After a few more agonizing minutes, the screams and firing stopped. He snapped his head up. “Is there a gun anywhere down here?” Empty and dread-filled eyes continued to stare back at him. “Is there?!” he shouted.
A few more seconds went by, when a middle-aged man stepped forward and pulled a Colt 45 from his jacket. He handed Kevin the gun.
Kevin looked at the man with an appreciative look. “Get everyone out of this room and to safety.”
The man nodded, turned, and began ushering men, women, and children deeper into the bunker for safety.
Ashley sat up from her father’s lap. “What are you going to do, Dad? You can’t go out there. They might be waiting.”
Anger and grief flushed throughout Kevin’s body. “He may still be alive. I need to go,” he said as he stood.
With the Colt 45 ready, he was about to push the controls to the door, when Ashley gently grabbed his hand. “I’ll go with you, Dad.”
Kevin smiled and pushed the button. The locks detached and the door slid open. Kevin quickly raised his gun. A single Gnol, making his way back up to the top of the stairs, whirled around, taking aim on Kevin with his own rifle. Without hesitation, Kevin popped two shots off right into the Gnol’s head. The Gnol stumbled backwards and then fell forward onto another body lying at the bottom of the steps.
“Adam!” Kevin shrieked, recognizing the body of his son under the Gnol he had just killed. He and Ashley both lunged forward and pushed the body of the Gnol off of Adam.
Adam’s eyes were open, and he struggled to breathe.
“Adam,” Kevin whispered as he assessed his wounds.
Any hope that his son would survive the onslaught quickly evaporated. Adam had been hit in several places throughout his body and blood poured out of his throat. Kevin placed both of his hands over the wound, trying to control the bleeding.
He looked into Adam’s eyes. “It’s okay, son. We’re going to get you some help.”
Continuing to struggle for air, Adam gave his father a warm smile. “I-I-It’s okay, Dad! J-John t—”
“Shh. Don’t talk,” Kevin said. “Try to breathe.”
Adam barely shook his head in disagreement. “N-no, it’s okay. J-John told me my place is assured.”
“No. No,” Ashley moaned. “No, Adam. Hold on.”
Adam looked at his sister, raised a bloodied hand to her cheek, and caressed it. With a smile on his face, he said, “It will be okay, sis. I-I will be with Mom soon.”
Ashley began to sob as she grabbed her brother’s hand, pressing it against her cheek.
Adam met the eyes of his father again. “I-I did good, didn’t I, Dad?”
Kevin allowed himself a small chuckle. “You did, son. You did. I’m so proud of you.”
Adam tried to nod, but he was too weak. He was drowning in his own blood. “I l-love you both,” he said. He then took three more gasps of air.
“Adam?” Kevin asked.
But his son was gone, staring at his father with his eyes wide open. Tears poured from Kevin’s eyes as he gently placed his fingers on Adam’s eyelids and shut them. He then pulled Ashley in to a tight hug. The floodgates opened, and the tears flowed as they both mourned the loss of a wonderful son and brother.
CHAPTER 15
The sun glared into Kevin’s eyes. He squinted and looked down upon the blacktop that he limped on now with a broken ankle, holding the lifeless body of his son in his arms. Ashley walked beside him, exhausted and worn; her right arm tightly locked around her father’s. They, along with the rest of the remaining civilians, were being led by the Gnols to their slaughter toward the central lawn of Scott Air Force base.
Kevin and Ashley had tried to get into the bunker for safety soon after they mourned the loss of Adam, but a squadron of Gnols caught them before they could.
Kevin felt his daughter squeeze his arm tighter. “What are they going to do to us, Dad?”
With sadness and defeat in his eyes, he glanced into the dreary eyes of his beautiful daughter, the only member of his immediate family left. “They’ll kill us,” he said bluntly. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Ash. We can’t win.”
Again, tears began to flow from Ashley’s eyes. Wasn’t she all cried out by now? Kevin wondered. But he knew that his response to his daughter’s question wasn’t the one she wanted to hear. Nonetheless, he didn’t care anymore. Let them kill us. I’ve lost too much already.
