Uh-uh.
I bring the gun around and fire once, shooting from the hip, not bothering to aim. At this range, I’m never going to miss… The bullet catches the agent center mass in the middle of his chest. He falls backward from the impact, and I snap the gun back against Cunningham’s head. He winces as the heat from the barrel hisses on his face.
The other agents react slowly, taking a collective step forward and raising their weapons a few seconds after their colleague hits the floor. The men by the sofas gasp and take a step back, looking less comfortable than they had when I got here.
“Hey, hey, hey! Back off!” I press the gun hard against Cunningham’s temple. “Tell them!”
He looks over at them, silently instructing the remaining agents to stand down again.
“That’s right, do as your master says, boys. Now, Charlie, I gotta ask… Why are you doing this? I get that you wanna change the world, make it a better place, blah blah blah, but you did that in your first six months in office. Crime was down, drug crime was nonexistent. There were more jobs, better health care — hell, you could get high, or laid, and no one would give a shit. You were doing everything right, and it was working. Why go to all this trouble to tear it all down?”
He looks across at the men standing by the sofas, who I notice are now standing up straight like they’re proud fathers. He strokes a hand across his chin, as if choosing his words carefully. Ever the politician.
I notice his other hand stays hovering over the laptop.
“Adrian, quite frankly, you lack the mental capacity to understand why this is happening. You don’t see things the way I do. You don’t appreciate the scope of a situation. All you see is the end of your gun, whereas I look miles beyond the target.”
“Do yourself a favor and try not to patronize me, alright? You think you’re safe in this room right now? You think you can relax because you’ve got six armed Secret Service agents with you?”
He shrugs and smiles.
I don’t like how confident he is. Let’s do something about that…
In the same fluid, expert movement as before, I aim the gun and fire once, hitting the agent on the far left of the room in the face. The bullet strikes just above the right side of the jaw, shattering his mandible in two. His head snaps back violently as one half flies away, spraying a thin trail of blood in the air. It hits the far wall beneath the portrait of a former president. The other half is still attached but hanging loose. The agent is dead before he hits the floor.
Straightaway the gun’s back against Cunningham’s forehead. “Sorry, five agents… Are you starting to see where this is going?”
The rest of the agents are getting twitchy, and I can understand how hard it must be for them to ignore their instincts and obey an order they don’t agree with.
“Okay… okay. I’ll tell you, Adrian. I’d like you to understand why I’ve done this, I really would. But before I do, I need you to know that you’ve got me all wrong. You see, I’m not a coward. I’m the president of the United States. I’ve dedicated my life to making sure these events unfold exactly as they are. Years and years of meticulous planning and strategy have been poured into this.”
“What do you want? A fucking medal?”
“Not at all. I’m not doing this for recognition, despite what you might think. I’m doing this because it’s what the people need.”
“And who are you to decide what’s best for everyone?”
“Adrian, I’m the president. It’s why I was elected.”
“Yeah, you’re the president of this country… not the entire world! You can’t just enforce your ideals on everyone because you think you’re right. Did you not pay attention in history class? It never works. And the people who try it end up dead.”
He smiles. “History simply teaches us if you start with nothing, that’s exactly what you’ll end up with. Hitler… Stalin… even bin Laden… The problem they had was that they started trying to — how did you put it—enforce their ideals at the same time they were rising to power. That never works because the people who would object to a leader’s beliefs can see him growing. They can simply monitor him and step in when they need to. There is no surprise, no shock — they just prepare for the day when they would inevitably have to stop him. But me… I rose to power first. Only then did I start to implement my plan for a new, better world. I started when I was already in charge, so the things I’m trying to do are more easily accepted. See, it’s easy to stop someone from running for the throne when you’re running alongside them, Adrian. But it’s much harder to approach that throne when they’re already sitting on it surrounded by their kingdom.”
I raise an eyebrow. My arm and shoulder are starting to ache a little from holding this gun to his head for so long. But I’m not moving it.
“Huh… did you, like, write that little speech beforehand? Have you been rehearsing it every day in case you get a chance to reel off your bullshit to someone? You’re a whole other level of crazy, Chuck. You’d be better off in Stonebanks…”
“Actually, I think we’re a lot alike, you and me. We’re both smart, we’re both driven. We’re also very instinctual. I’m somewhat of a gambling man. I go with my gut when I need to, just like you. Like now, for example. You’ve shot two members of my security detail. Rather impressively, I might add. But I don’t think you’ll shoot me. In the same way you’ve thought that flash drive around your neck would keep you alive this whole time, I think you’re banking on staying safe while you have a gun to my head. But you’re wrong, because I am prepared to die for my cause. I will not let anything or anyone stop me. Not now. And I will not be threatened by the likes of you. So tell me, Adrian Hell, what do you intend to do… now!”
He holds my gaze and smiles as he presses the Enter key.
32
No… He can’t have… He’s… Tori is… I have to…
“No!” I yell out, watching the screen in horror.
My arm drops to my side and everything around me fades away. The gray image in front of me still shows the quiet, dusty road running through the center of the town I’ve called home for the last two-and-a-bit years.
The small shape of a person walks into view from the north and turns into my bar a moment later.
Huh… she must’ve got the place reopened. Way to go, babe!
I smile, thinking about—
Sweet Jesus!
A long, thin line flickers into view from the east, and a split-second later a bright flash covers the entire display.
Is that… was that it? I don’t understand. Did I just see…?
The glare fades, revealing…
My eyes go wide. “Holy mother of God…”
There’s… nothing! It’s a goddamn wasteland — just fire and debris for miles.
I turn to look at Cunningham. He’s still in his seat but any visible tension is gone. I stare into his eyes. There’s a glint in them… pride, I think. He’s relaxed, leaning back in his chair like it’s a Sunday afternoon and the family is around. He thinks he’s won. He thinks I’m beaten, and he viewed me as the last remaining obstacle in his path.
The room slowly fades back into view. The desk, the carpet, the men by the sofas, the Secret Service agents…
Oh shit, the agents!
I look up as they advance toward me, guns raised but fingers outside the trigger guard. I’m too close to their boss to risk a shot. But if they get close and surround me, I’m finished.