by R. P. Wolff
“Hello, Madam President, this is Secretary Grant.”
“Yes, I know it’s you Colin, what do you have for me?”
Colin sighed heavily. “Well … um, I have some terrible news.”
“What’s that?” Zelda didn’t like the sound of this.
“I don’t know how to say this, but … he has escaped.”
“What do you mean ‘he has escaped’?”
“He … um … he hopped off the train at a rail station called Farmers Branch and crossed the platform while another train was coming, and he just beat the oncoming train. The oncoming train blocked the Mater guards from getting him.”
Zelda seethed and interrupted, “Wait a second. Wait a fucking minute here. You caught him, right? How could he get away?”
“No, we haven’t caught him yet, but we are searching the whole area.”
“You better be,” Zelda barked. “Tell me what happened.”
“After he crossed the platform, he must have run through the apartments that were adjacent to the station. Or maybe he went into one of the apartments, but we checked all of them.”
“Well check it again!” Zelda yelled.
“All right, we will.” Colin hesitated again. “Once we got to the platform, we went searching for him, but we couldn’t find a trace of him. He was gone. We had squad cars driving through the neighborhood. We stopped any cars in the vicinity and searched them. Nothing.”
“Oh the Gods,” she gasped. “There must be people helping him. This is disastrous.” She couldn’t believe how incompetent her staff was. How could Colin fuck up such an easy assignment. She shouted, “You are worthless! I bring you down here, so nothing goes wrong, and he escapes. How could you let this happen? What kind of general are you? There must be people helping him.”
“We don’t know what happened. We’re investigating.”
“Oh the Gods. What are we going to do? How are we going to find out about this resistance?” Zelda hands shook. This was a serious threat to her leadership. She had to stop it immediately.
Colin said, “Well, the only leverage we have on him is his daughter.”
“That’s right. Please don’t tell me she’s escaped too.”
“No, no, she’s still in one of our educational camps.”
Zelda thought about how to utilize this leverage for this critical situation. “We’re going to show him. We’re going to kill her on live TV, so he can see her die.”
“I don’t know about that because then we would lose our leverage and that would only make him mad. We want him to come in.”
“He’s not going to come in,” Zelda replied.
“Yes, he will. I have daughters. If someone was torturing my daughters on live TV and said that they would stop the torture if I turned myself in, I’m coming in and so will he.”
“I think we should kill her,” Zelda repeated herself.
“If we kill her, he and his so-called resistance will come after us.”
“I’m not scared of this resistance. We would defeat them in a day.” She exhaled. “You screwed this up so bad. When I see you next, I’m going to unleash some pain on you like you never experienced.” Zelda paused and realized that she revealed a portion of her secret power that Colin and the others hadn’t realized – that she had to be present and in proximity of them to unleash her pain. She was powerless over the phone. She had just weakened herself.
“Madam President, come on. I was just in here for a half a day. I mean this has obviously been developing in Dallas.”
“You screwed up. Don’t change the subject.”
Both exhaled and paused.
Zelda spoke, “Okay, we’ll do it your way. Let’s get little missy on TV, so he can see her. Hopefully, he can see it. We’ll do it every night until he comes in. But keep searching the entire neighborhood. Search every house within a five-mile radius and continue searching all vehicles.”
“Okay,” Colin said.
Chapter 26
Lance’s head was spinning as he sat in a TV room at the house where he was hiding. Austin and Hector spent an hour explaining all about the Establishment. Lance could not believe the massive underground organization that existed right under the Maters’ watchful eyes.
The Establishment had to wait until after the Polics, the political prisoners like Lance, served their one-year sentences. Then, the Establishment recruited the ones that proved to be loyal based on informants in the prisons. They needed numbers. But what surprised Lance was that the Establishment had many Maters who were spies for the Establishment. The house that he was hiding at was resided in by a Mater couple, both of whom taught the Mater religion at one of the Mater schools for kids. There were Mater spies in the Mater police and military. The guard on the train who helped Lance was a major asset for the Establishment.
The Mater spies were individuals who had become disgusted with Zelda and her henchmen. Although they genuinely believed in the religion at one time, they resented the way Zelda treated the infidels as the Maters called the non-believers. They also hated the economic system which was just like communism, and they could only earn a minimal amount of money. There was no incentive.
Although the Establishment was a nationwide secret organization, the Texas branch was the largest, and they wanted Lance to be their political leader once they formed a new government. Their goal was to kill Zelda Mater and her special power to exert pain on individuals, take over the military, free all Polics, and, most importantly, free the children in educational camps. Then, they would reunite the families. It was perfect that Zelda was in Dallas. They figured that they only had a couple of days at the most to kill her while she was in Dallas; otherwise, they would have to travel to D.C., which had severe logistical problems. Dallas was perfect, but they had to move fast.
The plan was to punish the Maters who acted cruelly to the Polics and non-Maters. They would allow the peaceful Maters to live normally in society but would have to brand them with an “M” for Mater.
