Vincent kisses his right hand and blows Leo a kiss. Vincent presses the detonator with his left thumb.
“Noooooooo!” Leo screams out.
Knowing that he has a two-second delay, Vincent grabs Ruger around his neck and ducks down, shielding Ruger with his body. Suddenly there is a huge explosion. It blows out the window and a large amount of debris.
Vincent quickly gets to his feet and unlatches the fire escape stairs. “Let’s go, boy.” Vincent rapidly moves down the stairs and Ruger closely follows him down.
When Vincent gets down to ground level, he looks for the closest route for them to escape. He realizes that the best way is to get to the main street. He and Ruger run toward the main street. All of a sudden, three soldiers turn the corner. Their rifles are pointing at him. Vincent quickly takes cover behind a large dumpster as several rounds are fired at him.
The three soldiers spread out and hold their positions. One of the soldiers yells out orders to Vincent. “Put down your weapon and come out slowly with your hands up!”
Vincent looks down at the ground and sees a garbage bag full of trash. He rips it open and dumps out the contents. He finds a piece of steak and looks at Ruger.
Next he removes the glove from his right hand and flips it inside out. There is a small hidden pocket in the thumb area. Vincent pulls out his identification chip. He holds the chip between his thumb and index finger. He closes his eyes and experiences a flashback…
He is sitting on his couch shirtless. Set out on the coffee table in front of him is a bottle of Red Stag whiskey, a surgical knife, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, gauze, and a suture.
He picks up a bottle of Red Stag whiskey and takes three big gulps. He puts down the bottle on the coffee table next to the surgical knife. He wipes the sweat coming from his brow. Picking up a bottle of rubbing alcohol, he pours some on his right hand.
He picks up the surgical knife with his left hand and places his right hand on his right knee. Vincent takes several deep breaths and then places the surgical knife to his right hand and makes an incision in the area between his thumb and index finger. He grimaces in pain. A large amount of blood pours out from the incision.
He puts down the knife, picks up the bottle of whiskey, and takes three more gulps. “Ok, the hard part is over,” he says to himself. Vincent picks up a pair of tweezers and begins to dig around inside the incision. “Got it.”
Vincent removes his identification chip and drops it into a shot glass. Vincent picks up the suture and begins stitching up his incision.
***
Vincent’s flashback is interrupted by the second order of the soldier. “I say again: Drop your weapon and slowly come out with your hands up!”
Vincent takes the identification chip and sticks it into the piece of steak. Vincent looks at Ruger and says, “Look, I need your help to get the fuck out of here alive. They don’t care about you, so I need you to distract them so I can get out of here.”
He feeds Ruger the piece of steak. “Good boy…ok now…run past the bastards and distract them.” He slaps Ruger on the backside.
Ruger takes off running toward the soldiers, causing them to focus their attention on him. He runs past the two soldiers who are closest to Vincent and leaps toward the third, biting down on his right hand, which is his shooting hand.
The soldier screams out for the other two to help him.
“Man’s best friend,” Vincent says with a smile on his face.
Vincent stands up from behind the dumpster, points his rifle at the closest soldier, and aims at his head through his Aimpoint scope. In one smooth motion, he pulls back on the trigger and fires one shot, hitting the soldier in the head and killing him instantly.
By the time the second soldier could react to the gunshot, Vincent has already pulled the trigger. He kills the second soldier with another shot to the head.
The third soldier sees the soldiers being killed and is doing everything in his power to get his arm free. But Ruger’s grip is too strong. As with the other two soldiers, Vincent aims at the third soldier’s head and fires, killing him instantly.
Ruger releases his grip and runs down the main street in the opposite direction from the military vehicles.
Vincent peeks around the corner and sees the remaining soldier running into his building to investigate the explosion. Vincent runs across the street into an adjacent alley. He runs for several blocks only using the alleyways.
Vincent comes upon a major road and peeks his head around the corner, looking for any military vehicles. Vincent notices that he is now at Broadway Street. “Wait a minute. This is where the Pope’s hideout is.”
He makes sure the area is clear and quickly runs across the street. He finds the entryway to the Pope’s hideout and enters. He navigates through the dark building, using the flashlight on his rifle.
He comes to the doorway where he had talked to the Pope, calling out to him in a soft voice. “Pope…Pope Francesco…it’s Vincent Cain. Are you in there?”
There is no response.
Vincent enters the room tactically and looks around. He realizes that the room is completely empty, and there is no sign of the Pope or the Arch Bishops. Realizing that the streets are flooded with police and military looking for him, he decides to hide out for a few hours.
***
Back at Vincent’s high-rise building, a soldier retrieves an identification chip locator and types in Vincent’s name. A map of the city immediately pops up on the screen, and a red flashing dot appears.
“I got him stationary in an alley twenty blocks from here! Mount up, let’s move!” He says the other soldiers.
Eight soldiers get into two Humvees and drive toward the location. The soldiers follow the GPS and approach the location. They park a block away and dismount. They line up single file and approach tactically, stopping a few feet short of the alley.
