A Democracy Fallen

by Matthew Savage

  “Now that you know I am serious how about we see if you talk this time.” Major Fulton said and grabbed Steven by the back of his shirt and dragged him in front of Nolan. “Am I going to have to ask again Nolan?” Major Fulton put his pistol at the back of Steven’s head. “Where is the base?”

  Nolan looked into Steven’s eyes. He knew that he couldn’t tell The Major, where the base was. Nolan knew if he said anything besides where the base was it would mean that Steven would die. Nolan looked at Steven with a pleading look. Steven nodded and closed his eyes. They both agreed, what was about to happen. Before Nolan could speak he heard a Ping. Nolan looked at the door to the stairwell and a grenade was sitting on the ground. Nolan broke the grip of the agents as he threw himself to the ground.

  The explosion knocked everyone to the ground. Nolan stood and grabbed one of the guns from the guards that held him. He shot the two agents in the head and chest before pointing it at Major Fulton. The Major shot at Nolan who felt searing pain across his shoulder. Nolan dropped his gun and fell to the ground. Gunfire came from the stairwell. Sarah emerged followed by Captain Underwood and Orson. The remaining agents in the hall returned fire. Some were still disoriented from the blast. Those agents were immediately killed by Sarah and the other’s gunfire. Nolan dove to Steven and dragged him into a nearby office. Steven’s head was bleeding and it seemed he had been knocked out for a moment.

  “Wake up, Steven!” Nolan yelled.

  “I am up,” Steven said. “Get me a gun.”

  Nolan grabbed a gun lying on the ground and passed it to Steven. Nolan looked out the hallway to see Major Fulton firing his pistol towards Sarah. Nolan raised his gun and fired. The bullets missed the Major causing him to take cover behind a wall. Several USSB agents fired towards Nolan who hid in the room. Nolan looked out towards the hall again. He fired hitting several agents, then looked around and couldn’t find the Major.

  Major Fulton was striding down the hall away from the gun battle. He was talking to a stern looking USSB soldier with a Captain insignia on his collar.

  “I need agents down that hall. Those Insurgents are not to leave this prison.” Major Fulton said in anger.

  “Yes, sir.” The Captain responded and radioed for more troops.

  “Press the attack outside.”

  “Yes, sir our troops have the Insurgents surrounded.” The Captain said.

  “Good. Kill them.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Reunited

  There was chaos in the hall as Sarah was fired her rifle at anyone peeking out from corners or offices. Her grenade did what she had planned. It created confusion and gave her enough time to have the upper hand. They had killed the agents, three floors up. They were making their way into the stairwell, when Sarah spotted the USSB agents coming up towards them. Her training taught her that stairwells and hallways are death funnels. She took this to her advantage. She made quick work of the USSB agents coming up the stairs. She made her way down, which was where she heard a gunshot. She grabbed a grenade and planned to toss it in the right position. She wanted to distract the agents but make sure that her soldiers were not injured. To Sarah’s pleasure, her gamble worked. She led the way followed by Captain Underwood and Orson.

  Sarah could see several bodies on the floor. She was busy returning fire so she couldn’t make out if any of the bodies were her father, Nolan or Steven. She saw Nolan firing at one officer. She figured that was the person of rank, seeing as how many agents were trying to protect him. She was pinned down for a moment before peeking out from the doorway and the officer had gone. Sarah wanted to get to Nolan and see if he was hurt. She knew someone had been shot and wondered it was. There were several bodies on the ground but she was unable to make out who they were.

  “Give me some cover fire. I am going to make sure they are alright.” Sarah said to Captain Underwood who acknowledged and fired rapidly.

  This gave Sarah the cover she needed. She approached and yelled to the room where Nolan was that she was coming in. When she entered she could see blood running down his arm.

  “You’re hurt!” She said with a frightened tone to her voice.

