by Len du Randt
- - -* * *- - -
The man’s first reaction when he noticed the orange glow in the skies was to run for the Temple. He ran past the dead bodies and impaled heads and into the Holy of Holies. He fell down at the Hologram’s feet.
‘Please, Lord God,’ the man sobbed. ‘We are in dire need of your help.’
‘Stand up,’ the hologram instructed and the man complied.
‘Now go to my casket.’
The man walked over to the casket. He looked at the hologram and waited for the next command.
‘Open it.’
He slowly raised the lid, not sure of what he would see. Inside the casket lay the lifeless body of Victor Yoshe. The man looked at the Hologram version of Victor, surprised at the amazing detail of the image.
‘What is it that you wish me to...?’
The lifeless body of Victor’s eyes opened. His eyes were a dull greyish colour; his face still devoid of life or expression.
‘My God,’ the man said as he looked at the corpse lying down in front of him. Victor’s arm shot out and grabbed the man at the throat. ‘Urk—’ was the only sound that the man managed to make before Victor twisted his hand, snapping the man’s neck instantly.
Slowly Victor rose from the casket. He stumbled to the entrance of the Holy of Holies and looked in the direction of the hologram. The image remained motionless. Victor then opened the veil and beheld the darkened skies. Lightning flashed sporadically.
In the distance, Victor saw what could have been fire raining down. He grunted and stumbled forward out of the Holy of Holies and into the darkened world outside.
- - -* * *- - -
‘They’re saying that it’s splintered fragments of the meteor entering our atmosphere,’ Trevor said to Andrew over the phone. ‘Thousands have died and according to GMN, about seventy two percent of the rain forests in South America are on fire, as well as others elsewhere in the world.’
‘Are you serious?’ Andrew asked.
‘Yeah. You’d better check it out. There’s a thing about it on GMN right now.’
‘Thanks, I will.’
The two hung up and Trevor looked at the television in disbelief and tried to suppress the knot in his stomach. He wondered how bad the meteor strike was going to be, and for the first time since he had heard the news did it feel real to him.
- - -* * *- - -
San Francisco: Two Weeks Later
The day was like any other. It was sunny with clear skies and a soft breeze blowing gently through the air. From the rooftop of a San Francisco skyscraper, a group of people stared down at the deserted city streets. They didn’t appear fazed by the fact that a meteor would soon burst through the atmosphere and plummet into the ocean, which would probably create a Tsunami that would crush them all only a few minutes later.
A young woman looked at the poster she had spent three hours making. The glittery letters were still as eye-catching as they had been when she had made it. She waved her The End is Nigh! poster in the air along with the thirty other people, each with their own posters very similar to hers.
‘This is so exciting, yet nerve-wracking at the same time,’ a frail old man said next to her. He was staring at the skies as if he wanted to be the first to see the meteor.
‘Yeah,’ she replied, staring over the tranquil ocean in thought. ‘It’s kinda freaky.’
‘Here it comes!’ someone yelled and the young woman spun around just as something exploded behind her with a loud crack and BOOM!
‘It broke the sound barrier!’ the frail man shouted.
The meteor shot over their heads at supersonic speed, leaving behind it a thick, black trail of smoke. The draft caused by the speed and size of the meteor almost ripped the people off the rooftop, but fortunately, only a few posters were sent flying down. Water parted beneath the meteor as it screamed its way toward the collision point, and a few nanoseconds later, the large, burning rock disappeared over the horizon.
‘OhmyGodweregonnadie!’ someone yelled behind the girl, and for the first time did her brain catch up with the reality of the situation: there would be no tomorrow; there would be no more strolls in the park; no more falling in love all over again; no finishing her romance novel; no picnics under the moonlight; and no children. No children! There would be only death.
‘I don’t wanna die,’ she said as tears brimmed in her eyes and anxiety ripped her stomach to shreds. ‘I don’t want to die...’
‘Too late now,’ the frail man next to her said with a stupid grin on his face. A light flashed over the horizon, and the clear blue sky turned dark and ominous almost instantly. The darkness spread through the skies as something even darker, almost pitch black, approached them. ‘Because here she comes!’
The wave rushed towards them at a breakneck speed. She could hear the explosion of the meteor above the rush of the ocean as the speed of sound caught up with the wave. The sudden blast noise caught her off guard, and she burst into tears. Sobbing loudly, she dropped her poster and clutched the frail man next to her.
‘Ain’t she a beaut?’ the man asked excitedly.
‘I don’t wanna die!’ was all that the girl could muster in return.
The wave slowed in speed as it approached the shores, but grew in size. It was screaming. Screaming at the puny people who would dare challenge it. The girl jerked when the first skyscrapers crashed into the others. The sound was deafening.
The wall of water ripped the Golden Gate Bridge from its foundations and tossed it around; almost playfully.
‘I don’t wanna—’
The wave swept over the building with the thirty spectators on its roof as if it wasn’t even there.
