Selected Scenes from the End of the World, page 9
“A boat…”
Leigh’s voice rose in excitement. “See that? We’re rescued!”
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But they might not even know we’re here. We should call out-signal them somehow.”
“No need. Look, they’re heading straight toward us.”
The boat shot across the water, bouncing up and down on the waves, propelled by a loud outboard motor. The craft bore down on the chapel. As it drew nearer, they saw three figures onboard, dressed in drab green ponchos, rain-slicked and weather-beaten. At least one of them was armed with a rifle.
Penny felt a sudden flash of unease.
“Should we hide?”
Leigh shrugged. “Maybe you should. I’ll stay here and meet them if they pull alongside.”
“No. What if they-”
“Don’t worry. Chances are, they’re just like us. I seriously doubt they mean us any harm. Like you said, this is the only place left above water. Makes sense that other survivors would come here. No reason we can’t share it. But just in case, I want you to be out of harm’s way.”
Penny started to protest, but she read Leigh’s expression. This was important to him. He’d been unable to protect her and the baby from the rising floodwaters. The weather was out of his control. These new arrivals weren’t. Despite her better judgment, she conceded.
The boat’s motor grew louder.
Penny quickly ducked behind a damp stack of card-board boxes. She peeked out at Leigh. He winked at her, and then turned his attention back to the people in the boat. She could tell by his stance that he was nervous.
That made two of them. Three, counting the baby.
“It will be okay,” she whispered.
The motor abruptly died. Silence ensued.
“Hello, inside!” A man’s voice-a deep, pleasant baritone.
Penny shivered, but didn’t know why.
“Hello,” Leigh yelled, raising his hand. “Are you okay?”
“Certainly,” the man called back. “May we come inside? It would be nice to get out of the rain. We have food we can share.”
Penny’s misgivings vanished at the thought of some-thing other than Tim Tams to eat.
“Leave your weapons onboard,” Leigh said. “If you don’t mind, that is?”
“We’d rather not leave them out here in the water, if it’s all the same to you. If it will make you feel better, how about we unload them first?”
Leigh nodded tentatively. “Well, I guess that would be okay. Hang on. I’ll throw down the rope ladder.”
One by one, the three castaways ascended into the chapel tower. Penny watched from her hiding place. They stood by the window, water streaming from their ponchos. When they threw back their hoods, she got a better look. There were three men. One was Caucasian, and in his thirties. The second was dark complexioned, possibly of Arabic or Hispanic descent, and in his forties. The third man was Black, and seemingly ageless. A tuft of curly black hair hung from his chin. Two of the men carried rifles and the third had a pistol. They smiled at Leigh.
The black man stepped forward and offered his free hand.
“Mr. Haig, I presume?”
His voice identified him as the speaker she’d heard before. Penny watched, biting her lip.
Leigh glanced at the man’s outstretched hand, and then at the rifle.
“H-how do you know my name?” he asked.
“Divination. But that’s not important. Is Penny with you? We’d love to meet her as well.”
Leigh tried to speak. Instead, he uttered a frightened and confused squawk.
Penny put her hands protectively over her belly.
“Look,” Leigh stammered. “What’s going on here? How do you know about us? Who are you? Are you with the authorities?”
The black man nodded. “In a manner of speaking. But not your government, I’m afraid.”
“Americans?”
“At one time. But now, not really. More like the United Nations, but in all actuality, we don’t answer to them, either. We’re with Black Lodge. Are you familiar with the name?”
Leigh shook his head.
“No matter,” the man continued. “We’ve traveled for several days to find you. You may call me Mr. Raston. These are my associates, Mr. Stein and Mr. Ahmad. We really need to speak with you and Penny. Is she avail-able?”
“No,” Leigh said, backing slowly away. “She’s not here. She…drowned.”
The white guy, Stein, smiled. His teeth reminded Penny of a shark’s.
“Unless I’m mistaken,” he said, “she’s hiding behind those boxes over there in the corner.”
Leigh’s hands curled into fists. “You just stay the fuck away from her.”
