Letting the World Burn

by Graham Dalton

  “You're not as loyal as I thought,” I said.

  “We've been plotting their downfall for quite some time,” said Francis. “We will take this city back from those people. This world will be ours, yet again.”

  I turned around to Max, Jessica, and Alice, who were getting unchained by three guardsmen. Alice rushed up to me and wrapped her arms around me. I pretended that she was my wife, hugging me after a long day of work. Then, Max stepped up to Francis.

  “We could've worked together,” Max said.

  “The Elites closely monitor our communication,” said Francis as he shook his head. “We have to be exceptionally careful about who we maintain contact with. Your people were deemed as too risky, too volatile. Let us handle the rest from here.”

  “Like hell, I will,” Max said.

  “Let us handle the rest from here!” Francis said.

  Jessica walked up to Francis and sighed. The woman folded her arms and cocked a brow. “No, you’re going need my help, too. I have men, guns, equipment. Everything that you could possibly want.”

  “I’m listening,” he said, as he cocked a brow.

  I turned my head and stared up at the Genesis Laboratory that was only a couple miles away. Smiling, I thought of my little girl again. I imagined holding her close in my arms with my beautiful wife, Alice. We would be one happy family again. This world didn’t matter. Nobody else mattered.

  “Quincy, what the hell are you gonna do?” Max screamed. “You gonna help us finish the job?”

  I tilted my head toward Max. Francis grabbed Max’s right shoulder and swung him around. The two began to argue, but I ignored them. I turned toward Alice and gestured her to approach me. She rushed to me, and I held her in my arms.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “Genesis Headquarters,” I said.

  “Hey, Quincy!” Francis called out. “Where the hell you going?”

  “We need to save those kids at Genesis,” I said. “That’s all that matters right now.”

  “Not now,” Francis said.

  He continued talking, but I ignored him and jumped down with Alice onto the now nearly-vacant street. The nearby buildings were all aflame with dangling, blackened corpses strung up on the rafters. Elite and Commoner corpses littered the blood-splotched pavement. The body of a bullet-riddled Elite lay in front of me, his limp fingers loosely wrapped around a pistol. I grabbed the gun off the ground and gestured for my wife to follow.

  Francis kept calling me, but I didn’t turn back. I was too close to saving all those kids and getting my little girl back.

  Sirens bleated in the background, as we walked down the bloody street. Charred corpses belched smoke into the smog- laden air. Several Commoners were pummeling a bruised Elite into the pavement. None of that mattered. The only thing left was to save these kids and especially, Anna.

  We approached the corporation building, which stood high and daunting over the Elite district. We stepped forward down the pavement and walked through the front door. The area was quiet, devoid of the chaos outside.

  “Quincy,” my wife muttered in my ear. “I'm scared.”

  “Just stay close,” I said. “Everything's going to be okay.”

  I pulled out my gun and started down a hallway with Alice following closely behind. Our feet sounded crisply on the hard marble surface. We turned a corner and walked through a set of white double doors. We walked through the abandoned laboratory. Then, we walked forward and stepped up a twisted flight of iron stairs. We stepped into Marie's office. Her office was still pristine and orderly, without a paper out of place. We took a few steps in, glancing around. She wasn't here, but she had to be close.

  I stepped back outside the office with my wife. For a moment, we waited. Maybe she was at the highest levels, I figured. We raced up the stairs to the next floor and burst through another set of double doors. The pristine white halls were littered with some corpses. I walked up to the body of one of them and jerked the assault rifle out from his cold hands. I ripped his badge off his jacket and walked up to the door. I flashed the badge, and the door chimed. A click sounded. The door swung open.

  My wife and I rode the elevator up. After a soft ding, the doors parted ways, and I burst through. A couple of men stood in front of me. Without thinking, I slammed my finger on the trigger, pelting them with bullets. Their bodies crashed to the floor, and I walked forward. I turned my head toward a hallway and rushed down.

  A few men stepped around the corner, and I shot them all dead. Their blood splashed onto my face. I turned the corner, and a man was standing there, shaking as he held up his pistol. He fired a shot that slid across the top of my shoulder. Then, I rushed forward. He dropped the gun and screamed. I slammed him to the ground, bashing his face repeatedly into the steel floor. I turned back to Alice and nodded.

  “Let's keep going,” I said.

  We followed the green signs until we reached the main room. I kicked the door open and burst through. Alice followed closely behind. We turned to Marie, who stood at the end of the room. She was surrounded by three guards. Without hesitation, I shot every guard dead.

  I glanced at my daughter, who sat in the corner. Her head was buried in her arms. She was going to be safe soon.

  I walked forward, and Marie aimed a pistol at me. I stepped back.

