The stench of hope was still that of waste and raw Eugenex; or at least it was in the Zielkkenhomville of St. Cruithnechán. Naturals and Impures deluged the Zielkkenhomvilles as workers did 1800s industrial tenements, though Impures enjoyed more amenities. But at least infectious disease hadn’t snatched the lives of those who drowned the crowded buildings. Only dysentery and starvation. I had to give Zielkkenhom that, even though he didn’t do it out of the kindness of his heart, but because he was protecting his popularity that could not wither, so his world would not collapse in a storm of ill corpses as fish in the monofilaments of a drift net. So he could still be the people’s deity.

Flame blades seared my nerves when I spotted the leaflets that littered its streets and shrouded its buildings. Leaflets the Ánwealdesbord always dropped from the skies at 3:00 p.m., as showers of mercy for those whose hope was gone. Leaflets Zielkkenhom had printed to convince others he was the savior of the world, as rays of hope for those who had lost all.

The life you want … just a pill away.

I just wanted to snatch them and hurl them at Zielkkenhom’s face, so he, so all of them could at least feel for one second what they put naturals living in the Zielkkenhomvilles through, everyday.

But what hacked my soul wasn’t so much that I could lose my district if I did that, or even that I couldn’t take all the Naturals to my district, but that people had fallen for it. That people believed Zielkkenhom’s lies, him. Despite everything he had done. Except the Naturals in the districts. Except the Naturals in the Zielkkenhomvilles. And even that was waning. Harmonist sympathizers glared at me when I entered St. Cruithnechán with Almyra, raised their guns at me, put their fingers on the triggers. And sometimes even when I entered alone, or with my family. But I didn’t care, even though at first they irked me. I still wanted to sneer at them, because they couldn’t kill me, though I knew them to be the ones who salivated at seeing high-class blood spill, but I just pretended they didn’t exist. That those chants echoing from the Harmonist rally were not clamoring for my corpse.

But then I spotted something I never thought I’d see. A Bernhart guard reprimanded an Impure bullying a Natural. Which was a blast to my chest again. Because I had Almyra for a selfish brat who manipulated others into doing her bidding. But she had kept through on her promise. A part of me still believed she hadn’t. And that Bernhart’s jets had landed to slaughter the Naturals. But they hadn’t.

The ignored pleas of those I usually helped punctured my heart. Because I could not help them. I even thought I saw Ellie and my parents, but I could not let them distract me. Tim’s device said the caller was in St. Cruithnechán. And then I saw Mildred. Or someone who looked just like her. So did Almyra. Her eyes glistened joy. Though she had clenched one of her fists. To arrest Samuel, I supposed. Or go call her forces. Was it all just a ploy? Was that why she positioned her forces in the first place? I would not let her.

We dashed through the flooded streets until I got a text. From Mildred again.

You did not listen to me. You kept investigating. This will end badly for bridgers. Especially for you. So now suffer the consequences.

We halted the second after we read it. Though not because of the text. But because of the blast that ensued.

Had I just massacred the Naturals?

Hi, my fellow bridgers! Thank you so much for reading The Last God. It means a lot to me that you took time to read my story. Being able to share this story with others has been an amazing experience.

I will appreciate your comments and reviews because my work is intended for you. I invite you to share this experience in social media through the links below. Every single review or share matters.

Thanks again for reading. May God bless you. Have a great day!