NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: A Situation
Of course, things were gonna go wrong.
If things had gone smoothly and all happily ever after, there'd be no story to tell, right?
Anyway, let's flash forward a bit to the Wednesday of the school trip to my little immigrant enclave of Harborwood.
"Easy does it, lad. Ain't nobody have to get hurt here."
On the bright side, at least the students didn't have to worry about getting their lunch. Because, as it turns out, the dudes surrounding us with shotguns and assault rifles seriously looked like they really meant business.
There was a middle-aged bald man wearing sunglasses who looked like the group's ringleader and spoke with a mild East London accent. He was Caucasian, very muscular, and had a thick, scruffy salt and pepper beard and mustache.
The day had been going so well, too. We'd gotten off the buses and gotten our bearings. Our first destination was the recently-constructed Museum of Earth and Modern History in Harborwood.
But, right as the class had gotten off and started to file in, three trucks came screeching to a halt behind us. Now, we'd been herded into the building into an Atrium, surrounded by heavily-armed men with Balaclavas and tactical gear. The entire ordeal had taken about fifteen minutes.
"Get on yer knees, cavebugs. Don't even think about runnin' away, I'll blow yer heads right off."
I didn't intend to run away and turn into a bloody pile of hamburger meat. Slowly, I lowered myself to my knees, opting for the route that didn't get me shot.
Well, to sum things up bluntly, it looks like we've found ourselves in the middle of a hostage situation. That is, along with nearly a hundred first-year students from St. Antonia's. And a few of the third years as chaperones at that.
I glanced at Midori, who was at the head of the crowd. She nodded at me as we made eye contact, and we slowly all got down on our knees. The very fact she was in the group made me feel a heck of a lot better. In the worst-case scenario, she could get us out of there. I hoped.
"Alright, now. All you children get in rows, get in' as close to the center as you can. Keep the hands high up in the air ya hear?"
I stepped into the line as several terrorists shoved the kid in front of me forward, Carrie Kong and Dior close at my side. Carrie glared at me briefly as if to say this is all your fault as we took our places with the hostages. On the other hand, Dior was sweating bullets, her face pale and her fists clenched. She kept casting glances at the guns being waved around by the armed men around us.
The two were rigid, their jaws clenched shut and their eyes darting around the room. The palpable tension in the air sent a chill down my spine as I felt the panic and dread radiating off those around us. My hands shook with fear, and my heart pounded fiercely.
All the teachers and chaperones were disarmed and corralled in a corner as the terrorists slowly herded us into a single giant cluster in the middle of the heritage center. I was dimly worried that they might shoot a few of us to show that they weren't fucking around. Ms. Roth glared at the bald man as she was forced to her knees.
"Now, get the hands all up in the air and fingers up on yer heads. Ya, ya, don't be shy, we ain't here to fuck around."
I lifted my hands, displaying my fingers and palms as the others did. I heard my own fingers pop as they were stretched out. I could feel sweat beading on my forehead.
The bald man suddenly approached me, staring me in the eyes.
Oh, fuck me.
"Ah don' like the look of you, boy. Ya got eyes that are awfully familiar. Don' makea fuckin lick o' trouble or ya get a bullet in the head. Kapeesh?"
I swallowed nervously. "N-no problem, sir…"
"Alright, now. Ya'll do as I say, don't go bein' a hero and tryin' to be a hero. We got a real world situation right 'ere, and you'll all do as I say if you want ta live to see the end of this."
The bald man took a few steps toward the crowd, and I saw the blade of a knife flash in his hand. Oh, God.
He chuckled. The sound of his voice sent a chill up my spine. I was really starting to regret going through with this. A more paranoid part of me would even think this was a setup. Like we were pawns being used in someone's game.
A man with sunglasses suddenly approached the ringleader, "Sir, we have the SCPD on the line. They are demanding we release the hostages and surrender immediately."
"What? Fuck SCPD, they ain't gots the balls to do shit to us. Tell 'em we ain't surrenderin' a god damned thing. Tell 'em we'll kill every last one of these spoiled brats."
