A Democracy Fallen

by Matthew Savage

  As they got closer to the train station Wilson had them spread apart before entering the train. They were in small groups and sat away from each other, this was to make it seem like they weren’t together. When they arrived at the train station, Nolan realized how much had changed in the city. In the parking lot were two police cars. Guarding the station were United States Security Bureau, agents. One of the agents had a dog and it was sniffing bags as people walked by. Nolan wondered “Could dogs smell guns?” and his heart skipped a beat as he walked past the guards. The dog didn’t give any sign as he walked past and Nolan felt more at ease as he got on the train and sat next to Mary, she got her money out and pulled out a magazine and started reading it. Nolan was a little shocked that she was simply reading on this train. Mary glanced over at Nolan.

  “We are supposed to be undercover,” she whispered. “You are going to give us away or draw attention to yourself.” Nolan understood what she was saying and he lay back and closed his eyes like a tired passenger. Trying to conceal a laugh, Mary said, “oldest one in the book but not ineffective.”

  “Thanks. It was the first thing I thought of,” Nolan replied.

  The conductors came around and took their money. After a little while, Nolan started looking around trying to find the rest of the team. Mary and Nolan were sitting next to each other on the bottom level of the train. Nolan would stretch trying to find the other members. He saw Wilson sitting on the upper level and he had brought a book with him. Nolan was sure that he was actually reading the book because Wilson was very focused on it. He couldn’t find Orson, Sarah, or Steven. He figured they were in another car. Only once did a USSB agent pass them.

  The train eventually stopped in the city. Mary stood to get off and Nolan followed her. They waited by the doors as the train stopped. Wilson went to the other doors on the outside of the car, and Nolan could see him through the windows and next to him was Orson. He still wasn’t sure where Sarah or Steven were. The doors opened when the train stopped and they exited. Coming out of one of the cars were Steven and Sarah, they were holding hands and acting like a couple. Nolan was surprised by this, having never seen his sister in a relationship before. The group walked apart for several blocks. Mary whistled a little tune and this was the cue that they had not been followed. Wilson came up fast behind Nolan and Mary.

  “We should be there soon then,” Wilson said and walked in front of Mary and Nolan.

  Nolan noticed that Steven and Sarah held hands for quite some time after the whistle. He wondered if it was because they suspected something or if they wanted to keep holding hands. They walked for some time before Wilson had them stop.

  “This is the street. The house is four doors down.” He turned to face the team. “Steven, Orson you need to check the back of the house. Go through the alley and keep an eye on the back. Nolan, Sara, Mary, we will be clearing the house. We will have to be quiet it is still early people might be up.”

  Steven and Orson nodded and made their way towards the alley. Wilson led the way to the house followed then by Sarah, Nolan, and Mary took the rear. Wilson slowly opened the gate in front of the safe house. He looked around and the houses around them were dark. They made their way to the door and opened it. Wilson took out his gun and Sarah, Nolan, and Mary followed his lead. They cleared the old house and when it was clear they knocked on a wall and Steven and Orson came in. The team quickly set up for their stay. Orson set up a computer and a small communications station. The safe house had several rooms with beds along with some couches. Wilson said everything was relatively clean and Nolan looked around at the house and it seemed dirty to him. The house looked like no one had lived there for at least twenty years. Mary reminded him that was how it was supposed to look, Wilson gathered everyone in the stripped-down kitchen.

  “Our informant will be meeting us here. He should be here in two hours. This means we have two hours to get some rest but we will need someone to keep watch. Nolan, Sarah you two are the new guy, this means you get the first watch. I will be upstairs if you need anything.”

  “What happens when the informant shows up?” Nolan asked. He wondered if there was a picture so he would know what he looked like.

  “His call sign is Eagle Watcher. I have no idea what he looks like so stay sharp.”

  “Yes, sir,” Nolan said.

  Orson stayed up making sure his equipment was working as the rest of the team headed to bed. Sarah and Nolan had never stood watch before, it turned into them both looking out the window, walking around a little to make sure they didn’t fall asleep. At one point Nolan came and sat down next to Sarah who was looking out the front window.

  “Shouldn’t you be watching the back?” She said to him.

  “I will be back. I figured I could come over here and talk or do something to keep me awake.” Nolan said looking out the window.

  “Coffee would be nice right now.”

  Nolan laughed. “It really would.” He paused for a moment. “I saw you and Steven.” He said throwing it out there.

  “What do you mean?” Sarah said and her cheeks started to turn red.

  Nolan gave her the you-know-what-I-mean look and she smiled and looked down.

  “He is cute though isn’t he? It made for a good cover didn’t it?”

  “I am not sure now is the time to start dating.”

  “Who said we were going to start dating? I just said he was cute. I don’t know what is going to happen.”

  Just then they heard footsteps coming down from upstairs. Steven entered the room rubbing his eyes.

  “Anything exciting happen while I was asleep?” He asked in a sleepy voice.

  “You could say that,” Nolan said standing, Sarah hit his leg as he left the room. Nolan went to the back of the house continuing to keep watch.

  “What does he mean?” Steven said taking a seat next to Sarah.

