“I want to help this country. I want to help this city in particular because of how important you are to the country and the world at large. That is why the I am proud to announce that the Globalist National Convention will be hosted at Madison Square Garden from June 4th to June 7th.”
Ignoring the buzz from that was building up from the reporters, Liam continued, “We will host a full complement of speakers, a nominating procedure for myself, and other events and activities. In particular, there will be a charity drive for the people of this city where people can donate money and supplies during the convention. I will now take a few questions.”
“How did you get the Garden?” somebody shouted.
“We put in an application for the Garden back in December, but we were put on hold because there were a myriad of events ahead of us that had first billing. We were able to move up the list because of the attacks and the final go ahead came when the Knicks were eliminated last night,” Liam explained.
There was some laughter from the crowd as another reporter asked, “What kind of security will there be?”
“We are already working with the NYPD and the Port Authority to make sure there aren’t any attacks while we are hosting the convention. I cannot, for obvious reasons, divulge much more than that, but I can say security will be tight in and around the convention site. I’ll leave it to the fine officers of this city to decide what is the best way to protect their own city. I’ll take one more question,” Liam said,
“What is your platform?” someone shouted.
Liam had to resist rolling his eyes as he said, “The Globalist Party will announce its platform at the convention. We are still concentrating on fundraising and recruitment at this time. That will be all for now.”
Liam turned to leave and entered the limo that was sitting nearby. As he sat in the back, he could not but help crack a smile. Everything so far was going well and there were still eight months to tie everything together. For a brief moment, he indulged himself and thought about sitting in the Oval Office. He did not let himself think about for too long though, there was much to do before that dream could become a reality.
Chapter Thirteen
A New Front
“Do you see them out on that line?” Georgia asked.
“Yes,” Peter replied. “They’re all drunk.”
“Good,” Anne said. “It’ll make it easier for us.”
“I still don’t want to start the attack until we have complete tactical advantage,” Peter said darkly. “Are you people moving into position?” he barked into a radio.
The reply came quickly. “We are getting there, Peter. We just need maybe five minutes. They aren’t going anywhere.”
“You better not for your sake,” Peter said darkly before establishing radio silence.
It was the end of March and Peter had moved his burgeoning forces north across the Kansas River into Wyandotte County, where the gangs’ rule was absolute. The idea was to take out some of the weaker, outlying gangs to get a reputation for his group as someone who was fighting the gangs. Rebecca had agreed to this only in the context of her work; it would be beneficial to her if she was a part of the vigilantes that were fighting for the city.
Rebecca was nearby in a van, watching and listening to the action as it set up. She had not wanted to come along and it only took the strongest coaxing from Anne and Georgia for her to come along. She had still insisted at remaining away from the action, so she was placed in the command center of the operation, where she was joined by a teenaged boy named Spencer Hayes.
Spencer had also decided to take a backseat to the actual fighting and preferred to direct the movement from behind the scenes. Peter had entrusted him with keeping an eye on the whole situation and alert one squad or another to danger if it presented itself. He had a battle display where he was marking where the troops were moving and where the gangs were located. He was going to let Peter know when optimum tactical advantage had become apparent.
“Squad Green, can you clarify your position again?” Spencer asked.
“We are in position overlooking the brush behind the trailer park. We see multiple hostiles,” someone replied.
“Thank you. Resume silence,” Spencer said, marking the position on the map. “They’re getting close,” he said to Rebecca.
Rebecca nodded, too nervous to say anything. She had had serious reservations about coming along in the first place and was terrified that Anne or Georgia might get hurt or worse. She did not want to bother Spencer with her fears though; she didn’t know him at all and he was focusing on the battle anyways. He, however, sensed that something was going on and asked, “Are you doing okay?”
Rebecca looked at him, surprised, and said, quietly, “I’m fine.”
“No, you aren’t, you’re nervous,” Spencer countered.
Rebecca had no intention to talk about herself at that time and instead asked, “How did Peter trust you to be in charge of the battle?”
Spencer sighed; he wanted to talk about Rebecca, not himself. “I learned battle tactics from my father. He was a Marine and was involved in the Iran Crisis. I used what I learned to win the war games Peter set up.”
Rebecca glowered; Anne and Georgia had been gone for an entire weekend for that. It had been extremely difficult to lie to Ed and Kathleen as to where they were and Rebecca let them hear it when they got back. “Even though you are underage?”
“Especially because I’m underage,” Spencer said. “No one would expect a teenager to be behind our tactics, so I’d be safe from targeting.”
“Are the gangs capable of that? I though they just stayed up here,” Rebecca replied.
“We’re stirring up a hornet’s nest here,” Spencer said. “We can’t be sure of anything.”
“Are we ready to go yet?” Peter suddenly barked on the radio.
Spencer looked at his map and said, “You are now that Green is in place. Red and Yellow move in first. Once you are engaged, Green and Blue move in from the side. The idea is to capture or drive away as many as possible and kill as a last resort.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Peter said hostilely, stuffing the radio in his pocket. “We’re on,” he barked at the squad behind him.
