Prospero's Half-Life (43 page)

“
NO!” she yelled. “You’ll only get yourself killed!”

From outside
there was another explosion as a mortar shell detonated into the
building that had been previously struck. More bricks rained down
upon them, and a collection of them smashed into the tent just to
the right of theirs. The screams of those caught under them were
harsh but mercifully brief. Richard ducked and covered himself with
his arm, and when the rain of shattered brickwork ceased he
gestured frantically at the other two in the tent.

“
We
all
have
to go!” he exclaimed. “They’ll kill us all if we stay
here!”

Sandra and
Tyler did not waste time arguing. They scrambled out after Richard
with an urgency that was only slightly less than his own. Outside
was pandemonium. The tent people were milling around in utter
chaos, screaming for their lives and trying pathetically to gather
up their meagre belongings. Richard wasn’t sure where exactly they
were planning on going; it wasn’t as though the freemen were going
to let them stay in the old city hall, after all. There were a few
in the crowd that were continuing to bark orders, although from
what Richard could tell they were absolutely ineffectual at getting
any sort of order restored. He checked the tablet as they ran,
hoping that Troy would have responded, but there was nothing. The
battery indicator had fallen to 12%. He swore loudly as they went,
although it was lost in the general uproar that went on around
them.

They emerged
from the crowd and approached the city hall. As they did so,
another barrage arced out of the sky and came crashing down into
the roof of the building. There was a deafening explosion, and the
roof of the city hall collapsed in around where the mortar shell
had struck. The three of them gaped at it, caught by complete
surprise.

“
Holy mother of god,” Tyler yelled, trying to hear himself over
the ringing in his ears. Richard ignored him, and plunged ahead
into the doors, intent on one singular purpose.

TEN
The interior of the old city
hall smelled like burning wood. The pandemonium on display outside
was on full display inside as well; the servants were running down
from the second floor and up from the basement. The soldiers
stationed inside of the building rushed past Richard on their way
out into the square, and many of the servants scrambled out after
them. Richard paid them little attention; he could see smoke
filling up the second floor and could hear the crackling of fire
coming from the top floor.

“
Carolyn!” he screamed. “Carolyn!” His voice blended into the
general tumult and there was no response. He pushed his was through
the escaping throng and continued to scream her name in vain.
Moments later Sandra and Tyler appeared beside him, their hands on
his arms.

“
We need to get out of here!” Tyler screamed, but Richard shook
him off. “The building is a target! They’re going to destroy
it!”

Richard walked onward, past the line of offices and towards
the basement. He walked three steps down and screamed Carolyn’s
name several more times. There was no response from below; the area
seemed deserted, as though everyone had fled the place already. He
swore and went back up to the ground floor. The smell of smoke was
already stronger, and there were muffled explosions from outside.
He angrily grabbed the tablet out of his shoulder-bag and
punched
I’M ALMOST OUT OF BATTERY PLEASE
UPDATE SOON
in. He replaced it in the bag
and strode towards the wide, thin-bannistered staircase that lead
upstairs. Sandra cut him off and stood in front of him with her
arms crossed.

“
You can’t go up there,” she said simply. Richard gritted his
teeth.

“
Get out of the way,” he replied harshly. “I can’t be
responsible for what happens if you don’t get out of the
way”.

Sandra shook
her head. Richard balled his hands into fists, and began tensing
his muscles to strike. Sandra raised her eyebrows, daring him to do
something. From outside, it sounded as though a building was in the
middle of partially collapsing. Richard suddenly cocked his arm
back and another deafening explosion rocked the building, sending
all three of them to the floor seeking cover. Dust and plaster
rained down from the ceiling. There was a loud, splintering crack
from the top floor as a roof beam collapsed and brought a part of
the roof down with it. Richard leapt to his feet and took the
stairs up two at a time, not waiting for the other two to
react.

