I, Neil: An Alice in Deadland Adventure (Alice, No. 8)

by Mainak Dhar

  Arjun has been listening quietly so far.

  'They had US Marines there. Good men, whom we know.'

  John growls back in response.

  'They may not even know what's coming in. Their job is to keep the airport secure, that's all. All we need to do is to get some of our people there to check the shipments and we may stop this flow.'

  Alice shakes her head, a glint in her eyes. The dead and wounded kids of Wonderland are on her mind, and someone will pay dearly soon.

  'You can smuggle in rifles, but not a rocket-launching system with rockets. Someone's also flying them out to the Red Guards. The Marines were good men, but do we even know if they're still guards there? None of us has been there for months. We've taken that link for granted. Perhaps we've been too complacent.'

  Something in me stirs. I am sure the boy called Neil would have never reacted like this, Doctor Edwards says that whatever turns us into Biters releases something in our brains that is normally suppressed in humans, something about the fight-or-flight instinct. When we sense a threat, we react fast and violently. But is that a bad thing? To fight for one's own rather than live like slaves as so many humans did under Zeus and the Central Committee? I can sense a fight coming, and I am ready for it.

  Alice grabs her gun.

  'It's always good to trust people, but even better to have a loaded gun ready if you need it.'

  ***

  Getting a team and weapons ready is easy. There are more than enough people tired of being on the defensive and waiting to take the fight to the enemy. What is more difficult is getting them to Kolkata without arousing suspicion. We do not know which of the Homelanders is working for Robertson and flying back on one of their planes could lead us into an ambush.

  Alice, Arjun and John have been inside the Looking Glass most of the day, trying to work out a plan. I take the opportunity to see how my friends are doing. As I walk into their midst, several of them are raring to go—to attack those who have been striking at us. They are scared, and that makes them dangerous to humans. I try to soothe them by herding them into a group and telling them to calm down. We may not be able to say the words, but over time, we learn to read moods, to smell emotions, and to convey our feelings through body language and sounds.

  When they are a bit more settled, I head back to the Looking Glass. Alice is waiting outside and she and John are smiling.

  'Neil, how would you like to lie down with some potatoes?'

  The plan is simple. We hide inside crates of vegetables being flown to the Homeland. John comes along, claiming to want to visit the Homeland after years, and at Kolkata he opens the crates and we get into the old airport to see what is happening.

  Like all plans, it has to change even before it starts. For there is disturbing news from the Homeland.

  Danish has called us all to the Looking Glass and as I walk there, many of the Homelanders are murmuring. Whatever it is, word has spread already, and from the expressions on their faces, it is not good news.

  When we all reach the Looking Glass, Danish plays a video on his screen. It is a young man with long brown hair topped by a hat. He is holding a guitar in his hands and looking at the camera. He is smiling and at first glance his blue eyes look friendly, but as I look deeper into them, I realize the intensity is that of a man who has lost his mind.

  'People of the Homeland, I am Adam Tunks and I am declaring a new nation with its capital right here in Paradise. No Biters, no threat of attack in the middle of the night. We do not need the feeble armies of Robertson to protect us. Come and join us. Let us rebuild this great nation together right here in Paradise, with the beautiful lake behind us and ample stocks of food and water.'

  The camera moves back. He is flanked by masked men carrying rifles and rocket launchers with a large banner above them saying, 'Whitefish Township Rockets,' with a single line below it.

  'Fear the Rockets.'

  ***

  I thought the man was insane, talking about the Paradise where humans believe their souls go after they die. Biters do not harbor such thoughts. Perhaps we too have souls, and it is that soul that is making me remember my past, but I do not think there is a Paradise. Even if there is, I see little sense in humans laying waste to their present, being cruel to their fellow humans, and talking of gods and Paradise. If there is a God, he must first live in each of us, guiding us to protect each other. If there is a Paradise, it is to be created where we live. That is what Alice had tried to create in Wonderland, what we are trying to defend.

  I stop myself.

  Whose thoughts are these?

  Whose words are these?

  As Bunny Ears, I would never have thought of such things.

  So it must be Neil. Has he stopped just coming in my dreams and started entering my mind during my waking hours? Has he started putting words into my head?

  John walks by with news for all of us. He and Danish have been doing some research on this Adam Tunks. Paradise is a small town in a place called Michigan and Adam Tunks has been carving out his territory for months, using weapons looted from old armories to destroy whoever comes in his way. There is more disturbing news from forums Danish has seen—no Biters are to be seen in Adam Tunks' Paradise. Some talk of 'cleansing', others talk in more plain terms of wholescale slaughter.

  'Robertson has just gone on air to say that the authority of the government will not be challenged and there are reports that air strikes have taken place against Tunks' forces. They are hardly a pushover. They have portable anti-aircraft missiles and one jet has been shot down. The Homeland is in a state of civil war.'

  Alice sits down. She is taking this hard. She was fond of Konrath and of the people in the Homeland she met. Her parents were from the Homeland, and she fought side by side with the Resistance there to overthrow the Executive Committee. Now all of it is going to be in vain. The humans in the Homeland are turning on each other, and on Biters, and that chaos is touching us already in Wonderland.

