Dearest brother Erik,
If you are reading this then it means that I have finally gone on and done the one thing I was always afraid of doing--speaking the truth.
You were right, Erik. I'm the coward here. If I wasn't I would've said the things I'm about to say in person. But I'm afraid that I'm not as brave as you.
My reason for leaving is about as obvious as it can get. The thing that happened at the prison may have been a victory for some. But for me it's a reminder of something terrifying.
Power in the hands of people is a dream as pure as a cloud bathed in sun. But we saw that dream turn into a nightmare just as quickly not once but twice.
We saw the people's rage manifest mayhem in the riots of Sector 21. Thirty operatives died at the hands of normal everyday citizens. And only a few days ago, we consumed more than twice that number of lives at the prison.
I won't blame Lisa alone for what happened. The blood is on each of our hands. We were meant to be the Last Hand of hope for the people, Erik.
This isn't what we dreamed our revolution to be. With anger, we'll surely take down the government. We'll probably win Ardvenia back. But...would it be the same Ardvenia that was ours?
We are becoming something else, Erik. The Last Hand is becoming something else.
As I sit in my room, writing this letter, I feel like a stranger, speaking for a stranger. The home doesn't feel like the home of our childhood, anymore.
And that's why I'm leaving.
I don't know where I'm headed. But I'm taking Dad's old watch with me. Maybe I'll just keep walking until its tiny machine stops working.
I wish you all the good luck for your cause, brother. I know you won't let my departure stop you in your tracks. You've defied death more than once. I know you'll win this with ease. What I don't know is if I want my victory to be this grim.
In closing I only have two things to say--goodbye and I'm sorry.
Yours truly,
Germaine.
#
Cathy found the man lying in a pool of wine and shards of glass down in the wine cellar. And he was muttering non-sense to himself.
"Erik, what the hell happened to you?" she snapped at him, trying to get him to sit up. But he was too heavy.
"...Is...over..."
"Yeah, that's real eloquent." She got a hold of his wrists and pulled him up, leaning all her weight backwards to haul him into a sitting position. She almost succeeded before Erik collapsed back on the damp, wine soaked floor.
Thump!
"Ugh, you're not making this any easier for me, dude!" Cathy snapped. "Fine, if you don't wanna get up, you are free to lie down there all you want. But at least tell me what's got you acting like...this?"
Erik raised an unstable hand which held a piece of paper between two fingers. Cathy frowned and took it from him.
She read the letter and froze in her spot, "Oh shit."
#
Lisa had just fed the baby and now the child was falling asleep in her arms, her head on her shoulder. Lisa hummed a soft lullaby into the girl's ear. The child was soothed and slowly closing her eyes.
Lisa slowly came downstairs to get herself a glass of water, keeping her footsteps light and easy so as not to wake up the baby. She walked into the kitchen, still humming softly, she grabbed a glass from the cabinet and walked over to the jug of water on the counter.
That's when she heard a straining voice in the pantry and slurred mumbling. She frowned. Both the voices sounded familiar.
Cathy appeared in the doorway. Erik was piggybacking her like a four year old. But he seemed half unconscious and muttering something like a broken record. And Cathy looked ready to collapse under his weight.
Lisa looked at the girl, the girl looked back.
"H-Help, Lisa," she said, "Erik is all out of it." Her legs were already trembling from holding up the man who was twice her size.
Lisa was still trying to make sense of what she was seeing in front of her eyes when Cathy's legs finally gave out and she tumbled to the floor with Erik on top of her.
THWUMP!
The baby woke up to the noise and immediately started crying.
#
"...is all...ove–"
Lisa emptied the entire jug of water over Erik's head. He gasped and wheezed after it trickled down his face. He stopped mumbling but it didn't seem like he'd sobered completely.
"What has gotten into you, Erik?" Lisa asked sternly, crouching in front of him. She had handed over the baby to Cathy.
Erik just stared at the floor.
"Gemma left," Cathy said. She was trying to soothe the baby who was still sobbing in her arms.
Lisa frowned at the girl. "What do you mean 'left'?"
"She isn't part of the Last Hand anymore," Cathy said.
Lisa let out a long sigh and turned back to Erik. She wasn't sure what she could say to him.
Meanwhile, Cathy felt relieved that Lisa hadn't asked why Gemma had decided to leave. She was still anxious about Erik suddenly lashing out at Lisa and this turning into a full blown screaming match. And the crying baby wasn't helping her nerves in any way.
