Barone’s temper began to flare, but he again controlled it. “Mayor, what I am proposing is this: I cancel the tribunal and release you in exchange for you stopping these protests. The progress we have made in town here is now in jeopardy. We need to come back together as a people to make this work. We can’t be divided anymore.”
“We will never be united with the likes of you, you traitor!”
“Now, that is enough!” Barone yelled, his voice full of anger.
Brownstein now stood and yelled back, “We will never rest. We will fight you until we die. You have to kill us all if you want us to stop!” The other six nodded in agreement.
“Very well, this conversation has ended, I guess. If you’ll excuse me,” Barone said, and walked off. His face was flush with anger and a couple beads of sweat had formed on his forehead from his raised blood pressure as he strode toward the exit. His focus was singular. All he could think of now was finishing this for good.
The six councilors congratulated Brownstein on her steadfastness. They hadn’t taken notice of the intense look that had gripped Barone’s face as walked past them.
“We’re so proud of you,” one said.
Another said, “You’re the bravest person I know.”
Brownstein enjoyed the positive feedback. She exchanged some bravado talk with the others when the door opened. Barone was standing there again.
She looked up at him but the brave, confident face turned to one of terror.
Barone walked back in with an M-16 rifle. “You don’t want to talk, that’s fine. You told me what has to be done, and so you’ll get your wish. You all have to die!” That urge, that burning urge that he had managed to keep suppressed, was now too much for him to keep inside.
Brownstein looked at him but didn’t move, as she was frozen with fear. Three of them ran for other doors and the other three ducked behind chairs.
He took aim on her and pulled the trigger. The rifle roared to life with a three-round burst. The first bullet hit her in the abdomen, the second in the chest, and the third in neck. She fell backward and crashed into some chairs. By the time her body hit the floor, she was dead.
He rained bullets in the directions of the ones who had run for the exits. When the bolt locked back he had killed them. He didn’t have another magazine so he dropped the rifle and pulled out his pistol. The remaining three hadn’t moved since the gunfire began. He calmly approached each one.
Regardless of their pleading for mercy, he showed none. He put a bullet into each of their heads.
When he finished with them he exited the council chamber.
Simpson was waiting for him in the hall, a look of shock and terror on his face.
“Now what?” Simpson asked, not knowing what else to say. Fear of saying something filled him as he chose his words carefully.
“We’re going to end this little rebellion today. She said that it wouldn’t end unless we killed them, so kill them. Kill them all!”
“There’s no turning back from that, sir. You do know that?” Simpson cautioned.
“I’m fully aware. Make it happen! Get Timms on the horn. Let him know I’m disbanding the city governments. Everything falls under our military control as of now!”
“Copy that,” Simpson replied to Barone. He stepped away from Barone and keyed the mike on his radio handset. “All commanders, this is Charlie Actual. You are weapons free. I say again, you are weapons free. Disburse the crowd with all means necessary, to include deadly force, over.”
Nothing happened. The radio crackled and a voice came over, “Charlie Actual, the is Charlie Two, over.”
“Go, Charlie Two,” Simpson barked into the handset.
“We need a clarification of last command, over!”
Simpson gave Barone an uneasy stare.
Barone marched over to him, grabbed the handset, and yelled, “All units, this is Colonel Barone. Open fire on all the protestors, take no prisoners. I say again, kill all the protestors!”
There was a brief and uncomfortable pause but soon the roar of machine guns erupted outside, followed by screams.
Barone walked over to the large window and looked down on the street out front. The protestors were running in every direction in the hopes of escape. Some Marines were not firing, but others were. Clearly his commands were not universally being heeded. However, enough were obeying to ensure that not a soul would be left standing.
Barone was done with talking, done with politicians, done with democracy. He was now a dictator and would rule with an iron fist.
So many different scenarios had run through Samantha’s mind when Eric told her that Truman’s group had returned. Many of the scenarios had fighting breaking out between the groups. It was a probable outcome and this time she wasn’t going to have Haley anywhere close by. On their way to the front gate, she dropped Haley off at Eric’s house.
Pulling up to the gate, the first person Samantha saw was Nelson; he was badly beaten but alive. She closed her eyes and thanked God for answering her prayers.
If he was still alive, Truman and his group saw value in him and were here to negotiate for something.
When she took a rough count of the group she counted ten, seven men and three women. The one person missing in her count was Truman.
On her side of the gate, they had Eric, Mack, Frank, and Scott.
“Nelson! How are you?” Samantha asked.
He smiled and cracked a joke. “Oh my God, I’ve had the best time. I get a massage every morning, followed by filet mignon and lobster for dinner every night.”
She smiled. “Where’s Truman?” she asked.
A man she had never seen before stepped forward and spoke. “Truman’s dead. I killed him.”
Samantha was shocked to hear that.
“It’s true. They killed him last night,” Nelson confirmed.
“Truman was a smart guy, but he was too sentimental. We need someone in charge who thinks clearly. Your friend here is valuable. He’s not valuable to us dead so we’re here to bargain for his life,” the man said.
“What do you want?” Eric asked.
“We want a couple vehicles and food.”
Samantha was ready to take the deal without a second’s thought when Nelson blurted out, “Don’t do it, Sam. You need the food and the vehicles. If you give them two vehicles that will damage our ability to survive.”
“He’s right,” Eric agreed.
“This is a life. This is about Nelson’s life,” Samantha chided Eric.
“I’m talking about life too—yours, Haley’s, mine!” Eric snapped back.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” the man chimed in. “We can give you your friend and you give us what we ask for or we will just take it.”
“Don’t give in to them. If you fight then you at least have a chance!” Nelson said.
The man walked over to Nelson and hit him with a closed fist.
“We’ll do it!” Samantha shouted.
“No, we won’t!” Eric countered.
The rumbling sound of a vehicle caught all of their attention. Truman’s group looked in the direction of the sound and they all began to spread apart in anticipation of fighting who was coming.
“Are you expecting someone?” the man asked.
Samantha and the others exchanged looks before she answered him. “No, everyone in our group is here.”
“Jesus Christ, Samantha, is there anything else you want to give away?” Eric lambasted her.
The sound of the engine rumbling grew louder. Truman’s group grew tenser when the vehicle came into their view. A few lifted their weapons and took aim.
“Shoot the vehicle!” the man ordered.
With their entire group focused on the vehicle, Eric took action. He aimed and shot the man who was speaking for the group.