The Manifest

Chapter 42

     Jerome has been in the room for what seemed like days, but was more likely to be a few measly hours since Carlson left the room in such a hurry. The young man was being watched by two large, menacing bodyguards who were each standing on one side of the door. Jerome got tired of sitting on the chair and was sitting on the floor with his back to the corner of the room. He sat in a specific corner so that it was impossible for anyone looking through the two way mirror to see him. He sat there thinking about what he was going to say next. Since this Carlson fellow hasn't returned for a while, it was evident that Edgar has pulled off the big shocker, and likely stolen one of their people. He wondered if the part Devon came up with worked as well, but he would likely find out about that later. Jerome turned his attention to the two men who were watching the door and likely looking at him through their cheesy, bono wannabe sunglasses. Without looking either in the eye, he asked them a pretty casual question.

     "Do you guys have any idea how much time you'll do in prison if the public ever found out about this operation?" he called out to them, not caring which one would reply.

     Neither of the men guarding him responded to his question, and Jerome suddenly knew that he had his work cut out for him. If he was going to get under their skin, he was going to have to crank his annoyance up as high as he could, maybe even to eleven.

     "I'm pretty sure you guys are aware of what's going on here," Jerome continued, "You wouldn't be guarding me if you weren't pretty deep into the operation and its details. How many people did you take into custody that day? How many people were actually relocated? Are the more uncooperative residents currently in a secret prison, or did you put a cap into their heads and put them six feet under?"

     "That's enough." one of the guards snarled, as he was no longer interested in listening to anything Jerome had to say. It was a response that only gave Jerome the fuel to keep pushing.

     "Not a single person has died as a direct result of this operation." the other said, "And that's all we're going to say about this."

     "Oh, that's total Bullshit." Jerome defiantly charged, as he stood up but remained in his corner of the room. "I'm willing to bet you guys probably know who killed Tuck and his people back at Edgar's office. So don't give me that no one got hurt crap cause it's just total garbage!"

     This time the two guards stood silent and didn't respond. It was clear to Jerome they were beginning to regret saying anything in the first place.

     "Then again," Jerome carried on, "Neither of you can tell me your operation wasn't responsible for the deaths of those people who died in the Pentagon. Sure you guys did your best to make sure there was no one in that wing when that cruise missile hit, but there was someone there. Someone tried their best to have the wing sealed off for renovations, but not everyone heeded the warning. There is a lot of blood on your hands, much more than you could ever imagine."

     Jerome started to walk closer to the guards, and he could tell at least one of them was starting to tense up. He was getting to them.

     "What about the countless troops who have died overseas?" Jerome asked. "That's thousands of our brothers and sisters in arms who made the ultimate sacrifice for a pointless war that has done nothing but stuff the pockets of the party fat cats. The politicians at the top used your actions to lead those brave men and women to their death. I'm sure you guys use that whole 'no one died during the operation' line so that you can sleep at night, but the results of your actions have killed tens of thousands of innocent lives, possibly hundreds of thousands if you believe some websites. I'm not even including the harm you guys have done based on the rights people have lost since the attacks. Every single security law that trampled on our god given rights and the constitution is also your fault, because you gave those bastards on the hill all the clout they needed to pass shit laws like the patriot act. People are being arrested and held without due process for months and even years while being declared enemy combatants. During this time they are never told what crime they committed and have no access to a lawyer, due process, or a fair trial. All this stuff is your fucking fault! Your actions against this nation, which by the way is nothing short of treason, has harmed this country more than any real terrorist attack ever could. We all put our hands on our hearts at a school and took the same pledge of allegiance to this nation, the same nation you turned your backs on the day you scared New York and Washington. You betrayed this nation and are traitors! You should all hang from the gallows for what you've done!"