They all got up and moved towards the gangs. Peter, Spencer, and an amateur meteorologist advising them named Victoria had chosen tonight because it was going to be overcast, providing them with full darkness to spring their attack. As such, the gangs could not see the attack as it was coming in.
Anne and Georgia were only feet away when they noticed something was amiss. Before they could raise an alarm though, they had been knocked out by shock pellets that had been fired at them silently.
“Will the fact that they are drunk affect them differently?” Georgia whispered to Peter.
“No, they’ll stay knocked out,” Peter said shortly. He was looking ahead at the next group of gangs, who had not stirred at all. He motioned at the next squad to move in on them, leaving his squad back to start tagging the gang members with restraints so they could be transported later. Peter had worked out a deal with the police departments around the metropolis that they would turn over anyone they captured. They had not been told where the gangs would be taken, but they had been assured that their vigilantism would not be punished.
The next squad had taken out the gang successfully. The last two squads were sweeping up behind them, cleaning up anything they had missed. The whole operation had been a rousing success, with around a few dozen gang members down for the count without a single bullet being fired. Peter looked around, trying to see if there were any more gang members around the trailer park. Finding none, he said to the radio, “Spencer we are done here. Bring everyone else up for cleanup.”
Spencer replied, “Copy that.” He got up and exited the back of the van to a waiting group of people. “It’s time to clean them up,” he said simply.
The group did not say anything and moved in the direction of the fallen
gangs. They were going to pick up the gang members and take them to a rendezvous point that the police had told them to go to. Spencer went back into the van and said to Rebecca, “I hope you are less nervous.”
Rebecca was, but she was not going to admit it. “Where are Anne and Georgia?” she asked instead.
Spencer sighed. “They were with Peter. They’ll come back to us eventually.”
Rebecca glowered. She wanted this night to be done with now that it was clear that Anne and Georgia were safe. She sat in the corner of the van, playing around on her phone waiting for them to get back.
After what seemed like an eternity, the squads began to come back to the staging area. Rebecca left the van and went out to find her friends. She did not have to search for long, as she quickly found them standing and talking to each other.
“Can we go?” Rebecca said impatiently.
“Well we owe you for the war games, so yeah. Just give us a minute to let Peter know that we are going,” Anne said.
Anne disappeared briefly, driving Rebecca’s temper up another notch. She came back with Peter, who said, “Thanks for helping out you two.”
“No problem,” Georgia said.
“And Rebecca, you will find that your charitable work should go better now,” he added. “From what the Chief of Police told me, he will hold a press conference about this capture and thank anonymous vigilantes. From there, you can say you are associated with us and you should find that things will go over better.”
“Thanks,” Rebecca said, still annoyed. She turned to leave with Anne and Georgia trailing her. She was not thinking about her charity at the moment; she was only thinking about sleep.
The next morning, Rebecca woke up before Anne and went downstairs without waking her up. The smell of breakfast was wafting up from the kitchen and Rebecca followed it to find that Ed and Kathleen were already up, along with the two boys.
“You’re up early,” Ed said conversationally.
Rebecca yawned widely and nodded. “Why don’t you go ahead and sit down,” Ed added.
Kevin and Russell were already at the table and waiting for the waffles that the Smith parents were making. In no time at all, breakfast was in front of the three of them and they were eating heartily. Ed and Kathleen made more waffles for the other four teenagers and set them aside for when they woke up.
As Rebecca was finishing her breakfast, Ed finished putting away the extra food and said, “Rebecca, can I talk to you in the living room?”
Rebecca gulped her last bit of food and nodded. She followed him out of the kitchen as Kathleen cleaned up the boys. Ed turned to her and said, “Where were you three last night?”
Rebecca froze. They had left after Ed and Kathleen had seemingly gone to bed and returned long before they would have risen. There was no use lying about staying at the house, so Rebecca decided to be evasive.
“We just went out to a friend’s house,” Rebecca said simply. “One of Georgia’s friends.”
“It smelled like gunpowder down here when we got up this morning,” Ed said sternly. “What friend was this where you were around firearms?”
Rebecca glowered. Anne and Georgia may have been using silent shock ammunition, but they were not advanced enough to use some substance to propel it other than gunpowder. Ed would not buy the fact that they were doing target practice in the middle of the night. She was stuck.
Ed started for her. “The news reported that several dozen gang members were ambushed by vigilantes and delivered to the police. You all are somehow not at the house during this amazingly inexplicable occurrence and come back smelling like a gun. Explain yourself.”
“Rebecca wasn’t a part of the fighting,” a voice said from the hallway.
Ed and Rebeca turned to see Georgia standing in the hallway. “You were actually there?!” Ed demanded, thoroughly outraged.
“Your charity idea wasn’t working,” Georgia said, firing up. “We actually did something last night! We liberated a neighborhood! Those people that were turned out of their houses can go home and rebuild their lives!”
“YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!” Ed roared. “You live in this household and while I am your legal guardian, you will not be a part of this madness, do you understand me?!!?”
Georgia looked furious. “I cannot just wait around for the city to fall apart, Ed!” she shot back.
“This isn’t your fight!” Ed countered. “I had this house built away from the city so I could make a sanctuary for children and get them away from the city!”
“So you’ve given up on saving the city then?” Georgia said bitterly.
“That is not what I said,” Ed said, seething. “I’m doing what I can for the city while trying to protect you from it at the same time. This isn’t that complicated, Georgia.”
“What you’re doing for the city is bullshit,” Georgia said. “And you Rebecca. It’s not going to work.”
Georgia stormed back up the hallway and to her bedroom. Ed was left irate and Rebecca decided to sneak back up to her bedroom before he could turn on her as well. Ed let her be as she snuck away and made it to her room. She found Anne awake, who immediately asked, “What the hell was that about?”
“Georgia told Ed where we were last night,” Rebecca explained.
“Why would she do that?” Anne asked, horrified.
“He was interrogating me and she just decided to blow the whole thing,” Rebecca said.
“So, we’re forbidden from helping Peter?” Anne asked worriedly.
“That’s what Ed was saying,” Rebecca replied.
Georgia suddenly burst into the bedroom, still clearly infuriated. “I’m not going to let that fucking old man stop us from fighting the gangs.”
“He’s your legal guardian though,” Rebecca protested.
“So? I’m going to be eighteen by the end of the year anyway. I tried to get myself emancipated before you two showed up,” Georgia said bitterly.
“Then what the hell was that about haranguing us about putting the family in danger?” Rebecca demanded.
“I still care about the family, I just wanted to move out,” Georgia replied dismissively. “It would’ve been a lot easier for me to be in the Conspiracy if I was independent and didn’t have Ed breathing down my neck. He can’t understand why I wanted to fight the gangs though.”
“Why, what happened?” Anne asked.
“I used to live up where the gangs rule now,” Georgia said angrily. “I had a decent home and everything. We lost it all because of the gangs. And of course the authorities wouldn’t do anything about the gangs, but decided to separate me from my family instead just because we had become homeless. Like they could help it.”
“Do you know where they are?” Rebecca asked.
“No. I don’t know where my brother is either,” Georgia said.
There was a long silence after that pronouncement. “Are we still going to fight?” Anne asked.
“I am,” Georgia said. “What about you two?”
“If you are still in, then I am,” Anne replied.
“What about you, Rebecca?” Georgia asked.
Rebecca remained silent for a minute. She knew her charity idea was dead in the water after having been called out by Georgia on the issue. The only way she could stay along with Anne and Georgia is if she took a more active hand in the fight against the gangs, something that was still a vile idea to her. She suddenly thought of a way she could be involved and decided to take it.
“I will help you, but I still don’t want to fight,” she explained. “Maybe I could just work with Spencer again.”
Georgia raised her eyebrows. “I’m sure Peter would be okay with that. Will Spencer though?”
Rebecca’s cheeks went a little red. Anne looked at her suspiciously and said, “I’m sure he would be just fine with that.”
Chapter Fourteen
The Heist
Spring had begun in earnest in New York City as April began. The trees that had no
t been torched in Central Park were in leaf and the city was beginning to clear the burned debris still clogging the park and replacing it with fresh young trees so they could grow.
The city, it seemed, was beginning to stir into life as well. The dusk to dawn curfew that had been in place since January had been eased significantly over the last month in the absence of continued violence from the Black Hand. With the promise of the Globalist convention coming in a couple of months, the city was beginning to prepare itself for the prospect of holding a party convention.
Greg and the rest of the Conspiracy had spent the warm days planning a way to steal back some of the gold that the Black Hand had stolen more than two months prior. Based off of the information they had gotten from Juanita, they had gotten a rough layout of the building where the gold was stored and how to get someone in.
Eric had volunteered to be a part of the heist, but Greg had shut him down. It was likely that whoever infiltrated the Black Hand headquarters would be recognized if they stayed with the street gang after the gold went missing. Greg wanted to keep Eric in the organization so they could still have eyes and ears on the Black Hand.
Greg had decided to send in Zach Gates. Zach had been in the Marines and had partook in the Iran Crisis some ten years prior, so Greg had decided to put him in charge of the burgeoning militia wing of the Conspiracy. As such, Greg had trusted him with the heist in case fighting broke out. Zach had insisted on stuffing his crew with the men that he trusted, which Greg obliged to.
It was late in the day and Zach was arriving at the restaurant under which the gold was hidden. In the past week, they had been taken on as guards by the manager of the facility. They had not decided to take the gold in the initial shift, but decided to wait a few days so they could gather as much information as they could about the building and the other guards.
There was no need to wait any longer now. Zach and his platoon had what they needed and had a green light from Greg to act whenever they felt it to be prudent. Zach had informed Greg that tonight would be the night and to be ready to receive the gold in the case of a successful mission.
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