The interior is cast in shadows, lights flickering in each corner throwing shadows at odd angles. I hesitate, cautious about stepping inside, so I decide against it and close the door.
The ground beneath my feet starts to shake as the columns begin to crumble. I haven’t activated the detonators, so I’m not sure what’s going on. I’m thrown off my feet, the floor tilting towards the opening that’s been created by the collapse of the pillars. I slide across the carpet, trying desperately to grasp at anything to arrest my fall.
Someone grabs my wrist, pulling me up. Above my head I see Quin standing in the doorway I’d just opened.
“Give me your other hand,” he screams at me, as the building collapses around us.
I throw my arm up. He catches hold of my fingers, gets a better grip, and pulls me up to him, holding me tight against his chest. Then, off-balance, we begin to fall into the abyss.
I close my eyes, not wanting to see the upcoming impact, but it doesn’t come. Instead, I feel a jerk, and heat hits my face. I open my eyes to find the room around us engulfed in flames. Quin is keeping us alive by holding onto a cable that must have come loose.
He has his legs wrapped around me to secure me in place while his one hand is coiled around my shoulders, the other attached to our lifeline. I look down and watch as the main floor collapses into the tunnels. Smoke and dust shoot heavenward as the debris hits an air pocket below. I can hear screams shattering the night air, but I can’t tell from which direction they’re coming from.
“Hang on,” someone from above shouts to us.
Jagger and Braxton take hold of the cable and begin to pull us up. It’s at this point I realize we have fallen below ground level. Quin has me climb up him and into Braxton’s arms. Jagger grabs Quin by the collar, extracting him from the inferno that now rages beneath.
“What happened?” I shout to be heard over the roar of destruction.
“I don’t know. Jagger caught up with me by the prison and said you had gone looking for Quin. Then all hell broke loose.”
“Where are the others?”
“Following orders. Do you still have the master control?”
I pull it out of my pocket. The screen is badly scratched, but it still turns on.
“Check to see how many detonators are still on-line.”
I tap the screen, sliding my finger over the corner to pull up the information.
“Sixty still haven’t ignited.”
“Let’s head up to the gate. Jagger, take Quin.”
“I still have to deal with Parson Mathan.”
“Trea, it’s over. Let’s get out while we still can.”
“Here,” I say to Braxton, handing the master control to him, “I’m not leaving till I’m certain the Parson is dead. Do what you have to.”
I run in the direction of the chapel as Braxton calls after me, but I have a mission and I’m determined to see it finished.
The distance between the estate and the chapel is approximately a mile. Smoke chases after me, the smell of burning wood floating along the air. Nuceirans slowly begin to emerge from their homes to see what’s happened. I pull out my Levin gun as I approach the prison. Two guards come around the corner, their weapons drawn. I fire, dropping them. I climb up the back steps of the chapel, lights ablaze inside.
Quietly I enter, shutting the door slowly behind me, hearing voices radiating in song from the main room. I step through the entryway behind the altar, gun raised. The singing continues as I come out from behind the altar, gun aimed at Parson Mathan. A woman finally looks up from her songbook. She doesn’t scream, but instead goes silent and nudges the man next to her. This causes a ripple effect through the small audience. The Parson lifts his head to see why everyone has ceased. He turns around and flinches at the sight of me.
“Trea,” he stammers, “welcome to the house of forgiveness. We’re all just praying for your soul.”
“Are you now?” My right arm begins to tingle, warmth growing from my shoulder down to the port in my hand. “Who’s going to pray for yours?”
I fire one shot, hitting him just below his left knee. The congregation begins to scatter, running towards the front entrance.
Parson Mathan falls to the ground, his frail body quickly weakening. Taking him by the collar, I drag him down the aisle. The world outside erupts. The ground rumbles below my feet. As we step down the last stair the chapel implodes. Parson Mathan writhes in my grasp like a snake, hissing as we move towards a large group of people, many of them his followers. Morrigan lie dead nearby; the survivors are restrained by Lehen, Braxton, and his men. Jagger has Quin secured tightly in his grasp.
The group opens up, allowing me to drag the Parson into the center of the crowd.
“Was it worth it?” I scream so everyone can hear. “Was your life worth all those who perished in the Dormitories?”
A laugh catches in his throat. His breathing becomes labored, but has enough breath left to chuckle.
I place the nozzle of the gun against his forehead.
“Answer me!” I shout.
“You will only bring destruction, not redemption. Look around at what you have done to Nuceira. You did this, not I.”
“It began with you, it will end with you.”
“That’s what you think.” He smiles wide as his skin grows paler from the blood loss. “Your creators were wrong to believe you would defend the cities from our enemies. You bring the enemies with you. You will fail.”
“I don’t believe in failure.”
“Go to hell.”
“You first.”
The flash is bright.
I turn and watch as the city burns around me. Chaos now reigns.
Trea smiles as homes go up in flames, and people scream from either terror or pain. This is her world, the place she feels most at home.
Families
