The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (87 page)

The crowd cheered and dispersed, all going their way to
see if they could find a terrorist in possession of a Bible.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘And there you have it, people,’
the news reporter shouted excitedly over the noise of cheering people and the
constant buzz of Vuvuzelas. ‘You have just witnessed what will soon become a
common occurrence as we stomp our foot down on terrorism once and for all.

‘This is Ryan Baxter reporting live from Pretoria,
South Africa.’

Andrew’s father nodded in agreement. ‘It’s about time,’
he said. ‘Can’t say I never warned him. Always knew that pride would be his
downfall.’

With that, Andrew’s father switched off the television
and continued reading his magazine.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘What started as an example to the
rest of the world has turned into an income for some bounty hunters assisting
N-Force with the tracking and capturing of thousands of terrorists around the
world.’

‘I’m so sorry, Andy,’ Trevor said as he watched footage
of people around the world being crucified.

‘N-Force has said today that the crucifixion method –
although highly effective – is taking too much time and resources. It will now
only be reserved for leaders of the terrorist faction, while the rest would be
shot, hanged, or even decapitated by guillotine.’

Trevor’s stomach churned. In the past, he could always handle
seeing bad things happen to people, but for some reason, since Andrew’s
crucifixion, he just couldn’t stomach it anymore.

‘The time has come to do some gardening,’ Victor said
in a clip aired by GMN. ‘We have to uproot the weed of this planet so that we
can blossom into a society of true beauty and perfection.’

Trevor snapped off the television.

‘I’m sorry, Andy,’ he said and fought back a sob. ‘But
I just cannot play this game anymore. I have decided to get the Shield. I’m
sorry, my friend.’ He wiped at his face and swallowed hard. ‘I’m sorry that I
couldn’t see things your way. When I get the Shield this weekend, I will show
you that it wasn’t all bad. We’ll both laugh about it someday.’

He raked his fingers through his hair.

‘We’re different, you and I. We’re not the same. We
both have our own beliefs. You were a great friend, but you’re dead now. If I
continue playing your game, I will soon be dead too, and what good would that
do anyone?’

He curled up on the couch and pulled the duvet tighter
around his body. ‘I’m so sorry, Andy,’ he said again as exhaustion kicked in.
He closed his eyes and had enough strength for one last, ‘I’m so very sorry...’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘
No!
’ the woman screamed.
‘You cannot take my daughter!’

‘Get her to shut up,’ the N-Force officer commanded at
the woman’s husband, ‘or I will kill you both like dogs, right here, right
now!’

‘The man embraced his wife tightly and whispered to her
that she should calm down. She fell to her knees as her three year old daughter
was taken by an N-Force officer and placed inside a truck where a number of
other children of similar ages were being huddled together.

Mommy!
The little girl cried as two N-Force officers slammed
the door of the van shut.

‘Anita!’ the mother cried and reached out for the
truck. ‘Oh please, Lord,’ she cried, ‘
not my Anita!
’

‘Back to your quarters,’ the officer barked at the man
and his wife. ‘Or you will be next.’

Crying softly, the man escorted his wife back to her
section of the concentration camp. He looked back at the truck as it sped off
to some unknown destination with all the children in the back.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

Even though the thin layer of dust
has left the night-time world in a state of total darkness, Victor’s mansion
was lit up as if it were day. All around the mansion were tall walls with barb
wiring. Just on the inside of the wall was electric fencing.

These were no problems for Benny and his two scouts to
bypass. The hard part came once they were past the fence. Victor had around
thirty-five Doberman-Rotweiler crossbred canines that roamed the grounds. They
were trained to kill on sight, and just one of them could easily shred someone
twice the size of Benny.

‘Target in sight,’ Benny whispered into a hidden
microphone.

‘I have visual,’ his scout returned confirmation into
his earpiece. ‘Just give the signal.’

‘All right guys,’ Benny said. ‘This is just like we
discussed. Take out the dogs, and leave the guards for later.’

‘Affirmative,’ came the reply.

It took them ten minutes to take out all thirty-five
dogs with their silenced rifles. They would have to work fast, for if anyone
realized what was going on, there would be another hundred of those dogs before
they could escape. Someone had tried to break into the mansion once before, and
was never seen or heard of again.

‘All clear,’ Benny said.

‘Charlie, all clear,’ replied one of the scouts.

‘Echo, all clear.’

Under cover of his two scouts, Benny made his way
across the lawn, avoiding the cameras and trip wires. He then took out the
wall-climbing equipment and started scaling the first two stories of the house.

‘This is it,’ Benny said as he looked into the window
of a lit room. ‘I can see the children.’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘Are they all here?’ Victor asked
Ryan as he entered the room.

‘They are all here,’ Ryan confirmed.

‘Tell me,’ Victor said as he hunched in front of a
little boy. ‘How old are you?’

The boy just held out four fingers, too shy to answer
verbally.

‘Four?’ Victor said and stood up straight again. ‘So
innocent.’ He then glanced over all the children in the room, boys and girls,
all the same age, taken from their parents only a day earlier.

‘Leave,’ he instructed Ryan without taking his eyes off
the children. ‘Now.’

Ryan obeyed and left the room, closing and locking the
door behind him.

‘Suffer the little children,’ Victor said as a smile
curled his lips upward.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘What’s going on, Bravo?’

