“Are you responsible for this, bitch?” he demanded of her.
Anna shook her head. Nothing made any sense to her right then. “Responsible for what?”
“One of your people just fired on us with a goddamn tank.”
“T-tank? What are you talking about?”
Dunn slapped her to the ground. “Fine, have it your way. You and your people are finished.”
Up ahead, members of the Kirkland’s crew were starting to get a hold of themselves. Those uninjured, or at least able-bodied enough to stand, were regrouping at the centre of the aft deck. Anna watched glumly as two guards wrestled Damien to his knees. Tim had been shoved down beside him.
Lieutenant Dunn dragged her across the deck by her hair and left her to fall face-first next to Damien. Damien reached out his arm and helped her up onto her knees. He was all bloodied and she saw a tooth missing when he spoke. “I think your friends at the pier fought back,” he said. “Did you know about this?”
Anna shook her head in confusion. “I have no idea what’s going on. They said it was a tank. The pier doesn’t have a tank.”
“Someone out there does,” said Damien. “Something hit the ship hard.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Half-hour. I tried to put up a fight when the ship first got hit, but there was a dozen on me before I could blink. You were out the whole time.”
“Sorry I wasn’t there to back you up. I-” A sudden prod in the small of Anna’s back sent her sprawling forward onto her front. Tim and Damien fell facedown either side of her, the three of them now on their bellies. The guards stood on their backs and pinned them to the deck. Suddenly the hustle and bustle on deck stopped and a hush descended. Footsteps rang out against steel and got louder. Anna tried to crane her neck but could not make out whom it was.
Then Lieutenant Dunn made it easy for her. “Attention! Captain on deck.”
Anna gritted her teeth as a pair of highly polished boots stepped in front of her. “Let them up, Lieutenant.”
“Yessir. Guards, let the prisoners up.”
A guard grabbed Anna’s shirt and yanked her to her knees. She cursed at him and lashed out with her elbow and caught him in the shin, but probably hurt herself more. She was surrounded by sailors and civilians on all sides. All of them glared at her and shouted for her blood.
Samuel Raymeady looked down at her. He was wearing full Navy Officer whites. “You’re quite the cockroach, aren’t you?” he said. “You come aboard my ship asking for peace, and this is how you expect to find it?”
Anna sniffed. The smoke in the air was stinging her eyes and clogging her sinuses. “I came aboard your ship asking for peace, and you threw me in a cell. Do you really expect people to just sit back and fold their arms while you murder and kill anyone you please?”
Samuel’s eyes were so full of malice when he looked at her, that she was sure he would strike her. Instead he just laughed. “I do what is best for the fleet. All I do I do for the good of us all.”
Now it was Anna’s turn to laugh. “Do you honestly believe that, or is it just for the benefit of those listening?”
“He likes his speeches,” said Tim. “I think he’s trying to make up for other…insecurities.” He covered his mouth and coughed. “Small penis!”
Samuel smiled like a cat and turned away. He raised his hands in the air, imploring the men and women around him. “Members of the fleet. We are of a lucky few. We are what’s left of mankind. We are the hope and the courage that will see humanity through to a new day, a new dawn. Together we have beaten extinction and turned away our deaths. Each and every man and woman aboard this ship is a testament to the strength and will of the human spirit. What is left of the world is ours to rebuild. We will do so with love and honour and strength. The fleet is life itself and we must protect it at all costs, even if that means taken the roads less savoury. H. G. Wells once said ‘If we don't end war, war will end us.’ We must extinguish our enemies now lest we lose our own in battle later. My recent actions are not acts of war, they are acts of mercy, to the fleet. The bridge is already training our sights on the shore. We have our attackers in sight and soon we will unleash hell on them, but first we must deal with the enemy on our decks.”
The men and women of the fleet cheered Samuel’s name, louder and louder. It made Anna feel sick. Humanity was backing the wrong horse. The horse Samuel rode in on was pestilence and now he’s riding off on the back of war.
