Dawn of Defiance

by Dempsey, Albert

  Yet, not far away, Steenkamp's secret weapon was making its way along the N7 highway towards Lutzville.

  Chapter 46

  "Who controls the food supply controls the people, and who controls the money controls the world."Hendry Kissinger

  It was totally irrational to go back into Lutzville again and to spray paint the town hall with anti government graffiti. Doing the unexpected was part of Nathan’s strategy, and it had back fired. The slogans only added fuel to the already volatile situation. Yet there was an uneasy calm inside the church as they watched as more vehicles took up position outside. However the magnitude of their circumstances only became apparent when they heard the unique sound of a military helicopter. A sound they had all heard before.

  Steenkamp's visit the day before gave Hannes some sense of relief; he still felt that the Colonel was a reasonable man.

  "I think we should surrender," he kept on saying.

  The few guns they had, now meant nothing, as they would be no match against the onslaught of Steenkamp’s troops. Not to mention sleep deprivation had left them on edge and fatigued. Their only saving grace now was the fact that Steenkamp wanted them to surrender and the media was camped close by. Lutzville had featured on most of the news networks, something the Mayor was very happy about. Finally his little town was getting some publicity.

  Leaving Hannes and Zane at their look out posts at either end of the church, Nathan climbed the steel ladder inside the steeple to get a better look from an elevated position. It was still the tallest building in town.

  From his vantage point he could see troops stationed at every conceivable escape route. Armored vehicles blocked the roads leading in and out of the town. Two helicopters and a few support vehicles occupied the local school ground. Steenkamp’s command vehicle was still parked in the exact same position as it was yesterday, directly outside the front entrance, less than fifty meters from the church. In the distance, a few blocks away, was the massive NG Church with its even more grandeur design and church steeple.

  A UWN military vehicle was now parked at the intersection. It resembled an armored troop carrier with a radar dish installed on the turret, mounted on either side were two strange pods. The fact that the main cannon was removed gave Nathan some sense of comfort.

  They're all awake and ready for us, he thought to himself.

  Nathan looked at the tower again and caught a slight glimpse of movement. Looking through his binoculars he saw the sniper already in position, with his sights focused directly on him. Nathan dropped quickly out of sight as his heart began to race.

  Returning to Zane and Hannes, he decided not to tell them about the snipers as it would serve no purpose to worry them unnecessary.

  A loud beep, the sound they all dreaded returned as the police radio came back to life.

  "Ah, I think they ready for us!" Nathan said as he made his way to answer it.

  "Good morning," Nathan said to Steenkamp who had initiated the contact.

  It was 6.30 am and the day was about to begin.

  "I hope the three of you have come to your senses, and you have decided to surrender morning."

  From the tone of Steenkamp's voice, he sounded calm and collected.

  "Actually, no, we haven’t decided yet.” Nathan replied.

  “We don’t make any decisions on empty stomachs."

  There was a silence for a while..… Steenkamp was losing his patience.

  "Don't play the fool with me, Nathan; you are just stalling for time. Listen here, you’ve led us on a wild goose chase for far too long. It’s ending today. The time to make a decision is now, so make the right choice or I promise you, that you’ll live to regret it." Steenkamp said with a slight twist of anger.

  "I’ll give you twenty minutes and not one second more, to decide."

  With that the radio went dead.

  Nathan turned to face Hannes and Zane who he could see were ready to surrender.

  "It's your decision if you want to, I won’t talk you out of it. But just know one thing, they're not interested in anything else but silencing us once and for all. While we're here with the media we pose a threat, but after they raid this building, it's over for us. I promise you one thing; they will do what they want with us and give us no guarantees. Basically, we're already dead. If you choose to surrender, you will survive the day, but tomorrow you will be tortured and forced to confess to crimes you never committed. And, when you’re of no further use, they’ll execute you. Take my word for it."

  The men just looked at each other with blank expressions.

  Perhaps Nathan was wrong, he had been before.

  "I don't want to die today," Hannes said.

  "Neither do I, but today may be the best day of all days to die," Nathan replied.

  At first they didn’t understand, but when his statement finally sunk in, then they realized its meaning. Zane sunk down to his haunches as he realized the truth. Perhaps it was after all a good day to die, especially for something he stood for.

  "It's better to die while standing up for something you believe in, than to die screaming at the hands of an interrogator," Nathan said as he sat down next to Zane.

  "I’m not surrendering either," he said turning to Nathan.

  They both looked across the room at Hannes who had gone into shock. Nathan stood up and walked over to the bench where he rested Nicole's hunting rifle. He unzipped it from its cover and took it out.

  Hannes and Zane watched as he loaded a round into the chamber then he slammed the bridge closed. It was ready for action. He then checked his own 9mm, and took out the two spare clips of ammo. Hannes began to pace, he was deep in thought.

  "We won’t get out of here alive, trust me, they're already preparing to storm the building."

  Hannes stopped pacing.

  "I’m going to surrender," he said.

  Zane wanted to protest but Nathan interrupted.

  "If that’s what you want then you must make peace with it and prepare yourself for what lies ahead."