Taking a deep breath, Penny stood up and stepped out of hiding.
“I’m here.”
“Ah,” Raston said, “it’s very nice to meet you, Miss Khaw.”
“What do you want?”
“Well, that’s the rub of it.”
“What do you want?” she asked again.
He leaned the rifle against the wall and spread his arms out wide.
“Just your baby. That’s all. We just need your baby.”
18
THE MAGI
(Part Two)
Burwood East, Victoria, Australia
Penny gaped at them. Her eyes were wide, her fists clenched.
Leigh took a deep breath. “What?”
“Penny is thirteen weeks pregnant,” Raston said. “There is a shortage of babies right now. Indeed, there’s a shortage of everyone. It’s nothing personal. She just happens to be the last pregnant woman on Earth, and we need your baby.”
Leigh positioned himself between the men and Penny. He felt naked and vulnerable against the armed intruders, but tried not to let it show.
“Get the hell out of here. Right now.”
Raston’s tone changed. “Mr. Haig, I’m sorry, but it can’t be avoided.”
Leigh eyed the man’s rifle, still leaning against the wall. Ahmad pointed the other rifle at them.
“Are you trying to scare us?” Leigh asked. “You can’t shoot. Remember, I watched you unload your guns before you got out of the boat.”
“Perhaps,” Ahmad said. His accent was thick. “Or maybe you saw what we wanted you to see. Some clever slight of hand. Do you want to take a chance?”
“You’re lying.”
“He’s not,” Raston said. His voice sounded sad.
Stein’s hand crept toward the pistol in his waistband.
“Don’t,” Leigh warned.
Stein’s expression was blank. His hand closed around the pistol’s butt.
“I mean it,” Leigh shouted. “Don’t you fucking move!”
“Mr. Haig,” Raston said softly, “you are unarmed. We have the upper hand, and Mr. Ahmad could end your life right now. But we don’t want to do that. Indeed, we’re just as upset about this whole thing as you are. Be reasonable. Cooperate and this will all be over soon. The fact is, your baby will save the world.”
“Leave us alone,” Penny sobbed.
“Stay behind me,” Leigh whispered to her. Then he turned his attention back to the men. “You people are crazy. You do know that, right?”
Raston shook his head. “I wish that were true. But it’s not. Our organization deals with things like this all the time. Think of us as combat magicians. We deal with the things the rest of humanity is unequipped to battle. Things like what’s happening outside.”
“Global warming?”
“No, Mr. Haig. Apocalyptic magic run amok. Time is short, so I’ll give you an abbreviated version. There are thirteen entities, neither demon nor angel, who strive for nothing but the destruction of all existence. Consider them the ultimate nihilists. The have servants on every Earth, and our world is no different. A cult in Baltimore has managed to unleash not one, but two of these entities-Leviathan and Behemoth. Neither will rest until this Earth is utterly destroyed. As we speak, their minions overrun the planet. The seas are full of Leviathan’s children. On what little land is left, Behemoth’s worms leave a disease in their wake; it’s a fungal infection that turns the human body into water.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? ‘The waters wear the stones and wash away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth, and destroy the hopes of man.’ That’s from the book of Job, Mr. Haig. Although humanity misunderstands much of the Bible’s content, that particular passage is quite telling. Everything-all solid matter-will eventually turn into water. This is how our world ends, unless my associates and I act to stop it. We need your help, as traumatic as it might be.”
“No,” Leigh whispered. “You guys are the ones who need help.”
He reached behind him and squeezed Penny’s hand. She squeezed back, hard enough to make him wince.
“We do indeed,” Raston said. “Summoning Leviathan and Behemoth-opening a doorway for them to enter our world, required an infant. A sacrifice. Banishing them and closing that doorway requires the same thing. Believe me, I wish there was another way. I really do. Black Lodge defends humanity. We don’t want to do this. But unfortunately, we are bound by the spell’s requirements. We need your baby, and we need it now.”
Raston reached behind his back and pulled out a long combat knife. The blade looked very sharp.
Penny screamed.
Outside, the rain grew louder.
