Monsters of the Apocalypse
Read Monsters of the Apocalypse Online
Authors: Jordan Rawlins
Written
by Jordan Rawlins
Illustrated
by Tia Stark
The events depicted in this book may or may not be
fictitious, the future will tell, but for now, any similarity to any person
living or dead is merely coincidental.
Contents
BOOK ONE
BOOK TWO
BOOK THREE
BOOK FOUR
BOOK FIVE
***"The world is less advanced now
than when I was born. The world I was born into was less advanced than
when my father was born. During my grandfather's youth, after the Great
Explosion of 2035, was when man hit his technological peak and it's no
coincidence that this era, under Caleb Machius and Angelica Sway's leadership,
was the most peaceful time that modern man has ever known.
"As man grew more and
more dependent on technology to think for him, store his records, keep him safe
and run the day to day activities by which he was able to live in comfort, he
gave up his ability to survive on his own. The reason that smart men stop
short of absolute control, which is what technology basically had at its
zenith, is that it opens the door for absolute defeat. Some would say
America won out, and of course, America alone did survive the Great War.
But, just because you survive doesn't mean you weren't defeated.
"Regardless, my point is this -
here in this post-apocalyptic world, we have a choice: to recreate our society
upon the tenets of kindness, decency, social equality and union with nature -
or to focus on the old path of technology and convenience which led to the
Apocalypse. It seems so clear intellectually that man should pick the
former, but for those of us who are old enough to remember espresso machines,
cell phones and artichoke heart pizza delivered hot to your door - we know
there's an argument to be made for the latter."
- Jacob Rothschild, "Thoughts on
The Art of Ruling"
***
Far above
the earth, satellites drifted through the cold, dark, silence of space. As
those satellites passed over the United States of America, their tiny green
lights began to blink in response to orders that had just been beamed up from
the glowing white metropolises below. As these orders were processed by
the satellites, another row of lights, these a bright electric blue, lit
up. These blue lights gave notice to the vast nothingness of the universe
that the huge Electro-Magnetic Pulse Cannons mounted on the satellites had just
become active and that the whole of mankind was in danger.
Most people
didn't bother to look up as these tiny manmade stars crossed the night
sky. Most people had never thought about how much of an effect those
satellites had on the Earth below them. Jacob did. Jacob knew all
about EMPC's and satellites and the terror they were capable of raining down
upon what remained of mankind. Jacob knew all about the little blinking
lights.
As Jacob lit
a cigarette his lighter reflected in the small seasonal creek that gurgled past
him, gurgled through the woods, and gurgled next to the top secret government
facility that was guarded by men with big guns. Jacob blew a puff of
smoke into the air as he watched one of the satellites, nothing but a
fast-moving light from where he stood, drop down below the horizon.
“A lot of
people say: what's the point of a blinking light on a satellite? What's
the point of a blinking light in all this empty universe?” Jacob said to a
soldier who was kneeling over an un-functioning gun to Jacob's left. The
soldier stopped trying to un-jam his rifle and stared up at Jacob with
confusion.
"It
doesn't make much sense I guess, sir."
"Yes it
does," Jacob smiled. "It's about recognition. That little
blinking light says: I'm here. I'm doing my job. I exist."
"I
don't know what you…"
"Oh, never
mind, forget it and go back to your gun," Jacob sighed. He watched
his smoke rings disappear into the night sky as he listened to the approaching,
plodding footsteps, and occasional stumbles, of the returning scout.
Jacob looked over at the sound of his tech specialist, Arian Mills,
laughing. Mills was the only member of Jacob's Shadow Army that was with
him on this mission. Mills was so dark that he disappeared into the night
except for where the glow of his small laptop reached him.
"Sir,"
the scout panted on arrival.
"Yes?"
"I'm
back, sir!"
"I see
that," Jacob sighed, "and I heard it before I saw it, and though I
didn't bother to look, I would guess that I could have seen you before you saw
me."
“Sir?”
“Don’t mind
me, just making an observation about your stealth capabilities. What
observations did you make, soldier?”
“They’re
American, sir. The guards are American soldiers!”
Jacob
watched as these last words rippled through the rest of the surrounding
soldiers and made them shift nervously.
“Well…
yeah. America is all there is anymore. The rest of the world blew
up, remember? Who’d you think would be guarding it?” Jacob laughed.
“Criminals,"
the scout said without hesitation. "Criminals aren’t American.
One of the agreements one makes in order to be part of a country is to respect
its laws.”
Jacob stared
at the scout in disbelief.
"Is
that so?”
“Si...”
“Don’t say
"sir." Call me Jacob. You say "sir" too much.”
"I'm
afraid, Jacob, that I have doubts,” the young scout said firmly to his own
feet.
"I beg
your pardon?" Jacob hissed.
