“Please tell me what you are thinking.”

“I’m thinking that maybe you’re looking at this wrong. Maybe instead of me trying to be like you, you should all try being like me.”

“What would that accomplish?”

“It would put an end to the lies you tell yourselves.”

–Subject: ‘The Father’. Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. 5 Months After.

----------------------------------------

It was over. Liam had failed.

After all this time, after all this fighting, it had been for nothing in the end. He had made his harrowing escape from Purgatory, braved the Atlantic on his dinky little raft, explored the shores of this post-apocalyptic land, and fought countless of its inhabitants. He had followed his wife’s footsteps, met brave souls and watched them fall, all while clinging to this dream that it might one day be restored. Not just for himself, but for everything that had come before.

And yet, he had failed.

Hades had brought them to a place that had once been some poor soul’s stronghold. The brick walls were less aged than the world outside, and the windows were reinforced with rebar. Whole walls had been gutted to make extra space, no doubt for the countless refugees this sanctuary had once held.

Now it was just another place for Hades to set up shop. There were no survivors left, nor would anyone come to save them. Humanity had been exterminated by his captor, and no one could stand against his insurmountable might.

Not even Leah.

That was what gave Liam the greatest pause. The two had spent well over a month together, and though there had been no shortage of friction, she had revealed her true nature before the end. Leah had been cast in the same mold as Liam. Sure, she did not have a family, nor a television series, nor even a heartbeat, but they shared their proclivities regardless. Where Liam had wasted his life shunning that which he loved in pursuit of surpassing any challenge the natural world could throw his way, she had done the same. Leah had formed her Hunters, created wealth and fame beyond her imagination, and become the dominant authority of post-Hollowing survivalism. But by aiming to persist without end, she had sacrificed the very reason for doing it. Survival had been as much her prison as his, and it was within those narrow, lonely walls where she had driven all that she’d loved away, until there was nobody left to make the struggle worth it.

Except, perhaps, in her final moment. When the bullets were flying and death was inescapable, Leah did not prioritize her own safety above all else. She had cared only for saving Liam, even with the odds so far against them. It was her defining moment of martyrdom. Her exercise in self-sacrifice. So long as Liam escaped and a cure became manufactured, it no longer mattered what happened to her.

Leah had escaped the prison, and the world had killed her for it.

The door to his cell opened. Xander marched in. His crimson eyes were barren beneath the black wall of a raised neckwarmer, and his feet hardly made a sound at all. Only the eagle’s feather in his cap showed any degree of life. It shivered with each step.

Liam was dragged into the hall, with Xander pushing him along. Was this how humanity ended? Not with some grandiose display, but with one lonely man being walked to his death?

“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” Liam said when the silence became too much.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Xander asked, his tone even.

“You know what Hades is going to do. Doesn’t it bother you to know that any chance for a cure dies with me?”

“Nope. A contract’s a contract. Doesn’t matter what the job is, so long as it pays.”

“So you’re just a mercenary who goes for the highest bidder. That about right?”

“You could say that.”

Liam scoffed. “Do you even care about how many of your own have been sacrificed to get to me? How many that you’ve gotten killed?”

“You think you know shit about us, but you don’t. There’s no right or wrong out here. No good or evil. There’s only the Hunt, and how much Rez you spend and how much Rez you gain.”

“Well, I reckon that we’ve taken a lot more from you than you’ll ever get from me. Seems that you’re worse off for the effort, mate.”

His grunt turned more bitter. “Yeah, you got me. The books will be nice, but I was only in this to bring Leah down.” Liam froze with her name evoked, but another hard shove forced him back into the march. Xander chuckled. “Liked her, huh?”

Liam grit his teeth. “She saved my life.”

“And killed my friend in the process.”

“Your friend would’ve killed me.”

“That sounds like a problem that should’ve been settled between you and Spike. Outside the Styx, Hunters have their own autonomy. Our own honor to defend. We trust each other to handle a contract once it’s been taken, and no one has the right to interfere. But Leah didn’t believe that. Not really. Too much time feeling mighty made her arrogant, and she valued her reputation as the best above all else.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“No, she wanted to strive for something other than picking at the carcass of the civilization that humanity left behind.”

Xander yawned. “Only proves my point. No right and wrong involved. Just a Hunter deluding themselves. Me though? I’m sick of your whiny voice and couldn’t give a shit about what happens next.” He shoved him through the next door.

Mastermind squirmed at the sight, but he was powerless against the ropes he’d been tied in. Mother sat besides, body still and head down as she dared not catch either in the eye. Both had been secured to an exposed pipe in the wall, with just enough room to Mother’s side for Liam. His arms ached as they were twisted once again behind his head and locked in place. There was only a single other chair in sight, and the light of a nearby lantern danced on its surface.

Xander marched away, leaving them alone.

Liam turned to Mother. “You led us into a trap.”

“No,” she said. “I led you to the one place where I thought you’d be safe.”

“Then how did he find us?”

Mother stared downcast. “I don’t know. We were waiting at my outpost outside Cheyenne until a few days back, trying to keep hidden until you showed yourself. But you took longer than I expected, and Hades found us first. My people were better equipped for dealing with hollows, not Hunters, and he had plenty at his disposal.” She frowned. “I’m the only one left now. Hades had the rest consumed for sustenance.”

Liam shook his head. So many lives had been so pitifully wasted to reach this point, and there seemed to have been no reason at all. What had it been for?

