by Lior Akerman
“Now we will send them a clear message that will help them decide.”
Two minutes later, a series of loud explosions began along the subway lines from south Manhattan heading north. The entire tunnel of the yellow line along Broadway collapsed, up to Union Square on 14th Street. leaving a long trail of ruin and pillars of fire and smoke. The south side of the park, up to Union Square collapsed into the hole that opened. The red line tunnel also collapsed, from Warwick Street towards 7th and the station on 18th West, swallowing buildings, roads and cars that fell into the hole that opened. The blue line tunnel also collapsed, from the station on West 4th and north to West 14th station, with the houses above it collapsing, creating a long line of a dark abyss across the city. The tunnel of the green line, number 6, was destroyed in a huge explosion but not all of it. The line only collapsed from Canal Street to Houston Square on 14th and that was where the explosions stopped. The terrible explosions were heard throughout the city and the flames could be seen from a great distance but something did not go as planned.
The shortest way for the messenger to get there was through the subway tunnels. He knew that the tracks of the green line 6 would lead him where he needed to be. He was near the old station on Worth Street when the explosions began. Within seconds, the entire tunnel collapsed, swallowing buildings, streets, cars and electricity poles. Water started filling the tunnel, which now looked like an open scar in the city center. There was silence, accompanied by the sound of small explosions and water flowing.
No one noticed the two figures in black had taken advantage of the chaos and left the station. They split up, each one walking quickly in a different direction. Samael headed towards the Manhattan municipality building to the south of them. He went inside and rushed to the elevator. The two guards who tried to stop him turned to fire and smoke within seconds, as they cried for help. The large police force that had closed off all the streets around them had lost their communication, many policemen were hit by the explosions. Those that were not hit, stood there in shock, seeing what was happening. Samael was unhappy with the site he saw from the top of the municipality building. They had spent the last few months laying powerful bombs all along the subway lines. The explosions were supposed to continue all the way to north Manhattan and along all the train lines. He saw that the series of explosions stopped at 14th Street and that on the green line there were no explosions. There was huge damage, but it was much less than what they had planned. This definitely was not enough to pose a threat to the authorities and convey their message.
“This is not possible,” Samael muttered angrily. “We have never failed. This should have worked.”
President Lindon and the superpower leaders who were watching the occurrences on television and the internet also felt there was something strange going on. They realized that the threat was clear and present but also knew that the threat was to destroy all of New York. In the police command center, connected to the control caravan on the sidewalk near Collect Pond Park, opposite the courthouse, Jacobs, Murphy and Perry got up off of the ground. Jacobs turned to Alice and was about to help her up when he saw a black figure above her. Perry and Murphy also saw the figure but Jacobs was the first to respond. He went for his gun but Charnbog was quicker than him. A ring of fire spread around the tent and burnt it within seconds. Charnbog pulled Alice by the arm and they were gone. Within minutes he was on the roof of the municipality building with Samael. He did not see the figure wrapped in flames running from the tent towards the wet grass, where it rolled until the flames were put out. The policemen that rushed to assist him, covering him in a blanket, identified him to be Jacobs. He was not seriously injured and seemed to have survived the attack except for a few burns on his face and hands.
Perry and Murphy were not as lucky. Their bodies, or what remained of them, were identified half- an-hour later by the other policemen and later by the pathologists.
Nothing in the command center was damaged. The fire that caught the command center but was put out immediately. The explosions were loud and clear and the flames were in clear sight. By now it was 19:58, two minutes left before the “Devils” carried out the horror they had threatened to bring on the world. President Lindon sent an order to the White House basement to stop any other action and to refrain from releasing the surrender announcement for now.
“Wait a few more minutes,” he told VP Chambers on the phone.
“But… Mr. President,” Chambers said. “It is too much of a risk. We are responsible for the civilians’ safety.”
“I know,” Lindon responded. “It is my responsibility. Wait a few more minutes.”
It was completely dark outside by now. The only sound was the echoes of the explosions in the distance. Several police helicopters in the air were lighting the area with powerful lights. There was no activity on the streets. It was exactly 20:00 and tension in the White House was high. The dark cold streets of Manhattan were silent. Jacobs believed this was the silence before the storm. He sat on a bench covered in a blanket. He hoped the messenger would understand that he had brought Alice there for a reason. He knew he was putting her at risk by bringing her to where things were happening. He had betrayed her trust by bringing her there as bait for the messenger but also as a target for the “Devils in Black” to attack.
Alice was sitting on a folding chair outside the caravan of the command center, in her own world. She was exhausted. The things she had been through in the past months had drained her of all energy. She only wanted two things: to live in peace and to be with the man she loved. At that point, her wish was far from being fulfilled. In these moments, she knew she would no longer be fulfilling any more of her wishes.