The soldier with the GPS says to the others, “Ok, he’s still stationary fifteen feet into the alley.”
The rear soldier taps the soldier in front of him, and each do the same until the lead soldier is tapped, giving the go ahead to move into the alley. The team quickly moves into the alley and stops at fifteen feet.
The soldiers look around, but Vincent is not there.
The soldier holding the GPS is angry. “What the fuck? Where is he? This is accurate to the exact point. He should be standing right here.”
The soldier looks down at his feet and notices a large pile of feces. With a confused look on his face, the soldier puts on a pair of rubber gloves and kneels down next to the feces. The soldier sifts through the feces. “Son of a bitch!”
“What is it?” another soldier asks.
He stands up and shows the other soldiers the chip. “That slick motherfucker fed his dog his chip. He can be anywhere by now. Let’s move.”
They got to you
Vincent looks at his watch and decides that it is late enough to start moving again. He makes a risky decision and decides to go to Estrada’s apartment. Besides Lena, he is the only person he can trust, and his apartment is much closer than Lena’s house.
Vincent knows that he is going to need some type of disguise if he has any chance of making it to Estrada’s apartment. Knowing that homeless people use the building as a shelter, he looks around for any leftover clothing. He moves from room to room and finally finds an old leather trench coat. He puts on the coat and exits the building. Vincent flips up the collar, takes a deep breath and says, “Here goes nothing.”
Vincent gets out on the main street and begins to walk toward Estrada’s apartment building. After walking several blocks, Vincent can see Estrada’s apartment building. Only three more blocks.
At that time, a military Humvee turns onto the street. Vincent becomes nervous. He pulls the collar higher up and puts his head down. He can see the soldier
standing in the ring mount of the Humvee is looking at him.
Vincent slowly slides his hand into the trench coat, grabs the handle of his rifle, and switches the selector switch to “fire.” He prepares himself for another gunfight. The Humvee is now parallel with him and the soldier is still looking at him.
Just as Vincent is about to pull out his rifle to fire on the soldier, the Humvee continues driving and passes him. He exhales in relief and continues walking. Finally he reaches the front door of Estrada’s apartment building and enters.
He quickly gets into the elevator and rides it up to the twentieth floor. He knocks on apartment number 70. Estrada opens the door.
“Vato, get the fuck in here.” Estrada grabs him by his shoulder and pulls him into the apartment.
“Damn man, what the fuck did you do? Every cop and soldier is looking for you.”
“They’re after me because I know the truth. I’m not gonna be part of their movement and kill innocent people. Look…I don’t want to get you involved. I just need a place to crash for a few hours, and I promise I’ll be out of your way.”
“Ok, vato, just come sit down and relax. Take all that shit off and sit on the couch.”
Vincent sets his rifle down on the floor and takes off his tactical vest, setting it next to the rifle.
Estrada hands Vincent a beer. “Damn, vato, you look like shit. When was the last time you ate?”
“It’s been a few hours. I’m starving.”
“Ok, stay here and relax. I’m gonna go get us something to eat. There’s plenty of beer in the fridge.”
“Ok man, thanks.”
“Anything for you, brother. Ok, I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
Estrada leaves the apartment. Vincent leans back on the couch and takes several sips of his beer. As Vincent sits on the couch, be begins to feel light-headed. His muscles are becoming very relaxed, and his vision becomes blurry. He can no longer hold on to the beer bottle and drops it.
At that time, Vincent hears the front door open and several voices are speaking, but he cannot focus his eyes to see who is talking. He can feel someone shaking him. He hears a voice and realizes it is Estrada.
“Vincent…Vincent …can you hear me? Ok, he’s out—the drugs worked. You guys can take him now.”
Two soldiers pick Vincent up off the couch. He realizes that he has been drugged and turned in by Estrada. Vincent looks at Estrada and in a slurred voice says, “Well, I guess they got to you…brother.”
The beginning
Vincent is unconscious, shirtless, and shackled to a metal chair affixed to the floor in the middle of a room. The room is dark, lit only by a dim light that hangs directly over Vincent. A cold bucket of water is thrown on Vincent to wake him up.
Vincent looks frantically around the room. He has no idea where he is. He looks down and realizes that his arms, legs, and body are shackled. He pulls with his arms and feet, trying to break free from the chains. He stops pulling when he hears a voice coming from somewhere in front of him.
“Unless you have super-human strength, you’re probably not going to break free.”
Vincent squints his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. “Who is that? Who’s there?”
He hears footsteps getting closer to him and can see the silhouette of a person becoming clearer and clearer. The person takes one more step toward Vincent. It is now evident who the person is before him.
William Lester III.
“Vincent Cain. Come on, Vincent. Break out of those chains and stand up.”
“You know that’s impossible.” Vincent replies.
“Oh, really, you can’t do it? Well, how do you expect to save mankind if you can’t break out of these chains?”
“What makes you think that I was going to save mankind? Why would I even want to save mankind? I hate people. I hate everyone, especially your bitch-ass!”
