by Schism
Dante fired again. Again the bullet flew overhead.
Trevor’s eyes remained locked on Dante as he closed the distance. The gun shook in Jones’ hand.
Another bullet fired. Another warning went unheeded.
Trevor reached Dante Jones who still held the gun but the barrel-like the rounds he fired-pointed off target.
Dante did not move, he did not blink, he just stared at the man who had once been his friend. The man he had known since childhood. The man he had betrayed.
Trevor’s lips pressed together, his eyes burned into Dante’s, his chest heaved in and out as the two faced one another for the last time.
Stone reached with both hands and took hold of the burning barrel of the pistol and-while leaving it in Jones’ grip-guided the gun directly to his head and let go. Trevor could feel the hot steel burn his skin. Dante need only pull the trigger to murder his friend but this time he would have to do so while looking him in the eye.
Jones at last blinked. His lip curled. Trevor’s stare did not falter. His eyes dug into the conscience of Brutus.
Dante pulled the gun away from Trevor’s forehead, put it to his own temple, and pulled the trigger. His body wavered for a moment, and then toppled over the edge falling to and rolling across the grounds below.
Evan Godfrey-once Trevor’s greatest rival-remained pinned into the green ground of the White House lawn. A few feet away rested the dead body of Dante Jones, Trevor’s best friend.
.The beastly war machines reached shore. Landing craft shaped like deformed whales opened, letting loose crawling Spider Sentries and hordes of cloaked, mutated monks. A pair of blob-like ‘Chariot’ craft swooped down from the heavens and flew in the midst of hundreds of smaller ‘Spooks’ screaming in agony as they searched for targets, but no targets remained.
The Leviathan towered above it all, stepping forward a quarter mile to a stride over a flattened Long Beach. Behind it more grisly ships sailed inbound, bringing with them the seeds of factories and farms to build thousands more such killers.
Smoke rose from the ruins. The ground trembled from the giant’s steps. And the army of Voggoth marched forward.
.The weight of her torment finally grew too heavy on her shoulders. Ashley slid her back against the wall until sitting on the floor, her head cradled in her arms and unabated sadness flowing in heaves and moans.
Jorge Benjamin Stone-the boy who had destroyed one of The Order’s bases-stood over his mother with his head tilted curiously. How had he never seen the sadness before How could he not know how alone his mother felt
He reached out, placing his arms around mommy’s head. She leaned into his grasp.
The boy’s tears joined his mother’s.
.The push of a button froze the video image of Trevor and Nina cheek to cheek on the television screen.
Nina slowly reached her hand across the void between herself and the static image in an attempt to grasp it; to fully comprehend. Her mouth worked open as if trying to scream away the chaos inside, but no sound came forth.
Nina Forest touched the screen and bowed her head as she realized that, yes, she could be more than a soldier, more than a warrior. But when The Order had stolen her memories they had also stolen away the one man-the one soul-able to find that secret part of her heart.
Trevor, my love.
END BOOK IV
Tony DeCosmo
June 27, 2006
Next: Beyond Armageddon Book V: Fusion
Table of Contents
Book IV: Schism
