Finale

“Start the procedure,” Grandmother states.

It takes them 30 minutes to start the operation. It's on another side of the room closed off. I can barely see what is going on but I see certain things through the screen that is set up. Near me I hear the president of the District squirm. He's distracting me as I'm trying to find out what they are doing to Amethyst. I want to know what this operation is. I see them stick a tube into her. Then they stick another one. The majority of the terrorists have gone into that area. They seem to be protecting Amethyst. That seems to be their big hope right now. As they go through I see more of what's going on to Amethyst. The tube begins to secrete something. Right next to that is a machine. The machine is huge.

“What are you doing to my baby?” Rahmell asks.

Rahmell runs forward but he's stopped. The terrorists point guns at him and I run over to get him. I swear they are going to shoot me at that moment. The Stingers have guns as well but at this point they are just standing there thinking. They don't interrupt even when one of the terrorists points a gun directly at Rahmell's forehead.

I get this fear he'll be hurt and pull him away as hard as I can. My heart is racing. I grab Rahmell and pull him into a corner. He can't just be so stupid. He can't be so ridiculous.

“They are killing the baby. They are killing it,” he says.

I don't know what this procedure is. It doesn't seem to be making sense but it seems like these people have been preparing for this for quite a long time. Genocide. That's what they said it was. Right now Amethyst was in an operation chair. A tube was sticking out from her stomach and another one from her vagina under her dress. Red liquid comes out of the tubes. I assume it's some sort of blood but it's thicker more gooey. It's clear this can't be good for the baby. I may not know what they are doing specifically but Amethyst is screaming from pain so this can't be good.

“Those people have guns, running up is not going to help you. It's going to get you hurt,” I tell Rahmell.

“I don't care. If they kill that baby. I don't have a reason to live.”

The words are clear. Rahmell wanted a baby and right now his concern is just an example of what was wrong with this world. Children meant everything in this world. If you couldn't have a child you were useless...like me. People like Rahmell all they were useful for was their ability to have children. Right now I'm sitting here and I'm just thinking.

“So a child is the only thing worth living for?” I ask him.

I knew I couldn't give him a child. I knew that was an impossibility but for some reason I just hoped Rahmell would be happy without one. I just hoped that I would somehow be able to make him happy.

“Not now Gemmy,” Rahmell states.

He's in tears. They are silent tears that stream down his face as he realizes that his baby probably won't survive this operation. The baby was never meant to be born. His DNA was used to build up a virus. While Rahmell wanted a child...Amethyst wanted a weapon. I guess it's kind of funny how that works. She would use something that is meant for so much love to deliver so much hate.

Rahmell is shaking. He looks like he is about to do something stupid again. I would never forgive him if he did. I would never forgive him if he just did this.

Rahmell's eyes are on the terrorists who are now paying more attention to what's going on with Amethyst then me. My other sisters are all standing there watching as well. They aren't coming to my defense. All of them seem a little distracted at the moment.

This machine is strange.

“What is that?” I ask Rahmell, “The machine.”

He whispers towards me making sure the terrorists don't hear us discussing, “It is a device that that duplicate's sperm samples. They must be using to duplicate the virus. See that area right there. That is the place that they put the semen. They use the potent semen as the catalyst. The more potent the semen is the more likely a woman will be impregnated.

“There is no semen in there.”

“No. They are using something else as the catalyst. The Exo-stones. They are going to use my child's DNA with the catalyst from the Exo stones. My child has more resistance to the virus but that machine will be able to measure how much secretion from the Exo stones are needed. They'll be able to make a more potent virus. The more potent the virus is the more likely men will be infected.”

“Fuck. We have to stop this.”

“Gemmy...what did you think I was trying to do?” Rahmell asks.

Rahmell is annoyed. I can tell he is. He looks a little upset. The fact that Amethyst is sacrificing the one thing he wanted most in this world seems to be more than he can handle. They are killing the baby and extracting it's DNA at the same time to duplicate a virus.

Science can be very bad in the wrong hands and now it makes perfect sense why my mother chose this convention that was in the middle of the District. She knew this machine here. She knew this was where she had to be to get her sick maniacal plan done.

There comes a time in every man's life that he has to break up with his family. I am here with a face off against my own family and I'm not sure what to do.

