by Mainak Dhar
I step out of the cage after he unlocks it and the two of us walk along the grounds. I can sense the guards watching their leader, watching us. King is in a mood to talk, and all I have to do is listen. He has his hands clamped behind his back and he looks straight ahead, without facing me.
'I lost my whole family to Biters. My wife, my three kids, my father. All gone. Well, not quite. My father turned, and someone shot him in the head.'
He falls silent and keeps walking. The massive muscles in his neck tighten, and after a while he speaks again.
'I lost everything I had, everything I loved, but I realized there was still one thing worth fighting for. Our country. I was a Marine. Joined straight out of school, and never wanted to do anything else. Soon, I saw Zeus and the Exec Committee trying to take over, disbanding military units, killing officers who resisted them, and I joined the resistance. For years, I fought the enemies who had taken away all I loved. I fought against the Biters who had taken my family and the dictators who would take away our freedom. I fought for General Konrath, as did all my men here.'
He stops speaking again and we keep walking in silence. His uniform now makes sense and I wonder why such a man is serving Robertson. He answers that question shortly.
'When General Konrath died, we all panicked that our country would fall into chaos again, and Robertson seemed to be someone who would bring stability. He was not a warrior, but at least he was not one of the Exec Committee. So we all threw in our lot with him. He brought in Zeus stragglers, and we embraced them. After all, our nation was born out of a civil war where brother fought brother. For a while it was fine, but then things changed. The Zeus uniforms, the orders to fire on civilians, these camps. The whispers that everybody in the Exec Committee wasn't really accounted for and that some of them were making a comeback, that perhaps they were the ones bankrolling Robertson.'
Now he turns and looks straight at me. We are right in the middle of the camp.
'I thought we could destroy all the Biters, then I thought we could contain them, and then in camps like these we began to think we could convert them. But you know what? After meeting you, I've learnt something. That we do not always have to destroy, contain or convert those who are different from us. Perhaps we just need to give each other space to coexist. It will take me a long time to forgive Biters for what they did to my family, but I can try. However, I don't want to lose my country to another set of tyrants and corporations that pull the strings behind the scenes.'
'King, the battle that you have been waging for so long, I have been waging inside of myself. I know now who I was as a human, and I was a very different person from who I am now. With all that has happened, with what I am now, I can never fully become Neil again. But is that a bad thing?'
I point to the cages around us.
'Each and every one of them was a human like you, with families, with hopes, dreams and fears. They cannot get any of those back. On that count, Robertson is wrong. Our redemption, our reintegration, will not happen when we try and get back what we have lost in the past, but when we can embrace the future we can create.'
I now point at myself.
'Look at me. Neil would have smashed my head in or run in terror if I had met him now. When I was Neil, I loved a girl. Indeed, I turned when I was bitten in trying to save her, but could she accept me now? Does that even matter? Why do you humans dwell so much on the past? I can never have the life Neil did, but knowing who he was gives me hope for the future, because I now know my life had some meaning. That I mattered to someone; that I made a difference, and I can hope that I can make a difference to others in the future.'
I lean forward towards him, looking him in the eye.
'As can you.'
Our chat is cut short by the deafening sound of helicopters coming in to land outside the camp. The gate swings open and more than a dozen heavily armed men wearing black uniforms sweep into the camp. An officer, the only one not wearing a black mask over his face, comes over and salutes King lazily.
'Good evening. I'm Scott Chandler from Homeland Security. We're here to establish security before President Robertson gets here in a couple of hours.'
He then looks more closely at King.
'Why are you not in uniform?'
King straightens to his full height, towering over the newcomer.
'I am in my uniform. The uniform of the United States Marines. I serve the people of the United States, not some corporation.'
Chandler takes a step back and motions at his men to fan out. King's men exchange glances, and King calls them for a meeting. As they follow him into their bunker, I sense that the time for planning has come to an end.
Now the action begins.
***
ELEVEN
They have brought in a large stage which was flown in by a helicopter and assembled just a few minutes ago. Four large cameras with crews cover this, and a large dish relays the video to screens across the Homeland. I am sure Alice and my friends will also be watching in Wonderland. I don't know if I will survive this evening, but knowing that she will be watching makes me even more determined to not let her down.
Four more black-clad troopers appeared in the last few minutes and all sixteen of them are now standing in a loose circle around the stage, weapons drawn.
King's men are nowhere to be seen, and I wonder if they have left. Then the door to their barracks opens and they march out in single file, King right in front of them. All of them are wearing the same uniform King wore in the morning, and many of the uniforms are tattered and with patches on them, unlike the new, shiny black uniforms. They are all wearing body armor and carrying their rifles. King marches them to just behind the stage and then he stops them, and they fan out. There are at least twenty of them, and the black-clad troopers glance around nervously. King comes over and stands by me.
'Let's get this straight. I will not fight for you or the Biters, but I will fight for my country. So do what you intend to do. My men will not fire on you. You have my word on that, as long as none of the Biters turns on my men.'
