Apocalypse No.3

by A. J. Bennett

  Damian: So you’re telling me that man has no potential in this world?

  Phoenix: Are you familiar with the Bible Damian?

  Damian: Of course.

  Phoenix: There is a verse in there that proves that man has no potential. The verse is from Philippians 4:13 and it says “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This is simply stating that man cannot do things without a provider. Now I firmly believe that this world was saved, not by hope, but by leadership. Now you can argue that people were born to self-govern with freedom and equality like John Locke believed, or you can see the truth and understand that humans cannot provide for themselves without a foundation. I am that foundation in this world, I provide food, shelter, protection, and work. They were not born with the potential to survive, I gave it to them, and I can just as easily take it away. I promise you Damian, if you ever become a leader, you will not be able to have a society in which the people are free to make the choices for themselves. You cannot govern free people.

  Damian: So in order to have a society, you have to take away the people’s rights?

  Phoenix: I have not taken one right away from these people. They are not slaves in my community, they can leave whenever they feel oppressed. The people have chosen to stay here which means that they have sacrificed their own rights for a comfortable and consistent state of living. America followed the same rules when it came to society. America came up with a list of rules in which citizens would follow in order to have a stable society. The people gave up the majority of their rights in order to stay in the country and stay out of jail. In return, the American government gave law abiding citizens food, shelter, entertainment, work, and most of all; protection. These people were not forced to do anything, they had a choice to leave the country and live somewhere else if they disagreed with the way things work.

  Damian: America was a democracy ruled by three different branches who were elected by the people. You are one self-appointed man.

  Phoenix: You really think I appointed myself? two years ago I was nothing more than an ordinary person who worked within a group that failed. We made choices together and ultimately it lead to half of our group’s demise. All the people I was with then turned to me for reasons I still do not understand. I took the group and slowly we started functioning properly, I told them what to do and in return we had food, and eventually we had a permanent refuge. People steadily kept showing up until we had the society you see before you. All of this was built because a few people gave up there rights to me. So once again we’re back to it, people do not have the potential to survive unless it is given to them, and this is why I have become such a successful leader; I provide. Now how about I provide for you a little bit, would you like a drink Damian?

  Damian: Might as well, I feel like I may be here a while.

  Phoenix: Great, I hope you’re a bourbon man…so you ever been married?

  Damian: Yes, but only once.

  Phoenix: I was married once also, in fact it would have been my second marriage if the first girl I loved worked out.

  Damian: Who was she?

  Phoenix: She was the first woman I had ever loved, we even were pregnant with a child. A handsome boy, she left me before we named him however, but I loved that boy and sometimes I wonder where he is and whether he is even alive. She had to leave me because of her work; she was a doctor and she was very well known, which is why she moved every couple of years to help teach classes and work with special patients. She had to work with a young boy who had a split personality disorder and killed his entire family and numerous other people. On the phone she would tell how this kid created himself a brother in which he blamed for all the murders. I used to be so interested in her work and I would wait for her call everyday just so I could hear her voice. Then for whatever reason she stopped calling, and I never heard from her again.

  Damian: Wow, it sounds like you really loved her.

  Phoenix: Oh I did, but I had to be strong and move on. That’s when I met my former wife, Ruth. She really helped me become a good man and helped me learn how to love again.

  Damian: Well what happened?

  Phoenix: She’s dead. The blood fever took her life, and now I am left with only myself once again.

  Damian: I know what that is like, my wife died when she was eight months pregnant with our first and only child. Neither of them made it and at first I was angry and blamed myself, but her last words helped me get out of my slump. It took me a long time, but I think I have found what the meaning of life is through her death and through all my experiences. We as humans are born to learn, and everything we do is a test. The only thing that sucks is that life gives the lesson after the test, making it harder to know if what you’re doing is right or not.

  Phoenix: I would have to disagree with you on that one Damian, I believe that humans don’t even care about the meaning of life. We as humans only want to know that everything we did on this earth, on the physical plane, was worth all of our hassle, trials, and tribulations. We couldn’t care less why we are here, we just want to matter. Which is why religion was created. It is a way for people to have second chance when they feel like what they did in this life wasn’t worth it, Faith is what I use to drive the weak into doing better for themselves and our community here at Phoenix.

  Damian: But don’t you need to have faith in order to preach faith?

  Phoenix: No, a man does not need faith when he has experience.

  Damian: Experience does not give you the right to become some false prophet with a vision that ensnares the minds of the many. These people blindly believe every word you say. They believe that you are here to protect them, instead you are sending their children out there in this world to be killed. A boy should never be used in a man’s war.

  Phoenix: It was their turn to prove…

  Damian: To prove what!

  I knew I made a mistake when I interrupted him, especially since he warned me about doing it again. He snapped his fingers and two of his men held me down and held out my hand.

  Phoenix: Michael…knife please.

