End Times (King Kartél II)
The Inevitable
A decade or so after Beau’s initiation into the brotherhood, which he wants to know nothing about, there is chaos in America. The sanctions-tormented North Korea detonates a nuclear-electromagnetic-pulse-warhead high above the North American Continent, resulting in the dis-function of almost all electronic devices, causing a near complete breakdown of their infrastructure.
Martial law goes into effect immediately. There is no running water, and due to plundering, food runs out within days. In every state, the army is seen as the oppressive fist of the elite. Anarchists and heavily armed militias attack the army anyway they can, which in turn retreats, occupies the entire east coast, and leaves everyone else to their fate.
With the elimination of Europe's greatest ally, old enemies are slowly but surely rearing their heads again. Pretty much all of Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Europe are occupied by a giant Muslim caliphate. Russia has taken possession of Eastern Europe. South America is ruled by drug cartels. China rules the decimated world economy, maintaining control over everything directly in its vicinity. Australia is still Australia.
The blue helmets of Northern Europe oversee key-areas, nuclear power plants, and other vulnerable places all around the world, and, because of their diplomacy, expertise in various areas, and their neutral and helping hands, they are relatively safe and welcomed by anyone in power anywhere they show up. In literally a few months, except for those key-areas, the world turns into a hell hole in a downward spiral. It’s only really safe in one place.
On the east coast of America, the world's elite are safely tucked away in a gigantic bunker complex. Within this massive underground system, guarded by thousands of military and security personnel overseen by Underground Bunker American Security (UBAS), are countless luxurious apartments, equipped with all the conveniences and electronic devices, powered by a combination of fossil fuel, nuclear, wind, and solar energy. In the public sector, there are stores, cinemas, cafes, and various sports facilities.
There are even improvised fresh and saltwater lakes with beach sand.
Except for the military, scientists, doctors, and civilians who are needed to keep the underground public sector running, everyone believes that, out there, the monkeys live. White, black, yellow, and red: they are all monkeys in the eyes of the elite.
The bunker: Sector-33
Beau Bilieux stands in the elevator and descends to Sector-33, which is where King Kartél resides.
After a ten-minute walk through the stark matte green and gray tunnels, he stands in front of the door of King Kartél.
He clears his throat and straightens his tie. Even before he knocks on the door, it opens from the inside. Without looking up, a blond boy with wet hair comes out and walks past him.
Beau walks inside and closes the door. Kartél waves to him; he is sitting in a large round bathtub integrated into a section of the living room. "Well, what do you think?"
Beau looks around. Like in a studio apartment, everything is incorporated into one room. The colors white and gold predominate: "Very chic, your highness."
"Get yourself a drink, son."
Beau walks across the white marble floor to the kitchen and grabs a non-alcoholic beer from the refrigerator, which is overflowing with food. Kartél dries himself off with a large white bath towel. He sits down at the bar next to Beau, dressed in a black bathrobe with an inverted red cross on it. "When did you arrive, son?"
"Two hours ago, Majesty. The United States is gone." Beau's voice betrays immense sadness. So, Kartél puts his hand on Beau's shoulder, "Son, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, so will America be reborn." Then Kartél starts talking about something completely different: "Listen, I want you to know that I tried everything to save Monique."
Two years ago, Beau, in a drunken daze, confessed to his wife what happened at the initiation at the Killinstyle hotel. Monique was shocked that her husband could just cut a woman's throat for a seat at the table. Beau's true motives, the survival of his family, didn’t matter to her. Even if the whole family was to be slaughtered, anything was better than being a murderer. Monique went to her parents' house, but never arrived and disappeared off the face of the earth.
Kartél continues, "For what it's worth, I voted against it, but I was the only one."
The Guilt
Beau sits hunched over at the bar, his head leaning in his hands. Finally, he gets an answer to the question of what really happened: "What did you do to her?" He doesn't want to know, but he needs to know. No matter how painful the truth will be, he needs to know what his wife's last moments were like. Kartél gets a dark look in his eyes and answers, "She was tortured and eventually strangled while we were showing her the video of you killing Diana; that's how these things go, Beau; it sets an example for anyone else with loose lips, thinking about squealing to the misses." Kartél takes a sip of whiskey. Beau's stomach turns, but somehow he holds himself together and asks what happened to her body.
With a strange kind of pride but restrained enthusiasm in his voice, Kartél replies, "Dog food. You should have just kept your mouth shut, son."