The two figures in black stood on the roof of the Manhattan municipality building, two hundred meters south of the police command center, facing north with uncertainty. Sitting on the ground next to them was Alice Christy, trembling in fear. They knew they had succeeded in sending a threat and had demonstrated their ability to execute it. They had Alice and the messenger was disarmed, exactly as they had planned. However, nothing else happened. It was completely dark and silent, disrupted only by the crashing sounds that were a result of buildings collapsing along the subway lines. The attack they had planned in order to send a message had been much more significant but something or someone had disrupted their plan. They looked to each other in concern.
They had come to the end and by this point it was all supposed to be over. The world should have been under their control. They should have had all the power by now but the deadline had passed and nothing had happened. The next step was activating the bombs.
49.
New York, Downtown, November 1st, 19:55
The digits counting down on the digital stopwatch showed there to be just 5 minutes remaining. The bombs were set to be detonated at exactly 20:05. Samael was the only one who could disarm the bombs. He was the only one who could decide on this and he had no intention of doing so, not receiving the surrender announcement they demanded. Electric cables led from the clock to the electric detonator connected to the six nuclear warheads placed underground in a crack that was big enough to contain the missiles but narrow enough to cause a huge earthquake. It would take just 5 seconds to activate the warheads and cause the mega blast. The explosion was going to create a hole one kilometer wide, erasing everything above it, sending a deadly thrust a distance of ten kilometers. The earthquake was going to hit five minutes later and destroy the entire east coast, from North Carolina to Vermont, including New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This was supposed to be a message no one could ignore.
A police helicopter was hovering above Foley Square, sending a bright light on the entrance to the old station, above the Supreme Court of NY. Another police helicopter landed on the southern part of the square and out came Police Commissioner Jim Baker and his assistant. No one saw the figures in black, slipping out of the municipality bui
lding and heading towards them, on Center Street. One of the figures was dragging a thin woman behind them. The camera on the helicopter above the court did not notice the black figures heading towards the landed helicopter from behind. Suddenly, the camera spotted what appeared to be an illusion, broadcasting it to the police headquarters and from there to the White House.
Emerging from the entrance to the old station was the figure in white.
“Oh my God. I identify a figure in white heading out from the corner of Worth and Lafayette,” the pilot reported on the police radio, which was working again.
A few seconds later, a huge flame of fire took hold of the helicopter. The pilot’s cries were the last sound the command center received on the radio before the helicopter dove and crashed on the roof of the Supreme Court. A burst of fire was also fired at the white figure, causing a loud explosion. On the northern side of the square, an exhausted figure, wrapped in a blanket smiled and said:
“I knew it.”
He headed towards the old station, where the white figure was standing.
The square was dark again, the only light coming from the helicopter was of fire on the roof of the building nearby. Samael and Charnbog approached the helicopter near them with Alice and got in. They did not notice what was happening behind the firewall between them and the old station to their left. That was their mistake.
The pilot was stunned by the occurrence and could not utter a sound. Samael grabbed him by his throat and said loudly in his ear:
“Take off, now!”
The pilot, who could hardly breathe, turned up the engine. Samael turned to Charnbog and said:
“In two minutes, we will be at the right altitude and I will activate the bomb. The future of the new world starts now. We did it,” he said with a scary smile.
As the helicopter started to take off, detaching from the ground, it was covered in a cloud of dust. Suddenly it stopped, despite the attempts of the pilot to pull the aircraft up. It was caught on something, turned on its side, stuck in midair. Samael pushed on the pilot’s throat harder and looked into his brother’s eyes in concern. They turned and looked outside, trying to see what was wrong but they were in a cloud of dust and could not see anything. The darkness outside made it impossible for them to understand what was going on.
Suddenly, the helicopter was thrown on its left side, the rotor hitting the ground and shattering. The helicopter started spinning around out of control and then it fell and hit the ground, with the rotor engine continuing to spin aimlessly. Samael and Charnbog pushed the doors open and jumped out. They looked around and saw nothing but darkness and dust. Another police helicopter arrived, hovering above the square. Now there was a bright light shining and the screens in the police headquarters and in the White House came back to life. The picture showed the two figures in black near the helicopter that crashed at the edge of Foley Square. One of the figures looked up towards the helicopter but it was too far. Samael decided not to try to hit it. He knew it would not help solve their problem. They had to overcome the obstacle in their way and continue to carry out their plan. They had to get away from there immediately and activate the nuclear warheads. This had to happen in order for them to execute the prophecy they had given the world. It was vital for them to take over the world and create a new reality under their rule. But this did not happen. They looked around but could not see anything. The rotor engine stopped working and now the only sound was of the helicopter high above them.
In the distance they made out the lights of the many policemen and National Guard soldiers surrounding them. They were far from them so Samael and Charnbog were not concerned at that point. They now had another problem but they still didn’t know what it was.
The darkness and clouds of dust made it almost impossible for them to see and the bright light on them from the helicopter was blinding them even further. They stood on both sides of the helicopter that crashed, Alice was sitting inside, shaking in terror. She tried to look up, to see what was happening but she could not see anything. Her fear was paralyzing her, and she preferred to stay where she was on the floor of the helicopter until everything ended.
