by Ammar Habib
“Third party?”
“The military, Or more specifically, General Pollard. As you know, he’s the—”
“Commanding officer of the entire nation’s armed forces.”
“General Pollard’s been disillusioned with the current bureaucracy after these last few years. And he was a secret supporter of the revolution, up until he got a visit from a beautiful redhead.” Tony looked in the direction of the shadows. “It’s amazing the hold a woman can have over a man, wouldn’t you say? Especially one as talented as my friend here.”
From the shadows, Vixen appeared. She walked toward Tony, keeping her eyes on Ethan.
Ethan locked his gaze on Vixen. “Didn’t Daken ever tell you what happened to the last brother of yours who got in my way? Or did he leave that little detail out?”
Vixen slightly laughed. “We all know about you and Anthony, darling. It was a nice little bout, but I’m afraid that it’ll take more than a little bout to defeat the rest of us.”
Ethan could see the insanity in her eyes. He wondered if it was an effect to what Daken had done to her. “How did he get you to take the bait? What was it that Daken promised you?”
“It doesn’t matter what it was. All that matters is that we took it. Each and every one of us.”
“And how long ago did you take it?”
“After you had left. And it was the perfect time. As the time for our glorious destiny comes closer, Daken has strengthened his soldiers. He improved us. With his new servants, he gave some of us powers that nobody could ever imagine.”
“And now you can move things with your mind.”
“That’s one way to look at it.”
Tony took over the reins of the conversation. “Ironic, isn’t it Ethan. You have saved thousands of lives. Taken beating after beating. Given your life for others, and here at the end, nobody is here to help you.”
Ethan looked back at Tony. “How are you going to do it? How are you going to take control of the government?”
“You really don’t need to ask. With the world’s largest city in ashes, the most powerful country in the world will suddenly be on the brink of collapse. To save us all from anarchy, the military will take control.”
“At the cost of thirteen million lives?”
“A small price to pay. After the city is destroyed, General Pollard is going to assume full control of the country. After some persuasion, he has already agreed that he will be unfit to rule. And so he will appoint his old comrade, me, Tony Hernandez. The very same Tony who has much political power in the global arena. Enough political power to lead his suffering nation out of this catastrophe.”
“I imagine that taking control is not the end-game, is it?”
“Of course not…but that’s all that you need to know. When the time is right and the eradication of mankind must begin, I will—”
“Do you have any idea what you’re saying? Daken will betray you! Can’t you see that?”
“He’s made good on every promise so far. And in the end, it’s not really a matter of trust, Ethan. In the end, with or without me, Daken will win. It’s inevitable. The only question is, do I want to share in the victory and live like a god, or do I want to end up like you.”
“I won’t let it happen.”
“Defiant until the end. Within a matter of hours, this city will go up in a mushroom cloud.” Tony devilishly smiled. “And all you can do is helplessly burn with it.”
Chapter 22
Allies
“Yes, sir. The prisoner is still asleep.” The mercenary held the phone next to his ear.
“Are your men patrolling the building?”
“Yes, Mr. Hernandez. Paul and Ron are patrolling the perimeter as we speak.”
“Good. This will be our last contact.”
The line went dead. Standing in the warehouse’s observation deck, the mercenary looked down at Ethan. He was still hanging from the ceiling like an ornament with his head hanging low. Maybe he passed out. Ethan had been imprisoned—hanging—for almost a day without any food or water.
It had been over two hours since Tony and Vixen had left. And every minute that passed was one minute closer to the city’s end. And although the mercenary would die with it, the reward his family would receive was worth his sacrifice.
Hearing his radio go off, the mercenary’s thoughts of his family’s future fortune got cut short. He swiftly looked towards the device just as his fellow mercenary’s voice came out. “I think I got something here.”
The mercenary pulled out his radio and spoke into it. “What’s the situation?”
“Not sure. Thought I heard something.”
“Something or someone?”
“I’m going to find out.”
“Make quick work of whatever you find. Ron, are you listening in?”
A new voice came in through the device. “Yes, sir.”
“Get down there with Paul and see if there’s anything. I’ll keep an eye on the prisoner.”
“Got it.”
After a long moment, the guard put his radio back up. It was probably nothing.
But then he heard it. Gunfire.
Down below, the serenity suddenly ended. It was replaced by the beginning of a firefight that held the city’s fate in the balance. Gunfire echoed throughout the entire warehouse, lighting up the dark building in bright flashes.
Adam hid behind a large piece of machinery. He heard numerous bullets bounce off of the apparatus and bury themselves in it as the mercenary kept Adam pinned down. With a simple handgun in his hand, Adam cursed himself for not having taken his shot when he had the chance. He had completely blown the element of surprise. Instead of trying to get closer, he should have trusted his aim.
Keeping his head low and staying behind the machine, Adam listened to the endless, deafening bullets from the semiautomatic rifle crash against the machinery. He could not take this mercenary on in a straight fight. He needed to wait for an opportune moment to strike. Wait until his foe was reloading his weapon and then make his move.
