National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty

by Rusul A. Altaay

  Chapter 4

  Les Miserables

 

  Months have passed and people were being killed on daily bases. The sound of the exploding bombs and rockets seemed like the only thing being heard almost everywhere in Estil. Fear, hunger, and darkness were the only things people would talk about.

  At the Burj, during lunch break, Sidra tried breaking the awkward silence at the dining hall.

  “Is it just me, or soon we are going to live the real Hunger Games…” Sidra said.

  “HaHa…Very funny, you have been watching too much TV.” Rain replied sarcastically.

  “No, I’m not. We only get the electricity few hours a day. I can barely watch half a movie.”

  “Soon, we’re going to have to somehow get solar panels or something. We can’t live like this. We need enough electricity to at least charge our cell phones.” Yazan stated.

  “I told you. You should get an old phone instead of a smart one. They don’t need charging as much. Sidra, you’re technically an engineer. Do something about the power.” Waseem added.

  “Yeah, and from where are we going to get the funding for that, Waseem?” Sidra asked.

  “We can rob a bank.”

  “Don’t say stupid things like that. People might actually believe you. This would be considered an act of terrorism since all banks are owned by the administration” Rain said.

  “Relax. There are no banks to rob in the first place. People went crazy and destroyed all government’s properties. Even schools were robed and burned. Well, can you blame them?” Sidra added.

  “We are not like those people. We dedicated our lives to protecting others. Besides, all of the people you’re talking about were publicly executed.” Yazan added to the conversation.

  “I was just joking about robing anything you guys. You are very grumpy today.” Waseem said.

  “Rain is kind of grumpy every day, if you ask me.” Sidra stated.

  “I don’t remember anyone asking you.” Rain got annoyed.

  “Mr. Rain, there is a phone call for you.” Emma, the house keeper, said after entering the dining hall.

  “Thanks, Emma. I’m coming.” Rain said and left the room.

  However, the conversation between the others continued.

  “Can we please focus on the main problem here and not argue like kids. No one ever mentioned anything about us just yet. Aren’t you curious about what they’re going to do with us? We technically still work for the administration. The people are killing anyone and anything Maki Lion related. We are scientists and engineers. Lion’s administration hired us to make powerful weapons for them. And you are not listening...” Rayan said as he looked at everyone gazing into their food.

  “We’ve been over this before. We have a secured facility… kind of. We don’t even have electricity available all day. On top of all of that, we haven’t received new orders for new development in months. Yazen, have we?” Mai asked.

  “No. They have not funded us any way.” He replied.

  “Rayan, just what exactly do you want us to do? Sit down and curse the luck that put us here in the first place? If something were to happen, we will go Gundam style on them.” Sidra said as she laughed sarcastically.

  “Gundam? That does not make any sense.” Waseem said.

  “Gundam, like the Japanese anime ‘Gundam Wings’. It was my favorite when was a kid. Never mind…” Sidra explained.

  “We will just have to stop anyone who tries to harm us, civilians or otherwise. We are not going to let anyone pass through the Burj’s gates.” Rayan said with a serious face.

  “No one is harming any one. We are going to protect ourselves one way or another.” Rain said as he entered the room.

  “Weren’t you supposed to be on the phone?” Sidra asked.

  “Well, I finished my phone call.” Rain replied.

  “It is a matter of surviving now. By the way, I want everyone at the main conference room at 6:00 pm as I have announced earlier. All 47 people living at the Burj will be there. I don’t want any one late.” Yazan told everyone.

  “Another one of your announcements? What is it now?” Mai asked.

  “Just be there.” He replied.

  Later at 6 pm, in the main conference room, Yazan gathered everyone around a large table. Once everyone was there, he started explaining what was going on.

  “Listen up everyone, as you all know, the government turned its back on the people. As a result, the people have been very aggressive towards anyone who works for the administration. Since we are technically part of the military, we might be facing the danger of people’s anger any time soon. As far as I know, no one knows what is really going on at the Burj. So… we should be safe. However, we are at lockdown for the next week. Under no circumstances is anyone allowed to leave at the Burj. Furthermore, SANA, our super computer, will be down for the next week. Therefore, no one is allowed to use it for any development. Have I made myself clear?”

  No one really said anything or asked any questions. They just left silently. They were not surprised about the announcement at all. After everyone had been dismissed, Sidra approached Yazan and talked to him privately.

  “We need the exact opposite of that. Having people here at all times will make my work that much harder. How am I supposed to work on SANA now? Why would you tell them to stay?”

  “I have my reasons. Make sure you keep working with no one knowing or noticing anything.”

  “No one in the general public knows about us being with the administration, so we should be fine. No one should harm us.”

  “Regardless, I have to make sure everyone stays safe until we get to the bottom of this. Besides, SANA will be available only to you.”

  “As you wish, just remember, a deal is a deal. Once I’m done…”

  “You have my word.”

  She walked out and grabbed a book. She went to a balcony in the 4th floor of the Burj.

  “What was that all about? I saw you talking to Yazan earlier, is everything ok?” Rain asked.

  “What are you doing here? This is the girls’ dorms common area? Get out…” Sidra replied.

  “Really? This is the 4th floor? Sorry… You know we can’t use the elevators and I just … Never mind. I’ll leave now. But nice way of avoiding the subject.”