Lester III places his hands on both armrests of Vincent’s chair and leans his face close to Vincent’s face. “Now you really didn’t expect me to think that you were going to actually admit who you are and what your plans were, did you? You see, Vincent…not even the almighty Catholic Church can keep us out.”
Vincent hears more footsteps walking toward him. The person’s silhouette becomes clear. Vincent recognizes this person. It is Arch Bishop Lazarus.
Vincent becomes enraged and yells, “Fuck you! Fuck you both!”
Lester III smiles. “No Vincent, fuck you. You see…tonight is the night my temple opens and our one-world government, lead by me, will be born. And in front of two million spectators, I’m going to destroy you and the last of the foolish believers out there will bear witness. Nothing will stand in my way! I rule this world now!”
A switch is flipped on and the room lights up. A soldier holds the door to the room open. Lester III exits the room and is followed by Arch Bishop Lazarus.
Still standing in the room is Lilith. Standing on both sides of her are two very large muscular men wearing all black and holding batons in their hands. Lilith smiles at Vincent and winks her right eye at him. She then swiftly exits the room and the door is closed and locked.
For the next 45 minutes, Vincent is punched, kicked, slapped, and beaten with batons.
***
At the west wing of the capitol building, there are an estimated two million people at ground level waiting for Lester III to make his speech. The people are standing around the extremely large rectangular pool that stretches the length of two football fields. Up on the six-story platform, there are an additional 50,000 spectators sitting in the stadium seats.
Lester III and Lilith walk out onto the stage and the crowd erupts in a defining cheer. Lester III waves to the crowd with both arms in the air. As he makes his way to the podium, two very attractive women approach him.
They are standing side by side carrying a large red-velvet pillow. Lying on top of the pillow is a large silver sword with a gold handle. Lester III kisses both women on the cheek and picks up the sword by its handle.
With the sword down at his side, Lester III walks to the edge of the stage and looks out at the two million people on the ground. In one quick motion, he thrusts the sword into the sky, high over his head.
At that moment, pyrotechnics shoot down from above the stage into the large pool below, igniting it into flames. The crowd again erupts into loud cheers. The sword is given back to the two women, who place it on a table behind the podium.
Lester III walks up to the podium and begins his speech. “My sons and daughters, today is a great and historic day, but before I get into all the good that is to come, let’s talk about the bad.
“Out there in the very streets where all of you reside, there is a very small group of people who conspire against me and the world order. As your great leader, I am pleased to inform you that within the past few hours, the heads of this small group have been arrested and brought to justice.
“These people are lawless and refuse to accept me. They are a threat to our new way of life. These crimes, as you all know, are punishable by death. So tonight, here on this very stage…where I, your great leader, stands…we are going to bring out these criminals and execute them in front of all of you, and the rest of the world, in order to show those few who refuse to accept me what will happen to them if they do not. Bring out the prisoners!”
At that very moment, Pope Francesco, Arch Bishop Vito, and Lena are brought out on to the stage in a single-file line. All have their hands tied behind their backs and are escorted by large muscular men wearing all black.
The large crowd cheers. Pope Francesco and Arch Bishop Vito walk calmly, but Lena repeatedly tries to pull away and yells to the guard, “Get your dirty hands off of me!”
All three are lined up parallel to Lester III’s podium and are forced down on their knees. Lester III puts his hands in the air and motions to th
e crowd to quiet down.
“Yes, yes…I know, my children, it’s terrible. I know…these people also disgust me. I am truly saddened and very hurt by their actions. I have given them a safe and peaceful life, and this is how they repay me. But these are just the foot soldiers of one man. This one man wants to destroy this safe and peaceful life I have created for all of you. Bring out this criminal!”
A large trap door in the center of the stage opens. Large spotlights light the area. An eight-foot tall stone pillar with the head of a snake sculpted at the top of it begins to arise through the trap door. The pillar stops as the base, becoming even with the stage floor.
Lena is in shock by what she sees and begins to cry. “Oh my God, no! Vincent!”
Vincent is on his knees, facing the pillar, with his arms chained together. He is bloody and badly beaten. His left eye is swollen and blood is coming out of his nose, mouth, and ears.
The crowd erupts in cheers. Estrada is sitting in the front row on the stage and looks at Vincent tied to the pillar. With tears in his eyes, he slowly stands up and looks around at the people sitting around him cheering.
Lilith looks at Lester III, who nods his head at her. She smiles at him and pulls out a gold-plated Desert Eagle handgun from her suit jacket. She begins walking toward Vincent.
Estrada quickly walks up to Lilith and begin to plead with her. “Wait, wait…this wasn’t the deal. You guys said you were just going to arrest him. You said nothing about executing him.”
Lilith continues walking toward Vincent, ignoring Estrada as if he was not there.
Estrada jumps in front of Lilith and holds out his right hand to her. “Here…take the money out of my account, you puta! And I’m taking him out of here. This wasn’t the fucking deal!”
Lilith sighs. She looks Estrada in the eyes and then quickly puts the gun to his forehead. She pulls the trigger, blowing a large hole in the back of his head.