Rebellion

What Will Be, What Could've Been

What Will Be, What Could've Been

​They'd made light of their situation by planning out what they would do after they overthrew the government. They were camping out at the edge of Tennessee. They would make it to D.C in a couple of days if they kept it up.

​"I'm going to enjoy sleeping a full night," Tak said, "Without having to keep watch for the government."

​"Yes me too," Ryan said, "And I'll enjoy talking to Mike again."

​"I wouldn't mind rejoining our new military," Bono said, "That is if President Dave will let me."

​"I'm no president," Dave said rolling his eyes, "But I'm sure you can do whatever you want if this is successful."

​"Cool. Then I want to go back too," Larry said, "And I know Adam would want to if he was here. That's also what I want. I want Adam to have a proper burial with a salute and everything."

​"We can do that," Dave assured him, "He deserves that."

​"I want a cup of coffee," Brad said as he leaned against a rock, "A big cup of coffee."

​"Really? Out of everything that you could possibly want to do and you just want to drink coffee?" Joe asked, "I want to watch a marathon of movies."

​"I miss movies," Rob admitted, "I'd also love to listen to some good music again."

​"Yes!" Dave grinned, "I would love to hear a good song!"

​They laughed softly and Dave looked around at the people he'd met up with. They were all his friends now. He didn't want to lose any of them. He watched Ryan and Joe goof around while Tak and Rob talked about music. Brad was talking with Bono and Larry about something as well. They'd all come from such different areas and backgrounds but now they were united under the same cause. The fire flickered in the dark and soon the conversation died down again.

​"Are we going to kill 'im?" Bono finally asked, "The president?"

​"I think we have to," Dave said finally, "He's tortured us too much."

​"Okay," Ryan nodded, "What about....the other two?"

​"I already told Mike that he gets to decide Chester's fate. I don't know about his friend but we'll probably have to kill him too because otherwise he'll kill us to get to Chester."

​"It'll make a statement," Rob said, "It'll show everyone who is in charge now. We'll make things better for them."

​Dave nodded. He'd been hell bent on getting into the government and he'd forgotten that they couldn't just kill Mark on sight. They had to make a public execution.

​"The execution might be after a few days," Dave said finally, "Mike will want Chester dead too at the same time."

​"That's fine. We'll just keep guards on the prison cells where we keep them."

​"We're all going to be heroes....eventually," Joe said, "Wow.....imagine that."

​"It's about time something we've done gets recognized," Brad laughed softly. It was odd to talk about things like this. He didn't know what to think. Would they actually be able to pull this out?

​"I don't care what happens, but first, we need to have a big celebration," Joe said. A chorus of 'yea' and 'I agree' were heard from the others. Dave nodded and then went back to looking into the fire. This was definitely something that they were going to have to do. They might not ever get back from something like this. This could be their end.

​"Alright guys, we should head to sleep. Bono, you got first watch. Wake Ryan when you're gonna die."

​Bono laughed, "Ye got it."

​Dave nodded and then headed over to a spot to sleep. He sighed as he laid down and then opened his bag. He opened the little book he kept and saw the picture of him and his wife. He'd kept it with him. He didn't want to lose that. He tucked it back into his bag and closed his eyes.

​He sprinted down the street as buildings collapsed around him. Fires blazed and roads were being turned to dust. He had to get to her office. He had to. He tripped over a body and he tried not to look at it. He didn't want to know who it was. He wasn't sure what was happening apart from the fact that the government had caught wind about some uprising in LA. And now they were here. He didn't understand why. He had never heard of such a thing.

​"Everyone off the streets now!" a man yelled from the top of a truck. He was dressed in those fancy government uniforms. Dave ducked into an alley just a half a block away from Linsey's office. He had to get around those men somehow. He never got the chance. He was about to make a break for it when the man on the truck ordered something and a missile shot straight forward, right into the building.

​"No!" he watched in despair as the building crumbled. There was no way Linsey had survived that. No one had. He watched the guy on the truck swing back inside and drive off down the street to go blow up someone else's family. Dave ran up to the rubble and started to look through it but there was no point. No one was alive. Tears ran down his face as he knelt at the base of the destruction.

​"This won't ever happen again," he muttered, "This is not what a government does. I will take this back."

​He headed back to his house and stood in the silence. The night had taken the sun from them. He saw a note for him written in his wife's handwriting.

