Revolt 2145 (3 page)

     “What the fuck is a quantum launch?” I whispered.

“No fucking clue.” Babe replied.

The escorts opened the large door and as we walked in, I noticed large, mechanical, space suits set up against the wall.

      “Stand here, shut up, and don't touch anything. The guy in charge will be here to go over your launch procedures.” one escort said.

A moment after he said that, a man in a gray bodysuit walked in. The other inmates and I stood in a line as the man stood in front of us.

     “Ladies and gentlemen. It's good to see your lively faces.” The man started with a nervous laugh. “My name is Dr. Ulysess Tate and I will be in charge of the launch process from this facility to Sonne Graol.” he explained. “Thanks to the technology developed here in this building, this process will be easy and efficient. Once at the station, the observers and escorts will remain until you're um...” I watch Dr. Tate hesitate with his words. “...execution.”

Dr. Tate walked to one of the mechanical suits, and hoisted himself into one of the clunky bodies of armor. “Alright, let's suit up.”

CHAPTER 3 - MOM

August 9, 2145

     The weeks were unforgiving emotionally and as the final day before the launch day came, I became more nervous than I've ever been in my entire life. Today was our last visitation day, and my mother decided today was a decent day for her to actually visit me for once. I waited in the common room, with the nine other inmates, while we waited for our loved ones to walk into the facility. I waited patiently for my mother to come through that door. I waited for her pruning face and her bright red hair to make it's presence known. I heard a a couple of voices before a few visitors began walking into the common room, each approaching the inmates. There, coming in after a pudgy Hispanic woman was my mother.

     “Lorraigne.” I said, addressing her by her first name. I never called her mom anymore, and our relationship had become so diminished that it didn't even felt like we had any type of mother daughter relationship. We've been neck and neck for years, and amidst our wars, I still loved her and she loved me. Lorraigne was still mom. She approached me with a kiss on the cheek before she sat down at one of the tables. I sat down across from her.

     “I didn't bother sending you any letters. I thought it'd be more upsetting.” I said.

“I can't believe they changed your execution date to tomorrow. A bit sudden to me.” Lorraigne said.

“I pleaded my case.” I stated. “Nothing I can do now.”

“Nothing but prepare for the injection.” Lorraigne said.

“That's not happening.” I said lowly.

“What do you mean?” Lorraigne asked. “You are getting executed?” Lorraigne made it sound like she wanted me to get offed.

“Yes I'm getting fucking executed.” I snapped lowly. “Just not by lethal injection.”

“Well what the fuck are they doing? The electric chair?”

“They're sending us to the sun?” I said looking at Lorraigne's face that stretched with confusion.

“What?” Lorraigne asked.

“Don't say shit to anyone. It's some secret experimental bullshit.”

“Experimental?” Lorraigne asked. “You should feel special.”

“Your humor on this subject is somewhat annoying.” I smiled.

“It's the only thing worth keeping at this point.” Lorraigne said. “Just laugh at it.”

“I can't laugh at a punishment I don't deserve.” I replied. “You know I didn't do it.”

“I told you already that I believed you, but my beliefs aren't going to save you. This is the end of the line.”

There was a brief pause. Then she pulled out a necklace with a angel dangling from it.

     “Wear this there.” she said. “The angels will protect your soul from the fire.”

I took the necklace with a smirk on my face. “Thanks for the voodoo necklace. I'll take good care of it when it's melted to nothing.”

“Just wear it for me.”

I sighed while slipping the necklace around my neck. “I don't believe in this stuff.”

“Well I do.” she said. There was a brief silence.

“My daughter, death by melting.” she said.

“I hate your fucking outlook on things.”

     The meet with my mother was short and bittersweet, but the facilitators and the ones over watching the experiment needed us for one more mech suit test drive. There I sat in in the building's garage, where they had delivered the suits just for us. There was no sense of comfort with these things. They were only built for stabilization during travel, and yet given the nice smooth ride we are expected to look forward to a quick death.

     “They should have put a self destruct button on this thing.” laughed Babe.

“That sounds a lot better.” I chuckled.