  “Please just go.”

  After he left she was relieved that she did not have to answer his question.

  “I think I did well in dodging his question. Lucky me, we have very strict rules about the dorms. I can’t believe they have their rooms in the 7th floor.” She thought.

  She stayed at the balcony as she kept looking far into the horizon, and started to wonder,

  “When did I change? Am I doing the right thing? Even my dreams were shattered. Change the world you said.”

  She enjoyed the quiet night and started reading.

  I dreamed a dream in the past

  It wasn’t impossible at all

  Love with no price

  And forgiveness had a thousand ways

  I dreamed in the blooming youth

  Where fear had no place

  In it, the gates were not closed

  And an oath was an enough proof

  Then, the darkness of the night transpired

  With black phantoms that floats

  Sweeps my days like a flood

  And my dream castle was destroyed

  My dream might rest easily

  And my bed might shake

  Draws a wing to my freedom

  Ignites candles that brightens my fate

  “Les Miserables?” Mai heard her and asked.

  “Yeah, it’s just another version of that song.” Sidra replied.

  “It does seem like we are a proof living of what we always used to watch on TV. Don’t you think, Sidra? It’s funny how your life can change in one day. Who would’ve thought that we end up here… I just hope that God forgives the sins we have done before we say go
odbye to this world.”

  “We weren’t doing anything wrong. We thought we were protecting our country. We thought that Maki Lion was better than the presidents before him. Also, sometimes we have to make a decision and do things that we may not like. It’s all for the sake of our land, or so we keep telling ourselves.”

  “Do you ever see yourself leading a normal life? I know I don’t. I hope this nightmare ends soon. You know, you never told me, how did you end up working at the Burj, Sidra?”

  “It’s such a long story. I’ll tell you all about it one day. I just needed to choose a path, and I did.”

  In that moment, another flash from Sidra’s past came to her. It was the image of her father taken away and being killed in front of her own eyes.

  “Oh, well, look at the bright side.” Mai interrupted Sidra’s thoughts.

  “There is a bright side?” Sidra wondered.

  “Yeah, actually there is. Even though we are part of the administration, and we were trained to hold weapons and kill, we never really killed anyone. What they do with our weapons is a different story.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  Sidra just remembered the man she had to kill when she was fifteen years old. It was a life changing point for her. The burden of taking a life haunted her for as long as she could remember.

  “There is always someone who’s suffering more that we do. There is always someone who is in more pain than we ever will be. People die every day and not being able to do anything about it, is killing me. People became just numbers to us. No one shows signs of grief anymore. We keep hearing some number of people died. We never think or feel sorry anymore.” Sidra said.

  “Can you blame us? We are just accepting reality.”

  “I know. We all are the same here anyway.”

  “You know what, Sidra. We should head up north. I hear that the north district is way safer, and they are kind of having a normal life. Either way, it is not as bad as the capital where multiple explosions occur every day.”

  “I don’t have enough money to go anywhere.”

  “Wait… What? What do you do with your salaries? We get paid about the same.”

  “Things and stuff, I don’t know. I’m broke at the moment.”

  Even though Mai was Sidra’s best friend, she never really felt like telling her everything that went in her life. She did not want her friend to judge her or anything. She had some plans and places where she always put all of her money while getting nothing in return. Just because we are happy, does not mean that everyone else is.

  “Even though it would seem that I’m trading my happiness for someone else’s, I’m the happiest knowing that I’m doing the right thing.” Sidra thought and said, “I have to go to bed. Have a good night.”

  “Yeah… you do the same.”

  Both Sidra and Mai went to their rooms and called it a night. Meanwhile in the director’s office, Rain and Yazan had some serious talk.

  “You were lying when you said you have not received any orders in a while.” Rain said.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about. Why would I lie?” Yazan replied.

  “We used to be best friends. I know when something is going on, and Sidra is involved somehow. Yazan, you know you can trust me, right?”

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you. I was hoping that I have more time. Let me call Sidra down here, and she can explain. You know that we are a very special unit. As your unit director, I was indeed receiving orders.”

  “So you are starting to tell the truth. There are about 50 of us living at the Burj, how can you not tell anyone about the orders? What were they? How are we not being punished for not following them?”

  “I never said that we’re ignoring orders. I have people working on it.”

  “Working on what?”

  “It’s classified, Rain. You don’t need to get involved.”

  “But, we don’t even have electricity most of the day, how are you working?”

  “We have generates in the highest floors. Sidra, I think you can explain things to him now.”

  Yazan pointed to Sidra after he saw her through the glass walls of his office. She entered the room and sat down. She looked at Rain and started talking.

  “I have installed solar panels at the top of the Burj. We also have some emergency generators. They funded us few months ago.”

  “Wait… What? You knew about this? That whole time you were developing weapons that are being used against innocent people? I can’t believe you?” Rain got mad.

  “I never said I did that. Anyway, I did what I had to. That is all you need to know.”

  “Sidra, I need to talk to you, privately, please.” Rain said.

  “I’ll leave you for now. Rain, just remember, we all have to do things we’re not so proud of.” Yazan told Rain and left the room.

  “I know who you really are, and what you have done in the past.” Rain calmly said.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Sidra stood up trying to leave the room.

  “Sidra… I know about Zain.” He said.