by Robert Boren
“UN Peacekeepers executed militia survivors, police, and National Guard members in Penn Wynne,” he told Cliff, his eyes wide with fear.
“Oh, you saw that,” Cliff said. “Heard something about it. Why’d they kill the police officers and National Guard troops?”
“They refused to fire on the citizen militia,” Romano said, shaking his head. “The optics here are terrible. It’ll build the resistance. Sit. I’m calling Mateo.”
Cliff nodded, sitting in a chair facing the desk, Romano calling Mateo on the speaker phone.
“Ah, Governor Romano, nice to hear from you,” Mateo said.
“I’ve got Cliff Bates here,” Romano said, an icy edge to his voice.
“Hello, Cliff. Is there something wrong, Governor Romano? You sound upset.”
“We just saw what happened in Penn Wynne,” Romano said, his face flushing. “Did you order that?”
“I don’t control day-to-day actions on the ground,” he said. “You disapprove?”
“Putting down the militia was fine,” Romano said. “Executing the survivors like that isn’t helpful. It’ll build the resistance.”
Mateo chuckled. “We need to increase the fear factor. You know this. Expect similar incidents in the near future. The UN is the new authority in the United States. They must be treated with fear and respect.”
“If you do something similar in my state, I’ll kick the UN out of here.”
“I was afraid that would be your reaction,” Mateo said. “Cliff, you know what to do.”
“What the hell?” Romano said, glancing at Cliff, who had a silenced pistol pointed at him. He fired three times, killing Romano instantly.
“It’s done,” Cliff said. “The cleaners are close by, correct?”
“They’ll flood in the door within minutes,” Mateo said. “Take out the secretary personally. She knows too much.”
“I’ve got plans for her first,” Cliff said.
Mateo chuckled. “Don’t keep her around for long. She’ll escape and talk. Grab her and go into the bunker below the mansion. Understand? Kill anybody else who might be there before the cleaners arrive.”
“You got it,” Cliff said. “Talk to you soon.”
Cliff left the office, trying to look distraught, going to Clara’s desk. She glanced up, eyes focusing on him a moment under black bangs. Then she focused her eyes back on her screen. “Something wrong?”
“Somebody shot Governor Romano,” he said, forcing tears from his eyes. “We’re about to come under attack.”
She froze, looking up and then rushing into the office, screaming when she saw Romano’s body slumped over his desk. Just at that moment machine gun fire erupted on the ground floor.
“C’mon,” Cliff said, grabbing Clara, dragging her out the door, moving towards the back stairs to the bunker.
“Stop, let me go,” Clara cried, the gunfire below ramping up, people screaming and yelling.
“Don’t you hear that? Quit fighting me. We’ll just make it to the bunker if we hurry.”
She shook her head, then gave up the struggle, running ahead of him towards the bunker, Cliff struggling to keep up as they flew down the stairs.
“Good, you getting the bunker open?” asked a man, helping a woman into the downstairs corridor. Cliff pulled his pistol and shot both, Clara catching it out of the corner of her eye, pouring on the speed, getting around the corner before Cliff could get there. He rounded it, and she was gone.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered to himself, rushing to the vault door, trying his code. The console buzzed at him, saying Invalid Authorization. Cliff screamed with rage, fumbling for his phone, hitting Mateo’s contact as he ducked into a storage room.
Mateo’s voice came on the line. “What? I’m busy.”
“The secretary got into the bunker and locked me out. You’ve got to tell the cleaners about me. I was supposed to be gone.”
“You moron,” Mateo said. “Screw you. You’re too stupid to be with us, and you were the last person who knew about my incident. Win win situation. See you in hell.” The line went dead.
Cliff’s heart hammered in his chest. “Damn you.” He slipped out of the storage room, turning to run down the long hall towards the underground garage. He heard the stairwell door slam open, then the gunfire, the bullets ripping into his back, stopping his heart.
