The Visionaries

28

I was walking down the hall to visit Duane when I felt someone grab my shoulder. Jennifer.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"None of your business." I say.

"Anything you do is my business. After all, Michael wants you alive to continue his legacy." Jennifer said.

I still remember when they first came into power. Jennifer used to be one of those Christian housewives that advocated for women to stay at home, be good wives, and pop out babies. She never did it herself interestingly enough.

"Who died and made you my babysitter?" I ask.

"Alma." she said in a stern voice.

"Yes?"

"I would appreciate it if you acted like the adult you are."

"What do you want?" I ask.

"I want to make one thing clear, Alma. I am the one who runs shit here, not Michael, not Duane, or you." She said with venom in her voice.

"What's the purpose of this?" I ask.

"I know what you and Duane have been up to. I was a teenager once too." I say.

"Is that why you're so obsessed with keeping everyone down?" I snap. She slaps me. I finally fucking lose it. I turn the nearby potted plant into a hand and she's stuck to the wall.

I fashion a sharp spike from the plant and point it at her throat.

"I'm sick of you!" I say. "I'm sick of Michael, I'm sick. And the day you die, I will dance over your graves." I turn to see Michael.

"Alma? What are you doing?"

Jennifer starts crying. The dangerous white woman tears.

"I was trying to talk to her. She attacked me!"

"She slapped me!" I ask.

"Michael, you have to believe me." She said, hiccuping.

"Oh, drop the fake tears. I'm sure my hairline could cry better than that." I say, making the plant return to normal.

"Jennifer, go to your office, please." He said.

"What? You're going to believe that half-breed-" I slam a fist made of plant into her and smash a hole into the wall.

"Jennifer, go." He said. She gets up and runs off crying. Oh wow.

"Alma, I would rather you not antagonize her." Michael said. "She is our main architect."

"She'll live." I say. "Not like my kin that you're actively trying to kill. Also if a woman has to do all the legwork for you, how good is your white, male dominated society?"

"Alma." He said. I sigh. I walk off and he doesn't bother to chase. As I'm walking, I smell food. It smells rancid, almost rotten. I lean over and feel the bile coming up.

I run to the bathroom, run into a stall, and throw up. My head is spinning. My vision is blurry. Fuck. Probably just PMS. I don't want to consider the other option. I don't want to bring a child into this world. Especially not now. And if I ask for a pregnancy test, Michael will question who the father is. I'm scared he would try to take my baby.

Or that he would try to subject my baby to what he put Duane through. And Duane? Would he want to be a father? Would he want to be part of his life? Where would the baby even fit in our life?

Someone enters the bathroom. I'm glad I closed the door beforehand. I walk out and rinse my mouth out. I don't feel that great. My cheeks are hot, my head is spinning. I head to the yard. There are my friends, sitting in a circle and talking to each other.

"Hey!" I say, finally managing to sit down.

"Hey, where have you been?" Dany asked. I want to tell them. But I'm scared. And honestly, I could just be stressed out as hell. I'm surprised I haven't died of a heart attack at this point. Or a stroke. Something really.

"Nothing." I say. "Just got held up by Jennifer."

"What did she want?" Bree asked.

"She was trying to threaten me with something."

"Death?" Aaron asked.

"Ummm...." I turn red.

"Oh, have you?" Dany asked.

"Maybe. Look, I don't want to turn this into some teen drama we're all too old to deal with. We need to worry about the revolution." I say.

"So they're planning on starting tomorrow." Dany whispered.

"Great, what's the plan?" I whisper back.

"They're storming into the Beer Hall tonight as a distraction while ILM survivors get to the armory. At four, we'll break out into the rooms and start to battle the forces." Dany said.

"Sounds great." I say.

"It does." Aaron said. "And afterwards, all the rebel groups are uniting to discuss the future."

"And what would there be to talk about?" Norrin asked.

"Land back. Reparations. Finally teaching real history. You know." Aaron said.

"And what would you want to do in the future?" I ask them.

"Return to my rez. Rebuild. Start a memorial for the ones that died." Aaron said.

"Find my family." Bree said.

"Probably try to start a fund or something for all of us younger people in the ILM to restart our lives." Dany said.

"I think I want to go home." I say. "Reunite with my family, the usual."

"Fair enough." Bree says.

The guards approach us. Shit.

"You know the deal, get over here." they said.

"See you guys later." I say.

They wave. One of the guards glares. I walk back into the room. Everything seems to spin in circles. The room itself smells strange. Oh, god. It smells unnaturally sweet. I can feel my legs shaking and I fall down to the floor. Fuck, what the hell is going on?

I try to get up but it seems like every muscle in my body refuses to move. I try to crawl to the door when I see someone open it. It's someone in a gas mask. What? I try to move but my body has gone numb. Did they just drug me? Fuck, what is going on??