Beau's expression remains emotionless. After the Killinstyle initiation, the life he began to lead still seems the same on the outside, but inside Beau is as black as coal. He feels so incredibly guilty about what happened to Monique as well as the woman in the chair, Diana.
He had to tell Monique—how can a normal person walk around with such a secret year after year and run into his wife every day and pretend to be pink on the inside? It's impossible.
Beau wasn't drunk that night; he just couldn't lie to his wife anymore. But to Kartél, Beau said that he was drunk—you’re better off drunk than weak with these people, he reasoned.
The damage to Kartél was limited, and with Monique dead, the secret now once again belongs to just Kartél, his security guards, and Beau.
Kartél was furious, but he still gave Beau a chance and advised him not to drink anymore. Beau took this to heart and has not drunk a drop since Monique disappeared, or at least that is what he claims.
For him, the guilt he feels can only be alleviated with alcohol.
Kartél has had enough of talking about that "treasonous cunt" and switches the topic. He grabs Beau's upper leg, squeezes it for a second, and says, "Son, this war will end, and I have amazing news for you."
"What news is that, sire?" asks Beau, as he clinks back his non-alcoholic beer.
Mr. Vice President
"Beau, you’re going to be vice president of the New America, under Joey Debin."
Beau is surprised, sits up straight and asks, "Are you serious, sire, but how?"
"You said it yourself, America is gone. Well, so is the constitution. The Brotherhood decides what happens next. I have big plans for you, but this is also a reward for your loyalty over the years. Take today, for example. Everyone was already safe and sound, hiding in our bunker, while you were still fighting for every inch of America. That's loyalty, son; commitment like I have never seen anywhere."
Kartél pours a whiskey for himself.
Beau responds with a short "thanks" to the king’s compliment: "Majesty, I am very worried about your kingdom. Europe is currently being overrun by Russia and the Caliphate; soon there will be nothing left of Europe, sire."
"Beau, you are hard-core. Don't worry about me. If the war takes too long, we'll lend a helping hand. When there’s half a billion left of them, we will regain control again."
"Half a billion?" replies Beau. "That's exactly the number of people listed on the Georgia Guidestones."
The Guidestones are large granite columns on a hill in Elbert County, in the state of Georgia. On the granite pillars is a message, which contains ten main points in eight languages. The message consists of clues for the survivors of a future apocalypse who must seek to build a new and, more importantly, better civilization.
"Beau, who do you think created these things?"
"But why, sire?"
Kartél is surprised that he still has to explain this. "That's our ritual, Beau. We are duty-bound to tell the monkeys what is going to happen, but we always do this indirectly. It makes them subconsciously, spiritually complicit and, psychological-wise, it prepares them for what is to come; but make no mistake, the monkeys above ground will welcome us like gods."
"Why do you think that, sire?"
Be the First
Kartél puts a picture of the red planet in Beaus' hands, "See what that is?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that's Mars. We've talked about this before, right?"
"Indeed, son, you remember that very well. I am going to Mars, together with a couple of very important like minded spirits. Mars is to be colonized after the war. I will be the first human to set foot on this planet."
Beau stares at the photo, "Wow, that's incredible."
"We'll leave equipment and tools with us for the next crew, but I'll take the first step on Mars. It's really going to happen, son!"
"But why should the people receive you as gods when you return, sire? Surely they will know that they have no chance of ever emigrating to Mars."
Kartél smiles, "We give them another planet to live on. Even if they never go, just the fact that the possibility is there is enough for the monkeys. See, it's like a prison: there has to be an escape or they’ll psychologically suffocate, which would lead to revolt; they're monkeys, but they're still people."
The king suddenly jumps up and climbs on the bar; there he stands, wide-legged; his robe falls open and his bare chest, along with another body part, sticks out; "When I return, the world will embrace me as the greatest king of all time!" Kartél puts on his crown, "King Kartél, the first man to set foot on another world!" He pours another whiskey and climbs down from the bar. "I'm leaving next week, so let's toast to our new world tonight. Please, Beau, unwind for a couple of days. You deserve it. Kartél holds up his glass of overpriced whiskey, "Ordo Ab Chao!" (Order out of chaos).
General, Victor Masters.