‘I don’t know,’ Benny whispered. ‘The room is filled
with kids, and he is alone with them. Wait! They’re—’

‘Bravo?’

‘
My God!
’ Benny gasped and jerked his head away
from the window.

‘Bravo? What’s going on? Do you need backup?’

‘
No!
’ Benny screamed, almost giving away his
position. ‘Stay away. I repeat:
stay away!
’ He felt nauseous, and his
stomach swirled violently.

‘Are you sure? What’s going on?’

‘Charlie, Echo, I need you both to abort mission. I
repeat:
abort mission!
’

‘Bravo?’

‘
Just do it!
’ Benny yelled. ‘Get back to camp
and inform Alpha that I’m staying behind to eliminate that...
that beast!
’

‘We cannot—’

‘That’s a direct order,’ Benny commanded. ‘
Now get
going!
’

‘Aborting,’ Charlie confirmed.

‘Aborting,’ Echo joined him.

Benny fought back the tears as rage welled up inside of
him. He wanted to jump through the window and unload all his ammunition on
Victor, but he knew that it would be a fatal mistake. He sat with his back
against the wall, breathing heavily as tears streamed down his face.

Through the closed window next to him, only faint
screams of children could be heard between the roars and growls of what sounded
like an enraged lion.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

It wasn’t long before the guards
found the first few dead dogs. Sirens flared, and more dogs were instantly
released, barking wildly as they chased after the false clues that Benny and
his team had left when they first entered the compound.

Benny found himself a dark spot on the ledge of the
second storey where he hid, and he didn’t dare breathe loudly. Each heartbeat
exploded loudly in his ears, and he almost gave away his position twice when he
had to cough.

After three hours of frantic searching, the guards
finally gave up the chase, but the atmosphere remained tense and alert. It took
two more hours before Benny was sure that everything had settled down a bit
more, and that he would be able to continue with his mission.

‘Now you die, you animal,’ he hissed through clenched
teeth. If there was any doubt in his mind that Victor was who Timothy claimed
he was, all doubt had been removed only a few hours earlier. The images of what
he had seen through the window flashed through his mind again, and he almost
lost his balance.

‘Help me, Jesus,’ he prayed silently, ‘to put an end to
this madness once and for all.’

He slowly made his way around the ledge to Victor’s
bedroom window. He opened the window and climbed through it without making the
slightest sound. Inch by inch he moved closer to Victor’s bed until, minutes
later, he stood at Victor’s side. He slowly raised his silenced weapon and said
one final prayer before squeezing the trigger again and again.

‘Forgive me, Lord,’ he whispered softly. ‘But I just
couldn’t allow this to go on.’

With one swift movement he jerked the duvet away from
the bed and instinctively spun around with his pistol raised. In the corner of
the room, hidden by the darkness, he could barely make out the silhouette of a
man sitting on a chair; observing his every move.

‘Disappointed, Eugene?’ Victor asked after slowly
blowing the cigarette smoke from his mouth. ‘Did you seriously think that it
was going to be
that
easy?’

‘You’re sick!’ Benny shouted. ‘A murderer! A...a
monster!’

‘Sticks and stones, Eugene,’ Victor said calmly as he
stood up and walked over to Benny. ‘Worship me, and I might let you live to
tell your tale.’

‘
Never!
’ Benny cried, hoping that someone would
come through the door and distract Victor for the split second he needed to get
out of the room. No one came.

‘Then you had better pull the trigger,’ Victor said.

Benny tried to squeeze the trigger, but couldn’t move
his finger.

Victor raised his hand slightly, and Benny dropped to
his knees.

‘Come now, Eugene,’ Victor said with a smile. ‘Worship
me. You’re halfway there already.’

‘Burn...in...Hell.’

‘Fine then, have it your way,’ Victor said without a
hint of emotion in his voice. He waved his hand again, and Benny’s face turned
a shade of purple. His veins became visible on his forehead and his bloodshot
eyes filled with water. Another wave of Victor’s hand and Benny felt his wrist
twist. Slowly, he started pointing his gun at his own head. He tried to resist
it, but couldn’t. A few seconds later, the barrel of the gun was pressed hard
against his own temple.

‘Final chance, Eugene. All it takes is one small
prayer. If not, your life will end here.’

‘So...be...it.’

‘So be it,’ Victor confirmed and waved his hand as if dismissing
Benny. The gun only made a soft
chew
sound before the lifeless body of
Benny the Fist fell to the ground at Victor’s feet.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘Where’s Bravo?’ Timothy asked as
the two scouts returned.

‘He stayed behind,’ the scout that responded to the
call sign ‘Echo’ answered.

‘To do what?’

‘We weren’t sure at first, but we didn’t return here
immediately as he ordered, sir.’

‘What did you do?’

‘We stayed behind in Jerusalem for another two days. It
was then that we saw...’

‘Saw what, Echo?’

The scout couldn’t get the words out. Anger and emotion
welled up inside him.

‘Saw
what
?’ Timothy repeated.

‘It was Bravo, sir,’ Charlie said. ‘He...his head was
impaled on a stake in front of the Lion’s Gate.’

‘Are you sure it was him?’ Timothy confirmed.

‘Positive.’

‘Could it not have been someone else?’ Timothy asked,
grasping at anything other than the realization that his friend had been
martyred.