Sam was forced to ride with Daniel Blanc at the head of the convoy. He had fallen fast asleep as they drove through the night under the cover of darkness, and his unconscious head rested against Daniel's grey sleeve. Daniel stroked Sam's hair with his free hand and looked out through the windshield. The truck had come to a stop right where Daniel told it to. He gently shook Sam until he woke up.
“Take a look, Charles.”
Sam wiped the sleep from his eyes and jumped into an upright position after he noticed he'd been sleeping against Daniel.
“It's Sam,” Sam corrected defensively.
Daniel gave him a cold look.
“It is Charles because I say it is. Do you wish to test me further?”
Sam urgently shook his head. He knew what Daniel was capable of when he didn’t get his way.
“Good. Now tell me your name, brother.”
Sam hesitated for a moment, the name unfamiliar and heavy on his own tongue.
“Charles. My name is Charles.”
Daniel nodded his approval and turned his attention back to the other side of the windshield.
“I'm sorry to have woke you, Charles, but something is about to happen, and I wanted to share the moment with you. Take a look out ahead.”
Sam gazed out ahead and saw a large earthen dam that stretched as far as his eyes could see. Water splashed over this dam from the other side, like an overfilled bucket carried by a shaky hand. The Heirs of Salvation were hard at work on it. They had men on the top of the dam, and men at the bottom. They were busy putting something in place, but Sam couldn't see what it was in the morning darkness.
“Charles, do you know what a levee is?”
Sam shook his head.
“That doesn't surprise me. People only hear about levees when they fail, and you are far too young to remember when Hurricane Katrina came to pay a visit. A levee is a monument to man's arrogance. They were built to separate the people of this land from the divine wrath of God. But you cannot silence God, Charles. Nature is his tool, and he always finds a way to use it. Arrogant men once doubted Noah when he said that there was a flood coming, and look at what that got them. God finds a way. The world sometimes needs a great cleansing of the wicked so its corruption can heal. Do you know what happened here in 1927?”
Sam shook his head again.
“Ah, I get to be a history teacher once more. Open your mind, child, and let me fill you with knowledge. In 1927 there was a flood. It was a flood so big that they called it The Great Flood. The Mississippi swelled up with water and could not be contained by the levees that were built to hold it. It was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States. It drowned the land and affected not just Louisiana, but also Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. They tried to fight off the flood as best they could, but they just couldn't do it. The power of God was too strong for them and their arrogance. The negros suffered the most, as is usually the case. They were forced to work tirelessly with the guns of white men pointed at their backs. The negros reinforced those levees with sandbags, but still, they broke and killed the whole lot of them. Water is even more effective than a gun when you have enough of it. You just can’t fight something like that. Some of the niggers survived, but the people in charge refused to evacuate them. They were made to work some more, helping to fight against the flood. All without the promise of compensation, of course. They actually went and made those niggers slaves again.”
Daniel laughed at the audacity of it all.
“The flood continued on its way towards New Orleans, and the rich white men couldn't possibly let that happen. They had already made sandbags out of dead niggers, and now it was the turn of the poor, white trash in St. Bernard, and Plaquemines Parish. The rich, white men had a plan, you see, as they often do. They went ahead and set dynamite to the levee and made a crevasse that drained the river and flooded the communities of St. Bernard, and Plaquemines while New Orleans was spared. They denied God his vengeance upon their wicked hides, but now Charles, God has come to collect what is due, and not even a white man’s wealth can spare them.”
The walkie talkie on the dash screeched to life. It was Jacob who spoke.
“We're all ready to go, General.”
Daniel smiled as he raised the walkie talkie to his lips.
“Whenever you're ready, Jacob.”
Daniel set the walkie talkie back on the dash and looked on as the sun rose up from behind the levee, its early morning light dancing on the surface of the water. It was the beginning of the last day on earth, and Daniel Blanc wept tears of joy.
