****************
MEDIA
Song:
"Art of War"
~We The Kings
^(the song is what I'd like to refer to as Blake's song...it kinda describes him, at least to me!)
WARNING:
This is an Unedited Rough Draft!!!
I originally wrote this 9+ years ago back in high school, so it won't be the best...
DON'T forget to VOTE & COMMENT please!!!!!!
~ | __**__**__**__ | ~
Chapter TEN
Somewhere in the New Government District's Capital
Texas; Sector 26
(A few days after the Sector 23 Demolition Facility explosion...)
••• ~ ••• ~ ••• ~ ••• ~ •••
The Secretary of the National Security Guard (also known as the NSG) and Vice Councilman of the New Government Order met outside the Head Councilman President's office, looking nervous and jittery, like they had too much coffee that morning.
The president's secretary sat at her desk in front of them, filling out reports and filing NGO documents. She enjoyed her work but had always been wary of her boss. She found him to be a very creepy man—but she would never think to say that to his face lest she might lose her job, or worse.
When the Secretary of NSG and the Vice Councilman arrived, looking a bit nervous, the secretary assistant understood their pain completely and instantly felt sorry for them; facing the leader of the NGO regime was no easy tasks.
A knock sounded from the door behind her. She nodded to the two men. "The New Government President will see you now."
Stiffly they walked in through the huge dark oak doors labeled "NEW GOVERNMENT ORDER" in bold, golden letters, walking into a cavernous room, lit only by the large floor to ceiling windows at the back of the room, the NGO seal on the carpet before them. Shelves of special NGO-approved books, along with various maps of the world, were draped across one part of the wall off to the side. Across the room from the men stood a monstrous dark oak desk that stood at least three feet tall, making the room appear like a courtroom where the men felt as though they were being judged. The big mahogany armchair behind the desk was turned around, facing the glass windows behind it, showcasing a clear blue sky that hung out over to the horizon. A flatscreen tv sat on a corner of the huge wooden desk.
"Gentlemen... come in." Spoke a deep voice from behind the tall-backed leather chair.
The Secretary of NSG and the Vice Councilman stepped forward warily onto the NGO's official seal.
Suddenly, large blinds that covered the width of the large windows dropped down from the ceiling, draping the huge room in dim light.
When the huge leather armchair swiveled around to face them, there was nothing to see but shadows and inky blackness within the chair; the president rarely showed his face to anyone, preferring to impose fear to anyone he came upon.
The only light in the room came from what little light that managed to seep through the sides of the blinds, the miniature desk lamp placed on a coffee table to one side of the room, and the monitor on the desk which was turned to the news. It showed footage of a destroyed factory building on fire.
The shadowy figure in the armchair finally spoke again, this time in a more conversational tone. "Secretary. Vice Councilman." He greeted each of the two men standing before him, and they both bowed respectively in turn as he said their names. "I'm sure you've heard about what has happened." The NGO leader's dark figure gestured to the TV on the desk. On it, it was showing firefighters in black fireproof gear showering the smoldering building with high-powered water pumps in order to put out the raging flames.
The Councilman and the Secretary nodded, attempting to remain still and stoic in the presence of their formidable leader, who was known to execute his victims in many painful ways. It was why everyone was always cautious around him.
"Did you bring the only survivor with you?" The President inquired.
"He is right outside. Do you need him now?" The Secretary of NSG asked, turning towards the large oak doors as if in motion to go and get the guard.
"No. You will send him in after you leave. Right now, we have important matters to discuss." replied the dark figure. "Do you have the list of all those who worked in that building? Any footage showing the people responsible for the destruction of that factory building?"
The Secretary took out the files he had under his arm and held them up. "The names are all right here, down to the custodial staff. We are still searching. When we went through the security footage of the demolitions factory, we came across something unusual. It is on the tape I sent you yesterday." The Secretary bravely approached to the NGO Presidents desk to place the files on top, then walked back to his spot next to the Vice Councilman.
The President sounded pleased when he spoke. "Good. Yes, what you found on that tape was most unusual indeed." The leader continued speaking in a dismissive tone. "You are dismissed. Bring in the survivor on your way out."
Bowing, the Secretary and the Vice Councilman exited the dark room. They were both eager to finally get out of there, to be far away from the judging eyes of their merciless leader.
Back in the office, the dark figure in the armchair picked up the file given to him by the Secretary of the NSG and flipped through it. When a big, muscular figure limped in, he stopped and brought his attention on the new visitor.
"Come in, we have a lot to talk about.."