Hector’s phone rang. He got up and walked into to the adjacent room.
“How did he get a phone?” Lance asked Austin. “Can’t the Maters listen in?”
“No, it’s on the old Sprint 3G network,” replied Austin.
“Well, can’t they listen in on the Sprint network?” Lance asked.
“No, what the filthy Maters did was they got rid of AT&T, Sprint, and the other carriers because there were run by non-Maters. The only network they use now is Verizon, which is 5G. They shut down all the networks, but we had some hackers and previous employees of Sprint restart it. Only certain people have cell phones, and they are mostly older cellphones.”
“Wow, so you can communicate with each other?”
“Yes.”
“Can I call my wife in New York?”
“We’ll have to check to see if she has access to a phone.”
“Can you check on her status, though?”
“Sure, I’ll have Hector check into that.”
Hector barged into the room breathing heavily. “We got a problem,” Hector said. “The Mater police are supposed to check every house in this neighborhood. Your picture is all over the place. All police officers are looking for you.”
“Oh shit,” Lance exclaimed.
“That’s not the major problem because we can hide you, so they won’t find you. We have a false wall in the master bedroom’s bathroom. But the major problem is that there is a special show tonight that Zelda wants all citizens to watch. It’s going to air at the Harmon Educational Camp.”
“No!” Lance shouted.
“Shhh,” Hector warned him. “The cops could be near here.”
Austin whispered, “Oh my God. They better not hurt my Becca.”
Lance put his hand on his head. “I shouldn’t have escaped,” Lance said. “I need to turn myself in. I can’t let them harm her. What was I thinking?”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Hector said. “You know too much. Don’t worry, we�
�ll get her and everyone else soon.”
“I’m worried.”
Hector continued, “Look, we’re jumping to conclusions here. Let’s see what happens tonight on the TV, and then we’ll figure out a plan.”
Lance shook his head in disgust. How could he be so stupid to escape? He only thought about himself and not his daughter.
Hector motioned for Lance to stand up. “Governor, let me show you the hiding spot.”
“What happens if they have dogs?”
“Then the war will probably start sooner because we will kill them if they find you.”
◆◆◆
Right at 7 p.m., all TV stations automatically tuned into a station that had a caption that read: Harmon Educational Camp – Please stand by.
Lance sighed. “I’m afraid what I’m going to see,” Lance said to Hector, Austin, and the brave married couple that lived in the house.
“Same here,” Austin said.
The TV screen changed and focused on a girl who stood naked with her arms spread outwards chained. As the picture zoomed in, he saw that it was Becca.
Lance whimpered, “No, no, my baby. My poor baby. It’s all my fault.”
“Those motherfuckers,” Austin said while gritting his teeth. “They’re going to pay.”
“Please kneel for the mother of all the Gods,” a narrator said.
Hector spoke, “Oh my God. There’s the evil Zelda Mater. She’s still in Dallas. This is good.”
“What do you mean, this is good,” Lance said while crying. “Look what they’re doing to my baby.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we need to get her while she’s here.”
Zelda, dressed in her usual white dress, walked in front of Becca and faced the camera. She held her palms up as if she was saying a holy prayer.
Zelda began, “Hello, children and fellow Maters. This is your mother. I have some unfortunate news. One of our infidels who we thought had converted to a loyal Mater has escaped. He is the former governor of Texas, Lance Hampton, who is better known as prisoner number 88715. We expect to apprehend him soon. We have him boxed in.”
Lance asked, “They have me boxed in?”
Hector shook his head.
Zelda continued, “This slut behind me is his daughter, Becca. We plan on humiliating her and torturing her every day on live TV until her father, the filthy infidel and coward that he is, turns himself in to the authorities. Then, we will stop the daily torture.”
“Don’t turn yourself in, Dad,” Becca yelled. “I can handle it.”
Zelda turned sharply and faced Becca. She nodded to the side, and a guard emerged with a muzzle that had a shiny red ball with straps. He started putting it into her mouth to silence her.
Before he could get it on her, Becca repeated, “Dad, please don’t turn yourself in.”
Lance whimpered, “Look what they’re doing to my poor baby. Stop!”
Lance felt helpless and guilty for putting his daughter through this torture. He should have thought about this better and not escaped. How stupid could he be.
Zelda pointed to another guard who came from the side with a small whip. He swung the whip and smashed it against Becca’s bare back. Her head jerked but her screams could not be heard because of the muzzle.
Zelda faced the camera and spoke, “Let this be a lesson to anyone who is thinking of escaping and joining the filthy infidels. We will torture your loved ones until you turn yourself in. I can’t believe the selfishness of prisoner 88715 for putting his life before his own daughter’s.”
Lance shook his head while crying.
Zelda continued, “Good night my children and beloved Maters. Have a blessed day.”
She did the sign of the “Z” and the TV returned to the previously aired show.
“I’m going to kill her,” Lance whimpered.
“We all are,” Austin added.