Chandler has walked over now and is speaking in a hissed whisper.
'What is the meaning of this? The President will arrive any moment.'
King silences him with a glare.
'We were United States Marines once, and today we decided that we want to be Marines again, not a private army.'
Then a helicopter approaches, and as it lands, Robertson steps out. He is surrounded by black-clad soldiers and some of them carry large tubes of the sort I have seen being used to launch rockets that can knock out heavy vehicles or helicopters. The men with the rockets stay outside the main gate and fan out. The fact that he sees the need to be accompanied by such firepower in the country he claims to be the leader of says a lot for just how much he has earned the loyalty of his people.
He walks into the camp, wearing a black suit with a pin of the flag of the old United States on his chest, waving his right hand, even though nobody waves back. The cameras are all trained on him and I suspect his smile and the wave are more for those watching on their screens instead of those actually at the camp. The soldiers are all standing at attention, and all the Biters are watching in silence. He walks straight towards me, and four soldiers immediately flank him, their guns pointed in my direction. For all his smiling, Robertson is clearly not taking any chances.
'I should thank you for the tip you gave, but then I also kept my side of the bargain.'
I say nothing, waiting for him to come closer. But then he stops a few feet short and points to the stage.
'Let's get up there and get it over with.'
There is no humor in his voice, despite the smile on his face. I follow him on to the stage, with at least two soldiers between us at all times. When he reaches the stage, he climbs up and waves towards the cameras. A young woman scurries up and attaches a mike to his suit, and he begins speaking.
'My fellow Homelanders. I am here, live, at Camp Oriole wher
e we will kick off the process of reintegration. I had asked you for faith in the government and in me so that we could restore some stability and peace to create the conditions needed to start the process of reintegration. I thank you for cooperating over the last few months, and now that we have struck decisive blows against terrorist forces, we feel we can turn our attention to reintegration.'
He motions for me to join him on stage, and the soldiers move aside to let me climb onto the stage.
'Next to me is someone whom many of you may have thought of once as a fairy tale. A bunny-eared Biter, a companion to the fabled Alice. A Biter who can talk. I am sure many of you dismissed him as a rumor, a figment of someone's imagination—till we all saw and heard him at Disneyland. Today, Bunny Ears is here with me, to help kick off the process of reintegration. Imagine our world the way it once was. Imagine the friends and relatives whom you thought you had lost forever returning to you. Imagine them regaining their memories, their speech, and their place in civilized society. That is my vision for our great country and together we will make this vision come true.'
He calls for Doctor Appleseed, and the young Doctor is soon on stage with us. His hair is disheveled and his clothes rumpled. Robertson looks at him disapprovingly as he comes between the two of us. Clearly the events of the previous night are weighing on Appleseed's mind, and perhaps he is yet to decide which side to take in the events to come.
'Doctor Appleseed here has been working extensively with Bunny Ears to understand what it might take to reintegrate other Biters. Isn't that right, Doctor?'
Appleseed is staring blankly ahead of him, and Robertson has to prompt him again.
'Isn't that right, Doctor?'
Appleseed clears his throat.
'Yes, Mister President. We have been able to unlock some ways of getting Biters to recover their memory and power of speech. There is still a lot of work to be done, but with this Bunny Ears here, I feel more confident we can do it.'
Appleseed is looking at me, begging me with his eyes. He is ashamed of his failure and afraid of Robertson, and hopes that I do not reveal that he and his so-called science have actually achieved very little. I could feel sorry for him, but sometimes you need to kill even those you pity.
Robertson then asks for me to come closer and the young woman comes forward, handing me a mike. She leans towards me and whispers.
'Say you want a burger or a pizza with extra cheese. All our research shows something like that will endear you to the audience and make the connection to the world we lost. Something as simple as that is all we need. Can you do that?'
I just nod blankly as Robertson asks the next question.
'Bunny Ears, now that you remember who you were and the life you once had, what is the one thing you wish you could have now if you were to rejoin civilized society?'
It is the second time he has mentioned 'civilized society'. It speaks to the misplaced pride of the man that he believes that deception, betrayal and tyranny are all hallmarks of a so-called civilized society. Neil pops the word into my ears.
Hubris.
I look around. Biters in cages all looking at me. Soldiers, King's men and the black-clad newcomers, standing next to each other, eyeing each other with suspicion. The cameras, focused on my face, streaming what is happening here to screens that Robertson's people will have set up around the Homeland, and of course being seen back in Wonderland.
Knowing that Alice is watching gives me courage. Neil came to grips with his own mortality all those years ago when he ignored the fact that he was bitten to try and save Neha. Bunny Ears lived with the certainty that one day a bullet would enter his skull and end it all. Death holds no terrors for me. What matters is what you do with the life you get to live. That is something I have learned from remembering the life I had as Neil. Neil may have been a simple boy living a simple life, but he was more of a hero than I have been. I have followed others, I have fought for my own survival. Neil threw away everything he had to save someone he loved. He was a hero, and while I may never be the hero he was, his example makes me want to stand up for what I believe in. After all, somewhere inside of me is that same boy.
