The Sunshine Dame of Doom (15 page)

“It’s not a matter of being like me or anybody else. It’s a matter of being the best Aaron you can possibly be! ”

“Nobody believed that my brother and I could possibly make a business work, especially considering where we came from.” Vince spoke. “We got a lot of naysayers, but our mamma always believed in us and that made all the difference.”

“I’m not your mamma,” Hector said to Aaron “but I believe in you.”

Maria stood up “I’m with you!”

“I’m with you!” Raul said as well.

Pedro looked at him.

“Come on, man.” Raul spoke. “What we got to lose?”

“Yeah, what the heck, everybody dies one day.” Pedro concluded. “Alright, I’m in.”

“I’m in!” Clark jumped “For Lily!”

“It’ll never work.” Marcellus said.

Hector turned to him with disappointed eyes.

“Not without me!” The old man completed and Hector’s eyes sparkled. “I’ve been around more than anyone of you by far and a good deal of that time was in these premises. I know people in other sectors that can help us. They’re also motivated, only waiting for the right people to come. And you boys look right enough to me.”

Hector went to him “Are you sure?”

“Those men out there owe me big for what they did to my Michelle.” He stood up with difficulties, Hector had to help him. “Come on, you lazy bums, get your sorry asses out of those chairs and let’s kick some white trash ass!”

Some minutes of a dreadful silence followed.

“I’m in!” Prashant said.

“I’m in!”

“Count me in!”

“I’m in!”

One by one, at their own pace, the workers stood up to confirm allegiance.

Hector walked to Aaron “What about you?”

“Do you have a shaving kit?”

“Oh, I get you one!” He smiled again.

“Then I’m in.”

“Well, bro, it seems you got yourself an insurrection.” Vince said.

“I confess I wasn’t quite expecting that.”

“You do realize, of course, our friends outside might have watched and listened to every word you said and they may know what we’re up to.”

“Maybe not, maybe they don’t care to watch us, because they trust too much those alleged powers of theirs. Anyway, it’s a chance we have to take, there’s no turning back now.”

“By the way, do you have a plan?”

“No. Do you?”

“Not quite.”

“I do.” Marcellus said “Something I’ve been cooking up on my mind since Michelle died.”

Susan’s replacement was teaching her class when Principal Hildenbrandt knocked on the open door and entered.

“Good morning, Missus Hildenbrandt.” The children said in choir, as best as they could pronounce that name.

“Good Morning, children!” She smiled.

The principal went to the teacher and they whispered a brief conversation. The teacher seemed to like what she heard.

“Missus Hildenbrandt has something very important to say.” She announced.

The children quieted down like little statues. The principal took the floor.

“Oh, I’m so proud to tell you that we have a very illustrious visitor today! The most important man in town, also responsible for our so long lasting prosperity, is honoring us with a surprise visit! Oh yes, I’m talking about the Minister himself!”

Mister Hedgiest made his glorious entrance into the classroom. All children stood up in respect, while the two adult women smiled and applauded like little girls.

“Good morning, Mister Minister!” The children’s choir resounded again.

“Very good morning, my dear little ones and also my lovely educators …” He turned to the women, who had to put some efforts not to pass out due to so much panting. “You make me look like some kind of priest. You put me on the spot here!”

Teacher and principal laughed at the joke sounding like chicken clucking, while the children didn’t acknowledge it so much.

“Now, getting to business” The Minister continued “I have a very special announcement to make! Today, we’re starting a very big and, why not saying, ambitious project, one we expect to be both fun and educational. And, get this, due to your impeccable record and excellence in teaching methods, three students of this very school will be picked up to participate in this so important project to our future, one from this class and two from other classes, to be decided in a later time, but still today!”

Children and adults clapped their beloved leader, speaking on a project they knew nothing about until then.

It was late at night. The north district in Heavensville went dark all of a sudden. Power was out in a region comprising four blocks, and residents were lost and bewildered for such event was extremely rare in that town.

In the power plant, the transmission sector was in an uproar, with workers running up and down.

A furious man with machine gun thundered into the monitoring section, his face red in anger. Another armed man stood guard by the doorway. Maria came to him.

“I don’t feel so good.” She said.

“What’s the problem, sweet heart, you’re in your period?” He grinned.

“My head hurt! Do you have aspirins? I think I’m going to be sick!”

“Fine! Just don’t get this hall all dirty!” He got distracted for a fraction of seconds reaching into his shirt pocket. Maria slid nimble fingers through the doorframe behind him.

