Mother of All the Gods

by R. P. Wolff

  Fourth, true American policemen and women will immediately replace the Mater police.

  Fifth, we will immediately open our borders. We welcome our allies of the past. We encourage European nations to assist us to quash any Mater traitors who refuse to surrender.

  Sixth, there will be many more changes forthcoming in the next few weeks. Zelda, and her evil enablers, have done so much damage to our American way of life that it will take time to return to our normal traditions.

  In closing, the evil Zelda is dead. The Mater religion is a farce. Americans are free! You are free to practice what religion you choose or if you choose not to follow a religion. Long live the United States. Please join me in the traditional Pledge of Allegiance.

  Hampton stood, placed his right hand over his heart, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The screen went back to the previous message with the same female voice saying to standby for an important message. They were going to replay his treacherous message.

  ◆◆◆

  Zelda muted the TV sound and sat frozen staring at the TV. She couldn’t believe the audacity of these infidels thinking that Maters would just stop believing in Materism and thinking that they took over her leadership. Her troops would soon swarm in and annihilate the resistance. She fantasized torturing Hampton and publicly hanging him along with his other infidel friends.

  “Let me go check on our guards,” Colin said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Zelda nodded. Her heart raced so much that she felt like she was going to have an anxiety attack. She panted and welcomed that Colin left the room. She didn’t want him to witness her in this vulnerable state.

  The anxiety was obviously a result of the resistance, but the thought of finally knowing the identity of her real mother caused her much excitement. She smiled at seeing the sight of her biological mother carrying her basket and laying it to the side of her adopted parents’ car. Who was this woman? Zelda wondered. She wanted to desperately meet her.

  Colin returned carrying some clothes and gym shoes that the lady must have given him. “I have two of our guards downstairs,” he said. “One is overlooking the backyard; the other is overlooking the front yard. The other guard is upstairs surveying the area making sure that no one is advancing on us.” He paused and handed her a pair of jeans, a black sweatshirt, and white gym shoes. “Here are some clothes. Let’s change our clothes.”

  Zelda nodded. “What do you suggest we do?” She realized that she needed his expertise being a general and all and having substantial military experience. Zelda’s experience was just tormenting men who were in her presence. She didn’t have any real military strategies to suggest.

  Colin spoke softly, “For right now, it looks like we’re safe here. I don’t think anyone knows we’re here. The only thing that worries me is that we have those two white SUVs parked out in front, so we may have to do something about that.”

  “Okay, but we can’t stay here forever,” Zelda replied. “Every minute that goes by, people will think I’m dead. We must let people know I’m not dead.”

  Colin nodded. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the lady of the house wasn’t listening. He again spoke softly, almost to a whisper, “Yeah, I agree, so let me think about this. So they somehow took over our communications. Our communications are all with Verizon, and they must have either hacked into Verizon or physically took over. We must recapture our communication systems. That is the key, but we are stuck here for now.”

  Zelda felt frustrated with her predicament. Whenever she felt stressed or out of control, she wanted to zap a man. She had an urge to zap Colin, but she needed him. The whole situation was horrible for Zelda. She was in uncharted waters.

  Colin sighed and continued. “We can’t risk doing anything ourselves. We have three well-trained, loyal guards, and we have a lot of ammo. I made sure those escape vehicles were well stocked. These three guards are not enough to overtake any important communication station. We must assume that they’re heavily fortified. We can’t expose ourselves. Our military from D.C. or from a neighboring state or one of our bases here in Dallas has to do it for us. We have to get the communications back.”

  “What about the radio stations?” Zelda asked. It was an idea that just popped in her head. She wondered why Colin didn’t think of it.

  “You know, that’s a great question. I wonder if they took over the radio. Let’s turn on the radio and see.”

  They asked Sheri, who they learned was the name of the lady of the house, for a radio. She showed them that underneath the TV was a tuner.

  Sheri said, “I can’t believe that that filthy infidel, Governor Hampton, said that you were dead and all those other lies that he said. You’re obviously not dead. They’re trying to take over our country. You have to stop them.”

  Zelda had hoped that Sheri didn’t see the broadcast, but it was good to see her negative reaction towards Hampton. Hopefully, others would feel the same.

  Zelda nodded and politely gestured for Sheri to leave the room.

  Colin knelt in front of the TV pushing buttons on the radio tuner. He scanned several stations, but they were all static.

  “Shit,” he said. “It looks like they shut down all the radio stations.” He frowned. “Looks like they thought of everything.”

  Zelda sighed. She had a glimmer of hope that the infidels hadn’t infiltrated the radio stations, so that revelation was disappointing.

  Colin spoke, “Okay, what we need to do is to have one of us go and inform someone that you are alive.”

  “What about the people who live here,” Zelda suggested. “This so-called Establishment wouldn’t suspect them.”

  “Hmm, that’s risky. If they catch them, our enemies will know where they live and will most likely come after us. I think we need to send one of the guards. Maybe we could kill two birds with one stone because he could take one of the SUVs, so we only have one SUV out there which wouldn’t look so suspicious. He needs to drive to one of our bases here and inform them that you are alive. Then, we can have reinforcements come and pick us up. What do you think?”