“There are those who wish to destroy us,” Samuel continued. “To take what we have and reduce it to ashes. They are our opposites; they are evil and self-consumed, and if we have any chance of forging ahead and creating a new world, we must extinguish evil in all its forms.”
Samuel! Samuel! Samuel!
“They drank the cool aid,” said Tim. “Now do you see why I had to blow the entire ship? No point taking out the Ringleader if the Circus keeps on travelling.”
Anna tried to stand up, to scream at the stupid men and women that they were deluded, but Dunn kicked her in the ribs and sent her back down to her knees. She wheezed and spluttered.
“You’re all monsters,” said Damien. He raised his voice. “How can you people follow a man who attacks innocent people?”
“The people at the pier were harbouring a terrorist,” shouted Dunn. “Terrorists must be dealt with.”
Another cheer from the crowd.
“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter,” said Tim.
“A terrorist is a terrorist,” Dunn snarled.
Samuel turned around and nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly. A terrorist is an enemy of society and order. The fleet deals with its enemies with a firm hand. Who would like to see the first example?”
The crowd roared, a baying mob. Anna managed to catch her breath and glanced around as the crowd parted behind her. Someone was being dragged, half-conscious, towards the centre of the deck. It didn’t take long to realise that it was the man who had come to rescue Damien from his cell. Harry.
Harry was bloody and bruised. His toecaps dragged along the deck as two crewmen carried him to Samuel. When Damien saw his friend his eyes went wide and suddenly he seemed terrified. “Leave him alone,” he shouted. “He hasn’t done anything.”
Samuel laughed. “He attacked the Kirkland’s jailer and released the fleet’s prisoners. This he did as part of an on-going collusion with known terrorist, Tim Golding – the cripple. Harry Jobson is an enemy of all of us.”
Kill the traitor! String him up? Terrorist!
“They’re a bunch of animals,” Tim muttered under his breath.
Samuel smiled and seemed to breath in the chants and cries for blood like they were sweet-smelling perfume. “I think the people have spoken,” he said, sighing euphorically. “Guards! String him up. Let him dangle above our broken tail as an example to what happens to our enemies. Let those onshore see that our spirit will never be broken. We will never succumb to evil.”
Damien leapt up. He swung his arms wildly and struck guards left and right. “Harry!” he screamed as he head-butted a crewman standing in his way. “Harry, fight. Get out of here.” Harry hung weakly between his guards and blinked slowly. There was a smile on his face that was more sadness than mirth. Damien kicked a guard in the knee and threw him aside, getting himself a little closer to his friend. “Harry, I won’t let them kill you. I won’t.”
A man flew in from the side and pummelled Damien in the stomach with a baseball bat. A second man raced up behind him and wrapped his arm around his neck. Damien struggled but another blow to his ribs dropped him onto one knee. Still he tried to fight, but it was useless. Harry looked at him and shook his head sadly. “It’s over, Damien. We had a good run while it lasted. I’ll be glad to finally be free of the headaches. I’m tired of holding on to all the things I know. It’s gotten too hard.”
Damien struggled to try and make it the last three feet to Harry but the two guards held him back. Anna consider
ed leaping up and helping him, but there were men and woman everywhere ready to beat her down at the first sign of resistance. She had no choice but to watch Damien and Harry’s final exchange from her knees.
“I won’t let these fuckers kill you,” Damien said.
Harry laughed. “They can’t kill me. I got places to be. You might think I’m crazy, with all my talk of Heaven and Hell, but trust me we all get what we deserve in the end. Just make sure your final minutes count. Sometimes our last minute counts more than all the other minutes that came before combined. Redemption can take but a single second, Damien. Remember that.”
Damien struggled to get closer. He managed to gain a foot, but couldn’t get any further. He reached out, only two-steps away from his friend. The anguish on his face was unbridled and clear for all to see; but nobody cared.
Harry took his guards by surprise and lunged forward. He threw his arms around Damien and squeezed him tightly. “I’m glad I took a chance on you, Damien. You’re the one thing in my life I did right.”