The second in command whipped out his phone and spoke into it, and I heard a female voice respond on the other side. I looked around at each other and tried to be quiet.
It was fucking terrifying. I looked around, trying to spot anything that could get us out of this.
There were four guys with assault rifles who were keeping an eye on us all, positioned around the room. Six guys with shotguns. Four carrying tablets, walkie-talkies, and so on, with handguns strapped at the fronts of their belts. They were the ones who had us lined up and brought us all here.
I looked up at the ceiling and the skylight. It was a three-story tall building, and it had a lot of windows that opened up to the outside. We could escape if the crowd had magic to cushion our fall, which was a distinct possibility. No, that was stupid. Still, there was the issue of-
The bald man suddenly shoved me in the back with his shotgun. "Piss down and keep ya fuckin' eyes front, ya hear me, lad?! Ease up those fantasies."
"Sir, the SCPD is requesting we allow them to send in their negotiator, the woman on the phone."
The bald man laughed again. "Aw, that's cute. Tell whoever that is that she can go fuck herself with a blender. They send a little frilly princess in here, and we're liable to start plugging heads 'fore we go down."
He turned his attention to us. "Now listen up. You sniveling crowd of little shits are going to be the ones to fulfill our demands. Understand?"
None of us responded. The bald man's face darkened as he gritted his teeth. "I said, if you understand-"
"We heard you!" I snapped back, shivering as I spun around and stared the bald man straight in the eyes.
"What. Are your demands?"
The bald man's eyes narrowed into slits. He looked around at the rest of us. "You, boy. Aye. You're the one who's going to do most of the talking."
Oh, fuck me.
"Hold up. I'm not one of them, and that's a fact," I stated firmly. "I'm a student from Earth on scholarship. Anything I say would come off as coming from another one of you, not from the old money, fuckface."
He scowled and swung the weapon around, slamming it into my head. The force of the blow sent me sprawling across the floor, and I felt a gnarly gash open up on my forehead.
"Think yer some sorta hero, eh lad? Ya don't know the first thing 'bout life here, ya little pissant."
I tried to blink the stars out of my eyes as he swung his shotgun around menacingly.
"Ya hear me, you ugly little bastards? You and yer friends are going to be the ones to fulfill our demands! Any questions?"
There were several yells from the crowd, questions ranging from "what the fuck do you want?" to "please don't kill us."
The bald man turned on his heel and shoved a kid in front of him, who stifled a yell as the bald man's shotgun jabbed him in the back. Then, the bald man signaled to a few men in the room. Two more came into the room with cameras on tripods. He took a deep breath, and then he spoke with forceful, charismatic clarity.
"Alright, now. Ya'll listen up. We're live here, and our demands are simple. We demand that your parents, yer professors, and the fucking Mayor come down here and show some goodwill. We got the whole of Harborwood here barely scraping by, and we want our voice to be heard. We want dignity. We want the fucking schools to teach our history in the schools. We want the basic protections of the law so we ain't gotta work as fucking menial indentured servants barely eking out an existence! We want our families to be comfortable and heat in the winter!"
"We aren't fucking animals! We're people! The same flesh and blood as the Terrans! We aren't slaves, and they can shove that in their fucking pipe and smoke it!"
He slammed the butt of his gun into the floor, drawing the attention of the whole crowd. "Any questions? Any fuckin' questions, you little shitheads?"
He fired his gun in the air, eliciting a gasp and panicked cries from the crowd.
Then, the bald man stepped to my face as I tried to shake off his blow. He leaned in, his breath hot against my face. "I swear, boy. I told ya. Ya show me a lick o' trouble, and I'll plug ya right in the fucking skull."
He stepped away from me and walked back to the center of the room.
"We ain't interested in being slaves, or the runts of the litter you call a society. We aren't 'just immigrants,' we are people! Pure and simple, and nothing you fucking Terrans can say can make us any less!"
