God, Men, and the Devil

“... Protests have ravaged the streets. Forty-five people have died from injuries sustained due to molotov cocktails, police brutality, and other protestors. With the president announcing a lockdown on the country due to COVID-19 and the implantations of chips to monitor citizens’ fevers, protestors are calling it the start of the New World Order. The BLM group, POW-MIA, and The Ninety-Nine Percent have been seen outside of the White House, ordering the president to step down because of his ‘abuse of power’. Sources say…”

I scoff, “Just realized that, huh?”

The television blared in the diner as the reporter continued to talk and I slowly sipped my coffee as I watched the White Army, the president’s private militia, take a scan of a citizen’s forehead in search of patients who had COVID-19. The scan screen became red and the soldiers were suddenly alerted. One of them rear-knee kicked the guy and they quickly subdued him. He was a lanky guy. I didn’t understand the need for all that.

The sound of the bell above the diner’s door sounded. I paid no mind.

“Hey, you,” Someone said. I knew their voices. I knew what the White Army sounded like. It was an exaggerated version of Darth Vader. They always knew how to harass. I turned my head slowly toward behind me as I sipped my coffee again. Oh, they’re talking to me. I sighed and slowly stood up. The diner suddenly became quiet.

“Can I help you, gentlemen?” I asked coyly as I quickly scanned their uniforms. I can’t see their eyes. They’re covered in uniform from head to toe and their faces have black visors.

“You tryna get stupid with me?”One of them said, taking a step toward me. I quickly raised my arms up in surrender but I was aching to put my blades through their skulls.

“Hey, just a greeting,” I say, pushing back my aggression.

“Ma’am, you know how this goes,”The guy in the middle states, almost softly. I was caught off-guard from the sudden change of tone and was subdued from a kick to the back of the knee.

“You know, I saw you do this to the other guy,” I said. “No need for the hassle.”

The scanner came up and aimed at my forehead. Part of me wanted that fake scanner to get a positive so I could cut ‘em. The other half, however, was terrified. I stared at the White soldier but I wanted so badly to close my eyes. A ping. For what seemed like a lifetime, I waited for a confirmation. But it was only for a few seconds.

“Okay. You’re good to go,” He said.

“Let me see your ID,” The guy in the middle demanded. I looked at him and shrugged. I brought my hand to my jacket pocket and they jerked, aiming their weapons at me. People backed away and some left the diner.

“Easy,” I quickly say with my hand out. “Don’t shoot. My wallet is in my pocket.” The middle guy slowly lowered his gun and he forced his men to lower theirs. I pulled my ID out and handed it to him. He stared at it and handed it to me, realizing that there was a small paper underneath. I didn’t turn my ID over for them to see that there was a paper.

“Let’s move out,” He said out loud. The men turned and went on their way.

“We should do this again sometime,” I called out as if nothing happened and I sat back down to drink the rest of my coffee. I’d realized that I still had my ID in my hand and I went to put it away but had forgotten about the piece of paper folded behind it. I looked at the writing: The pier. 2030.

The air is bitter cold as I walk to the Brooklyn pier. My hands dug in my pockets and I sat down at the bench. I looked at the time on my watch. Almost 2030. I pulled out the picture of my brother and me and my thoughts went back to that soldier. Elijah was Resident Evil’s Leon Kennedy’s look-alike. It had to be him. A man comes out from the shadows and sits on the bench next to mine.

“Early as ever,” He says.

“Military taught me that,” I responded.

“I figured it was you. You always had a knack for spying.”

“And you’re still a softie,” I chuckle. I heard a soft chuckle. “Why did you want me here?”

“Can’t speak about it, considering this whole chip thing. But there’s a gift for you under the bench. We’ll have to play it safe. I’m only here to make sure you got it and no one else.”

“I really wanna give you a hug,” I tell him.

“I do too. But right now isn’t a good time. Don’t leave the way you came in. Find another route. Watch your six.”

“You know I’ve done this kinda thing before, right?” I chuckle.

“Just lookin’ out for you, sis,” He says before getting up and walking away. I looked back at him for a moment, grabbed the object from under the bench and did what my brother told me to do- I walked a different direction.

I enter my apartment and I open the letter.

Vicky,

I’ve been looking for you. Mom’s been sick and she needs help. But I can’t do anything about it because I’ve been working. I can’t leave to help her because I have to stay and sanitize to avoid getting anyone sick. Sometimes, though, I like to stay at the port by the ships and look out onto the sunset, wishing I was home. It’s nice. When things get better, I wanna take you guys there. Hopefully we can get a dog, too. Haha. Anyway, I hope you stay safe. Always stay in the light.