  Arjun alone seems to see some good in it.

  'If Robertson has been arming the Red Guards, at least he'll have his hands full on the home front and hopefully the threat to us here will go down.'

  I wish I can share his optimism. I wish no more attacks strike the people of Wonderland.

  But both of us are wrong. Another huge explosion rocks Wonderland. We rush to the scene of the attack and find that another rocket has been fired at us. Luckily, it hit an empty building and nobody has been killed, though a few people were cut by flying glass. For all our patrols, the enemy is proving that he can strike us at will.

  I am unable to spend too much time at the place where the rocket hit, as Danish is gathering us, calling us back to the Looking Glass.

  It looks like Robertson wants to talk to Alice.

  ***

  We wait no longer than a few minutes, and then Robertson's face comes on the screen. John says that it is the middle of the night in the Homeland, and Robertson's bloodshot eyes speak to not only no sleep this night but perhaps for several nights.

  'Alice, you have no doubt heard of the troubles we have in the Homeland. There are many bandits and warlords who are out to grab power, and a few, like this Adam Tunks, have the firepower to pose some problems. We will crush them and restore order, but this chaos is beginning to tell on people's nerves.'

  Alice glares at his image on the screen, and if I were Robertson, I would not want to face Alice in person today.

  'You worry about your people's nerves—what about the people of Wonderland? We are being attacked daily by heavy rockets that the Red Guards could not just have discovered out in the Deadland, and which could not have found their way here without someone in authority in the Homeland helping make it happen.'

  Robertson leans forward, hatred in his eyes.

  'I am in charge here and I have the authority to make things happen. Don't worry about that. You should be more worried about securing the safety of your own city.'

  He spits out
the last word, as if driving home the fact that we have but a small city to call home compared to the vast nation he claims to rule. If he thinks this will intimidate us, he is wrong. Even if we had just a few buildings to call home, we would protect them with our lives, since that home was won with our blood.

  Arjun and John start to say something, but Alice raises her hand to quieten them.

  'Yes, this is our city and our home, and we will crush anyone who threatens us, especially cowards who fire rockets from a safe distance to hit our children.'

  Now Robertson has a smug smile on his face, and I know that he has something planned; this call is not just to exchange threats but to lay out what he wants.

  'As the lawful President of the Homeland, I can make a lot of things happen. That includes clamping down on the supply of arms to those Red Guards who are making your life difficult. But to do that, I need something in return. Watch the daily news this evening and you'll learn what I want. Give me what I want and the attacks can stop as easily as they started.'

  ***

  We are all gathered at the old stadium where on the giant screen, Danish is projecting the daily news broadcast from the Homeland. A woman is on the screen, reading from some papers in front of her.

  'In today's headlines, air strikes have hit renegade Biters near Delaware and special forces have managed to get more than fifty of the survivors into reintegration camps where they will not be a threat to humans. The terrorists of the Whitefish Rockets have announced a no-fly zone over large areas of Michigan, threatening to shoot down any government airplane that violates their claimed airspace. The National Security Advisor has declared this unlawful and declared that the terrorist actions of this group and their self-styled leader, Adam Tunks, will not be tolerated.'

  She looks to her right, as if someone is prompting her, and then looks back to the camera.

  'There is a special announcement today straight from the White House. Give us a moment and we'll take you there.'

  The screen fades and then I see a large white building with several portions of it torn down or blackened. A lot of poles and ladders are set up around it, and an army of men are working on it. The screen fades again and Robertson is sitting at a desk with a large bird drawn on the floor in front of him.

  An eagle. The symbol of the President of the old nation of the United States.

  I don't remember ever having seen an Eagle, or knowing what this symbol is. But Neil knows, and he is letting me know.

  'My fellow Homelanders. I am speaking to you from the White House, and as you have seen, we are rebuilding it. Washington is now clear of the radiation that plagued it after the Rising, and just as we are rebuilding the White House, we need to rebuild the nation. You have heard of warlords claiming to be rulers of their own little nations, but to be strong, we must be united.'

  This Robertson can be a good leader when he wants to be one. As John once told me, people like him have that talent—to be a snake one minute and a great leader the next. John says they had a word for people like Robertson back before the Rising.

  Politician.

  'What unites us today is fear. Fear of rampaging Biters, fear of bandits and warlords, fear of an uncertain future. I will replace that with hope. Hope for a better tomorrow, hope that petty warlords will no longer hold us hostage, and importantly, hope that those we call Biters will rejoin us in our communities. Not to be feared, but to be truly reintegrated. They are in the reintegration camps as a temporary measure, to ensure no violence, but I have a bigger plan in mind for them. How many of you have lost friends and family members to the darkness that we used to associate with being a Biter? A darkness from which there was no return? Well, there is a return.'

  I am standing now, suddenly aware that something is happening that I am not prepared for. Something that I do not want.

