Attack
JJ sat in the van. For the last three day he couldn't get the dream out of his head. Was this a long forgotten memory or was it just his imagination? It felt very real. JJ couldn't stop himself from thinking that everything would have been OK if they had just left the DIVINE alone. Maybe everything would have just returned to normal and the DIVINE would not have been seen again. Why did they have to provoke her to further action?
If these were indeed memories of the `Glorious Revelation' and the early days of the reign of the BEAUTIFUL LEADER, why had JJ forgotten them? Why did nobody talk about them? What caused this collective amnesia?
It must be simply a dream, JJ thought, if they were real events then the history written in the book that the MERCIFUL ONE reads every day would be a lie. And if they were real, what happened after the police entered the house?
JJ took Anne Marie's hand in his. They smiled at each other. JJ noticed a slight gleam of sweat covering Anne Marie forehead. It was the first time Anne Marie had shown any sign of being nervous. JJ looked around the other's in the van. Tom was driving, Al was sitting next to him his rocket launcher and the two shells by his side. Paul and Anna were opposite. These looked to JJ like a most unlikely band to start a revolution. They had stole the van the evening he had met them, painted it a dark unnoticeable blue, changed the licence plates, and then lined the inside with thick layers of steel. They also replaced the windscreen with two thick plastic ones, which were the closest to bullet proof they could find. The van now weighed a ton and was very sluggish. Tom hoped they wouldn't have to make a quick getaway.
They drove though the streets. It was rush hour and many people were trying to get home for the eight o'clock start of the Union. They realised that after eight the van would start to raise suspicion. It was 19:30 and they were just round the corner from the palace. Now they had to wait, hoping nobody would approach them. The streets were quietening.
They all stared at each other. Paul and Anna were fingering their submachine guns. Even Anne Marie held a hand gun. The sounds of a few passers by could be heard. Then an eerie silence descended on them. JJ looked at his watch 19:50. They had to wait another ten minute until the Union stared. They could hear the sound of their own heart beats. Al picked up the rocket launcher.
Paul took one last look at his watch. 20:03. ``Ready?'' They all nodded. Tom restarted the van. It sprang into life. ``Go.''
The Van accelerated towards the palace. Shouts could be heard. Then the sound of bullets firing and hitting the van. Several hit the windscreen leaving small holes. Al opened his window, and pointed the rocket launcher at the barracks. He calmed himself for a moment then fired. There was a loud explosion, and the screams of several tens of women. Some could be seen running away from the barracks, their clothes on fire. They were now heading at 50 miles an hour straight for the locked gates. Al reloaded the launcher and leaned out of the window to point it. He fired, and there was an burst of flame in front of them. It was clear that the van could not stop in time and they all just preyed the gates were not still standing inside the ball of flame. Tom and Al shielded their eyes. Tom lost control of the van which skidded and collided into a wall.
Anna and Paul burst out of the rear doors there machine guns firing in all directions. Anne Marie and JJ followed and then Tom and Al, who had claimed over the backs of there seats. There was complete mayhem in front of them, bullets were flying in all directions. They saw the door to the back entrance close. It was just a few metres away. Paul and Anne Marie ran towards it whilst the others shoot indiscriminately from behind the van. Anne Marie took out a bunch of keys and unlocked the door the door, but it was still bolted from the inside. Paul took out the shell gun. They stood back and he fired. The door exploded. Paul rained bullets inside the hallway. He and Anne Marie entered. JJ and Anna followed then Al and Tom.
They looked around. An angel appeared from the end of a passageway. She fired a round of bullets and she then disappeared before anyone could fire back. At that point Tom collapsed, the side of his face blown away.
They all hid in a corner, behind some shelves. Anne Marie pointed at the second door in the corridor on the right.
``That's the television studio. You must get in there in the next ten minutes. The DIVINE is finishing off her Union and she's at her weakest.''
A large group of Angels were marching down another corridor. Behind a large shield. Anne Marie handed a key to JJ. ``Take this key. Leave me to deal with this group. And remember I love you. Now go.'' She gave JJ a last kiss.
He and the other two ran to the television studio, Al, Paul and Anna shooting in every direction. Anne Marie, with the shell gun in one hand and the machine gun in the other, stayed behind. JJ unlocked the studio door, and turned round to look at Anne Marie. The Angels had emerged form the corridor and were quickly out flanking her as she fired at them. Then she collapsed, in a pool of blood. The others watched as she was surrounded by Angels.
He was pulled away by the shoulder. ``Come on,'' Al said, ``get in.''