Elijah

P.S. Remember our favorite song?

I stared at the letter. It seemed nice. But that’s not what he was saying. He was asking for help to bring in people to escape. Mom doesn’t need help because mom is dead. Home doesn’t exist because the war burned it down. He doesn’t like dogs because he’s allergic. Light? The boy went to the military to train in the dark. The letter translated to: I’ve been looking for you. I need help with some people. But I’m stuck here and I don’t want to give my position away. Meet me by the port by sunset. We’ll get out of here soon. Be careful with the guard dogs. Stay in the shadows.

I walk the streets of New York City. Everyone’s got a mask. Some have been stopped and beaten by the White Army. I stop for a moment to light up my cigarette. The flare of the hot cherry illuminates my face and suddenly I feel a tug on my jacket. I turn to see a child in a jacket. He’s with another little boy.

“Do you have food?” He asked. I frown.

“No,” I say. “But I promise I’ll bring you some when I get back, yeah?”

He nods with a sad look in his eye. I had to meet with Elijah but I guess I could spare some time for food. I went into a store that I know and I grabbed some things; placed them on the counter. I greet Ahmed, the store owner, in Arabic.

“You know you need the chip,” He says.

“Please. It’s not even for me. It’s for these kids. You know how it is.”

“I could get in trouble for this,” He leans in closer, almost whispering.

“Ahmed, please. Think of your children.”

“Exactly. My children could die if I take your money.”

“Your children will be safe.”

He stayed silent for a moment. He knew I didn’t carry the chip. He sighed and nodded in defeat. He knew I kept my word. I’d saved his kids during the war.

“Just take the food.” He said, and then spoke in Arabic. “May God watch over you.”

“And over you,” I say back in Arabic. I hid the food in my jacket as I left the store. I looked around, making sure the coast was clear. The ground crunched as I stepped on rubble and fallen debris.

“Hello?” I say into the cove entrance.

The boy from earlier comes out from the shadows.

“I brought you food, like you asked,” I stated.

His guard seems to come down and he moves towards me a little faster.

“You did?” He asked.

I nod. He looks to the darkness and another boy comes out to meet him. I hand both of them the food.

“I’ll come and get you later,” I said as they quickly opened one of the banana breads. They chewed vigorously and I watched with sadness.

“It’s okay,” The second boy said, chewing.

“We’ll be alright,” The first boy completed, swallowing his food.

“What are your names?” I asked, kneeling.

The first boy answered first, “I’m David.”

“And I’m Frank,” The second boy states.

David and Frank.

“I’ll remember you,” I say, and stand up to leave. They wave and walk back into the darkness.

I covered my mouth with my bandana as I continued walking. The air is getting colder. The war has destroyed most of the buildings here. The world was going to hell because of the President and the rest of the leaders who called themselves as such, and the children suffered the choice of fools.

I arrived at the port and stayed in the dark, by one of the containers. Didn’t need to alert the boys. A White Soldier comes out and stands. Could it be? He begins to hum a song. Sounds familiar. And after a while of listening to the humming of Come On, Eileen, I tapped on the container and he looked in my direction. He began to walk towards me. The helmet was taken off and I finally laid eyes on him. My little brother.

“Took you a bit,” I heard him say as he got closer. That’s Connors.

“Had something to do.” I told him. “What’d you want?”

“There’s a ship that’s going to Switzerland. I wanna take as many people as possible to the ship. Help ‘em escape.”

“Kinda figured that’s what you were saying in your letter. You got a route going?”

“The route is here at Red Hook. Specifics will be found in a garbage can at Central Park. There’s a guy in the country waiting for the ship to get there- two days from now.”

“What’s the count?”

“Twenty or so people. But if you can get more, that’s fine too. Try not to have too many though. You’ll draw attention to yourself.”

“Twenty people wouldn’t do that?” I scoffed.

“Bringing a family or so out from a house would be weird, Vick,” He said.

“Dude, you’re panicking. Relax,” I tell him.

“I’m okay. Just a little nervous. Don’t need the White Army coming after me. Some of these guys don’t have a conscience. I could get shot. You could get shot. The people we’re trying to save-”

“Elijah, stop,” I say suddenly. He stops and he looks at me. He’s got this scared look in his eyes. But he’s hiding it, to other people, at least.

“You’re right. Sorry.”

“We’ve done this kinda thing before. Remember the Congo?”

“Yeah, I remember that.”

“We got this. I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. I’ll get a message to you when it’s done.”

He breathed and then nodded.

“I’ll see you soon, sis.”

“You got it,” I tell him.

