Overthrown: The Great Dark (Overthrown Trilogy Book 1)

by Judd Vowell

  The kids and I attended to the food growing underneath and out of the ground, harvesting when we guessed the time was right. And we taught ourselves to use the shotguns and rifles that Quinn had left for us. First, with targets of bottles and cans. Then, with the smaller animal life we could track. Rabbits and turkeys. Fortunately, Henry had read somewhere in his independent studies about cleaning animals for cooking. And after a few kills, we became fairly skilled at preparing meat. Soon enough, we were hunting boar and deer, and living off the land.

  45.

  T he kids and I met with Daniel after the orientation meeting. I asked if Jeff could join us, as I planned that he would be involved in our excursion to the hospital complex the next day. I had also grown to like Jeff a lot, and I thought it might give him a chance to impress Camp Overlord’s leader. I could foresee Jeff becoming an integral piece of the liberation effort.

  I related our journey and the reason for it in detail to Daniel. Meg’s cancer, its creeping death, the desperation to get more life-saving medication. He listened with intent and concern. Some people have a natural compassion for others. I sensed that Daniel honestly cared for our situation.

  “But I can’t let you go,” he said when I finished.

  I was confused at first. “Excuse me?”

  “I can’t let you go to the hospital.”

  “I’m not sure that you understand, Daniel,” I responded hastily. “I’m not asking for permission here. We’ve got our own agenda, and it has nothing to do with all of this…”

  He broke in, speaking calmly. “Hang on, Gordon. I’m just trying to protect you. And your kids. The city is under ANTI-’s control. And you can bet they’ve got the hospital on lockdown. What you’re proposing is just too dangerous. I can’t let you do it.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I was feeling the beginnings of anger brewing inside me. I wished I had never agreed to stay the night at the camp. We had been on our own for months now. I should’ve known better. I was about to stand and direct the kids to get ready to leave when Jeff spoke up.

  “Daniel, you’re not gonna be able to stop this man.” He said it boldly, matter-of-factly. “We’ve been traveling together for a while now, and I think I know him well enough to say that there’s no stopping him. But hear me out, because I’ve got an idea.”

  Daniel was shaking his head before Jeff got the last word out of his mouth. “No way, not happening. Too risky, guys.”

  “No, Daniel, listen. I can get us into the complex, without a fight.” Jeff looked around, and then he leaned in as if to tell us all a secret. “You see, it’s my brother. Paul. He’s one of them. He’s an ANT.”

  46.

  H enry found the old stereo receiver our first week at the farm. It was at the bottom of a closet in his grandfather’s office. He took it apart and reassembled it as he had with so many other electronics in our garage before. Using metal coat hangers for antennae, he transformed the receiver into a low-frequency tuner that could pick up signals from great distances. It became our only contact with the outside world.

  The broadcasts were steady at first, with television and radio stations in the larger cities using the generator power they had prepared for disasters, natural or otherwise. After those resources were depleted, reports became irregular. Sometimes we went days without hearing anything. I developed a new respect for the journalists that were brave enough to keep us informed during that bleak time. What we learned was disheartening. Eventually it turned horrific.

  ◊◊◊

  ANTI-’s hold on the country, and the world, was centralized to the largest metropolitan areas. In the United States, that equated to around twenty-five cities. There were certain power grids in those cities that ANTI- kept online. These grids were cleared so that only ANTs had access, and they were heavily guarded. Selective electricity is an unbelievably powerful system of control.

  Reports of skirmishes on the edges of the ANTI- strongholds began to surface. People by themselves, then small disorganized groups, tried to break through. But ANTI-’s defenses were strong. Heavy equipment seized from militarized police departments protected each grid’s borders. The ANTs were merciless, killing anyone who approached. One reporter described a group of teenage boys who rushed the ANTI- line in Chicago with just baseball bats and golf clubs. The ANTs ripped them apart with .50-caliber machine guns. Their bodies lay in the street all night, their families afraid to get close enough to retrieve them.

  We waited for the day when a broadcast would come through announcing ANTI-’s defeat at the hands of our government, our soldiers. Instead, we heard stories of mass military infiltration. For years, ANTs had joined the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines in the United States, as well as military organizations in countries all over the world. It was part of the grand plan, to be ingrained with enough soldiers to overtake the leadership once the Great Dark began. The colonels and generals of the world had never prepared for such a coup. I think we all had a blind dependence on our governments to protect us, even in their incompetence and lethargy. ANTI- exploited both and left us all helpless.

  47.

  J eff’s brother Paul was recruited into the ANTI- organization as a teenager. His story was compelling. It became the foundation of our strategy to save Meg.

  ◊◊◊

  Paul had first been introduced to ANTI- as a freshman in high school. Jeff, the classic over-achieving older brother, had left for college on a basketball scholarship that year after graduating with honors. Paul, on the other hand, struggled with his studies and had no interest in sports. He fought to find an identity outside of Jeff’s very long shadow.

