Pestilence

64

The building was the tallest one in Miami: the Four Seasons Hotel. Hank Kraski had rented the top suite.

The palatial suite had a bed that appeared to have been made for ten people and a hot tub outside on the massive balcony. Chilled champagne and fresh lobster sat on the table. The suite was exactly the way he had asked.

He sat on the balcony, viewing the city below and the mass of ocean beyond it. He had loved Miami when he was a kid. He could go there and hock stolen baseball cards, packages of gum, or anything he and his friends could get their hands on. Such a shame that it had to be destroyed.

Though it wouldn’t be destroyed in the sense that it would be blown apart, but that the people were going to be eliminated. And without the people, there were no maintenance crews to keep the city running smoothly. Nature would need only a few weeks to reclaim what humans had taken.

Hank thought back to his childhood in Florida. He’d been happy with his Polish family that owned a restaurant in downtown Miami. The city had been different then, though, and a small-business owner could thrive without having to take massive loans from predatory banks just to stay afloat. Such a waste of talent, he thought. The little guys would get swallowed up or have to work for the big guys, and the consumers suffered. He didn’t blame the banks, though. He blamed the government dollars that kept them buoyant when they should have sunk.

But never, in a million years, could he have guessed that he would end up being one of the few people on earth who would survive to rebuild. The new society would be better. It would be more efficient, and the aristocracy would no longer rule the poor. That was why he had such great admiration for the virus. It saw no race, religion, economic status, or fame. The virus was lethal equally and had no regard for anything or anyone. It was… perfect.

His cell phone rang, and he answered. “This is Kraski.”

“It’s done. They’ll be arriving within a few hours.”

The line went dead. He placed the phone in his pocket and got the bottle of champagne before returning to the balcony. But, glancing over at the clear waters of the hot tub, he felt the urge to splash around. He stripped down and got in.

He decided that he would watch the end of the world from there.