by Cage, Zion
“Well, then, go ahead. Do it,” he said, spreading his arms out. When she hesitated, he asked.
“What’s stopping you, Vivien? You were never one to hesitate.”
She paused before speaking.
“I want answers, Adrik. I want to know if what we had was real. I want to know if I wasn’t just some puppet for you to control.”
“What difference will it make? You’ll still kill me, wouldn’t you?”
She didn’t respond; she just kept looking at him. he could see she was close to tears.
“I did love you, Vivien. From the moment I saw you at home with my brother during your tutorials, my heart belonged to you. I meant every word I said,” he said.
“You’ve always been a bad liar, Adrik,” she said.
“Why do you say so?” he asked.
“Because, when you lie, your voice becomes full of passion,” she said as she curled her finger around the trigger.
Adrik stepped on the edge of the tray and caught the tray as it rose to the air, just in time to block the bullets that Suzanne shot at him. He flung the tray at her, bending down to dodge the incoming bullets.
The tray hit Suzanne’s outstretched arms, causing her to lose her grasp of her guns. Adrik rushed at her and took her to the ground, punching her hard on the face. He undid her utility belt and continued to punch her.
He was bigger than her. All her struggles to get free were in vain. However, Morgan had been bigger than her too.
Remembering what she had done last time, she punched him on the shoulder with her knuckles. He growled in pain, and she pushed him off her.
“You’re going to die, hellcat,” he said as he jerked his arm back. There was the sound of cracking. His shoulder was free again. He lunged for her.
She dodged his punches and landed a kick and a punch. She was strong, but he was stronger. Before she knew it, he was all over her again, beating her.
He used the back of his hand to slap her finally, and she fell to the ground in exhaustion. She couldn’t see clearly anymore. He stood over her.
“You were foolish to leave, Vivien. You gave up every privilege to help people who would hate you if they heard what you did. You killed them, Vivien. You infiltrated them. You made them a laughingstock. No amount of heroism would change that,” he said.
He went to where his gun had fallen and picked it up. He returned to stand over her.
“I’m going to give you the privilege of seeing my face before you die. While you rot in hell, remember me,” he said as he held the gun over her.
Suzanne held her breath in preparation.
The next second, she swung her legs, raking him to the floor. She rolled over him and pulled out the tranquilizer dart from her hair. She stabbed it into his thigh and pushed it in so that he cried in pain before falling off to sleeping.
Suzanne stood up and picked the gun back up.
“Live by the sword, die by the sword, Adrik. Enjoy your sleep,” she said as she pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
What next…
3rd December 2021
1:30 pm
Chestnut Avenue, Rosebank, New York.
USA.
Aaliyah stood up from the couch as she heard a motorcycle downstairs. Her arm still hurt where she had been shot, but Ted had helped her bandage it. He had been watching for her all the time she was on the ship. The moment he had seen her jump into the water, he had followed her and had saved her from drowning.
She went to the gate and opened it as Xander and Suzanne came up. Xander had to support the lady.
“You made it,” Aaliyah said as she took Suzanne from Xander and led her to a seat.
“Yes, we did- barely, though,” Xander said. “What of Stephen and Bucky?”
“Not here yet,” Aaliyah said.
“And Joel?” Xander asked, looking around.” He was with you, right?”
Aaliyah bowed her head in her palms.
“Tell me nothing happened to him,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Xander. He went into the cabin. By the time the ship exploded…” she took a deep breath. “He was still in the ship,”
“No!” Stephen cried. Tears ran down Suzanne’s face though she said nothing.
They waited a couple more hours for Stephen and Bucky. By some minutes past six pm, the soldiers arrived and told how they had annihilated the president. The others relayed their stories too. However, there was an unasked question hanging in the air.
What next?
What would happen to the Americans whose last hope had just been destroyed? What would happen to them? None of them would remain the same after this.
They slept early that day.
Like a dream, Aaliyah heard someone knocking on the gate. She woke up slowly. The knocking continued. It wasn’t a dream. She wondered who it was. The others had woken up too.
Aaliyah frowned as she lit a candle and went to check it out. The others waited for her.
The moment she went beyond the door, she screamed.
“Guys, it’s Joel!”
Joel stood beyond the gate with a bandage around his head, smiling at her. Troy was with him. The others ran out to see them. Aaliyah opened the door and let him in.
“How in the world?” she said.
“And you said I was too old to be bad ass. The first explosion gave me clearance, so I jumped from the gallery on the fifth floor into the water. I was hit on the head, though but Troy saw me and saved me,” he said as they all went in.
“Thank you, Troy,” Xander said.
“It was the least I could do for the Russian who saved my country,” Troy said. Turning to Suzanne, he said, “I can’t thank you enough for this. To think that all these people would have died today if you didn’t step in. I know you may not have a home anymore back in Russia, but this place can become a new home for you. We owe you everything,” he said.
Suzanne was quiet for a while.
“Thank you,” she said finally. She looked at Joel. After staring for some seconds, she ran to him and hugged him.
“Thank you, Joel. I’m so happy you’re alive,” she said before pulling away.
“Well, you are the last one,” Aaliyah said to Joel. “Ready to be a badass donkey?”
“Nah. I’m too old for that. I’ll pass,” he said, and everyone laughed.