  He had always been good with computers. Always won at video games against his friends, then against the broad online community. It was during a late-night gaming session when he met Gustav, an older gamer from across an ocean. They hit it off immediately and started gaming together often. Gustav was smart, and cool, and accomplished at the game to which they were both addicted.

  After a few weeks, Gustav began to talk about a different online group. Not a gaming group, but something bigger. He made it sound exclusive and exciting. He said he could maybe get Paul inside, if they’d even consider him. Paul was intrigued.

  His meeting with ANTI- was set up inside a private chat room. Paul, Gustav, and two other older guys. Paul was young, but smart enough to know that they were profiling him. Questions about his parents and siblings, about school and friends. They were interrogating him, but he didn’t mind. He liked it. He liked the idea of it all. A secret online society, with an exclusive worldwide membership.

  Paul was soon invited to join the anonymous group, agreeing to the oath that was presented to him as part of his initiation. Something about commitment to the cause, affecting wholesale change to the way humans exist. He found it all a bit overdramatic, but he appreciated the general philosophy. If he could be part of something big enough to flip the human race on its head, he was in.

  He and Gustav remained close over the next three years. As Paul neared high school graduation and began considering college, he confided to Gustav that he was thinking of leaving ANTI- behind. After all, he needed to be focusing on his own life, his own path. ANTI- had been a fun distraction from the banality of high school, but where was it all leading? Gustav was flabbergasted at first, but eventually expressed understanding for Paul’s hesitations to continue in the organization. Then, Gustav’s tone turned foreboding. He warned Paul that ANTI-’s grand plan was soon to be set in motion, maybe within the year. He didn’t think it was a good idea for Paul to leave, especially at that time.

  Whether it was curiosity or fear or a combination of both, Paul decided to remain with the group. He would keep a low profile, which wouldn’t be hard. He had never progressed farther than entry-level status in the organization anyway. Whenever a protest was planned, he was the last to find out. After all, the information stream was a vital component to ANTI-’s surprise tactics. An attack that may have been months or
years in design wouldn’t be revealed to lower-level ANTs sometimes until a few hours before it was to be executed. With his basic position in the organization, Paul would be able to live his life outside ANTI- for the next year or so while still maintaining his membership. Under the radar. That way he could verify what Gustav was telling him.

  It was close to the end of his first college year when Paul had his last conversation with Gustav. It was the longest one they had ever had. Gustav informed Paul of all he knew. Of the planned shutdown and subsequent takeover. Of the role he would play in Berlin’s electrical re-sourcing. Gustav was ecstatic and nervous. Paul acted the same, but knew his days with ANTI- were done. He wished Gustav luck and said he would see him on the other side of the revolution. Three days later, the Great Dark was underway.

  ◊◊◊

  Paul never reported to his final assignment. His orders came through an encrypted email less than 24 hours before the first shutdowns started. He imagined that a lot of ANTs got lost in the shuffling confusion of that day and never showed up to participate. He wasn’t concerned that they missed him, and he felt confident he could still get inside their circle. He remembered all of the passwords to access his ANTI- email account. But he needed some sort of connection to ANTI-’s internal server.

  “I think we can handle that,” Anna said from over Daniel’s shoulder. She had joined the group to hear Paul’s story. Probably to verify its authenticity, too. She stood over all of us with her arms crossed. “We’ve hacked our way into their system. At this point, all we do is watch, look, spy. But we can send an email.” She pointed at Paul. “You just need to make sure it conveys the right message.”

  “I know what to say,” Paul retorted. “As long as they haven’t changed their email protocols, then I know what to say.”

  “Well, there’s a good chance that they have,” Daniel said, thinking. “But it’s the best shot we’ve got.” He turned to look at me. “Gordon, maybe we can make this mission work for both of us. Let my guys come up with a good plan, and you’ve got my support. Give me a day?”

  I had calmed myself while Paul told his story. I had also come to my senses about what we were facing. We were going to need all the help we could get. “Ok,” I said. “And I’m sorry. Just help me save my wife.”

  “I will. I promise,” Daniel said with confidence. He stood from his seat and announced to the group, “We’ve got 36 hours to make this work. Get on it.”

  48.

  A fter three months of darkness, we tried to ration the cancer medication to make it last as long as possible. Dr. Raj had given us enough to make it six months. Once we were halfway through what he had allotted, we decided it was best to adjust. There was less and less news coming through Henry’s homemade tuner, and none of it was good. It seemed like we were living the new normal. Like the Great Dark was here to stay, at least for longer than we could have ever imagined.

  The only gauge we had for Meg’s internal battle was how she felt. She had fought it once before, so we relied on her memories and her level of pain. She remembered the progression of her first disease and the way her body reacted and felt as she began to defeat it. After three months of daily medication, she was better, stronger. We cut the dosage in half to give her body another six months. She kept feeling better. And stronger. But time started to move against her quickly.