Samael and Charnbog looked around them. They were surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, equipped with tanks and armed carriers and advanced anti-tank missiles. These did not trouble them at all. Samael knew he needed to remain focused on his mission and that any distractions would prevent him from completing the task they had been working on for so long. Charnbog did not get the chance to think. When he heard the steps behind him, it was already too late. He turned his head around and saw the figure in white, kicking him with huge force in the thigh. There was a loud sound of bones breaking and Charnbog collapsed to the ground. When the hands of the white figure were on his neck, he started to lose consciousness. He knew he was most powerful when the threat was far from him, before it hit him. By this point, it was too late for him. He tried to resist with all his might but the more he tried, the stronger the grip on him got and he continued to slip out of consciousness. Finally, he stopped resisting and his body fell on the ground, lifeless. He was in the realm of death. The same death he had brought to hundreds of thousands of people.
Samael could not see what had happened but he knew something was going on at the other side of the helicopter. He rushed forward to the front of the helicopter and hit something on the sidewalk. He looked down and was horrified to see his younger brother lying there dead. Samael bent down to Charnbog, looked at him for a few seconds and then looked up with his eyes burning with rage. That was exactly what the messenger had been waiting for. Samael lost his concentration and was not alert and the messenger came up to him from behind, trying to deal with him in the same manner. But Samael was quicker and better trained than his young brother. He spun around stopping the attempt and kicked the messenger, throwing him back. The messenger hit the stone railing hard and did not move. Samael rushed over to him and sent a ring of fire at him covering all the stairs leading to the metal statue above them. Then Samael turned and returned to the helicopter. He opened the door and pulled Alice out. He hurried over to the Appeals Court building with her. They walked up the stairs and when they reached the glass doors, Samael kicked them open and passed through the shattered glass. Before entering the building, he turned back and saw that the helicopter that was in the air had landed. Samael stopped for a moment and considered his best course of action. He saw a number of figures approaching the helicopter and doing something. He did not understand what they were doing. He turned and was about to head back towards the helicopter but then the pilot lifted it back in the air. Samael turned back towards the building, pulling Alice by force. He looked for the stairs leading up to the roof. That would be the best way to get near the helicopter. To his left he noticed the entrance to the stairway and he rushed towards it. Alice was being dragged behind him, helpless and exhausted. They climbed up four flights and Alice collapsed. Samael had no choice but to pick her up and carry her. He saw the sign pointing towards the roof and headed towards it. Facing him was a thick steel door he had to get through. He put Alice down, approached the door, kicked it open and it flew off from its hinges.
Samael went out and looked around but then suddenly the steel door flew back at him at huge speed, crushing him into the wall. A few seconds passed before Samael recovered and lifted the heavy door off himself. After the door crashed loudly to the ground, he noticed the figure in white facing him.
“You simply refuse to die, don’t you?” Samael shouted in rage. “This time, this is the end of you and the beginning of my path.”
The messenger looked at him in a cold look, waited a few seconds and answered calmly:
“Your path ends here and now. From this moment, it is my mission.”
Samael thought for a moment and turned back. He picked Alice up and held her close to him.
“Even if I can’t hurt you now, you cannot stop my pro
phecy from being realized and my plans to rule,” he said with a confident smile.
He noticed a number of police officers behind him, aiming their weapons at him, hiding behind the concrete walls. Leading them was Captain Alan Jacobs, exhausted and pale. Samael turned back to the messenger and said:
“If you want her alive, land the helicopter now. Otherwise, I will kill her. Decide what you prefer.”
The messenger looked over Samael’s shoulder at Jacobs. Jacobs looked at the messenger and waited for his signal. The messenger nodded and then Jacobs lifted his radio and called:
“201 from 58, land the helicopter on the street now.”
A few seconds later, he received confirmation:
“Roger. Right away.”
The helicopter began its descent, opposite the entrance to the court.
“To get to the helicopter, you will need to leave her here,” the messenger said to Samael, pointing at Alice.
Samael stood on the edge of the roof with Alice in his arms. He looked down at the helicopter that had landed, turned and looked at the messenger and the police force standing at the exit. Then he looked down again and dropped Alice, jumped over the railing down to the street. His figure disappeared in the darkness. The messenger ran towards Alice who was on the ground. She was breathing heavily and he signaled to Jacobs to come to them. He got up and said to him:
“Take care of her the best you can and then take care of yourself.”
Jacobs smiled and answered:
“I will do that. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “This is my mission, my job.”
The messenger turned back and jumped over the railing and also disappeared.
The 212 Bell helicopter increased the speed of its engine and started to rise up above the street. The helicopter rose to an altitude of 300 and then sharply turned west and sped away, rising higher and disappearing towards the ocean in the south.