A cough interrupts my thoughts. Robertson is prodding me to answer. To say something that will prop up his pathetic ambitions and greed. To be a pawn in the game he thinks he is in control of.
'Bunny Ears, the President asked you what would be the one thing you wish you could have now if you were to rejoin civilized society.'
I ignore the woman and look Robertson straight in the eye. So he wants to know the one thing I would want, not just for me, but for all those around me, human and Biter alike. Something which does not require big buildings and fancy gadgets, something which does not even require an empire of the sort that Robertson wants to build, because ultimately it starts within each person. So he wants to know what I would like most in a 'civilized' society. The answer is easy.
Now is the time to act.
Robertson twitches, wondering why I am taking so long. The woman starts to say something but I raise a hand in the air and signal to her to be quiet. I take two long steps towards Robertson. Two soldiers come in between us, and I push one hard on the chest, sending him careening off the stage. The other is raising his gun and I slash him across the face and he goes down screaming. I look at Robertson now, my face inches from his.
'I want freedom.'
***
'Freedom!'
Several voices echo the word, many garbled, many hoarse from years of not speaking in English, but all recognizable. All saying the same word.
All of them Biters from inside the cages.
Alice's words have worked, my words have worked and as more and more of them say the word, others join in.
Robertson looks at me, his eyes wide in terror.
'See, Robertson. They can speak, and they don't need the butchery of Appleseed to do so. They need something to look forward to, something to live for.'
Appleseed cowers before me as the voices keep ringing out, saying the same word over and over again. I had hoped for maybe a few to speak out, to make my point in front of Robertson's cameras, but now dozens, maybe hundreds are chanting the same words over and over again.
'Freedom. Freedom.'
I look at the closest camera.
'All of you watching us, know one thing. The world may or may not go back to the way it was, but we can live in peace. All you need to do is to stop treating us as animals. Restoring voices and memories requires not the butchery of Appleseed or Robertson's empty promises. It needs each of us to feel secure, feel that we have something to look forward to.'
The soldiers seem frozen in their places. I don't think any of them expected this. Many of them have their guns trained on me, but Neil tells me to go closer to Robertson. To hold on to him. The soldiers will not fire when I am so close to him for fear of hitting him. As I look around, I realize I am wrong. Not all the soldiers are pointing guns at me. Not King and his men. They are pointing their guns all right, but at the black-clad troops who had accompanied Robertson.
King shouts out.
'Everyone, lower your weapons. We don't need any more bloodshed.'
Robertson is shaking like a leaf with my hand around his neck, but he manages to gather enough courage to shout back.
'This is treason. You will be court-martialed.'
King steps closer to the stage.
'By whom? These men around you are not lawful members of the United States military. They are private contractors who have no authority over me. And who elected you President? By what authority are you commanding me?'
Robertson pales as he hears the words.
'King, why would you stand up for these creatures? For this Bunny Ears?'
King is now just near the stage and he clambers up.
'I have no love lost for the Biters, but the enemy of an enemy is not a friend. I've had enough of being a pawn in power games played by fat politicians, of my boys shedding blood s
o you can have your oil, land or power. Enough. My men and I are walking out of here, and we're freeing all these Biters. Then you can deal with them yourself.'
King motions for his men and several of them jog over to the cages. Appleseed cries out in anguish.
'No!'
King silences him with a glare.
'The reintegration that Robertson has been selling is a lie. The world will never be what it was, and that lie made us sell our freedom to him and others like him again. The Biters are what they are, and I'd rather let them figure out how they want to live out the time they have, instead of us hunting them down or trying to use them as guinea pigs.'
He then turns to me.
'I hope you put this opportunity to good use.'
I look at King and nod.
'It is the humans who crave war. We will be happy to be left alone, and to leave you alone.'
Just then, all mayhem breaks loose. There is a deafening noise. A blur of motion heads towards the ground outside the camp. The ground shakes like an earthquake, followed a second later by the sound of a huge explosion, and then Appleseed's head explodes right before my eyes.
***
I am thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion. Robertson is on all fours, screaming for someone to come and help him, but it looks like everyone is too busy taking care of themselves. I hear someone shouting.
'It was a bloody airplane, coming in on a suicide run.'
'We fired three rockets, and maybe one hit and deflected it away from the camp, but it hit right in the middle of the choppers.'
Outside the camp, through the open gates, the world is on fire. Through the flames rises the tall tail of a large airplane. Perhaps it is the same one John and I flew in, or maybe another one like it. I cannot be sure, but I suspect Melissa and Pamela tried to avenge Tunks and while they failed to kill Robertson directly, they may well have sealed his fate. The helicopters outside and the men there carrying rockets and heavy weapons are all destroyed.