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Beyond the Western
Brandon Cole had just picked up a teargas canister and flung it back toward the line of riot police who were advancing toward him. A second later he heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire. Multiple shots had been fired and the crowd of protesters were scattering like roaches when a light comes on.
It was unexpected and it caught Brandon by surprise. Beatings and arrests were common, but shooting had never been part of past protests. Seems the authorities had just upped the ante.
~~~~
Brandon Cole was getting used to surprises. Two months ago his life was turned upside down when the worlds shadow government stepped forward onto the scene. The world as he knew it had abruptly come to an end. It was a complete surprise to most of this planets population.
There was chaos around the globe as citizens from all countries lashed back at the new Government. Demonstrations and riots were breaking out everywhere and the new military establishment was hard pressed to keep it under control.
There were weekly surprises as the new Government systematically took away the rights and freedoms from him and everyone else. His life had been reduced to working an assigned job for a subsistence wage and living in a 500 square foot cubical with an assigned room mate, an old man he had never met before.
Brandon ate the food rationed to him and perform the new job. He was expected to accept at face value whatever he was told, and to not ask questions or cause trouble. The authorities believed Brandon to be a model citizen of the New World Order. It couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Since the day the New World Order took control, martial law had been declared. This put the whole country under the thumb of a very watchful and vigilant police state. Small unorganized demonstrations had broken out in various cities across the country and around the world, but they were quickly quelled. The participants frantically dispersed making it difficult for authorities to make arrests. The unfortunate few who were chased down, disappeared from sight.
The demonstrations were growing larger by the day. They were a necessary distraction to keep the authorities busy while a much larger and well organized underground movement continued to grow and strengthen.
Brandon kept himself hidden in plain sight. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He was one of the few who saw what was coming and helped prepare the underground movement for the day all hell would break loose.
From the very beginning he had dedicated himself to keeping the world free.
~~~~
The citizens of the world had been torn into several factions.
There were those who went along with whatever they were told. They actually liked the new system of government. They spied on their neighbors and turned in anyone who didn’t follow the rules of the new system.
The second group believed in power over strength. They believed in non confrontational resistance. Spiritual types who did what they were told but used the power of their spiritual beliefs to cause change toward love and away from violence.
The third group was openly militant in their resistance. They believed change would only come through struggle and the ability to overpower their enemy using force against force.
Brandon was part of this third group.
He was part of the underground movement. The underground may have been outnumbered and outgunned, but its numbers were growing by the day. They had the element of surprise in their favor. So far they had kept their agenda to organizing spontaneous public protests. Mostly peaceful with a little rock throwing to keep things interesting. They smashed a few windows and made a lot of noise, but up until now, deadly violence wasn’t part of the agenda on either side.
Brandon was the instigator of this protest. Using a sophisticated algorithm, encrypted messages were passed along on the dark internet to various cells of the underground. So far, the authorities hadn’t caught on. Everyone knew it was only be a matter of time before they figured it out. They had to move fast.
~~~~
As soon as the gunfire started, Brandon scattered along with everyone else. Police forces were in full riot gear. They were bashing heads and shooting at anything that moved. As Brandon got out of the line of fire, he noticed his roommate, Carl. He was sitting on the ground holding his head. Brandon ran to his side. Carl had been grazed by a bullet. He was bleeding, but not badly hurt. Brandon got him to his feet and they quickly left the area.
Back in their cubical, Brandon managed to stop the bleeding.
“Why were you out there, Carl? I thought you were staying away from the protests?”
“I was meditating here when I had a powerful urge to go stand on the outskirts of the area and pray. I didn’t realize how close the demonstration was moving toward me.”
“You were lucky today. From now on stay at home and do your spiritual stuff.”
The authorities were no longer going to tolerate open demonstrations. They were a cancer on their new world order and they planned to eradicate the disturbances before it grew to unmanageable proportions.
They didn’t realize it yet, but they were too late.
© Copyright 2020 by Scott A. Gese All Rights Reserved.