FLOOR 21: Judgement (The Tower Legacy Book 3)

by Jason Luthor

  “By this point, it’s a habit. Besides, it really did help keep me sane.”

  “A very human need. Command your suit to begin an audio recording. It will be surprisingly attentive to you.”

  “Like, just talk to it?”

  “Audio commands were all the rage before the Tower’s fall.”

  “Guess I’ll have to record this chat we had later then.”

  “I assure you, I’ll have long vanished when that time comes.”

  He’s literally been floating just behind me the entire time. Walking the dark halls back into the main entry, I realize that the Creep’s already started to die off. “What’s going on here?”

  “Creep requires a strong focal point to stay in a state of growth. Judge was that focal point in the Tower.”

  “So, when he died, really died, the Creep lost its focus point and now it’s dying off.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Which means, if there’s Creep out there in the world, then there have to be other focal points. Does that mean there are other people like Judge?”

  “There were none other like Judge. That does not mean there aren’t worse.”

  As I’m walking through, I take a second and realize there’s no sign of where Judge and Anna were standing. “Wait. What happened to them?”

  “Returned to the very thing that birthed them.”

  “Just like that.”

  “Since when have you ever thought the Creep was merciful?”

  It gives me a shiver up my back that stays with me as I walk on. It’s ugly to think about, but it’s just the truth. Once you’re dead, the Creep does the dirty work of just consuming you. Guess I just thought something, even a skeleton, would get left behind. It’s not what I would have liked for Anna, but she said it herself. She’d really died a long time ago. What I killed, Sally, was just a shadow of her. As I’m stepping through the gap where Mike cut his way through, the only reason it doesn’t bother me more is because I think this is what she wanted. She’s at peace with her herself, so I need to be too. “What did you mean when you said there might be worse than Judge?”

  “The memories I’ve collected since Judge’s passing show no others like him. But those memories are incomplete, and there are other, scattered memories of beings I am interested in. Visions of people in white. The reason I chose you in the first place.”

  “Angels.”

  “If there is anything I feel in this world, it is the unquenchable desire to know, and there is no greater secret than that of the Angels.”

  “That’s how all this started. It was an Angel that got me into that fight with David Marshall in the first place.”

  The Stranger sounds honestly excited. He might not be human, but when it comes to this, he’s not lying about how much he wants to know. “It’s so tantalizing, Jackie Coleman. A world of danger and intrigue, full of secrets to be known. It goes beyond my understanding that you could be so obsessed with something as simple as other humans when there are wonders in this world to tantalize the mind and threats that shock the senses. After all, there are still Angels about.”

  “It was humans that pushed me to take down Judge.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “You said you weren’t going to hold back from me. Look, I need you to tell me something before you go, because I know you’re not going to stick around here while I go looking for my friends.”

  “A correct assumption. What final question can I indulge for you, dark angel, magnificent killer, Jackie Coleman?” He seems really amused to call me by those names, like he’s mocking Judge. “The memories you’ve helped free are delicious morsels, and I am in a generous mood. So, what final knowledge can I pass on to you?”

  “Just . . .” My hands squeeze as I look out at the horizon, watching the largest Creep tendrils I’ve ever seen crawling up the sides of buildings. “Really tell me what’s going to happen with my body. Please. I just need to know what to expect.”

  He smirks, and it’s infuriating, but at least he answers. “I cannot tell you that exactly. Yours is a novel evolution, a new chapter in a long book. I can only guess based on what I know of both Judge and Sally.”

  “Fine. Just tell me. I’d rather know than wake up one day with some sort of weird growth on my arm that I don’t recognize.”

  “If you remotely follow the pattern of those two, then you will never need to fear such a thing. They only changed after they gave into despair, and somehow, you find ways to continue avoiding that fate. No. You will grow strong, stronger than you are now, and far stronger than you think possible. You saw with your own eyes what Judge and Sally were capable of. You will do the same. Your speed will equal theirs, and only the wind will be your companion. Your energy will become unmatched. You will run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. It will come incredibly slowly and with years of struggle, but within you is the capacity to do great things, Jackie Coleman. Even in this world, a world full of the bizarre and amazing, you will stand out among it all. You will have the capacity to instill either the greatest terror, or the greatest hope, among people. An angel among men.”

  He says it all, and for a second, I don’t respond. What do you say to all of that? So, I just take it in for a second and nod my head. “Thank you.”

  “You are so incredibly fascinating. What will you do with all that power? What will you do when you’re not busy playing friends?”

  “It won’t be playing. I’ll be the same Jackie I’ve been trying to be. I’ll be here for them, once I find them.”

  “And if there are others out there? Individuals who, by luck and circumstance, survived the fall?”

  “Then I’ll be here for them, too.”

  “But why, Jackie Coleman? Why fight for people who have never done a thing for you?”

  I look around the city and all the destruction, and for the first time really worrying that there might be people trying to survive in it all. “For the same reason I told Judge. Because they deserve a chance too. Because they deserve better than this. Because, if I have the power to make things better, then I’m going to use it. Because my parents taught me you should always do what’s right for other people. Because I love my friends, and I want them to have better than this.”

  “A light unto the darkness.”

  “If that’s what I have to be.”

  A crimson aura opens up behind me, and I can feel him vanishing. “You are always so fascinating. I will always be by your side, so long as you continue to intrigue me. As long as that remains the case, then rest assured, I will be watching.” I’m completely sure he’s done, so that’s why I’m surprised to hear him say one last thing. “You’ve stepped out of a great darkness, Jackie Coleman. Let’s see if you truly can be a light.”

  The red hue vanishes, and then I’m just standing there, facing a wrecked city. There are tanks that have been torn apart, not to mention the almost unexplainable ruins of a robotic skull sitting in the middle of the street. It’s a massive disaster, and I’m not sure whether it was better or worse inside the Tower. I know one thing though. I know we beat the Creep, at least a little bit. I know we saved the upper floors, for now. I know my old friend Allison’s up there, dancing her days away like she always did, except now she won’t have to worry about the Creep coming after her. I know Commander Vick and Abbott are fighting to change the way things are run and hopefully make peoples’ lives better. And, I know my parents are up there. They’re safe now, and they won’t ever have to worry about the Creep coming for them again. Maybe, just maybe, if we keep pushing a little longer, then this will be the start of them getting out of there.

  But I also know that, right now, my friends are out here somewhere, with more than a two-month head start on me. I know there are people that need saving. I know there’s something out here that’s keeping the Creep alive, and there are still a thousand things that are wrong and messed up with this world. It’s just that, I know if I could make a difference inside the Tower, then I can mak
e a difference out here too. If I can do anything just to make people believe they have a shot, just have a reason to have hope, then I’m going to try. I know I changed after my friends gave me a reason to believe. They stuck by me and made me feel like I actually had somewhere to belong. They gave me hope. I think I did the same for them too.

  So, I’m going to keep pushing.

  It feels like forever since we left Floor 21 behind.

  There’s still a big world out there though, and I really think I can make a difference.

  No. I know I can.

  For all of them. For any survivors. For my friends. For my family. For everyone I love.

  I’ll fight.

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