“It eases the stress of the wait.” she said. “Who enjoys waiting for the day you're told to die when you can choose that day yourself?”

“Unfortunately we don't have that privilege.”

Every time I looked at the clock and looked away, time felt like it was speeding away. Dinner had come and this marked my last meal, given they weren't allowing us a breakfast come tomorrow. I savored the taste of the tough meatloaf that graced my mouth. The flavorless corn that popped on my tongue, and the wet muffin that I shoved down my throat. It was amazing that the moment a person finally finds comfort in one stage of hell, they are subjected to a new and worse hell.

     “They're not even going to bother feeding well while we're there. You better eat up.” I said looking at Babe, who was seated across from Remy and I. Babe just stared at her food.

“This is just inhumane.” Babe said. “What kind of a civilization sends humans to die on the sun?” Babe asked, continuously looking down.

“Our system.” Remy replied. “And in the future, it wont be just ten people. It'll move on to hundreds, because this is just an experiment, but soon it'll be protocol, and soon it'll be all of us sharing our last meal on this planet.”

CHAPTER 4 – THE LAUNCH

August 10
th
, 2145

     Our protective suits were locked inside a section of the spacecraft. The section had us arranged in a circle, and from here; frozen in my suit, I was staring at Babe.

     “Can you hear me?!” I shouted.

“Barely!” she shouted back. Her voice was faint from within the giant tin-man suits.

“Got any plans?!' Babe shouted with a laugh.

“Is that supposed to be funny?!” another inmate shouted from the side of me. I could see his heavily tattooed face from his face shell.

     “Lighten up!” yelled one of the other inmates. I looked to the opposite side to see a woman with brownish-red hair. She looked at me. “Now would be a good time to find a sense of humor!” the woman yelled.

“And why's that?” the agitated inmate yelled back.

“Because it's sounds like the only thing we'll ever need in this situation. It may feel good to laugh a little before we die!”

I couldn't agree with her more!” I shouted.

“Marie!” the red-headed woman shouted.

“Claire!” I replied back.

“What the fuck is this?!” the angry inmate yelled.

“It's called companionship! That too is also a nice thing to have before we get obliterated by the sun!” Marie said. She looked at me. “T-Bone is a bit of a grouch!” she yelled.

“Fuck you!” T-Bone yelled.

“Love you too!” Marie shouted back.

     “Attention inmates!” a voice blared over a speaker inside of our capsule suits. “This is Sergeant Banuelos of the Territory Police Force. In ten minutes, we will be lifted into orbit and set on our journey to Sonne Graol, your final stop.” the Sgt said.

“What a fucking asshole!” Marie laughed.

“Once in orbit, the noise and clutter that you hear now will diminish and the capsules will produce a very euphoric gas. This will allow each of you to relax upon our decent. Consider it a farewell gift.” he explained. “So sit back, relax and enjoy your last ride.” the intercom clicked out. That was unsettling, and I couldn't help but constantly wonder what I wanted to do before I was to be get burned out of existence. No one will remember me for my hard work or all of the effort I put in to reaching my job as the President's assistant. No one will remember me for my kind personality or just exactly who Claire Dodson was. Nope. From now on, even after I die, that name; that fucking identity that I broke my back building will be forever known as the bitch who killed the President. Soon the conspiracies will began. It'll be another case, and I'll be Lee Harvey Oswald version two. The truth will slowly point itself out, and there will be those who oppose the truth but sooner or later, more and more people will believe that I was innocent and maybe forty years later, they'll re-open my case, and realize the mistake that they had made. Unfortunately I'll be long gone before my name would clear. Shit. There I go again. Pondering out, trying to figure out a positive to this. This long road to the end is shortening and I'm getting tired of trying to think my way out of this.

The space vessel begin to shake. I could feel us beginning to lift off from the ground.

     “Here we go!” I heard Babe shout.

The abrupt rumbling began to fade, and now we were entering the silent travel.

     “Claire right?” said a voice on the side of me. My eyes came upon a young looking man with a bit of black hair drooped across his face.

