THE MOTHER SIEGE: A DYSTOPIAN THRILLER

Chapter 26: THE MOTHER SIEGE: A DYSTOPIAN THRILLER

Copyright (c) 2014 Phyllis Zimbler Miller

All rights reserved.

            Natalie walked besides the still-visored soldier escorting her.  The others might believe they had made it through the most difficult part of their escape, but Natalie suspected this might not be true.

            She thought of her mother, who she had quickly kissed as the soldier led Natalie away.  When Natalie was 16 and the Upheaval occurred, her mother told Natalie to always remember that Natalie’s now limited worldview could someday cause Natalie to make wrong decisions.

            “Living in this artificial bubble of the Provisional Government, you might misinterpret that everyone has the same expectations that you do,” her mother had said.  “If the rest of the world has remained, those inhabitants may have a much different worldview.”

            Natalie had asked her mother whether her mother thought the rest of the world had remained.  Or had something happened that had wiped out all humanity except for those living in the land mass of the Provisional Government?

            Her mother had replied that, although there was no communication with anyone outside the land mass, she was confident that whatever had caused their area to be sealed had not destroyed the rest of the world.

            It was this belief held by her mother that had given Natalie the determination to undertake the escape mission.  But now, as she was led to a nearby building, Natalie wondered whether what awaited her group was worse than what they had left.

***

            Gregor entered William’s bedroom.  The woman had already been ushered out, and a maid had straightened the bed and removed any traces of the woman’s presence.

            William had remained in his bedroom rather than returning to his office, a habit he had when he wanted to make sure he would not be interrupted.

            “Stage one of controlling the flow of information has been put into action,” Gregor said.  “All official news organizations must transmit first to our press office, which will put approved news out onto the Twitterverse.”

            “And Videobook news?”

            “The same.”

            William flicked his right hand at Gregor.  This was good.  But compliance was another matter.

            “And the penalties for news organizations failing to comply?”

            Gregor nodded.  “Those have been announced also.  One-year imprisonment for a first offense.”

            “And for a second offense?”

            Gregor smiled.  “We don’t expect there to be any.”

            William turned away from Gregor and stared out the window.  The Upheaval had been accomplished by controlling all communication channels.  But afterwards he had allowed uncensored distribution of information inside the land mass in order to give conspiracy theorists ample opportunity to point the blame for the Upheaval at any number of perpetrators.

            For his own purposes for the last 20 years William had allowed this information distribution freedom to continue to exist.  But now that he was getting his hands on all the children in the land mass, he could take away free communication access.  Most people in official news organizations would have children in group homes.  These people wouldn’t want to risk reprisals being taken out on their children for any infringement of the information regulations. 

            William turned back to Gregor to say, “And the official news organizations are only the first stage.”

***

            Harold’s head spun and his injured arm pulsed with pain.  But he was conscious enough of his surroundings to note that the medical equipment in the room appeared as modern as his own medical office’s equipment.  The two soldiers who had supported him here had deposited him in this room and left without speaking.

            Now an older woman wearing what he assumed was a uniform entered the room.  She said nothing while she examined his arm.

            Harold couldn’t remember anything between leaning down to manually set off the explosion and collapsing into Natalie’s arms.  He thought he might have caught his arm on something as he came through the escape route.  

            He didn’t ask the woman what she thought, simply leaving her to do whatever she deemed necessary.  Instead he focused on his cover story, the one Natalie and he had devised in order to keep his relationship from William a secret. 

            Harold had no illusions as to what these people might do if they found out about his connection.

***

            Jonah held onto Isidora’s hand as the soldiers, speaking accented English, shouted that all females were to follow one soldier while all males were to follow another soldier.

            He saw Catherine grab hold of her son Malcolm, insisting that at age six he was too young to leave her.  A soldier had yanked the crying child away.

            Jonah dropped Isidora’s hand and reached out for Malcolm.  “You’ll be okay with me,” Jonah had whispered to the child.

            Now Jonah, Malcolm, and Isidora’s brother Alejandro were led in one direction, while Jonah saw Isidora, his sisters, and Catherine’s daughter Georgette along with his grandmother, Catherine, Rosalind and Graciela led in another.  Jonah hoped the reason was simply separate male and female sleeping quarters, which they had at the siege site, and not a more sinister reason.

            And where had his mother and father been taken?   

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If you enjoy reading about the historical past as well as the imaginative future, see my cold war memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY here on Wattpad at http://budurl.com/TAonWattpad