◆◆◆
“Hector, did you have any luck locating my wife,” Lance asked. He wanted to apologize to her for letting the Maters catch her. He wanted to apologize for escaping and putting Becca in harm’s way. Most importantly, he wanted to tell her that he was a piece of shit and didn’t deserve her or Becca. He was so ashamed of himself. He did not want to live anymore.
“Yes, I did,” Hector responded, interrupting Lance’s thoughts.
“Well, can I speak to her.”
“Unfortunately, no, not at this time. It’s too risky. She, like you, was captured and put into prison for a year. She was released at about the same time as you and is in an apartment in the Bronx.”
“Why can’t I speak to her?”
“It’s heavily guarded, but we will try to make contact with her when we think it is safe.”
“Safe? Come on, man, try to reach her.”
Hector shook his head. His phone vibrated.
“Got to take this,” he said while leaving the room.
Within a minute, Hector rushed into the room and whispered, “They’re coming. The Maters are on this block searching every house. They are only two houses away. We must hide immediately.”
“Let me just turn myself in.” Lance said. “I want to save my daughter. I’ll leave now. They won’t know I came from this house.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Hector whispered again. “They’ll kill you and your daughter. Come on and stop this nonsense. We are wasting precious time.”
The lady of the house, who Lance still didn’t know her name, gave Hector, Austin, and Lance small devices to put into their ears. They all did as she ordered. She instructed them, “You can hear what I’m saying, but under no circumstances do you talk even if I’m being tortured. You understand?”
“Yes, they all whispered in unison.”
The husband said, “Don’t worry about us. We can handle ourselves. Come on, let’s go.”
The couple led them to the master bedroom and through the bathroom.
The doorbell rang followed by loud knocking at the front of the house. Then, Lance heard the noise that he dreaded: barking.
The husband pushed hard on the marble side panel that was at the end of the tub. It unlatched. Inside was a small walk space that could fit about four people. Lance went in first followed by Austin and then Hector.
The lady hastily instructed Hector to lock it from the inside presumably so the Maters couldn’t just push on it as the husband just did.
Inside the wall, there was a small light and automatic handguns hanging on the walls.
“Okay, we’re going to open the doors now, so be silent,” the lady said.
Lance could hear her through the earpieces. It was a perfect setup. Very impressive.
The knocking and the barking continued.
A voice outside yelled, “Brother Daniel and Sister Martha open this door right away or we will knock it down.”
Martha shouted back, “Don’t worry. We’re coming. Please wait.”
Lance shivered. He wasn’t sure whether he was more nervous now compared to his escape from the train.
The husband whispered to his wife, “Honey, I just want you to know in case we don’t make it that I love you.”
“I love you too,” the wife replied.
The front door squeaked open.
Martha pleaded, “Hey, hey why are you guys being so rough? What can we do for you?”
“What took you so long to answer the door?” the guard snapped.
“It didn’t take us long,” Martha replied. “What’s this all about?”
“We’re searching every house in the neighborhood for that filthy infidel. That former Governor Hampton. You saw that special tonight, didn’t you?”
Martha replied, “Yes of course. I just didn’t put two and two together. There’re no infidels in here, though. I can assure you that.”
“Well, we’ll be the judge of that.”
Lance was impressed with Martha’s calmness. He could hear the guard’s entrance into the house.
“Looks like you had some company to
night,” the guard said sarcastically. “There’s quite a few bottles of water here for just the two of you.”
The husband replied, “No, we just drink more water. We’re thirsty.”
This did not sound convincing to Lance, and he worried that the guard felt the same.
Martha interjected, “You know, do you realize who we are? We teach infidel children at the Branch Educational Camp here in Farmers Branch.”
“We already know that,” the guard replied. “We know everything about you and all your neighbors.”
“Okay, Rusty smells something over there,” the guard must have said this to the other guard.
Lance hoped that there was just two guards and no more lingering outside. He could now hear the guards and the dogs approaching where they were hiding without the aid of the earpiece.
“Shit,” Austin whispered.
Hector turned to Austin, put his index finger over his lips, indicating him to be quiet. Hector silently grabbed the handgun and instructed the others to do the same.
Lance had never shot a gun in his life and wasn’t sure how they worked. Hector, realizing Lance’s inexperience, mouthed and showed Lance how to move the top of the gun but didn’t do it probably because of the noise it would make.
The guards, along with the dog scratching the tile floor, barged into the bathroom. The dog was sniffing and scratching the side wall entrance.
The guard said, “Do you smell something, big guy?”
The dog barked and continued its relentless pursuit of sniffing and scratching.
“What is behind here?” the guard asked.
“Nothing,” Martha said.
“Open it up?”
“There’s nothing to open up. There’s something wrong with your dog.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my dog,” the guard shot back.
“Tony, go get the sledgehammer from the car. They’re hiding someone.”
Lance braced himself for the worse. Were they going to shoot themselves out of the wall? That seemed difficult considering how cramped they were. Lance had barely enough room to turn, and Austin was in his way. Hector was probably the only one who could shoot them.
“Pop! Pop! Pop!”