And before I walked away, he called out to me. I turned to look at him.

“I love you, sis.”

“I love you too, little bro,” I say.

I took the train to Central Park. The train light was dim down in the tunnel. The wheels screeched against the track as the train turned. There’s a child crying in a stroller with its mother- desperate to quiet her child down in a dull, quiet train. An old man limps through the cars, asking for money- unaware that money has become obsolete. I realize how small I am to the world as I look on to the suffering. The poor and destitute had been left out to rot because they believed in some god who told the men of the Bible that having a chip is a mark of the beast. They would rather starve than be damned for eternity. My mind raced and I became angry; angry with the rich and the poor. I reach for my locket and I clutch it to ease the anger. The rich took pleasure in seeing the poor suffer and the poor let it happen and this is where it’s led. This was the result.

Stepping off the train, I looked both ways, making sure no one was following and I walked upstairs toward the street. The sky is cloudy and there’s light rain coming down. The city is damaged; rubble from the ongoing war. It looks like a modern version of Germany’s aftermath of the Second Great War. The air hits my face like pins and needles and my eyes burn a little as I continue to walk toward the reservoir. I go to the garbage can and dig out a file that’s been hidden through the bars and quickly stuff it in my jacket before walking away.

I read the file on my bed under a nightlight. I kept the room dark to avoid suspicion. The rain softly hits the windowsill and I look out to the shadow of the fire escape for a moment. This was happening fast. It was different from the military. I knew I could lose my life in the military because I signed up for it. But this was different. I quickly prepared myself for the worst and my eyes went back to the file. I managed to get a location of the group of people, schematics, safehouses, names of people, and objectives. I hit my desk drawer with my fist and the drawer pops out. I grab my pistol and the suppressor; put it together. Grab my ammo clips. Put some in my cargo pants pockets, some in my inner jacket. I grab my blade, slip it in my boot. My cigarette burns its last flame and I put it out in the ashtray before beginning this mission.

I look at myself one last time in the mirror, clutching my gold heart-shaped locket around my neck.

“Time to get to work,” I say to myself. First stop was to pick up David and Frank. I wasn’t going to forget about them. Then head to the group of people. So I was going to start there.

I step out of the building. Look both ways. The air is thick and freezing cold. Breathe. Act casual as I walk. There’s a guard to the right so I quickly dart behind a wall. Breathe. I peek out. Breathe. They’re beating on an old man. He hasn’t got a mask on. I slowly approach them. The old man’s screaming becomes louder. My heart pounds. I haven’t killed in a long time. That feeling is returning. The feeling of satisfaction and remorse all in one. I grab my knife and pull out my pistol. It’s time. A blade to the neck in one and a bullet to the head in the other. The old man stares. I look at him and put my weapons away.

“Thank you,” He says as I help him up.

“Would you like to come with me?” I ask.

“Oh, dear, I can’t go anywhere,” He chuckled. “‘Nam ruined my spine. I can’t run anymore. Besides, the wife is sick and… well, she wants to be spread out in the ocean here in Brooklyn. I can’t disregard her wishes like that.”

I was angry at him. But I understood.

“Roger that. Good luck,” I said as I looked into the wrinkled blue eyes.

“Godspeed, young lady,” He said and I turned to walk away.

I arrived at the cove entrance and called out, “David! Frank!”

There was no answer.

“David? Frank?”

I looked around and then pulled out my flashlight and pointed at the far end of the inside of the building. There, my heart dropped. Both boys… in their jackets, frozen to death and with a bullet to both heads. The food I’d gotten them still lay next to them. Their thin faces were blue and they lay hugging each other. Their eyelids were purple and they looked mummified. Rage set in and I wanted to yell and find those responsible for this. I took a deep breath. Emotion will get you in trouble, child, I remember my sensei telling me.

My eyes swelled up. I’d waited too long. I should’ve taken them in. The temperature kept dropping and I didn’t think to bring them in with me.

“I’m so sorry,” I said quietly as the tears fell. I had to leave. I had to rescue the others. I stayed for a moment, saying a prayer in Latin; left.

I’d walked about a mile before I hit a sector of the city. I moved behind a half wall where the White Soldiers couldn’t see me and I thought about my next move.

“Damn. Blocked,” I say.

“Psst,” I heard from the woods. I turned quickly, crouched, and aimed. Then a whisper, “Don’t shoot. I’m a friendlie.”

I put my gun down and continue crouching toward the voice all the while checking my six. I get to the voice. It’s a woman. She’s petite, dark hair, white. She gestures to follow her and I do so by trying not to make noise with the snapping and moving of branches. The trail seemed like it took forever until we got to a hatch in the ground. She opens it and gestures for me to continue following.

