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The details “grisly”, the people “lunatic”, the results, “magnetic”. |
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Dread of Night © 2009 Russell H. Greenan © 2009 cover art Zoe A.G. Lee © 2009 Daemonax Books London ISBN 978-0-9563860-0-7 |
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From Dread of Night
“What are you doing? This is insane.” No one listened to him, however. Wriggling free the angry cameraman lunged again at Ingersoll, who calmly raised the gun and shot him in the chest. The man dropped his camera, retreated a single step and toppled to the ground. Because it occurred so swiftly, and in so dark and disordered a setting, only a few people noticed the ruthless execution. The other cameraman and the sound-boom youth protested excitedly, but the rest of the bystanders - police and military personnel, for the most part - remained aloof and silent. Cora couldn’t believe her eyes. “He murdered the poor guy,” she said. “Killed him in cold blood.” “Coulda happened to you,” the Pawtucket cop said. “Martial Law. Beat it. Get the fuck outta here - will you, lady?” A pair of MPs swiftly hauled the lifeless man into a tent, as Tanzy made an effort to mollify the hysterical talk-show host. More MPs appeared, confiscated the second photo-journalist’s camera and hustled him and the TV crew towards their truck. At that point strong wind gusts arose. The black nebula hovering south of the roadblock suddenly divided like a theater curtain. Providence’s fiery outline appeared, and everyone at the crossroad - soldiers as well as civilians - stopped what they were doing to stare. Closer than Cora had imagined it to be, the wretched city presented a grim spectacle - all ragged ruins from which spicules of flame shot into the spark-filled air. Above this desolation, a heavens as red as a vault of Hell extended to the horizon. Gasps and moans circulated through the crowd. Yet, seconds later when the smoky tapestry gathered again to hide this horror, they all resumed their previous activities as though it had ceased to exist. |
