Chapter 7: I Got Soul But I'm Not A Soldier

The fire quiesced most of the sponsor action at the school. The Earth First sympathizers were back to their old ways. They knew better than to try a physical confrontation with Stephen and Pranay willing to throw down, but the sympathizers had a lot to say out loud. A few met my eyes in the hallways, challenging me to make a move on them.

The mayor and police captain were shoving a bullshit story down the media's throat--a high CAP individual, who had been turned down by one of the girls living at the hostel, set the fire to get even for the rejection. They did not fool anyone, except people who did not want the truth clouding their delicate sensibilities.

"They're disgusting," Lieutenant Jones said. "It's one thing to force all the funerals to happen at once so the media can get their show, but do these assholes have to show up to protest?"

I looked at the Earth First protesters. They were pandering to the news cameras. At least, the ones acting like clowns were better than the real offenders, who pretended to be mourners so they could spit on the victims' coffins. So far, we had watched the cemetery workers lower twenty bodies to their final resting place.

"This is what they want to do to all of you," Lieutenant Jones said to me. "Especially you! Pranay, Stephen, and their friends can't win by killing their way down from the top of the Earth First roster. They outnumber you!"

"They don't outnumber us, Lieutenant," I replied calmly. "We match the numbers of the leaders, true believers, and crazies. The rest are scared sheep."

"The difference is, you can't fight them out in the open without the media, which is playing for them, crucifying you," she insisted.

"Crucified or burned," I said. "Some choices!"

"They're holding a rally later today," Lieutenant Jones said. "They weren't even decent enough to let people mourn one fucking day."

"Their parents were gone, and the other kids ostracized them for a very long time," I said. "The hostel was the perfect target for Earth First to test people's mettle when it comes to taking the fight to kids. It's funny, if Earth First had just called us adults from the beginning they could have lined us up and killed us in class."

"Your friend, Michael, survived," she said, looking around for him. "He's not here."

"He hasn't wanted to talk to me since the fire," I said. "I don't blame him."

"It could have been you," Lieutenant Jones said.

"I'm sure the thought has crossed his mind."

I saw Michael at the Earth First rally.

"You should stay here," I told the Confederacy Marines and the mob enforcers.

"Jason, are you crazy?" Lieutenant Jones asked.

"I need to talk to him," I replied, walking away.

"Hello, Michael," I said when I reached his side. I looked at the Earth First stage. We were on the south side of town, at the T-intersection of the two main roads in town. Earth First wanted to show that even traffic had to flow around them.

"You shouldn't be here, Jason," Michael told me. "The remaining Earth First bigwigs know who you are. They could turn the crowd into a lynch mob."

"I'm sorry about Chelsea and Jackie," I said.

He turned to look at me. "I was in love in them. It was real! You know what I mean?"

"Yes, Michael. I know exactly what you mean."

"I know what you're doing at school," he said. "It was working, but we're going to lose now. The Confederacy can't do a pickup in the county, and you drew a target on the sponsors."

I looked towards the stage. The captain of the police and the town mayor sat to the left of the podium. I did not recognize the speaker; he was working the crowd into a frenzy.

"I was hoping Senator Win would make an appearance," Michael said. "He's the one that did this to us! He was mayor and chose his fucking political career over saving lives."

"He did more than that, Michael," I whispered. "Much more!"

"I've heard the rumors," he told me. "But nobody in this county is going to tell the truth about the fucking Honorable and Saintly Freshman Senator Win, even if they know where the bodies are buried."

"These bodies are buried in the cemetery," I said softly.

"It's almost time," Michael told me. "You need to go!"

He opened his jacket. He had a bomb strapped to his chest.

"It's Confederacy munitions," he said.

"You can't, Michael!" I said. "Most of these people don't understand the choice they're making."

"When you sentence someone to death, you should fucking know the choice you're making," he said. "Run!"

"RUN!" Michael yelled at me. The bomb vest lit up. I spun around and pushed my way through the crowd.

I took off as soon as the crowd thinned. A gunshot sounded and people screamed. I turned to see blood splatter behind where the city mayor and police captain had sat. Michael pulled out two pistols and opened fire on the people around him. He tossed the weapons aside when they emptied. He was yelling something at the Earth Firsters!

I did not need to see anymore. I ran in as straight a line as I could to get to the end of the block and turn the corner. The blast was enormous! I jumped onto the hood of the car, thinking to get behind it for cover. The shock wave caught me mid-air and threw me over a low fence. I hit the building. Falling to the ground, I watched the car hit the fence. If the fence had not held, the car would have crushed me.

Turning my head, I looked towards the rally. I had a head-start on the crowd and almost got killed. I did not expect many survivors.

Sirens were coming closer and closer. I closed my eyes to let unconsciousness claim its victory.

I sat in the police interrogation room. They had not let the EMTs take me to the hospital or even check me out. The cops dragged me to the police station as soon as they found me.

Two detectives, a male and female, came into the room. They sat on the other side of the table; they stared hard at me.

"I'm Detective Jackson Reynolds," the male said to me. "This is Detective Jacinda Louce."

I studied the male for a few seconds. "Detective Jackson Reynolds ... where have I heard that before?"

"You were seen standing by the bomber," Detective Reynolds said very seriously. "Do you know how much trouble you're in? He killed almost a hundred people."