The Sixth Mass Extinction: Deacon Kelly and The Black Obelisk

Chapter One - The Day

It was mid-July and London was melting under the worst heat wave in a century. Record-breaking temperatures had maxed out the air-conditioning units in all four terminals at Heathrow Airport. Will Beckham's maintenance team was given the Herculean task of having the entire a/c system up and running at day's end. By eight 'o clock that evening, most of the units were fixed and the airport was cooling down after a brutal day.

Will's train arrived at Peckham Rye station at nine thirty. After a long walk, he entered his tiny, rented flat on Asylum Road across from Presco Food and Wine. The next day would be the most important of his life and if all went according to plan, the world would never be the same.

Will sat down on the torn, second-hand sofa and sent a final, encrypted message to his handler, letting him know that the problem at the airport was solved and the plan was moving forward. He then treated himself to the fish and chips that he picked up at Cod Fellas on the way home.

Will was committed to the mission. The hatred inside him burned as intensely as it ever had. The isolation and rage grew stronger every time he left his flat. Walking the streets; grabbing a coffee and bun at the bakery; taking the train to work, he felt like a foreigner - a stranger in his own country. The Britain of his forefathers; the land of empire and glory had faded to nothing before his very eyes. To Will, it had become a steaming, smelly mass of mongrels gorging on the leftovers of his beloved England.

The "good ole' days" were mostly over by the time Will was born, now, there was no trace left . Nothing special and nothing exceptional left about this once great country, just a dumping ground for the world's refugees and migrants.

He popped the last chip in his mouth and washed it down with a huge swill of Fuller's. Throwing the wrapper and empty can in the trash bin, he opened the fridge door and grabbed another can of beer. Drinking would be crucial, if he wanted to sleep.

Will went to the closet in his bedroom and grabbed a large, red, duffel bag and sat back down on the sofa. He pulled out the aerosol dispensers, disguised as portable gas leak detectors and organized them into three rows of six on the coffee table in front of him. He checked and re-checked them. They were loaded and everything appeared to be working properly.

He was filled with hatred, anger and bigotry, yet he was not someone you could easily dismiss and write-off as a total maniac from birth. His rage was forged in a lifetime of tragedy, heartbreak, neglect and abuse. Losing his mother and father at a young age, he and his sister, Maggie were bounced around from foster home to foster home, never quite feeling welcome, or truly loved. They were eventually separated and forced to live in different homes. A void between them developed and they lost touch over the years.

Eight beers in, Will couldn't fall asleep. He felt full and bloated, his head pounding with a massive headache. The anxiety and guilt now arriving in consistent waves. He pushed the thoughts back and suppressed them with rationalizations and the demented view that he would actually be doing society a favor.

Four o' clock rolled around the next morning, and he was still on the sofa. The early news on the television lit-up the darkened room in flashes. He stared and thought about the news reports a week from now, when the full scope of the mission was complete. What would they say? Would they know by then who was responsible?
He showered, shaved, and got dressed, then packed six of the aerosol dispensers into the side pocket of his work bag and walked out the door to catch the five o' clock train. The commute seemed longer than usual that morning. Will was standing in the center of the train, holding the rail to keep balance. And of course, it was packed full of the foreigners that Will hated so much. He reached his hand down and unzipped the side pocket of his work bag. He pulled one of the aerosol dispensers half way out. He was close to pushing the power button and activating it, as the train came to a stop at Boston Manor Station. It was there that he received the shock that almost threw him off course.