The weeks passed by with increasing blurriness. Travel was nearly constant. Hillroy's desire to forage and conquer everything in sight was insatiable. The army would set up camp for a few days at a time as groups combed the area for food and lost souls. After that, it was time to walk.
The Crimmons, along with everyone else, had wandered far from the original metropolis where we first met them. Stretches of countryside eventually led to another metropolis. And another. And another. Although Hillroy for the most part avoided cities and preferred to conquer decent-sized townships and other rural communities.
It wasn't long before the Crimmons intended to escape. Others had successfully vanished in the night, it was rare but not impossible. The army was now big enough that a few people might go unnoticed for enough hours to have a good start. If Hillroy thought you had, say, a 12-hour jump on him then he didn't seem to bother sending out search parties. Dissenters weren't common anyway. The army could spare it. What the Crimmons did not want was someone noticing their absence within only, say, a couple hours. In that situation, Hillroy would send out a search party. Not search and retrieve. Search and destroy.
The Crimmons mostly avoided getting to know anyone. They kept to their inner circle. The army within the army. Still, it had been impossible to avoid conversation among the other survivors. Most of them worshipped Hillroy for his prophetic powers. Others were clearly just along for the ride, hangers-on seeking safety in numbers. Gary figured his family were seen as the latter. They hadn't exactly been playing up the all-worship-Allicard angle, even though they should have been. It was for this reason that Hillroy Allicard had been keeping a closer watch on the Crimmons. He suspected from the start they might be trouble. Hillroy's instincts were seldom wrong.
"Hillroy's a god," said a middle-aged man.
"How do you figure?" replied Kyle. They walked on a desolate highway leading to the next town. The other Crimmons were a few minutes ahead.
"He knew about all of this years before it happened. He wrote it all down in detail and tried to warn us. He has the power to unite us and save us from the apocalypse."
"So you say."
"How do you explain it? How else could Hillroy know and do such things if he were not a god?"
"I don't know," replied Kyle blankly. He was growing tired of the Allicard Army.
The man grabbed Kyle's wrist.
"I know you're not really with us. Your family. None of them believe."
"We're with you," replied Kyle. "We're here, aren't we? We want to serve the group and remain loyal followers. We just don't think of Hillroy as some sort of god or supernatural prophet or whatever."
"You'd better start believing," threatened the man as he dropped Kyle's arm. "The army doesn't need non-believers. Even if they are the most skilled fighters."
"Ok," said Kyle. "We'll try."
Kyle picked up his pace. The man disappeared into the crowd.