Anna realised she was crying. She didn’t know either man well, but she felt their love for one another, and knew she was going to see them both die. What was worse was that the men and women in the crowd thought it was justice.
As the guards tried to force the two men apart, Anna noticed Harry’s hand bury itself into the back of Damien’s jeans. At first she found it odd, but then she realised…. He just shoved something under Damien’s waistband.
Harry stood up straight and pushed Damien aside. He stared right at Tim. “It was me that told about your plan, Tim. I’m sorry. I thought it was wrong to destroy the whole ship. I was worried I wasn’t thinking straight and I told on you.”
Tim’s eyes went wide. “You? I…”
“Don’t worry,” said Harry. “I’ve made it right. I fixed it.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Tim.
“If you live long enough, you will.”
Damien reached out for Harry, but the guards stepped in and forced the two men apart, delivering a quick beat down to them both. Damien fell onto his back and shuffled away. Harry tumbled to his knees and was dragged towards the Kirkland’s stern.
Tears streamed from Damien’s eyes as he lay, incapacitated, on the deck. He didn’t make a sound, but his eyes never left Harry as he was led through the crowd at the back of the ship. He kept his eyes open as they threw a rope over the side of the rear gunwale, looping it through a rigging hook and folding it into a knot. He kept his eyes open as they tied Harry’s hands behind his back and fastened a noose around his neck. He was given no chance to look away as Lieutenant Dunn shoved Harry hard in the back and sent him overboard.
Anna wanted to close her eyes, but couldn’t. She heard Damien moan behind her and wished she could spare him from what he was seeing.
Harry’s body disappeared over the gunwale and the rope went taut. The snapping sound rang out like a gunshot. Damien’s moans turned to a growl. Anna glanced back to see him and the animalistic look on his face made her flinch. His humanity had deserted him with the snap of his friend’s neck. Anna reached out her arm to him, but he shrugged it away. He’s gone to a dark place.
Lieutenant Dunn walked away from the gunwale and back towards the centre of the deck. The man was laughing. “I thought his head was going to come off. Did you hear that snap?” It was obvious the man was trying to get a reaction out of Damien, but it didn’t work. Damien just stared into space, unblinking and faraway.
Samuel was grinning, too. Once again he raised his arms to implore his people. “Who is next? Who would you see face justice?”
The crowd shouted out riotously, bickering amongst themselves until a cohesion fell upon them and a single word became a chant. Cripple! Cripple! Cripple!
“Quiet,” said Samuel. “Quiet. The people have spoken and I have listened.” He turned and pointed at Tim. “Lieutenant Dunn, take his eyes.”
Dunn swallowed and seemed confused. The thought of the act obviously didn’t appeal to him. While he was all for playing executioner, he didn’t seem to have the stomach so visceral. Nonetheless, he got moving gingerly. Clearly the thought of disobeying Samuel appealed to him less than taking out a man’s eyes.
Tim went pale when he heard his sentence. He began to blink rapidly as he anticipated the horror about to be bestowed upon him. He pleaded nervously with Dunn. “Come one, dude. I’ll just take the plunge like Harry did. No need to go all Red Dragon on me.”
Dunn gritted his teeth and hissed. “Shut up.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Tim pleaded. “You never signed your life away to Samuel, but once you do this you’re nothing but his slave. Come on, dude. Don’t do this.”
Dunn pulled his bloodstained knife from his belt and held it out towards Tim’s face. “Hold him,” he snarled at the nearest guard.
Two guards grabbed Tim and held him down by his shoulders. The man began to cry out for mercy and screamed at the top of his lungs when Dunn approached him with the blade.
Samuel grinned the whole time. The mob hollered excitedly. Damien stared into space and gritted his teeth. Anna felt sick.
Tim struggled to free himself, thrashing left and right against his guards. His eyelids fluttered as the blade wiggled in front of his face. “Come on, man. Please! Please, don’t. Plea- Argh!”
Dunn sank his blade into Tim’s left eye and twisted. He yanked back and pulled the popped eyeball from its socket. Strands of flesh, nerves, and blood spewed from Tim’s empty orbital bone and his entire body shuddered violently. When Dunn shanked his other eyeball, he lay on his back gibbering and vomiting on himself.
