Happy Utopia Day, Joe McCarthy

Chapter 28

But the record, my good friends, is that the damage has been done by cleverly calculated subversion at home, and not from abroad.

—Senator Joseph McCarthy

We crash through the roof of the building. Dust and debris fill the air. I cough and unbuckle. I look around. Everyone looks a little dazed, but okay. "Go, go, go!" I yell.

Derek drops out of the chopper into the room below.

Wizkid continues to scream. He holds on to his harness with his eyes closed.

I climb out my door and stand on the green metallic side of the Black Hawk and look out over the roof. The Cherokee Nation is attacking the building in force. I hear their shouts and cries.

Samuel climbs over to Wizkid. He slaps him in the face and unbuckles him. Wizkid opens his eyes, but appears shell- shocked.

I drop into the room below and help Samuel lower Wizkid. We walk him to a corner and let him sit down. He curls up into the fetal position and closes his eyes.

"Let's go," Samuel yells.

I motion toward Wizkid. "We can't just leave him."

Samuel looks disgusted. "Are you going to haul his ass around? This is war."

I guess Samuel is right. Wizkid is probably safer here any- way. I pat Wizkid on the shoulder. "You're okay. Stay here. We'll be back."

Samuel, Derek, and I march into the hallway with our assault rifles.

Alarms sound and the sprinkler system sprays water into the empty hallway.

"Downstairs," I shout.

We run for the stairs and scramble down to the ground floor.

Outside I see guards walking from the building with their arms up, surrendering.

We run down the hall, and I bump into Land coming through the main entrance.

"Land!"

"Liaison, Cannonball." Land gives us each a manly hug. "My friends."

"Wonderful timing," I say.

"We saw you arrested on YouTube and figured you were a goner. Decided to take matters into our own hands."

I look around. "You have a lot of friends."

Land nods. "Those ashes I took—" His eyes narrow. "They were definitely from one of our chosen ones. We identified some dental filling pieces." Land opens his arms and turns around. "That riled everyone up."

"Boy, did it ever," I say.

"Called the press to witness this, too," Land says.

"Quit the chitchatting," Samuel says. "You two can have a tea party later. We've got to save the chosen ones."

"This way," I say. I run toward a room with a long window in the wall.

"Good memory," Land says.

We reach the window but can't see in because it is opaque from this side. Land tries the door, but it is locked. There are noises and a commotion inside the room. Someone is shouting commands.

"Get back," Samuel says.

Land holds his rifle in front of him. "I'll take out the win- dow to distract them."