Savage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (29 page)

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
front 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.”

Damien examined the sword in his hands, eyes moving up
and down the sharp shaft.  He seemed possessed.  The vacant
expression had returned to him and he seemed more animal than human.  He
turned to face Anna.

Anna wouldn’t beg like Tim had, she had already
decided that.  She was going to die, one way or another, sooner it just be
over with.  One thing she did do, however, was stare Damien in the
eye.  She wanted him to look at him as he killed her. 
I hope my
face haunts his dreams.

Damien lifted the sword in the air and let it hover
above her neck.  There was utter silence from the crowd.

“Frank, be ready,” said Samuel.  “Cut him down
the moment it looks like he might make a bad decision.  We’ll torture the
woman for the next year while he watches.”

Anna saw a brief flicker in Damien’s eyes and a
quivering lump in his throat.
  He still has a conscience
, she
thought. 
This isn’t easy for him, but he has no choice.  Can I
even blame him? 
Now that she knew he felt guilty for what he was
about to do, Anna did Damien the kindness of closing her eyes and looking
away. 

“That’s it Roman,” said Samuel.  “Do it, and all
will be forgiven.
”

“My…name…is…Damien.”

Anna opened her eyes and saw Damien spin around and
kick Frank in the guts.  Two crewmen immediately went to accost him, but
he sliced both of them down with a vicious slash from his sword.  Blood
splattered his rage-filled face and made him look like some ancient
berserker.  Anna wanted to get up and flee, but there was nowhere to
go.  She was frozen on her knees as the chaos erupted all around
her. 
I need to do something.

Samuel pulled a pistol from inside his officer’s coat
and pointed it in Damien’s face, ending his rampage before it even got truly
started.  Frank recovered from being winded and seized Damien by the
shoulder.  “Big mistake,” Samuel said.  “You think I wasn’t ready for
that?  You fool.”

Damien smirked, blood covering his face.  He
threw his bloody sword down on the ground at Samuel’s feet.  “No,
captain,” he said.  “But were you ready for this?”  He dove down to
the floor and flopped on top of Anna, pancaking her to the deck.  Anna
struggled and squirmed beneath Damien, but was confused as he yanked something
from the back of his jeans. 
It’s whatever Harry handed to him.

Samuel pointed his pistol and hissed in anger.

Damien pressed a button in his hand and all hell broke
loose.  Again.

D
amien had known right away what
Harry had slipped into his waistband.  It was a detonator.  Working
in the
Kirkland’s
workshop meant Harry was no stranger to a bit of
chemistry and he had inferred earlier that he had rigged something up to do
what Tim had failed to.  There were many industrial chemicals in the
workshop, from cleaning fluids for the machinery and tools, to gasoline and
fuel for the welding rigs and acetylene torches.  If anyone could rig a
bomb aboard the
Kirkland
, it was Harry.  What Damien had not known
was where the bomb was or how big it was.  When he pushed the button he
was finding out the answer along with everybody else.

The answer turned out to be: very big.

The explosion started as a deep rumbling beneath their
feet but quickly travelled throughout the ship until it shook the deck like an
earthquake and bucked the entire frigate forward.  Bodies flew everywhere
and water travelled upwards like rain in reverse, exploding from the sea. 
Damien lay on top of Anna and clung to the deck to keep them from going
overboard.  Dozens were less lucky and plummeted into the sea like
flailing ragdolls.  Blood and screams filled the air like a
whirlwind. 
Holy shit, Harry.
 
What the hell did you put in that bomb?

The
Kirkland’s
bow raised up at a 45-degree
angle as the aft deck began to sink beneath the water.  The entire rear of
the ship sloped towards a maelstrom of flaming saltwater, which waited to
consume the flesh of anyone unlucky enough to fall into its boiling waters.

Anna moaned beneath Damien.  “Why do people keep
blowing me up?  This is like the third time today.”

“I don’t know,” said Damien.  “You must be a real
arsehole.”

Anna laughed and Damien suddenly felt better.  He
was certain he would die in the next five minutes, but at least his final
actions had brought a smile to a woman’s face.  Harry’s talk of redemption
was not lost on Damien; he wanted to make his final minutes count.

He leapt up and looked around for his sword, but it
was gone. No doubt it had skittered down the sloping deck and into the
sea.  He was sorry to see it gone. 
I have a man to kill but no
weapon.
 
Guess my bare hands will have to do.

Anna got up from the tilting deck and staggered
towards him.  He caught her in his arms and set her right on her
feet.  “Thanks,” she said to him.  “What’s the plan, Rambo?”

Damien shrugged.  “We could go to the bow and
cuddle.  I could shout ‘
I’m the King of the world
’?”

Anna frowned.  “I’m more of a
Terminator 2
kind of gal.”

