Chapter 21

“What happened?” I asked as I was rushed into the operating room with little time to prepare myself.

“Land mines were discovered only after they detonated in key areas, causing much suffering. Clearly, the Klan left those there as a last laugh over their conquerors, namely us. There was a whole fucking minefield underneath parts of the city. What’s more, several timed explosives destroyed various buildings and killed even more people in downtown Winston-Salem. We’re having to amputate a lot of limbs and other, less disposable body parts. Yes, including genitals in some cases. So, yes, we have one hell of a mess to clean up here, thanks to those Klucker bastards,” the officer in question informed me.

“We’re on it, by Jove,” Anne assured the officer.

“What she said,” Samuel nervously began work on the first patients under the officer’s zealous eyes.

We had a lot of work on our hands and we wouldn’t finish until we’d worked our fingers to the bone. By then, we were quite ready to drop. All that we could do was sit and listen to Wolfram tell us what craziness went on elsewhere in the world. We could count on one thing: the rest of the world was just as wild, hairy, and nutty as our neck of the woods. There was no safe haven anywhere, was there?

“Damn, who’d have guessed it? We’re really reaching the outskirts of Pittsburgh and taking the fight to the Commies there? Pretty wild!” I remarked with shock, realizing the full implications if the western Pennsylvania city fell to the Republican Front Militia.

“And closer to home, we’ve got the New Black Panthers on the run in Charlotte. They’re putting up a bit of a fight, though. And at least they’re not murdering white folks like the Nation of Islam did,” Anne noted.

“Well, not wholesale genocide, no, nor like the Klan did with Jews, blacks, etc. But they are stringing up capitalists, bankers, etc. They’re another kind of revolutionary socialist regime, albeit not as doctrinaire or insane as the Reds up North. They seem to be more about some kind of council-communism or whatever.

“White people are allowed to exist and participate, but only if vouched for as good leftists and revolutionaries rather than capitalists. And small business is still permitted, personal property still allowed. You just can’t make too big of a profit, naturally,” Samuel explained what he had learned about the New Black Panther regime that ruled Charlotte, North Carolina.

“So, there was something to the scare tactics used by the GOP back in 2008?” Anne asked out of sheer curiosity.

“Yes and no. The Black Panthers were always revolutionaries, in whatever incarnation they assumed, but this is something overlooked often due to the racial politics of their movement. Far less was ever said about the Black Panthers and what their vision of America would be if they ever got their way, of course, than about the idea of heavily armed black guys that just made white folks jumpy.

“Mind you, the same white people never worried about large groups of heavily armed white folks, of course. Almost certainly, though, that bit about the polling places was to protect black voters from harassment by racist cops or something like that. I’ll grant you that the cops are a mixed bag, always were. Some good, some bad, some mediocre. Like any other profession, of course. Blasting the fuzz as always evil is highly simplistic.

“And now, of course, they have their own police in some form, to help enforce their various anti-capitalist statutes. Waste groceries and produce? That’s a fine, maybe a beating, too. I wouldn’t be shocked. Rough street justice is kinda to be expected from street toughs and armed revolutionary types. Underpay your workers, refuse to let them unionize? That could get ugly.

“So, yes, this will be a very interesting situation, both what’s happening there now and what takes place whenever, as expected, their regime falls. And it will. You know as well as I do that neither Charlotte nor Raleigh have the supplies or resources to logistically stand a siege in the long run. The capture of both places is now a question of when, not if. And then we’ll have to decide, as conquerors, what to do with them,” Samuel observed.

“That’s gonna be the toughest part, of course,” I agreed as we all drank some more of that Shiraz.

“Nothing but truth there,” Anne forced a tight smile as we ate some rather late and simple supper fare and relaxed at last.

No, nothing happened ... yet. We were all far too drained for that. But the sexual tension was still in the air. And the open question remained. Could Anne really quit being polyamorous cold turkey or quit me, more precisely? Could she really be faithful to Samuel and focus on keeping their bed nice and warm for each other alone?

And what would happen if she couldn’t?