Jon let out a gasp of pain as the man’s fist packed with his pistol went flying into his stomach. He clutched his gut and fell to one knee. Gasping for air and ready to rip a head off, Jon managed to catch a deep breath and keep calm.
“I’ll ask you again,” the man shouted. “Why should we let you leave here alive?”
Jon was angry and afraid. He had nothing to plead for. There was nothing to beg for. There was no life he would leave unfulfilled. There was no wife or child that would kill for one more chance to see him come through the door. All he had to go back to was answering summons from a general who didn’t care if he were alive or dead. He was always reserved, but in this moment there was nothing to lose so he spoke freely. He stood and turned his back to his new acquaintance who slugged him in the gut.
“Do any of you even know why you’re here?” Jon shouted to the crowd. “Are you rebelling just for the sake of rebelling? Do you have a plan to change things? Being angry for the sake of showing people you’re angry is a waste of time and will get you nothing and nowhere.”
“We’d rather live outside the system than be a slave to it,” the man directed very personally to Jon.
Jon got back into his face.
“And I ‘d rather have food, as questionable as it is, than digging for scraps of that same questionable food for no other reason than just being angry,” he slammed back.
The room was silent. It was as if this was the first time anybody had given what Jon was saying any thought at all. Jon wasn’t finished. If he was going to die here then at least he was going to vent on the way out.
“You dare call me a slave?” Jon was now shouting in the man’s face, but his message was for everybody in the room. “I broke some 500 laws by simply driving around town in a car with a convertible top, and then another 700 laws by trying to get to a transportation station after having my vehicle confiscated and being left stranded on the highway. For the crime of enjoying my afternoon I am an enemy of the state! My loyalty is their gun to my head!” He let himself breath and calm down before finishing. “I am not fortunate in my circumstances, but I am no man’s slave. If this is going to be my end then let it end! I will die on my feet while declaring that I am free. Even if I am in chains.”
The atmosphere in the room had changed dramatically from the time Jon started his rant until it ended. He kept his eyes on the man in front of him, but he caught glimpses of the people around him. Most of the people had let their gaze fall to the floor. The mood had gone from agitated, hostile and unsure to somber, quiet and hesitant. Jon broke the silence.
“I am no man’s enemy. I’ve only ever wanted to simply be left alone. But here I am. In some strange room, surrounded by strangers threatening to kill me for the crime of committing a crime and having the choice of a bullet in my head or running errands for the party in power.” Jon was holding back his emotions as best he could. He was visibly angry but was keeping himself from showing his rage. “So what’s my next choice oh brave and powerful dweller? Do I serve you too? Or do you put a bullet in my head?”
The hostile man standing in front of Jon had dramatically changed his tune. He was staring at the floor like everybody else. They weren’t afraid of Jon by any means. It was like they couldn’t face their own selves. They were shadows hiding in the dark with no light to run to. They stood against the party but stood for nothing in return. All they knew is they weren’t happy in the life they used to know.
“There is nothing for me here. If you’re going to kill me then kill me. If not, I would like to return to my home.”
The man finally looked back up to meet eyes with Jon. Then he spoke.
“My name is Connor.”
Jon very firmly replied, “I’d like to go home now, Connor.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that just yet,” Connor replied.
Jon took a deep breath, “What do you want?”
“Information. We need to know details from inside the party.”
“They want all of you dead or in jail. What other information do you need?”
“We need details about Lawrence. When he’s coming, where he’s going when he gets here and why he’s coming here in the first place. We need insider information. We need the layouts of buildings, whose office is where and any other relevant information.”
Jon let out a disgusted laugh, “What? You gonna kill him when he gets here?”
Connor said nothing in return. Instead he offered Jon a stern stare.
“Well,” Jon said while slapping his hands together. “What happens if I don’t want to or can’t get that information? What happens if I get dead because I’m helping you?”
Connor only hesitated for a moment, “I suppose you better decide which side you want to fight for.”
“Okay.” Jon was still not satisfied with that answer. “What makes you think you can make me help you?”
Next thing Jon knew he was face down on the floor, lying at Connor’s feet. Three men pinned him down while two more approached him with a giant needle.
“What are you doing?” Jon cried.
“Making sure you’ll help us,” replied Connor.
“What is that? What is that!”
The two men turned Jon’s right arm to make the interior face the ceiling. They shoved the giant needle into Jon’s arm and didn’t let him flinch as he let out a wince of pain. As soon as the deed was done the five men climbed off Jon and let him hop up to his feet.
Grabbing his arm, Jon demanded an answer. “What did you do to me?”
“It’s a tracking device,” stated Connor. “It’s similar in its application to the encrypted data in your left arm. But it is undetectable to anybody but us. It can even retrieve the data going to and from the party’s chip in your left arm.”
“And the point of it?”
“We’ll know where you live, where you go each day and who you associate with. We’ll know if you’re working for us or plotting against us.”
“What happens if I don’t behave?” Jon was ready to pounce at Connor.