  Out of the shadows came a face I thought I would never see again, it was my best friend Allen. I guess what I thought was his suicide was just his rebirth. Allen, who is now named Michael, handed over a bowie knife to Phoenix, and with one hand he curled up all of my fingers except for my ring finger. He brought the blade down with a hard strike, and all I felt was a pop followed by pain. Phoenix cut off my ring finger as punishment for interrupting him.

  Phoenix: I told you…do not…interrupt me.

  He seemed very weak, he even collapsed when he tried to stand back up, but I can’t say I was doing any better. The pain from my finger has got me searching for breath.

  Phoenix: Michael could you please get me my shots, and bring one out for Damian’s hand also. We don’t want him dying just yet.

  Damian: So what’s… the deal… with the shots?

  Phoenix: Just a little side effect of the blood fever. I have to take these shots of the serum or else I can’t use my legs.

  Damian: Michael would know all about that, He lost his legs before also.

  Phoenix: Oh, so you guys know each other? He failed to mention that.

  Damian: Yep, he and I were best friends until I thought he killed himself. This is the first time I have seen him in years, back then his name was Allen.

  Michael came in with three syringes filled with the PI-19 serum. He put two in each of Phoenix’s legs and one directly into my finger. That shot stung like hell, but once the serum went to work all of the pain was gone and my wound sealed shut. Phoenix held up my finger and told me to remember what happened, and to make sure not to interrupt him or else next time I will lose a bigger appendage.

  Phoenix: Now my appetite for discussion is gone, and you have caused too many problems in my region. I have to show the people of this region that chaos will not be tolerated. Tomorrow morning you and your pals will be hung as example of what happens to
those who rebel against me. Take him away.

  Damian: What about Evelyn!

  Phoenix: Oh don’t you fret your little self about her, she will be safe. Just think of her as the queen bee. Her only purpose will be our rebirth, nothing more.

  Damian: You son of a bitch! She’s just a little girl!

  His guards dragged me out that room and took me to an area with a bunch of fences. It looked like the old zoo that used to be here. They took me too the same area that Dai was being held and threw me into a cage. I couldn’t see any of the others, I assume they are in a different area of this prison. I looked over at Dai and he was telling me to be quiet and be still. One of the guards saw this and kicked the cage next to me, and immediately after that a mountain lion jumped at me. This is why Dai wanted me to be quiet, and the guards knew that. Now I have a lion next to me trying to break through the fencing between us to come and eat me. This night is just not going the way I wanted it to. I scooted away from the lion’s cage and closer to Dai’s, which was a relief since the big cat sort of backed off realizing it pointless to try and get to me.

  Dai: What happened in there?

  Damian: Well we had a nice long discussion and I lost a finger.

  Dai: Well you seem pretty calm after losing a finger.

  Damian: Well he also told me that we’re all going to be hanged tomorrow, so I figured I would enjoy this night and not worry too much about all of this.

  Secretly I was terrified because I knew I failed, and even though I hated Phoenix, his words rung through my head like a broken record. I do not know if everything I have done even matters, in the end I failed Evelyn, and I can feel my wife’s presence being emulated through my choices. I failed.

  Chapter 27

  Time moved very slowly as we walked up the stage where our ropes were waiting for our necks. I looked around at the crowd and I saw Evelyn sitting next to Phoenix in the front row. Phoenix had dressed her up for this event and she looked sort of like those girls at the horse races with the big hats and the funky dresses. Phoenix looked relaxed with his arms up on the chairs and a smirk on his face that said “I won.” We all arrived at our ropes; Me, Dai, James, and Spielberg. The ropes slid over our head and I could hear the fibers of the rope rubbing together and scraping across my hair. The sun was bright and beating down, I could see birds flying and I could hear their songs as they soar past. I look down at Evelyn and she pierces my very being with her eyes. I can see one tear trickle down the right side of her face, and in that moment she transformed into my wife, My wife stood up, walked over to me, and ran her hand down my face while whispering, “It’s okay.” I closed my eyes and bowed my head, “I’m sorry.”

  I could hear Phoenix yelling at the executioner to tighten the ropes and to put a rush on this execution. The executioner did as he was told and tightened our ropes around our necks. The feeling of the rope squeezing my neck was nerve racking, I have never been scared of death, but thinking heavily on what Phoenix said made it harder to accept. Have the things I have done in this life mattered?

  I looked up at the crowd one last time and I saw Twitch making his way through the crowd pushing and fighting off Crusaders. He got to the middle of the crowd and pulled out two grenades, one in each hand.

  Twitch: Phoenix! Let them go or this crowd is going sky high.

  Phoenix stood up unafraid and calm, turned around and faced Twitch.

  Phoenix: Boy! I have worked too hard to get them up there on that stage. If you really think you can threaten me with the lives of these people, then you are horribly mistaken. Compared to the importance of the death of those four individuals, these citizens of mine are expendable. So drop those grenades, you…don’t…have…the guts.

