the sign.
9 th Floor
12 th Floor Roof Access
I lumber up the first flight and to the second. I won’t make it.
Keep going.
One step.
Another.
Tenth floor.
Another step.
Another.
Eleventh floor.
Another.
Twelfth floor finally and I collapse against the door and burst through and the fresh air hits me like a shockwave.
There’s a garden with potted plants and a few patients and nurses, no one looking.
I stagger toward the edge. I reach the railing and fall against it, gasping for breath.
Surrounding the hospital is a crowd of people, thousands of people, many holding signs for me.
Someone sees me and points and shouts and then they’re all screaming and cheering for me.
I am the messiah.
Part 2
Chapter 43
I stand up, lean into the microphone, and say,
I am—
And there’s a gunshot and I fall. I rewind it and press play. I say,
I am—
And a gunshot. I fall. Rewind.
I am—
Gunshot. Fall. Rewind.
I am—
Gunshot. Pause.
I look at myself. The moment I die. There’s something there. There must be. I lean forward, looking at my face. I lean a little farther. Something different, a change, besides… Closer and my face dissolves into blurriness.
I shake it off and lean back.
I hit play. The bang echoes through the auditorium and I fall back. People are screaming and running toward my dead body. We shake and jitter and run forward too. Washington is screaming into the microphone,
Stay back! Stay back! Everyone stay back!
And there’s another bang.
Someone next to the camera is yelling,
Who did it? Where is he? Where is he?
Cut to a news anchor.
Wow, that was just shocking. In that exclusive clip, Manuel Kadur was shot at Seattle high school Grant. He was declared legally dead for fifteen minutes before being revived by paramedics.
Cut to medics resuscitating me with a defibrillator.
We have a pulse! He’s breathing!
Back to the anchor.
Diane Winters is outside the hospital where Manuel is currently being treated. Diane?
Cut to Winters holding a microphone next to a girl in her twenties in a ski jacket, surrounded by a large crowd.
People around America, largely from the Born Again Christian community, have declared Manuel Kadur Christ reborn. Flocking to Seattle, they have surrounded his hospital, waiting for him to emerge.
It cuts back to the anchor.
We now present the exclusive footage of the would-be assassin as he turns his rifle on himself and takes his own life. Please be advised that this footage is graphic and not suitable for children.
Cut to a wobbly shot, running up toward the balcony of the Grant auditorium.
I hit Stop.
I glance at the clock.
2:01
My show already started, damn. I flip up through the channels.
Traffic on the local news.
slow and go on I-5
The Simpsons.
out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals… except the
The Christian network. John and Pamela Scheffield’s talk show, Cross Talk . It just started, at least. Scheffield in a ridiculous blue cowboy suit and Pamela with her huge dyed hair and a sequined outfit. Scheffield talks with a faded Southern accent.
Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” After Jesus was baptized, he went into the desert and there he was tempted by Satan. Satan told Jesus he would become the king of the world, if only Jesus would worship Satan, but Jesus refused. Then Satan told Jesus to go to the top of the Temple and fling himself off.
Chapter 44
The door clicks and Iris comes in and I shut the TV off. She looks around the room and then walks in front of the bed and leans against the wall.
“You look like hell,” she says.
“Thanks.” I pull the neck on my robe up a little higher. I get up from the bed and walk to the window, pulling my IV drip stand with me. I put my
9 th Floor
12 th Floor Roof Access
I lumber up the first flight and to the second. I won’t make it.
Keep going.
One step.
Another.
Tenth floor.
Another step.
Another.
Eleventh floor.
Another.
Twelfth floor finally and I collapse against the door and burst through and the fresh air hits me like a shockwave.
There’s a garden with potted plants and a few patients and nurses, no one looking.
I stagger toward the edge. I reach the railing and fall against it, gasping for breath.
Surrounding the hospital is a crowd of people, thousands of people, many holding signs for me.
Someone sees me and points and shouts and then they’re all screaming and cheering for me.
I am the messiah.
Part 2
Chapter 43
I stand up, lean into the microphone, and say,
I am—
And there’s a gunshot and I fall. I rewind it and press play. I say,
I am—
And a gunshot. I fall. Rewind.
I am—
Gunshot. Fall. Rewind.
I am—
Gunshot. Pause.
I look at myself. The moment I die. There’s something there. There must be. I lean forward, looking at my face. I lean a little farther. Something different, a change, besides… Closer and my face dissolves into blurriness.
I shake it off and lean back.
I hit play. The bang echoes through the auditorium and I fall back. People are screaming and running toward my dead body. We shake and jitter and run forward too. Washington is screaming into the microphone,
Stay back! Stay back! Everyone stay back!
And there’s another bang.
Someone next to the camera is yelling,
Who did it? Where is he? Where is he?
Cut to a news anchor.
Wow, that was just shocking. In that exclusive clip, Manuel Kadur was shot at Seattle high school Grant. He was declared legally dead for fifteen minutes before being revived by paramedics.
Cut to medics resuscitating me with a defibrillator.
We have a pulse! He’s breathing!
Back to the anchor.
Diane Winters is outside the hospital where Manuel is currently being treated. Diane?
Cut to Winters holding a microphone next to a girl in her twenties in a ski jacket, surrounded by a large crowd.
People around America, largely from the Born Again Christian community, have declared Manuel Kadur Christ reborn. Flocking to Seattle, they have surrounded his hospital, waiting for him to emerge.
It cuts back to the anchor.
We now present the exclusive footage of the would-be assassin as he turns his rifle on himself and takes his own life. Please be advised that this footage is graphic and not suitable for children.
Cut to a wobbly shot, running up toward the balcony of the Grant auditorium.
I hit Stop.
I glance at the clock.
2:01
My show already started, damn. I flip up through the channels.
Traffic on the local news.
slow and go on I-5
The Simpsons.
out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals… except the
The Christian network. John and Pamela Scheffield’s talk show, Cross Talk . It just started, at least. Scheffield in a ridiculous blue cowboy suit and Pamela with her huge dyed hair and a sequined outfit. Scheffield talks with a faded Southern accent.
Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” After Jesus was baptized, he went into the desert and there he was tempted by Satan. Satan told Jesus he would become the king of the world, if only Jesus would worship Satan, but Jesus refused. Then Satan told Jesus to go to the top of the Temple and fling himself off.
Chapter 44
The door clicks and Iris comes in and I shut the TV off. She looks around the room and then walks in front of the bed and leans against the wall.
“You look like hell,” she says.
“Thanks.” I pull the neck on my robe up a little higher. I get up from the bed and walk to the window, pulling my IV drip stand with me. I put my
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