“
Carolyn!” he screamed when he made it to the top. The smoke
was thick, although it was moving rapidly away to the left and
right; Richard realized that most of the windows, having been
battered by the elements for over twenty-five years, must have
broken following two concussive explosions. It was enough to make
him choke, though, and the screaming made his throat even more
hoarse.

“
Richard!” he heard Carolyn scream, from somewhere on the same
floor. He ran toward the direction of her voice, ignoring the
hoarse sound of his lungs, all thought streaming out of his mind.
He stumbled on a bunched-up piece of carpet and went sprawling onto
his face. The air was much clearer on the floor, and he found his
breathing easing. There were footsteps in front of him and he
looked up. He saw a heavy, expensive pair of boots, and a thick
pair of denim jeans. One of the boots reared back and a second
later blinding white pain filled his world.

He must have
blacked out momentarily, because in his next conscious instant he
was being hauled roughly to his feet by his collar. He remained
limp, letting his enemy think that he was still unconscious. He
cracked his eyes open and saw Karl Tiegert’s mangled face; the
man’s nose was badly broken and blood and mucous smeared the lower
half of his face. His eyes were wide, and strangely bovine; there
was rage aplenty in his bloodshot stare, but there was also a flat
detachment, as though the part of him that Richard had known and
respected had been crushed out along with his nose.

“
I’ll...fuckin’...I’ll...kill,” Karl was saying, his voice
raspy from the dust and smoke. “Teach you to...spent good money on
you, thought...fuck...”. The man’s shaking hands circled up around
Richard’s throat lightly, and before Karl could begin to squeeze
Richard slammed his head forward. The hard bone of his forehead
caught Karl square in his broken nose and the man flew backwards
with a piercing scream. Blood flew outward from him in an arc,
splattering Richard’s face with warm, slimy droplets. He grimaced
and fell to a crouch, ready to get into a serious fight if Karl
decided to get up. When Karl continued to lie on the floor he
straightened and began screaming Carolyn’s name.

She came out
of one of the nearby offices, her arms outstretched before her;
another man (one of the House Speakers, Richard noted) came
lurching out of the office from behind her and grabbed her by the
hair. The man’s wide, jowly face was frozen in a rictus of hate and
fear; he pulled backwards on her hair and growled something
unintelligible. Taken by surprise, Carolyn fell onto her behind and
the House Speaker was left standing with a fistful of ripped-out
grey hair. He stared at it, confused, and Richard launched himself
at the man. His fist connected with the Speaker’s weak chin and the
man fell back into the doorframe. To Richard’s surprise, the
Speaker recovered quickly and returned the blow, putting a
surprisingly heavy and bony fist into Richard’s mouth. Richard
stumbled back, his mouth feeling like it was on fire; he thought
that a couple of his teeth might have been cracked and at least one
had been driven loose. The Speaker was advancing on him with a smug
look of triumph on his face, his fist held back to deliver a
finishing blow. Richard lowered his head and ran at the man
full-tilt, football-style; he caught the man in the solar plexus
and they both went flying to the ground. Richard put his hands on
the man’s soft belly and hauled himself upward; when he got to his
knees he delivered a sharp blow to the middle of the man’s face.
The Speaker was breathing in short hitches, looking as though he
were trying in vain to catch his breath.

Richard got to
his feet and brushed himself off. He put his hand out and helped
Carolyn to her feet. There were tears making rivulets in the dust
caked on her face, and one of her hands kept going to the back of
her head. He soothed her and guided her down the hallway, stepping
over Karl’s prone body. When they got to the edge of the stairway
Richard heard a shuffling from behind them. When he turned to look
he saw that Karl had gotten to his feet and was swaying unsteadily
in the middle of the hallway. Richard looked him over for a moment,
and then took Carolyn’s hand and helped her down the stairs.

Sandra and
Tyler were still waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and Richard
felt a surge of love for the both of them. He wondered
self-deprecatingly what he had done at some point to earn their
loyalty.

“
Ok,
now
we
have to get out of here!” Sandra yelled urgently. Richard had to
laugh.