The hulking figure stepped the rest of the way in, the massive oak doors closing soundlessly behind him. With heavy, awkward footsteps, the man limped up to the middle of the room to stand on the NGO seal. He stopped and the light from the TV illuminated his bandaged face. He had suffered a few minor burns on his face from the explosion and fire, along with a huge knot protruding from his head where something had hit him. He looked grumpy and uneasy, being in the eerie presence of the ruthless leader of New America.
"Now, tell me exactly what happened..."
-------------------
[[ Just a nice little song by We the Kings in the MEDIA section, in case you haven't noticed it yet. ^^^^^
It goes pretty well with the theme of this whole story. Hope you like it! (: ]]
-------------------
~ ~ 🎶 ~ ~
I'm a soldier, till it's over
you and I fighting for the art of war
I'm a soldier up against the wall
...
Live and die fighting for the art of war
I'm a soldier,
I will never fall...
I will never fall
~ ~ 🎶 ~ ~
What begins with a P, has a huge banquet in honor of a recent great victory, and where everyone's so jolly and merry?? A party, that's what!
Now, all that was missing was the salsa...
"'Where's the salsa party??'" I asked in a very bad impression of an eighty-year-old grandma.
Everyone continues to stare at me like I've sprouted two heads and a tail; in other words, they didn't get my reference.
Real sad.
"Alright, that's enough Mountain Dew for you! I am cutting you off." Rickie said, attempting to steal my green fizzy drink.
I slapped his rude hand away.
"Come on, don't tell me you don't remember that old salsa commercial from way back when! It had this old lady at the end of it with a container of salsa in her hand, looking for the salsa party. Remember?" I tried explaining, willing them to understand.
Jane scratched her head and Rickie just continued to give me his dumb, I-don't-get-it-because-I'm-too-lazy-to-figure-it-out look that was usually on his face.
I threw my hands up in defeat. "Never mind, forget it," I grumbled, focusing on playing with the remnants of food on my plate.
"I think I know what you're talking about... It's been awhile since I've seen those old commercials." Ella piped up, trying to make me feel better.
But I didn't, so I just dropped the subject altogether. Idiots—I was surrounded by them!
We all sat at one of the many long tables we had set up in the middle of the mall, eating bread and chips. The only large supply of drinks we had was good 'ole fashioned H2O. After completing the bombing mission, we were given what little soda that was available to us.. All there was to find was just Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper. Rickie had been chugging drink after drink of the Dr. Pepper; he was obsessed with the stuff—though, that was a big understatement.
"You wanna know the best part of our whole mission?" Rickie said, bouncing in his seat, practically vibrating with excitement as he beamed at us. "Beating the crap outta those dumb security guards. I bet you they're crying to their mommies right now!"
Bailee, sitting toward the end of the table, looked at Jackie, who was next to me. "I still think the CIA should hire you, Jackie. You'd give them a run for their money."
Jackie winked. "You know it!"
"To be honest, I got most of my moves from old TV shows I used to watch." Rickie boasted through a mouthful of bread and chips.
"Don't tell me you watched Karate Kid... " Bailee rolled her eyes.
"Maybe," Rickie replied smartly, trying but failing to keep the guilty look off his face.
"More like I Love Lucy," Jackie grinned at her twin across the table.
"Hey now, that was a good show!" Rickie claimed defensively. " 'Lucy, I'm home!' " he quoted like the total dork he was.
Jackie smiled playfully, playing along. "'When are you getting a girlfriend, Ricky?' " Then she added, no longer quoting the movie. "Isn't it that girl with the tongue?" She winked at her twin.
Right, the comment he'd made to that mean security guard back at the bomb facility when he mentioned something about a girlfriend who was fond of his tongue. Not sure where that had come from.
Rickie flashed a devilish grin at his twin. Then his face changed to a more serious and nonchalant look as he shrugged and feigned mock guilt.
" 'As soon as Lucy comes home?' " This time, it was Jane—of all people—who finished the quote.
I face-palmed myself in utter embarrassment, groaning. I was friends with idiots and nerds! F.M.L. ...
"You guys, I Love Lucy hasn't been on in, like, years—eons, maybe. Not since the NGO took over." I told them. Now, the only TV we used was made and legalized by them, where they inserted their own programs that showed specific channels that the NGO approved of (which were brainwashing. I tried watching one and it made me feel queasy). I knew they kept track of every TV set purchased throughout New America. Many electronics from back before all Hell broke loose were now traceable by the NGO.
At one point during the celebrations, Sal stood up on a chair to make a toast, using his megaphone in order to be heard over the chatters of the celebration. "I'd like to congratulate Roxanne and her team on a job well done. They successfully demolished the NGO's demolition factory. May that will show the NGO leader we're a force to be reckoned with."