“Beryl, Ruby, Pearl, Opal, Diamond...these people have already killed so many men. They'll kill more. You can't be OK with this,” I state.

The majority of my sisters don't know how to respond. They all seem to be looking at Beryl for some sort of understanding of how they should be taking this whole situation.

The Stingers are aimed at the terrorists who are under my mother. These women mean business. Whatever man-hating motive they have is clear now and I think I'm losing the Stingers.

“Beryl put down your weapon,” my grandmother asks her, “I'm not the enemy and you know that.”

Beryl doesn't have the chance to answer.

Beryl look sat me. She looks at grandmother.

She is hesitating.

However she isn't putting down her gun.

“Beryl I promise you that you need to do this,” I explain, “Men aren't the enemy.”

“Men are the enemy,” Beryl says, “My problem is that this will effect you...”

This wasn't a lack of trying. Just at that moment it's clear that Beryl and the Stingers weren't too separate from what my Grandmother wanted. The hate for men was real. It was real and it was here. Right now the only reason my sister hadn't dropped the gun was because I was here

My grandmother nods, “Your father used to watch this man right here rape me. This man used to rape me every day. Look at this man Beryl. He is the most powerful man in the world and look at what I've reduced him to.”

Beryl isn't the only one who looks at the President. He's on his knees. He's been gagged. Beads of sweat are rolling down his face and forehead. He is crying. His tears are red. The other women are smiling when they see this. To them this is the ultimate show of power. This wasn't only a man crying. It was the president of the District on his knees.

“You can't think you'll get away with this,” I state, “Even if you did kill off men, there will be others who will survive. Even women will look at you as some sort of terrorist. Your hatred for men is out of control. You've gone too far.”

“Not far enough!” Ma Zoe explains, “You can't understand the feeling of seeing your weak husband not even defend you. You can't even understand what that feels like. You're a man. Just like the rest of them. This strain won't just take out what used to be the United States. We are targeting the rest of the world as well. The ones who are immune will be jailed and used for sperm and sperm alone.You'll die. Just like the rest of them.”

She looks at me. The other terrorists are looking at my grandmother as well. The first lady Anatasia is looking at my grandmother. This woman was threatening her own grandson because of her hate for men. My sisters are exchanging looks. They look angry. They look scared. They look...confused.

Beryl walks forward, “That's your grandson.”

Slap.

The slap is something that I don't expect. She smacks the shit out of Beryl. Of course Beryl is used ot being hit. That isn't the fact. The fact is the disrespect that comes with the smack. Beryl is the oldest sister being smacked in front of all the others.

Opal shakes her head, “We can't fight amongst ourselves.”


Ma Zoe looks at Beryl and then Opal, “You're right. But here is my line. Either you are with me or you're not. Either you're a strong woman or you're one of the weak ones. In this world weak women won't survive. Not for long. So make your decision now.”

Ma Zoe is talking to Beryl and dismissing me. I am not a part of their world. Rahmell is not a part of their world. The president of the District is not a part of their world.

We all look at Ma Zoe. For one minute I am pretty sure that Ma Zoe is being crazy. I mean after finding out she's planned a terrorist attack and she was actually the leader of a radical movement I assumed she was a little off her rocker. This is different though. It seems like the others, including all my sisters seem to not be realizing what she is talking about right now.

“Fine,” Beryl states.

Beryl drops the gun. My heart races. FUCK.

“Beryl please,” I plead.

Beryl doesn't respond. My other sisters all look away. They all stand there at that moment. Beryl has just fucking showed me death. That's what she's done.

Ma Zoe smiles, “Good. Beryl. You've made a good choice.”

“What are we doing with Rahmell and Gem.”

“Rahmell will survive the new strain. Gem won't.”

“Kill him now. Put him out of his misery,” Ma Zoe says.

My own grandmother says to kill me.

“Is that how you killed Grandfather?” I ask Ma Zoe, “Did you just poison him enough so that youc an take over his government and then you decided that you didn't need him anymore so you put him out of his misery.”

“Your grandfather was weak. He watched me get taken advantage of.

“And what did I do to you? Why would you kill me?” I ask my grandmother.

I'd never forget her response.

