Fredric Shernoff - Atlantic Island

They worked their way down hallways, through vast rooms that still resembled the majestic casino of the past, through the school where Theo and his friends had spent such a short, but important time. In every new area, they were presented with two or three Security Force agents. The bulk of the Force was somewhere else. Theo worried that “somewhere else” was wherever Kylee was right now.

They continued to kill the agents as quickly as they encountered them. Wes was prepared with additional grenades, but Theo saw no sense in continuing to demolish the path behind them. They weren’t leaving anyone alive to follow. He didn’t want to risk damaging the structure too greatly, now that the entire rebel army was likely in the building.

“How much farther to the executive wing?” asked Bill.

“Not too much farther, but I don’t think the elevator is going to work. That means going up the stairs. I don’t feel great about it.”

“So we fight to the top and confront Tiberius?”

“We fight to the top and then Ryan gets to work on setting up a broadcast to Atlantic Island, to let everyone know that we have taken the Palace and will be running the show from now on.”

“And Tiberius?”

“He’s mine.”

Though Theo’s voice came out strong and confident, he was anything but. As he had protested to the vision of Sam Lucas, he was scared of Tiberius. Scared of the man’s bizarre strength. To make matters worse, his dominant arm was feeling numb and when he tried to lift it he felt as if he had a hundred pound weight attached to his wrist.

They came around to a section of the Palace that had been a gaming floor of the casino. The machines were all gone. Perhaps they had been melted down to provide material for construction. He really didn’t know. In the back he saw glass doors that had once led to the boardwalk. That section of the boardwalk no longer existed, demolished by the leadership to prevent civilians from being able to approach the Palace from that side. The skywalk above that was also gone, though that connection between the casino and the mall had fallen victim to the Event.

“We need to come back around on the far side of this room,” Theo said. “I think there are stairs there that will get us into the upper levels, if not all the way to where Tiberius is. I think we should sit for a minute and catch our breath.”

“You boys tired of fighting?” a voice said.

“Bertier,” said Bill. “Just the guy I was looking to kill.”

“Don’t be cute, princess. You may have killed some of them Security boys, but me? I’m the real deal. The Supreme Leader didn’t put me in charge of all this for nothin’.”

Theo looked around. He couldn’t see Bertier anywhere. Where the hell was he hiding?

“Really,” said Bill, “I thought he promoted you to show people he had a sense of humor.”

“You keep talkin’, loser.” Bertier’s voice said. “I’m gonna knock out them pretty teeth and wear them for a necklace.”

“And what are you going to do with the rest of me?” Bill asked.

“Bill, enough!” Theo whispered.

“I’m gonna mount your head above my desk,” said Bertier.

“Show yourself, Bertier.” called Theo.

“King Crap!” Bertier laughed. “I dunno how you got out before, but I’m gonna enjoy taking care of you for good this time. The only question… do I kill your ass now or do you get to see the Supreme Leader in person?”

Theo heard a series of clicks. He felt a barrel pressed to the back of his head.

“On your knees, King Crap.” Bertier came walking around to the front of them. Theo saw that a squad of Security Force agents had guns to all of his men. They dropped to their knees.

“You,” Bertier said to Bill. “You come with me, princess. I’ve been waiting for this.” Bertier had a pistol in his hand. He gestured toward the glass doors. Bill got up and walked in that direction as Bertier followed, his gun trained on Bill’s back.

“Ima figure out whatta do with all them others in a minute… but I’m gonna kill your ass right now, son.” Bertier said. “Your friends can watch.”

He made Bill kneel down in front of them. The moonlight illuminated their silhouettes through the glass.

Theo didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t sit back and watch Bill die, but he was completely helpless.

“Time to die, loser,” said Bertier. He aimed the gun at Bill’s head.

“Oh crap, Bertier, look! It’s Tiberius!” Bill pointed behind Bertier.

The big teen turned around. Like a giant cat, Bill pounced, catching Bertier around the legs. Bertier fired his gun but the shot went wild, hitting the ceiling. He stumbled back as Bill drove forward in one smooth motion. Bertier’s back smashed through the glass door, and the two of them disappeared, dropping the several feet to the beach.

Theo didn’t waste any time. His weapon was still in front of him. While the guards were distracted, staring at the space where Bertier and Bill had vanished, he fell forward, grabbed his gun in his left hand and rotated onto his back. He shot the guard who had held him captive and shifted to take out the next. He rolled onto his bad shoulder and screamed in pain.

The others had taken his lead in the commotion. Within seconds, the guards were dead. The entire scene beginning with Bill’s move against Bertier had happened in a flash. Theo realized this night had been a succession of incredible good luck followed by horrible misfortune. This nightmare had to end.

His men stripped the Security Force agents of their weapons.

“Would you look at this,” Ryan said, “all of Bertier’s buddies were here. This was his elite squad? Man, did Tiberius botch this one.”

Theo smiled. Ryan sounded much better, at least for the moment.

“What do we do now?” asked Wes. “We should follow after Bill.”

Theo shook his head. “We can’t.”

“Theo!” exclaimed Ryan. “We have to help him!”

“I wish we could. If we drop down to the beach we’d have to come all the way back through the garage. We can’t afford to start over, not after making all this progress. It kills me, Ry, but Bill’s got to handle this himself. We need to get to the executive floor.”

Bill and Bertier fell to the sand, eight feet below the doors to the casino. Shattered glass rained down around them as they plunged into deep dunes. Bill tried to spring to his feet but the slipping sands kept him off balance. He moved laterally instead, trying to fight out of the side of the dunes. He had just made it out when Bertier tackled him sideways. They sprawled onto the beach in the shadow of the massive screens that not much earlier had shown Tiberius’s murder of Michelle.

“I’m gonna make you die slowly,” said Bertier. He punched Bill in the face. Bill grabbed onto him and rolled him over. He went to deliver punches of his own but Bertier grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it at him. Bill covered his eyes with his arm and Bertier pushed him off.

The leader of the Security Force scrambled to a safe distance and back to his feet. Bill got up slowly, rubbing sand off his face. A small cut had opened above his right eyebrow, where Bertier’s wild haymaker had glanced off his face.

Bill cracked his knuckles and rotated his neck, loosening up his muscles. “You sure you want to do this, Bertier?” he asked. “Why not just give up? Admit that you’re an inbred skinhead and you’ve got nothing productive to offer society. I’m sure the new regime will go easy on you after Daddy Tiberius falls.”

“You don’t get it,” said Bertier. His eyes were wide and wild. “The Supreme Leader isn’t going anywhere. He’s our lord and savior!”