Rebels & Lies (Rebels & Lies Trilogy Book 1) (23 page)

Not today. Not another family. Not this time.

“Ryan, no!” Krys cried.

Kaspar ignored it. He ran straight for the door and kicked it
open. As he entered, the crack of a gunshot assaulted his eardrums. Ashley’s
lifeless body crashed to the carpet. Kaspar’s breathing quickened. Frankie bent
over her mother’s carcass. Tears and screams came out of her.

BANG!

BANG BANG BANG!

The Agent fell. The three round burst to his face gave him an
instant death. Before Kaspar could get his shot off…that coward…that bastard!

The little girl was shot in the chest. She was still alive, but
struggled to draw a breath. She did not cry and Kaspar wondered if she felt
anything at all. He knelt down and lifted her off of the ground. Krys let out a
cry before she stormed out of the room. The others stood there in stunned
silence.

“It’s okay,” Kaspar mumbled to Frankie. “It’s okay.”

A cough came from the girl. She continued her vain attempt at
breathing. Kapsar looked into the eyes of a dying child. It wasn’t fair. She
should be playing with dolls or learning new things from her books. So full of
life she must have been. But, now at such a young age, she breathed her final
breath.

Why didn’t you come sooner? You weren’t fast enough! My family and
I are dead now because you were too slow.

Her head fell straight backwards. Kaspar cursed himself under his
breath. He carried her to her mother. He placed her on Ashley’s chest and then
wrapped Ashley’s arms around her daughter’s body. When Kaspar stood back up,
nothing but rage consumed him.

Mother, she was one thing, but a little girl? What kind of
monsters was he really dealing with?

Kilbourne and Li moved to the living room and kept their guns
trained at the shattered frames of the front door. Krys stood in silence by the
shot up couch. Her PSD lay on the ground. Li bent down and picked up the gun,
handing it to Krys. She took it from him and pointed it at the front door as
well.

Back in the bedroom, Paxton touched Kaspar on the shoulder. The
old veteran knew that they would not have much time. Someone no doubt had
called the emergency number at the sound of the gun fire.

“You did all you could.” Paxton said.

“It wasn’t good enough for them.”

Kaspar moved past Paxton into the living room. The others began to
file out. He felt a nudge from his leader behind him. In that instant, nothing
else mattered to Kaspar, not even his own life. He felt the urge to go out in a
blaze of glory, taking out as many Agents with him as possible. It was not just
personal anymore, he thought, trailing behind the others out of the apartment.

They had to be stopped. They had to be.

***

Sullivan stood outside the apartment
building. The high pitched sirens in the background filled his ears. He waited
with his hand attached to his department issued Glock. He knelt down by a waist
high bush when he saw two armed men walk at a brisk pace: it was them. He
noticed the all black attire and black masks that hid their identities. He
thought better of trying to take two of them down at the same time. The men
started to race towards an armored USR van, which showed its age, just like the
one the witness described to him earlier. He watched as two more ran outside. Sullivan’s
heart rate began to increase. Four on one weren’t terribly good odds. Then it
happened. He almost couldn’t believe it.

Kaspar walked out of the building, PSD at his shoulder, ready for
anything. The sirens began to get closer. Kaspar hoped within himself that he
could catch some of the Agents before they stormed the building.

Sullivan waited for the last gunman to move past him. No way of
knowing if he was the last one, but Sullivan didn’t have the time or the
patience to wait and find out. He kept his upper body low, moved his feet
quickly but with little sound, and his gun hand rested behind his back on his
tailbone. The roar of the van’s engine filled the night air. Sullivan moved
fast. His plan now became to take the man hostage. Those resistance cowards
would flee for sure, eager to get away before the Calvary arrived. He made his
move.

Kaspar froze. He felt the hard steel of handgun pressed against
the back of his skull. He let loose of his gun and raised his hands straight
up. The sound of the sirens grew louder. They were getting closer.

Not like this, Kaspar thought, not now.

“Don’t you fuckin’ move!” Sullivan barked.

Sullivan reached down Kaspar’s thigh, his hand moved towards the
Beretta inside the holster. He started to unbuckle the holster as the van began
to move. Sullivan had what he came for…

A sharp blow to the head caused the Agent to fall to the ground, unconscious.
Kaspar looked over and could tell by her height that Krys was his savior. She
used the stock of her PSD to hammer in Sullivan’s skull.

“Let’s go!” Krys yelled.

He said nothing and followed her into the back of the van. They
each grabbed a door in the back and slammed them shut as they entered. Kaspar
sat down on the bench. The van, with Kilbourne behind the wheel, sped forward.
After several long minutes, Paxton shouted from the front that they were clear.

They had made it. Thanks to Krys, Kaspar had made it. The
Andersons did not. Kaspar ripped the mask off of his head and threw it to the
ground. He then slammed his fist into the side of the van. Thoughts of Mother
filled his mind. He looked down at the yellow fabric and talked to her. He told
her he was sorry, but his eyes were opened now.