“Behold, Charles. Behold, my brother. It has all led to this.”
Daniel held Sam's hand as many, many tonnes of dynamite were detonated all across the levee. The ground shook with a ferocious roar and geysers of dirt exploded up into the sky, temporarily eclipsing the new sun. Before the dust had even settled, they could hear the violence of the water. A 25-foot wall of liquid crashed through the hole that they had made. It poured out in a frenzy, eager for the relief that the hole had provided. The mud water of the Mississippi flooded the land as it did in 1927 and pushed onwards towards New Sodom, eager to finish the job it had started many years ago.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Remy Laveau awoke atop a makeshift bed on the stage of Mister Sister. His mattress was made of chair cushions, his covers a stage curtain. Princess slept peacefully beside him, a contented smile on her dreaming face. Remy leaned across and planted a kiss on her forehead before he got to his feet and started to get dressed for the big day that was ahead.
It was morning time, but still dark outside. The sun was expected at any moment and with it the potential for large scale death and destruction of the likes the world had never seen before. There was a lot of people sleeping out on the streets as Remy passed by. They were slumped in doorways, flat out on the ground, and sleeping on top of cars. All of them were sleeping off their drunken debauchery from the night before with the empty bottles still clutched in their unconscious hands. Some were in a sleep so deep that they were at risk of sleeping through the whole thing - though perhaps that is the way that they preferred it. Remy was more concerned with the ones that were not sleeping. The people that were prepared to fight and die at their posts for the possibility of maybe.
Remy climbed a ladder and stood on top of the perimeter wall that marked the border of New Sodom. He looked out as far as his eyes could see, but there was nothing there. No enemies waiting to storm the gates. No angels swooping down from the heavens. Nothing but the fresh morning breeze. Gus sat in a chair looking out in the same direction with a loaded rifle across his lap.
“I kind of wish they'd just get it over with,” said Gus. “What time zone is this Armageddon supposed to happen in anyway?”
“I don't know. Never thought to ask,” said Remy. “I hope they all just fuck off back to those pearly gates or wherever the fuck they came from.”
Remy pulled a pre-rolled joint out of his inside coat pocket. One of the many from his pre-prepared Judgement Day stockpile.
“Do you want to smoke this with me?”
“Not usually my thing, but hell, why not? This whole two years has not been my thing.”
Remy lit up, puffed and passed. Gus inhaled and coughed up a lung.
“Shit, what did you put in this thing?”
“Everything,” said Remy with a smirk.
“It’ll be a damn miracle if I can shoot straight after this.”
The sun started to rise over the surrounding lands. The light touched their faces, and they both basked in its glow, not knowing if it was the last sunrise they'd ever see.
“Would you look at that,” said Gus with a whistle.
“It's not actually there, you know,” said Remy. “It's all an illusion.”
“What are you talking about? Of course the sun is there. We both can see it.”
“It is, and it isn't. In about eight minutes it will be there, but right now
it's not. Right now, the sun is still below the horizon. Our atmosphere bends the light like a lens. We think we see the sun, but we really don't. It's a mirage.”
“Well, I'll be,” said Gus with a nod of appreciation.
“Just because we see something, doesn't mean it's always there,” said Remy. “Something to keep in mind.”
“Are we still talking about the sun or our friends in the sky?”
“We're talking about everything, Gus. Everything is what we're fighting for.”
“The war for everything. I guess that's what the history books will call it if we win. Has a nice dramatic ring to it. Where'd you learn all that stuff about the sun anyway?”
“I think I heard it on Cosmos once.”
“Remy?”
“Yeah?”
“It's not often I say this, but I think I might be scared. I sometimes look out through this here rifle, and as I’m holding it, I can feel my hands shake. My hands never shake.”
“Big guy like you? If it makes you feel any better, I’m scared too.”
“It doesn't.”
“Then I guess we'll just have to both be scared together and see where it takes us. Many great things have been done by scared men asked to do brave things.”