  Sarah went to him and ripped his shirt to examine the wound. She saw that it had mostly missed him. The wound was shallow and didn’t hit anything major. She looked at Nolan’s face and it was pained.

  “You’re going to be alright,” She said over the bullets hitting the door.

  Steven had gotten to his feet. She noticed he looked out of it. Steven’s eyes seemed glazed. He was firing out of the doorway which was when Sarah looked around for her father. He wasn’t in the room. Sarah looked around at the ground thinking she might have missed him.

  Where is dad?” Sarah asked. Nolan’s eyes filled with tears. He looked deranged. "Where is dad?" Sarah asked again her eyes filled with tears already knowing what Nolan was going to say.

  “He is dead,” Nolan said and pointed.

  On the ground outside of the room, Neil was on the ground. Sarah could see the hole in his head from where the bullet passed through. She dropped to the ground as tears flowed from her eyes. Everything that happened now seemed to not matter. The mission to save her father had failed. So many people had disobeyed orders in order to come and fight now it seemed it was all for nothing.

  “We gotta get out of here,” Nolan said and he sounded stuffy. “We are surrounded. The people outside are trapped.”

  Sarah couldn’t speak she could only nod her head. “Where is Laurence? Is he pinned down in a room also?” She needed hope.

  Nolan just shook his head. Sarah knew he didn’t have the strength to say that they had lost someone else. Nolan helped Sarah up and spoke to her and Steven, “Let’s move.”

  Outside Mary was running towards Susan. She had seen the tank blast the machine gun nest. She watched as her sister charge back up the hill along with the other members of her team. Mary did her best to focus on the fight. The helicopters had arrived and started their attack. Mary started making her way over to her sister, she watched as one helicopter was shot out of the sky. She knew she had to get together with Sergeant Wolf and Susan. When Mary reached her sister she grabbed her and gave her a tight hug.

  “Watch it,” Susan said pushing Mary back.

  Mary looked and saw the burns on Susan’s arms and hands.

  “What happened?” Mary asked.

  “I got a little carried away,” She said and looked at her injuries. “It’s fine. We need to get out of here. We’ve got a lot of people heading our way.”

  “Our landing zone was going to be that way,” Mary said. She pointed towards the hill. At that moment another tank had appeared and begun firing.

  Several groups of soldiers were firing RPGs at the tanks. A couple of the helicopters soared past spraying the soldiers and tanks, on the hill. The tank fired at one structure which was hiding several D.I soldiers. The structure exploded and Mary could see the soldiers crawling away and screaming. Many of them were missing limbs, one soldier was walking his face covered in blood it looked as though debris had torn apart his face. He walked for around ten steps before USSB agents rattled him with gunfire.

  “Get those guys to better cover,” Mary said and directed soldiers to try and move some of the wounded.

  “We need to move.” This spot is going to get us all killed. We move around the far side of the building. Towards the destroyed guard tower. We could try and breach the prison. At least we would be safe enough from the tanks.” Sergeant Wolf suggested

  “Good a plan as any.” Mary agreed.

  They moved and started gathering troops to spread the word and started moving. The wounded did their best to keep up but Mary saw many of them get hit by gunfire. They needed better cover she knew. Susan radioed the helicopters ordering them to lay as much fire on the hill as they could. It wasn’t long before the troops rounded around the prison. The resistance wasn’t as high, most of the force had been behind them. Mary knew they need to find an
entrance and secure it as fast as possible. If they stayed exposed the tanks would make short work of them. The doors on the side of the prison were locked. Sergeant Wolf used some explosives and destroyed the door, this created an entrance for the troops. They piled into the prison hall, it seemed they had entered a cafeteria most likely for USSB agents. The troops created a small area for the wounded and had begun securing it. Mary saw another helicopter hit and crash into the hill. She could see soldiers running, on fire, from the helicopter crash area The spare fuel must have ignited.