In that moment, he wished it didn’t take the life of a small girl
to bring him back.

There was silence inside the safe house. Kilbourne sat with Krys
on the couch. His arms were wrapped around her shoulders as she wept, her head
buried in his chest. Li sat on the opposite couch, alone in thoughts, mask
still on. Paxton and Clarke were in the briefing room, trying to figure out
what happened and how to prevent it again.

Kaspar stood alone in the kitchen. His right hand gripped the
handle his PSD that he never let go of since their escape. Mother entered in
his thoughts. He knew that he couldn’t quit now; she would want him to continue
fighting. This could not be allowed to happen to another family. Kaspar could
not bear to witness it again.

With both hands, Kaspar raised the PSD and began to slam the stock
into the wall behind him as hard as he could. He started to shout incoherent
obscenities as the stock tore through the drywall. Tears started to run down
his red cheeks as he continued his assault.

Krys freed herself from Kilbourne and ran towards the kitchen. She
approached Kaspar, who did not see her in the midst of his outburst. He slammed
the stock into the wall one last time. He let loose of his grip and the gun
dangled in the hole at first before it crashed to the ground. Kaspar leaned his
back against the wall and slid down as his legs gave way. Once his ass hit the
floor, he buried his face into his gloved hands.

When Krys sat beside him no words were said. Not even the feeling
of her arm around his neck could erase his anger. He moved his still red face from
his hands. Tears, more from his anger than sadness, leaked from his eyes. Krys
reached up with her index finger and wiped them away. She inched closer and
rested her head on his shoulders. Kaspar moved his arm up and hung it over her
shoulder.

A loud banging noise from the back of the house caused the two to
jump and focus their attention that way. Paxton and Clarke walked through the
kitchen. Clarke’s eyes became fixated to holes that Kaspar created in the wall.
Paxton looked down and motioned for Krys to step away. She did, walking back
into the living room. The old veteran knelt down and looked his young recruit
square in the eye.

“Ryan,” Paxton said, “pull yourself together.”

“Don’t you tell me that,” Kaspar replied.

“Blaming yourself is not going to bring them back.”

“Nothing can bring them back…but, I could have saved them.”

“Step into the briefing room with me.”

Paxton reached down and gripped Kaspar’s hand. He jerked upward to
help Kaspar to his feet. Once on his feet, Kaspar wiped at his eyes with the
sleeve of his jumpsuit. The two walked to the briefing room then took seats
opposite each other. Questions ran through Kaspar’s mind. The answers would
most likely elude him for the rest of his days. Why did this have to happen?
Why couldn’t a family just live in peace? Why…

“How are you feeling?” Paxton asked. He knew the answer.

“Like shit.” Kaspar replied.

“I figured as much. Listen, you have to pull yourself together.
This will not be the last time you see something horrible like that.”

“What was it like?” Kaspar wondered. He had to know what he was
fighting for. “Before the USR, I mean.”

Paxton shrugged, “It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but we did
okay. We had our freedoms, our liberties. If you thought the president was an
asshole, you could say so publicly. Nobody arrested you, tortured you, or shot
you dead because of it.”

“Did this kind of thing happen?”

“No, the police back then, they protected and served like they are
supposed to. If you were accused of a crime, you got yourself a fair trial. The
Andersons…well, they just got executed.”

Kaspar thought about what Paxton had just told him. He spoke of
freedoms and liberties, but what did that really mean? Those words were foreign
to him. Not even Mother taught him about that, even though she had experienced
them at one point in her life. Kaspar reasoned that, perhaps, she did not want
to teach them to her son because she knew he would never experience it himself.

She must have been right. He had never felt free at any point in
his life. Not even now, even though he was what Paxton would call a freedom
fighter. He was forced to join them so that he could avenge Mother. Now, he
would be forced to stay the course to prevent any further tragedies like the
one tonight to happen again. When would it end?

“I can see why you fight so hard, now.” Kaspar remarked.

“If you lived during the reign of the US of A, you would feel the
same. That scene you saw, that little girl dying in your arms, that’s why I
fight. That’s why, if I have a USR Agent in my sights, I shoot to fucking
kill.”

“What happened?”

“We…” Paxton paused and cleared his throat. “Lost sight of our
ideals…our principles. We got so spoiled with our freedoms that we got lazy.
Then, the government got reckless and started spending and borrowing untold
amounts of money. They borrowed so much that there was no way for them to pay
it back. That was when things started to change. Slowly, the USR stepped in.”

“How?”

“The government knew that they had to pay back their debt, even if
it seemed insurmountable, or else they would lose their power and influence.
They started to garnish wages to pay it back. Printing money at such a fast
scale that the dollar became nearly worthless, which is why we have what they
call credits now. People began to speak out against it, violent riots ensued.
That’s when they took away our freedoms of speech…our free will…everything.
Eventually, a new kind of consciousness began to form. What you see now, that’s
years and years of conditioning through fear. By the time you were old enough
to remember, what we called the Constitution was already invalidated.”