Gus jumped suddenly to his feet, his gun pointed out towards the sunrise with a shaky hand.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
“Hear what?”
“That.”
Remy strained his ears, and indeed he could hear something. A great something that was moving fast, and getting louder by the second. He could hear the familiar crash as it travelled at great speed across the land, and it was a sound that made his eyes grow wide with fear.
“No, not that. Anything but that again.”
Gus quickly came to the same realisation.
“Sasha!”
He looked back towards the home where she slept.
“Go,” said Remy. “I'll raise the alarm. Get her to a safe place.”
Gus nodded and jumped onto the ladder as Remy scrambled to reach the warning bell. He rang it as loud as he could and kept on ringing it so that there would be no doubt that something was coming. People came to investigate, and Remy shouted down at them.
“Get to high ground! Tell everyone to get to high ground!”
He looked back over the wall, and he could see it. The approaching death wave that had emerged from the heart of the Mississippi. It roared a terrible thunder and moved with great haste. Remy was not a praying man, so he decided to deal with the reality of his situation and brace for impact.
The raging waters of the Mississippi crashed against the walls of New Sodom. Remy was almost thrown from his platform as it shook under the immense pressure. A giant wave rose up over the wall and beat him down with a wet slap. He quickly got back to his feet and saw water as far as his eyes could see, and deeper than his vision could penetrate. The wall he stood on creaked and groaned under the strain. It was not built to hold back something as immense as this. Loud cracks of steel were heard all across the wall's perimeter. Water started to pour through and widen the tiny cracks into larger ones until finally, the wall reached breaking point. A large segment of the wall broke away with a violent tear.
The triumphant water rushed forth to drown the citizens of New Sodom. The drunken revellers that were sleeping on the street never had a chance. They were the first to go. Remy Laveau held onto his segment of platform for dear life, but that too broke away. He dropped and found himself submerged in the waters. He swirled and was carried far away from where he stood. He struggled with his sense of direction, not knowing what was up and what was down. Bodies of other men from the wall rushed past his field of vision. All of them dead, or dying. Remy started to swim as hard as he could in a random direction and soon found his head above water. He took a large gulp of precious air and looked around. The water was carrying him through a city street, collecting more victims with every inch of progress.
Remy saw a street lamp approaching fast and let the current carry him towards it. He timed it as best he could and grabbed onto that street lamp with everything that he had. He pulled himself up, resisting the force that wanted to carry him away. He climbed up that street lamp until he was no longer submerged and pushed himself to keep moving. The water was rising, and fast. Remy looked for the nearest building and saw one that had a wrought iron balcony within jumping range. He threw himself towards it and crashed against the railing with a pained grunt. He pulled himself over and collapsed onto the temporary safety of the balcony. Remy could hear the screams as people floated past. Many had not been as lucky as he had been. The ones that didn’t drown had their bodies snapped against parked cars and other obstructions. Remy wept as the waters rose up around him. It was Hurricane Katrina all over again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Gus ran as fast as he could across the rooftops, trying to keep ahead of the coming disaster. He leapt across the gaps and could feel the beginnings of a stitch forming in the side of his heavy frame. From behind he could hear the sound of a massive wave crashing against the outer walls. The sound was enough to give him a second wind. There was not a second to be spared for catching his breath. He cleared another gap and skidded across the roof tiles as the water broke through.
“I'm coming, Sasha. I'm coming,” he said as he forced himself to pick up the pace.
The screams echoed through the streets in concert with the wave, and one by one the screams were cut short to make room for a wave solo. The gaps that Gus jumped started to fill with water as the buildings he stood on shook to their foundations. He forced himself not to look at the floating bodies. Bodies that had been his friends and neighbours for these past two years. He blocked them out and kept pushing forward with thoughts only for Sasha.