"A week
ago you were the leader of a Shadow Army filled with deadly Indian mercenaries
and, well that… the guy with all those hideous brands on his arms over
there," the scout pointed fearfully at the glaring Arian. "Now
all of the sudden we get orders to follow you, and you lead us to a US
government facility to kill Americans!"
"It
seems to me, soldier, that the key concept there was that you were given
orders."
"From a
commanding officer who I haven't been able to get into contact with
since! We've all been trying to get into contact with him - with anybody
- for two days, but we can't."
"This
is a black op, soldier. All communications have been jammed by Mr. Mills
over there, for the sake of secrecy."
"So you
say,
Jacob
, but now it turns out that the mission involves killing
fellow American soldiers. It's just too much. It's too much to
believe! I'm sorry, but we can't move forward without confirmation from
our commanding officer."
At the end
of this speech the scout swung his rifle up to Jacob's face. Jacob burst into
hysterics. He heard the rustling of the rest of the squad shifting their
weapons. He assumed that all the guns would be pointed at him, but he
didn’t bother to check. He momentarily glanced at Arian, who tilted his
head questioningly.
"You
want me to kill them all, Jacob?"
"No,
but thanks, Arian. We need them."
"Okie
doke."
Jacob took a
moment to appreciate his far off Shadow Army. Their quiet efficiency was
so easy to take for granted. Even now, as they took up their positions
across the country, Jacob knew they were unnoticed and unheard. He
shrugged and returned his attention to the young soldiers who spread out in
front of him in a wave of incompetence.
"How
many real soldiers are even left anymore?" Jacob paused to stub out his
cigarette and smile at the scout. "Ten years since the last war and
even then there weren't many soldiers left. Kids raised on video games,
controlling drones with joysticks, destroying countries. Missiles fired
by satellite auto-command eliminating entire races. It's not your fault
though, since the days of the Alpha Team a lot has changed.”
"With
all due respect,
sir
, we're Alpha Team," the scout replied, his gun
shaking with anger.
"With
all due respect,
soldier
," Jacob swung up his .50 caliber Desert
Eagle and pointed it at the scout's face, "your safety is on."
The scout
glanced down at his rifle, and in that moment, Jacob reached out and spun the
scout around. The scout let out a quiet gasp as he found himself between
Jacob and his fellow soldiers. He grew silent when he felt the barrel of
Jacob's gun touch his temple. Arian chuckled softly in the
darkness.
Jacob smiled
at the rest of the soldiers.
"Before
any of you pull the trigger, I have to warn you that those guns might jam or
misfire and explode in your face. Allow me to apologize about the guns,
boys, they are a bit outdated. Unlike mine, which I am certain will not jam if
I pull the trigger right now," Jacob said, causing all the soldiers to
glance down at their twenty-year old bolt-action M-1 rifles.
"I'm
the single most wanted man on the planet, but here I am, out in the open,"
Jacob smiled with sparkling eyes. "What does that tell you?
I'm a smart man, but even I'm not smart enough to figure out a way to
infiltrate the highest levels of the government to get American soldiers sent
to serve me in a military action against America itself. That would take
genius on a level that the world has never known! No. The truth is
that October Carnegie, my old soldier in arms, has hidden me inside a lie over
the years in case the government was compromised."
Jacob slowly
passed his smiling gaze over the eyes of the young soldiers letting his words
sink in.
"October
Carnegie," Jacob continued, "the most popular President in modern
times, has plans on top of plans, all beyond mere citizens like you and
me. And he needs them, because, truth be told, he is the target of rich
and powerful men who want him gone. These men are the ones who manipulate
the very soldiers we are about to attack. True, these soldiers don't know
the role they play, but, their death will save many lives tonight, and that's
our mission, to save as many lives as we can. As soldiers, they would
respect that. They signed up to die in the name of that cause. So
did you. I know this is all very odd and hard to adjust to - but either
you find a way, or everyone you love will be dead in a matter of days.
Gentlemen, we are at war, a quiet war, a secret war, but a war nonetheless.
A war for survival…
and we don't have any time to waste
! Look into
my eyes, soldiers, you can trust me."
Jacob waited
and watched as the rifle barrels that were pointed at him, one by one,
lowered. Once all of them were down, Jacob lowered his own gun and
released the scout. He slid his gun back into the waist of his pants and
then slowly ran his hands over the curves of his well-tailored suit, then over
his impeccably styled hair, until he was finally satisfied that everything was
perfectly in place.
"It's
okay, boys. You're new to this. The games those in power play are
long and complicated. Almost impossible to understand. We are only
pawns in a chess game played by very rich, very old, very bored families with
lots of time and money and little morality. In any case, forget what I
said about your guns, I'm sure they'll be fine. We ready, Arian?"
"Yeah,
the security systems are down," Arian said turning off his screen.
Jacob lit
another cigarette and blew a puff of smoke into the air as his smile caught the
glint of the rising moon.
"You
heard him, soldiers, security systems are down. Onward ho, safeties off
and no survivors."