“Lucas Vant.” he said introducing himself. “I know you. You're the one who shot the President.”

The other inmate's heads turned, and each of them were now focused on me.

“Oh shit.” Marie said. “You don't look like the murdering type.”

“Listen, can we not talk about the reasons why we're here?” I started. “I think it would just be a lot cooler if we just stay out each others personal lives.”

“Sweetie, you're in a ship with a bunch of murderers.” Marie said. “T-Bone killed a cop and raped three women.”

“You want to be the fourth?!” T-Bone snarled, looking at Marie.

“You're not scaring me. Nothing sounds better than getting a cock slammed in me one last time.” Marie smiled.

“Are they separating genders when we get up there?” asked another voice. I looked over to my far right to see a black woman, who looked to be in her late forties. “I'm kind of against having Charles Manson over there having his way with me.”

“I don't do black bitches.” he growled

“Fuck you!” the black woman yelled.

“No. Fuck you!” T-Bone shouted.

“Sorry to put you out there like that.” Lucas said as the others argued off in the background. “But I believe in what you did. The President was a disease to the territories. His death will bring countless amounts of change. It's sad that we both must die before we witness the dawn of such change.” he explained.

“That's probably the most nicest thing someone has ever said about it. Maybe even the weirdest but thank you.” I smiled. Lucas smiled back.

“You want to take a stab at me motherfucker?!” the black woman continued to argue with T-bone.

“I may not even let you live all ten days. You'll be the only life the sun doesn't claim.” T-bone said angrily.

“Hey!” Marie shouted. T-bone and the black woman looked at Marie. “What's your name?” she asked.

“Aliza.” she said.

Another inmate broke out in laughter. “No fucking way!”

Everyone turned their attention to the inmate. “Something funny fuckboy?” Aliza asked.

“Fuckboy?” the man asked. “Now that's a name I don't want to be remembered for.” he started. “Name's Ice and I'm laughing because I'm in shock. I can't believe they got you.” he said.

“Am I missing something?” I asked.

“You guys never heard of her?” Ice asked. “Hackin Aliza. She stabbed her husband with a butcher knife.” Ice said.

“Uh hello. Personal life.” I said.

“Bad marriages?” Marie asked.

“Bad marriages, Bad sex, Good money. All in all, the perfect opportunity to cash in on their life insurance.” Aliza said.

“You were swimming in the loot once you killed them all.” Ice said.

“They fucking busted me when they found the evidence from my first husband's death. Used that to convict me in the rest.” Aliza said bitterly. “But like I said T-Bone, fuck with me and I'll make sure you're next.”

“Alright! Enough!” Marie shouted. “Can we just please get along for just a bit. You guys can duke it out ten minutes before the sun fries us.”

“What are you in here for Ice?” I said, facing him as best as I could.

“You ever heard of the Emerald Central Massacre?” Ice asked.

“That shoot-out at the mall. Yeah I remember that.”

“Yeah, that was me.” Ice chuckled.

“How is that funny? You killed twenty five people.” I said.

“It's funny because if one of the officers wouldn't have shot my trigger hand, I'd be in a grave, and not on this shit.”

