The Hunger Rebellion

by G F Cusack

  The unrest in the Sanctuary had been reaching fever point in the last few weeks as the shortages at the gel distribution points were becoming more and more common. Yet the level of hunger clearly varied between areas. On the farms, the workers had started to steal more food to survive. Urban areas had more of an issue with access to food and here it was becoming even harder to control the crowds.

  Even in the capital, in effect, there were two groups of people. One group was being fed through the SUP and armed by the resistance, as well as receiving a briefing to create as much chaos as possible against the Company. The second group wasn’t organised: they were the starving masses who were spoiling for a fight.

  The strategic targets in the Sanctuary were the elites’ winter accommodation, the council buildings, the garrison in the capital and the gel plants. Control of the gel plants was a key factor in the plan. The captured gel packs would be distributed as soon as possible to help placate the starving before anarchy took hold. Then the resistance could set up as de facto leaders.

  The other garrisons weren’t as much of an issue, thanks to Hubert’s strategy of using the SUP organisation to supply food where the elites were not, so that the loyalty of even some of the troops was wavering.

  Because of their lack of numbers, the resistance and the rebels had to be smart. As soon as Frank’s people had disrupted the elites’ compound, they needed to head for the capital to support the fighters assaulting the council buildings.

  During the assault on the elite compound, it was important for Frank’s people not to be confused with the Company troops. They had abandoned the Company uniforms in favour of clothing that looked completely different. Although it was illegal for the Norm class to carry guns or any weapons, they were less fearful of punishment and repercussions now that they were starving.

  As planned, Frank and his people cut a hole in the fence and headed through. Sneaking up behind the troops at the front gate had been easy. The guards had been preoccupied by the crowds outside and the noise of their shouting.

  “We’ve been told the food’s in here,” one of the men closest to the gates was shouting.

  “Give us food, give us food,” the crowd had started shouting.

  Frank could see the crowd was getting irate. It was touch and go whether the security guards would start firing warning shots into the air first or progress directly to shooting into the crowd.

  It was clear from the numbers gathering outside the gates that these reasonably sturdy gates would not sustain the onslaught.

  Before the guards had time to react, the familiar “Phut, phut” of silenced nine-millimetre rounds came from the rebels’ pistols.

  The crowd outside seemed unsure what was happening. Surprised by the felling of the guards and not knowing if the same threat was also a danger to them, they took a few steps away from the fence. Suddenly the gates were thrown open and the cause of the disturbance was beckoning them inside.

  “Help yourself, take whatever food and supplies you want,” Frank said. “This compound is now the property of the people.”

  The crowd needed no further encouragement. They quickly swarmed through the opening and in no time at all they were ransacking the elite compound.

  Now that they had set the crowd amok, Frank gathered his people to leave.

  If everything went as planned, the crowd would overwhelm any minor resistance and devastate the compound. If there were any problems, it would be the masses and the elite among the casualties, not Frank’s fighters.

  He felt a twinge of guilt about using people as potential cannon fodder However, his concern as always was for his own people and after all, he reasoned to himself, their long term plan was to help the masses.

  Heading to the capital, subterfuge was again their friend. The people in the front of the vehicles had now donned the grey overalls of the Company over their own clothes. If they encountered any checkpoints, their disguises should be enough to get them through an initial inspection.

  Debs and the people she was leading had been hidden in the crowds in the capital. As Zap had been disrupted the security at the pits, the Company sentries there had been attacked from both sides as the escaping warriors surged out while Debs’ team had hit them from the outside.

  Hook had supplied guns to supplement the weapons of the warriors and Debs’ fighters had their own guns. The combined forces of armed warriors and Debs’ armed rebels were formidable even without the support of Frank’s convoy.

  Their next task was to take out the capital’s exterior security from the inside and then join forces with Frank's people for the final assault on the council buildings.

  Frank had passed through a few checkpoints on the way to the capital. When they reached the outskirts, however, they met with no resistance. The permanent checkpoints on the roads were no longer staffed, as they had been taken out by Debs and her people.

  It had been decided that the fighting pits would make a great rallying point. If things went wrong, this would also be a good place for the resistance’s last stand.

  Hubert had sent any fighters he could spare to the gel plants to help Cenk and his people with the distribution of the gel packs. Hook had organised a strike at the ports, so the dockworkers had simply not turned up to work. Important supplies from outside the Sanctuary sat on some of the ships, unloaded.

  This was yet another factor stretching the Sanctuary’s security forces. Valuable military reserves were now employed as dockworkers, operating forklifts and other vehicles in order to unload the ships. With the current unrest, the Company soldiers did not have the resources to police the striking dockworkers at the same time.

  Spider had been marshalling his spies and spreading the information and disinformation that the resistance wanted out. He had been partially responsible for convincing the masses to converge on the elite compound.