“Throw him overboard,” said Samuel dismissively. “Let him swim around blindly like the fishes.”
Two guards dragged a gibbering Tim away and discarded him over the gunwale like a bag of rubbish. Anna stared down at one of the man’s eyeballs lying on the deck and almost vomited. Despite her fear, she was not worried about her own approaching demise. After all she’d seen, death no longer held its ominous veil over the world. The Reaper’s dignity had been walked over by seven billion agonising deaths. She did fear pain, though. Pain was not death, it was life. And life scared her.
Samuel glared at Anna and then at Damien. “Now, what to do with the two of you? I think you see now what happens to those who act against me. It is much better to fall in line than to defy me. Harry and Tim were terrorists. Do you accept that?”
Damien said nothing. That steaming animosity was still on his face, but his mind was far away – he had gone to a place of demons and nightmares. Anna wanted to beg, to plead for a quick death, but she would not allow herself to show weakness in her final minutes. Her enemies would not be given the satisfaction of seeing her weep. Instead of hoping for mercy, her mind instead turned to who had fired at the Kirkland. They said it was a tank. That’s crazy. Could it be the foragers?
Garfield had left days ago, seeking an army base. Had he actually found one? Did he discover a tank and bring it home? The thought gave Anna a small flicker of warmth in her belly. Someone ashore was still alive to fight Samuel. Someone was still alive to avenge her. And Poppy. Anna knew that if it was Garfield on the shore and that he’d discovered what had become of Poppy, he wouldn’t rest until Samuel was dead. Anna just hoped he came up with a better plan than she had. I didn’t even get close to taking out Samuel. Hopefully Garfield will fire again and take this whole ship down.
“It’s time to make a decision,” said Samuel. He was looking at Damien. “You have been confused and conflicted by an old friendship, but I believe there may still be hope for you, Roman. You have served me faithfully for many months and have never acted against me before. I would see you have one final opportunity for redemption. Do you wish to hear my offer?”
Damien said nothing. He gritted his teeth and breathed in and out heavily.
Samuel sighed. “I will take that as a ‘yes’. Frank, if you would?” Samuel always called him ‘Frank’ in fron
t of company.
The grey-haired man from Samuel’s office appeared from the crowd and stood before his captain. The look on his face was almost a grimace and his eyes were moist from recent tears. The man didn’t look like a crier – too grizzled and stoic – but obviously something had upset him. Unlike the other members of the fleet, the grey-haired man did not seem to relish the on-going spectacle that counted for Samuel’s ‘justice’.
Frank held something in his hands: it was the sword that Damien used to carry on his belt.
Samuel nodded to the grey-haired man. “You have been a disappointment to me as well, father, but I would also see you given opportunity to prove your loyalty to the fleet. Hand Roman his sword. If he tries to use it on me, kill him.”
Frank offered the sword to Damien, hilt first. The look on his face was pained, yet, despite the man’s obvious dislike of what was happening, his hands were stone stiff as he handed the sword over.
Damien didn’t acknowledge Frank, but his eyes quickly focused on his old sword. A rush of emotion seemed to return to him as he eyed up the sharp shaft of metal. He reached out his hand and took the blade, flipping it around and catching it by the hilt in one smooth motion. He leapt to his feet, but made no move to strike. Everyone aboard the Kirkland was silent. The air was so tense it was like breathing in oil fumes.
Anna waited on her knees, unsure of what to do. If Damien tried to fight, would she fight too? Of course I will. Better to die fighting.
Frank yanked a combat knife from his own belt and held it out in front of him. His stance made it obvious he knew how to use it. He and Damien faced off, grizzled knife-wielder against one-handed swordsman, but neither man made move to attack.
Samuel raised a hand for calm. He studied Damien and managed to make eye contact. “Roman,” he said calmly. “Use your sword to take off this woman’s head and all will be forgiven. Show me that your heart belongs to the fleet and you will be welcomed with open arms.”
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