brian grabbed her shoulder and pulled his sister against him. "It's okay sis," he said gently. "Just about everyone gets the shakes after a hot battle. I'll get them in a moment too so be ready to catch me if I start to fall."

Anna snorted and playfully elbowed her brother in the stomach as she pulled herself together. She turned to Jonas and asked, "Okay Jonas. Is that what we're going to be facing if we go with you?"

Jonas shook his head tiredly and said, "If I never see something like that again it will be too soon. Carlos was a Red Agent longer than Jake Hobbs and that may be why Carlos was changed. Carlos had more opportunity for evil than Jake did too. The drug cartels don't seem to have a conscience or have any respect for life. That may be another reason he was changed."

"What are you guys talking about?" Clevis demanded.

"Cruz came down in the silo with us and he wasn't human. He looked more snake than man," Brian said with a shiver.

"I've got to see this," Clevis said as he started to push past them.

"He changed back to a human form when he died," Jonas said stopping the detective. "Joe said that form wasn't meant for this world and the Adversary's control of the body was the only thing holding it in that shape. When he died his body changed back to human."

"It had to be the devil or the Adversary controlling his body to keep him coming like that," Brian said fervently. "Anna hit him at least five times with that M-14. I don't know how many times Jonas hit him with that M-16. I hit him with two grenades and blew him in half and he was still trying to get to us. Jonas had to shoot him in the head three times and it still took a while before that hellish red glare faded from his eyes."

"Didn't you believe us when we said he was like a snake man?" Anna demanded.

"I believed you," Clevis said with a calming gesture of his hands. "Three of the men that ran out of the barn were begging us to save them from the monster. My Spanish isn't very good but I think they were talking about a snake too. At least I think that's what 'serpiente' means in Spanish. I just wanted to see it with my own eyes."

"Well, count yourself lucky you didn't see it with your own eyes," Anna said mollified by his tone. "I'll have nightmares for years to come because I did see it."

"That's for sure," Brian said as he sagged against the side of the barn. "That was a walking nightmare."

Jonas had turned and was watching the two as they described how they felt about what they saw. "You know that there are a lot of other monsters out there. This one was just easier to identify because he was changed by the evil in him. The others aren't as easy to spot but they can be just as evil."

Brian and Anna straightened and stared at Jonas. "And your point is?" Brian asked.

"Are you going to do something about the rest of the monsters?" Jonas challenged.

"I am if you are," Brian shot back.

"And so am I," Anna said angrily. There shouldn't have been a question about if they would keep going or not. "We are already tied to you Jonas Gianni so don't think about quitting now or going on without us. You don't have a choice."

Jonas smiled at the two and said, "I really don't have a choice about protecting the innocents of the world. Thank you for sharing my journey."

"Amen," the three heard in their minds.