Someone in front of me shouted, "What do you want, then?"
"We want citizenship! No matter what papers we got, we're still nobodies with no protections! We don' even have access to yer hospitals! We want. Basic! Human! Rights! The kinda shit Jane Locke yapped about here!"
He jabbed his finger into the air, mocking the tines of a crown. "We want the same rights as you! We aren't slaves. We work our fingers to the bone, but we want the same rights as everyone else on this fucking planet! We're people. First thing we do, we'll turn this hole into a city that's fit for men! We'll get them roads paved, we'll get some goddamn jobs that pay more than a fucking buck fifty an hour under the table!"
I looked around at everyone, and I saw a glimmer of confusion. A few people nodded in realization.
Others whispered to each other. It was clear that we had all been sold a bill of a different color. Some people lost sight of the fact that they were living in a world where people didn't have fundamental human rights.
"I'm going to ask you a question, then I'm going to answer it. It's simple. Do any of you want to be treated like a fucking slave? A second-class citizen? Then the answer is no. No one even gives a fuck about us! We're treated like dogs right now."
He took a deep breath. "Alright, listen up. We ain't under no illusions here. We're dead men walking here, once the feds and their fucking pet child soldiers get here. There's no way they won't take us out. But I'll fucking promise you this. We're people. We deserve it, and we need yer help get it. If it takes dying for our families to fucking get it, so be it."
I noted the look of fear in his eyes, the way his skin started to jitter and sweat. I understood, if only a little bit. There was something dark that drove him here. Something bad. I could see how his eyes darted around as his dog tags jingled around his neck. That caught my attention — and I began to look him over, scrutinizing the little deatils. I could briefly make out a winged dagger emblem of some kind inscribed with Who Dares Win tied around his neck next to the tags and a catholic cross. His hands shook as he gripped his shotgun, and I saw a diamond ring around the fourth finger of his right hand.
I did something stupid.
I slowly got up and walked up to him with my hands in the air, trying to catch his attention. He pointed his shotgun at me, causing me to tense up. I did my best to look at sympathetic and vulnerable as I could, and then he froze for a second.
"Hey... you have a family, sir?"
He nodded with a somber expression. "Ya.. I do, lad."
"Then let us go. We'll get your message across. Your demands will be heard by everyone after today. I promise. You don't have to go down today."
His eyes darted to me.
"What the fuck are you talking about, boy? Yer on a right bender if you think they're gonna let this slide. You see that?" He gestured to the men still aiming their rifles at us.
"I know, but you can live and get the message out-"
"No. I'm going to send out a message that they're going to fucking listen to." He took a deep breath and stared off into space.
A few seconds later, he was done. He turned back to me, his face hardened.
"Leave me to this, boy. This ain't your fight. I know yer one of us, and I ain't gonna forget that. But yer a student. A kid. You gotta get yer education. Unlike us ya have a future. That's what matters. Not this."
"What are you going to do?" I heard myself ask.
"You're going to find out, but you ain't gonna like it. Now, git and stay fuckin' down. Don't make me tell ya thrice."
Before I could react, he shot forward and kneed me in the stomach before expertly tossing me back to the ground. I landed awkwardly face-first without the presence of mind to break my fall, and I stayed still for a second, trying to regain my bearings.
"Don't get in my way, boy. I ain't gonna hesitate putting you right back in the fucking ground. I ain't got time for your shit."
I writhed in pain on the ground as he walked away. I tried to tell him that he didn't have to go through with whatever he was about to do, but I couldn't.
There was something about the way he looked at me, the way he seemed so determined and frail at the same time. I could see why he was the leader of the group here. He had an aura around him, a presence. He was a man of conviction, and I could see why he would sacrifice himself for what he believed in.
He gripped his shotgun tightly, cradling it in his arms as if it were his lover.
"Alright, listen up. You're all going to be witnesses here. Yer gonna watch something that will change yer fucking world, and when it's done, you're going to remember this day. Yer gonna tell your parents. Yer gonna tell your children, and they're gonna tell their children of what happened here. You're gonna tell them of the message sent by the people; a message written in blood."