  “Stay away! Stay away!” the woman shouted. I could tell that she'd never held a gun before in her life.

  “I followed Mattis' orders, and I followed your orders,” I said, stepping forward. She kept waving the gun toward me. “But you two stole my fucking daughter away from me!”

  “We did nothing wrong!” Marie said. “I told you, Quincy. We saved her!”

  “Bullshit,” I said, taking another step forward. “You kidnapped my daughter. You took her life away, and you made her into this.you made her something else. It doesn't matter. She's still my daughter.” I stepped forward. Marie's shaky legs gave way. The woman collapsed on the floor. “And you stole her from me.”

  “Just go away!” she said.

  “And it wasn’t just me,” I said. “It was all the Commoner people. I’m not your slave, anymore. I’m not your tool.” I stepped forward. “You don’t even fucking scare me, because past your perfect fucking skin you people are nothing, but vapid cowards.”

  “Quincy, I'm warning you! Take one more step, and I shoot.”

  I took another step forward. She fired, but the bullet whizzed above my head. I rushed forward and ripped the gun out of her feeble Elite hands. I threw the gun behind me and held her to the ground with my hands wrapped around that perfect little throat of hers. She tried fighting me, tried resisting. She fought and struggled as she batted her hands against me.

  I squeezed tighter and tighter around her thin neck. She gasped for breath and flapped her arms about while trying to break free. My grip tightened. She struggled and gasped, flailing about in a pathetic attempt to break free. She clawed at my skin, leaving light scratches up and down my arms. Her body went limp. I released my grip, and her corpse lay on the floor.

  I stood up and rushed over to my daughter. I held her in my arms and smiled.

  “Everything's going to be okay, dear,” I said. “I'm here to save you.”

  “Okay,” she muttered faintly.

  “Your father,” I said, as I hugged her tighter. “Your real father. It's over, Anna. Let's go. We're going home, dear, to our cabin on the lake.”

  “Okay.”

  “Remember, your name is Anna,” I said.

  I took her by the hands and smiled. Then, I turned to Alice and nodded.

  “Let's get out of here,” I said.

  We walked down the hallway. I froze and stared over a window at the dozens of children still laying on the slabs, waiting to be experimented on. I kept looking at them, remembering that Anna was one of them at one point.

  “Quincy, are we leaving?” Alice asked.

  “Not yet,�
� I said. “There’s one last thing I need to take care of.”

  I entered into the large room and one-by-one I unplugged the children that lay on the slabs. They were drugged and all muttering among themselves. After releasing them, I stared at them all and smiled. These children were coming home.

  The three of us descended to the ground floor. We exited the building only to find the houses around us completely smothered in flames. Alice turned to me.

  “Quincy, what’s going to happen, now?” she said.

  I shrugged. “A revolution.” I stepped ahead and watched the streets burning. “But this world’s gonna have to burn down first.” I held them both close, and I smiled.

  I saw several Commoners marching down the street toward the headquarters, led by Jessica. She saw me and rushed over to me.

  “Quincy!” she said, pointing at my blood-splattered face. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine and those kids will be, too,” I said. I pointed behind me. “There’s gotta be a hundred of Commoner kids in that building. Looks like they’re gonna be fine, but I need you to make sure they come back to their families.”

  She nodded. “And what about you? Where are you going?”

  “I have a family to take care of,” I said.

  I walked into the parking lot and stole keys off an Elite’s corpse. I, then, hopped in a car with my family.

  “And where are we going?” Alice asked.

  “Home,” I said.

  Chapter 22

  Idrove away from the city. My heart pounded against my chest. I turned my head to the right and saw Alice sitting there. I smiled, then glanced in the rear view mirror and smiled at my daughter. Everything was going to be okay. After all was said and done, we could finally be a family. Now, I felt peace knowing that the Elites wouldn’t be kidnapping innocent children anymore.

  “Father,” she muttered coolly.

  “Yes, sweetie?”

  “Are we going to the cabin?” she asked.

  She remembered that cabin. I smiled at the thought that I had my little girl back. She was here with me, and so was my wife. My whole family was back.

  I nodded. “We sure are.”

  “Huh,” said Alice. “I've always wanted to leave that city.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “And it's beautiful this time of year. Soon, the leaves will change color and turn red and yellow. I think you’ll really like it, dear.”

  “It sounds nice,” my wife said.

  I continued to drive through the winding, hilly roads. I rolled my window down and took a breath of fresh air. Then, I took my right hand off the steering wheel and grabbed my wife's left hand. We locked fingers, and my heart skipped a beat. I felt a rush that I hadn't felt in years now. I wanted to laugh and sing. Today was a beautiful day.

