 During the cease @-@ fire , the abbey offers shelter to refugees fleeing the regions affected by fallout , which results in a battle of wills over euthanasia between the abbot and a doctor from a government emergency response camp . The war resumes and a nuclear explosion occurs near the abbey . Abbot Zerchi tries to flee to safety , bringing with him the abbey 's ciborium containing consecrated hosts , but it is too late . He is trapped by the falling walls of the abbey and finds himself lying under tons of rock and bones as the abbey 's ancient crypts disgorge their contents . Among them is a skull with an arrow 's shaft protruding from its forehead ( presumably that of Brother Francis Gerard from the first section of the book ) . 