  Hannes slammed his fist on the wooded table.

  "Please, just leave me the fuck alone.” He replied.

  “I just want to live a normal life again. I'm tired of being on the run all the time," Hannes replied.

  Just then the radio crackled to life again. Nathan went over and answered.

  "I guess we’ve run out of time then," he replied to Steenkamp.

  "Nathan, please don’t be stupid; just surrender and we can resolve this properly without the need for bloodshed."

  "Bloodshed, please spare me! This is all a game to you, Colonel. Do not think for one second I don't understand. At this moment you and your troops are all fired up; this is the most exhilarating thing to happen. You actually want to storm the building and shoot us." Nathan said.

  "All we wanted to do was to live our lives in peace, to be self-sustaining, and to go about our business according to our faith. But that was against your rules. Well, who gave you the right anyway to decide for us?" he asked.

  There was silence and then Steenkamp answered.

  "Why don't you give yourselves up Nathan and we can discuss this in as much detail as you like?"

  "Do you really believe I'm that stupid? You are not interested in our opinion but just in keeping us silent and obedient so you can crush our spirits. Well, we'll never be silenced, the more you strike us down, the stronger we’ll become."

  Just then Nathan heard the back door close and he spun around just in time to see Hannes leave the building.

  "No please, Fuck," he said to Zane, who went to the far window to see Hannes slowly making his way towards the surveillance vehicle with his hands raised in surrender. He was still clutching the 9mm.

  "It’s too late Nathan, just let him go." Zane said.

  Nathan grabbed his rifle and made his way up the narrow ladder towards the top of the steeple to get a better look. Hannes has already gained some ground and was making his way towards the command vehicle. The fool
was still holding his gun, yet it was obvious that he wanted to surrender; Nathan just hoped that they would be gentle with him.

  The thought went through his mind that it would be best for him to shoot Hannes himself and spare him the agony of torture. Hannes could never imagine just how cruel they would be, and what measure of torture they would inflict on his innocent soul.

  Nathan took the rifle and fixed the sights on Hannes and then slowly he moved the cross hairs up until he found the back of his head.

  Do I have the right to take his life and spare him the pain of interrogation? He thought.

  Nathan brought his index finger into position and rested it gently on the trigger. Quick and painless, no fuss, no screams, it would all be over in the blink of an eye.

  Nathan took a deep breath and began to exhale when all of a sudden Hannes slumped to the ground and collapsed. Nathan had not fired the shot.

  He swung the rifle up towards the far tower where he had spotted a sniper earlier. A puff of smoke still hung in the air marking the spot from where the fatal shot was fired. Nathan adjusted his sights as he remained focused on the sniper, who was still fixed on his target lying on the ground below. Nathan had never fired this rifle before, but he instinctively squeezed the trigger as soon as he felt he had achieved the right settings. His years of military training had paid off.

  The sniper's head also exploded as he slumped over to his side. It only took a second or two before Nathan’s own position was riddled with gunfire.

  Finally, it’s has begun.

  Nathan quickly made his way down the small staircase until he got to a window on the opposite side. It looked over a field where other troops were dug in. He took aim once again at his next target and reset his sights. Deep within his soul he felt the change, the coldness moving through him like a wave. He selected a soldier who was no threat to anyone, and fired. The soldier dropped to the ground holding his leg in pain. He reloaded and took aim at another soldier who came running towards his fallen comrade. He fired again and dropped that soldier within meters of his friend.

  All hell broke loose as troops from all side now opened fire on the church. Nathan climbed down as fast as he could, falling the last few meters as plaster and brick exploded around him. The fire-fight was now on, as shells hit the church building from all sides. Windows exploded and roof tiles went flying, and then all of a sudden, it stopped.

  Breathing deeply and in pain from the fall, Nathan leopard crawled into the main worship hall where Zane was crouched in the corner.

  "Hannes is dead," Nathan said. "They shot him in cold blood."

  The radio screamed once again and Nathan crawled over to answer it.

  "You murdered my friend in cold blood, your words mean fuck all to me anymore. Hannes wanted to surrender, so if you want us you better be prepared because we're not going down without a fight!"

  It was silent on the other side until Steenkamp spoke.

  "Nathan, I have ordered my men to cease fire. Let's talk."

  "What's the point in that now, you’ve already broken your word.”

  "They tell me you’ve shot three of my men, all I have to do is give the order and they will finish you off."

  "Go for it Commander, we're ready to die, I just hope your men feel the same way, because many of them will need those body bags."

  This was not the way it was supposed to play out.

  "Nathan, come now please, it's not too late, we can still resolve this."

  Just then the iBand unit he swopped with Kate a few days earlier beeped.

  It was obvious that Steenkamp heard the sound.

  "Give us another twenty minutes" he said as he put the radio down to answered the iBand.

  "Nathan, oh my God finally!" Nicole said.

  The last time they had spoken was three days ago after their emotional goodbye.

  Her voice sounded like paradise.

  "Nathan, the batteries will hold for only a few minutes so I’ll be brief: we’ve finally arrived, our crossing was scary, but we managed it ok. Can you believe it, we swam across the Orange River, it was that simple. But we had to do it at night so I was terrified. We also just missed a massive road-block, by the way; I think they were looking for us.