The room was silent. The only sounds were the deep breaths the bald man took.
He took a deep breath. "I want you to all listen to me. I don't want this to be an attack on the government, some kids, or an act of terrorism. This is just a message. We want... We want our rights. We want to be treated like people, not animals. We want to live with dignity, with feelings, with the love of a family. We want to be given the chance to love. To marry. To have children. We want to live with the respect and dignity that everyone else of this planet gets to fucking enjoy. Some of us have been here sweating our arses off for a generation. No more of this. I've had enough."
He stopped talking for a second and took a deep breath, facing the cameras as he tossed his sunglasses aside.
Then, he put his shotgun to his head.
It was hard to register what had just happened.
I first thought how strange it was that it didn't sound like a bang.
Instead, it sounded more like a crack.
I watched as he looked at us one last time, seeing the tangible realization of his decision come over his face. He didn't make a face of pain or fear. Instead, he just smiled.
I heard the shot, and then I heard a gasp that resonated around the room.
Ms. Roth glowed, her skin and eyes shining like a goddess in the afternoon light. A glowing, red, taffy-like rope extended from her arm, wrapping like a balloon around the barrel of the bald man's shotgun, . She'd diverted and suppressed his shot at the last possible second.
The bald man trembled in shock and turned to stare at the face of his savior.
"Why?" he murmured. The rest of the gunmen reacted instantly, pointing their weapons at her.
In an instant, more webs of those taffy-like ropes shot out from her hands, and she managed to cover all their guns entirely in the snap of a moment.
Ms. Roth's eyes began to change, glowing red as if ignited from within. Her hair changed from a light brown to a brilliant strawberry blonde, and her skin from pale and pallid to luminescent. Colorful prismatic light beams shot up into the skylight as a flowing red dirndl, and hooded cape replaced her plain black mini-skirt and white blouse. Her hair grew to incredible lengths, descending in beautiful flowing locks that shone in the sunlight like diamonds. The short, portly woman I'd come to know as my history teacher was no more, replaced by a veritable goddess.
Then, she summoned a wall with dozens of razor-sharp, freaking candy cane projectiles floating in the air above and behind her. The tips were so sharp that they glinted against the sunlight.
Then, her visage changed entirely as her aura glowed a bloodthirsty red.
She looked like a demon. A terrifying combination of sensuality, violence, and joy.
She looked like a demon out of a fairy tale.
"Motherfucker," I heard one of the gunmen whisper in fear.
For a second, I braced myself, flinching at the raw, overwhelming, killing intent that filled the room.
And then, with a wistful sigh, she snapped her fingers, and all of the candy canes she summoned disappeared into red and white dust. The feeling of death that had filled the room evaporated in an instant.
She stepped forward and looked at the bald man with compassion in her eyes now.
"Please..." she shook her head. "You don't have to do this anymore."
Ms. Roth gestured towards his shotgun and said, "I... we've heard your voice. We understand. Many of us do. And I hope, after today, many more will understand your message."
Ms. Roth — no, Red Riding Hood took a deep breath. "The time has come. The time for this to stop. We have to stop fighting each other and start working together. We have the power to make the world a better place. We have the power to make it a brighter, better place. There is a world to rebuild — and we must stand together against the Aberrations."
She reached out to the other gunmen. "It doesn't matter who you are or if you're related or not we all have families, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, and children You have a future that you can look forward to. You must have hope, that you can have a future. Please, you must save yourselves today. To live on, tomorrow. Don't do anything else to dig yourselves into a deeper hole."
The other gunmen were frozen, their neutered guns still trained on Red Riding Hood. Ms. Roth looked like a glowing sculpture of an angel on display in the museum.
She was glowing. I could see the red aura around her glowing brighter and brighter like a flame as she spoke.
Tears began to come from her eyes. "I'm so sorry. So sorry you've all had to live in these conditions. It pains me to the depths of my heart."