***
John was still hammering on his keyboard when Linda came in crying.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“They killed them,” she said, rushing to him as he stood, hugging him tight.
“Who killed who?”
“The UN. They lined up the survivors from the Penn Wynne militia, plus the police and National Guard people who refused to fire. Executed all of them in front of the school.”
John froze, the anger rising in him again. “Son of a bitch.”
Pat and Craig came in the room.
“Things are getting crazier,” Craig said. “The Peacekeepers tried to leave, and now there’s a shitload of armed citizens taking them on.”
“Language,” Pat said, looking numb, Linda going to her side.
“Let’s go talk about something else.”
Pat shook herself out of it. “No, Linda. I’m shocked, but I’m okay.”
“Is this on TV right now?” John asked.
Craig nodded yes. “C’mon.”
John saved his work, and they rushed back to the living room, gathering around the TV, John and Craig standing, watching as the UN Peacekeepers fired back at the growing crowd, who were behind cover.
“Look, the National Guard who weren’t killed are joining with the citizens,” Craig said, a smile washing over his face. “So are the police.”
“The UN went too far,” Linda said, all of them standing now.
The commentator came back on, his face showing in a window at the lower-left corner of the screen.
As you can see, things have gotten completely out of control, and for good reason. I don’t know what the UN Peacekeepers were thinking, but I’ll bet they regret their actions now. Chauncey, do you have a good vantage point in News Copter 6?
I do, a voice said. There are armed citizens rushing in from miles around, some driving, some on foot.
The video feed from the chopper came on the screen, showing a multitude of people rushing in, finding cover and firing at the surrounded UN Peacekeepers, who were struggling to get into the school building. As they ran up to the front door, somebody inside opened fire, killing several Peacekeepers, the rest screaming in terror and running back to their positions, several hit by the citizen fire before they could make it.
“Oh boy, here comes the police,” Pat said, pointing as several armored police vehicles drove up. Officers piled out the back. The commentator’s face was back in the lower left corner.
Good, more police have arrived. Hopefully they can bring calm.
Craig laughed. “They’re shooting at the UN Peacekeepers.”
Suddenly the commentator’s eyes got wide. Who are you? What are you doing in my newsroom?
A voice with a German accent came from off-screen. Sorry, show’s over.
Machinegun fire went off, hitting the commentator in the face, Pat and Linda screaming as he slumped, others on the set begging for their lives as they were shot.
“Check the other stations,” Craig shouted, John grabbing the remote, switching to the next channel, which was already off the air, the color-bar pattern showing. The next channel showed the news crew laying on the set floor or slumped dead over their desks.
“This can’t stand,” John said.
Craig looked over at him, bewildered. “The cat’s out of the bag. Plenty of people saw all of this.”
Gunfire erupted outside.
“That’s close,” Linda said. “Too close.”
“It’s miles away, but it’s in the valley,” Craig said.
“How do you know that?” Pat asked, shaking with fear.
“Hunting. You get used to it.”
John was rolling through the TV channels now, all the stations down. He clicked it off and set down the remote. “Maybe the radio has something.” He turned it on. There was the sound of heavy breathing.
We’re on the run, but still on the air remotely. Arm yourselves. This is an invasion. It’s up to us to fight for ourselves. The government appears to be our enemy now.
“Why is there gunfire in our valley?” Pat asked.
“I don’t know,” Craig said, “but sounds like it’s over already.”
***
Albena looked at the data on her screen, then called Mayor Fine over to her station.
“Yes?” Mayor Fine asked.
“I’m sending a URL to your team. Send all correspondence through that, and they’ll be run through the City Hall systems. Anybody looking at the source address will think the message originated in your bunker.”
“Perfect,” he said.
“Wait, there’s more. The second URL I just sent out. Use that to enter the City Hall system to pick up messages from the outside. When you reply to e-mails via the link it’ll appear as if you are there. You have to be on our Wi-Fi to use this, so make sure your team members are logged on.”