  Looking around Mary knew they had found somewhere to be pinned down but she could not see a way for them to get out. Mary started coming to terms with the idea that they might all die in this prison. Their forces had already been cut in half. Mary radioed Captain Underwood.

  “Will. We are trapped in a cafeteria on the west side of the prison.”

  “Understood,” Captain Underwood spoke and he seemed strained. “We lost the package.”

  This stung like a bullet going through her. Neil was dead. If they got out of this situation they would have nothing to show for it.

  “Copy that,” Mary said. She wasn’t sure she had any other words. Mary wondered if this was going to be the last time she talked to her husband. She wished she could see him one last time. Mary wondered if it was possible to try and make it to his position. With the amount of wounded Mary quickly doubted that they would move anywhere.

  Mary could hear a roaring. She recognized the sound of fighter planes, and Mary knew what fighter jets were capable of. This was the end. The planes seemed to be coming from the river. They would be able to drop bombs or heat-seeking missiles, which meant there was no hiding. She could see the lights of the fighters and the noise grew louder. The jets flew overhead. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The jets had dropped bombs but not on Mary. The bombs fell on the hill. In a burst of flames, the hill was crawling with enemy soldiers who were now engulfed in flames.

  Sarah and the rest of the team were on the second floor running to find a way out. They had run into several groups of USSB agents but quickly took them out.

  “It’s only a matter of time before they realize where we are.” Captain Underwood said out of breath.

  “Do you think we could make it to Sergeant Underwood’s position?” Nolan asked.

  “We might have better luck with Mary, Captain,” Steven said.

  “We don’t want to draw more agents to her.” Captain Underwood said consulting the map as they ran.

  “If we take this elevator to the top floor we might be able to make it to the roof.” Captain Underwood said.

  “Then what?” Orson asked trying to follow the Captain’s logic.

  “Radio for a lift. It is the only option we have.”

  “What about the others?” Sarah asked. She knew Captain Underwood wouldn’t leave everyone especially his wife.

  “They can do the same. If they make their way up we all can get picked up together.” They made it to the elevator and Captain Underwood pressed the button for the top floor. He then grabbed his radio. “Mary you are not far from a stairwell that can take you to the roof.” He paused for a response but there was none. “Mary? Do you copy?” Again there was no response.

  “We have to go back,” Nolan said.

  “We can’t.” Captain Underwood said in a straight voice.

  “We have too!” Nolan argued.

  “We can’t save them!” Captain Underwood said his voice cracking. “There is nothing we can do. We have to stick to our plan.”

  The elevator doors opened and the team headed for the entrance to the roof. The area they were in seemed to be a maintenance area. It was empty of people and only contained boxes. Sarah briefly wondered what was in them but she forgot about it as they entered the stairwell to the roof. The flight of stairs was very short, reaching the top they kicked open the door. The sight took Sarah’s breath away. The south side of the prison was smoking. They could see the small hill, looking down on the prison was on fire. Three guard towers had been destroyed one of which was completely gone. Sarah could see four helicopters in the air. Her stomach sank as she realized where the others were. She turned to the north and coming from the river where small boats. Each of the boats seemed to be carrying soldiers. They were surrounded. There was almost no chance the helicopters could take everyone. Even if they did have somewhere to land. Several of the ships in the river were firing large guns. It wasn’t until then that Sarah noticed that they weren't firing at the D.I soldiers. They were targeting the USSB forces, attacking where Mary and the other D.I soldiers were.

  “Mary?” Captain Underwood called into his radio.

  “Will. It is the Insurgence. We are being reinforced as we speak. The army is in retreat.”

  Mary watched as hundreds of D.I soldiers stormed the shore. They charged towards the army that had closed in on Mary’s team. Mary grabbed a radio and searched the different channels. She found what to her sounded like soldiers talking.

  “This is Sergeant Mary Underwood of the Democratic Insurgence.” She said into the radio. There was nothing. She repeated it. “This is Sergeant Mary Underwood of the Democratic Insurgence is anyone there?”