Lisa stared at Erik for a long time. Cathy kept trying to calm the baby. Erik stared at no one.
"Cathy, take the baby upstairs," Lisa said. "I'm taking Erik somewhere with me." She took the man by his hand and started to haul him up.
"I tried to get him to move already. He won't budge," Cathy said.
Lisa kept pulling at Erik, grunting with the effort. "Get up, big boy! Don't you wanna find your sister?"
Erik looked up at her.
Cathy was astounded. Lisa knew that would do the trick. She held back a smile.
"Come on." Lisa pulled at his hand harder. "Get up, we'll go find Germaine and bring her back."
Erik made the slightest effort to move a bit. Lisa did the rest to pull him up to his feet. She started to drag him towards the living room. "Take the baby upstairs," she said to Cathy again as she grabbed her gas mask from the hat stand by the front door, "use her rattle to distract her. Once she quiets down you can sing her a lullaby. It may take Erik and I a while to come back."
Then they were gone.
#
Lisa's driving was steady. And she didn't say anything along the way. Neither did Erik.
They stopped in front of one house that she was sure would be Gemma's first stop. So she hit the brakes at its gate, climbed out of the car, walked up the porch and knocked at the door.
Brendan opened the door, regarding her through the glass of the decontamination booth. "Hey, Lisa. What's up? How is the baby doing?"
"The baby is fine, Brendan. That's not why we came here."
"We?"
"Erik is in the car but he isn't in the mood to get out."
"Is everything okay?"
"Not really."
"Oh."
"Brendan, where is Gemma?"
"Um, I don't know," Brendan said.
"Brendan, this is serious business. Gemma just left the manor, no words spoken. We don't know where she is right now. If she came to visit you or if you know anything then tell us. Please."
Brendan looked at her, worried. "I-I really don't know, Lisa. Why would I try to lie to you guys?"
Lisa stared at him for an entire minute. Brendan stood awkwardly at the door.
"Can I come in and take a look?" Lisa said.
The young man's eyes went wide. "Y-You don't trust me?"
"I trust you, Brendan. But Gemma trusts you too. And she is a smart woman. She knew if she left we would obviously come looking for her. She knew that we would know you were the first person she would come to visit. And I bet she told you to lie to us and play dumb. So let me take a look."
Brendan stared at Lisa, stunned.
Lisa shook her head, exasperated. "I can see it in your face, Brendan. You are lying to me! Understand the gravity of the situation and let me in. This is no joke."
Brendan was clutching the edge of the door. He seemed ready to slam it shut in Lisa's face.
Lisa leaned in close. "Brendan, if you want me to trust you then please, for my sake. Let me see for myself."
Brendan's resistance finally broke. He let her in. Lisa stepped into the decontamination chamber and then into the house. Without speaking another word she went through each room in the house. Even the bathroom and the attic. There were no signs of Gemma or even someone who must've visited Brendan. That's when she noticed another door under the stairway.
She opened it to reveal a small flight of stairs that led to a locked door at the bottom. "What's this?" Lisa asked.
"That's the basement."
"Did you have some work down there?"
"Wh-Why?"
"There are footprints on the dusty steps. Seems like someone went down to the basement recently."
"O-Oh, that, um, I was looking for a hurricane lantern. My last one broke a few days ago."
"So you checked in the basement?"
"Yeah, but no luck. Seems like I'll have to trade one with someone who has a spare one."
Lisa didn't answer him. She went straight for the door at the end of the stairs. Brendan was calling for her to be careful of the darkness.
Lisa stepped into the basement. It was indeed dark. And dusty. So very dusty.
An old car engine block lay in a lonely corner, rusting by itself. Broken tools cluttered a swollen wooden desk. A pile of twisted wires lay in another corner. A television with a shattered screen was gathering dust by a wall. But there were no signs of Germaine eitheri.
Lisa shook her head, frustrated. She walked back upstairs, squeezing the bridge of her nose.
"So you trust me now?" Brendan asked as she was making her way over to the door.
Lisa paused. "You still haven't told me what she said when she came to see you."
"Lisa, she didn't come here. Believe me."
Lisa turned to him and regarded him with a piercing gaze. "We both know that's a lie," she said. "I hope you have a very good reason to withhold the truth, Brendan." And then she left.
#
When she came back to the car, Erik had taken the wheel. Lisa raised an eyebrow. "So you feeling like doing something finally?"
"Get in the car," Erik said, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
She did.
