The Lazarus Impact (26 page)

The terrorist with the gun pulls the covering off Reynolds’ head. He’s bruised and battered, bloodied and beaten. His gas mask is gone. He labors in his breathing, wheezing and coughing repeatedly. Every gasp of air between heaves seems to sap what little strength he has left in him. No more energy to vomit, no more energy to plead for help, no more energy to fight. He struggles to keep his head upright, and his eyes roll back into his skull. On the brink of death, he stares up at the earthen ceiling. He thinks of Jennie, the farm back home, his family. He closes his eyes. His breathing slows, and then finally stops.

The two terrorists begin to cheer and chant praises to Allah upon his passing. But moments later he begins to violently twitch and convulse in death. A frothy white foam oozes from Reynolds’ mouth as the seizures cease. The terrorists stop their praises and look strangely upon the ungodly sight. Reynolds lifts his head up. His eyes burst wide open; they’re wily, yellow and bloodshot. He stares off and looks all around the room until his eyes meet the terrorist holding the saber. The jihadist steps back in fear, whispering prayers of desperation with panic beneath his breath.

The one holding the gun asks what’s happening with a quivering, shaky voice. But before the other can answer, Reynolds shoots up from the chair and gnashes his teeth at the terrorist’s neck. With one massive chomp he rips out the terrorist’s throat, and then continues to ravage him. The terrorist’s shocked, yelp-like scream quickly turns to a bloody, bubbling gurgle as they both hit the floor. The other begins to fire his machine gun at Reynolds, knocking him off his dead comrade. But Reynolds continues to eat, unharmed by the hail of bullets.

Frantic, the jihadist runs past the camera, leaving the dank commode in which they intended their execution and victory celebration.

“Allah has lifted the dead from their slumber. Allah has set the dead against us!” His screams fade in the distance.

Reynolds continues to gnaw at the flesh of the dead terrorist. Blood smears across his face and chest, bathing evil with evil.

TO BE CONTINUED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vincent Todarello recently returned from the first manned space mission to the moons of Saturn, where he covertly provided aid and leadership to a fragmented but determined rebel force which later dislodged the entrenched, tyrannical Zang Jankfu regime in a bloody coup.

Next, he plans to descend deep into the Marianas Trench and return to Sea Lab Alpha-437 to continue his study of bioluminescence and bioelectricity in giant squid populations. He left this vitally important work largely unfinished, despite major breakthroughs and new discoveries, to pen
The Lazarus Impact
for his devoted audience.

Actually, he is working on transforming his mysterious noir style screenplay into a novel. Mr. Todarello's other published titles include
The Return of the Fifth Stone
(epic fantasy),
The Diaper Man
(horror) and
Mindscape
(a short collection of poetry and lyrics). Mr. Todarello does his own graphic design, illustration, and cover art. His work can be seen at www.vintodphoto.com.

When not working, writing, or shooting photos, Mr. Todarello is usually eating steak in and around Manhattan with his lovely wife. He's eaten so much steak that he has created a thorough review website (www.johnnyprimesteaks.com) which ranks steakhouses on a rigorous 100-point scoring system according to 10 categories.