by JD Dutra
“Dad…”
Her hoarse voice startled him before he stepped into the restroom and quickly fell to his knees.
“Summer, my baby girl…” He said, trembling.
Her face looked gaunt, her eyes were like some of the inmate’s at Tent City, there was a yellow substance on them. She looked so weak, as if she were exhausted and on the edge of death. He embraced her tightly with one arm, the other hand caressed Nick’s soft hair. She smelled of putrefaction.
“My boy feels so cold,” Daniel began to weep.
“Don’t cry, Dad… Shhhh…”
Daniel cried bitterly.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to protect you and your brother. I am so sorry…”
Summer had only seen her dad cry like this when her mom passed away, giving birth to her brother. The pain of seeing him like this hurt more than anything she had ever felt.
“I knew you’d come, Dad,” she said with a weak smile. “Did you kill them? Please tell me you did. Are we safe now?”
Daniel noticed his daughter’s nails on her hands and toes were all painted black. There were scars on her wrists that were just a few days old. Her innocence was gone and the stress he’d been forced to put on her seemed to have drained all her light. Daniel began to shake with anger as he hugged her tight, but she began to cough and in one jolt of convulsion she pushed him aside and turned away to vomit on the floor, there was more blood than digested food in it. Daniel picked some of the clothes and towels that were hanging around and covered her sickness.
“Where are they, Summer? The people who took you. Tell me.”
“There is a meeting tonight at Rus’ Pick and Pull,” she said, her voice weak and faint.
“Ivan’s place?” He said, surprised.
“Yes. They all went there to sell something from China… That’s all they ever talked about.”
“Come, let’s get out of here, I’ll help you baby girl, come with me, let’s get you some help.”
“I feel so weak, I just want to sleep. Everything hurts… I’m so tired.”
“No, Summer, you’re going to be fine. I’ll carry Nick down to the car, and then I’ll come back and help you.”
He had only just finished his sentence when he realized that Summer had stopped blinking.
“Summer? Summer wake up!”
Her once beautiful green eyes were bloodshot, infected and they stared at Daniel’s own eyes, as if the last thing she wanted were answers. He felt like a failure for letting his kids live their last days on earth like this, he blamed himself, Raymond and most of all the state. They not only put him in jail in the first place, it enabled people like his daughter’s kidnapper to do what they did.
What a reward for living under the law.
Chapter 38
White House, Washington D.C.
Sunday, October 25th, 2020
7: 55 P.M.
Barry walked the halls of the White House, inhaling the unique scent of the Presidential home. It smelled like old furniture with just a hint of cigarette smoke, courtesy of himself and other Presidents who also smoked. He passed the portraits of the men who came before him, wondering if they were allied to the same organization he was. Conspiracy theorists said all the main heads of state belonged to one secret organization or another, that’s how they got to be where they were in the first place.
How far back in the lineage of Presidents could you go, until you found a man who was truly elected by the voice of the people alone? Did that ever happen in the history of Democracy? In the history of the world?
Things were getting worse by the minute around the country. However the virus was formulated, it moved like a cloud of death and its impact had been felt across the entire globe so quickly, it had only taken a little over 48 hours to cripple all of America. The populations of the smaller countries, like Samoa or the Cook Islands, had basically been wiped off the map.
Barry thought again of the people who were orchestrating almost the entire obliteration of the human population, and doing so unseen and unknown, except for just a handful of people aligned to their cause. He’d not attended the last Bilderberg conference and was pleased to have missed it when the rogue video went viral.
Why were they doing this now of all times, under my watch? Couldn’t they have waited until I had lived off the presidential pension for a few years, enjoying life until I died an old man on the taxpayer’s back? Now that’s the good life, the reason we all take this job where you are everyone’s punching bag for eight years. That beautiful salary only goes up with inflation, plus book royalties, speaking fees, brokering favors. That’s the good life I signed up for… Not this.
He smiled at the thought of it all, realizing his plans for after he left the presidency were now part of a time that was simply gone. He would never get to play golf around the world like he wanted to, or see the places he always dreamed about when he was a poor child in Kenya.
All that is now gone, so why am I still here?
“I’m in the right place, but in the wrong damn time,” he muttered out loud to himself as he stopped by the door to his office. He heard men’s voices, sounding like they were trying to hide a heated argument. Barry knew who was waiting for him in there and no doubt they also had even more terrible news to unload on his shoulders. He opened the door, and the heads of the Army, Air Force and Navy were there, sharply dressed and they looked as eager to take control of the situation.
“Gentlemen, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Believe me this is the soonest I was able to come,” said Barry. The three uniformed and men stood up when he entered his office.
“Mr. President,” said the General of the Army, John Keller. A man in his mid-60’s who’d joined the army out of high school, he looked like he was born for this moment. He was wearing an impeccable green uniform with an enormous amount of stars and ribbons. The other two men were wearing high ranking uniforms of the US Navy and US Air Force, with just as many decorations. Barry returned his salute first then he did the same at the others.