Leigh’s eyes flashed from the knife to Ahmad’s rifle. At the same time, Stein inched closer, reaching for his pistol.
“This has happened before,” Raston said. He spoke quietly, as if talking to himself. “Three of our predecessors followed a star, in search of a newborn babe-the King of the Jews. Herod thought these magi did his bidding, but instead, they attempted to save the world.”
Leigh squeezed Penny’s hand. “Run!”
Hearing her footsteps echoing behind him, Leigh leapt forward, seizing Stein’s wrist just as the man’s fingers closed around the pistol butt. Leigh’s momentum knocked them both to the floor. Leigh landed on top of Stein. His knee smashed into Stein’s crotch. The man’s breath rushed from his lungs and he moaned, going limp. His breath reeked. Leigh seized the handgun.
Something zipped by Leigh’s ear. A second later, he heard the explosion, realizing that Ahmad was shooting.
“No,” Raston shouted. “You might hit the woman’s belly! The baby is no good if it’s dead.”
Ears ringing, Leigh stumbled to his feet. He didn’t have much experience with firearms, and wasn’t very religious, but he prayed the pistol worked. As Raston ran after Penny, Leigh pointed the handgun at Ahmad and pulled the trigger. The gun jerked in his hands. Startled, Leigh almost dropped the weapon. A brass jacket flew from the side of the pistol and spun through the air. Leigh fired again. The rifle slipped from Ahmad’s hands as the man toppled backward. The wall was splattered with blood.
Panting, Leigh bent over and tried not to throw up. The room spun.
Groaning, Stein stumbled to his feet, cradling his groin with his hands. Leigh whirled around and pointed the pistol at him.
Stein held out his hands. “Don’t-”
Leigh shot him in the chest. His aim was improving.
Despite the gunshots ringing in his ears, he heard Penny scream.
“Raston,” he yelled. “Leave her alone, you son of a bitch!”
He charged after them. Penny was backed into a corner, pressed up against the damp concrete wall. Raston was inches away, knife pointed at her belly.
“Hush now,” he said. “I promise this will be over quickly. And I’m sorry.”
Enraged, Leigh dispensed with caution and flung himself at the attacker. They tumbled to the floor. The knife skittered across the cement, coming to rest in a puddle of water beneath a leak in the chapel’s roof. Leigh loomed over Raston, pressing the hot barrel of the pistol against the man’s chin. Raston’s eyes grew wide.
Leigh tried to speak, but all that came out was a strangled growl.
Raston sighed. “You don’t understand, Mr. Haig. If you kill me, you’ll destroy the world.”
“No,” Leigh told him. “Penny and the baby are my world. Nothing else matters.”
He pulled the trigger, obliterating most of Raston’s face. Gore showered down like the rain outside.
Penny ran to him. They embraced.
“He said the world would end,” Penny sobbed. “What if he-”
Leigh silenced her with a kiss.
“As long as we have each other, it doesn’t matter. The two of you are all the world I need.”
19
THE END OF SOLITUDE
Somewhere in the New Atlantic
Jade Rumsey couldn’t swim. She’d taken lessons last year and they didn’t help. She still sank like a rock. That was strike one. Strikes two and three were that she was terrified of water and knew nothing about boats. And here she was, floating above Michigan on a massive, abandoned tugboat that had drifted down from the Great Lakes.
At least she had books. And food. And books. And clean water. And books.
She’d been perched on her roof, soaked to the bone and shivering, watching the water rise higher, when the tugboat crashed into her house. The roof collapsed. Screaming, Jade slid towards the water, breaking her fingernails on the tiles. She’d tumbled onto the tugboat’s rain-slicked deck, knocking the air from her lungs. Jade passed out, raindrops beating against her face.
When she woke, the tugboat was still riding the waves. Her roof was nowhere in sight. The few rooftops and cell phone towers jutting from the water didn’t look familiar. Shaking, Jade stood up. The deck pitched and heaved beneath her feet. She stumbled to the cabin, shouting for help, but her cries went unanswered. The cabin was deserted, as was the rest of the boat.
She was adrift and alone.
