The first thing I notice when I step inside is that the Oval Office looks just like it did when we stopped by all those days ago, with the notable exception of all the bullet-holes in the walls, the decimated bodies sprawled out on the floor, and the river of blood leaking beneath our boots.
Like Becky said, LeBeau is on her knees in front of her desk, her hands clasped together in prayer, tears streaming down her ashen face. She looks so pathetic and helpless that I actually feel sorry for her.
Klaxton marches over to LeBeau and towers over her, like some sort of empress observing her lowly slave.
LeBeau raises her trembling hands toward Klaxton and sobs, “An… Angela…. Please don’t kill me! I… I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! I… I… I did what I thought needed to be done to save the country! Please, show me mercy! I… maybe we can work together again? Yes, I would be honored to be your vice president ag---“
LeBeau is interrupted with a thunderous slap across the face. I can almost imagine the millions of gasps escaping the stunned lips of the American populace. If Montgomery’s cyber hackers have done their job correctly, then the entire world is currently watching everything going on inside this very room.
“You are a traitor to the country you swore allegiance to,” Klaxton says in her trademark cold, callous voice, the same voice she used during her 22-year reign as American’s most totalitarian president. “Because of your failure to protect this country from the Imperial Chinese, because of your pathetic cowardice in the face of grave danger, I, Angela Klaxton, with the assistance of the American Military, led by Defense Secretary Dallas Montgomery, and joined by my good friends Lance, Boom Boom, and Krystal, also known as the so-called ‘Teenage Bounty Hunters’, the same ones who initially drove me from power, and who have now seen the errors of their ways and wish to make things right by helping me reclaim my rightful place on the American throne…”
“’Error of our ways’ my ass,” Krystal grumbles under her breath.
“…have come to forcibly remove you from your position as President of the United States,” Klaxton rattles on, her clear, strong, commanding voice articulating each and every word so the people watching at home can hear her perfectly. “Your punishment for your egregious dereliction of duty, Ms. LeBeau, is death… by beheading.”
LeBeau’s eyes widen in terror. Throwing up her trembling hands, she screams, “What?! No, please, don’t do this! I beg of you! I---”
In one fluid motion, Klaxton unsheathes an electric sword, presses the button to warm the saber up, and swings the red-hot sword directly against LeBeau’s neck. LeBeau screams as the scorching hot blade slices through all of her skin, muscle, sinew, and bone. Once the sword slices cleanly through to the other side of LeBeau's neck, the decapitated head topples onto the floor. I grimace at the sight of the horror-struck expression frozen onto LeBeau’s face, her eyes still wide open and blinking, her gaping mouth unleashing a silent scream.
Klaxton kicks LeBeau’s headless body backwards, causing a gushing geyser of blood to splatter all over the floor. I step back as some of the blood splashes onto my boots. Several of the soldiers in the room are forced to run out into the hall so they can vomit.
Klaxton picks up LeBeau’s severed head by her hair and holds it up for all the cameras to see. I can just imagine the look of horror on the faces of all the people watching at home, seeing their assassinated president’s decapitated head blinking at them during her last torturous seconds alive.
Holding the severed head high above her own, Klaxton proclaims, “The ‘Great Imposter’ is dead. I have come to reclaim my presidency, and to take back my country.”
The soldiers in the room hoot and holler, I’m assuming so the people watching at home know they, too, should be hooting and hollering. It’s almost like having a laugh-track for a scripted TV show. Almost.
Klaxton places LeBeau’s decapitated head on the presidential desk (I’m relieved when LeBeau’s eyelids finally close shut, which I’m assuming (and hoping) means she’s officially dead), and walks behind it, standing directly in front of the American flag.
Montgomery leans toward me and whispers, “You guys go join her. Boom Boom and Krystal, go stand on her left side. Lance, you stand off to her right.”
The three of us do as we’re told. Once we’re all standing in front of the American flag, Klaxton begins the speech she spent so much time preparing.
“My fellow Americans, I sincerely apologize you were forced to witness such a barbaric act. But I thought it necessary for you to see history in the making. Cindy LeBeau was a poor leader, unquestionably the worst president in American history, and she had to be dealt with before she plunged this country into even greater economic and war-time straits. It simply was no longer feasible for us to sit back and hope for the best. As I’m sure you’re no doubt aware, the Chinese have already invaded our shores. So far they have taken over Chile, which may seem like quite a far distance from Washington, D.C, or Anchorage, or Sanctuary 41, or Sanctuary 3… but in reality, it is not. If we stand back and do nothing, the Chinese could be in those aforementioned cities and sanctuaries in a matter of days. It is imperative that we stand our ground and fight back. Because if we do not, then we shall become nothing more than another great nation that crumbled into dust, relegated to the pages of future history books.”