The next morning, Beau lies by the improvised lake with a hangover as big as the White House. He thinks about what Kartél told him yesterday—"I want you to be vice president of America!" Monique would have been so proud of me today: vice president of America. Wow! If only I had kept my mouth shut about the Killinstyle initiation, Monique would still be alive today.
Beau flees into the bar before the guilt overtakes him, and after a few beers, the guilt fades gently into the background.
Next to him speaks a heavy male voice, "You want to talk about it?"
He looks up at his side. A large, imposing man has taken possession of the bar stool next to him. Beau estimates him to be about sixty years old. He is wearing an officer's uniform, and after glancing over his shoulder, he sees that the man is a four-star general.
"Beau, isn't it?"
"Yeah, that’s correct, general, and you are?"
"General Victor Masters is the name. I’ve heard you were the last to enter the bunker?"
"Well, let's just say that I wasn’t the first, General."
"Please, call me Victor. Why didn't you come directly with the rest of us?"
"I love my country, Victor." Beau puts the emphatic emphasis on "I".
"We all love America, but to be the last to leave the battlefield says a lot about you." The general is already drunk and, with slurred speech, orders another whiskey. He takes a big swig, and turns towards Beau: "You know that North Korea didn’t detonate that EMP, right?"
"What are you talking about, Victor?"
The general smiles, leans to his side, and whispers into Beau’s ear: "It was me."
"General, I think you’ve had enough of those." Beau points at the empty whiskey glasses in front of the General.
"You know who gave me the order to fire on our own country?"
By the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice, Beau realizes that the general is telling him the truth; the general answers his own question, "Higher ups."
Beau is intrigued: "What do you mean when you say ‘higher ups’, general?"
"With higher ups, I mean, King Kartél."
"The king was behind the EMP-strike?"
General Masters looks at the naive Beau in sheer disbelief: "Kartél is behind everything, man. But not for long anymore."
The Persuasion
Beau's neck hairs rise up, "General, be very careful with your words now."
"Do you believe in déjà vu?"
Beau stiffly shakes his head.
"Well, I do. I knew, from the moment I saw you lying in the sand at the lake, that you were the right candidate."
Beau thinks back to Kartél's words during the initiation—"Excellent, Beau. I knew you were the right candidate. The right candidate, I knew that you, that you, that you..."
"Listen, Beau, let's continue our conversation elsewhere."
Moments later, the two are walking barefoot and drunk through the sand along the artificial lake. The general explains that he knows about the Killinstyle initiation.
Beau warns the general to not get it into his head to blackmail him, and he demands an answer about how General Masters came to know about the initiation.
The general explains that he, like everyone else, had to go through a similar thing: "You had Diana. Mine was called Rosalie." General Masters looks into Beau's eyes with understanding and compassion before he continues, "Beau, I was one of the security guards that morning at the Killinstyle; I lit those two black candles that day. I know how you were pressured to kill Diana. Beau, listen to me: you had no choice. They would have killed you and your whole family. You had no choice!"
Beau nods softly and mumbles something unintelligible while he looks to the ground.
Victor takes a huge risk and confesses what he is up to: "Listen, I had one of the scientists build a bomb in Kartél’s spacecraft that will leave for Mars."
Beau reacts angrily and panicked. "Are you completely out of your mind, Victor?"
The general cuts him off. With a fanatical look in his eyes, he grabs Beau by the shoulders, "Hush, not so loud, damned! The work these guys do is all compartmentalized; the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. No one will find out, Beau. This scientist is on the good side of history. You've got to trust me on this, Beau. This is our chance to save America from centuries of corruption, to save millions of lives from certain death! Do you ever have nightmares, Beau?"
Beau remains silent, looks away, and gazes over the lake with hollow, watery eyes—Diana.
"That's what I thought," says Masters, while placing a hand on Beaus' shoulder. "Beau, this is our chance to set things right, and to perhaps soften the horror that disfigures our dreams at night!"
"Rosalie?" Beau asks.
Now the general gets a hollow gaze in his eyes and replies, "Yes. Rosalie, I don’t like to talk about it either."
Beau sits down, facing the water, and is digging deep with his hands in the sand, letting the sand run through his fingers as he tries to cope, but the general grinds on and on.
"I knew that EMP would wreak havoc and set in motion a chain reaction throughout the world. I did this. I have hundreds of thousands of fucking deaths on my conscience, man, and even worse, Kartél gave me the order to kill anyone involved with the false flag operation. I killed them all. Some I knew for decades. They were friends. I had dinner at their houses. I need revenge. Help me, help yourself! For Monique, for America, for Diana, for Rosalie; let's do the right thing this time, even if it could end us!"
