Station

by Jarrett Brandon Early

  Back in the void again, Hadder feared that this was becoming a habit. Although he was unable to open his eyes, move his extremities, or even mouth words, Hadder could still hear the city crumbling around him. The screams of men and women mixed with explosions, blood rain downpours, and raging fires to create a cacophony of sound. Soon, however, even those noises faded, and Hadder felt relief in the fact that he was finally going to meet his maker. Again.

  He vowed that this time, he wouldn't turn down the handshake.

  Hadder thought of how this new meeting would go, even as he felt his body being lifted off the wet ground and slung over a thin shoulder. Hadder bounced up and down as his bearer ran, all the while imagining himself begging the glowing figure for another chance, apologizing profusely for the random act of violence that sullied their first encounter, promising that the Rage was a thing of the past.

  While the sounds of battle faded in the distance, the heat of wildfires, the rumble of the ground shaking, and the compressed air of eruptions continued to assault Hadder's motionless body. Just as Hadder had grown accustomed to the bouncing stride, he was weightless, thrown powerfully into to the smoke-filled air to crash into freezing water.

  The cold attacked Hadder's skin as he sank, soaked through muscle to chill bone, and still, he was unable to move. So, this was the end, he thought as he came to rest on the muddy bottom. Darkness then overtook him, his conscious mind finally clicking off.

  But not before a splash was heard far above him.

  CHAPTER 29

  Hadder's sense of touch returned to him first. He felt the hard, sandy ground beneath him, could detect itchy grains sneaking into his most sensitive crevices. Sound returned next, with Hadder hearing the continued destruction of Station from afar. Smell followed, the scents of blood, smoke, ash, and death thick in the air. Finally, Hadder worked up the energy to open his eyes, frightened of what he might find.

  The red eyes of Albany Rott stared down at Hadder. Gone were the fiery blazes that filled Rott's eyes on the battlefield; his usual red embers were back in place. Hadder threw a weak punch at the man's face from his back, which Rott smoothly dodged. Hadder stumbled to his feet, stood there on wobbly legs, furious to be alive.

  "Not again! Not again! Why won't you let me die?"

  "I'm sorry, Marlin. I couldn't allow it."

  "Where the hell are we?"

  "Well outside of the Walls of Station. Look."

  Hadder turned around and saw the city of Station in the distance, clear under the large Idol Moon. The entire city was ablaze, including its impassable walls, and shook as if the desert ground was threatening to swallow it whole. "Why have you done this, Rott? Why let the city fall? Why kill every resident?" Hadder refused to look away from the imploding city as he spoke.

  "You still live."

  "Everyone but me then!"

  "I had to, Marlin."

  "I don't believe it."

  "In some things, even I am without choice."

  "Tell me why."

  "You might not understand."

  "Tell me!"

  "Before you can understand, you have to know who I am."

  Hadder finally turned back to face Albany Rott. "And who are you, Albany Rott? Beyond a mass murderer."

  "You cannot murder that which has already died."

  "Semantics. I ask you again. Who are you?"

  Rott reached up and fingered the glimmering symbol beneath his throat. "Do you know what this is, Marlin?" Hadder shook his head in the negative. "This was my original blueprint."

  Confusion twisted Hadder's face. "Blueprint for what?"

  "For what would become the human race."

  Hadder felt his jaw fall open, realization hitting harder than the cold water had struck. "Are you trying to say that you…" Hadder's voice trailed off as he found himself unable to lend words to the idea that was forming.

  Rott saw his difficulty and answered for him. "I am your creator, Marlin. I am the creator of all mankind and more. The birds you hear, the dogs you pet, the cows you eat; I am responsible for all of it. The Earth, as you humans call it, was my project. And mankind was my crowning achievement, an entity that could love so deeply one moment, and act so cruelly the next. My project was the envy of all, and humankind, especially, drew the attention of the heavens. You all were complex and vexing, surprising and disappointing. As you evolved under my care, even more attention fell upon you. Until you drew the greatest attention of all."

  Hadder could barely believe the words he was about to speak. "You mean God?"

  "That's what you humans would call him. We have more accurate terms for him, but let's stick with God to make things easier and prevent your brain from melting. God took a liking to my little project, wanted more and more say over what was to be done here. Things got messy, too many cooks and all that. Then one day, he decided that he wanted total control over the Earth. In the language of the cosmos, I told him to fuck off. He didn't like that one bit."

  "You told God to fuck off?"

  "No worse than punching him in the throat, I suppose." Hadder's mouth snapped shut. Rott continued. "Anyway, God has a low tolerance for disobedience, can be a real prick, truth be told. He told me that if I loved the humans enough to quarrel with the Almighty, I could live among them for eternity. And so, he sent me here to play in the dirt with the mortals. Never again to see the glories of the Heavens. As you can see, the ruler of this existence is a petty creature indeed."

  "How long have you been here, Rott?

  "A long, long time, Marlin."

  "Do you miss your home?"

  "More than anything. This brings us to Station. God reignited a dialogue with me many years ago, complaining about human behavior and what he perceived to be your lack of growth. He wondered why I didn't create a utopia for you all, one that would allow you to more effectively develop both emotionally and intellectually, one that would remove the need for violence or melancholy. I told him that this was impossible, that these things were intrinsic in humans, were essential to their makeup. He disagreed. And, thus, our bet was made."