The Gnols led the prisoners to the lawn, and Kevin made eye contact with his little brother. Adrian had been beaten severely and was barely conscious. He was on his knees, being held up by another Gnol soldier. The lifeless body of Colonel Belnap lay next to them, and Dorange stood above Adrian with an arrogance about him that enraged Kevin with fury. Even though he was barely responsive, Adrian glanced at Adam’s body in Kevin’s arms. Shock and sadness, all at the same time, flashed across his face.
Dorange looked up, his fierce black eyes meeting Kevin’s. A victorious smile formed along his mouth. He then glanced toward one of his soldiers. “Take the body and burn it with the rest.”
The young Gnol nodded and went to grab Adam’s body from Kevin. Kevin’s grip on his son tightened, and Ashley yelped, “No! Don’t!”
But the stronger Gnol pulled Adam’s body away, flung it over his shoulder, and began to make his way to a heaping pile of dead bodies that several other Gnols were gathering from the battle scene.
Dorange waved at the Gnols that had captured the civilians. “Take the slaves to the transport, but leave those two with me,” he ordered, pointing at Kevin and Ashley.
Kevin didn’t respond, but continued to stare at his beaten brother with defeat in his eyes. A Gnol jabbed his rifle into Kevin’s back, forced him next to Adrian, and pushed him to his knees. Another Gnol was about to do the same with Ashley before Dorange stopped him. “No, keep that one with me,” he said as he looked at Ashley with lust in his eyes.
Kevin recognized the look and tried to jump to his feet. “You sick son of —”
But the Gnol holding him in place clobbered the back of his head with the butt of his rifle. He fell face first onto the grass, fighting to stay conscious. After regaining his bearings, he looked back up at Dorange with vengeance.
The pompous smile still adorned Dorange’s face. Dorange then pulled Ashley in close to him and smelled her hair. Ashley turned her head in disgust.
“She is a beautiful one, Kevin. She looks just like your late wife. … What was her name? Diane, wasn’t it?”
Fury began to erupt throughout Kevin’s body like a volcano just before erupting hot molten lava, and he wondered how the Gnols in Dorange’s charge didn’t recognize the fact that he knew way too much about him and his family.
Dorange continued, recognizing the anger and frustration boiling inside of Kevin, and seized on it. “Your wife was beautiful, Kevin. She was truly desirable. But since your wife isn’t here anymore, I suppose your daughter …” he paused, turning to Ashley again, leaning his face into hers, “… will just have to do. After all, we all have desires.”
Adrenaline exploded throughout Kevin’s system as he shook himself loose from the grip of the Gnol holding him to his knees and launched himself forward. Dorange quickly pushed Ashley away, raised his arm, and invisibly caught Kevin in midair.
Kevin was frozen as Dorange levitated him toward him. Dorange held him in place just a few feet away from his face with the same smug smile. Kevin, knowing he was defenseless, blurted out, “Why don’t you tell them who you really are, Dorange? Tell them why you know so much about Adrian and my family?”
A look of surprise quickly flashed across Dorange’s face, but it quickly disappeared with the same self-satisfied smile. “Come now, Kevin. My men know who I am.”
“Do they?” Kevin questioned. “Or do they just keep believing your lies? Donald Garrett of Earth.”
A Gnol, standing next to Dorange, looked questioningly at his general. Kevin looked at him. “That’s right. Your esteemed gene
ral, here, is an impostor. He’s human and from Earth,” he said, placing his glare back onto Dorange.
To Kevin’s surprise, however, the general still had an insolent smile on his face. Dorange stepped forward, within inches of his face. His foul breath penetrated Kevin’s senses. “Well, that is some story. You take my men for fools. We Gnols are more intelligent than humans. And what human could do this? The mere fact that I hold you, locked in midair, is a testament that what you just said is a lie.”
Dorange was right. Even though Adrian had explained how Donald Garrett was able to obtain the powers of a Gnol, his men would never believe that he was actually human. After all, he mastered the use of those abilities better than any of the Gnols under his command. Kevin averted his eyes in defeat.