  As the number of pills dwindled to just a few, we talked options. As if there were any. I guess it was more like we talked preparation. Meg said she felt almost as good as the day she was declared cancer-free the first time. But her manner betrayed how she was truly feeling. I knew the tumor was still there. All we had done was diminish it. But it was still there. The looming questions formed: would it come back once the medicine left her bloodstream? And if it did, how long would it take?

  ◊◊◊

  It wasn’t two weeks without Dr. Raj’s medicine before Meg started to weaken. Once the tumor came back, it came back with a vengeance. Almost as if it knew Meg was completely defenseless. She wasn’t going to survive without medical help. That became painfully obvious.

  I came up with the plan over a sleepless two nights. It was really the only plan there was. But I had to make sure I wasn’t overlooking something. Something easier, less dangerous. But there wasn’t anything else to do. More medicine was her only chance.

  Meg and I discussed it over a long breakfast on a quiet, beautiful morning. She was relatively pain-free when she woke up that day. She resisted my idea at first. But the reality of the situation soon took over. I told her we weren’t a family without her in it. I told her the kids still needed their mother, maybe now more than ever. I told her that she was the love of my life. And that, ultimately, I would rather die trying to save her than give up and give in.

  We cried and we sat in silence for a long time. Then I told her how I planned to save her.

  49.

  C amp Overlord’s strategic planners had the mission drawn up by noon the day after Paul’s revelations about ANTI-. Daniel called a meeting to review it with everyone who was to be involved: the kids and me, Paul, Jeff, Anna, and six other Lefty soldiers who would provide reconnaissance and support. While the plan was simple and direct, it was going to require seamless execution to work.

  Daniel informed us at the beginning of the meeting that things had already been set in motion earlier that day. Paul had sent an encrypted email through ANTI-’s darknet system using the network connection that Lefty had established at Overlord. His message, while brief, described a sophisticated yet fictional cover story:

  ID: 2-370-552

  SECTOR: NA-3

  ACCESS CODE: 909487

  April 30

  At receipt of this email, please acknowledge. I have been traveling for weeks after recovering from injuries sustained in the initial revolt. I have companions with me, sympathetic to the cause, as I still am. They are my cousin, a female, and her two adolescent children. They are trustworthy.

  I am within 10 miles of Sector 3’s home base. I intend to seek refuge and admittance for myself and my companions into the base’s active power grid. We will be approaching tomorrow from the east highway. Please instruct.

  I hijacked power and network access from an unknown source to send this message, so I will encrypt per ANTI- protocol that was in place prior to the revolution. I will check for acknowledgement and instructions before sunset.

  FtSoH

  It was a brilliant communication, giving a valid reason for his long absence and setting up an “in” for Anna and the kids. And whoever validated his credentials within the ANTI- organization would know that he was computer savvy enough to be able to send a message with little resources. What made it all the more brilliant was that it worked.

  “We received a return transmission two hours after Paul’s was sent,” Anna told us. “It includes instructions for the four of us – Paul, Henry, Jessica, and myself – to meet an ANTI- unit at the northwestern corner of the grid tomorrow morning. That corner is three blocks from the pharmaceutical building that holds your wife’s medicine.” She glanced at me as she said this with a half-smile on her face, then tried to reassure me about utilizing my children but not me for the infiltration. “Gordon, we think your kids will help defuse the ANTs’ suspicion of our group. And any easing of tensions that we can use to our advantage, we’ll take.”

  She continued to the rest of the group. “The purpose of this mission is two-fold. First, we will attempt to get inside the pharmaceutical facility and gather the necessary medicine. Henry and Jessica, make sure you know exactly what you need. I doubt we will have a lot of time inside. Second, I will be collecting as much information as possible about ANTI-’s operations inside that base.

  “We fully expect an interrogation after we arrive, and they will most likely separate us to do that. The four of us will use the rest of today reviewing our cover stories and learning the layout of that medical complex. Gordon and Jeff – you, Daniel, and six of our people will set up
overnight in groups of three along the eastern perimeter of the grid. You will have equipment to watch as we approach. You will have weapons, but only as a last resort. If this turns into a gunfight, we won’t win. Remember that.”

  Daniel stepped in. “This operation should take less than 24 hours to complete. We believe that the majority of ANTI-’s security forces will be positioned along the outside of the grid, especially after nightfall. That means that the pharmaceutical building, inside the grid, should be accessible overnight. Once the group has the necessary medicine, it will be time to escape. We will handle the aftermath, although we do not expect any retaliation. We believe that their knowledge of us is limited, and we predict that they will pass Anna and the others off as a rogue crew looking for some free drugs.”

  I had listened patiently and silently as Anna and Daniel presented the mission. I knew deep down that it was the most logical way to get inside, and I also realized that there was no stopping what had already begun. But my paternal instincts were kicking in. I couldn’t put this much responsibility on Jessica and Henry alone. I should be with them. “Daniel, isn’t there some way for me to go inside, too?” I pleaded. “I can’t let them do this on their own.”

  He walked over to me and knelt down to my eye level. “The wheel is already turning, Gordon,” he said. “There’s no reversing it now.”