“Revenge gets a bad rap. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”
“I’d rather waste my energy on more productive things.”
Mercer spun the lid back into place before returning to the cot, passing the gun hanging off the wall a second time and sitting back down in almost the exact same spot. The springs creaked under him, the only other noise in the room besides the hum of the single light bulb, the generators in the background, and the sounds of their breathing.
“You want to ask me something,” Mercer said. It wasn’t a question.
“What makes you say that?”
“You haven’t shot me yet, so I assumed you have something else on your mind other than just killing me. Please, do go ahead. I’ll answer, if I’m able.”
“Aren’t you the giving kind.”
“I wouldn’t want you to leave this room feeling unfulfilled. After all, we both know you’re not going to get off the island alive.”
“You’ve said that already.”
“Because it’s true.”
“I don’t know, I’m pretty good at this,” he said, gesturing with the Sig again.
“Oh, I don’t have any doubts whatsoever about that, Keo. I know you’re an old hand at this.”
Keo stared at the man. He could see now why people like Erin, Gregson, and even Hart would view Mercer as some kind of potential savior. The man was unsettlingly calm, even with a gun pointed at him. Mercer wasn’t the very least bit scared. He didn’t even seem slightly disturbed by what was happening, as if this was a regular occurrence for him.
So shoot him and get it over with. What the hell are you waiting for?
Because I have to know. I have to know…
“Are you crazy?” Keo asked.
The older man gave Keo a wry (disappointed?) look, as if to say, “That’s it? That’s all you could come up with?”
“No,” Mercer said.
“You must be crazy.”
“Why ‘must’ I be?”
“What you did in Texas, what you’re planning on doing next.”
“Someone has to do something. It might as well be us. I don’t take any of this lightly, but—”
“Someone has to do it,” Keo finished for him.
Mercer nodded. “Yes. Someone had to do it.”
“What happened, did you lose someone? Is that why you’ve gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?”
“Not at all.”
“You didn’t lose anyone?”
“We’ve all lost someone. Even you have, I’m sure. But that’s not anything new. It’s the cycle of life. We’re born and we die, and others are born and take our place. It’s how nature works. But there’s nothing natural about what’s happening in those towns. Man was not born to be enslaved at birth, Keo. We were not created to provide sustenance for monsters that shouldn’t exist. It’s unnatural.”
“Some would say what you’re doing is unnatural.”
“They’d be wrong. I’m trying to bring back the natural order of things. Fate saw fit to appoint that role to me, but I never asked for it.”
“Fate?”
“Fate. Destiny. God. Whatever you want to call what’s behind this.”
“There’s nothing behind this.”
“Of course there is. Just because you can’t grasp it, or see or feel it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
“So God’s telling you to do this?”
“Would it make you feel better to think of me as some Bible-thumping nutcase, Keo?”
“Are you?”
“I believe there’s something out there desperately trying to balance the universe. Maybe I’m a part of it; maybe I’m just playing a very minor role. And maybe it sent you here to kill me, to end my command. If that’s the case, then so be it.”
“So you actually think you can win this war by dropping bombs on towns full of kids, old men, and pregnant women?”
“Is it really that farfetched?”
“Have you been out there? Have you seen how many of them there are? All you’re doing is killing a whole lot of people when there aren’t that many of us still left to begin with. You’ll never be able to do enough with the limited resources you have. All you’re doing is giving the nightcrawlers minor headaches. This crusade of yours will never expand past Texas.”
“Headaches can grow into tumors.”
“Good one, but it’s still bullshit. You don’t even have enough men right now to cover half of Texas, and you expect to take the entire state? What about the other forty-nine? Mexico? Canada? However many you think are in Texas, there are millions—billions—more out there.”
Mercer smiled.
“What’s so funny?” Keo asked.
“You seemed to be under the impression I haven’t considered all the possibilities. I have. Every single one.”
“And yet here you are, fighting an impossible war.”
“This was never going to end overnight. This is the fight of our lifetime, Keo. And when we’re gone, our children and their children’s children will still be fighting it. There isn’t any easy way out. No quick victories. The only other option is surrender. Become slaves. I’d rather die on my feet than on my knees.”
“Nice speech. Is that what you used to convince the others?”
“I didn’t need to convince them. They always understood what was at stake.”
Not all of them, Keo thought, and said, “Your own people are already turning on you.”
“Just because you’ve given up doesn’t mean the rest of us will too, Keo.”
“You’ll never be able to hold everyone together when more of your people start coming back home with stories about dead pregnant women and children. You’re massacring civilians, you crazy bastard.”
Mercer frowned. It was the first real emotion the man had surrendered, and Keo felt a rush of triumph.
“And you’re here to murder me for… What was her name?” Mercer asked.
“Jordan.”
“Jordan,” Mercer repeated.
“I don’t like the way you say her name.”
“No?”
“I don’t want you to say her name again.”
“You’re losing your composure, Keo.”
“Fuck my composure, and fuck you,” Keo said, and lifted the gun and pointed it at Mercer, wishing again that the P250 had a hammer for him to dramatically cock back and hear that clicking! sound, but he had to be satisfied with the resigned look on Mercer’s face.
The man wasn’t afraid — if he was even capable of that particular emotion. No. That wasn’t fear staring back at Keo; it was a man who was at peace with his decisions.
He’s either insane, or he just doesn’t give a fuck.
“Shoot true,” Mercer said. “You don’t have a suppressor on the weapon, so the first shot will alert the base and the guards on duty. You’ll want to be out of this room and running as soon as I drop. Given my lack of resources at the moment, my guess is you’ll make it almost to the front doors, but no farther.”
“There’s a rear exit close by. I plan to take it.”
“Your inside man.”
“Uh huh.”
“He or she would have also told you about the sentries in the fields. Even if you managed to elude them, you’d never access the boat yards alone.”
“What makes you think I’ll be alone?”
“An extra gun or two won’t help you very much.” Mercer shrugged. “But that’s all a moot point, since I’ll be dead anyway.”
“You’re not even going to pretend to beg for mercy?”
“Everyone dies, Keo. If fate dictates that I die here, tonight, then so be it. The war will go on. Better men than I will assume leadership roles.”
“Your true believers.”