I twisted my neck. The tables were broken and scattered across the floor. Machines lay on their sides. The ground, once quite clean, was now covered with rocks and other debris.
A slight scratching noise caught my ear. I swung to the south wall. Graham lay under a broken table.
I limped over, pushed the table out of the way. "You okay?"
"Nothing's broken." Graham winced as I grabbed his arms and pulled him to a standing position. "I think."
"You two are still alive?" The cold, familiar voice shot through my ears like a bullet.
I spun around and laid eyes on the vault door. It had been blown completely out of the wall. Now, it lay in a heap on the ground, surrounded by rock and pieces of concrete. Jenner stood on top of it. His eyes were cold. His face was devoid of emotion.
"No thanks to you." I searched the ground for my pistol. "Your little explosion almost killed us."
He smiled. "Everyone dies sooner or later."
Chapter 92
My blood boiled as I thought about all the people Jenner had killed. Raw emotions took over my brain. I steeled my muscles and prepared to charge him.
Jenner lifted his pistol. I heard a soft pinging noise. A cloud of dust shot up from the ground. It surrounded me, got in my lungs. A coughing fit seized me and I fell to a knee.
Bright flashlight beams swung in my direction. Numerous figures stepped into the vault. They lifted rifles into the air.
I dove to the side and ducked behind one of the Amber Room's walls.
Shots rang out.
"Cease fire," Jenner shouted.
The gunfire stopped.
I leaned my back against the wall. Grabbed my machete. I looked around and saw Graham taking cover behind a fallen machine. Beverly was still nowhere to be seen.
I heard shuffling noises. I realized Jenner's soldiers were spreading out, surrounding us.
"Simply astounding," Jenner said. "You know, I'd pictured the Amber Room in my mind thousands of times. But I'd never imagined it would be this beautiful."
"What are you going to do with it?" I called out.
"I'm sure you've already figured out the answer to that question."
"Don't you feel guilty?"
"About what?"
"About everything."
"Why should I? There's no such thing as absolute morality. It's always changing, based on who's got power. You know what they say. Might makes right."
"Power has nothing to do with morality," I replied. "The Nazis won a lot of battles. But their experiments were immoral, period."
"You're looking at history through the eyes of the victors. If Hitler had won his war, your opinion would be very different."
"You can justify it all you like. But what you're doing — what you've done — is wrong."
"On the contrary, I'm the lone voice of reason. As I explained to you before, modern science has removed natural selection from society. The weakest genes no longer die out. Instead, they're growing at an exponential pace. Good genes are slowly getting phased out of existence."
"So what?"
"So, society is devolving. It has to stop."
"Why?"
"Because it's against the natural order," he retorted. "Superpowers crush upstarts. Corporations decimate small businesses. Strong people dominate weak people. But when it comes to genetics, we let bad genes win out over good ones."
"What if this is the natural order?"
"It's not."
"Maybe the reason these so-called bad genes are propagating is because they aren't as bad as you think," I replied. "Maybe what you call dysgenics is just a natural state of evolution. Maybe the better genes are really winning out in the end."
"You're delusional."
Dark figures slid into view. I knew my machete was useless against their rifles. So, I sheathed it and stood up. "That's it, huh?" I stepped out into the open. "You're going to shoot us and take the Amber Room for yourself?"
"Yes."
"Then you're a hypocrite."
A curious look appeared on his face.
"You're using a gun to compensate for weakness. It's no different than a sick person using medicine." I grinned wickedly. "Do society a favor. Don't have kids. Your weak genes should die with you."
Rage flickered across his face. He stepped forward. Tossed his gun to the side.
Then he rushed me.
I tried to sidestep him. But he wrapped me in his arms. Tackled me to the ground. His fists rained down on me.
I raised my arms, warding him off. Then I balled up my fist and launched it at his jaw. My knuckles slammed into his cheek. He grunted and rolled off me.
I stood up.
He rubbed his cheek. Then he stood up as well.
A single desire filled my mind. I wanted to beat him, destroy him. I lunged forward, swinging my fists.
He parried the blows.
I picked up the intensity, aiming punches at his solar plexus and head. He merely smiled and knocked my hands away.
I grew tired. But I kept up a steady attack, hoping to sneak a shot through his defenses.
Then a sharp chop stung my neck.
I doubled over in pain.
His fist crashed into my stomach.
Air flew out of my lungs.
A thunderous punch connected with my chin. I flew backward and crashed into an old machine. It tipped over on top of me. Horrible pain shot through my body. My consciousness started to slip away.
"It's like I said." Jenner's voice barely reached my ears. "Might makes right."
My eyes closed.
Then I drifted away into the blackest of voids.
Chapter 93
"You failed!" Graham glared at me. "You're a disgrace."
"I—”
"Shut up." He snarled. "I can't believe I ever trusted you. Now, I'm dead. Beverly's dead. You're dead. And it's all your fault."
The ground trembled. I fell down. Giant rocks slammed into me. I tried to breathe but my body felt like it was slowly being squeezed of every last drop of air. "I … I tried …"
"He destroyed you. Face it. It's over."
I clenched my fists. "No, it's not."
Chapter 94
My eyes flew open. I tried to speak but my tongue got in the way.
"Thank God." Graham exhaled. "Thought I'd lost you there for a minute."
Dust clogged my throat. I coughed a few times and tried to sit up. But the machine on top of my chest was too heavy to lift. "Where's Aaron?"
"No clue. I just woke up." Graham rubbed the back of his head. "One of those bastards clobbered me from behind."
A booming noise rocked the vault. The ground quaked. The heavy machine slid a few inches across my body. I cried out in pain.
The quaking evaporated a few moments later. The machine shifted back, sliding across my body for a second time. The pain was agonizing.
Graham frowned. "Another explosion?"
"Sure sounded like it."
"But why?"
"I don't know." I struggled to shove the machine off my body. "Give me a hand."
Graham leaned his shoulder against it. We both pushed with all our strength. But it didn't move.
I laughed. And not just a chuckle either. I laughed a real disturbing laugh. The sort of laugh that should've gotten me locked up in an insane asylum. "Oh God, did you see that?" I laughed so hard my stomach started to hurt. "He wiped the floor with me. I barely touched him."
"It happens."
"He crushed me, Dutch. Absolutely destroyed me."
"We'll get another shot at him."