​Dave,
​The officials have finally caught on to it. They know what's going on. I didn't want to go behind your back but I couldn't have you be part of this. We've known for a long time that there is major corruption in the government. Mark Wakefield is not who he seems. You have to take him down. I know that I will probably not make it out of this day but I need to go. We need to see if we were right about something.
All my love,
Linsey

​So she'd been a rebel without him knowing? Dave stared at the note and then folded it up. Linsey was such a badass. He smiled slightly and put it in his pocket. Today would be the day that they started to fight for the right thing.

​"Brad? Where are you at?"

​"Um like holy shit dude, they are blowing up shit."

​"Thanks for the information. It's time to start fighting back," Dave growled, "We're going to take our world back!"

​"Yes!" Brad said, "I'll call Joe and Rob. Let's start.....start..."

​"The Rebellion," Dave finished, "That's what we are. We are the symbol of the Rebellion."

​"Good, let's go."

​He sighed as he put the book back into his bag. To this day, he still had no idea what Linsey had been close to figuring out. Unless.....He started searching quietly through his bag until he found the notebook she'd kept with her. He hadn't wanted to read it because it hurt too much but now it was time. He clicked on a small flashlight and began to read.

​"Dave, this isn't a stupid sleepover party that we get to read with flashlights," Bono snickered.

​"Shut up. Just keep watch, leprechaun."

​"I'll remember that one!"

​Dave ignored him and started flipping quietly through the pages. Nothing, nothing and then....something.

​June 17, 2031
It's just as we thought. It's a drug. It's a hard, mental knockout that causes a person to lose their memory. Wakefield is then able to create a new world for the person to live in where everything he does is correct. It's what they're using. My friend, she was right. She knew it wasn't him. I can't believe we figured it out. Now to figure out the cure.

​That's what she had been about to figure out. She had a cure to whatever had happened to Mike. They did too, but maybe Linsey had a better one. One that was less painful and he would never know. There were two unknowns though. Who was this friend and who was this other guy? This was all way too much.

​"Find anything?" Bono asked and Dave sighed but shook his head.

​"Nothing we didn't already know."

​"Sorry."

​Dave nodded slightly and then turned off the flashlight. Linsey had been trying to come up with a cure for the memory loss. They only knew of the triggers but what if there was something that could stop all the memories from coming at once? Maybe that was what she was thinking of. It was frustrating to not know.
​The next morning he awoke to the quiet moving of his friends. It was time to move out. They got set up and then began their slow trek towards D.C.

​"So what were ye reading last night?" Bono asked.

​"My wife's stuff," Dave said quickly, "Apparently, she was against Wakefield from the start."

​"A few people were."

​"Anyway, she and some of her friends were working on a cure for the Cleaning."

​Bono frowned, "What was yer wife's name?"

​"Linsey," Dave said, "Why?"

​Bono smiled slightly, "I knew a woman who went to work with her. She was in the military. Actually, the day Mark took over, she was going home to her husband and her two kids. But she never got the chance. When she got home they were gone. House was burned down too. She called me and told me that her family was gone, most likely dead in a fire that happened overnight. She was distraught and she told me she was going to live with a friend. They started working on something and she would give me regular updates on what they were doing. That's how I started my investigation on the Cleaning in the first place. Maybe she was one of 'em. Maybe she was with yer wife."

​"What were her updates about?"

​"Well the last time we talked she told me that she and a few others had finally found a cure for the Cleaning. She said it had something to do with the triggers like I told ye. Then she went on about how photos of the trigger have a slower impact as opposed to the real thing. Then she told me that there was some kind of drug that they could make that would slow the effects and have memories gradually return over a year. A few memories a day and then it'd be like nothing ever happened. Sadly, she wasn't able to tell me the way to make that drug. She said something about knowing about this happening to someone she knew and then static happened and I heard an explosion. I'm pretty sure she's gone."

​"So they found out what we found out," Dave said. Bono nodded.

​"I guess so. With the addition of the drug factor."

​"Yea."

​"I wish they were here now. They'd know what to do."

​"Yea. Yea they would."

​"Guys? We're going to have to take cover, I see some incoming trucks," Ryan called. They hurried off the road and ducked into the trees. As the trucks rumbled by, Dave wondered just what exactly would've happened if they'd been able to survive that bomb. Maybe they'd be here with him, trying to figure out ways to take over. Anything would be better than where they were now. He'd do what they couldn't. He'd save the people who had been 'Cleansed' and he'd lead the nation the right way.