Klaxton pauses for dramatic effect, staring up at all the mosquitos currently filming her. She takes a quivering deep breath (I’m assuming for dramatic purposes) and rattles on. “I’m sure most of you watching at home have conflicting feelings about me. Much has been said during my absence, much of it quite horrible indeed. I can assure you the overwhelming majority of it is not true. The footage you saw of me several months ago, the footage that led to my exile, painted me in a negative light. Yes it is true I made a secret pact with Rasputin, and yes it is true I was attempting to draw us into a conflict with China, but it was merely to help turn our floundering economy around, much the same way the American economy rebounded during the boom years following World War 2 over 200 years ago. Was I somewhat misguided? I suppose. Could I have gone about things differently? Of course. So I stand before you as a woman cowed, begging for your forgiveness, and begging for the opportunity to make things right. I know that if you all look deep into your hearts, you will realize that I am the right person to lead us to victory over the Empire of China. They fear me like none other, and well they should, because if they continue their bullying ways, they will find a worthy foe who is not afraid to get her hands dirty. For every one of our soldiers they capture and behead, we shall slaughter thousands of theirs. For every city of ours that they bomb and invade, we shall raze huge swaths of their countryside from the Earth. China, if you are listening, and I know you are, then you need to back the fuck off.”
Chills cascade down my spine as all the soldiers in the room cheer at Klaxton’s fiery, fist-pumping rhetoric. I may not agree with most of what she’s saying, but if I was the Empress of China, I’d be quaking in my boots. I can almost visualize people in households all over the country rising to their feet and shouting their support for the president they love to hate... and they hate to love.
“And for those out there who are still skeptical of my motives, who fear that I am not a changed woman, then let me assure you that your fears are unwarranted,” Klaxton thunders on, over the continuing cheers of her soldiers. “Because as you see standing before you, by my side, are the very teenagers who helped remove me from power. The world-famous ‘Teenage Bounty Hunters’, Lance, Krystal, and Boom Boom, ventured down to the Amazon where I was hiding so they could turn me over to the Chinese. But a curious thing happened once we finally came face to face. We realized we had a lot more in common than we initially thought. We realized we were fighting against the wrong enemy. We realized that our differences, as vast as they might be, are nothing compared to the differences we have with the Chinese imperialists who wish to raze our homes to the ground, to slaughter our e
ntire families, and to expunge our great nation from existence. The bounty hunters and I decided to strike a truce and become allies. And if we can bury the hatchet and work together, then there’s no reason the rest of us can’t. Together, we can bring this country back from the brink. Together, we can make this country, and this world, great again! Together, we will triumph over seemingly unassailable adversary! Together, we will win this war!”
The soldiers burst out cheering yet again. Even Krystal claps and shouts, “Yeah! You tell them Chinese bitches, Klaxton!”
The only ones who don’t join in on the fanfare are me and Boom Boom. We’re not quite as easily brainwashed as apparently everyone else is. But we do realize how important it is for Klaxton to win the hearts and minds of the American Public. So I reluctantly smile for the cameras and clap my hands. Boom Boom glances at me and cocks an eyebrow. A few seconds later she heaves a heavy sigh and starts clapping, too.
Klaxton glances at both of us and grins. Her masterful oratory was just made all the more powerful now that her greatest detractors have publicly embraced her return to power.
Klaxton turns back to the cameras and roars, “We are at WAR, people. It’s high time we acted like it. The very survival of our great empire is at stake here. This is not a game, and it is not a joke. We are not dealing with some far-away foreign threat separated from us by two vast oceans. That ‘far-away’ threat is already at our doorstep, and they’re on the verge of kicking down the front door and burning the entire house to the ground. If we lose… then everyone dies. That is not hyperbole. That is a cold, hard fact. You’ve already seen what they’ve done to our captured soldiers. That same fate awaits each and every one of us if we do not succeed in the ferocious defense of our homeland.
“The Chinese will not take any prisoners. They want our immense resources and nothing more. They already have all the slaves they need. They got those when they invaded Russia. So we need to fight to win… to live… or we shall lose and perish. I, of course, chose the former over the latter, and I would imagine the rest of you agree.”
Klaxton takes another brief pause before continuing, this time in a much softer, more sympathetic voice. “I know this is not what most of you want to hear, but you had to know it was coming. First thing tomorrow morning we will be reinstating the draft. All able-bodied men over the age of 16, and up to the age of 45, will be called to serve, as well as every able-bodied woman over the age of 18 who is not a mother, up to the age of 35. There will be no prejudice in terms of gender when an existential threat of this magnitude arises. And anyone else who would like to serve, regardless of age, may volunteer. You may be rejected due to poor health, but if you are in your late 50s or early 60s and capable of holding a gun or lobbing a grenade, who am I to stop you from supporting your country?”
Klaxton closes her eyes and pauses for a brief moment. When she opens them again, they are ablaze with fire and determination… just what America needs to see in this most obsidian of dark hours.
Speaking in her trademark icy, furious-sounding voice, Klaxton thunders, “This will be a war unlike any fought in our planet’s illustrious history. This war very well may take decades, perhaps centuries. That is why I am calling our coming struggle World War Forever. War will be our way of life for the foreseeable future. I suggest you all get used to it.”