Down the hatch, the door closes quietly as I could close it. I dropped down and met with a lamp that illuminated a room. The lamp brightens up and I see many faces around me- men, women, and children.

“You must be Vicky. Elijah told us you were coming,” She says. “I’m Mary.”

“We’ll have to get moving soon,” I tell her as I look at the faces around me. For a second I thought I’d seen David and Frank in two of the boys’ faces and I blinked back to reality. Come on, Vick, snap out of it.

“You’re right. Let’s get moving,” She says to everyone.

“The ship leaves in an hour. So we’ll have to keep moving if we’re to get there quickly. We have a long trek to go so make sure to supply water, food, and make sure your children are fed. If you need to use the bathroom, do so now before we leave,” I announced.

Some of the people began to stand to prepare for the trip. Others looked on as if this was their last hope to live. And some… had no soul left in them. I’d seen that look in the war… too many times.

“Are you carrying?” Mary asked, cutting into my thoughts.

“I am. You?”

“Yeah. Need extra?” She pulled out a .45 and handed it to me. “I have faith you’ll get us there.”

Don’t put faith in me, please. “I’ll do my best,” I simply say with David and Frank in my mind.

We began our trip to the ship. It was going to be about a ten kilometer walk. It’s not much when you’re by yourself but with children and old men and women, the travel is longer. The rain began to come in a little stronger now. It helped somewhat. It deafened our footsteps as we walked through the forested area. I stayed in front while Mary watched from the back.

We were almost there. I held my hand up and made a fist as we stopped by a wall near the port. Everyone stopped. I crouched. Everyone crouched. I looked back to make sure that everyone was safe and I was suddenly pushed against the wall and the feeling of something hot went inside my stomach. I grunt as quiet as I can as to not alert the White Soldiers. I look in front of me and there are visors in front of me. A shot- silenced- buzzes past my ear and I feel slight warmth on my face. The White Soldier falls and my reflexes push me to catch him to avoid the noise but my stomach feels strained. I hiss from the pain and I pull him to the wall.

“You okay?” Mary whispers as she gets close to me. I fight to remain stoic and I nod, afraid I might whimper from the pain if I voiced. I look ahead. The coast is clear. I walk on ahead with the group toward the staircase that leads to the ship. A White Soldier comes out and I aim my gun, ready to fire. He raises his arms while looking side to side. Elijah! I nod and I stop for a bit. The pain is becoming unbearable. I look down at my stomach and my glove pressing up on it gleans red in the moonlight. I’m lightheaded but I keep pushing through. David… Frank… Elijah… mom… I want to fall. But I keep going. I was so close to getting them to safety. We could all leave together. Elijah and I could finally leave this God forsaken place.

“Thank God you’re here,” I heard Elijah say. I look up and he opens the chain link that leads up to the ship. “Hurry. Get on.”

The blow horn goes off. The ship is about to leave. They begin to rush. Mary puts a hand to Elijah’s cover and smiles before going up the stairs.

Shots ring out, the ship is about to leave. I turn as we all did and there are White Soldiers running our way. I look to Elijah who then grabs my hand and we run up the stairs. This is it. We can finally leave! I feel a push from him and I realize I’m being thrown on the ship. I gain my bearings and I look to see he’s shooting below him. He’s heading back downstairs. A grunt. I stand in time to see him fall on his knees. His gun is still in his hand. He’s still firing. My tears are falling and I am blinded by it but blink them away to see him fall on the ground. The boat has left the docks. My brother has left the earth.

Explosions can be heard from afar. I expect to see helicopters but I see none. A White Soldier approaches us. I aim my gun but he puts his hands up in surrender.

“I’m with your brother,” He says. “Your brother was a good man. Told me to give you this.”

He hands me a bag. I take the bag, tears still in my eyes.

“He fought the good fight. Because of him, the ninety-nine percent are winning against the rich. He put a lot in place. Couldn’t save everyone but he wanted to get a few out. We’re bringing another ship to carry more civilians to Switzerland.”

My tears keep falling. I sat down. My stomach still hurts. I open the bag. His dog tags, pictures of him and me with mom, files, passports, IDs, a gun, a toy butterfly of mine from when I was a kid, and the same gold heart-shaped locket as mine are all that remain of him. I opened it to see the same picture as the one I have in my locket- he and I laughing while he gave me a noogie. My tears filled my eyes and I swallowed my pride and allowed mourning to set in. It was all I had left.

At what cost was it to be the hero, if you were going to lose people and pieces of your heart, when it was easier to be the villain?