Death Diary (Entry 39)

Entry Thirty-nine

A couple of years ago, a heavy break out of swine flu struck a few towns in the United States. This outbreak was severe...so much so that it brought me along with it. I didn't think much of it as I walked into the emergency rooms to collect the souls within...until I saw who was inside. I should have realized who it was earlier of course...who else could it have been? Standing there in all of his despicable arrogance was none other than Pestilence.

I don't like Pestilence...of all the Horsemen, I detest him the most. True, Famine maybe disgusting and War maybe out of control and barbaric at times, but Pestilence is a twisted piece of filth. Oddly enough though, Pestilence hates me just as much. See, the other Horsemen see me as the end result of their games. When their fun is at an end, they know I'm going to show up. Pestilence doesn't see it that way. Rather, Pestilence views me as an obstacle to his experiments.
Pestilence likes to take the form of a middle aged man, usually wearing a lab coat or doctors uniform...what a cruel and cold irony that is (not like I'm one to talk, as I often take the form of a child). The reason he does this is because, in his mind, he thinks of himself as a scientist. Disease, infection, and illness are his agents and variables...while the human body is merely his lab rat. He loves to experiment with new forms of diseases and sicknesses, pushing them to new extremes. If one disease can't work or do the job, then he'll find a way to improve on it. He'll keep pushing and pushing and trying new things, until the lab rat he's playing with eventually can't take the strain anymore, and then I show up.
A disease has one goal: to divide and multiply. They spread and they infect...touching all that they can and covering the world in their filth. Pestilence finds this fascinating and loves to see just in what ways he can make his diseases and infections spread...and also to see in what ways they affect people. Sometimes he even tries combining diseases so he can see what new reactions he can get. What he doesn't realize is that, at some point, disease...no matter how terrible...can get out of control, and when too many people start getting sick, it begins to cause panic, which leads to more problems...and thus there are major strains and difficulties in my work.

But War and Famine cause major issues too; it's not like Pestilence is the only one who can cause massive devistation. So why do I despise him so much? Unlike Famine, who stays in one place for a long period of time, Pestilence has to rub his grubby hands on everything he sees. One town isn't good enough for him; he has to bring pain and misery to everyone he sees. What truly disturbs me is that he doesn't think that his actions are wrong. Say what you will about me and my job, but I at least have the common decency to recognize that my job and my actions can bring pain to people. Pestilence sees his job as...purifying. To him, life is just a thing to be played with...how far can he push a vessel before it breaks? What kind of reactions can he get from a different ailment? He claims to be discovering the true potential of disease and bacteria. I see it as disgustingly cruel.
Of the Horsemen, he is also the one that I exchange blows with the most. Sure, I've had my fights with Famine and War before, but Pestilence doesn't know when to stand down. Let me put it this way...if I show up and I tell Famine that it's time for him to move on, he gets the hint and I can begin cleaning up. If I tell War that the conflict is over, he will allow me to do what is necessary to end it. With Pestilence...he lingers. It doesn't matter how many souls I take, he just wants to get a new test subject for his little infection game. Then, I have to step up and knock him down. This is why he hates me...because I often am the monkey wrench in his machine of disease.

I can't remember the first time I met Pestilence...it was a very long time ago, sometime after the Great Flood. However, I do remember the first time I had to work with him...in Egypt during the Plagues. God called upon Pestilence...and told him that he was free to release a plague of flies, and then boils upon the people of Egypt. I was there when God gave the order, because God told me that I'd have cleaning up to do after Pestilence had done his job. Now, like all creations of God, Pestilence cannot defy God, but honestly...he didn't want to. He looked like a child on Christmas morning...practically giddy with excitement. Oh, the questions he asked...
"How far can I spread the infection?"
"To what extent can I push the symptoms?"
And I remember God answering each of his questions. Pestilence was disappointed that he couldn't spread his plague to the Israelites as well, but he was just happy to have permission to cause trouble for once...knowing I couldn't interfere with him this time. I watched him work...and I was disgusted. The Egyptians suffered in horrible ways, and I pitied them. The flies that Pestilence released were a swarm like never before in history, and the boils...ugh. I truly do detest the imagination Pestilence has. There are some things I'd rather not recall or recount about the Plagues...and that was one of them. Eventually though, God did order Pestilence to stand down, after Moses appealed to Pharaoh. Pestilence was very disappointed, but he couldn't defy The Lord, and took away the disease.

Pestilence and I meet often...especially in 3rd world countries where his diseases can spread with little medical interference (although he enjoys the challenges of modern medicine...they give him competition to see if he can combat them). However, when military forces started using biological weapons and disease, Pestilence and War became the best of friends. The two have caused me a tremendous amount of frustration and difficulty.
I remember one incident in WWI when Pestilence was making his way through the trenches, spreading his disgusting diseases and causing horrible pain upon the soldiers, due to the chemical gasses and unsanitary trenches. Pestilence decided he wanted to spread his filth to another trench that was untouched...to experiment. God didn't want those soldiers touched yet...so he ordered me to keep Pestilence away. When I approached him, I was in the form of a teenager, and he in the form of a field medic. The soldiers couldn't see us...but they could feel us. The feel of Death and Sickness is a heavy and intoxicating feeling.
I told Pestilence that he was to stand down...and Pestilence just snapped at me, saying I had no respect for his work and his ideals. He's right of course...but that didn't change anything. I suppose all the sickness and despair around him must have made him overconfident, because he drew his sword on me. At the draw of his sword, I felt a wave of anger, as the soldiers around him began coughing and moaning. I drew my sword as well, and I gave him one more warning to stand down.
When Pestilence swung his sword...he knew that he couldn't win. I stopped his sword with my own and used my own power to expel him from in front of me. I am a servant of The Lord...and when I work under his authority, there is nothing I can't do...and this doesn't just apply to me. All obstacles shrink back from those who stand with God on their side. I've seen it. In this case, Pestilence could not oppose me. He picked himself up and stared at me angrily. I raised my sword once more, ready to clash again...my deadly touch prepared to end his work in on that battlefield, there and then; however he chose to back down and walk away. He was angry...and he was embarrassed. He had gotten too overconfident and too arrogant. I watched him go and sheathed my sword. I then knelt down with the sick soldiers and removed some of their souls, as was my job. I ended their suffering.
I would encounter Pestilence a few more times after that, but he did not stand against me again during the war. When I told him he was to abandon a trench or stay away from one, he listened, albeit with frustration.

I want to stress here and now that Pestilence, while despicable and twisted, is not something to be feared. For all his creativity and cruel ideals, he fails to recognize the willpower and strength of humanity. God designed your bodies to fight diseases, and he gave you creative minds and intelligence to oppose his experiments. He is temporary...a fleeting annoyance. As dangerous as he is, he is a weakling. When humanity comes together and stand against him under Gods authority, God will provide the means to overcome him. I've seen it happen...time and time again.

I fear that I've talked too long however. I must return to my work. Rest assured though, I shall write about the last of the Horsemen when I have the time. Until then, take care.

Sincerely,

A.D