“We’ll make sure you end up in a party prison or dead - if necessary. We have more eyes and ears in our favor than you would believe, so tread lightly and be careful. We’ll be watching.” The men let Jon stand up.
“I want no part of you or the party! Your methods are no different than theirs!” Jon was willing to take on everybody in the room. “I won’t be a slave to you. You don’t get to drag me off the street and bark orders at me. If the punishment for refusal is death then you better just kill me. Or maybe I’ll just rip this band off my arm and let those soldiers in black know exactly where I’m at.” He stared into Connor’s eyes and made sure he could feel and understand his rage.
Then he felt a hand calmly grasp his right shoulder. He looked over and made eye contact with Marcus, who had been lost to the crowd.
“There are no coincidences, Jon” Marcus said to him. “God is with you, and we need you with us.”
“Stop saying that to me,” Jon barked. But he couldn’t help but feel comfort in what Marcus kept telling him. He fought it, but it calmed him down and his boiling blood cooled to a simmer. His visible aggression melted away, and the atmosphere in the room changed from intense to calm. Connor took this as a form of agreement.
Connor nodded to somebody on the edge of the room. Two of the men who dragged him in put their hands on Jon’s shoulders and began to escort him out of the room. Everybody began to clear enough room to let Jon and his escorts through. Connor led them back outside to where Jon was dropped off. They were inside a small warehouse or a garage somewhere. Jon still had no clue where he was. In all the silence Jon decided to ask at least one relevant question. He turned to Connor.
“How did you get an Enforcement officer to help you?”
Connor was hesitant, but he replied, “You’d be surprised at how many traitors are waiting in the system. Now if you’ll forgive me, I have to do this.”
“Of course you do,” Jon
said sarcastically.
Connor and his men grabbed Jon, blindfolded him and tied his hands behind his back – again. Jon felt a hand rest on his left shoulder and he heard Marcus gently speak into his ear.
“God is with you, my friend.”
Jon turned his head slightly to acknowledge that he had heard what was said, but he said nothing in return. He just stood there in silence and waited for whatever was going to happen next.
Then the rumble of the door opening came and a vehicle pulled up. There was a small ruckus as Jon could hear the men preparing to throw him into the next vehicle. He only assumed it was another Enforcement vehicle as it was well into the night, and any other vehicle would meet the same fate as Jon’s.
They escorted Jon back into the Enforcement vehicle. The door closed behind him, and the vehicle flew down the grid. Jon decided it wasn’t worth speaking up about, so he held his peace. He was under the very hopeful assumption that he was headed back to his living quarters and not to an undisclosed body dumping site. It was a long ride. Either they were out on the very edge of the city or the driver was purposefully taking longer so as to confuse Jon about where they were. Jon didn’t care either way. He had enough vague information to hopefully satisfy Greenwald but not enough to get anybody caught for the crime of wanting to be left alone. He was tired, exhausted and ready to finally sleep, but it was late – or was it early? It didn’t matter. He knew he was not going to sleep that night.
The car slowed down and came to a stop. It quietly stalled as Jon laid across the back seat waiting for whatever would happen next. He heard the locks pop open, immediately followed by his door. A pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and helped him as he crawled out of the back.
The blindfold was removed. Sure enough, standing in front of him was an Enforcement officer. The officer turned Jon around and removed his restraints. Then he turned Jon back around to face him.
What happened next left Jon stunned. The officer spoke in his normal voice. The robotic mask that disguised their voices was missing. He sounded as normal as a human being could sound.
“The band on your arm is for you. You’ll need it if there are to be any future meetings,” the officer spoke. “But be careful with when and where you are wearing that thing. If anybody detects that they cannot detect your encrypted data, well, you could end up in any number of places. None of them good.”
Jon nodded. Then he was left stunned again. The officer said only one word to him, but it was in that cold, cyborg voice that he had grown accustomed to.
“Citizen,” the officer said as he got back in his vehicle and took off down the grid.
Jon took a deep breath. It wasn’t late anymore. It was early. His little late-night escapade ended up being an all-night affair. The sun had begun its slow rise into the sky. It broke the dark of those cold, tall buildings and cast a long morning shadow. Then something clicked in his brain that he had completely forgotten about.
He was supposed to meet Sinda before her shift. Jon didn’t even know where he had been dropped off at. He looked up to try and identify the buildings or locate a landmark. The officer just picked a spot and dropped Jon off.
He could tell just by the height of the towers that he was on the edge of downtown, on the same side as the library – fortunately. Finding out where he was, was simple enough, but navigating his way through this city was a true feat. Everyday a wall was raised and another one lowered. Directions were nearly impossible to give. The route that worked yesterday would be outdated today. Jon had to walk and guess which streets were open, which were closed and which were open long enough to let him get to where he wanted to go.
The only way through this city was public transit or having the privilege of actually getting to operate a private vehicle, which Jon had just been stripped of. Each day the new schematics of the city would be automatically uploaded to all transit computers to help the vehicles navigate in a time effective manner. But now Jon was on foot and didn’t have that luxury. He was too far from a transit station and too close to the library to consider it, so he took off to the library as best as he could guess. The library was only a few blocks from where he was, but with all the detours it could end up being as many as 12.