  “Nothing… He- was being sarcastic. We haven’t seen anything. The Democratic Insurgence picked the quietest street to have the safe house on.”

  “That’s a good thing though,” Steven said with his back against a wall and closing his eyes.

  “Maybe, but it also means that any activity on this street will be noticed.”

  “That's a good point.”

  Sarah sat for a moment looking at Steven. He must have had the feeling of being watched because he opened his eyes to look at Sarah. She acted like she was stretching her neck and continued to look outside.

  Nolan was watching the empty backyard when he started to see lights coming from the far side of the alley. “I got a car coming down the alley.” He said in a loud enough voice so that Steven and Sarah could hear.

  Steven headed over and looked out the window. The car was driving slowly down the alley and Steven and Nolan both hugged the wall so that the car couldn’t see into the house. It stopped almost right where the backyard started.

  “This isn’t good,” Steven said.

  The lights on the car turned off.

  “That is a cop car,” Nolan said. They were silent. The door to the cop car opened and a man in a suit with a badge on his belt stepped out. Nolan knew it was a badge because it caught some light from a street light.

  “Wake up Wilson,” Nolan said.

  “Yeah, you are right,” Steven said and rushed up the stairs.

  Nolan pulled out his pistol. He didn’t like the idea of shooting a cop. He was certain it wasn’t a USSB agent though, it had to be a Chicago Police Officer. Maybe a neighbor called? Nolan thought and continued to watch the officer. Approach the gate and enter the backyard. He had one hand on his gun as he walked towards the back door. Wilson and Mary came down. Mary had a rifle which Nolan didn’t even know she brought and Wilson held his pistol.

  “We will wait for him to enter the house before we do anything. Sarah, keep an eye on the front I don’t want to get surrounded.” Wilson said and Sarah headed back to the front. “No one does anything unless I say. If he is just here to check out the hou
se. We will have to knock him out and give us time to find a new spot to stay.”

  The officer started going up the steps leading to the back door. Nolan and Wilson were on both sides of the door waiting to grab the officer. Steven and Mary were in the windows keeping an eye on yard making sure there wasn’t anyone else following him. The door opened and the officer walked in. Nolan grabbed him first and Wilson had his gun to the officer’s head.

  “Don’t move,” Wilson said.

  “I won’t.” The officer said in an unusually calm voice.

  “Eagle Watcher?” Wilson asked.

  “Hunter?” The Officer said. With those words, Wilson lowered his weapon.

  “Nolan, let him go. This is our informant.”

  Nolan reluctantly let him go. The officer stood up and closed the door.

  “I am glad you all made it here safe. I know there is a large USSB presence here,” The Officer turned to Nolan. “You’re Nolan Hunter, I knew your father. We met once a long time ago. I came into your restaurant and ate. Is your sister safe?”

  “She is here,” Nolan said and Sarah walked into the room.

  “It is good to meet you both.”

  “Who are you?” Wilson asked trying to keep the conversation from getting off track.

  “Right, I am Detective Laurence Foster. I got recruited by Neil some years ago. Neil hadn’t worked with the Chicago Police Department for years. He did his best to find like-minded people in the department to help him. There were several of us but after President Marshal took control and your father was captured. Many of the people helping left the city. I haven’t heard from anyone. I hadn’t been doing much for the D.I and this meant that I went unnoticed.”

  “Are you sure you’re unnoticed?” Wilson asked. He had a suspicious look on his face.

  “I am sure,” Laurence said before continuing, “The USSB have been all over this city. If they knew I was working with the D.I. I would have been captured months ago. I couldn’t any messages out, so instead, I did my best to try and locate Neil. He was taken to a special prison somewhere in North Dakota. From the little information that has come out of this prison. It seems that a certain Major has taken a great interest in him.”

  “Why him?” Nolan asked.

  “It must be because of who Neil is,” Wilson started and paused for a moment thinking. “What is the name of this prison?”

  Detective Foster took a deep breath before speaking. “They call it The Fortress from what I have learned, everyone who goes into this prison, doesn’t come out.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  New Targets

  Sarah was laying in her makeshift bed staring that the ceiling. It had been four days by her count since Detective Foster told them where her father was being held. Over those four days, the squad had done very little except try and stay hidden in the house. When they did leave it was mostly at night for more supplies. She was getting stir-crazy but not nearly as bad as Nolan was. He would pace around the house trying to find things to keep him occupied. Sarah knew how he was feeling, he wanted to get out and try and free their father. Detective Foster would come by late at night and give them updates. Which didn’t usually have much information. He was using what resources he had to try and find information about The Fortress. Which proved difficult without being suspicious. Wilson did his best to try and help Foster out as much as he could and Sarah could tell he too wanted to do more. The team understood that the more time they spent sitting waiting for information. The more likely it would be that they get caught. She was in her room last night and heard Mary and Wilson talking about the possibility of going back to base until information is found. Sarah assumed that by the team not packing to leave meant that they weren’t leaving. She sat up and looked out the window. The sun was setting over the city. Sarah hoped that when Detective Foster came by tonight he would have more information. She wanted to start planning how to break Neil out of the prison.