- - -* * *- - -
‘It struck!’ Trevor shouted and leaned forward to see the event unfold on GMN. The lights flickered and dishes rattled as the building started shaking lightly.
‘It’s the impact quake that they had warned us about,’ Andrew said. René just clutched Trevor’s arm tightly. Outside, car alarms were screaming. A few far-off explosions shook the building even more as gas pipelines were ruptured and sparked.
‘Lord Yoshe could have stopped this,’ René said as she viewed the damage on the television feed.
‘He’s dead, René,’ Trevor said.
‘He’s not dead,’ she defended. ‘They just don’t know where he is, that’s all.’
‘They took his body three weeks ago already,’ he said frustrated. ‘Don’t you think that we would have at least heard from him if he was actually alive?’
‘They...they’re nurturing him back to health,’ she said, grasping at straws. A tear trickled down her cheek.
Trevor wanted to make a comment. He wanted to make her see that what she believed to be true was in fact, not. But he wanted more to wipe that told-you-so expression off Andrew’s face. Instead, he remained quiet and continued looking at the global destruction that was taking place at that very moment.
- - -* * *- - -
South Africa: Two Days Later
The river rushing toward the reservoir remained uninterrupted by the impact of the meteorite strike. It just kept flowing, bubbling over rocks and pebbles as it snaked and twisted its way through the field. A brilliant light cut through the night skies, illuminating the field and everything in it.
The light slowly descended toward the Earth, as the object that emitted the light came closer to the ground, the light faded. When the cloaked creature’s feet touched the ground, only blackness remained where there was bright light just a few seconds before.
The creature looked around to see if anyone had noticed it. No one was unfortunate enough this time. It turned its attention to the river, hunched down, and stuck a bony finger into the cool water. A green substance oozed from the finger, blending with the water that, soon, there was no trace of it having ever been there.
The creature stood upright and hissed a skin crawling laugh, then shot up into the night sky in search of its next target.
- - -* * *- - -
‘Pick up the phone, Trevor!’ Andrew yelled into the ringing handset. ‘Pick up, for crying out loud!’
‘Hello,’ a female voice answered.
‘René,’ Andrew said. ‘I need to speak to Trevor, urgently!’
‘I’ll call him, Andy,’ she said, but then paused for a moment. ‘Is...is everything okay?’
‘No time to explain, René, but Trev will as soon as I’ve finished speaking to him. But whatever you do, don’t drink the water!’
‘Why? What’s wrong with it?’
Andrew sighed. ‘It might be contaminated. But please, get me Trevor.’
René held her hand to her mouth as Trevor walked up to her. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. She just stood there, holding the telephone out to him without saying a word.
‘Andy?’
‘Trev,’ Andrew said. ‘Don’t drink the water. Did you drink water yet?’
‘Calm down, Andy.’ Trevor said. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘The water. It’s contaminated or something. People have become extremely ill, others have even died.’
‘From drinking water?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is it just in Pretoria?’
‘It’s all over the world, although only certain cities and towns have been infected. So far there’s no pattern.’
Trevor thought for a while. ‘So what are we supposed to do now?’
‘Nothing at the moment,’ Andrew said. ‘But just don’t drink any of the water.’
‘What if I boil it? Won’t that kill all the bad stuff in the water?’
‘Not this virus, no.’
‘And if I get bottled water from the store?’
Andrew thought about it for a moment. ‘Good idea! Get as much of it as you possibly can. When people realize that there’s no way around it, there will be chaos in the stores.’
‘Will do,’ Trevor said. ‘I’ll take René. Her car could carry quite a load.’
‘Great,’ Andrew said. ‘I’m also going right now.’
‘See you later,’ Trevor said and hung up. He turned to René: ‘Is it okay if we take your car to the shops?’ he asked.
She nodded and they both left to find as much bottled water as they could.
- - -* * *- - -
When Andrew returned from his shopping expedition, the first thing he did was turn on his computer. He took a sip of bottled water as he waited for his email program to load up. When it had done so, he put down the bottle, cracked his knuckles, and began writing:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This isn’t going to be a long letter. Just a note to warn you against drinking tap water. I don’t know if you know yet, but it appears that a large amount of fresh water supplies had been poisoned, and people are warned NOT to drink of any water until their town or city had received the green light from their government.
I urge you not to drink water until you have found out first. Thousands of people have been taken up in hospitals because of this, and many have died. My apologies if you know about this already, but I felt like I needed to warn you myself.
May Jesus protect and guide you.
Love,
Andy
xXx
Andrew looked at the message for a while, then set the message to ‘HIGH’ priority, and sent it off. He switched off his computer and walked over to the television where the main news report was about to begin.
- - -* * *- - -
It took the two of them two trips each to buy and carry as much drinking supplies as they possibly could. When all the cupboards were filled to the brim, and the small space behind Trevor’s couch couldn’t contain another bottle, he and René fell down on the sofa in front of the television. He switched it to GMN. A news reporter was just finishing a story about a bus accident in Mexico which had claimed the lives of thirteen people.