Hearing his enemy’s gun go silent, Adam popped out his head, weapon raised. The mercenary was crouched behind a pile of crates as he reloaded his weapon. Adam took aim, but never had the chance to shoot.
Before he pulled the trigger, he saw the second mercenary attempting to flank him. The mercenary’s gun was raised and his finger was on the trigger. Adam immediately ducked back down and ran towards another piece of machinery right as the mercenary started firing at him.
Adam dove behind his new cover in time to escape the stream of bullets. They violently and loudly buried themselves into the concrete floor and machinery that now protected Adam. As he got off of his stomach and came onto a knee, the grip around Adam’s weapon tightened. His heart raced wildly. His breathing was out of control. Streams of sweat were running down his face and body.
The first mercenary quickly reloaded his weapon and moved from behind the crates. With his weapon raised and ready, he began to make his way to flank the intruder while his comrade kept the intruder pinned. But he did not take more than a few steps before something to his left caught his attention.
From the shadows, Jonathan emerged. With his pistol raised, he walked straight with both hands firmly on his weapon. He pulled the trigger. In a matter of seconds, the mercenary’s chest was riddled with six bullets before he collapsed dead on the cold, hard ground.
Not wasting any time, Jonathan swiftly turned to face the second mercenary who was keeping Adam pinned down. Hearing his comrade go down, the mercenary turned to see Jonathan aiming at him before he ducked behind a large piece of machinery.
Popping off a few shots in quick succession, Jonathan now kept the mercenary pinned behind the mechanism. Without showing his face, the mercenary blindly returned fire, hoping that one of his randomly shot bullets would hit its mark. But none of them came close and Jonathan confidently stood his ground.
With his mind preoccupied on Jonathan, the mercenary
did not see Adam take advantage of his inattentiveness. Silently, Adam flanked him from behind while keeping to the shadows. He kept his eyes in the direction of his foe as he stayed crouched down while maneuvering through the warehouse.
Finally, he the mercenary was in his sights. Facing his opponent’s back from almost thirty yards out, Adam took aim. He pulled the trigger, shooting off a singular bullet. The bullet mercilessly went straight through the gunman’s skull. The man’s head unnaturally jerked to the side before he collapsed.
Adam slowly lowered his weapon, dumbstruck by what he had just done.
And his astonishment was his doom. From behind him, the last mercenary turned the corner, unexpectedly running into Adam. Without thinking, he violently struck Adam on the back of the skull with the butt of his rifle. With a loud groan Adam went sprawling onto the concrete ground. His forehead powerfully hit the floor, causing his head to spin. His vision a blur, he instinctively rolled onto his back. As he looked at his attacker, he stared into the barrel of the loaded rifle. The gunman’s finger touched the trigger, but he never pulled it.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Ethan appeared from behind the mercenary. And as quick as he appeared, he masterfully broke the gunman’s neck with a swift move before letting the corpse fall.
Standing where the guard had been, Ethan did not even look at the fallen mercenary. Instead, he offered his hand to help Adam back up. For a few long seconds, Adam did not do anything except blankly look at Ethan. But, he finally allowed Ethan to help him back to his feet as Ethan spoke. “What took you so long?”
Jonathan appeared from behind a piece of machinery. He looked down at the two corpses before letting his eyes fall on his brother. “It would help if you wouldn’t be so vague next time about how the tracker works.”
“It’s an old habit,” Ethan replied, slightly smiling.
“Thanks for the save.” Adam looked at the dead body of the last mercenary that was between them all. “I…I can’t believe what just happened. What I just did.”
“If you want to be in this line of work, you better get used to it.”
Adam did not say anything as he looked back at the man he had shot dead.
“But you did good. Both of you,” Ethan said.
“I guess those couple of years in the military finally came in handy.” Jonathan put his gun back in its holster. “What was going on here, Ethan?”
“It’s Tony Hernandez. In two hours he’s going to blow up the city using a nuclear bomb,” Ethan replied.
“What?!”
“We need to locate the bomb and stop it before it goes off.”
“What—how? A nuclear bomb?”
“Listen, Jonathan. The bomb will be activated by a trigger. We need to—”
Adam interjected into the conversation. “How do you know it’ll be a trigger? Maybe there’s a timer?”
Ethan looked at him. “Because I know Tony. He’s egotistical and arrogant. And now he’s gone mad. He’ll be the one who wants to push the trigger and destroy the city.”
“Shouldn’t you notify the police? Maybe they can help. Or at least they can start evacuating citizens.”
“As soon as Tony catches wind that the police know or that any type of evacuation is going on, he’ll pull the trigger. The only thing that’s stopping him right now is that he wants to be outside of the blast radius.”
Jonathan spoke again, “So we find Tony?”
“There’s no time. Knowing him, he’s probably on his way out of the city. We find the bomb and we disarm it.”
“How do we find it?” Jonathan asked.
“By tracking its signal.”
“How?”
“Villanueva.”
“Villanueva?”
“His company has been working on a prototype of a device that can track the amount of radiation over an entire city.”
“I never heard about any such thing,” Jonathan said.