Mrs. Roth glanced at the chains on the bald man's neck, scrutinizing it with pity in her eyes. "I'm a soldier too, Ezekiel. We've been fighting for so long, and I know it seems foolish. But this is all we have. All we've ever had, and all we will ever have. All these years I've tried to do something to make the world better. I do understand you."
There was a thick tension in the air as the room watched Ms. Roth sink down to her knees, clasping the now-identified Ezekiel's hands to seemingly break down with regret.
"You've all had to endure so much. I just... I just can't have you do this anymore. So I'm imploring you: Please, I beg of you, do not do this."
The tears began flowing down her cheeks. "I can't have you hurt anybody. I can't have you hurt yourself. I'm begging you, please, don't do this. You all deserve better than this."
She wasn't talking to him. She was talking to all of the gunmen. She was talking to the world.
"You've all had to live in the shadow of the terrible things that happened to your world. Of the bureaucratic hellscape of both worlds. Of horrific systemic failures. But I know a good soldier when I see one. I know you don't want to hurt anyone. I know you don't want to kill. I know you want good. I know you want justice. I know you want to save the world."
She bowed her head, tears streaming down her face. "I know you want to be free. To live with us. To live with one another. To live in peace. Do not let carry your message through the tears of broken children."
At least half of the room was crying openly now. Several of the men looked away ashamed, and tossed their guns aside. Others scowled at her in fury, fighting against their bindings.
Ms. Roth looked up at the man, staring blankly at her now. "I know you're afraid. I don't blame you. I've been afraid too. But I can't let you martyr yourself like this. I can't let you hurt anyone else. Don't let this happen anymore."
His eyes were puffy and red as he looked back at her.
He was crying, his face contorted in pain. "I... I don't wanna to die. Ah don't want anyone to die."
She wiped at her eyes and held his hands. "I know. I know. But you'll hurt people walking this world the way you are."
He shook his head. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I want to build a brighter future. I want to see my children grow up. I want to do what's right." He looked up at her, tears falling down his cheeks. "Please... I just... I don't know what to do."
He was sobbing now, crying into his hands.
She nodded and carefully summoned more taffy to tie his arms and legs.
Red held his face in her hands, her tears mixing with his own as she looked into his eyes. "I know. I know, Ezekiel. I know. Me too. Me too."
Then, she took his disabled shotgun and gently placed it on the ground, then she turned to the other men and took their guns, binding their arms and legs up like she was Spiderman.
Ms. Roth stood up, her whole body radiant, and marched over to the man who'd been communicating with the police.
"You. Get me on the line."
"U-um..."
"I'm not exactly patient right now, sir. I just went Public in the most privacy-blowing, theatrical way possible."
"Uh. Yes, ma'am."
He fumbled nervously with his phone, dialing as he held it to his ear.
"Hey um. Yeah. I have... miss..."
"Red Riding Hood."
"Miss Red Riding Hood on the line here."
There was a pause on the other end of the line and then a muffled response.
She brushed back her hair, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "The situation is under control. Zero casualties have been sustained. We have all of the perpetrators in custody."
There was a pause as she listened.
She knitted her brows. "Okay. Thank you."
Then she hung up the phone and promptly covered up the man who'd lent her the phone with taffy. Then, she walked over and flipped the power off on the cameras.
Red looked at the men around her as they watched her with a combination of fear and admiration. "I am going to go off the record on this one."
The expressions on everyone's faces were filled with awe and optimism as they heard her words.
"Even though you are all criminals, I understand why it has come to this. I understand why you did what you did. If you understand why I did what I did, then we can still build a world together.
Red gestured to the others around her. "We have all made sacrifices for the world. And you deserve better than what you are getting. You, and me, and everybody. The world should be a better place for us all. With all of us together, we will make it a better place. You might get locked away and sent through the system today, but I will continue to do my best. And hopefully, my students here will as well."
She took a deep breath, as a somber expression fell on her visage. "We'll work together to build a brighter future... Together."