Uprising

by Justin Kemppainen

  ******

  "Bullshit!" Kaylee shouted, springing up from her seat on the memorial fountain outside of the Escape. "There is no goddamn way!"

  Rick sighed. I knew this was going to be difficult, he thought. "C'mon, Kaylee, it'll be a lot better this way."

  "Screw that!" she shook her head. "I'm not doing it."

  Rick rubbed his eyes. "Why not? It'll be safe, easy, and you'll get to hang out in that nice flat. What's the problem?"

  "I'm not getting stuck babysitting kids and old folks. That's bullshit!"

  Irritated at her belligerence, he replied, "They aren't just kids and old people; there are plenty of non-combatant civilians there too."

  "So you classify me as non-combatant and put me on a useless detail? After all I've done?"

  "You're going to help save dozens of lives this way; how is that at all useless?" Rick asked, exasperated.

  "Come on! They don't need me over there. Cut the masculine crap, and let me go with the main force."

  Rick rolled his eyes. Her interpretation of his chauvinistic desire to protect her wasn't entirely correct. She'd just barely survived something terrible not days earlier, and he admitted to himself that he didn't want to put her in a situation like that again.

  On the other hand, she was also too stubborn and inexperienced in actual combat to be very useful. She'd most likely be a detriment to their success. "Look, I still don't get why you're being so insistent."

  Kaylee glared up at him. "I don't need you to try and protect me. I can take care of myself."

  "Well then, why don't you use some of that considerable ability to try and take care of a few others," Rick snapped.

  "Because I'd be more useful-"

  "Enough!" he shouted. "Do you know how to use one of these?" He unslung his submachine gun and shoved it into her hands. She looked down at it for a second before holding it up to her shoulder, awkwardly. "Look at that! You can barely hold the damn thing! How do you think you'd fare in a real firefight?"

  Rick winced as she threw the weapon on the ground with a loud clatter. "Screw you." She stormed off down the street.

  "Kaylee! Just…" he sighed as she ignored him, "whatever." She'll be back, he thought.

  Logistics was still a primary concern of his. The more he thought about it, the less terrible of an idea Kaylee coming with seemed, as there would be dozens more soldiers that he wouldn't be able to evaluate. She'd probably be more useful than a bunch of them. Fortunately, most of the fighting force would be managed by their own leaders, Sergei and Isaac, but there still had to be some coordination on a large scale.

  Rick wasn't surprised when Victor told him that he'd been selected to handle the planning. At the same time, dealing with it was a nightmare of assessing abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as how obedient the various leaders and soldiers would be. That and I've got about half a day to do it.

  He sighed again and rubbed his eyes. He looked up, jumping slightly when he noticed that Malcolm hadn't followed Kaylee. The big guy really creeped him out. He creeps everyone out, Rick thought. Even Victor, who could stand eye to eye with the brute and never really expressed much emotion, appeared a bit uncomfortable around the shrouded figure. Elijah, on the other hand, couldn't hide an obvious fascination, but Malcolm's narrow-eyed glare kept him from examining too closely.

  "Wwhat iss pllace?" Rick's eyes popped open when Malcolm spoke to him.

  Rick's ear tried to interpret the statement, but it was too sharp and hissing to really tell. Rick hadn't heard him say much of anything before this, but Kaylee swore that he spoke English.

  "What?" Rick said, in reflex.

  "Pplaacee."

  Place, a little voice in Rick's head piped up. He said place. I guess Kaylee was right.

  "Place?" Rick finally replied. "What place?

  Malcolm nodded. "Wwhhat iissss pplaaace?"

  Rick squeezed his eyes shut, trying to figure out what the bizarre creature was talking about. "I don't know what you mean. What place are you talking about?"

  "Pllaace yyouu go."

  "Place…" a thought sparked in Rick. "Do you mean the Institute?"

  Recognition flared in Malcolm's eyes. "Yess. Whkhat iss pplaace?"

  The tiny voice in his head giggled at the peculiarity of the conversation. "The Institute," Rick said slowly, not really knowing why he was talking to Malcolm, "is their headquarters for everything. Their policing body resides there, all of their research," Malcolm cocked his head at the word 'research,' "is done there. Lange," Malcolm's eyes turned into an angry glare, "apparently lives there too." The tiny voice, done laughing, urged him to ask a question that he didn't want to. "Why do you want to know?" Rick asked.

  Malcolm stared at him for several seconds, and Rick grew increasingly uneasy under the silent gaze. Finally, Malcolm hissed, "Rrememmber," and walked off in the direction that Kaylee went.

  Rick was left standing by himself, wondering exactly what it was that he should be remembering. He rubbed his forehead, and the tiny voice in his head spoke to him once more. It's him, it said. He remembers. The thought confused Rick even more as he wondered why Malcolm would recall anything from the surface. Although he did seem to recognize the Institute and Lange's name, he thought.

  Someone in Purgatory shouted over to him, derailing his train of thought. He jogged over, his mind shifting gears back towards trying to plan out how this whole mess was going to work.