The War In His Mind

Chapter 27

Blood stains mixed in the grass matched the smell of rotting flesh and internal organs being harvested by insects across the city. Everywhere Abraham went there were signs of despair and defeat. Mothers clinged to their newborn children and those who lost theirs mourned over fresh graves in front of the houses. A particularly emotional scene was a young mother weeping over the corpse of her baby who laid still on the ground as the men digging the grave worked the hardest to keep their tears down. Abraham could see the pain on their faces. It was the same tearing at the heart he felt. The mother relentlessly begged for her child to come back to her, even if it was only to say goodbye. Abraham placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"He was so full of life...such a happy child...why did this happen?" She asked.

Abraham had no response. There was nothing he could say that would comfort her. He feared that any words would only make it worse.

A loud, angry voice came from a few feet away. "I'll tell you why..." A larger, well built man pointed his finger at Abraham. "This sorry son-of-a-bitch allowed this to happen! You said you'd protect us. You lied."

The weeping mother bowed her head. Abraham stared at his accuser. He couldn't believe such an accusation was levied against him. He had done everything he possibly could to protect Uptown from O'Neil. "Ex...excuse me?" Abraham felt the indignation eat at his soul.

"Can't hear me?" The man said. His body was stiff and his hand was clenched in a firm fist. He punched Abraham in the side of the jaw. "How about now? You get the message?"

Abraham stumbled back and clenched his mouth shut. The blood from a broken vessel in his lip drizzled onto his tongue and left a metallic taste in his mouth. His heart pounded faster than normal and energized his body. He was ready to fight. The adrenaline and anger built up inside of him made him want to annihilate the attacker. It would be so easy, so effortless, to unleash upon him and get retaliation for his harsh behavior. He could feel the heat rising from his face. His chest tingled with anger and his palms hurt from clenching his fist too tightly. It was inevitable. He had to act.

"You must be dense," the man said as he swung a second time at Abraham.

He could see his fist coming for his jaw as if he were moving in slow motion. Everything was so clear, so comprehensive, that he found himself able to move in and out of the attacks with ease. He had never been this aware of his surroundings before. With every swing and jab of the attacker Abraham became even quicker to dodge. Finally, when the time was right and he had an opening, he slammed his own fist into the temple of the attacker, leveling him and sending him to the ground.

He wasn't entirely sure what happened. It was so quick. So sudden. As if the world collapsed around him and trapped him in a time paradox. It wasn't a glitch, that much he knew. But it was a sensation he wasn't familiar with. Citizens nearby rushed to help the man on the ground. Abraham himself stood paralyzed by fear and unsure of what just happened. He had never felt that angry at anyone before, not even Thomas O'Neil.

There was rage inside of him. Fury. Something he had not fully experienced. It terrified him to admit that he didn't know how to control it. What if it was something that could never be tamed much like a cancer that eats away at the body? His flesh was fine but his spirit was ill. He was rotten from the core and there was nothing he could ever do about it. He was a sick puppy waiting to be euthanized.

He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he forgot he was out in the public. The citizens of Uptown who weren't tending to the injured man stared at Abraham in disbelief. Many had expressions of horror, others of anger. This must have been how O'Neil felt when Abraham looked at him. If Abraham was this great leader, why were his followers staring at him as if he was a villain? There was an invisible line in the ground and the men and women he fought for were on the other side.

He wanted to say something-anything-to comfort them and reassure him that everything would be all right. Yet the tension inside of him made him unsure if that was true or not. It would be wrong to lie to them. Yet lies are often inevitable in leadership when two unwavering forces need to merge into one.

"There are some of you..." Abraham felt a swelling inside of his throat and had to swallow to keep it down "...who think I've allowed this attack to happen."

He stared at the blood stained flowers in the field and thought of the lives that were lost in that place. "...I didn't. We live in a world where right is wrong, and wrong is right. Where lies are truth, and evil is disguised as good."

Another man shouted from the crowd towards Abraham. "How do we know what you are? Huh?"

"Know who I am not by what I say...but what I do..."

Natasha's familiar voice was a welcome comfort. "Look! Look at what he's done. He was the one that recoded our world to fend off the attackers." She burst through the wall of people and pointed at Abraham. "He did..." She looked at him with a look of fear and panic, "What none of us could ever do."

Natasha came close to Abraham's side. He was glad she was there. He felt stronger, braver, when she was there with him. It was only when she was next to him did he know that everything would work for the good of the people. He turned to her and spoke in hushed tones to where only she could hear him. "Where is Israel?"

She lowered her head and shook it from side to side. "I can't say for certain..."

***

From the command tower Uptown looked as if had been attacked by a force greater than just an army. He wondered if the destruction and damaged buildings would resemble the effects of a hurricane. It was fitting, he thought, if the hurricane was born of blood and death instead of water and wind. He knew how it would end. The city would demonize Abraham. It was the only way Israel could imagine the future events unfolding. It was Abraham who lost them, and it was Abraham who welcomed them back with open arms. Israel wasn't angry,no, far from it. He was concerned that the emotional state of the people would override their judgment. They would condemn what could be a great leader based on the mistakes of his inexperience. It was a cruel game. Yet there was little that could be done.

It was human nature to demand justice, but these people wanted more than legislative action. They wanted vengeance. All of the lost life and spilt blood would amount to more than a trial- it would become a witch hunt.

What would the world do without Abraham? It was him who fought in the trenches. He dodged death several times in the same battle to overcome O'Neil's forces. He was willing to go far enough to kill whoever stood in his way.

Israel knew he could never become that. He could never have that valor. That courage. That driving force that demanded greatness in the heat of the battle. Even though he too was a clone of Thomas O'Neil he knew that those personality traits were stronger in Abraham. He could sense it. Abraham's very presence demands the best of everybody nearby. There was hardly a time when Israel felt incapable around Abraham. He that special spirit about him. He was a rising tide, an empire builder, a visionary with greatness compelling him forward. What would happen if the city were to put out the strongest light they had?