December 22
nd
, 2125

     The Emerald Central Massacre was an event that made me realize what type of fear was needed to make an impact. No matter the message, if you wanted it to spread, enacting a wave of violence was going to get the important people's attention. You'll probably even get some sick fucks to follow you as well. Linda and I held hands at the mall when the massacre took place. Our relationship had grown farther then either of us had expected. Unlike before, how you would find two 14 year old friends hanging out at the mall. Instead, now you would find us, two 16 year lesbians making out at the mall. People had their opinions. We were young, and many frowned upon it but I didn't care. That wasn't the message we were trying to send. Our message was bigger. A message of change. For the leaders of these territories to give us back the control that we deserved. We wandered the areas of the mall, searching for those looking for a savior. A brotherhood that they could be a part of. We didn't reach our radical stage yet, but if I could explain that day in just a few words, I'd say that that day was the birth of it. As I pressed my face harder into Linda's, a loud eruption of gunfire went of and our faces snatched away from each other. Those who walked through the mall, including us began running the opposite way of where we heard the gunshots. I had a hard time absorbing what was going on. I was scared. It couldn't have been my time to die yet. There had to be a way out of this. Those were my thoughts then, while trying to keep my composure in front of Linda. We came to the tiny back entrance, which was cluttered with over three dozen people trying to squeeze out of the mall. I could hear more shots. The sounds were becoming louder. The shooter was getting closer, and the crowd's panic began to grow. I grabbed Linda's hand and cut into a store to the left. We sped into the store bathroom, and hid ourselves in one of the stalls. I started to cry silently, shaking with unimaginable fear. Then I heard it began. The slaughter. I could hear him spraying the crowd with bullets. I could hear the screams of terror, as if the grim reaper was joyfully selecting his ripe souls from the garden of life. I continued to shake fearfully, sweat covering my face. I looked into Linda's eyes, who was holding me tightly. Her beautiful green eyes stared into mine.

     “I love you.” she said, her voice cracking with fear.

“I love you...” before I could tearfully finish, a distinct spray of gunfire became louder, as if it were right next to the bathroom door. I went silent, my hyperventilating echoing through the bathroom. The bathroom door swung open and slammed against the wall. I could hear someone coming.

“This was it.” I though. The stall swung open and standing before us was an officer, tucking away his pistol.

“We have two in here!” he shouted.

I wanted to scream and fall into the officer's arms. At this moment, I knew we were safe.

“It's alright ladies. The gunman has been neutralized.” the officer said. “I'm going to get you out of here.” he said extending his hand.

The officer escorted us outside of the mall, where my mother ran to me with a passionate hug. This moment in my life set in place the idea that fear was the main key to spreading a message. It was the key that we needed to spread our message.

Present

     “You're fucking joking!” Ice laughed. “You were there when that shit went down!?”

“Me and my girlfriend.” I said.
“Damn. The bathroom was my next stop. Goddamn cops got to you before I could. Nearly shot my fucking hand off.” Ice said.

“I guess there's a reason why I'm alive today.” I said.

“Yeah. To share the same fate with your would-be murderer.” Lucas said.

“Are you some fucking hippie?” asked another inmate. A black man with distinctive tear drops tattooed on his face. “You don't look like a killer.” he said looking at Lucas.

“I'm sorry. I didn't notice there were more of you in here.” Lucas snapped.

“What the fuck did you say?” Aliza snapped.

“Oh you're funny.” the black man smiled. “You want to know what I'm in here for?”

“Do I really have to guess?” Lucas said with a smile.

“My guys on the outskirts call me Barb.” the black man started. “Earned my name by taking down a few officers around town.”

“How many?” I asked.

“Enough to get me here.” Barb replied

“I'm sorry. I'm missing your point.” Lucas said.

“My point is if you keep being a smart-ass, I'm going to put rip your goddamn face off.” Barb threatened.

“Alright can we just ease up on the tension?” Marie asked. “Let's just finish going around so we can know who's who.”

I looked to the far side to see a gloomy looking woman with short black hair.

“You're the last contestant sweetheart.” Marie said looking at the woman.

The strange looking pale woman raised her head, staring out with her wide eyes. “You all are going to burn in hell as you burn out of life.” she said.

“Okay. You win the weird award.” I said. The woman was shaking and what I could see of her black hair, looked greasy and slimy.

“Judge me if you will, we all share the same fate. We will share death!” she shouted.

“All we wanted was a name freak show.” Marie said.

“Her name is Ellie.” Babe said. “And she shouldn't be here.”

I looked at Babe. “What do you mean?”

“She belongs inside of a mental facility.” Babe said.

“Well the guys in charge saw different.” I said.

“Well enlighten us ginger. What did she do?” Ice asked.

“I purged them. I cleansed their souls!” Ellie screamed.

“Who is she talking about?” I asked.

“Her kids.” Babe replied.

“My spawn were drenched in the blood of false ideology. I had to free all three souls!”

“Why is she yelling?” Ice commented.