  Crusader: Hey kid, don’t do this, I have a family in this crowd and I do not agree with…

  Before that crusader could finish his sentence, Phoenix put a bullet in his head.

  Phoenix: Does anybody else disagree with me? How many of our brothers have these men killed, and how many more if we let them go? Do it boy! Do it!

  Twitch: That blood is on you then.

  Twitch pulled out the pins with his mouth and threw the grenades sideways away from him. He took off and ran towards the stage in order to escape the explosion. Once he reached the stage he shot and killed the executioner and two other crusaders. Twitch pulled out a knife and cut all of us loose and told us to follow him.

  Damian: What about Evelyn?

  Twitch: We don’t have time, just come on. We’ll come back for her.

  He took us down the hill and into the old zoo. A group of Crusaders were chasing us and were keeping up very well. We ran through the entrance and continued to run up a hill and through a building that used to be for hippos and penguins. We got to the other side of the building and back outside, the crusaders got tired of chasing us so they decided to pop off a few rounds. They hit Spielberg in the leg and caused him to fall to the ground. One of the crusaders put his gun in the air and fired three rounds and shouted, “STOP!”

  We were forced to stop here and face the crusaders once again. Twitch reach for his gun and the crusader shot him in the shoulder, Twitch screamed out in agony and then was silenced when we heard a loud roar from an animal. We looked behind us and on top of the building was a gorilla with fiery tinted hair. One of the crusaders pointed his gun at the ape and shot. The bullet seemed to barely do any damage, and the gorilla stood up tall and threw his fists at the ground and roared loud. He then jumped from the building and onto one of the crusaders. He proceeded to hit, smash, and rip apart crusaders left and right with a rage I have never seen. All that was left was carnage, the ape turned to us and walked towards me and the others towering over us with a height of at least eight feet. He growled at us, sniffed us, and then noticed that the boys were injured. He scoffed at us and then went back over the roof vanishing in the trees behind.

  We gathered ourselves, healed Berg and Twitch with some shots that Twitch brought, and started our journey out of the zoo making sure we stay off of the roads. I was taking them to a place that I know will welcome us with open arms: Validus.

  Validus is an underground group that acts as peacekeepers in the shadows. They go into different regions to try and protect the people from corrupt tyrants. Currently they are out east, right outside of the city residing in an old housing development. I need to speak to their leader and see if they can help us save Evelyn, I’m sure they will understand the importance of her pregnancy and her life. Let us hope that they are willing to do me a favor.

  Chapter 28

  We reached the gates of a camp and we were met by four individuals who escorted us inside.

  The boys, Dai, James, and I went to talk to the leader. We were escorted to a tent where I saw the man who could help me get Evelyn back.

  Damian: Alistair Magriae.. How you been?

  Alistair: If I wasn’t mistaken, I would say that that is the voice of my old friend Damian Walker. I’ve been good old friend. What brings you to these parts, mate?

  Damian: Well… to be honest, I need a favor.

  Alistair: Okay mate, I’ll bite.

  Damian: We need you and your troops to help us take out the leader of Phoenix and rescue a girl who is pregnant.

  Alistair: Pregnant? Now that is a serious subject Damian. You know there hasn’t been a pregnant woman for years.

  Damian: I know, she is the first, and if we do not save her… she will be the last. Phoenix plans to use her for breeding purposes. She will become a slave.

  Alistair: So what do you want from us? Do you want us to just storm in there and grab her?

  Damian: No, if we do this, we will do it the right way in order to ensure minor casualties. However, if things go a different direction than we planned, we can expect blood to be spilled.

  Alistair: No, I can’t risk my people for one girl.

  Damian: She could be the most important girl in the world right now. If we save her, she could be the key to a new world. She
is the hope that people have been searching for in this dark and desolate world. She is our new beginning.

  Alistair was sitting in his chair staring at the desk thinking hard, and I can only hope that he changes his mind. He is Evelyn’s last hope for a decent life with purpose other than breeding.

  Alistair looked up and gave a little snarky sigh. He said, “We will go.”

  I knew that this would be dangerous, but Evelyn is definitely worth the sacrifice we may incur. I knew that Alistair had access to vehicles and they would be our way into Phoenix. Our plan was to use the trucks and SUV’s to get through the residential area of phoenix and bring the fight to his main base where we had our little conversation. We would use the trucks Alistair provides to block the road and avoid citizen contact or harm, I know that as soon as phoenix sees us coming, he will line up the crusaders on that road thinking that they will prevent us from getting to him. We will have ground forces pushing through the road as well as snipers set up so that we can have someone watching our backs the entire time. Once we get through that first wave, then it is on to the shrine where we will get Evelyn and hopefully take Phoenix’s life.