  Everyone had a part to play in the assault today. CT had managed to sabotage the drinks supplies for the officers in the Company forces. He had not used deadly poison as this would have only raised suspicion and forced an investigation that could have exposed him. Instead, for the last week or so he’d been supplying them with tainted drinks, designed to make them gradually ill. It is hard for a leader in the throes of diarrhoea and vomiting to maintain command and control of a group of soldiers.

  Having tasked reliable fighters to distribute food, Hubert now needed to rendezvous with the others. Once they overthrew the council buildings, they would take charge for an interim period. Each of them had been allocated a temporary position, which would be immaterial if they failed but they had to believe that the resistance and the rebels were going to succeed. Having a plan in place for what to do after a successful assault was necessary to fuel that belief.

  Spider’s first task would be communicating with the Company forces outside of the capital. They had already been spreading unrest within the Company. CT had weakened their command structure and, once the capital had fallen, he would inform the Company forces of the situation with Zap’s help.

  They hoped that they would be met with minimal resistance but the news that the resistance had disposed of the elites and were now in charge had to be handled delicately. The Company forces’ initial reaction might be to fight so the message had to be that they had no one left to fight for.

  As trained soldiers required a rank structure, if the resistance leaders took on that structure it would make a transition easier.

  After some initial skirmishes, the resistance fighters were now consolidating. Karla and Hubert were standing in Karla’s office and the plans were well underway.

  They were reviewing plans of the council buildings that Zap had provided. Zap was now safely entrenched in front of a computer screen, looking at the trussed-up form of Dick in the corner of the office. He wished that things had been different but Dick had brought this on himself.

  51

  Attack on the gel plants

  28 September 2202

  Cenk’
s task was to take out the gel plants but first his team needed a way in. Zap had provided them with the location and the routes of the night patrol closest to the gel plants and this was at the core of their plan.

  With their vehicles parked a block away, Cenk’s team had waited in several houses along the same street until just before curfew. At ten o’clock exactly, Cenk and five of his fighters sprawled on the path, holding empty bottles as though they’d been drinking.

  “Hello Bravo one, this is Bravo Two, over.”

  Carl keyed the mike. “Bravo one, send, over.”

  “Hello Bravo one, we have six men out after curfew. They’re sitting on the ground and it looks like they’ve been drinking, over.”

  “Excellent,” Carl said. “Where are you?”

  “We are on the corner of Shortland Street and Lorraine Road, over.”

  “Okay we will be there in five minutes. Observe them but do not approach, over.”

  “Understood, out.”

  Carl arrived in the usual formation – positioning himself at one end of the road and Bravo two at the other. He stood in front of his vehicle with four of his troops and waited until his other five troops had formed up in front of theirs.

  Clearly, this was going to be an easy takedown. The drunks were not armed so his men had only their clubs drawn. “It won’t matter if the meat gets a bit battered tonight,” Carl mused. Once they went through the gel plants, no one would know.

  He loved the power that his position gave him. It allowed him many perks, including access to pretty women. In reality, though, the best part of the job for him was that he could break heads with impunity. This really was the ideal job for a psychopath.

  He approached the group with four soldiers by his side while his other team advanced from the opposite direction. The five men on the ground looked to pose no threat. Although two of the soldiers in the other team had their rifles by their side, they were all preparing to use their clubs.

  “Hi guys,” said Carl. “Are you having fun tonight?”

  One of the men, who seemed a little older than the rest, smiled as if in good cheer. Carl knew that was about to change shortly. “Do you guys know what time it is?” he said laughing.

  “Bllr Zazaz.” The older man muttered something unintelligible.

  Carl saw this as an opportunity and moved closer to the drunks. Holding his own club at the ready, he indicated to his troops that the fun was about to start. Well, at least the drunks have experienced some fun for their last night on the planet, he thought.

  “It’s clobbering time!” he said gleefully.

  Two of the men were lying on their fronts as if they were asleep. It was going to be less entertaining if they were unconscious already. Still, even if the patrol didn’t get to enjoy cracking heads, this easy collection would add towards their nightly quota.

  As both groups approached, they didn’t even raise their rifles. The tired drunks seemed no threat at all. Suddenly the face of the older man seemed to change. Gone was the muddled look to be replaced by a more serious gaze and a more subtle smile.

  This unsettled Carl slightly as he recognised the emotion in that face as the kind he normally felt before he did something brutal. Before he had time to react, however, everything changed.

  The two men who had been lying on the ground rolled over in an instant and without any hesitation opened fire with the rifles they had been concealing. The two Company troops with their rifles by their sides collapsed.

  Carl started to shout, “Ambush” but the words never left his lips. The older man had a pistol in his hand. “Let’s not get cute,” Cenk said, aiming at Carl’s head. “Do as you’re told and you might still live through tonight.”

  Like most bullies, Carl was also a coward. He raised his arms in the air and his troops followed suit.

  “Do you realise who you are messing with?” he shouted with the last bit of bravado he could raise.

  “Oh yes,” Cenk said, “I know exactly who I’m messing with.”