10
THE MORNING AFTER
There she was. She was standing in front of the station in her party uniform. As ugly as that uniform was, Sind looked amazing in it. She was even wearing the ugly little hat with her hair tucked in a bun underneath. Jon was still almost a block away as he eagerly approached her. She looked nervous as he came closer. She was looking around, but not for Jon. It was as though she was making sure nobody could see the two of them together.
“Sinda!” Jon shouted to her. He had never been so eager and happy to see anybody. He had never had feelings for somebody like this before – and he never wanted to. After this last night, he was even more desperate to talk to somebody who wasn’t trying to use him to further a cause.
Sinda looked over and gave Jon a shy smile as he got close to her. A few other soon-to-be-passengers looked at her and Jon with a curious gaze, but counting on the fact that she was in uniform, Jon wasn’t worried about it.
“You look incredible,” John proclaimed as they were finally face to face.
She had an awkward smile on her face, like she didn’t believe him.
“You look terrible.” The smile on her face grew a bit more.
“Thank you. I had a long night you could say.”
“What do you mean?” She seemed very curious.
Jon didn’t answer her, “How about we go for a walk before you punch in?”
She gave him another curious smile, and they began to stroll down the street, next to the morning roar of the grid. Maybe it was the lack of sleep. Maybe it was the idea of being held hostage by two opposing forces. But Jon didn’t pay any mind to the fact that he was violating at least a few dozen codes, regulations, rules and laws – if there were any difference between them. Jon started the conversation by asking Sinda where she grew up, how she ended up in the party, and how she wound up in the library. They were all standard answers compared to anybody else in the city. She grew up in Pinnacle on the opposite end of town as Jon. Both grew up in a housing project.
It was where all the parentless children ended up, which was nearly everybody in the city. Most of the children there came from out of wedlock relationships, or relationships and births not sanctioned by the state. Usually having a mother and father meant you were born with a silver spoon and the proper pin to stick on your party jacket when you grew up.
Sinda ended up as a member of the party the way most – certainly not Jon – ended up in the party. That is, she wanted better food and a better living situation. This was only obtained by playing the game the way it was set up, which is to say you did as you were told. Do as you’re told, and you’ll be taken care of. That should have been the party creed or code or whatever it was supposed to be. That’s what they really meant when they recited that garbage.
Do as you’re told, and you will be taken care of. Yes, something with meaning.
They were engrossed in getting to know each other and didn’t pay any attention as they were nearing the end of the street. One of the giant barriers which had been erected was standing between them and the next city block. They both came to a stop and looked up. Jon spoke after silence had taken over for a moment.
“Do you ever wonder why these things are here? I mean, do you wonder why they put these barriers here?” Jon asked.
“I’ve always been told they change these to help with the flow of traffic,” replied Sinda.
Jon almost bought it, but only because it was an answer to his question that he had never heard before. It was such a simple answer and seemed plausible but still, it made no sense.
“Do you ever think they’re here to keep us confused?” Jon asked.
“I don’t have time to worry about the mysteries of giant walls,” she retorted.
“Fair enough. It’s probably time to get you back to the library to start your shift, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“It would also be terrible if we got caught together.”
Sinda looked at Jon, “then we’d never get to see each other again.”
The words weren’t much, but it meant everything to Jon. They were words that told Jon somebody wanted to see him again. An emotion he had forgotten even existed. It warmed him in that brisk morning air. They continued their conversation on the short walk back to the library, which was close to the transit station where they met. They were both light-hearted and eager to get to know each other. But Jon feared what it would mean if they were caught. Even just walking and visiting in this context meant serious trouble for both of them. Jon would go to prison – if he were lucky. He’d most likely end up in some distant work camp where he would never see a female again. He wasn’t ready for a forced commitment like that.
They both seemed a bit more cautious with the passing traffic as they walked side-by-side in broad daylight. Her being in uniform helped divert some attention, but it didn’t stop everybody from taking notice of the pair. Jon had had his fill of anybody questioning what he was up to and found himself not caring. Sinda on the other hand, seemed much more worried about being seen alone with a member of the opposite sex. Jon could sense that she was becoming more and more worried, so he stopped walking about a block away from the library.
“I’ll have to drop you off right here,” he smiled at her and she smiled back. “But if you suddenly showed up on 9th and E Street, building two, say around eight, you’d get no objection from me.”
She didn’t say any words to confirm or deny his not so subtle request. She reached out and embraced him. Jon held her right back, and they stood on the corner of a Pinnacle City street during morning commute hours hugging each other – without a care in the world. Then Sinda released her grip, smiled and headed to the library by herself.
Jon stood, waited and watched as Sinda disappeared into the library entrance. Then, figuring he had some time to kill, Jon turned and began walking back to his living quarters.
The Cowboy of Pinnacle City Page 13
