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In the cabin, Tow-​Truck Eddie squatted in a repulsive tangle of ungainly ured by knots of muscles Muscle upon h-​pressure hoses Even his face was hard with bulgingas the driver clenched and unclenched his jaw He drove in co the road as it unrolled itself before his headlights, big hands gripping the nubbed and leather-​wrapped wheel with crushing force

Heinstead with entranced delight to the voice in his head, the voice that whispered and whispered

On his ht and fresh, lit by the dashboard display; in his mouth he could still taste the blood of the man he’d killed His thick lips twisted and writhed in soht The night that was now his

He savored the taste of blood in his mouth, and he knew that it had made him pure, made him holy It was the first time he’d ever really paid attention to the taste of blood It was delicious, and he wondered if he would have more of it Inside his head the voice of God told him that yes, he would Soon

As Tow-​Truck Eddie drove, God whispered secrets to hilory that was to co the Beast and killing him

You are the Sword of God

It echoed like thunder in his head

Somewhere, out there in the darkness, in some unknown spot on the black road, his destiny waited Destiny in the for and evil power that he must find, must oppose--must destroy--because he was the Sword of God, and it was his holy purpose to do God’s will here on earth Now he knew that, after all his waiting, the Beast was out here on the road tonight, waiting for hiainst Evil, of heaven against hell That hat the voice of God told hiain

He laughed out loud, and his laugh was an explosion of righteous joy because his holy as beginning He had always known that soht path He’d prayed for this for years His destiny had been clear to hiht he ho he kneas--then the voice that spoke so powerfully in histo no one else but his own father To God himself

He laughed again and searched the roadside shadows for the Beast

The wrecker cut through the night air like a butcher’s knife leaving a screa darkness behind it

4

"Jesus, Karl, wait forand didn’t slow his pace a single bit He plowed on through the corn, ht to He glided through the stalks like a snake

The corn stood impossibly tall and it stretched outward on all sides in a forever of darkness Boyd stu the sharp sting of the razor-​edged leaves nicking his hand and cheeks The as icy and damp and his exposed skin burned from the raw cold His laht of it plus the luainly pace that consuy and cost effort Despite the chilly air he was bathed in sweat and the backpack felt as if it were filled with rocks

"Man, do you even knohere we’re going?"