Dorange seemed somewhat satisfied and levitated Kevin back to his previous spot next to Adrian, dropping him to the ground. Dorange then made his way toward Adrian.
Adrian continued to look at him with defiance written all over his face, even though his face was bloodied, swollen, and purple.
“Now, Kevin and my dear Ashley,” Dorange said as he pulled his dagger from his belt, “I want you to watch as I gut your dear brother and uncle.”
The Gnols holding Kevin and Ashley grabbed each one of their faces and held them in place, so they couldn’t avoid watching the death of Adrian Palmer.
Dorange grabbed the back of Adrian’s hair, holding his gaze. He then pressed the point of his blade directly over Adrian’s heart. “Now, Adrian Palmer, you will die.”
* * * * *
Feelings of satisfaction and victory finally flowed throughout Dorange’s body as he looked into the defeated eyes of his longtime nemesis, Adrian Palmer. He squeezed the golden handle of his dagger and lifted the point of the blade a few inches from Adrian’s chest. “Good-bye, Adrian,” he seethed with spit dripping from his clenched teeth like venom from a poisonous snake.
He thrust his arm forward. The point ripped through Adrian’s shirt and penetrated only a few centimeters into the skin of his chest. But for some reason, he could not push his arm forward any further.
“Sir!”
Dorange heard one of his subordinates yell and then plasma blasts rang out throughout the entire area. He tried again, but for some reason his dagger was blocked.
He snapped his head up, still holding Adrian by the hair. “You!” he seethed, looking at the man who stood a few yards ahead of him.
John held both of his arms out in front of him, obviously using telekinetic powers to keep Dorange from slicing through Adrian’s heart. But something strange was also happening. Even though the handful of Gnol soldiers still surrounding him and the prisoners were firing at will at the man, the plasma blasts were deflecting off of him in bright sparks of light.
“Seize him!” Dorange ordered as he tried to thrust the blade into Adrian’s heart once more. The Gnol troops charged the man, still firing hot plasma blasts at him. With a wave of his left arm, John sent the Gnols hurtling through the air behind Dorange. Their bodies landed with violent collisions into other Gnols and military machinery strewn throughout the battle scene.
With an ear-piercing shriek, Dorange threw his wounded victim aside and charged toward John. The other Gnol soldiers in the complex immediately recognized what was going on and charged as well.
Suddenly, John thrust his arms into the air and hollered, “By the powers of the almighty God!”
Dorange skidded to a halt as fire began to rain down from the sky. A hot rock, no bigger than the size of a baseball, landed and exploded at his feet, hurtling him backwards. His back crashed onto the hot blacktop. He staggered to his feet and looked up. The sky had turned to a hot orange glow as meteorites rained down upon them. He then looked around the base. His men were being directly targeted, picked off one-by-one by the molten rock, each one falling to his death. His eyes shot back toward Adrian, Kevin, and Ashley, who were huddled together for protection. But they seemed to be protected as the hot fire from the heavens missed them, hitting only a few yards from where they were.
Dorange’s earpiece crackled. “S … r, d … y … copy?”
Dorange ran for cover as meteorites exploded all around him. He was knocked to his knees as another small meteorite that seemed to be targeted for him skimmed his shoulder and exploded behind him. Ignoring the pain and his charred flesh, he sprinted for the cover of one of his transport ships just outside the fenced perimeter of the base. He, along with several of his troops, jumped into the transport for cover. The meteorites impacted the ship, but they weren’t large enough to cause any significant damage.
Again, his comlink crackled with static. “Gen … Gar, d … ou … copy?”
Dorange recognized the voice of his colonel from his command ship in orbit. He pressed the small button on the comlink. “Colonel! Report!”
“S …, thousands of mete … have entered Earth’s atmosphere.”
“Tell me something I don’t know, Colonel! They’re raining down upon us as we speak.”
“Ge … g …”
“Colonel, you’re breaking up.”
“… our ship … a … targeted.”