“What did you do? I mean, after everything started to go
downhill.”

“I joined a local militia. It was small, filled with war vets like
myself who could see what was happening. We fought back against the military
like police force…but then…Randi…”

Paxton paused and Kaspar looked away. His leader had never talked
this openly about himself before. Kaspar finally began to understand the man,
even if just a little. He understood now how Paxton could have turned into the
hardened man that he was today. The pain and guilt the old man felt every day
must have driven him to it. Kaspar finally realized what had happened during
that interrogation of Forte…those eyes after the Agent was put down. He had
become a hardened killer, with nothing else to live for except the destruction
of the evil USR.

A realization came with the understanding: Kaspar would have to
become Paxton in order to see justice through. Not just for Mother, not any
longer. That was something that Krys failed to realize. There could be no
prisoners, no stones left unturned. The USR, they didn’t play by anyone’s rules
but their own. Why shouldn’t those who resisted take the same approach?

“I’m sorry, John.” Kaspar said.

“You don’t need to apologize to me.”

“I can see why you hate politicians now.”

“Damn hypocrites…” Paxton said. “That man, Forte, do you think I
did the right thing with him?”

Kaspar took a moment to ponder the question. He remembered what
Krys told him, about how they were fighting against the very thing that Paxton
did to the Agent. The Agent was tortured and killed, but they were able to
extract vital intelligence from him. If only they had been faster…

“Damn straight you did.” Kaspar replied.

Paxton rested his head into his palms. “I’m not proud of it. I can
never look Krys in the eye after I do it. She’s right, you know, it is wrong.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“For that family,” Paxton said. He raised his head. A look of
determination was the only expression to be found. “We were late tonight, but
for any other family out there…that’s why. I know it’s not right. I’ll
eventually answer for it in this life…or the next. I will never be sorry for
it, though.”

Kaspar reached and patted Paxton’s arm. “These USR nut jobs are
nothing but pure evil. What you did to Forte is not something you should feel
guilty about. He deserved it. All of those Agents out there, they deserve it,
too. They deserve anything they got coming. Anything you or I do to them.”

“I hope you are right,” Paxton replied. “I really do. But,
something deep inside of me tells me you’re not. Tell me something, though.”

“What?”

“Is revenge still the only thing that drives you, even after
tonight?”

Kaspar looked down at the yellow fabric. “My eyes were opened.
I’ll be honest, before tonight that was all that I cared about. But, seeing
that little girl…”

“Don’t you ever forget her.” Paxton interrupted. “I know it’s
hard, but you keep that memory in your head. Little children like that need to
grow up in a world where they don’t fear their government, but work alongside
it.”

“Trust me. I could never forget something like that.”

“I know that my father, and his father before him, didn’t fight in
all those wars just so this could happen. They fought and died for this
country. And, God as my witness, I will fight until I die.”

“I hear you. I just wish I could understand you better.”

“You will, someday. Why don’t you try and get some sleep?”

Kaspar stood and gave a nod to Paxton who nodded back. Kaspar
started to walk but stopped and turned. The old war machine didn’t look like himself
any longer. He just stared off into the distance. Was this the real John
Paxton? Kaspar shook his head then turned and walked out.

Everyone else seemed to have scurried off to their beds. Only
Clarke remained in the deserted living room. He sat on the couch and typed away
at his laptop at a furious pace. Kaspar sat down on the couch opposite him. He
watched for a few moments. Clarke seemed so fixated on his computer screen he
didn’t notice there was someone else there.

“What are you up to?” Kaspar asked.

“I was just sent something,” Clarke replied, eyes still focused on
the screen in front. “Something big, I just can’t access the USR’s main frame
to see it just yet.”

“Who sent it to you?”

“Someone from The Committee.”

“Did they mention at all what it was about?”

“No, just that they found something that should be considered
urgent. I just…can’t get into their Goddamn systems.”

“Robert, get a grip.”

“That’s funny,” Clarke said. His eyes finally met Kaspar’s.
“Coming from you, the man who tore a hole in our wall.”

“Hey, you don’t know what’s like, okay? You don’t know what it’s
like to see families get gunned down right in front of you, when you have the
ability to stop it, but are just too slow.”

“And, you don’t know what’s like to be forced to stay behind and
watch it all unfold through a computer monitor. If you want to cry about
feeling helpless, don’t bring it here.”

“That’s awful tough talk coming from a computer whizz.”

“Call me what you want, but I’m busy right now. Good night.”

Kaspar said nothing as he stood and walked up the stairs in slow
steps. He was spent emotionally and physically. Once inside his bedroom he
stripped down to his boxers. He lay down on the bed, which never felt more
comfortable, and his mind raced as he shut his eyes.

Within seconds, he succumbed to sleep.