  Cenk had been briefed that this convoy leader was well known for his violence. This man was responsible for the disappearance of Hubert’s nephew. It had taken Hubert some time to find out who he was but he had his contacts. Other patrols had been within a similar proximity to the gel plants but Hubert had asked that they target this one for the added bonus of revenge.

  The Company troops were taken back to their vehicles, stripped of their clothing and equipment, and had their hands tied behind their backs. The final act of humiliation was that they were shot in the street, naked. Their bodies were then bundled face down into the back of the trucks.

  To some, this might have seemed cruel but Cenk’s main motivation was to be cautious. If they tried to take the troops into the gel plants alive, the chance remained they could raise the alarm. Dead people could say nothing and they were not just piled up face down but had been shot in the face to avoid recognition.

  He liked to minimise risks. When they had prepared the ambush in the street, he had twenty fighters secreted in the other houses nearby, who emerged as soon as he held the Company troops at gunpoint. This provided extra cover and made the job of stripping them quicker. He wanted to get out of there before another patrol came looking for the first one.

  Cenk and nine of his fighters put on the Company uniforms. Two of the uniforms were a bit bloody but they could explain that with the bloodied bodies in the back. The rest of Cenk’s fighters followed at a distance in their own vehicles. In all, he had sixty fighters under his command. Sitting in the front vehicle with him was one of the pit warriors to act as a navigator. As the rebels hadn’t been in the Sanctuary long, it was helpful to bring some local knowledge along. The warrior sat in the back seat with his face covered by a hat to disguise his warrior’s brand.

  Reaching the gel plants, they slowed down to approach the barrier. The sentries didn’t recognise Cenk but he and his fighters were in Company vehicles, wearing Company uniforms so the sentries were a little complacent. Who would have the power or the inclination to attack the gel plants anyway?

  Taking the sentries unaware, the rebels disposed of them with their silenced pistols, “Phut, phut”. Two of Cenk’s men in uniform got out of the trucks and opened the barrier. Once they had taken out the sentries, Cenk had the rest of his convoy enter the plant.

  Although the plants were automated, other security guarded the expansive site. Even with sixty fighters, it was going to be a mission to keep control of this place.

  The initial plan had been to destroy the plants but until other food sources could be distributed safely, these gel packs were a valuable resource. His first task was therefore to secure the food supplies and, if necessary, to be prepared to ship some of the packs.

  His fighters had been briefed on the layout of the plants, the machinery was several plants but they were all located within the same compound. They were split into four teams, each with their own mission. A fifth team had already replaced the guards at the barrier. Their Company uniforms would pass first inspections and allow them to take out any unwary night patrols that turned up.

  52

  Storming the council buildings

  29 September 2202

  Ever since the rebels had come through the main doors of the council buildings, River and his troops had been on the defensive. Their mission was to try to stop anyone from getting upstairs to the supreme leader.

  Both Will and River realised that they were losing the battle and so ten minutes ago Will had left to check on Brand. Since that moment, River had started to ponder if he had been left as a sacrifice to enable Will and Brand to escape.

  However, River was a soldier. If he was to die doing his job, then he expected to fight to the end because that’s what he was meant to do.

  He was almost surprised at the firepower that the rebels had in their possession. He had heard rumours of consignments of Company weapons going missing, but clearly the amounts had been downplayed.

  In the p
ast, the Company troops had always had superior firepower when fighting the masses. Today, however, the weapons were fairly evenly matched and neither side had enough bullets for a protracted battle.

  The news of the other attacks around the Sanctuary had filtered through but they were still given very little time to prepare for the attack on the council buildings. As the bullets ran low, pockets of hand-to-hand combat were breaking out. River’s troops had been trained in combat but he recognised the W brands of the warriors from the pits and they were in a different league.

  The troops were trained to keep the peace by means of superior firepower but the warriors survived each fight on their wits, treating every day as if it was their last and aggressively fighting to the death. River recognised that, as the warriors were openly displaying their brands, it was now open rebellion.

  He checked his weapon: only five rounds left. The melee of battle within the twists and turns of the council buildings made it hard to determine which side controlled which bits of the ground floor. He motioned to two of his troops and they followed him up the stairs. They had locked down the elevators to prevent the rebels from using them as a way to get behind them so by going upstairs they would have command of the high ground.

  By the time they reached the doors of Brand’s office, River and his troops were breathing heavily. The rebels were hot on their trail and seeing the doors to Brand’s office were wide open and the office was empty gave him little comfort.

  Again River felt abandoned by Will and Brand and once more he vowed to put up a last-ditch defence. They crouched in the alcoves as the rebels climbed the stairs.

  Pepper and Frank were among the first rebels to reach this floor. Flanked by six others, the leaders going first wasn’t a tactical move but Frank was determined to get his hands on Will as the man who killed his brother. Pepper had grown to like Frank and wanted to keep him alive.