  'Our scientists have been working on that under my direction, but now we have a breakthrough that can help us. There is a Biter who now remembers who he was. A Biter who has remembered how to speak. I will get that Biter from the Deadland to our Homeland, where our scientists can study him and develop a similar cure for all Biters. Think of it—a society united again. Your friends and family back with you again. Our great nation, and our world, the way it once was. All we need is stability and for you to trust my government. God bless the Homeland.'

  As the screen turns blank, I can sense thousands of eyes on me. Aalok sometimes shows me a game he likes playing called Chess and once in a while I remember that Neil used to play it. Robertson is playing a similar game.

  And I am the pawn.

  ***

  FIVE

  I have not seen Alice so tense in a long time. She keeps walking up and down the hallway, once in a while pausing to kick the wall. She is taking out her anger and frustration on the poor wall, but I know that when she is like this, it is best to wait.

  Arjun and John are behind me. We are all waiting for Alice to speak. Finally she stops pacing and looks at me. Straight into my eyes.

  'My father sent me and the Queen to safety and defied Zeus, knowing he and the others in the settlement with him would face certain death, because it was more important to get the truth about the Rising out. I thought I had courage after fighting so many battles, but now I know that he was much more courageous than I am. It takes much more courage to sacrifice those you care about than to just put your own life on the line.'

  She stops and keeps walking. I wait for her to collect her thoughts, to make the decision that I know she must. She stops again and simply says, 'I cannot do this.'

  I have not spoken since I stopped the girl from stepping on the bomb, but the time to worry about drawing attention to myself is past. It is time I spoke up, that I did my duty to the people who have given me a home. To Alice.

  'You must.'

  She looks at me, a sad smile playing on the edges of her mouth, and I can feel John's strong grip on my shoulder. He speaks, his voice low.

  'I will come with you, brother.'

  At that moment I know that I am giving up my life for those worthy of it. People who accept me as one of their own, who trust me, and who will put their own lives on the line for me. Alice nods and she smiles at me. Then a mask of rage covers her face and she looks at Arjun.

  'We kill two birds with one stone. We get Neil to the Homeland along with John and we also use the same flight to get some fighters into Kolkata airport and put an end to this weapon smuggling. We tell the Marines there that we want to inspect every flight coming in for weapons. If they choose to fight, we end it fast. Got it?'

  Arjun has a grin on his face. After days of attacks, he can finally strike back.

  'I'll get a team ready and I'll lead them.'

  Alice shakes her head.

  'No, Arjun. You are needed here—the people of Wonderland need someone who can lead them in peace. I will go and set this right myself.'

  Then she looks at John.

  'Bring him back, Neil. There is no Wonderland, there is no Alice without her Bunny Ears.'

  ***

  This is a kind of war we know how to fight. A war waged in darkness, where death comes to the enemy not in the form of a marauding army, but by creeping up on him from the shadows. Alice and I have fought many such battles, against Zeus, the Red Guards, bandits, the armies of the Executive Committee in the Homeland, the Phantoms and the enemies on the ship called the Crocodile. Battles blur, individual enemies are forgotten, but this is something that is second nature to us.

  At times, Alice tells me that she wonders if it is wrong that she enjoys battle so much. I have never told her this, but of late, I have started wondering the same thing. When I am sitting in Wonderland in the middle of friends, why do I always keep looking for enemies? When I hear a loud noise, why do I assume it is a gun? When someone makes a sudden movement, why do I feel like lashing out? Humans feel that they wage war when they want. I think they are wrong. War is a master which ends up controlling those who wage it. Once yo
u are as scarred by war as Alice and I am, you never really stop waging war, because the enemy you fight is not outside, but within.

  You are probably wondering how a Biter can think so much. Well, we do think about things. The madness of a world where people turn on each other for land, money and oil. The cruelty of assuming that anyone who is different is a threat. The futility of believing that violence is the solution. But you humans have the weapons, the vehicles, the bombs, and so you call the shots. We have just tried to survive in a world gone mad, where one day we awoke voiceless, helpless, driven by a compulsive urge to protect our own and lash out at those who would threaten them.

  After we moved to Wonderland I saw a dog being stoned by some children. The dog bared its fangs and scared the kids away. Who was the mindless monster? Who was the animal?

  Of late such thoughts have started flooding my mind. Perhaps this is Neil, making me ask questions to which I have no answer. Did Neil think so much? If so, no wonder he had a short life. This world is not one that belongs to those that think too much. It is a world divided between those who seek power at any cost, the vast majority who allow them to do so, and the few who have the courage to resist them.

  That is what we are out to do.

  John and I are sitting in the main cabin of the airplane that is flying us to Kolkata while Alice, Salil and two more fighters are hidden in crates containing food headed to the Homeland. The plan is simple. Once John and I get off to wait for the plane to be fueled as it takes off for the Homeland, we will distract the guards long enough for Alice and the others to get out. John has a friend at the base, a man he says we can trust. He will help ensure that there are no hostilities, though we are more than prepared to fight our way through. The plan is to explain what is happening in Wonderland and that we suspect that weapons are being smuggled in and for us to check the existing cargo at the airport. Alice will then leave two men there permanently, their job being to ensure no weapons are being brought in. If the men are harmed, then Alice will halt all flights to the Homeland.