The door opened with a moan, and Hades marched through. The wrinkles in his face were alive in the light of the lantern, and his red eyes seemed to glow. An earsplitting creak erupted as he dragged the chair across the room, letting it sit across from Mother.

Hades gleamed. “Gotta say, this has been one hell of a time. I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve been having a fucking blast this past month. I got myself back in the field, I saw the country, I cleared out a few Enclaves…”

He stroked his chin. “Oh, you guys totally missed it. This one Enclave we found thought the secret to immortality was wearing the skin of the dregs they Hunted. Can you imagine that? Their skin!? Crazy, right? Well, I got to talking to their leader, and he made a pretty strong case. Almost had me convinced. So I busted out this awesome line about how I’d always wanted to be immortal, I just needed more skin. Next thing you know, I’m wearing a half-dozen skins for the next week like they were an overcoat. I even got to have a sweet-ass nose from their leader, but the damned thing kept falling off, so I tossed it along with the rest.”

He looked to each of his captives as they sat in tense silence, then waved a dismissive hand. “Ah, you had to be there.” With a flick of his wrist, he drew his revolver and started unloading it. He went slowly, removing each round. Metal bullet, then the paper that held them in place, and finally the black powder beneath. “Guess it’s about time we get this whole shindig over with, huh?” He turned to Liam. “Let’s start with you. What the hell’s your deal, anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why do you suck at this so badly? It’s been twelve years since the Hollowing began. Twelve fucking years. What were you, stuck in a coma that whole time? You should be the kind of hard motherfucker who’d kill a dozen of my guys, and then turn their dead bodies into a tank, and then drive that tank straight through the heart of Elysium, and sword-fight me on the roof, butchering everyone along the way. But instead, you’re so shitty at this thing that you didn’t even try to take me out when your big friend had me distracted. Perfect chance too. Then my guys would’ve gone all ‘Ah, oh no, not Lord Hades! What do we do now!?’ and you could’ve turned the tables on those pussies too.” He reached the final round, but left it in the cylinder. “This all begs the question… How the hell did you make it this far?”

“I was trapped on an island.” Liam said, meeting him head-on. “If you’re going to make a crack about Cast Away, don’t bother. I’ve heard it all before.”

Hades stared at him sideways. “What the fuck is Cast Away?” He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. My point is that as fun of a time as this has been, you’re definitely the biggest disappointment. To think that I was getting excited for some final showdown, yet here we are, and it’s just a boring execution.”

“You don’t have to do this, Hades,” Mother said. “You can let us go.”

For a moment, he seemed to almost consider the prospect, but then he shook his head. “Nah, I can’t do that. It’d just piss everyone off, myself included.”

“This power play has gone too far. You won’t be able to keep what’s happened here under wraps.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that what you think I’m doing? That this is some chess game to keep myself in power?”

“We both know why you’re doing this.”

Hades chuckled. “I don’t think you do. I don’t think any of you truly get it.” The revolver clattered as he gave the cylinder a spin. “I couldn’t care less about leading our kind. I never did. It only fell to me because I happen to be the motherfucking best at this shit. But when push comes to shove, I’m just an asshole with a gun. Want proof?” He pressed his revolver against his head and pulled the trigger. The click was met with silence.

Hades gave the cylinder another spin and cocked the hammer, this time pointing at Mother. The two focused only on each other, as if no one else was in the room.

“You helped usher in this world,” Mother said, her tone even and unafraid. “If not for power, then why do you play the short-sighted despot? Does your hatred really run so deep that you’d burn the whole world down just to be the one to piss on the ashes?” When the revolver clicked, she didn’t even blink.

Hades put the gun back on himself. “Sometimes I think you weren’t paying attention, Mother. Have you seen the world that humanity created? Torture. Greed. Murder. Rape. Hell, some of them make me look like a fucking girl scout, and I flayed a bunch of dudes and wore their skin the other week. You want to bring that back?” Click. Silence. He grinned. “Maybe you’re so blind with self-loathing that you don’t see that you’re the only one repeating history.”

Mother held firm. “I might have lit the fuse that burned their civilization down, but everything I’ve done since then has been to correct that error.” Click. Silence.

“What are you talking about?” Liam asked.

Hades paused, the revolver against his skull. “Shit... No one’s told you, huh?”

“Told me what?”

His gun fell limp in hand. The wrinkles in his cheeks stretched wide as Hades frowned, as if he was about to tell Liam that they were getting divorced.

“It’s occurred to me that we’ve never been properly introduced,” he said before pointing the gun. “What’s your name?”

“Stop!” Mother shouted, but Liam shooed her off.

“Liam Fenix,” he said.

The revolver clicked, and Liam lurched in spite of himself. Having a gun waved in his face turned out to be more than he’d been ready for.

“Hello, Liam,” Hades said, the revolver back on himself. “My name is Elijah Campbell.” Click. Silence. “Or was, back before I went hollow.”

“That name supposed to mean something to me?”

“Probably not, unless you’ve ever gone to church in some shithole north of here called Larkspur.” He dangled the revolver back at Mother. “But it’s her you’d be interested in meeting. For real.” He cocked the hammer.

Only now was Mother addled. Her magenta eyes were blinking through the growing moisture, and her body slunk an inch.

“Go on!” Hades ordered with more force.

Mother stared at Liam, and a tear ran free. “I am Dr Ava Sherman, and I was the architect behind HBRS-15.21.”