“What you incompetent scums are doing in here?” The other guard yelled at everybody. “The north district got no power for the last half hour! Transmission said they only knew about the problem now! What kind of shitty monitoring are you doing here?”

“You see, man, we just had…” Vince said standing in front of the guard.

“Out of my way, maggot!” He pushed Vince to the side, dropping him on the floor. He stopped in front of a station. “All red alarms are flashing like a freaking Christmas Tree in this panel! How come you took so long to engage Transmission?”

“Like the man was about to say before you interrupted him,” Marcellus spoke “We had a little communication problem. Our phone lines went down and only now they came back online. If you guys maintained this place a little better or gave us radios, this sort of event wouldn’t happen.”

“This is not an excuse!” The man said a little insecure, taken by surprise before such convincing explanation. “Considering all your years, old timer, I expected more from you.”

Marcellus glanced at his wristwatch without the guard realizing it. Precisely that moment, power sprung to life again on the north district and residents breathed in relief. Intrusive local internet and garbage TV prime time were back to their homes.

“See, everybody happy!” Vince said, standing up.

“Not thanks to you!” The guard stood his ground. “The rations for this entire sector will be reduced to half portion!” He waved his weapon as if it was a baseball bat.

“With the food they serve in here, it’s actually a favor.” Maria whispered in an almost inaudible voice.

He and the other guard left with furious steps, locking the door.

Hector, who until then pretended he was working, turned his chair around from a station and said:

“Did you see how they acted? They don’t have the slightest idea what we’re up to!”

“It’s possible.” Marcellus agreed. “I’ve just been on the phone with Bill, my guy in Transmission who shut down the north district, and he told me guards over there also don’t suspect a thing.”

“They think we’re just a bunch of dogs they can say roll over and play dead every time they want.” Vince concluded.

“We were exactly like this for a long time.” Pedro whispered.

“By the way, are you all right?” Hector asked his brother.

“I’m fine. That guy was pretty rough on me, but he left me a little compensation.” Vincent proudly swung a walkie-talkie “Right from his
undies
.” He gave it to Hector.

“You still know how to do that. Mamma never approved.”

“Too bad, because sister taught me.”

“Anyway, did you also get the key to the door?”

“It crossed my mind, but the guard would’ve realized it the second he tried to lock that door. Still, no worries,
‘cause
I got the next best thing.”

Vince walked to the heavy door and simply slid it open. Everybody gazed at him. Then, Vincent took a small piece of bandage out of the slot on the doorframe where the lock bolt should be.

“Man, those guys are so full of air they fall for the oldest tricks in the street book. Maria blocked the slot with some rags. When they lock the door, it does the same click sound, only the lock bolt goes nowhere. Good work, honey!”

Maria nodded.

“Alright, now close that door before they realize it.” Hector ordered.

“Sooner or later, that moron will notice his radio is missing.” Raul reminded him.

“Right, we have to do this fast.” Hector went to Marcellus. “Okay, this is for you.” He gave him the walkie-talkie. “Now, what do you got for us?”

“Gather around everybody.” Marcellus requested.

All workers, including Mate Clarkson, surrounded the old man as best as they could, to see the large layout papers spreading all over his station.

“I know this place like the back of my hand, but you don’t, so pay attention.” Marcellus started. “You see this place here?” He pointed a finger to a spot on the paper.

“Yes” was the general consensus.

“This used to be a games room, surely big enough for that. But it was converted into a warehouse back in the nineteen-nineties, because bosses at the time thought it was too much of a distraction.”

“We can never have any fun!” Vince commented and Maria smiled.

Marcellus continued:

“Some friends of mine who work in
Supply and Logistic
told me they saw a lot of guards and men in suits going in and out this place, but nobody other than them is allowed to go anywhere near there.”

“They are probably using the warehouse to keep weapons, ammunition and perhaps radios!” Hector spoke.

“My very thought exactly.” Marcellus agreed. “Ultimately, that’s your objective, ladies and gentlemen. Once you get armed, you can see there’s a free path to Prescott Road right behind Gingerbread Dam.”

“And we just have to take this corridor here straight to the warehouse.” Hector said, sliding a forefinger along the paper.”

“You can’t go through there.” Marcellus disappointed him. “It’s too obvious. There will be guards at every square foot on the way.”

“But it’ll be dark everywhere.”

“It’s still too risky. And don’t forget that darkness works both ways. I don’t have flashlights to all of you.”

“Then, what do you suggest?”

“This aisle here, it used to be a conveyor belt shaft.”

“It’s a little too narrow, don’t you think?” Hector frowned. “And look at those distances. It’ll add at least twenty more minutes to our crossing. Not to mention we’ll only fit one at a time, going in a single line. This is strategically dangerous.”