When, after a few minutes, Victor is done raging, Beau is completely numb and finally listens to the general's plan.
A Journey to Remember
One week later, Beau is sworn in as vice president, and Kartél has a spacecraft to catch. The king and a few other powerful men sit tensely in the spacecraft that will take them to Mars. The astronauts start up the huge capsule. Beau is in the control room watching the live cam feed; Kartél is looking straight into the camera. Beau sees something in Kartél's eyes that he never saw before: uncertainty. This is the very first time that Beau sees something human in the king.
Roaring rockets, huge clouds of smoke rise, the roof opens, and the takeoff-rockets shoot up with the capsule full of astronauts and elite people on its back.
One of the scientists standing next to Beau looks at him and says that he hopes that nothing goes wrong.
Beau immediately asks, in an interrogative tone, what this scientist exactly means by that.
"Oh, nothing at all; don't worry, everything is planned in detail; I just meant that everyone of significance in this world is now aboard the capsule, so."
Beau smiles briefly, "My apologies, force of habit. It was not my intention to suspect you of something."
President Debin, also present in the control room, looks at Beau with a reassured look—yes: sharpness, that's what I need; Kartél was right, having Beau Bilieux around is a good thing.
The president absolutely suspects nothing. Beau is playing the role of his life. If he can't hide the fact that he knows about a huge conspiracy against the establishment, he will pay not only with his freedom but also with his life.
Boom
When Beau lies in bed at night, pretending to be asleep, he is awakened by the head of UBAS and taken to meet President Joey Debin.
While they walk through the halls towards the presidential suite, Beau asks what the consternation is all about. He gets no answer from the head of UBAS except to please hurry along. They arrive at the presidential suite after a ten-minute walk.
"Welcome, Beau," says the serious-looking Joey Debin from his chair.
Beau sits down in the president's office and takes a sip of water that’s placed in front of him.
After Debin orders the head of UBAS to leave them alone, he starts to explain, "Beau, something terrible has happened. The spacecraft in which King Kartél was seated has exploded for reasons yet unknown."
Beau puts on big eyes: "Jesus, no way! What the hell went wrong?"
"One of the scientists says that it looks like they flew into something, but we're not entirely sure."
The head of UBAS enters the President's office and says that General Victor Masters urgently wants to speak to the President. Debin excuses himself and leaves his office.
Masters tells the president that he has suspicions about a plot against King Kartél but lacks evidence.
The president wants the general to throw everything on the table and demand names.
Victor explains that he suspects one of the scientists.
The president thinks back to the launch and what one of the scientists said to Beau, and how Beau immediately questioned him—of course, it's that scientist from the control room, that bastard.
President Debin thanks the general and tells him to arrest the scientist immediately. Masters tells Debin that he will arrest the scientist and interrogate him himself. The president agrees with the general and approves. Victor Masters greets the president and leaves. After five minutes, Debin walks back into his office.
"So what now, president?" asks a worried Beau.
"Well, we can't do anything right now. We have one suspect in custody. One of my loyalest generals is taking care of it personally. For now, try to get some sleep and keep this quiet. Come to my office tomorrow; we'll know more and we can decide on how to proceed, alright?"
"Understood, president!"
Beau gets up and walks to the door, but President Debin has one more thing to say: "Oh, before Kartél left, he gave me the USB."
"Sir?"
"The USB, Beau, the tape of you taking Diana's life."
Debin makes a fist, and from his mouth sounds a proud, "Hardcore, Beau! It gave me the chills."
When Beau has left Debin’s apartment, he walks restlessly through the underground corridors of the complex. He has an uneasy feeling about the encounter with the president, and the whole Killinstyle affair is also bubbling up again—will everything go according to plan, or has Debin figured out what Victor, the scientist, and I are up to?
After pacing back and forth in front of his apartment for a while, he walks back to his room. He really needs to try and sleep. Beau shuts his door, lies on his bed, and closes his eyes.
The blond boy, who earlier came out of Kartél's room, walks to the isolated area where the president is located. There he stops in front of Joey Debin's door. The president opens up, takes a good look around, and lets him in.