“They’re already on it,” Mayor Fine said. “Cary helped them. No cell coverage down here though, except for those crazy thin phones some of you have.”
“Those are satellite phones,” Albena said. “You’ll probably get those soon.”
“That’s what Cary said.”
“Somebody call me?” Cary asked, walking in with Hector.
“No, I just mentioned that you helped us get onto the Wi-Fi,” Mayor Fine said.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Cary said. “Set your cell phones up for Wi-Fi calling, and it’ll look like you’re calling from the City Hall bunker. Just got that set up, thanks to Hector.”
“Okay, I’ll spread the word to the rest of the team,” Mayor Fine said.
“This won’t work forever,” Albena said. “They’ll get wise.”
Cary nodded. “Hell, this place won’t last forever. They’ll figure out where we are eventually.”
Mayor Fine set up his Wi-Fi calling as Jean walked in. “Oh, good. Set your cellphone up for Wi-Fi calling, and tell everybody else to do the same.”
“Why?” Jean asked.
“It’ll look like it’s coming from inside the City Hall bunker. We want them to think we’re still there for as long as possible.”
“Hey, did you see what just happened in Philly?” Penko asked.
“What now?” Cary asked.
“The damn UN provoked the people, and now they’re rising up. Check out the story. It’s all over social media.”
Mayor Fine sat at the PC he was using and checked it out, his eyes getting wide. “The UN executed a bunch of people, and it was shown on several TV stations. Now the citizens are fighting them openly.”
Albena was typing furiously, her brow furrowed. “This is really bad. The UN’s leadership are out of their minds.”
“I’ll say,” Penko said. “This is good for us, as horrible as it is.”
Mayor Fine jerked as his phone buzzed him. He pulled it out. “It’s Tracy McCain.”
“The Lieutenant Governor?” Jean asked.
“She’s asking for a phone call. Says it’s urgent. Round up the others, and let’s meet in that call room we just used.”
Jean nodded, rushing into the next room.
Penko looked at Albena, who was on the verge of tears. “You okay?”
She eyed him a moment. “It’s on. It’s not just a handful of operatives like us. People are rising up. They just finished off the UN Peacekeepers who executed the patriots. Also finished off reinforcements they sent in. Oh, and get this. All the local TV stations were attacked while they were broadcasting live. Executed for all to see.”
“So they’ve got a media blackout on this?”
Albena smiled. “No need for the legacy media now. Everybody’s got a smart phone. This event is being covered by thousands of people. Way more than the enemy can stop.”
***
Mayor Fine brought his team into the call room. “Everybody, we are still in the City Hall Bunker. Don’t slip. Tracy needs to think that. Understand?”
“Yes sir,” Chief Harvey said.
The others nodded in agreement.
He hit the Lieutenant Governor’s contact. It rang twice and clicked.
“Mayor Fine?” asked a scared woman’s voice.
“Yes. What’s going on?”
“I was moved to the secure location after the bombing. Got a call from my office. Apparently Governor Romano has been murdered, and a team came in afterwards and killed everybody in the building.”
“Everybody?” Chief Harvey asked.
“Who’s that?”
“Chief of the NYPD,” Mayor Fine said. “You’re saying Governor Romano is dead?”
“That’s what I’ve been told. Nancy, my aid, was called by another employee who was on scene. Nancy said she was killed while talking to her on the phone.”
“Oh no,” Jean said.
“I’ve left the secure location, heading for a place nobody knows about,” McCain said. “We’re being hunted. This is a coup. Has anybody heard from President Simpson?”
“I’ll try after this call,” Mayor Fine said.
“Are you still in contact with the person who told you about this?” Chief Harvey asked.
“No, I can’t raise her anymore. I fear the worst.”
“She was at the Governor’s Office?” Mayor Fine asked.
“Down the street, at the Capitol. She heard gunfire in that building, and then she was off the line.”
Mayor Fine and Chief Harvey shot each other a glance.
“Where are you?” McCain asked.