Damien held his hand out to her.  “Then come with
me if you want to live.”

Anna took Damien’s hand and they raced through the
chaos on deck.  People wept and bled everywhere, but Damien held no
compassion for them. 
They were happy enough to execute Harry and
Tim.  They got what they deserved.

“Where are we going?” Anna asked breathlessly as they
ran.  It was hard keeping balance on the uneven deck.  He wondered if
her shins were crying out as much as his were.

“We’re going after Samuel,” he told her.  “If
he’s still alive, there’s only one place he’ll be.”

“His chambers?”

“No.  He’ll be on the bridge, readying the
guns.  He won’t take this lying down.”

“Shit!” said Anna.  “He’ll fire on the pier
again?”

“Yes, only this time he won’t be using the
cannons.  He’ll fire missiles.”

“We have to stop him.  There
are
another eleven of us at the pier.  They were away when everything started,
but they must have come back.  We have to save them.”

“We will,” said Damien.  “Samuel Raymeady is
going to go down with this ship, I promise you.”

They entered a hatch door at the side of the ship and
entered the passageway inside.  It was cramped, narrow, and at an angle,
but the walls made it easier to balance.  Damien turned a corner up ahead
but skidded on his heels.  Anna bumped into the back of him. 
She
has to stop doing that.  I’m going to end up with a bruised arsehole.

Lieutenant Dunn was blocking the passageway with
another man standing beside him.  The man had a hand missing just like
Damien did, but his stump was bloody and bandaged.  It was the American,
Wade Cannon. 
The guy I dismembered.  Wonderful. 
In
Wade’s good hand was Damien’s sword. 
Guess it didn’t fall into the sea
after all.

Dunn smirked.  “End of the line, Roman. 
You’re about to die by your own sword.  How deliciously ironic.”  He
turned to Wade and gave an order.  “Civilian, kill these two terrorists
and you’ll have the thanks of the captain and the entire fleet.  You’ll be
a hero.”

Wade grinned and raised Damien’s sword.  “You
took my hand, Roman,” he growled, but then he turned to face Dunn beside
him.  “But it wasn’t so long ago that you were going to execute me as a
criminal,
Lieutenant
Dunn.”

Dunn suddenly looked unsure of himself.  He eyed
the sword wavering in the air between them.   “Now…look.  That
was just my job.  I was doing
wha
-”

The American shoved Damien’s sword into Dunn’s guts
and left it there.  Blood exploded from the officer’s mouth and splatted
the walls of the passageway. 

Dunn staggered towards Damien with his blood-soaked
hands out, pleading.  Damien head butted him in the face and let him fall
to the floor.  He yanked his sword free from the man’s guts and left him
to die in pain. 

Damien strolled up to the American and cleared his
throat.  “So did you want to take a shot at getting your revenge on
me?  Because now’s the time, Wade.  I’ll be dead later.”

The American smiled and shook his head.  “You
saved my life.  A missing hand was a small price to pay.”

Damien nodded.  “Plus the chicks dig the
stump.  You’ll see.”

The American laughed.

“Get out of here, Wade.  If you’re lucky, you’ll
get picked up by one of the boats of the fleet.  The
Kirkland
is
going down.”

Wade nodded and fled through the passageway towards
the deck.

“I’m not going to even ask about the history between
you two,” Anna said.  “The stumpy twins.”

“Best you don’t ask,” he said, and then led her down
the passageway to a ladder leading upwards.  “The bridge is up
there.  You ready?”

Anna nodded.

They climbed the ladder quickly.  With the ship
canting the way it was, it was more like crawling forward than climbing
upwards. 

Damien entered the bridge ahead of Anna and was taken
by surprise when someone tackled him before he had chance to straighten
up. 

Anna called out to him.

Frank glared at him. 

Damien raised his stumped arm and tried to bring his
elbow across the man’s chin, but Frank kneed him in the thigh and sent searing
pain throughout his entire body.  Damien tried to bring his sword up, but
Frank swatted it away and judo-threw him to the floor.  Damien lay on his
side and winced. 
This old sod’s tougher than he looks.

Samuel stood at a wide console across the room,
fingering buttons and pulling levers.  Anna emerged from the hatch and
froze when she saw what was happening.  Frank booted Damien in the ribs to
keep him down, but it didn’t stop him from calling out to Anna.  “Samuel,”
he wheezed.  “Get…Samuel.”

Frank snarled.  He yanked Damien up off the floor
like a ragdoll and looked him in the eye.  “You try to kill my son? 
You try to kill my little boy.  You don’t understand anything. 
You’re an idiot.  AN IDIOT!”  He head butted Damien in the nose and
broke it.  Damien fell to the floor, clutching his face in agony. 
I
probably deserved that.