◆◆◆
4th December 2021
7:30 am
They had bread and chocolate tea that morning. Once they were done, Suzanne packed a bag and hung it over her shoulders.
“You’re going somewhere?” Joel asked.
“Yes. I’m leaving to find my way. I know you all have to return to your families now. I wish you all a happy life from henceforth. Goodbye,” she said as she turned from the door.
“What are you saying?” Xander asked. “The whole America needs to know you saved them. I need to introduce you to my family and let them know you’re the reason they’re still alive.”
“In fact, I think you should be the next president,” Aaliyah added.
“I second that,” Joel said, and Suzanne laughed.
“Americans always had a thing about black women leading them,” she said. “However, no. I don’t want anyone to know about me, and I’ll really appreciate it if you kept my identity secret. This has to be it for us.”
“But I want to marry you,” Troy said, and the soldiers laughed.
Suzanne wasn’t smiling, and they get her point. They stopped laughing.
“Anyway, I have a surprise for you guys. It should arrive in a few days. Till then, please remain in New York.”
“Are we safe?” Xander asked, and Suzanne laughed.
“Yes. Believe me; it’s a rather pleasant surprise. See it as a reward for being heroes. In the meantime, feel free to share whatever is in this house among each other,” she said.
“But I don’t want you to leave,” Aaliyah said.
Suzanne smiled at her.
“I
wish I didn’t have to. But this is for the best. I have to do one more thing to tip the scales back into balance,” she said.
“But will we see you again?” Aaliyah asked.
“We’ll communicate with the tablets,” Suzanne replied.
Joel stood up.
“You’re not living without a hug. Bring it in,” he said as he held his arms open for her. She went into his embrace. Everyone took turns to hug her. Then she left.
As they prepared themselves to leave for wherever they called home, the question kept ringing in their heads.
What next?
◆◆◆
10th December 2021
4:24 pm
Chestnut Avenue, Rosebank, New York.
USA.
Xander woke up from sleep to see Grayson watching him. he frowned.
“What?” he asked.
She raised his tablet.
“I still can’t believe you saved America. I used to think you were a wimp,” she said.
Xander groaned and threw a pillow at her. She dodged it and ran to hug him.
“I’m so proud of you, bro,” she said. “By the way, you have a text message. I wonder how you read messages from Russian phones,” she said as she dropped the phone and walked away.
Xander rolled his eyes. His sister knew how to bug him. He opened the tablet and checked the notification. He beamed when he saw it was from Suzanne. He hadn’t heard from her for a week.
Hey, it’s been a week since your heroic feat. I feel so privileged to have worked with you. For once in twenty years, I knew what it felt like to have a family. I will never forget you until I die.
The United Nations received our email. They have empowered the military by giving them the necessary tracking tools. Over the past week, they have been tracking down the remaining Russians. The delivery points across all the states have been destroyed, and the captives have been set free. I hope those kids find their families soon. The Russian agents are being held in a maximum-security prison here in New Jersey. The Jury will decide what happens to them.
By the way, in the email, I told them about you and the rest. Get ready to be applauded by the world. I wonder how they would reward you. I wish I could still be alive to see it.
Unfortunately, I must pay for my sins. I gave them my location, and they will come to pick me up anytime soon. I wonder what punishment they would mete out.
Take care of yourself and your family. No matter what happens, I will always love you. You are my family.
-Vivien Romanov Dmitri (AKA. Suzanne.)
Xander jumped down from the bed. He had to find the others.
EPILOGUE
13th December 2021.
10:55 am.
East Jersey State Prison, Rahway, New Jersey,
USA.
Suzanne closed her eyes as the needle pierced through the skin on her arm. Suddenly, her mind began to feel detached from her body.
She barely felt her head loll over to the side.
She had done it.
Since she was a murderer, just like the rest of the Ray of Hope, she had decided to die with them. Over the past days, she had seen them get captured one after the other and imprisoned. The look of hate she received from them filled her with regret.
It wasn’t about them. They had killed countless others; they deserved to die too.
From far away, she heard people rushing into a room.
Was it a dream? She didn’t know.
Since her left eyelid was still open, she watched the visions of some people shouting her name.
Save her! She was our leader!
Suzanne thought she recognized Stephen’s and Xander’s voice. Aaliyah sounded as though she were crying.
Her team. They had come for her.
She felt sad. She wished she had spent more time with them. She wished she had been normal.
Death was coming in rapidly. Those things were not called lethal injections for nothing.
As she lost consciousness, she began to feel afraid for the hereafter.
Hey God, I’ve been a bad, bad girl; but maybe you can take a girl like me…
She didn’t even get to complete the thought.
She died.
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Check out the books from the End Series:
The End: Genesis
The End: Fight For survival
The End: Captives
The End: Warzone
The End: Rogue
About The Author
Zion Cage is the author of more than a dozen science fiction novels and the winner of the prize for the best adaptation of the new generation Apocalypse in 2018 still being at College. he wrote for the newspaper group and delivered podcasts on the apocalypse being at Georgia State University. today he lives with his charming wife in Valdosta in the south of Georgia and is passionate about all the possible directions that the world could take if the apocalypse really happened. His favorite stories to read and write are mostly for characters who become stronger by overcoming the challenges and fears. Zion Cage love Basketball and he often plays in the Gym with his friends on Sundays. He also loves soccer and his favorite team is Atlanta United.
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