“In the City Hall bunker,” Mayor Fine said. “I’m glad you left the known location. Better watch how much you use your cellphone. They’re traceable, you know.”
“Oh God,” she said. “Got to go.” The call ended.
“I smell the UN,” Julio said.
“Why would they kill Romano?” Kate asked. “He was on their side.”
“Cliff Bates was there,” Jean said. “There was a press release.”
“Wonder if he had a gun with him?” Chief Harvey quipped, looking ashamed when nobody laughed. “Sorry, that was in poor taste.”
Mayor Fine shrugged. “Jean, do we have a number for President Simpson?”
“I don’t know for sure,” she said. “He might be dirty, you know.”
“He probably is,” Chief Harvey said, “and calling him might give up our position. I’d skip the call for now.”
There was a knock at the door.
“Yes?” Mayor Fine asked.
Albena came in. “I’m seeing citizen video evidence of an attack in the Governor’s office in Albany. Shows Governor Romano dead on his office chair. A commando team went in there and killed everybody, from the look of it.”
“That’s why we were in here,” Mayor Fine said. “This is on social media?”
“Yeah, we’ve got people livestreaming the whole thing on their cell phones,” Albena said. “Want to come out and watch? Penko has been showing the most active feeds on the screens.”
“Yeah, we’re done in here,” Mayor Fine said. He turned to Jean and Kate. “This might not be for the squeamish.”
“I need to see it,” Kate said. “We’re in this now. Better get over the shock in a hurry.”
“Well said,” Jean said.
The team went back into the intel room, most of the others there now, watching the screens.
“Oh my,” Jean said, her hand going over her mouth. “That’s Cliff Bates, on the hallway floor.”
“Geez, you’re right,” Chief Harvey said. “Why would they kill him?”
Mayor Fine watched it for a moment, his brow furrowed. He looked over at Chief Harvey. “Maybe we ought to check in on
our families.”
Chief Harvey froze, his face flushing. “You’re right. We need to send them someplace safe. How about the rest of the team?”
“I got nobody,” Julio said.
“My mother lives in New Mexico,” Kate said.
“My folks are in Colorado,” Jean said, “and my sister is in Austin.”
Mayor Fine stood. “Well, I’m going to go make some calls. Remember, we’re in the City Hall bunker, even to our families. Get it? Don’t give anything away. We don’t want them trying to get here. They know they can’t go to City Hall.”
“Understand,” Chief Harvey said, going into the back.
“What’s going on at City Hall?” Julio asked. “Is the drone still up there?”
“It was until about twenty minutes ago,” Penko said. “Had to refuel, but it’ll be back.”
“Did they bring in more heavy equipment?” Kate asked.
“Not while we were watching,” Penko said. “Just a sec, I’ll check on it.” He focused on his PC screen, typing on his keyboard. “It’s already on the way back. Be there soon.”
Albena looked up from her monitor. “UN Peacekeepers starting to converge on Penn Station again.”
“Dammit,” Slash said, shaking his head. “Do we go back in?”
“I’m seeing about fifty-thousand now,” Albena said, “and rising. It would be a suicide mission, and they’ll be watching the tunnels.”
Cary looked over. “You see them on the streets? The drone is armed, and I can control it.”
Albena smiled. “They’re being cautious. Half of them are going to the bus terminal on 9th and 31st.”
Penko brought up a satellite map of that spot. “We could nail them there.”
Cary sat in front of his terminal, typing on the keyboard.
“Hey, we should put out social media postings about the build-up,” Laleh said. “Make it go viral. There are armed citizens about.”
“That’s a damn good idea,” Eve said. “Let’s get on that. Who wants to help?”
“I will,” Tad said. “Hey Kinsey, get over here. You’ve got some social media knowledge.”
“Yep, I know what to do,” Kinsey said, getting next to his terminal.
“I can help too,” Julio said. “Did a lot with social media. I have user IDs on a lot of important outlets.”
