PART THREE: THE LAST STAND
Chapter Eight: The Great and the Good
I fell, tumbling down into the surf of the Hudson river, bright white lights filling my eyes. Reached out. Grabbed the edge of the deck with aching fingertips, rubbed raw with flicks of salty foam. Hoisted myself up and over the bar, on to the Rapture and on to West's ship as it lumbered out into the early dawn light.
A single bodyguard in a suit stood on the edge of the deck, watching in horror as I leapt on to the slippery deck. I didn't give him a chance to respond. Three bullets. He rolled around and hit the slippery deck hard.
I frisked his still warm corpse, removing a silent pistol. Best to play it quiet till I got near West. Only way to play it.
On the PA system West was silencing the crowd with an angry burst of static, sounding distant from down on the lower deck. Then his voice burst out across the ship – loud, booming, chillingly familiar, like stepping into a TV show.
"My friends!" West declared. "Citizens of New York! Politicians! The famous! The great and the good of this city! Welcome aboard my yacht, the Rapture."
A distant ripple of polite applause.
I slunk up a small white staircase leading to the upper deck, spray licking at my battered shoes as it rolled over the lower. There was a bodyguard at the top, looking out over the river. Armed with a semi-automatic.
"Doubtless we have all enjoyed the wealth of entertainment tonight," West continued. "I'd like to thank the Larry Hoover Jazz Ensemble, Michael Julian Benedict, the Choir of the Lower East Side, and all the others who have delighted us with their musical skill over the course of the evening."
More applause.
I shot once, aiming for the heart. A clot of blood flew up into the air, hit the deck hard. As the guard went to cry out, I fired again, this time aiming for the face, and he fell down hard.
"Yet now, it is my great honour to introduce the main agenda of tonight's gathering. We have all revelled tonight. Enjoyed the company of others…"
I bent down, hooked my arms around the goon's body, and lifted him up, pushing him over the side. He tumbled down, deep into the churning waters below, leaving nothing but a watery blood streak on the alabaster white deck. I turned around, pushed myself up against the bridge, and began to sneak forward.
"But we all have a purpose. We all have a goal to achieve. Tonight, we are standing on the brink of something truly marvellous…"
There was a bodyguard standing on top of the bridge, donning a neat black suit and shades. He had a cigarette wedged between his teeth, and was holding a semi-automatic. Another round the front of the ship, just visible. Taking them both down quietly could be tough – especially if there were more around.
"Tonight the world will wake up in horror as its darkest cities descend into chaos. What we have seen with the Miasma virus so far is only the beginning. Today we will see the true extent of the virus we have all invested in…"
I winced. All invested in? All these people had a hand in Miasma, guided by their loving shepherd the Senator? It was all too much like a nightmare. Too out of control. All those smiling faces on the cover of the magazines, all those smirking millionaires, those corporate behemoths… they had a hand in this nightmare?
It made me freeze up against the wall.
Above me the bodyguard looked around, scything out the area. Glancing down at me.
He flinched.
"New York. Los Angeles. Chicago. Atlanta. And beyond. The Sodom's and Gomorrah's of the modern world. All will fall into darkness, all will realise the price of their drift from God. Today his wrath will be unleashed upon the world for all to see. For all to bow down and respect him…"
The goon gasped, reached for his semi-automatic. I shot upwards.
A bullet flew through his lower jaw and out the top of his head. He cried out briefly and then fell over the railing, sliding down the bridge and hitting the deck near me hard, in a splatter of blood like a tomato.
"Tonight we will see God's wrath unleashed upon the sinners in a way not seen since Noah's flood. Tonight we will see the start of the Rapture. And it will begin here…"
The goon round the front of the bridge adjusted his shades, turned around and began to walk along the edge of the deck.
Towards me. Towards his dead comrade.
"Then, when this sinful, decrepit world has fallen, we will start afresh. We will salvage the remnants of the old, and we will cleanse them. We will purify this world once more!"
A roar of applause filled the yacht.
The goon was reaching for his gun and, worse, a radio receiver.
I was running out of options. Down to one, and it would throw the whole operation out of the window if it went wrong.
Wincing, I fired a single shot upwards.
And then watched as his head exploded, and as his limp body fell over the side, and tumbled deep into the horrified mass of people.
And realised that the game was up…
To be continued…