  “Good morning Sergeant. This is Commander Worth. We have stormed the shore. What is your position?”

  Mary did her best to describe her location. She could see the soldiers heading towards her now but they weren’t firing.

  “Alright Sergeant,” The Commander started. “You can see that there are troopers heading towards you. They will help get you out.”

  “Thank you,” Mary said relieved. “We have several wounded. They will need assistance leaving.”

  “We can help with that.” The Commander said.

  The first group of soldiers arrived. Mary was so grateful for them. She wanted to hug each one. The soldiers had medics which tended to the wounded. Mary ordered any of her men who could help move people, to do so. Mary could hear the intensity of the battle outside and hoped there weren’t more USSB troops on the way. A helicopter flew low over their heads. The noise was loud and it almost sounded as if the helicopter was landing on the roof. She knew that it was picking up Wilson. After several minutes of organizing, the troops were ready to move. The lieutenant who was in charge of the unit gathered them and led them out of the blown-out door and out towards the shore. Mary looked around at the ongoing battle. She could see that the tanks had been disabled and there was heavy fighting. The USSB troops were headed around the prison trying to hold their ground. They did not seem ready give up the prison that easy but sought to find a better position. Mary lost sight of the fighting as they approached the landing craft, she was amazed to find so many. There were several larger boats in the river firing large guns towards the prison.

  The landing craft was surprisingly smooth. She had been on beaches during battle but they were on the ocean which normally made her seasick. This was in contrast to the river which seemed unnaturally smooth. If Mary had known better she would have thought they were on dry land. The landing craft came to a stop next to the large ship. Mary was doing to her best to see the name on the side of the great boat but she couldn’t see it. A small door on the side of the boat opened and they were greeted by medics to help people in. Mary was the last person onto the ship. She took one last look at the prison. The smoke coming from the far side was large, she could make out the muzzle flashes from rifles on the battlefield.

  Major Fulton watched the battle from the window of an office. His face was filled with anger. His prison was under attack. Troops had landed on the shore of the river. His forces were supposed to capture the Insurgent attackers. Now they were being pushed back. The Major, a few hours before, sent a message to the Midwest National Guard base, in which he requested reinforcements. He watched the battled and waited for a response. The communications were rough. The battleship on the river seemed to be targeting to communications station in the prison. Since the D.I was responsible for the air traffic blackout of
most of the Midwest. Things had been moving slowly. It seemed the US Government now was at a disadvantage. There was a knock at the door. A young low-ranking man entered.

  “Major,” the man said scared. “We revived word from the National Guard base.”

  “When will they be here?” The Major asked not looking at the man.

  “Sir,” The man said and Major Fulton heard fear in his voice.

  “They will not be here until daybreak. They are sending troops but with the air restriction in the area they don’t have any aircraft to send.”

  Rage filled Major Fulton. This meant only one thing. The prison would fall. He knew how much The Fortress meant to President Marshal. Director Ravana the leader of the USSB had trusted him with the running of the prison. To them, it was a symbol of what happens when people defy the government. Now that prison was falling right before his eyes. Major Fulton wanted the prison to lead to the fall of the Democratic Insurgence. It seemed he would have to find a new way.

  The Major took a deep breath before he spoke. “Order our troops to retreat. Have we captured Neil Hunter's children yet?”

  “Sir.” The man said and Major Fulton could tell that he wasn’t ready to give the next bit of news. “They have escaped. They killed the agents in the hall and got away. Our agents were trying to track the Insurgents. When they finally found them they were being airlifted off of the roof.”

  “They got away!” Major Fulton yelled and turned to face the man at last.

  “Yes, sir.” The man said and looked at the floor.

  “We can’t let them have this place.” Major Fulton said and rounded on the man.

  “But sir, you said to order the retreat.”

  “I did. Burn the prison. Prepare my motorcade.”

  “Where to sir?”

  “We will regroup and fight another day.”