Deception and Betrayal
It’s so early in the morning that it’s actually still night. Beau walks with the head of UBAS and half a dozen soldiers to President Debin's apartment. Without hesitation, the soldiers force the door open and storm in. The president lies naked in his bed with the blond boy next to him.
"What the hell is this all about?" screams the head of UBAS.
The President panics, gets up and starts to fight with the soldiers, who have a lot of trouble containing the raging Debin. President Joey Debin is told that he has been arrested on suspicion of lewdness with a minor.
While the head of UBAS takes care of the little boy, Beau walks into Debin's office. Pretending to tie his shoes, he removes a hidden microphone from under the desk—a hidden microphone that he taped there when General Masters was talking to the president and he spent five minutes alone in the office. Beau quickly puts the microphone in his pocket.
The head of UBAS walks into the President's office and says that General Victor Masters urgently wants to speak to the President. Debin leaves his office. When Debin’s left the room, Beau jumps up from his chair and takes out two ultra-small cameras and a microphone from his suit; one camera he sticks near the window, above the office door, so he can see the entire president's suite, plus bedroom.
Another camera he sticks to a painting of Lincoln, which hangs above Debin's safe on the left—the president is left-handed, so if all goes well, he won't stand with his body in front of the LED display, where he types in the code for the safe. Finally, Beau sticks a microphone under the president's desk, just in time because, after five minutes, the president walks back into his office.
Beau walks back to the door and stretches while simultaneously snatching the little camera above the window. Beau sees that everyone is still busy restraining the president, who doesn’t know when to quit, and walks straight to Debin's safe. First, he removes the little camera from the Lincoln portrait. Beau was able to see the code clearly from his apartment through this second hidden camera. He puts on gloves and opens the safe. He takes out a box containing a whole row of USB sticks, placed in alphabetical order. He takes out two of them.
On one USB is written, "Beau Bilieux and Diana: the Killinstyle tape."
On another: "Victor Masters and Rosalie: the Killinstyle tape."
He quickly puts the two USB sticks in his pocket, closes the safe, and takes off his gloves; just in time, because the soldiers enter the president’s office and ask Beau not to touch anything because of the investigation.
The soldiers can't believe all they find in Debin's suite: "Jesus, he recorded everything!" and "What a jerk off!"
The head of UBAS approaches Beau: "It’s good that you shared your suspicions with us, Mr. Vice President."
Beau says he saw the boy go into the presidential suite, and groaning noises and screaming could be heard when he was about to knock on the door to ask the president a question about last night’s accident with King Kartél.
When Beau gets a chance to retreat to his room for a moment, he destroys the USB sticks and thus the evidence that General Masters' Killinstyle initiation and his own initiation ever took place.
One Week Later…
The rest of the USB sticks in the president's safe led to the arrest and impeachment of loads of powerful leaders around the world.
King Kartél will go down in history not as the king who was the first to set foot on another planet, but as the biggest scumbag to ever walk this earth. Centuries of corruption are at an end, and the time has come to set things straight above ground.
Beau Bilieux, sworn in as president of America, talks in his office with his top advisors, including the scientist from the control room and Vice President General Victor Masters.
Beau takes the floor: "Gentlemen, the world considers America lost." He looks at everyone present in his office: "This is our chance to take back control, to show everyone that we are back!"
Vice President Masters is totally absorbed in the moment: "I totally agree. Just say the word, sir!"
Beau turns to Victor Masters, "Vice President Masters, I want you to send out scouts to track down the leaders of the militia; arrange a meeting."
Masters' eyes sparkle: "This is exactly like in my dream. We will win, sir!"
Beau stands up and raises his voice, "Gentlemen, it's time to take back America!" A loud applause rings out from the President's office.
Several years later,
—New York.
A hot dog vendor is sitting in the sunshine enjoying the lovely weather. On his radio, the news has just started: "Good morning, America! Today, President Bilieux and Vice President Masters will attend the very first Post Apocalypse Day of Independence, which is supposed to be held annually from this day forward. The president reassures us that this day will not replace our Fourth of July celebration. It will take place in Rosalie Square, in front of the Diana Statue. The square as well as the statue are named after two women who are believed, by intelligence organizations, to be one of the many unidentified victims of King Kartél’s brutal initiations [...] In other news, the American economy is thriving again for the third year in a row. The American President says that America is back and that the world is a safer place because of it [...]. His approval rating is going through the roof at the moment…"
THE END