“It’s a secret project he’s working on. I only know because of the contract I signed with him. According to him, it is able to locate the source of the radiation down to the very room it is in. By using it, we can track and find out where the bomb is and jam it from receiving the transmission when the trigger is pulled.”
“Do you think we can trust him? He might be in on this whole thing,” Jonathan remarked.
“We can.” Ethan took a deep breath. “I’ll make contact with Villanueva and tell him to run a trace and locate the bomb. I have radio jammers in my lair. Once we know where the bomb is, I will be able to stop it.”
“What about us?” Jonathan asked.
“I might need back up. The people guarding the bomb are like me.”
Jonathan’s eyes slightly widened. “Like you? How are we supposed to take on people like you?”
“By using our heads.” Ethan took a deep breath as he looked over his companions. “They’re strong, fast, and have powers that I have never seen before. But they’re overconfident and inexperienced. And I have something that will help me even the odds: a gift that William gave me.”
***
Holding a half-filled wine glass as he confidently leaned back in his seat, Tony looked at his guest. The dark-skinned man’s only clothing were a few white sheets wrapped around his body.
The two of them were seated under the dimly lit chandelier. The room was as elegant as they came. Polished brown walls enclosed the off-white floored room. Around the room, numerous black, leather couches were spread out. A few wooden tables were positioned between seats and a glass table was right in front of a long, leather bench. On top of the table was a bowl of fruits and a newspaper. A television was mounted to the wall between the living room and bathroom. The news anchor spoke, but the volume was turned so low that he was almost inaudible.
Numerous windows showed a clear view of the ship’s outside deck and nighttime sky. The thick clouds blocked out the stars and moon. It was a silent night. The only thing that could be heard was a boat’s engine as it slowly moved across the waters and out into the sea.
Tony kept his eyes on his guest’s badly scarred face—scars clearly caused by fire.
He studied the man’s skin and wondered how a man so disfigured could have survived such a burning. By all accounts, the scarred man should have been dead. But, after all his dealing with Daken’s people, he knew that he would not receive any answers to those types of questions.
The scarred man finally broke the awkward silence, revealing his thick African accent. “Why did you not kill Ethan last night? Danior and Vixen had beaten him.”
“Daken put them under my command, didn’t he?”
The visitor did not reply.
“And I can do with them what I see fit and I can kill Ethan how I see fit.” Keeping his eyes on his guest, Tony took a sip of wine.
“You are confident then that you will succeed?”
“If I wasn’t, I would not have left the city, now would I?” Tony cockily smiled. “Victory is already mine.”
“This is what Anthony Griffin believed too. But he underestimated Ethan. Like you, he thought himself infallible. And he paid for it in his blood.”
“Yes, but I am not Anthony.”
“And yet you want to have what he did.”
“No, not what he had.” He took another sip of his drink before setting it down on the table in front of him. “I want more than he had. And after today, after this victory, Daken will make me his most powerful soldier.”
“If you succeed.”
“When I succeed. You can inform Daken that victory is all but in hand.”
“He is already watching everything.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To warn you of what will happen to you if you fail.”
“And how will that happen? How can I lose?”
“Beware, Tony, your confidence may be your end.”
Tony laughed. “Oh really? My end? Even if Ethan was somehow able to escape, it would be futile. Danior and Vixen are
guarding the bomb. They’re stronger and better than him in every way. And you expect him to have a chance to win?”
“Strength is not everything, Tony. The two soldiers under your command are young. As are you. And Ethan’s greatest weapon has never been his strength. It has been his heart.”
Tony did not say anything as he watched his guest get up.
“I have studied Ethan—”
“As have I,” Tony interrupted.
“No! You and your soldiers have watched him. But in your inexperience, you have not studied him. I have survived centuries. I have seen things that you could never imagine. And in all my years, I have never seen anything like Ethan.”
Tony smiled. “I know what this is really about. You know this won’t be my end. You’re just afraid that it will be yours. You’re afraid that I will win, and Daken will grant me powers that will make me his new favorite.”
“Afraid? No, I am never afraid. And I am not his favorite son…and neither will you be. Somebody else already is. Somebody that you think you’ve been commissioned to kill. As of now, the cards are in your favor.” The scarred man turned around. “But remember Tony, if you lose, your torment will last all of eternity.”
As the scarred man’s words finished, a blinding white light suddenly engulfed him, forcing Tony to shield his eyes from it. The light subsided just as quickly as it had appeared. Tony slowly lowered his hand and looked at where the man stood. He was gone.
***
“What’s the status?”
Hearing The Guardian’s voice spill out of the phone’s speaker, Villanueva intently looked on the three computer screens. The ones on the left and right displayed an array of data at an unbelievable rate. The middle screen showed a birds-eye-view map of Crown City. On the map was a small box that slowly moved around as the system tracked down the source of radiation.
He pressed the his palms harder against the desk. “The systems still running through the information.”
Villanueva glanced at his watch. It was not long until daybreak now. Less than an hour was left before this city would go up in flames. Every second mattered. Every minute was priceless. His foot impatiently tapped on the ground. The box gradually began to slow down in the business district of Crown City.