Azrael used a claw to cut off one of his ears, then threw the piece of flesh and cartilage into the air, catching it with his teeth and eating it.
Ringgold looked away, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The vice president let out a long wail, and she turned back, eyes narrowed, to see his intestines slopping out onto the stage.
The Chimera behind Lemke let the vice president collapse to the floor. Azrael pressed his boot against Lemke’s neck, preventing him from breathing.
“You have tried and failed to stand against me,” Azrael said. “And still, I am willing to show you some mercy. Abdicate, release your tyrannical hold on your country. Then I will consider some of your people to be among my chosen, to be elevated as Scions.”
Azrael took his foot off Lemke. The vice president gasped for breath. A nearby Chimera handed him a cutlass.
“Or if you do not submit, then understand that we will destroy you and what’s left of your country.” Azrael aimed the cutlass at the vice president.
“No,” Lemke said, voice rasping. “Don’t submit!”
Azrael swung the cutlass down, separating his head from his body.
“You have three days to decide,” Azrael said.
The video ended.
General Souza bowed his head.
Ringgold shivered, unable to contain the emotion boiling inside her. Soprano put a hand on her back.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Souza said.
Ringgold shook away the shock, wiped at her tears, and looked at the team.
“What do we do now?” she asked. “Should I…”
She didn’t want to bring herself to say it, but she was no longer sure about their future.
“Do we surrender?” Vance asked, completing the question she was afraid to voice aloud.
“No, hell no,” Cornelius said. “If we do, that son of a bitch will kill every one of us and enslave our families.”
“Slavery is worse than death,” Soprano said.
“After Puerto Rico, Vegas, your entire country, you think we can actually win at any point in the future?” asked General Vance. “That thing is too powerful now.”
“What choice do we have?” Souza said.
“He gave us a choice,” Vance replied.
Hernandez snapped out of his shock and slammed his fist on the table. “I would die before I become a creature like him. You ask my people, and they will tell you the same!”
All eyes turned toward Ringgold. She fought to control herself and push the images of Lemke’s horrific death from her mind.
There was only one way forward. Giving in to the New Gods, as Lemke had said in that video, was not an option.
“You should not have to ask me.” She stifled the sobs threatening to overtake her. “I spent a few years in New Hampshire. You know the motto.”
“Live free or die,” Cornelius said. “I’m with you, Madam President.”
“In three days, I will defend Galveston by myself if that’s what it takes,” Ringgold said, speaking as clearly as she could, stymieing the tide of grief building inside her. “If any of you want to submit to him, know that you’ve made yourself our enemy. Otherwise, in three days, we’ll stand right here on this soil and fight.
One by one, the others nodded in agreement.
“Notify Commander Jacobs immediately to recall all operations from Houston, consolidating them here in Galveston,” Ringgold said. “We need everything we’ve got in one location. That includes ensuring every single person who can lift a gun. Everyone must help to defend this base. No exceptions.”
“We’ll get the message out,” General Souza said.
“That includes me,” Ringgold said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve fired a weapon, but General Cornelius, I was hoping you could give me a refresher.”
“Absolutely, Madam President,” he replied.
“Good,” Ringgold said.
“I’ll begin preparing our forces,” Cornelius said.
Hernandez started to stand. “I will request reinforcements immediately. We cannot sit idly by while one of our closest military and economic partners is destroyed by this beast and his monsters.”
“Thank you,” Ringgold said. She looked to General Vance. “Are you ready to send those thousand troops your country initially promised, too?”
“Please understand that it’s out of my control, but I think this latest video will serve to change a lot of minds up north.”
“Thank you,” Ringgold said. “For those doubting we can win, remember this. Our enemy believes they are Gods, but they bleed and feel pain. And they’ll soon learn they’re mortal like the rest of us.”
— 18 —
Kate wrinkled her nose at the smell of rot and death wafting around her when she entered the parking garage beneath the hospital outside of Outpost Houston.
Banks of lights illuminated the tunnel plastered with red webbing. Commander Jacobs had doubled the number of men down here since President Ringgold had sent word that an attack on Galveston was imminent.
Kate didn’t feel any better with the increased troops. The video from Azrael’s throne room continued to haunt her. This monster had single-handedly brought the Allied States to its knees, and his forces only seemed to grow stronger by the day.
At least she wouldn’t be stuck in this hellhole for much longer. As the president withdrew their defenses from Houston, she had requested the science team return as soon as possible with them.
The team would have to abandon their efforts outside the tunnel and figure out a new way to help the war efforts.
All in the matter of three days.
Kate wasn’t sure how they could accomplish anything of scientific merit in that short amount of time.
A cry of pain distracted her from her thoughts and Kate turned away from the tunnel. Leslie jerked in the chair near the tunnel where she was tapped into the network, her eyes closed.
Ron and Sammy stood nearby, watching the computer.
“Anything useful before we pack up to leave?” Kate asked Sammy.
Sammy squinted at the monitor, scanning the spikes of communication signals she had intercepted. “Everything is gibberish.”
“They knew the whole time we were listening, and they used it against us,” Kate said. “We missed the scouts they sent all around the country. We missed the