Her spirits soared after searching the tugboat. The cabin was dry, if not warm. There was ample food and bottled water. Blankets and medical supplies. More importantly, there were lots of books. Jade loved to read, so much, in fact, that she’d even started her own small press publishing company-Solitude Publications-just to work with some of the authors she admired. Apparently, the tugboat’s crew had shared her passion, if not her exact tastes. There were three boxes of paper-backs onboard, as well as a box of hardcovers and another containing porn magazines. She was a little disappointed that there was no Richard Laymon, Michael Marshall Smith, or Charles De Lint, but she did find some Stephen King and Dean Koontz novels, along with various westerns, crime novels, James Patterson and Tom Clancy titles, and a bunch of Readers Digest condensed books. She sighed, wishing for something better. Still, anything to read was better than nothing to read. The porn was an especially good find. Strictly old school- not like looking at it online.
Jade settled in. It was the end of the world, but she felt fine, all things considered. She avoided going outside, and stayed in the cabin, reading and sleeping and enjoying herself as best she could. With no engine or navigation, the tugboat wandered aimlessly, propelled by the current. Occasionally it bumped into wreckage, but for most of the time, it floated freely.
Jade saw no survivors. She missed her cat and her house and her 1995 Cougar, but tried not to think about them. At night, the rain drummed against the decks and bulkheads, lulling her to sleep.
The boat had a working radio; it was a massive, con-fusing thing, much bigger than a standard AM/FM receiver. Jade experimented with it until she learned how to operate it. When the silence became oppressive, she’d scan the dial, searching for signs that she wasn’t the last person left alive. Usually, there was silence, but twice she’d picked up a static-filled broadcast from Boston. The speaker, Mark, was apparently sick with some kind of fungal infection. He sent a warning to anyone receiving his signal. The disease supposedly turned people into fungal zombies, and eventually, broke them down into nothing more than water. Whether it was true or not, Mark obviously believed it was happening to him. His voice made her sad. He kept asking for his wife and son. Both times, she’d turned him off and went back to reading.
Jade enjoyed her solitude.
Until the men came.
They boarded the tugboat on the fifth night, when the full moon was just a pale, silver disc, barely visible through the cloud cover. Jade heard their motor and woke up in time to see them pulling alongside-shadows in the darkness. They tossed two grappling hooks over the bow and climbed aboard. There were six of them, and she saw more figures still milling about on the other boat. With the rain and gloom, she couldn’t make out their features. The only thing she could see clearly were the rifles they carried.
Jade didn’t know much about guns, but these looked big. Scary. Rain dripped from the barrels.
She ducked down beneath the window and held her breath. Footsteps splashed across the deck. There was a flare gun in the storage locker to her left, but she didn’t know how to use it. A fire extinguisher hung on the wall to her right. Slowly, she reached for it.
The cabin door burst open. Gusts of rain and wind blew into the room.
A large man stood silhouetted in the doorway, pointing a gun at her head. He was at least six feet tall, and big, like a linebacker. His ruddy face was covered with the stubbly growth of a new beard. Water dripped from his chin. His eyes were red and rheumy. When he spoke, his voice was like granite.
“Howdy.”
Jade blinked. “H-hello.”
She wondered if he was friendly or dangerous.
Without taking his eyes from her, the man spoke to the others behind him.
“Jackpot, boys. Got us some top-shelf pussy here. Still alive, too.”
This was greeted with raucous cheers.
Dangerous, Jade decided. Her stomach fluttered. Her heart rate increased. The fire extinguisher was just inches away, but she was afraid to reach for it.
“I don’t want any trouble,” she said, trying to sound unafraid.
“Don’t really care what you want.” The man strode into the cabin, still leveling the rifle at her. “In case you ain’t noticed, it’s a new world out there. Far as we’re concerned, you don’t get a say.”
Jade shrank away from him, pressing herself against the bulkhead. More men filed into the cabin, leaving wet footprints. Water dripped from their hats and coats. Each of them was armed. They stared at her, leering. One of the men shined a flashlight into her eyes. Jade cringed.
