by Michael Bray
“But of anyone, I value your opinion. After all, you are, in essence, my father. Without you, I could not be what you see before you.”
“Whatever you feel is right, Joshua.”
“Look at me.”
Genaro didn’t want to, but free will was something he no longer had. He lifted his head and met his master’s gaze.
“What I did may seem shocking and unnecessary, but in order to break the resistance of those who oppose us, it was necessary. Do you think of me as a monster?”
“No, of course not,” Genaro said, the bitter taste of fear lingering in the back of his throat.
“Do you see me as a foul beast who would steal life from those so young?”
Genaro lowered his head, hoping he wouldn’t be pushed to answer.
Joshua crossed the room and gently touched the doctor’s leathered face, causing him to look up. Their eyes locked. Genaro couldn’t help but notice that Joshua was still spattered with blood.
“I’ve disappointed you, haven’t I?”
Genaro was too afraid to answer. Joshua let his arm drop to his side.
“Yes, it seems I’ve disappointed you a great deal.”
“My grandchildren are a similar age,” Genaro said. “Children shouldn’t suffer for the sins of their parents.”
Joshua smiled. “Your wisdom is of great benefit to you, my friend. Perhaps you are right.”
Joshua walked to where the children lay on the floor. He crouched by Ethan and turned the boy over onto his back, his pale skin and dead-stare confirming that there was no life in him.
“So beautiful, even in death, aren’t they?”
Genaro couldn’t bring himself to look, but knew he would have to answer. “Yes, they are.”
“So innocent. So ready to be moulded into something else.” He turned to face Genaro. “Do you believe in chance, my friend?”
Genaro shook his head, relieved to be asked a question he could answer. “No. I never have.”
“I agree. There is no such thing as chance. Take this boy, for example. See how I have cut across his jugular? Death would have been quick and assured.”
Joshua then went to Imogen, and again crouched before rolling her onto her back. Even though her neck was savaged, she was still alive, her breathing shallow and eyes filled with fear as she stared up at him. “See the difference, my friend?”
Genaro was compelled to look and felt his stomach somersault at such an awful sight. He nodded
“See I only cut the soft flesh. The main arteries were avoided. You could say it was by chance or fate, or you could suggest it was deliberate, that perhaps it was my intention to prolong the child’s death, which itself leads to a new question. What kind of god of the new world would I be if I didn’t have power over life and death?”
He gently touched the child’s blonde hair, brushing it away from her eyes. “I am a god, and I can choose who lives and who dies.”
“Joshua, please, put the girl out of her misery. She doesn’t deserve this.” Genaro said, his face twisted into a mask of disgust.
Joshua took the bloody knife from the table, then returned to the girl. “It would be so easy to extinguish this flame, and yet I find it difficult to do so. Perhaps this is a clear sign that I should have a child of my own, someone who I can teach in the ways of the new world.”
Genaro looked on, unable to hide his horror as Joshua cut his own wrist. He watched the blood drip down his forearm to his elbow, then onto the child’s lips and into her mouth.
“As a God, I have decided the child shall live, and will be raised as my own as we go into the new world. Draven’s daughter dies today, and mine is born.”
Genaro left the office as Imogen’s neck wound started to heal. He didn’t see it, but as he left he could hear her as she greedily drank the blood offered by her new father.
EPILOGUE
The lab was in darkness. Although the tears had gone, the gulf of emptiness within him had grown. He still sat cross-legged on the floor, head in his hands. He listened to his body, waiting for the first signs of the change he knew was coming. Nothing mattered to him anymore. The chaos the world as in was irrelevant. With the loss of his family, only hate and vengeance filled his mind. It was as he was thinking of this that the locking mechanism for his cell released. He looked up at the door, then over his shoulder at the glass. Beyond it was dark. He stood up and approached the window, looking through his own gaunt reflection. He cupped his hands to the glass and surveyed the lab. There was nobody there, but someone had been. The lamp at the desk where he and Kate had been working was switched on, and a box left on the table.
He walked to the heavy steel door and pushed it open, then stepped out into the lab. He held his breath and listened, wondering if it was a trick, then realising he would never get a better chance, hurried to the box on the table. Inside were four things. At the bottom was a security guard's uniform. On top of that, were two paper folds of money. The third object was a black handgun and four clips of ammunition. The final item was a handwritten note. Draven took it out of the box and read the uneven scrawl.
Put this on and wait for the alarm.
You deserve your revenge.
He looked again around the lab, then got changed, stripping off his old clothes and getting into the guards uniform. He made a bandage of sorts for his shoulder to stop the blood seeping through then stuffed the gun and money into his jacket. The uniform was a little small, but it would suffice. He walked to the lab door, wondering what would happen next when the fire alarm sounded. The shrill sound and red beacons echoing around the building. Seconds later, people started to file out of the building. Draven opened the door and peeked out. Amid the officials in suits, were guards dressed the same as he was. He took one last look over his shoulder at the darkened screen, which in his mind’s eye was still filled with the images of the terrible things Joshua had done. Whoever had left him the note was right. He did deserve his revenge and thought he had an idea how to get it. He stepped into the corridor and joined the train of people as thy evacuated the building. By the time anyone realised what had happened, Draven was long gone and had disappeared into the night, his mind filled with ideas on how to make Joshua pay for what he had done. It was no longer a question of helping the human race. Now it was a question of vengeance.
TO BE CONCLUDED