Even though the transmission was broken up, Dorange got the substance of his colonel’s message. “Get the command ship, and any of the remaining ships to the far side of Earth’s moon for protection.”
“Ye … sir.”
Dorange then pulled himself up from the floor of the transport and rushed toward the cockpit. He turned around and met the fearful eyes of one of his soldiers. “Close that bay door! We’re getting out of here!”
The soldier hesitated. “But, sir. W-we still have men out there.”
Fury and rage poured through Dorange. He pulled his pistol from his holster and fired a plasma blast into the head of the soldier. The young Gnol fell dead to the floor.
The other Gnols looked back fearfully at their leader. Dorange glared at them with animosity. “Does anyone else want to question my orders?”
Another young Gnol quickly pushed the controls that shut the bay door. The rest sat in stunned silence, fearing to question their master.
Dorange turned back around and buckled himself into the pilot’s seat. He issued the retreat order to his forces within the vicinity and fired the ship’s thrusters. An explosion rocked the transport. For a moment, he lost control, crashing into another transport that was next to his. He then launched the ship into the sky. He flew through the orange-filled sky, avoiding the fireballs as they rained down. Looking to his right and left, he saw other Gnol transports, fighters, and ships trying to weave their way in and out of the streams of fire. Several were getting picked off, exploding into orange fireballs.
The transport shuddered. He focused his attention back to flying out of the atmosphere. Finally, after several minutes of exhaustive flying, the transport left the pale orange of Earth’s atmosphere. His jaw dropped in astonishment with the scene before him, and his hopes for conquering planet Earth were suddenly dashed. Meteorites were pelting several of his high orbit battle cruisers. Some were damaged beyond repair, on fire, and falling into Earth’s atmosphere.
Dorange clenched his jaw and looked directly ahead toward the moon. A few of his ships were ahead of his transport, making their way to the safety of the far side of the moon. He pushed his accelerator to full speed and shot off like a bullet after them. After his transport left the rain of fire, he looked at his rear-viewscreen. Rather than surprise and shock with what he saw, he was filled with hate and vengeance. He now knew that a God existed. But that only fueled his hate even more as he witnessed the entire world ablaze in an orange and black fireball.
* * * * *
Earth Time: 1 day later, July 23, 2042 – Scott Air Force Base . . .
Lying in a bed within the medical unit of the underground bunker under Scott Air Force Base, Adrian Palmer resisted the temptation to fall into unconsciousness. He was utterly exhausted on every level, and his aging body was beginning to feel it. Dora
nge had nearly beaten him to death. How much more could he endure? He had been at war for far too long and desired to be a part of it no further.
Hearing voices, he turned his head painfully to the left, trying to focus his blurred vision. He recognized one as the voice of his brother. “Ke—” he coughed. “Kevin, is that you? Wh-what happened?”
The blurred image of his brother turned around and he, along with three other blurry figures, made their way over to him. As they got closer to the bed, Adrian’s vision began to clear. John, Ashley, and Lt. Col. Christopher Peterson were with Kevin. John’s suit was ripped to shreds. Ashley had tears streaming down her face. Lt. Col. Peterson looked a little worse for wear, but was standing. Kevin, though, looked hopeless, his eyes sunken and hollow.
His older brother tried to manage a small smile. “Glad to see you’re awake.”
Adrian scratched at the I.V. in his arm and tried to sit up. The pounding pain in his head was too much. He relented and lay back down. “What happened, Kevin? The last thing I remember was Dorange looking into my eyes, with his dagger pointed at my heart.”
Kevin nodded and placed his hand on John’s shoulder. “You passed out just before—”
An explosion rocked the surface above the bunker, shaking the entire complex. Kevin and the others held on to one another for stability. After a few more seconds, Kevin continued, “Just before that.”
Confused, Adrian asked, “That? What was that?”
Kevin opened his mouth, but John interjected, “Oh, just a little trick that I’ve used on several occasions to stop enemy armies. You know, nothing like calling upon the powers of God to make it rain.”
Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2) Page 25