Gus could see other people scrambling onto rooftops, desperate for the title of survivor. They all had panicked questions for Gus as he passed by, but he kept on moving without a word in their direction. In the distance, Gus could hear the spinning blades of a helicopter. As the blades got closer, he could also hear a song. It sounded a lot like 'Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition,' blaring from a loudspeaker. Gus glanced backward for the first time. The helicopter was lowering itself at different points of New Sodom, and every time that it lowered, an armed man jumped onto a rooftop and started firing on the people climbing out of the water. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. A God damned massacre.
Once the helicopter had finished dropping off the enemy, it raised itself high into the air once more. From its open side door emerged a minigun, controlled by a man with a scar across his neck and a cowboy hat on his head. Gus could see that the son of a bitch was laughing as he spun a circle of hot death onto the rooftops. Gus witnessed an entire family torn to shreds in a matter of seconds as the bullets punched holes through them all. Others jumped back into the waters they had worked so hard to escape just to avoid the next volley. They were doomed either way. If the water or the helicopter didn't take care of them, then the armed men on the rooftops did. Gus heard a familiar scream up ahead, and the sound focused him on his task once more.
“Sasha!” he called out over the gunfire.
Sasha was pinned on a rooftop with a bald gunman advancing on her position, but not yet in range to deliver a killing shot. Gus was closer, and he found new reserves of speed in his tired legs. He hopped the next few buildings effortlessly and got himself pretty close.
“Stay there, sweetie. I'll be right there.”
The only response was a scream from Sasha as a loud, wooden crack emanated from beneath her. The entire house that she stood on shifted and moved with the flowing current of the water, breaking away from its foundation. The makeshift vessel floated away from Gus and towards the guns of the enemy.
“You've got to be fucking kidding me.”
Gus looked around for options, but there were none. The floating house was moving too fast for him to catch by running the rooftops. He instead closed
his eyes and wished for everything to be okay as he threw himself into the water. The current rushed him in the direction of the house, and Gus swam with it, hoping against hope that the house had cleared all the debris out of his path. It was working, and Gus was fast closing the distance, but not as fast as the bald gunman who opened fire on Sasha. The first bullets cracked the tiles around her feet but thankfully spared her. She screamed and ran to the edge, lowering herself onto the second-floor balcony, out of sight of the gunman. Her position blocked her from gunfire, but it was far from safe. Half of her tiny body was submerged in the rising water. She held onto the iron railing for dear life to prevent herself from getting swept away.
Gus closed the last of the distance and braced for impact. His body slammed hard against the side of the house, but he made sure to get a firm grip to pull himself up onto the roof. The bald man jumped onto the roof at the same time, oblivious to Gus' presence. His attention and his gun were focused on Sasha as he marched towards the balcony. Gus picked his wet ass up and charged with everything he had. He slammed into the gunman with the full weight of his shoulder and sent him crashing into the water. Gus immediately went to Sasha's aid and helped her get back onto the roof. They hugged tightly as she cried into his already wet chest.
“It's okay, baby. I got you. Everything's okay.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Gus could see the bald man re-emerging from the water. He had somehow managed to grab hold of the buildings drain pipe before he sank under. Gus abandoned Sasha and punched the man back into the water. The bald man held onto Gus' arm with a desperate strength and tried to pull him in after him. Gus put his weight down and resisted as he used his other hand to push the bald man's head under the water. He thrashed and let go of Gus' arm, shifting his grip back to the side of the house, which allowed Gus his full strength to continue holding him under the water. The man beat and scratched at Gus' arms as his breath ran out, but Gus held firm until the resistance diminished. After a minute there was no resistance at all. Gus let go of the man’s head, and the bald corpse floated away with all the others. Gus' hands shook, and tears welled in his eyes as he tried to regain control of himself. Sasha placed one hand upon his shoulder and held onto Mr. Winks with the other. Gus looked up into her eyes and nodded. Seeing her face was all that he needed. He would see her safe if it was the last thing he did.
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