  After driving through the rolling hills, we parked beside my old cabin on the lake. I stepped out and basked in the golden sunlight that glistened through the leafy treetops. I took a step forward and breathed deeply, in and out, in and out. The crisp air flowed through my lungs and sent a refreshing chill through my veins.

  My daughter stepped beside me and shook. I placed a hand on her right shoulder and smiled at her beautiful face. She didn’t look back. She stared out at the lake with flinching eyes.

  “Are you okay, dear?” I asked. She nodded slowly.

  “Father?”

  “Yes, that’s me. You’re home now,” I said. “There’s no reason to be afraid. All the bad men are dead. It's just us now.”

  She nodded slowly.

  The three of us walked into the old cabin. The dusty air caused me to sneeze. I knew that I would have to clean this place up soon. We walked through the old cabin. I glanced at the old pictures of our family and grinned. My family was back. My family was here, and we could spend the rest of our days here as one happy family.

  My wife and I then walked upstairs and settled into our old bedroom. She lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  She smiled. “Those Elites…are they are gone now?”

  “What’s left of them, anyway,” I said. “Good riddance, but that’s not our concern, anyway. We’re in a place that nobody’s ever gonna find us!”

  “Nobody's going to find us?”

  “That’s right.”

  Nobody would come looking for us, and nobody left standing would know where we were. All that Elites that mattered were dead, and that city was a pile of rubble now. In its ashes, it would be reborn. At least, the Elites wouldn’t be harming children any longer.

  I walked back over to the window and stared out at the lake. This whole place felt like a dream, and I had to keep telling myself that this was real. This was real, and my family was back. My wife was with me now, and so was my daughter. I couldn't believe it. I turned back to my wife as she sat on the bed. I grinned at her, and she grinned back. I gestured for her to walk over to me. She obeyed.

  I wrapped my arm around her. She felt so warm against my skin. She was real, and she was my wife.

  “This is a beautiful place, isn't it?” I said.

  “It's gorgeous,” she said. “It's a lot better than that city.”

  “Hey, I'll take you and Anna down to the lake!” I proclaimed, as I ran my fingers through her hair. “It'll be fun. It'll be just like old times!”

  She scrunched her face. “Old times?”

  “I'll show you. Come, this way!”

  We grabbed my daughter and rushed down to the lake. Anna laughed and giggled as she curled into a ball and jumped into a lake. That laugh brought me back and reminded me of those old days. My wife and I jumped in. We splashed and played around in the lake until the sun dipped behind the bushy trees.

  I went to the nearby store to buy some food. That night, we had a cookout, and I cooked some burgers. Anna always loved burgers. She complimented me on my cooking ability. We stayed up all night, counting the stars. I smiled. I honestly, truly smiled. Never before had I been happier. Just seeing my daughter alive and well was like a fantasy come true. I had to keep telling myself, again and again, that this was no fantasy. This was my new reality.

  I carried my sleeping daughter off to bed and tucked her in. I made sure to give her a goodnight kiss on her forehead. I stayed up for an hour after that, standing in her doorway. I just watched as she breathed slowly and lightly snored. I could've watched my daughter sleep all night, but my eyes became heavy, too.

  I walked back to my bedroom and saw Alice lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. I crawled into bed and caressed a hand over one of her breasts. One thing led to another, and we started to make love. We had to be quiet, though. I didn't want to wake my daughter with the squeaky bed.

  The next morning, we had breakfast. I made bacon and eggs. We laughed and had a great breakfast as we talked about nothing important. Then, I stepped back up to my room and glanced at that old guitar that lay in the corner of the room. I slowly walked over to the instrument and wrapped my hand around it. I strummed a few chords but noticed that the guitar needed to be tuned. After tuning my guitar, I played another few chords.

  “Can you play me a song?” asked Anna.

  I turned around and saw my daughter standing in the doorway. I smiled and nodded my head.

  “Of course!” I said.

  She hopped up onto my bed and clapped her hands.

  “Yay!”

  Alice stepped through the doorway shortly after. I looked up at her and smiled. “Want to join us?”

  “You play the guitar?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Sure can,” I said. “Take a seat. I'll play you both something special.”

  She sat beside our daughter, and I strummed some chords. I sang a song about the importance of family and how much I loved both of them. The whole time I sang, I stared over at them. This was no fantasy. This was my new reality.

  About The Author

  Graham Dalton

  Graham Dalton is a graduate of The University of Oswe
go with a degree in Creative Writing, and the author of his debut novel, As The World Burns. He is a lifelong reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy, who has spent the past decade honing his narrative voice. You can visit him online @GrahamPDalton.