“That’s why I believe there’ll be no guards in there. Don’t forget they underestimate us badly.”

“The warehouse will be heavily guarded too.” Aaron spoke.

“We create a diversion to cover our entrance.” Hector replied. “And I was thinking of you and Mate over there.”

“I can be very diverting.” Clark said.

“That’s it.” Marcellus concluded. “It’s a lousy plan, but it’s the only one we got. And remember that we’re mostly counting on our captor’s sloppiness. They may prove to be better than we think.”

“Then, we’ll have to improvise.” Hector said. “Now, listen up all of you!” He took advantage that everybody was already around him. “We’ll try to do this quietly, but if they shoot at us, we’ll have to shoot back. We might have to kill people, the same way some of us won’t get out of here alive. If any of you doesn’t want to go through with it, I totally understand, there’ll be no hard feelings or consequences.”

But each and every worker stood his and her ground.

“Many folks here have been waiting years for this moment.” Prashant said. “We either get the hell out of here or die trying.”

“Good.” Hector said. He looked at Maria. “We know this people might have some kind of power. It may be brainwashing, hypnotism, we don’t know. So, whatever you do, don’t listen to any bullshit they may say to you. If some song or anything else starts to play on the PA system, just cover your ears and sing your tune aloud. Do not interact with anybody else other than ourselves.”

A choir of “Got it” was heard.

“Great!” Now, take your positions and pray.

All workers dispersed, ready for the fight.

“This is so exciting!” Maria said to Vince.

“Have you ever handled a gun?”

“Well, I handled several kinds of hair-dryers. The principle must be the same.

Alone again, Hector turned to Marcellus and said:

“Are you sure you’re not coming?”

“I can barely stand up, left alone walk. I’d just slow you down. Prison breaks are young people game.”

“You know they’ll come here. And they will find you. And you know what they’re going to do.”

“I lived enough years and they’ve already taken from me everything I got.”

“They’ll do the same with Bill, over at Transmission.”

“It’s hard to believe, but he’s even older than me. And we’ve been talking a lot in the past weeks. He also lost a hell lot to these people and he knows the odds.”

“I’ll try to get my hands on a walkie-talkie as soon as I can. Then, I’ll tune to your frequency.”

“And I’ll be your eyes while you’re out there for as long as they let me live. You’d better be quick, son.”

Hector stretched his hand and Marcellus accepted it in a firm handshake.

“Do me a favor, will you?” The old man requested. “Don’t let us die in vain. Get out of this place and tell the world what’s happening here. You’ll find somebody who cares. Those racists can’t be everywhere.”

“You got it.”

“I’ll be praying for your soul.”

“And I’ll pray for yours.”

Hector turned around again and screamed with a powerfully loud voice:

“Alright everybody, time has come! Let’s do this for our way of life, our freedom, for Michelle…” He looked at Clark. “…and for Apocalily! May her heart and soul grow within each and every one of us!”

“YEAH!” They all shouted with fists in the air.

“Vince, go to the door.”

“Got it, bro.”

Hector turned back to Marcellus and said “Kick ass!”

Marcellus grabbed the landline phone. After a couple of rings “Hey Bill, it’s me.” He looked straight at Hector. “Get this dump back to the Stone Age!”

“With pleasure!” The voice on the other end replied. “Good luck to your boys.”

Hearts pounded so loud they could even be heard. Anticipation and expectation seized everybody’s minds.

Seconds passed and nothing happened. Anxiety grew. Knots spread around stomachs and breathings were getting heavy.

“Why is it taking so long?” A woman named Natasha whispered anguished.

Suddenly, all lights and systems went down, including surveillance. Flashlights came to life. Vincent opened the door.

“Follow me!” Hector shouted.

More than thirty workers left the sector. Marcellus stayed, appreciating tranquility and darkness.

“Through here! No, wait! To the left!”

“Are you sure?”

“Not quite.”

The fugitives kept on moving fast along dark, eerie corridors. Only the front squad had flashlights. Voices overlapped.

“I can’t see a thing!” One man in the back squad complained.”

“Just follow the guys on the front.”

“Keep your voice down!”

“Are you still there?”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Stop pushing!”

“Don’t bunch up!”

“Hey, get your hands out of there!” One woman whispered.

“It was an accident!”

“Shut up you all! They’ll hear us!”

“Boy, we’re not ready for this. We’re just simple technicians. Well, what can we do?”

And they continued. Hector brought the entire group to a halt. And they were quite a lot.

“Where to now, bro?” Vince queried.

“This way.”