“Please take a seat, gentlemen,” said Barry, pointing at the leather sofa and chair where, just days before, one of his betrayers had sat. “Once again I thank you all for accepting the five-star rankings you all now have. The American people and I will be forever in your debt.”
“It’s an honor to serve our great country, Mr. President,” said Admiral of The Fleet Howard Lane. He was younger than General Keller, but looked just as experienced.
“Mr. President, if you don’t mind I’d like to bring something to your attention immediately,” said General of The Air Force Brian Willard, a man known for his books on strategy.
“Go ahead,” said Barry, already bracing himself for more bad news.
“Our radars indicate that the activity of Russian and Chinese surveillance airplanes is getting more frequent and closer to our defense lines with every hour that goes by. Our men put their last run just at four miles from our defense zone, and there is another run from them in progress as we speak. I need to know how you’d like to respond to this. We may need to take those airplanes down if they get too close… But you know that can only lead to war.”
“Don’t they have internal problems like us to worry about?” Said Barry in disbelief.
“Our guard is down, so maybe they think it’s their time, Sir,” said General Willard.
“What are you proposing exactly?”
“If they get too close, we warn them, and if that doesn’t work I need your permission to shoot them down, Sir,” replied Willard.
This was never the plan, what is happening with the agenda? First my family falls ill, now this.
“I’ll have to consult the living members of the Senate first General,” said Barry.
“Sir, there is a Chinese surveillance airplane flanked by five Chengdu J-10 war jets headed to San Francisco. They may breach our security zone in less than 15 minutes. We need to make a decision now, there is no time to debate this, Sir!” In normal
circumstances Barry might have rebuked Willard for his sharp tone, but this was far from normal times.
“I need to make a phone call first. I’m going to try to resolve this diplomatically, I have to at least try,” said Barry, wondering if Lamar would pick up this time. “Please excuse me for just a moment gentlemen and just step outside the doors if you would. I’ll call you right back in with a firm answer.”
The three men briefly exchanged glances and they reminded Barry of the look his wife would give him when she thought he wasn’t good enough, when he was being a pathetic excuse for a father or a lousy lover. When the last one of them was out of the room, Barry got out a cell phone and, stabbing the numbers on the keypad in anger, tried to call Lamar again.
“Pick up this damn phone Lamar,” spat Barry and with every second that went by and the phone just rang his anger built up more and more.
Why am I being ignored by ‘them’, especially now?
He placed his cell phone in his pocket and yanked open a drawer of the Resolute desk, to pull out a notebook. He immediately began flipping the pages looking for a number and when he found what he was looking for he picked up the office phone on his desk and started to dial. After a few moments, a lightly accented voice of a man picked up.
“President Barry Soetoro?”
“Yes President Xi Chen. I’d like to skip the formalities and get right to the point. My generals are telling me that you are sending your patrol airplanes too close to our borders. Why are you doing this?”
“I thought you would call earlier, President. How are the great American people?”
“As bad as yours, I am sure,” Barry said dismissively. “Are these incursions really necessary? I don’t think this is part of the agenda.”
“It is time for a new agenda, Barry. I am sorry it has come to this.”
Barry was stunned, but he managed to keep his voice fairly level.
“What are you trying to say?”
“It’s time for a new era. After seeing what this pandemic has done all over the globe, it is clear that the world needs new leadership.”
I am sure ‘they’ are listening.
“President Chen, I don’t know what to say about this.”
“Are you not with ‘them’?”
There was brief silence that seemed like an eternity to the US President.
What if they really are listening?
Barry took a deep breath, he could no longer put off making a stand. If a nuclear war started on top of this pandemic humanity as a whole would be totally wiped out.
They aren’t returning my calls, so I guess I’m on my own and I can no longer avoid to give this country the leadership it needs.
“President Soetoro? Are you with them or not? Can you hear me?”
The voice on the phone pulled him away from just thinking about doing what he knew was right.
“No I am not President Chen, not anymore,” the words just spilled out of his mouth. “This pandemic is my worst nightmare, I didn’t go along with this so called reset from the beginning, even before I knew how it would be done,” Barry said while reaching for his Chiappa 200DS revolver in his pocket.
“I am not sure I believe you Mr. President. What are you proposing then?”
“Let’s focus our attacks on ‘them’ alone, let’s cooperate. The world will need America and China if we are to stand as a civilization again.”
“Apologies, President Soetoro, but the world only needs China. Look at what your politicians have done to your economy, you’ve destroyed it. This pandemic has been the perfect excuse to hide the collapse of your dollar. You have enslaved your own people and other nations with your worthless paper money. American politicians are as bad as ‘them’.”
“You know we were all under their direction and that includes you and your government. If it weren’t for that, things would’ve been different.”
“I am not sure that they would. It is in your culture to want to get something for nothing, to have an unlimited thirst for power and to outsource hard work, the majority of the people in your country feel this way and you know it. In my opinion that is why they have chosen America as the seat of their power. We on the other hand have risen through the perfect balance of capitalism and communism. We have a better way to lead the world into the future.”