  Zelda shrugged and nodded in approval. She felt like it was as good a plan as they could do under the unfortunate circumstances.

  Colin continued. “Now if they have taken over the local bases, the guard would have to drive to D.C. or a neighboring state or city until he finds friendly forces. He will have to drive to a base that is not overtaken by this evil Establishment.”

  “I don’t like this,” Zelda interjected. “Those lies that Hampton said. Those were all lies.” Zelda needed to defend herself from Hampton’s accusations and reassure any doubts that Colin may have. “I’m a virgin,” she said.

  Colin raised his eyebrows and smirked and then quickly returned to his serious face. Zelda was ready to zap him for his disrespect.

  “Of course, Madam President. You are the virgin Mother of all the Gods as the scriptures tell us.”

  Zelda was not convinced of Colin’s sincerity, but, again, she couldn’t zap him right now. She would save it for a more appropriate time. She continued, “That lady that they showed on the video, maybe she was sent from the Gods, right?”

  Colin shrugged.

  “I do want to find this lady and speak to her,” Zelda said. Zelda was serious about this request. She desperately wanted to meet her real mother and find out everything about her and why she gave Zelda up. What was the name that she gave Zelda? Zelda had so many questions to ask. She wondered if she had other kids and whether they had Zelda’s secret power. Hell, maybe this lady had the powers herself. That would certainly complicate matters if there were other people on earth with the same powers.

  Colin replied, “Sure, once we crush this opposition, we will find this woman. Let’s get one of the guards going.”

  Zelda had another idea. Again, she couldn’t understand why Colin didn’t have the foresight that she had. Zelda said, “Hey, I want to do my own video and audio recording to respond to Hampton’s
and make it clear that I’m alive and well. We’ll give it to the guard before he goes.”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  “Colin, we are going to crush the opposition and make everyone who caused this, pay!”

  Chapter 39

  Becca smiled even though her stomach growled in hunger. She hadn’t eaten for at least twenty-four hours. The resistance forces just played the video of her dad on a large screen TV that the Maters normally used to show Materism propaganda.

  The Mater guards were squirming at center court. All the kids, including Becca, formed a circle around the outer part of the gym to protect the cowardly guards. They were having a serious discussion and whispering to each other.

  “Hey, Becca,” one of the boys near her whispered, “your dad is President. He’s going to save us!”

  “Yeah, Becca,” a smiley girl said, “your dad is a hero.”

  “Thanks,” Becca whispered back. Becca studied the guards, who kept glancing at her. Her stomach growled again. While she was proud of her dad’s courage, she wondered if he had put her at risk. Now, one of the guards pointed at her. She exhaled. Were they going to kill her? They looked pissed. She turned her head and faced the opposite direction of the guards in a weak effort to hide.

  She peeked back and saw a guard rushing in her direction. He came to the outer portion of the circle, pointed at Becca, and shouted, “You, Hampton’s kid, get your ass over here.”

  Becca froze. Several brave boys stood in front of her, shielding her.

  The guard pointed his rifle at the boys. “Back the fuck up,” he barked, “or else all of you are dead.”

  The boys froze and contemplated their situation.

  “I’m going to count to three,” the guard said. “One … two …”

  The boys put their hands up and stood to the side. One of the boys sniffled and said, “Sorry, Becca.”

  Becca wanted to run but then they would certainly shoot the other kids, so she held up her hands and walked toward the guard. The guard pulled her by the hair and dragged her to the center court. “When I tell you to come, you come right away, bitch,” he said while gritting his teeth. “Now, you’re going to help us escape out of here.”

  Becca was relieved that they didn’t shoot her on the spot. They were going to use her as ransom, which would buy Becca some time and maybe save some of her fellow prisoners. The guard kept pulling her hair which hurt, but it was nothing compared to the other torturous acts that they had done to her.

  The five guards mumbled to each other. One of the guards grabbed the bullhorn and was ready to speak when a group of about twenty boys and girls rushed at the guards. The sudden move startled the guards. They were slow to deploy their weapons but starting firing. Kids started dropping. Becca saw an opportunity and punched one of the guards and tried to punch him again, but he swung his fist with his backhand directly to Becca’s already-swollen jaw. Becca shrieked.

  Several of the boys avoided the gunfire, reached the guards, and tackled them. The guard that punched Becca grabbed her hair and yanked it hard. A boy was trying to take away the guard’s weapon. A massive explosion by the doors sounded and Becca’s ears rang. Through the smoke, Becca could see the resistance forces barging in. It was total chaos.

  The kids were kicking and punching the guards who were rolling on the ground covering their heads.

  The guard, who held Becca, dropped his weapon and momentarily let go of Becca, but he grabbed a hand grenade from a clip on his belt. He quickly pulled the pin and held the grenade tightly.

  Becca cringed and started to run away to avoid the certain explosion, but he grabbed her hair again and pulled her back towards him. He wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his chest.

  The guard held the grenade up high and yelled, “Back the fuck away, or I will let go of the handle and we will all be dead. Back the fuck up, now!”