She looks me in my eyes and with the coldest stare possible she says, “You were born a man. You were born with the XX gene. That's what you did wrong.”

And that was the reason that my grandmother hated me. She used me when she needed to but I was never someone that she could truly love. I was never something that she could truly love. I look at my grandmother and I don't hate her for how she's acting to me. I just feel bad. I feel bad for Amethyst now as well. All of these women have been so burnt by men that they figure that the world would literally be better without them. They were literally taking steps to remove men and I just so happen to be some collateral damage to the men that have hurt them.

My own family.

“We should let him go,” Beryl responds.

“What?”

“He's going to die anyway,” Beryl explains, “We should let him go.”

“Fine,” Grandmother states, “Let him go. He's free to leave. Rahmell stays though. We need to keep the sources of sperm close. We'll gather them up and imprison them.”

“I told you people I wasn't leaving without him.”

Rahmell grabs onto my hand, “Yes you are.”

“Suit yourself...Beryl kill him. And kill the president. I have to see if the machine is working to replicate the virus,” my grandmother states.

The screams from Amethyst are getting louder and louder. My grandmother has no concern about Amethyst's well being. She is worried about the virus that is being produced from her machine and the unborn child in Amethyst. My grandmother would probably be willing to sacrifice her as well.

Beryl doesn't hesitate. She shoots the president right in the forehead.

I scream.

My heart races when Beryl turns it to me. Rahmell struggles to get up and block me but I push him hard out of the way. There was no way I was going to let him take a bullet for me.

“You'll do this to me?” I ask her.

“This has gone too far,” Diamond states.

It's Opal that comes forward and puts a hand on my grandmother's shoulder, “Ma Zoe...they're right. We should just stop this. It's gone far enough.”

That's when my grandmother hauls off and smacks the dog shit out of Opal!

Ma Zoe growls, “If you don't want to join your brother you'll do what I say. Any female who protects a man is just as despicable. Men are dogs. They are weeds. They are things to be killed off so that they cannot keep growing.”

Her voice is grunting and intrusive. My grandmother has smacked two of my sisters. The rest of them are fearful of her. The other terrorists are more than willing to kill my sisters if they don't comply.

I look at Beryl. She has her gun pointed at me. For the first time ever I don't think the Stingers are supporting her decision. Ruby and Pearl have looked away. My other sisters are all in a state. I've never had perfect relationships with them but there was love there. We were family after all.

Ma Zoe stands there and looks on with a few of my sisters...the one's strong enough to watch this. I never in a million years thought this would happen. I knew people around my area hated men but I always thought I was an exception as though my dick didn't matter. It was clear now that it did. They were going to put me out of my misery.

“It's OK,” Ma Zoe tells me, “This is the most human way to go. Beryl kill Gem.”

Beryl hesitates.

“But---”

“Are you saying No?” Ma Zoe asks.

“No. I was just thinking. Do you want to see this?” she asks Ma Zoe, “You want to see me shoot Gem?”

Ma Zoe stands there for a minute and seems to think about it. She seems to come to this conclusion relatively quick though especially with how the other sisters are reacting. Opal's mouth is wide open. Diamond is crying. Ruby and Pearl have decided to looks away and almost start moving towards the other side of the room.

No one is helping me though. They are under fear of dying and I know it. They are afraid of my grandmother or they agree with her. They also want men to die or at least they seem somewhat convinced of it. Diamond was in jail before but now she was out helping them. Opal was scared before but not she seemed to be a silent cheerleader of what my grandmother was doing. Except when it came to me. When it came to me they are resistant.

“No you're right. I'll go check up on the machine.”

The machine is on the other side of the room. The president's wife had gone to check on Amethyst. It's just family here now with Rahmell. All I could think of was that Ma Zoe was a coward. She really couldn't stand to see the fruit of her work. She wanted me dead but she couldn't stand around and watch someone actually kill me. She seems more than relieved when Beryl tells her to leave. She walks away without a second question or suspicion.

My sisters all stand there remaining...forced to see what Beryl is about to do to me.

“You can't do this...” Opal states.