“Perfect balance? First of all, your government offers no freedom to anyone.”
“What is to govern, besides limiting people’s freedom?”
“You think killing my people will give yours liberty?”
“It worked for America after World War II. You were the last man standing, as the saying goes, the only country with the means of production intact that could use the demand of a broken world. You got a happy middle class out of the deal. Now it is China’s turn.”
“You… Are a madman,” said Barry with fear in his voice.
“And what is going on now is not madness?” Asked Chen, but the question was almost rhetorical.
“Yes, believe me. You know all this wasn’t my doing.”
“You have to take responsibility for this,” said President Chen. “You and I have deceived our people, sold their future for our own personal gains. I can face it and I will do something about that. I will restore my people’s rightful place in the world. We, not the Americans, will be the new symbol of progress in this new age.”
“It will be China against the world, I doubt it will work,” Barry said.
“China has friends very close to you. The Russians, Venezuela, Cuba. We’ll give them a place of honor under our New World Order.”
“The other half of the world will turn against you all, and so will ‘they’ and —”
“There aren’t that many left in the world to turn against us,” The Chinese President interrupted. “Even in America, most of your people are going to be happy with a few hundred dollars in free food every month. We can provide that and a lot more.”
“President Chen, I love the American people, and enough of us have died already. Don’t start World War III, not right now, while the world is already bleeding so much.”
There was a mocking laugh on the phone that made Barry almost scream.
“Says the President of the country that used two nuclear bombs on defenseless Japanese citizens, when their cities were already nothing but ruins.”
“You know what, bring it on Chen. I’ll erase you and your kind off the face of the earth. You’’ll see how good I am at killing people!”
Barry slammed the phone off and called the Generals back in.
“Well, they are coming. We must prepare for war. Whatever focus and plans we had to deal with the American citizens will have to be put on hold, we’ll have to pivot to deal with World War III. It will be nothing less than that gentlemen.”
The Generals saluted Barry, the confident look on their faces fed his courage. When they departed, Barry went to his bar to mix himself a drink. His bartender was dead from the virus and so was his personal chef. He went back to his chair, and before he took his first sip, the cell phone in his pocket began to ring. He let it ring once, then twice before he picked it up and slowly brought it to his ear.
“Good evening Barry,” it was the smooth voice of Lamar.
“Now you call me?”
“I was prohibited from doing so earlier. I was commanded to call you to praise your leadership skills… You’re moving the chess pieces of the world, but you aren’t the player. You’re just an illusion of the fingers.”
“What was I supposed to do? China and Russia went rogue, I had to say whatever I thought he wanted to hear.”
“I think you are doing that to me right now, Barry. You are no leader. You don’t have the power to make such decisions. You forgot your place, once again.”
“Lamar, I’m the President of the United States! And as of now, you and your kind do not have any control over this country!”
“Saying it is one thing, but it being the truth, is quite another. If you
turn your back on us, you know what will happen to you and your family Barry. I urge you to beg forgiveness and reconsider, ‘they’ can be merciful.”
For the second time in less than an hour, Barry hung up a call on the face of a friend-turned-enemy. He moved a trembling hand to an intercom and pressed a button. A man’s voice answered.
“Yes, Mr. President?”
“Get my family here from Camp David right now, and I want the security escalated to the highest level possible! No one comes or goes without me seeing their face on a camera first.”
“You got it, Sir.”
I can’t believe this is happening… Things are completely out of control. Why do they think they can do whatever they want with me? Don’t they know I can send them all to hell?
Barry drank half the glass of whiskey in one shot, feeling more the burn on his throat than the smoky, earthy flavor of it on his tongue. He looked at the bar, thirsting for more of the bottle, but before getting up, he unlocked another drawer on his desk. A digital fingerprint scanner came into view, and under its security door, there was a black button that could change the world forever.
I may not win this, but I surely won’t be the only loser.
Chapter 39
Maryvale Village, Phoenix, Arizona
Sunday, October 25th, 2020
8:15 P.M.
Daniel Cross ran down the stairs from Raymond’s apartment, the only people around were those who were killed by the woman in the hoodie before she was overpowered.
I’ll never let political correctness or fear or anything keep me from doing what is right again.
He got to the door of the apartment where she’d been taken and pushed his ear against the crack in the frame. There was no sound coming from inside, so after a quick glance at the deserted street he stepped back, racked a round of birdshot into the chamber of his shotgun, aimed for the front door lock and pulled the trigger. There was a loud boom of his gun then the door cracked open and he shouldered it in; there was no going back now.
The unit had the exact same layout as Raymond’s, but the smell of meth was stronger than anything else inside of it. He racked another round into the chamber, cleared the living room, stepping over beer bottles, cans, used syringes and needles. There was a lot of trash but no one was there. He heard a noise coming from the back, maybe from the bedroom or restroom.
