A Hopeful Notion

“Women and children first!” bellowed the captain. The round-up had finally started after months of rumors threatening to shred families apart. Many had already attempted rebellions and revolutions but the ever-growing military force was too powerful to overthrow. Anyone who hadn’t pledged their allegiance to the New Rule would be taken away for “Conditioning” as they called it, which if unsuccessful lead to execution. But you were given that choice. Men fought for their rights and their families, many being executed in the streets, while a special unit, gathered the women and children to be taken away. It was easier this way. When you took the families, and kept them alive but separated, Conditioning was quicker and more successful. If you tried to take the men first, most simply resisted to their last breath, as a point of honor, which did nothing for their cause, and left their families alone to be taken anyway.

Miriam was pulled and shoved around through the crowd, thanking God or whoever that she hadn’t had children, although at times she desperately wanted them. But a single, twenty-nine-year-old mother would do no good in this climate. She looked around to see helpless families huddling together, gripping onto each other probably for the last time, as homes and businesses burned in the background. Towering over them in the back of a truck bed stood the captain of the local militia barking orders at his subordinates. Miriam knew what was coming. She had heard stories about it in nearby towns and cities. The remaining news outlets were occasionally able to report on the roundups. They would ram them all into make-shift jail cells with the New Anthem playing several times throughout the day until you had no choice but to remember the words and tune. The New Law would be repeated and advocated by celebrities and politicians on TV screens in the background and one-by-one people would be taken to private rooms every day until they were Conditioned to support the party. It could take weeks before they even got to you and when they did, if you weren’t showing signs of giving in within a few days, you wouldn’t be seen again.

Miriam knew all this. She accepted it for what it was but refused to be a part of the process. She could never give in to the New Rule. She had fought against the upcoming government for years, as long as she safely could, but now there was no safety in anything other than submission. She knew what she had to do and was resigned to it. The cool Autumn day was turned hot amidst the sweltering body heat of the crowd. She felt a line of sweat trickle down her back. A young officer stood a few feet away, directing and bullying the crowd with pride. She noticed the pistol hung on his hip. She had only shot one a few times when she was a girl but thought she remembered enough. His safety would be off. The officers put safety aside and were always ready to fire.

As the crowd ebbed and flowed towards the busses and trucks that would be taking them, she shifted in his direction. He held out a baton, occasionally poking it into the crowd carelessly. She came up beside him and faked a trip, stumbling into him. He caught her without thinking. She pulled the pistol out of its holster and fired into his belly before he had time to realize what had happened. The crowd gasped in unison, ducking down and trying to get away from the gun fire.

The captain’s luminescent green eyes darted in her direction, widening as he realized what she was doing. Without a second thought, she fired the pistol at him. The first shot missed. She fired three more which buried themselves into his body. He collapsed over the side of the truck. The crowd was in complete hysteria. She knew her time was limited. She looked around for any other officers and upon hearing a shot in the distance, felt a bullet rip through her back and chest. The pain spread through her as her grip weakened. She dropped the pistol, ready to be done. She knew this wouldn’t change anything, really. Killing an officer and even a captain would at best slow down the local efforts but the government would still thrive. The men would be replaced and the New Rule would continue. But she would not simply give in or go down without a fight. She accepted her death, and rejoiced in the thought of taking two of them down with her. She dropped to her knees as another bullet pierced through her back and out her abdomen. The blood saturated her clothing and she collapsed, staring at all the feet running hysterically away from the scene. There had been rumors of people escaping into the forest. It wasn’t far from town. Maybe some of them will get away, she thought, and closed her eyes on this hopeful notion.