“
I don’t see any reason why not!” he yelled back. He suddenly
felt giddy, and wondered fleetingly if it was the smoke inhalation
finally catching up with him. Sandra rolled her eyes and lead the
way out of city hall.

“
I haven’t heard any explosions in a bit,” Tyler said
hopefully. “In at least ten minutes. Maybe they’ve stopped the
barrage?”

“
I really hope so,” Richard replied distractedly, staring out
into the chaotic scene in front of them. People were still running
from place to place, although less than there had been. Many people
had decided to simply sit on the ground and stare up into the sky,
waiting for the end. Smoke and dust filled the air out here as
well; the roof of the city hall was on fire in several places and
it was collapsing in the center. Many of the buildings directly in
front of them were collapsing as well, and the wood had caught on
fire there also.

“
This is the end,” Tyler muttered. “They’re going to march in
and slaughter us all”.

Richard turned
around with a sudden white-hot anger and seized the man by the
collar.

“
We are
not
going to die!” he screamed. “Do you hear me? Do you understand
me? We are all going to get out of here! We are all going to be
fine! FINE!”

Tyler blanched
away from the volume in his voice but his mournful expression did
not change. He shook his head in denial even as Richard continued
to clutch on to his lapel.

“
No, this is the end,” he insisted, and Richard let go of the
man’s collar in disgust. Tyler looked up at him and began to laugh
weakly. Richard stared at him, his face furious, but this only made
Tyler laugh harder. Eventually Richard’s angry façade cracked and
he began laughing as well. Sandra caught the wind and began braying
out her deep, booming laugh. Carolyn looked at them all as though
they had gone completely mad and began to laugh along, convinced
that the time for insanity had finally come.

They fell into each other, arms going around shoulders and
waists, laughing the entire time. Richard rested his head on
Sandra’s shoulder and felt the deeply familiar weight of Carolyn’s
head snuggle into his armpit. Tyler threw his arm around Sandra’s
other shoulder and cocked his head back to spew laughter into the
smoke-filled, uncaring sky. The people around them, both the
sitting and the running, stared at them; the fear and hopelessness
on their faces was accentuated by the white veneer of plaster and
pulverized brick caking them. Richard shook his head at them, as if
to say
funny place to end up in, isn’t
it?

There were no
further explosions; it seemed that Tyler was right about the
barrage having finally tapered off. After they finished laughing
and wiping at their eyes (smearing the debris around slickly)
Richard lead them back to the tents. None of the others seemed to
resist or dispute this decision; to all of them, it seemed as good
a place to die as any. The stepped around the bodies of both the
living and the dead. The living watched them pass placidly, their
eyes looking like the victims of shell shock in old world war
photographs. The dead did not care, and Richard found himself
envying them.

Carolyn’s hand
snaked into his and she squeezed. He looked over at her and saw an
expression that was nothing but pure, unconditional love. He felt
like weeping, but he squeezed her hand back and tried to portray
every last ounce of his feelings for her through his eyes. Her
smile widened, and his heart skidded onward with an extension of
that giddy sense he had felt earlier. Suddenly he felt as though he
might be able to die happily.

They arrived
at the tents and Richard heard a commotion from the direction that
they had come from. There were four soldiers pushing their way
through the crowd, trampling over those sitting on the ground. They
were calling out his name clearly.

“
Richard Adams!” they yelled. “Surrender yourself now and we
will let your friends live! This is your final warning!”

Richard looked
at the others. Sandra shook her head, and Tyler followed suit a
moment later. Richard shrugged and grinned.

“
Shall we wait for them here?” he asked, feeling flippant. The
others laughed, and nodded emphatically.

As they
watched the soldiers cross the square towards them, Richard became
aware that there were others arriving and taking up a position
around them. After a moment he realized that he knew all of them;
they were the other servants that Karl had kept at his arena. The
kitchen servants, the cleaners, the gardeners; all of them were
forming a protective semi-circle around them. One of them nudged
his arm; he turned to look and saw Simon standing beside him, his
battered face looking grim and defiant.