‘In the wake of the meteor strike, the World Census Organization has reported that the death toll has risen to around four hundred and seventy thousand dead on land, and still only an estimated seven thousand dead at sea.
‘Most of America’s western coast got flooded, as well as eastern islands such as Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan. The damage is staggering, and it’s difficult to determine if the order of life can be restored at all on these islands. New Zealand is totally under water, as well as a huge section of Australia.’
‘Isn’t that where Andy’s parents are from? New Zealand?’
Trevor nodded, and René held her hand to her mouth.
‘They’re okay. They’re staying with friends in America, remember?’
‘The destruction,’ the news reporter continued, ‘of most of the plankton in the ocean has created a massive disruption in the food chain, causing the deaths of vast numbers of sea life. Dead sharks, whales, and dolphins litter the beaches at some of the most respected public holiday resorts; and a case of red tide has been reported globally.’
‘Red tide?’ René asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ Trevor said. ‘Think it’s the blood of all the dead animals that makes a large section of the sea appear red at certain places...or something like that.’
‘Oh dear.’
‘Thousands have been hospitalised, and even more have died at the wake of a new water virus known as Bitter Water. The virus is said to have contaminated some of the world’s most important reservoirs. There is no known cure yet, and doctors from around the world are combining forces to battle this latest killer. Little is known about the origin of the virus, except that the first symptoms were reported in Germany just a few short days ago. People of the following areas are asked not to drink any water until it has been declared drinkable.’
Trevor sat upright as a list of city names scrolled over the screen.
‘There we are,’ he said and slumped back into his sofa. ‘What else can go wrong?’
The news reporter came back after all the names had been scrolled through twice. ‘A professor at the MIT Centre for Space Research has denied claims that the Bitter Water virus came from the meteor that struck us almost a week ago. His full views on this will be aired later tonight.’
‘I’m glad we got the bottled water,’ René said.
‘Yeah,’ Trevor replied and took a sip from his bottle. ‘We must work sparingly until we can get our hands on more.’
‘And now for the main story of this evening,’ the news reader announced. ‘Pope Alexander the Ninth has today—in a news conference—declared that the European Empire’s leader and Messiah, Victor Yoshe, has returned from the dead.’
Trevor sat up. ‘What?’
‘Oh my Lord,’ René shrieked and clapped her hands.
‘This came only shortly after Lord Yoshe had appeared to Pope Alexander in a dream at first, and then personally, in the flesh.’
GMN aired a video clip from Antonio’s public announcement earlier that day.
‘It is with great joy that I announce to you the resurrection of our Lord and saviour, Victor Yoshe.’
There was a moment of silence as Antonio spoke the words, which was followed by the cheers and clapping of the news reporters present. Cameras flashed and the cheering became deafening as a familiar figure walked onto the platform and took a stand next to Antonio. Victor placed his arm around Antonio’s shoulders and waved to the room of awestruck reporters.
‘It’s him!’ René shrieked.
‘Impossible!’ Trevor said.
‘It’s him,’ she repeated.
Victor stared at the cameras. He wasn’t ready to address the world yet, but he wanted all to know that he was back.
Trevor studied the man on the stage next to Antonio, wondering if it might be a body double. Trevor looked closely at Victor’s composure, charisma, and even his smile. Other than a scar across his right eye where he had been struck, there was no doubt about it. The man standing on the stage next to Antonio was indeed Victor Yoshe.
.XV.
Abaddon
‘There ought to
be limits to freedom.’
- Governor George W. Bush, May 21, 1999
‘It had been three weeks since the meteorite struck Earth,’ the newsreader said, ‘and scientists estimate that it could be five years or more before the dust will settle completely and restore Earth to the way that it was before impact. Until then, scientists believe that we will have only roughly seventy percent of the light from the sun that we used to have.’
‘Just imagine our lungs by then,’ Trevor said, and then turned his attention back to the news reader.
‘It has only been a couple of hours since the first confirmation of the European Empire’s President, Victor Yoshe’s resurrection. He will address the world shortly, but before he does, GMN will air a new music video composed by some of the world’s greatest artists in honour of his glorious second coming.’
A rock band performed a ballad on the television, and Trevor felt a lump in his throat as the various global artists skilfully depicted the life, death, and resurrection of Victor. Trevor took René’s hand in his, and the two of them just sat there, staring at the screen. A tear slid down René’s cheek as the music video showed various video clips of Victor waving and smiling at cheering crowds. Trevor swallowed hard and his eyes stung. If René had not been there, he most probably would have cried like a baby.
‘It’s him!’ René shouted suddenly and squeezed Trevor’s hand. Victor was standing behind a podium, smiling at the reporters who all simultaneously shouted their questions while the photographers took pictures at the live press conference. The commotion took about three minutes to calm down, and once it did, Victor stepped forward to speak into the microphone.