He fired the engine and whirled the car around. He floored the gas pedal and shot in the direction of the industrial zone of Mathesdale.
He killed the engine in front of the food processing factory where he and Gemma and Lisa had arrived to test the truck a few weeks ago. A long line of warehouses was laying in a heap of ash and burnt rubble.
"You remember who did that?" He asked her.
Lisa frowned. "It was us when we came here to–"
"It was you, Lisa! It's all on YOU!" Erik smacked the steering wheel. He climbed out of the car and stepped out on what used to be the docking bay of the factory. Lisa followed.
He waved his arms at the burnt rubble heaped in front of him. "This is all your work! What happened at the prison--it's all your work! And my sister leaving my side is also on YOU!"
Lisa clenched her jaw and crossed her arms, leaning back against the grill of the car. "So this is what it's about? A bunch of strangers in uniform die and you lose your mind?"
"Those strangers were heeding to our demands, Lisa! We had them by their necks. We had them on their knees. And you slaughtered them all! Mindlessly slaughtered everyone!"
"Erik, we won. We, the common people of Ardvenia rose up against the brutal order and we seized our victory."
Erik held up his hand. "We were people, Lisa. But after the prison massacre, we became monsters. We became exactly what the government had declared us to be. We actually became the terrorists they were calling us. We turned their false accusation true because you lost control in the middle of a mission that was already in the bag!"
"Erik, shut up."
Erik frowned. "What?"
"I said shut up! We have decided to go up against a government. A government that was heartless enough to burn entire cities with a specially engineered rain. A government that has sent gun wielding men after a pregnant woman and a teenager. They turned my husband into a puppet after his death and even now some guy posing as him is doing what Richard always hated--spreading lies! And I'm just one person, Erik. There are so many more in this nation of Ardvenia. So many lives that have been destroyed. Most didn't even get a second chance like I did. Don't you think those fallen citizens would be proud of the victory in our vengeance?"
Erik frowned at her, his anger wavering into uncertainty. Lisa stepped close. "Fear is our greatest weapon. These are your words. What I did at the prison is gonna strike fear into the hearts of the government. They will realize that they can't hold the people down anymore." She put her hand on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. "The people that died in the prison weren't people, Erik. They were symbols. They were symbols of the unfair authority that the government holds over us all. That it has been holding over us for the past decade. Ever since this war began. When they took the money that should've gone to feeding this country they used to make weapons of destruction. Are you really going to feel bad for the deaths of people who supported their cause? Are you really gonna feel bad for the enemy?!"
Erik was stunned. He wasn't sure if he really agreed with what Lisa was saying.
"Gemma is an adult, Erik. She made her choice. She didn't want to be a part of the Last Hand because she didn't like our method of revolt. But it's not gonna be forever." She gripped Erik's shoulders tighter. "You won't be separated from her for too long. Once we get Ardvenia back from this evil government we can finally go back to the people we love and care for. We will finally be able to see the clear blue skies, feel the soft rains. We just have to win. Don't you agree with me, Erik? Tell me!"
#
Brendan had just zipped his duffel bag when he heard a bathroom door creaking open and then thudding shut. Germaine Koehlwin walked into his room, clad in a bathrobe and a damp towel wrapped over her head. "Done packing?" She asked.
"Yeah, pretty much." Brendan shrugged. "It took you long enough in that shower."
"Duh! The crawlspace under your basement was moldy and stank like a rat's ass."
Brendan bit his lip nervously. "For a moment I was convinced she was gonna rip the floorboards and yank you out."
"No shit." Gemma took the towel off her head and shook her short hair loose. "I swear she was standing right above me, I heard her tapping foot. I was ready to squeak."
Brendan swallowed hard. "Lisa has gotten...quite scary since the...the prison thing,"
Germaine sighed. "I know."
After an anxious pause Brendan said, "So, we are really leaving Mathesdale?"
"Not just Mathesdale. We are leaving C3," Gemma said.
It took her about fifteen minutes to get dressed. The two of them stepped out of Brendan's house. It was around one o'clock in the morning. All the streets were empty.
They took Brendan's pickup truck. Gemma took the shotgun seat.
With Brendan behind the wheel, the truck went down the empty street. As they passed by the neon sign at the center of the town square, Germaine felt a tightness in her chest. Mathesdale.
I'm gonna miss this place, she thought, but I can't let more people die for our cause. I'm sorry, Erik. But I've decided to do things my way now. This is for the good of everyone.
(to be continued...)