The whole mall erupted into cheers for me and my team. Next to me, Jackie blushed at the attention, while her twin just stuffed more food into his mouth. I noticed Jane practically fall out of her chair in amazement at all the applause we were getting, her face almost as red as Jackie's.
Once the crowd's cheering died down, Sal went on, raising his cup full of water. "To justice, and to the Rebelz!"
With our glasses raised as well, we repeated it back, then took a sip. Immediately, the crowd erupted into excited chatter once again.
After his little toast, Sal approached Blake sitting on my other side, bending down to speak with him. Curious, I listened in on their conversation.
"Blake, I've been thinking of certain ways to help protect and defend ourselves more against the NGO, so I was wondering if you would teach everyone else to defend themselves like you taught Roxy and the gang. It would help tremendously if everyone knew how to fight back too, plus it would increase our chances of survival."
Blake nodded eagerly. "Yes, of course. I'd be more than happy to help."
Sal rested a hand on Blake's left shoulder. "Thank you," he told him reverently. "I appreciate your help. We are so fortunate to have you with us." Then he turned to me, eyes twinkling. "Would you help him, Roxy? You're a good fighter as well."
I tried to ignore the uncomfortable way his compliment made me feel. "Yeah, sure." I agreed. Everyone needed all the help they could get.
Sal's face brightened with humble gratitude. "Great. Thank you so much, you two. This means a lot... Starting tomorrow, I want you two to help out the younger kids and teach them the basics; how to defend themselves, what to do if we were to be invaded, etcetera... That would be great."
"That's no problem," Blake promised.
When Sal left, my friends—who had been eavesdropping on our conversation—spoke up.
"Awww, how come you two get to do it? What if I wanted to help!" Bailee whined.
"Hey, technically it's Jackie who should be the one to help out of all of us; after all, she is secretly a CIA agent..." Ella pointed out, laughing. Jackie flashed a very modest grin.
"Well, she's not as good as I am." I teased.
Rickie coughed, attempting to hide his laughter.
I gave him a mock version of my trademark Death Look. "Oh, shut up.."
Our table erupted into amused laughter. Rickie smirked.
Jane wasn't his only victim, unfortunately. None of us were safe from Rickie's shenanigans.
Just then, Jax walked up to our table, and I saw Jackie turn beet red when she noticed. She sank lower into her chair and trained her gaze on the food on her plate, trying hard to be invisible. I couldn't stop the smirk that spread across my face at her embarrassment.
Jax, along with the rest of us that had gone on our bombing mission, had bathed as well. His unruly dark hair looked shiny and glossy now that he'd cleaned up. He wore his usual dark clothing, looking as cool and detached as ever as his crazy bright eyes turned to Rickie. "Hey, Rick. If you're done harassing everyone on the planet, could you possibly help me reboot that Old World computer in the Tech Room downstairs? I found some spare parts that need to be hooked up to it. Since you're a whiz at electronics and computers as I am, I figured you'd want in on this project. I'll need more hands on deck with this one."
Rickie perked up at the mention of computers and electronics and eagerly agreed to help. "Enough said. I'm in!"
Rick was a total computer nerd; he knew everything about them and loved to tinker with them. He also had a knack with a variety of electronics as well, and he and Jax both shared an interest in repairing and tinkering with spare parts and creating all sorts of technological inventions.
Like I said: nerds!
Jax looked pleased. "Good. We can start on it immediately."
With no hesitation, Rickie shot to his feet. He nudged Jane with his hand. "Hey, throw my plate away for me? Thanks!" Without waiting for a response, Rickie left with Jax, leaving Jane sputtering madly after him.
"Like I'm going to take care of your trash..." She growled.
"Just leave it. Or I could take care of it," Jackie offered. "We can give him all sorts of crap for it later." She smiled and gave Jane a conspiratorial wink.
Jane returned her wink with a grin. "Fantastic plan. I ain't his servant, nor will I ever be!"
"You tell 'em, girl!" Jackie praised. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of those two...
"Someone needs to teach that boy a lesson. I'll help too!" Bailee said adamantly.
"Me, three!" Ella agreed with a raise of her hand.
After we finished, we threw our trash away and departed, our bellies full for once. Ella decided to go and take a short nap, and Jane followed suit since those two shared a room—which was disaster central.
Bailee had guard duty at the mall entrance, leaving Jackie, Blake, and I to our own devices. We decided to chill in our respective quarters on the top floor of the old Macy's department store, undecided on what we were going to do with our time. On the way there, Blake and I discussed what we were going to teach the little kids. We were definitely going to teach them about safety and all that; where to hide if our hideout was to be invaded by NGO soldiers or other local street gangs that wanted this place to themselves, what to do if they were lost with no adults around, and then we would teach them how they could defend themselves. They were only little kids, after all...