  "What exactly was the bet?"

  "I told him to provide me with some throwaways, humans who had completely given up or disrespected life. I would create a world for them, where the negative triggers of the Earth wouldn't exist. Money and jobs wouldn't be necessary. Anything they disliked about themselves could be changed. All of the stressors of the world would be removed. Life would essentially be perfect."

  "And the bet?"

  "I said, given all this, the humans would still destroy the city from within. He didn't believe me. The bet was made."

  "How were you so sure you would win, that we would still manage to fuck everything up?"

  Rott shot Hadder a wry smile. "Because I molded you in my image, Marlin. As I have always fucked things up, I knew that you would follow in my footsteps."

  "And what do you receive now that you've won?"

  "A ticket home, of course."

  As the truth slowly settled in, the Rage in Hadder began to bubble up once more, unable to accept the fact that they were all merely pawns in a game played by the gods. Unable to accept the fact that in their own ways, both Ego Rounds and The Krown were correct. Hadder turned back to the sinking city. "Then why are you still here, Rott? Why haven't you flown skyward, or whatever it is you do to get back to Heaven?"

  "Loose ends."

  "Come again."

  "There are some loose ends. Well, one loose end, really. There were stipulations of our bet, and one of them forced me to kill all the residents of Station. Once our experiment was complete, God didn't want any of these test subjects returning to his Earth to corrupt his stock."

  Hadder spun back. "Viktor Krill."

  "That's right. Viktor Krill. The one variable I didn't see. I couldn't chase after him, with the experiment still ongoing. But nothing holds me back now. I will catch him. He will feel my wrath. And I will earn my trip home."

  Hadder's leg
s grew tired, his body still weakened from the concussion and loss of blood. He sat on the sandy ground, looked up at Albany Rott. "Rott, what am I doing here?"

  "The Lethe River passes under the city walls and comes out in a cave just over that hill. It's too far for a human to make the trip without drowning, but these problems are not mine. I took you out via that path, using some tricks to keep you alive."

  Hadder's head dropped into his lap. "No. I mean, what am I doing here? Alive. This is the third, no fourth or fifth time I should have died. Why are you keeping me alive? I'm so tired. So very tired."

  Rott walked over to Hadder, hovered above him. "I empathize with you, Marlin. I really do. I, who have lived here on Earth for a millennium, understand more than anyone the exhaustion that accompanies extreme living. For countless years, I have dedicated my existence to returning home, ignoring relationships, and caring nothing for enjoyment. And now that my time on this Earth is drawing to a close, I want to make up for lost time, have one last adventure that's driven by excitement and fun as much as end goals. And I don't want to do it alone, Marlin. I've been alone for too long now. I'm tired of talking to myself."

  Hadder looked up into Albany Rott's crimson eyes. "You're telling me that the Devil wants a buddy?"

  "I never cared for that term, or any others that have been bestowed upon me. I have had many names over the years. But right now, yes, Albany Rott needs a friend."

  "Why me?"

  "I don't know, but I have felt it since discovering you by accident. You have the Rage, but it is tempered by kindness. You can bend like a reed in the wind, or you can dig in and hold your ground against tremendous forces. You value life now but are unafraid of death. I think we can have some good times together, really shake the pillars of Earth. Give those boring cunts up there something to really talk about. What do you say?"

  Rott held his hand out to Hadder, reminiscent of another time, in another life. Hadder took his hand, was quickly lifted to his feet. Together, the two men stood and watched as the city called Station continued its descent into the desert. As the last of the city disappeared into the sand, a cry of "Father" cut through the barren land. The Caesar Cal was still alive as Station vanished forever.

  Hadder looked over to Rott and was surprised to see a single black tear fall from his eye. Rott wiped it with the back of his too-white hand and clapped Hadder on the shoulder. Hadder noticed that the man still had his crystalline axes tucked into this belt. "We should get a move on. This desert can be tricky to escape, even for me."

  "Where are we going," asked Hadder as the pair began to walk.

  "To find Viktor Krill. He'll be hard to locate and harder to kill."

  "How will we find him?"

  "Simple, really. We'll just follow the shadow of blood."

  Hadder accepted the vague explanation and walked on. As the sadness of his friends' deaths began lessening with each step, his excitement for the dawning of a new adventure began to rise. But if man and fallen angel were going to spend significant time together, the two would need to increase their capacity for small talk. Not everything could be life and death, Heaven and Hell, philosophy and theology. He decided to move forward with a first attempt. "Rott?"

  "Call me Albany or Al."

  "Ok. Tell me, Al, since we've got a lot of time on our hands, how'd you get that nasty scar on your face."

  Al's face didn't change as he marched on. "Well, Marlin, when you get struck down from Heaven, it tends to leave a mark."

  Hadder sighed, understanding that on this next, most thrilling adventure, one that would find him rubbing shoulders with a god, small talk would be hard to come by. So be it, he thought as they crossed the seemingly endless desert. Marlin Hadder had died twice and welcomed a third. With Death sitting on his shoulder and the Devil walking in his shadow, Hadder was sure that the future would be anything but boring.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jarrett Brandon Early splits time between Virginia Beach, VA and Thailand. He lives with his wife Natthicha and daughter Alexandra Beam. He is hard at work on two sequels to Station – The Rott Inertia and Ill Messiah. Learn more and contact him at www.jarrettbrandonearly.com/.