Horizon

Chapter 44

I was probably breaking Lucas's ribs, but I didn't care. I was willing to do just about anything to see any signs of life from that man. Deep down, I knew that I wasn't going to magically bring a dead man back to life; however, I couldn't bear the thought of having to tell Kit that his father was gone. As far as I knew, Lucas was Kit's only family...and Kit needed his father.

"Hank, stop this," Thomas muttered, as he rested his paw onto my shoulder. "He's gone, Hank. I'm sorry, but he's gone."

I gave up on my futile attempt at CPR, and got to my feet. As I looked down at Lucas's lifeless body, an overwhelming sense of dread burrowed deep within me. I thought about how I was going to break the news to Kit. I wondered about what he would think of me. I mean...it was my fault that Lucas was dead. If I'd have killed Talon more quickly, then I would have had time to save Lucas from his untimely death.

"Where's the rest of the team?" I asked, wiping the sweat from behind my ears.

Thomas quickly answered, "Connell and Leo made it out before we got captured. I couldn't have left Lucas alone, so I accompanied him. We were the only two that were taken to the reflecting pool."

"Thank goodness," I sighed. "What about Breaker, and Hunter?"

"Last we heard from Breaker, he was headed back to the house. Hunter was sniped from another building outside of the national mall. He didn't make it," Thomas replied.

I hung my head for a few seconds, and muttered, "Damn. This whole thing kind of fell apart once it started rolling, didn't it?"

Thomas snorted, "You can say that again. So, did you take care of Talon?"

I nodded my head, and shuffled my paws against the ground. "He's dead, alright. I shot him twice in the head. Something about him felt a little off, though."

"Off?" Thomas asked, a little intrigued. "How so?"

"Is it weird to say that it looked like his heart wasn't in it? I just sensed that he wanted to end the fight quickly...like he knew he was going to die, so he presented himself in front of me to be killed," I explained.

"Jeez, was it really that easy?" Thomas grumbled.

I looked around to see that there were still hundreds of anthros gathered around me, recognizing me as their new leader by staring intently at me. There were also many humans that were still in bindings, on their knees. I'd have guessed that there were close to two-hundred humans...and those were just the ones gathered around the reflecting pool.

"You're their new leader," Thomas whispered loudly. "You should probably say something to them. They're waiting to hear from you."

"Five bucks says that they want to kill me," I mumbled back.

"That's probably true. All the more reason to solidify your position as a leader, by addressing them," Thomas explained.

I turned my attention to the anthros surrounding me, and moved up the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Once I reached the top, I noticed that the anthros behind me had moved down the steps so that I was the only one on top. I guess they really did want to hear from me after all.

"I have something to tell you!" I exclaimed to the gathering of anthros, as they quieted down. "I know that a lot of you don't want to hear this, but you have all been swindled. Talon betrayed you, and he betrayed the colony. By leading you all on this rampage through the city, he's put you all in danger. Not just you; but your spouses, and your children. By telling you that this world can't be shared with humans, he made us believe that eradicating them was our only option. I know for a fact that it is not our only option."