After a brief pause to allow her apocalyptic words to sink in, she ends her speech by saying “Godspeed, my fellow Americans. If there is a God, we will need all the help He can bestow upon our just cause.”
As the mosquitos fly away, signaling the end of our globally televised assassination of an American president, the soldiers in the room break out in another round of thunderous applause. Montgomery rushes over to slap us on our backs and laud our ‘magnanimous’ performances.
Wagging his finger at me in an appraising manner, Montgomery excitedly says, “We have big plans for you, my boy. Big plans for you and your lady friends here.”
Montgomery wraps his arms around Krystal and Boom Boom’s shoulders. They both look a bit uncomfortable, but they don’t shove him away or punch him in the balls like they normally would (or at least like Krystal would).
“What are you talking about?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. “You’re not thinking about sending us off to fight the Chinese, are you? Because we didn’t sign up for that.”
Montgomery scoffs. “Heavens no! That would be a complete waste of your astonishing resources!”
“We are, however, planning on making great use of your unrivaled popularity,” Klaxton says while shaking the hands of soldiers who are coming over to congratulate her return to power.
“In what way?” Boom Boom asks skeptically.
“We will continue to use you three for propaganda purposes,” Klaxton explains casually, as if this is no big deal and we have no reason to complain about it. (She certainly is amazing at ‘projecting’ her feelings onto others.) “We are relying on you three to continue rallying the American People, to encourage them to rise up against the tyrannical threat from the East.”
“We’re going to trump you guys up as American superheroes… as living legends,” Montgomery says excitedly, which leads me to believe this is all his idea… his ‘baby’, so to speak. “You’ll give speeches, attend rallies, help raise money to fund the war. You will essentially be the face of the war effort. You’ll become even bigger icons than Captain America was in World War 2, with the notable exception that you guys are actual real-life people, as opposed to comic book characters.”
Montgomery scratches his scruffy chin and mutters to himself, “Although… that is a great idea. We could make a comic book starring you guys… and a TV show! And a movie! The proceeds would help fund the war, of course. Gee… a movie… I would have to be in it, of course, since I play such a major part of your story. But who would play me? I could play myself!”
Montgomery staggers off, muttering to himself like a crazy person.
I cock an eyebrow at Klaxton. She merely rolls her eyes and says, “He’s always had delusions of grandeur about being an actor. It’s best to just humor him when he gets like this.”
Klaxton makes her way over to her adoring admirers in the military, who are still gushing over her speech and ‘mad’ decapitation skills.
My mind starts reeling from all the stuff Klaxton and Montgomery were saying. Icons? The face of the war effort? A comic book? A movie?? I mean, it’s all so crazy. Not to mention I’m still feeling a bit uneasy at the prospect of being used as a prop to drum up support for a war that will likely kill and injure countless millions. But I suppose I do understand the need for real-life heroes, especially in a world where heroes are few and far between. As humbling as I find it, it’s high time I realize there’s no one out there quite like me and the girls. I need to not only learn to accept my new role as a ‘celebrity’, but embrace it.
I snap out of my thoughts and look around. Boom Boom is nowhere to be seen.
“Boom Boom?” I say, pushing past a crowd of soldiers as I make my way out into the tunnels. “Boom Boom, where are you?”
I push past even more soldiers standing right outside the Oval Office and make my way down the hall. I find Boom Boom about 100 yards away, sitting cross- legged up against the tunnel wall.
I jog up to her and say, “Firecracker?”
Boom Boom looks up and sniffles. Her eyes are once again filled with tears. “I’m fine, Lance,” she says in a nasally voice. “I just needed some air. The stench of death was starting to become suffocating.”
I kneel beside Boom Boom and give her a hug. I do my best to ignore the piercing pain in my side, where Jesse stabbed me. And I’m beginning to once again feel the excruciating agony of withdrawal. All the adrenaline that kept my pain at bay while I was fighting for my life has finally dissipated. Now there’s nothing standing between me and perpetual pain. Terrific.
Boom Boom presses her face against my chest and starts sobbing.
“Oh Lance, what
are we doing? After everything we’ve been through… everything we’ve done the past several months… all the friends we watched die… all the people we helped kill… and it all ends with Klaxton back in power? It’s almost as if the past several months have all been for naught. So much has happened… and yet, nothing has happened. We’re back where we started before we decided to go after Rasputin… with Klaxton in power, and the world spiraling into chaos.”
Boom Boom’s absolutely right. Everything we’ve done… it was a complete waste of time. In the end, nothing changed. Well, except for one thing; now we’re officially at war. Things have somehow gotten exponentially worse.
“All I wanted to do was go home,” Boom Boom continues. “But now we’re expected to drum up support for a new world war? How did this even happen? It’s like our entire lives have been spent waging nothing but war. And now it looks like it will be part of our foreseeable future, too.”
World War Forever (Highway To Armageddon Book 2) Page 53