  There was a knock on the door and Sarah called, “Come in.” The door opened and Steven came in. Sarah thought he looked tired. Steven came and sat on the bed next to her.

  “We are taking the next shift on watch,” Steven said.

  “I figured we were next.”

  Sarah rubbed her eyes. It had been hard to sleep lately because she felt so cooped up. Looking at Steven’s face she could tell he was feeling the same way.

  “Wilson said that Detective Foster should be here around two.” Sarah made some sort of noise to show she understood. Steven continued, “Wilson said that if he doesn’t have information then we will probably head back. There isn’t much of a point, sitting in this house doing nothing.”

  Sarah sat for a moment taking in what was said to her. One part of her wanted to go back to base and find more clues. The other part of her wanted to get information from Detective Foster. He paused in the conversation which gave her away about how she was feeling.

  “Hopefully tonight we will get some real information,” Steven said and he put his hand on her shoulder. Something stirred in her as he touched her. Unsure what to do, she quickly stood.

  “We better head down and get some food in us before we start.”

  Steven stood and cleared his throat. “Good idea.”

  “Think Captain Underwood will let us go and get food?” Sarah asked.

  “I hope so. I gotta get out of here.”

  Sarah and Steven headed down the stairs. Orson was sitting in the kitchen looking at his computer. Sarah couldn’t see what he was looking at but he was looking so intensely at it. Orson didn’t even realize Sarah and Steven had come down. Steven headed for the coffee pot and poured two cups. Steven gave Sarah the cup and after a couple of sips, she was feeling more awake. Wilson came into the kitchen and took a look at Sarah and Steven.

  “You two look tired. Do either of you need more sleep? I could take over some of your shift if you need more rest.” He said taking a long look at them.

  “No sir we should be fine,” Sarah started. “However some good food would be a good change.”

  “Food as in you wanted to get food from somewhere?” Wilson said in a voice that didn’t necessarily mean he was saying no but it seemed he needed convincing.

  “We just figured,” Steven started. “It would be good for us to get out for a little bit and it would be a good chance to get some better food in us.”

  “You were thinking healthy food?” Wilson said most likely knowing full well that wasn’t what Steven meant.

  “Well better food than our rations.” Sarah tried saving it.

  Wilson rubbed his chin. Sarah wondered if he was actually thinking about it or if he had already made up his mind to say no. Was he just doing this to make it seem like he was dismissing it right away? She wondered

  “I suppose some food wouldn’t hurt. Go after the Sun sets and go out the back. I don’t want anyone seeing.”

  Sarah was surprised that Wilson agreed and she was happy that she was going to be able to get out of this stinky house.

  “Make sure to get everyone’s order,” He said as the two of them celebrated. “I want cheese fries. I don’t care where you go but they better have cheese fries. If you come back without them I will have you both court-marshaled.” Wilson said laughing.

  “Cheese fries. Got it” Sarah said finding a piece of paper and writing it down. When the sun set Sarah and Steven crept out the back of the house and down the alley. Sarah and Steven were quiet as they walked. As they turned out of the alley they saw several USSB trucks go by.

  “We need to keep a low profile.” Steve started saying. “I could imagine they have your picture somewhere so there is a good chance they are looking for you.”

  “They can’t all be looking for me.” Sarah couldn’t believe that this many troops were because of her.

  “Of course not but you are probably high on their list of known Democratic Insurgents.”

  Sarah was quiet. She suddenly regretted leaving their safe house, she had the o
verwhelming need to find the first fast food place and head back as soon as possible. Steven must have known how she was feeling because he put his hand on her's. To her surprise, she actually felt better. They walked a few more blocks before finding a small burger restaurant. Small was putting it lightly it only had five tables. There were only four workers all of which were young and Sarah figured they were around her age. Sarah ordered the food and she could hear the ring of the door opening and Steven squeezed her hand. Sarah glanced backward, she saw to her horror that there were two USSB agents entering the burger restaurant. Sarah’s heart skipped a beat and she grabbed Steven’s hand and squeezed back. She tried telling him without speaking that she knew they were there. They were going to try not to be noticed or draw attention to themselves.

  Sarah finished ordering and stepped aside to let the agents order. Sarah and Steven got a table and waited for their food to be ready. Sarah did her best not to make eye contact with the agents. She kept thinking about what Steven had said about them knowing what she looked like. She really hoped that he was exaggerating. The agents ordered their food and sat at a table across from Steven and Sarah. Sarah could see the employee’s packing up their food and the USSB agent’s radio went off.

  “We need available agents to report to 1400 block of Fint Road. Reports of Insurgent activity in the area.” The female voice over the radio said.

  The older agent spoke into his radio. “Agents 41 and 36 will be in route to the location.”

  Steven mouth to Sarah we-have-to-do-something. Sarah knew that was where they were staying. She nodded her head but she wasn’t sure how they could get back in time to warn everyone. The employee called “Sam” which was the name Sarah used instead of her own. She was glad she didn’t give her real name at this point. Sarah went up and grabbed the food, she and Steven left the building and walked around the back of the building.