I look down at the dead president. Beryl had just killed the president of a country. This was crazy. This was absolute CRAZINESS! The thing about terrorists is that they just want to terrorize. They don't think about what happens afterward. They don't think about the consequences of killing the most important man to the country. They don't care about tomorrow or the next day. They kill for NOW. That's exactly what Beryl had done. I didn't think she would ever do something so crazy. So now that she was ready to kill me I didn't put it past her.

Opal is talking to Beryl. Opal is still rubbing her cheek. They are all thinking the same thing. They are all thinking that this is dangerous.

That is when I see Pearl and Ruby. They nod and Ruby stands up to Beryl, “We always stand with you Beryl but shooting Gem is something that we won't stand with.

It's nice to hear them fight it now. I just wondered where was all that fight when my grandmother was here a few seconds ago.

“I won't let you do this,” Rahmell threatens her.

“Relax. My brother doesn't need you to save him,” Beryl tells Rahmell, “I'm not going to shoot him. Run Gem. Get out of here while you can.”

“I'm not leaving Rah---”

“Yes you are,” Rahmell responds.

“Go with him. Both of you get out,” Beryl replies.

“What about the virus?: It's going to kill me anyway. I am not fertile. I'm not immune to it. Maybe Ma Zoe was right. Maybe a quick bullet would be a better way,” I state out of no where.

Beryl sighs a little bit.

“I'll stop her,” Beryl explains.

“How?” I ask.

“I haven't figured that out yet.”

It's Diamond who crosses her arms, “There's a way. We can disable the machine and destroy the stones.”

“That's not a good idea,” Rahmell tells Diamond, “The interruption of the stones may cause an explosion that could bury all of us alive.”

“It'll take time. I need a distraction,” Diamond states, “At least for five minutes to safely remove the catalyst stones and stop this process.”

The Stingers smile and Ruby gives a representation, “That is our specialty.”

“I can stay. I can help,” I tell my sisters.

“You can't. You should be dead. If you're here she'll get suspicious,” Opal explains, “I'll grab one of the dead guys from outside and lay him face down. She won't even notice it's not you.”

“One for Rahmell too,” I add in.

“I'm not going,” Rahmell states.

Silence.

“Excuse me?” I ask.

“I have to get Amethyst. There's a chance the baby might still be OK.”

“You guys have to leave now!” Beryl responds, “This isn't a game. The terrorists will kill you. Do you understand?”

The terrorists are all too far and too distracted by Amethyst and her screaming to notice us. My head is shaking and inside I want to scream louder than Amethyst. I'm looking at Rahmell. I'm screaming inside of me. I'm seriously screaming.

“I have to try to get Amethyst,” Rahmell states.

He told me not to ask him to choose between his unborn child and himself. Rahmell would choose the unborn child. Every single time. Every...single...time...

He told me.

It was my grandmother who once told me that when someone told you who they were and what they were about...you'd better believe it.

So I wonder why it still hurts though.

“Can't you live for me?” I ask him.

Rahmell doesn't answer. He's just quiet. He's just looking dumb. This was our chance to get away from this thing and my fucking best friend was telling me that he wanted to go try to save his unborn child that was probably already dead due to the operation.

“Don't say it like that,” Rahmell states.

“How the fuck am I supposed to say it?” I ask Rahmell, “I love you and you're telling me you're about to stay here for someone else.”

“It's my baby.”

“No it's not. It's FUCKING dead or dying. It's still in the second trimester. It's still just an embryo. It's not your child yet and somehow you're still willing to give up everything for that. I don't get you Rahmell.”

“Maybe you don't get it because you can't have your own children even if you wanted to...” Rahmell tells me.

“Wow.”

I'm speechless. Rahmell snapping on me is tough. I know that my own words were a little sharp but that's how I felt so I guess it was justified. Rahmell is telling me how he feels now so I guess he thinks he is justified. He has this anger on his face. Does he think I'm jealous of the fact that he can have a kid and that I can't? Is he deliberately coming at me like that?

“You need to go,” Pearl states opening the door for me, “All the terrorists are in here. No one should be out there to stop you.”

“Wait,” Rahmell attempts to stop me.

“Get off of me,” I rip his arm away.

Rahmell grabs onto me, “You do mean anything to me...you have to know that after all these years.”

“If that was the truth I wouldn't be walking out of here alone.”