  But anyway, tell me what's happening so we can make plans to meet up?" Nicole asked.

  The last thing he wanted was to tell her the truth. To worry her unnecessary, but unfortunately he had to tell her now as there was no good news, no matter how much he wanted to believe it. They would not be escaping.

  "Babe, they’re probably listening to this frequency so I’ll be quick. They have us pinned down in a church in Lutzville. There is a massive Police contingent here, so I think it's over for us, we will not be able to escape."

  Nicole was silent for a while.

  "Nathan, what do you mean you're trapped, you must be able to escape."

  "No babe, not this time, they have us completely surrounded and we are trapped."

  The audio signal was not very clear, but she heard the words nevertheless.

  "Nathan, now you listen to me carefully, don’t do anything stupid ok? Just give yourself up," she pleaded with him.

  "I need you to survive ok? It is very important."

  Nathan knew the gravity of the situation was far more serious than Nicole would ever imagine. He had now unfortunately killed a man and there would be retribution. To tell her this was of no use at all. He desperately wanted to listen to her voice as it soothed him in a way.

  "Nathan, baby, I’m pregnant!" she said bursting with excitement.

  It took a moment for it to sink in.

  "What? You're pregnant? Are you sure?"

  "Yes, I'm sure I'm pregnant. I did three tests last night and they're all positive."

  This was not happening, he thought to himself. Of all times not now!

  My God I’m not ready to be a father

  ”Nicole, listen to me now and do not deviate from our plan. I love you, my angel, I always will. Please be strong and remember everything I’ve told you.

  "Nathan!" she screamed at him.

  He waited a moment then continued.

  "Hannes is already dead; a sniper shot him. They want us to surrender but only so that they can torture us to find out where you are. That's never going to happen. You must now do whatever is necessary to survive and sweetheart, whatever happens, never lose your faith in God. And never have any ID chip implanted or printed on your body, ok!"

  The radio crackled again, but this time Steenkamp's voice was cold and demanding.

  "Nathan, your time is up, what is your decision?!" he barked over the unit.

  Nathan turned around and kicked the police radio off the table; he had now given his final answer.

  "Nicole, they’re coming. I love you my angel, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

  Please survive and live my love. I will always love you, my angel, and I will ……!"

  A high pitched noise erupted in Nathan’s head followed by a burning sensation from within his body. Then the pain engulfed him in waves until it suddenly collapsed him to the floor. Still conscious Nathan fought the excruciating pain, a pulsating wave of energy surged through his body and he felt as if his organs were about to burst. The pain was unbearable and he could fight it, he was powerless. It took less than three seconds before he lost consciousness and darkness enclosed around him.

  There was no tunnel of white lights or angels to welcome him home, it was over, just like that.

  Chapter 47

  "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name."

  (Rev. 13: 16-18)

  Table Mountain it seemed wept for its people as a gray gloomy cloud clung to its mantel like a vale baring witnessed the carnage that had plagued the streets just days below. Countless eons had
come and gone and yet it still stood like a monolith against the tide of time. Humanity too would someday vanish from the face of the earth, it was an inevitable conclusion.

  Neliswe sat alone on the beach watching wave after wave crash in anger and then wash up the beach and fade away.

  “Life is like a wave” she though.

  It had been almost two months since the warning. Those few simple words over the phone.

  “Get out now, they’re coming!” and she knew it was over. Neliswe had already prepared her backpack with the essentials. Within moments of the warning she was already on her way, abandoning everything behind. Yet she knew she was one of the lucky few. Thousands had already been detained since the start of Operation Clean Sweep. With over seven thousand people arrested and many un accounted for, the resistance movement had virtually been shut down. Neliswe was unprepared for the onslaught, and the news of Nathan’s death added to her state of downheartedness. His body was shown, slumped against a wall with his followers all in a neat row.

  Steenkamp had been interviewed on TV and had since been promoted to Colonel for his valuable contribution in the fight against terrorism. The other cult members who perished beside him, they said, had all been brainwashed by their leader Nathan Cohen. Their names were not even mentioned and within two weeks the story was over as Operation Clean Sweep marched on to tackle other threats.

  Neliswe had never met Nathan, but she understood what he stood for, even though she felt his memory would live on as others tried to take up the mantle.

  The new Secrecy Bill had been passed, prohibiting any mention of the Peoples Resistance Movement. To speak about them or to gather information about the Government's operation was viewed as treason and carried a minimum jail sentence of ten years. Yet, even though the rebellion was over, the Martyr was still spoken of in secret, and others had vowed to carry on the struggle when the time was right.

  The media blackout was supremely executed and maintained, as the full force of the law obliterated any objection from its citizenry. Resistance continued against the UWN, but it had now gone deep underground, reaching new levels of desperation as splinter cells resorted to homemade bombs in retaliation of the brutal crackdown against the local population. It was perfectly clear that the UWN was not welcome anymore. But it made very little difference; the United World of Nations continued its program towards the creation of a New World Order. A new society and culture was being forged.