Anna sprinted towards Samuel but was knocked to her
knees by a vicious backhand.  Samuel followed it up by booting her in the
stomach and sending her into heaving spasms.  He took off his captain’s
jacket and threw it to the floor angrily.  “Do you people never
learn?  You are like mosquitoes on my hide.  I am a lion and you are
worthless bugs.  The fleet is the future of humanity.  I will lead
mankind to a new dawn, for I am its new god.”

“You’re insane,” said Anna.  “No man is a
god.  You’re no different to any other deluded lunatic from history
who
thought power equals greatness.  But look around
you, Sammie; Rome is burning.  Your empire is crumbling.”

Samuel chuckled.  “An apt metaphor, considering
the company.  Frank, stop playing with Roman – or whatever his name
is – and bring him here.  I would have these two watch while I show
them what strength my crumbling empire still possesses.”

Frank shoved Damien forward and held him against the
console in front of the window.  Samuel picked up Anna and shoved her up
beside him.  Through the bridge’s wide glass window, Damien saw a hundred
ships scattered across the sea.  Some headed towards the
Kirkland
,
collecting men-overboard, but many others sailed away into the distance. 
They’re
fleeing.  The Kirkland’s charade of safety has been shattered and they’re
scurrying away like cockroaches found beneath a fridge.

In the distance, Damien spotted the ruined pier. 
It was too far away to see anyone, but he imagined a tank hidden on the
shoreline, ready to sink
them
with one last shell from
its mighty turret.

Samuel lifted up a Perspex lid, which covered a large
red button beneath.  The fact that the button was big and red was almost
comical, but there was no cause to laugh when Samuel began to prep the
frigate’s missile bay.  Two hatch doors opened on the foredeck, revealing
the two
Tomahawk X
triple-launchers hidden there.  Damien knew that
each missile carried a 1,200lb warhead – Harry had told him about them
after having been put in charge of their maintenance one time.  If Samuel
fired the entire barrage at the pier, there would be nothing left for a square
mile.

“Would anybody like to do the honours?” asked
Samuel.  “No?  I thought not.” 

He was about to press the button, when Frank spoke
out.  “Samuel, enough people have died today.  The
Kirkland
is
lost.  We must leave while we have chance.  Vengeance has no use.”

Samuel turned on his father with a vengeance.  “I
will not tolerate any more disobedience from you,
Frank
.  Vengeance
is all we have left.  The
Kirkland
was what gave me power and I
must make use of it if I have any hope of regaining control.”

“You don’t need to be in charge,” said Frank. 
“You’ve already saved enough lives that people will forever respect you.”

“I was born to be in charge.  I was born a
leader.”

Frank looked at Samuel pityingly.  “You were born
a babe like anyone else.  Circumstances made you who you were.  The
things that happened to you as a child hardened you, but now you have a chance
to step back and be the man you want to be, instead of the man you were born to
be.  There’s no reason to fire those missiles, son.  Let’s just get
out of here.”  He reached out his hand.

For the first time Damien had seen, Samuel’s face
softened and a sliver of doubt appeared.  For a brief moment, he sounded
remorseful.  “You have served me well, father.  You raised me when
everybody else had died or abandoned me.  I had dreams of you growing old
by my side and watching me achieve greatness.”

“You
have
achieved greatness, Samuel.”

“I haven’t, but there is still time.”  Samuel
pulled his pistol from a holster beneath his armpit and fired it into Frank’s
forehead.  The old man fell backwards like a domino and hit the
floor.  Damien blinked. 
Jesus Christ.
  Anna shook her
head silently.

Samuel turned the pistol on the two of them,
preventing them from capitalising on the distraction.  There were tears in
his black eyes as he spoke.  “I always knew Frank was weak.  He
fought it as much as he could, and I naively hoped he would overcome it, but he
was never cut out for the new world.  I’ll miss him.”

Damien snarled.  “You just killed your own
father, you psycho.  Now you say you’ll miss him like it was some kind of
tragedy.”

Samuel sighed.  “He was no one’s father.  My
own father died many years ago.  I barely knew the man.”

“So you have daddy-issues,” said Anna. 
“Figures.”

Samuel snarled.  He pointed the gun at Anna,
apparently done with idle chitchat and reminiscing.  “Press the button,”
he told her.  “I want you to say goodbye to your precious pier.”

Anna shook her head.  “I won’t.  You want
them to die, you do it.”

“Oh, but where is the fun in that?  I like to see
people take responsibility for their actions.  Press the button or I’ll
take out both your knees.”  He lowered the pistol and aimed it at her
legs.

That was all the chance Damien needed.  He
smashed Samuel in the face as hard as he could with his fist, but the blow was
weak.  His body was tired and broken.  His strength had departed
him.  Samuel staggered backwards, more from surprise than pain.