Rahmell stands there. He keeps holding onto me. He is hesitating thinking about what he should do. My sisters are getting antsy and for good reason. The terrorists or even my grandmother could come back any moment.

And I shake away. I find myself walking away.

The entire time I'm in the hallway I'm just thinking about him. I don't get it. I just remember seeing his face and just hoping that he would be the one following up behind me. I just keep looking back hoping that he somehow changed his mind and he somehow left.

I'm towards the exit. I move slowly and I hear movement all around me.

That's when I hear it.

There are men entering the building. Swat teams. No.

No.

No!

“Stop go back. They're fine. They need time!”

“We have another surviving hostage!” the team tells us.

All of a sudden it's clear what's happening. Since the other hostages were released by us the governments felt it was OK to send in a swat team. I'm screaming at the top of my lungs at that moment. I'm struggling against the team that is entering the building.

There has to be a team of over 50 men storming the building at that moment. 5 minutes. That's all they need 5 minutes.

“STOP PLEASE!”

“He seems to be in some sort of panic. Get him out of here.”

I'm lifted at that moment. I'm struggling and screaming to get my voice heard against the swat team but then I feel myself injected with something.

And then there's darkness.

I wake up screaming.

I know something's wrong even before it happens. I wake up and there's nothing but two women standing in the room. The are nurses. When they realize I am awake they check my vitals silently and don't answer my questions.

“What's happened?”

I ask several other times. There is no answer. They act like they can't hear me. I don't know where I am. I am in a white room. My heart is rising because there is at television propped up. It's an old television from a different era but I get the picture.

Something has happened at the convention. Something bad. Something...horrible. I try to peer at the television and see what's gone wrong but all I see are videos of black smoke as the cameras spin around the place.

“What's happened?”

No answer.

The doctors disappear in the next few minutes and when they return there is a woman behind them. This woman has to be important because she has bodyguards with her. More women. A part of me is scared that maybe there are no men in the world left.

“Am I the last one?” I ask the woman.

She seems confused at first and raises an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

It must not be true. If I was the last man on Earth she would know. She would have told me. She would have been expecting me to ask that question. A sigh a little bit of relief.

I change the subject struggling to lean up a little bit, “Who are you?”

“I am vice...I mean, President Dresden,” the woman says, “The new president of the District after the last president died at the Convention.”

“What happened?”

“To the president?”

“No. I know what happened to him. What happened to the convention?” I ask.

She sighs a little bit. I can tell it's bad news. I find myself sweating and not wanting to hear it before she even speaks. I'm sitting up on the bed. The nurses are making a fuss at me but I push them away several times until they get the idea and leave me the fuck alone. President Dresden is standing there and smiling down.

“I wanted to let you know that you were a hero. The hostages who escaped explained that you and your friends aided them in escaping,” President Dresden tells me.

“What happened after I left,” I explain.

“The building went down. I'm thinking maybe the terrorists knew the swat team was coming in. They blew up the building...”

“That's not what happened. My sister was going to disarm the machine. The explosion was caused by a reaction. If your FUCKING people didn't rush the building she would have had time to do it safely.”

“We had no idea of that.”

“I WAS FUCKING TELL YOU!”

I'm so angry. Tears burn my face. I'm so angry and the woman's security guards are getting up to escort her out. The president stops them surprisingly though. It's clear that she understands my pain. I watch as she walks over and puts her hand on my arm.

It's the first time that a woman has truly been soft and gentle with me in such a long time. Women had become so tough. They'd become so strong latley. They said that something was wrong with our men. I didn't think so. I thought something was seriously wrong with our women.

“I lost men as well. I'm sorry this happened. I'm sorry the building went down. I'm sorry that your family was involved in the terrorist threat to begin with.”

I think about it. I miss my sisters but truth be told they all knew the risks of this. Rahmell was the innocent one. He was the one who wasn't involved in this feminist movement they had going on. He was a victim who was just dumb enough to want a family a little too badly.

And I loved him. I loved him with all my heart. Maybe that's why this is so hard. I've known this ball all my life but I never let him know how I feel and when we finally get to that point it is snatched away from us. I needed to see him. I needed to make sure Rahmell was ok.

I swallow my spit.

“Did anyone survive...”

