soul. Do you not see that? You are letting him in. I know you are better than—’
‘CLIMB OVER IT!’
He remained rooted to the spot. Leona aimed the barrel of the gun at his face and let her finger slide onto the trigger.
‘D-don’t,’ he whispered. She saw another crack in his calm demeanour, his eyes narrowing into a wince.
She aimed the gun a couple of inches to the left and pulled the trigger. The shot passed his head and echoed out across the stillness on the deck. He cowered at the deafening sound next to his ear.
‘CLIMB!’
Latoc hesitantly swung a leg over the safety barrier, then the other, eased himself over the rail and stood on the narrow lip of rusty metal beyond, one hand tightly holding the upper bar, his other arm, with its bandaged hand, wrapped around the stanchion.
Adam pushed his way through the crowd towards them. ‘Leona, we can’t do this just on someone’s say-so!’
She ignored him. ‘You . . .’ she started, her voice faltering to nothing but a croak. She hawked up and spat on the deck by Latoc’s feet. ‘People like you,’ she continued. ‘Takers. You take what you want, and fuck anyone else.’
She swung her aim back onto his face. ‘People like you, shit like you, took my father, took my daughter, took my brother, took . . . me.’ She found herself trembling, her voice robbed of the brittle force of righteous vengeance. Now it was little more than a fluttering whisper. ‘Takers . . . takers . . . takers. Fucking parasites. People like you,’ she said, leaning forward and prodding the muzzle against his cheek, ‘people like you fucked the whole world up; sucked it dry until everything collapsed.’
Brooks put a hand on her arm. ‘Leona.’
She shook it off, her eyes still on Valérie Latoc. ‘You. I hate men like you. Pricks . . . fucking selfish pricks.’
Valérie shook his head and smiled. Some sense of his calm composure rebuilt one more time. ‘You have me all wrong, Leona. I am not like other—’
‘NOW LET GO OF THE RAIL!’ she screamed. She hated the sound of her voice. It sounded like someone else. High-pitched and shrill and desperate.
Latoc’s eyes dipped and the smile slipped away. ‘I . . . I am human. I have human weaknesses. That is why the Lord came to me. Because, yes . . . I am . . . I was the lowest form of life, once. I was hated. I . . .’ He looked down in shame. ‘I was in prison for this kind of thing. I was spat at before the crash. I know what it is to be despised, Leona.’ He looked up at her again. ‘But He came to someone like me to show us all that anyone can be forgiven. Anyone!’
She laughed. ‘Oh, you want me to forgive you? Is that it?’
‘You . . . I see in you the strength to . . . to forgive.’
‘Just SHUT UP!’ she snapped at him. ‘Shut up!’
Adam tried again. ‘Leona,’ he said in a soft voice. ‘C’mon, Lee, this isn’t you. You can’t execute this man just on someone’s say-so. Give me the bloody gun.’
‘Leona,’ said Latoc, ‘this place, these rigs . . . this is a sacred place. It is the beginning.’
‘What?’
‘I was sent here. Do you see? Sent here. This place is the ark. I was sent here for a purpose. I—’
‘Is that the kind of crap you’ve been telling them?’ She laughed bitterly. ‘This is a . . . what? A Noah’s ark?!’
‘Yes,’ a woman called out from behind him. Leona turned round to see her mother pushing her way to the front. ‘That’s exactly the crap he’s been peddling. That we’re special because we’re going to be the last humans in the world.’
She joined Leona beside the railing. ‘But I think all he was really after was his own little brothel.’
‘No, that is not it, Jennifer,’ said Latoc quickly. ‘You have made a very special place here. God sees that. A very special place. God is grateful for all that you did.’
‘God’s grateful is He? Oh, yeah, God’s been a really nice guy. Was it God’s call that Walter be killed?’ She turned round to look at the others. ‘Or did you all have a hand in it?’
The crowd shuffled uneasily under her gaze.
Adam slowly extended a hand towards Leona. ‘This isn’t the right way to deal with this. Trust me, it’ll haunt you. Give me the gun.’
She