  Becca closed her eyes waiting for the explosion and her certain death, but nothing happened. She wondered why it didn’t explode. She thought that once someone pulled the pin, it was only a matter of seconds for it to explode. Apparently, the handle was what activated the grenade—not the pin.

  Now, the resistance forces of about a hundred troops had entered the gym and pointed their weapons at the five guards, four of which were helpless on the ground. Most of the kids in the gym scurried out of the gym and some of the troops led them out. The troops started backing away at the realization that the guard was holding a live hand grenade.

  They all hurriedly backed up except for one soldier who made his way to the front.

  It was Austin.

  He had a military helmet on, but she recognized him at once. Her eyes watered at the sight of him. Her hero. But he was going to be a dead hero, and her too, if he charged at the guard. Becca wished she could do something, but if the guard dropped the grenade, she was certain to die. How was Austin going to get her out of there?

  “Put down that grenade, right now,” Austin yelled.

  “Are you stupid,” the guard said. “If I put this down, she dies and so do you.”

  Austin stopped his advancement and pondered the predicament.

  “Now, I’m taking her with me,” the guard said. “I’m leaving right now, and my friends are coming with me.” The guard nodded to his fallen comrades. They hobbled to their feet. “You need to back up right now.”

  Austin did not move and kept his rifle pointed at the guard. Becca thought he was nuts. The other troops around him backed up towards the gym’s entrance, so it was only Austin, who was at the free-throw line, the Mater guards at center court, and Becca. The other kids had all exited the gym by now.

  The guard hesitated and then took a step forward towards Austin.

  “I love you, Becca,” Austin yelled.

  “I love you too,” Becca cried out. “Austin, you better back up though. Don’t get yourself killed over me.”

  Austin continued his slow advancement. He gritted his teeth and snorted. Becca could see the pure hatred in his eyes for the guard. Becca started crying. Her foolish boyfriend was sacrificing himself for her. He didn’t care about his safety—only hers, but he was going to get them both killed.

  “Please, Austin, I can’t lose you. Back up.”

  “Yes, listen to your slutty girlfriend and back the fuck up,” the guard said.

  Austin, who was within ten yards of the guard holding Becca, stopped momentarily, fired several rounds of his weapon at the guard, and then charged at the guard.

  The bullets struck the guard, and his legs immediately buckled. The guard also simultaneously let go of the hand grenade, and Becca saw the handle spring forward and the grenade headed for the ground. She screamed. Before she could react, Austin rushed towards her, grabbed her, and darted away from the grenade which now hit the ground. The other guards also started to run away.

  Austin didn’t say anything but ran as fast as he could carrying her.

  Becca heard the deafening sound of the explosion. The ground shook and Austin and she were thrown about ten feet in the air and then extreme pain penetrated her body.

  Chapter 40

  Lance sat in the back seat of the speeding SUV along with a soldier in the front passenger seat. Both Lance and the other solider had their windows open scanning the roads with their rifles pointed out the window. After they had ended their unsuccessful search for Zelda’s body in the mansion’s ruins, he got permission to go Harmon and see about his daughter.

  On the way there, he got word that she and Austin were injured and in the emergency room of a Lewisville hospital. They wouldn’t tell him the extent of her injuries or whether she was even alive. He did hear that Austin had tried to save her from a Mater guard who was holding her hostage. Fortunately, almost all the other kids got out safely and were in the safe hands of the Establishment.

  Lance sniffled at the thought of losing his daughter. He wondered if his broadcast had put her in danger.

  The dr
iver was able to speed fast as the streets were empty except for Establishment forces here and there. The Mater police seemed to have gone into hiding, but the Establishment forces were gathering them up—going to their houses and apartments. It would be a long process to bring everyone under control. Lance figured that most Maters were probably scared after seeing Lance’s video and were staying inside. Businesses were closed.

  Contrary to what his message stated, the Establishment was still battling with the Maters on a couple of the Mater bases, but the Establishment did overtake the three main ones in Dallas. Throughout the state of Texas, there were 20 mini-Mater bases of which the Establishment had overtaken most of them. It was a huge military success for now. Certainly, the White House must have been aware of the situation as the Establishment broadcasted their message nationally. The Mater government would retaliate with the full force of the Mater military.

  It was very disappointing that they didn’t capture or kill Zelda. Lance got word that they found an escape tunnel from the ruins that led to a Mater church across the street. She wasn’t dead. She had escaped and no doubt would want to let the world know that she was still alive. The Establishment still had control over the nationwide communications, but Zelda would try her best to get the word out. They had to find her before people found out that she wasn’t dead, which would make Lance’s broadcast a fraud. It could disrupt their early successes.

  All of this didn’t matter though if they had killed his daughter.

  “Hey, I think that’s a Mater police car heading our way,” the driver interrupted Lance’s thoughts, while he pointed up the road.

  “Slow down,” the solider in the front seat said. The solider peeked his head out the window. “Cut him off,” he demanded.

  The driver swerved the car into the oncoming lane. A white Mater police car tire screeched and skidded to a stop. The soldier opened his door, used the passenger door as a shield, pointed his rifle, and shouted, “Get out of the car with your hands up!”