The President shakes her head, “No. No one survived.”

5 minutes.

My talk with the president was two days ago. They call the site “Ground Below Zero” because the explosion left a huge crater in the building. Hundreds of people have gathered around the safe areas to see the disaster. Supposedly it was the worst terror attack since 9/11. I stare at the area. There is nothing but rubbish. The rescue groups found not one single person alive in all of that.

“Sir...if you'd like to tell your story, we're always open to listening,” I hear a man say behind me.

He's from the news channels.

“No story to tell,” I reply to him.

He smiles weakly. They are trying to make into the hero. I know they are but I don't feel like a hero. This wasn't my story to tell. This was about my family. This was about Rahmell. I just witnessed it and in the end I was the only one who survived it.

All my sisters were gone. My grandmother was gone.

Everything gone.

And sometimes when you lose something you just don't get it back. Sometimes when you lose something you just lose it.

If only the swat team had stormed that building 5 minutes later maybe Rahmell could have had the opportunity to get Amethyst and escape. Maybe my other sisters would have had time to disarm the machine instead of having to blow it up.

5 minutes.

That's all they needed. Diamond would have disarmed the machine. Everyone would have survived and then the swat teams could have arrested my grandmother. That was what would have happened but things didn't work out like that.

I lay down on the rubble and look out. I missed Rahmell.

I could hear him now. His tender voice. I can feel his arms wrapping up around me like they would do a million times. He'd always pretend like it was just because we were friends. I used to pretend the same thing but this was more than friends. We both knew sometimes that there was more to it then just that.

“I'll never leave you,” I hear the voice say.

I turn at that moment. I can feel Rahmell behind me. I turn and at that moment I see him. He's not the one holding me. No I was imagining that but I see him. I see him on a stretcher. He's covered in debree and the rescue team has him. They've dragged him out.

“Rahmell!”

I'm screaming as I run over to him. He seems a little out of it. He's bruised up pretty badly. He looks horrible.

“Gemmy?” he says.

His voice is weak.

“You know this man?” the rescue person says.

“Yes...yes...he's my friend,” I respond, “My best friend.”

“He's a lucky guy. He was running out of the building when it collapsed. Luckily the threshold stopped him from collapsing and he didn't die like everyone else. If he wasn't already leaving the convention when it came down he'd be dead by now,” one of the paramedics is saying.

I look down at Rahmell. I want to cry. If he was leaving the building then that meant he was leaving Amethyst. He was leaving Amethyst once and for all. He was chasing behind me when the building came down. I can barely get Rahmell to look at me. He seems completely out of it.

“Can I ride with him to the ambulance?” I ask.

“If it's OK with him,” the paramedic says, “Sir...sir we have someone here claiming to be your friend. Sir...can you confirm that this is really your friend.”

“He's out of it!” I respond, “I'm TELLING you I'm his friend.”

“Sir. We can't be too safe,” the man tells me, “I'm sure you understand. We just have to confirm he'd like you there. Otherwise you'd have to meet him at the hospital.”


“I'm not leaving him.”

“He's not my friend,” Rahmell states.

I'm scared at that moment. What if he got a concussion and he lost a bit of his memory. I look at Rahmell and see that his eyes have connected onto me. He's looking dead at me and TELLING these people that I'm not his friend.

“He's suffering a concussion. That's clear as hell,” I argue.

“Sorry sir, you can't come,” the paramedic says, “He says you aren't his friend. We can't be safe. Not with what happened. We can't be too safe.”

Was it because I was associated with the Amazons at some point? Was he trying to say something strange. I look down at Rahmell. I'm just so happy he is alive but the thought of leaving him alone even for a second with him in this condition scares the fuck out of me.

I want to be there for him.

“He's not my friend,” Rahmell tells the paramedic, “He's the love of my life and he goes where I go...”

Rahmell smiles. It's a weak smile but it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life. He stretches his arms out and his fingers curl around me.

As I join him in the ambulance I realize that I don't have anyone else in my life at that moment. Rahmell wasn't just my friend. He wasn't just my lover. From this moment on Rahmell was my everything.

And I'd never let him go.

Please make sure to donate to nifty and read the next book by this author on crushedcrown.com entitled Mafia.