Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen Roland. Once he'd been dismissed, Roland had made
Speaker 1: it his immediate business to get as high as post
Speaker 1: humanly possible before he was needed. This was not a
Speaker 1: difficult task. Rolling fuck had been built to keep buzzes going.
Speaker 1: The main roller's bar stocked an assortment of beers mixed
Speaker 1: with LSD laudanum, dimethyl trip tomine, and a half dozen
Speaker 1: shogun chemicals. Roland started off by sampling them all. He
Speaker 1: drank until the fireworks showing his head was indistinguishable from
Speaker 1: the actual fireworks outside and those real Am I just
Speaker 1: fucking lit? Roland decided that answering that question wouldn't make
Speaker 1: him happier. He lost himself for a while and drifted
Speaker 1: from one of the fondel boats to a dance party
Speaker 1: in a field underneath the main gantry. After hours of that,
Speaker 1: Roland had his fill of rhythm, so he found his
Speaker 1: way to a coke benge in a weird purple house
Speaker 1: atop one of the spindles. The rest of the night
Speaker 1: he spent testing the limits of his talks and filters
Speaker 1: and his tolerance for human contact. The latter came first,
Speaker 1: he had and in the coke party and stumbled through
Speaker 1: rolling fuck until he reached a small booth with baggies
Speaker 1: of umnuloch, a d M T based hallucinogen made from
Speaker 1: synthetically grown giraffe liver. Thanks got fuzzy. After that, there
Speaker 1: was a fireworks fight on a spindle that caught a
Speaker 1: shack on fire. He downed a shipload of mescal and
Speaker 1: as the sun breached, and then quite suddenly it was
Speaker 1: afternoon and he was lying on his back across the
Speaker 1: baking hot metal of one of the spindles. Schoolfucker Mike
Speaker 1: stood above him, naked as the day he was born,
Speaker 1: and holding some sort of frosty purple beverage in a
Speaker 1: large teaky cup. Hey man, Mike said, as he took
Speaker 1: a sip, Nanny as he told me to find you.
Speaker 1: You straight enough to talk to people. Roland nodded. He wasn't, really,
Speaker 1: but he could sober up fast. Maybe sober wasn't the
Speaker 1: right word. His brain could flood itself with focusing drugs
Speaker 1: to offset the hallucinogens, and he had a vial of
Speaker 1: liquid meth amphetamine somewhere in his pack that might do
Speaker 1: the trick. Roland sat up, grunted, and waved a hand
Speaker 1: at Mike. Then he dug around in his pack for
Speaker 1: the vile. He found it and drained half. All right,
Speaker 1: let's go, he said. Let's go to the place and
Speaker 1: do the things. Mike helped him down the spindle. Roland's
Speaker 1: unsteady legs were proof that he'd managed to find himself
Speaker 1: a worthy drug bench. The satisfaction he felt from that
Speaker 1: mixed well with the initial meth euphoria. By the time
Speaker 1: they reached the conference room, he was wired as fuck
Speaker 1: and kind of wishing he'd picked a different drug to
Speaker 1: spend his mood. Roland sat down and eased into his chair.
Speaker 1: A short, young Anglo fellow entered next and sat down
Speaker 1: on the opposite side of the conference table. He looked
Speaker 1: and smelled nervous. Roland paid him little mind. He was
Speaker 1: too jittery from the meth to want to talk. He
Speaker 1: decided a nice dose of some downers would help his
Speaker 1: situation and rooted around for his heroine kit. At that moment,
Speaker 1: another young man entered the room. He was short, Hispanic,
Speaker 1: and about twenty one years old. Nanni Yazzi embraced the
Speaker 1: kid schoofucker might clapped him on the shoulder. They started talking,
Speaker 1: the kid said something that seemed to surprise most of
Speaker 1: the people in the room. Roll and half paid attention
Speaker 1: to all that while he loaded up his syringe and
Speaker 1: tied off his arm. He stopped when he realized everyone
Speaker 1: else in the room was staring. Hey, something wrong, he
Speaker 1: asked Rowland. Nana Yazi said in a warm voice as
Speaker 1: she gestured to the Hispanic kid. This is Mannie. He's
Speaker 1: going to be your partner for the mission. He grew
Speaker 1: up in the Republic and he's a skilled negotiator. He'll
Speaker 1: help you blend in while you do your work. Er cool,
Speaker 1: Roland grunted and returned to his heroine. Roland, if you
Speaker 1: wouldn't mind, Reggie was about to speak. Nana yazi smile
Speaker 1: was as indulgent as ever. He's uncovered something important about
Speaker 1: the Heavenly Kingdom. It might be useful to you, Roland shrugged.
Speaker 1: Mossy's galis to which bartenders and playing on make a
Speaker 1: pass of a whiskey. Sara can't imagine caring. But if
Speaker 1: you let me finish this, he jiggled the syringe in
Speaker 1: the air, I might be able to at least pay
Speaker 1: attention right now, I'm quite too met out to focus.
Speaker 1: The old man leaned forward and sighed. The kid looked horrified.
Speaker 1: He started working his mouth and what Roland was pretty
Speaker 1: sure must be the prelude to some sort of expression
Speaker 1: of shock or offense. Schoolfucker Mike preempted him. Lead Roland
Speaker 1: shoot up. Trust me, drugs aren't going to make him
Speaker 1: any more or less effective here. Rowland grinned. Skullfucker Mike
Speaker 1: clearly knew him, even if he could only sort of
Speaker 1: remember skullfucker Mike. He went back to tying off his
Speaker 1: arm and shooting up, while the younger Brits stumbled into
Speaker 1: the start of his speech. Yes, well, I've been going
Speaker 1: over the last few days of successful vehicle based bombings
Speaker 1: on checkpoints from Galveston and Lake Houston and all across
Speaker 1: the Dallas Fort Worth area. In total, I've identified three
Speaker 1: hundred twenty one bombings that appear to have been carried
Speaker 1: out as part of this overall offensive. Two hundred and
Speaker 1: forty of those bombings involve autonomous vehicles hitting dedicated autonomous
Speaker 1: vehicle checkpoints. Right on cue, a projection map flickered to
Speaker 1: life on the wall behind him. Hundreds of red dots
Speaker 1: populated a map of the conflict riddled regions of north
Speaker 1: central Texas. It looked like the pattern of attacks you'd
Speaker 1: want in order to funnel the stf's limited resources towards
Speaker 1: the least defensible chunks of their line. What was weird
Speaker 1: was that so many bomb rigged autonomous vehicles had gotten
Speaker 1: through the scanners. So Roland asked, how the fuckers do it?
Speaker 1: Munch zero days. Reggie shook his head. That's what I
Speaker 1: thought at first, he said, But these attacks actually started
Speaker 1: more than a month before this offensive. If they were
Speaker 1: relying on exploits, the s d F I T folks
Speaker 1: would have caught something by now. The most likely explanation
Speaker 1: is that the mattys found some way to make vehicles
Speaker 1: that aren't autonomous. Seemed that way, yeah, Manny said. The
Speaker 1: martyrs have tried to hide drivers and autonomous vehicles before
Speaker 1: the s d F watches for it, which means the
Speaker 1: martys have figured out something new, said the journalist, some
Speaker 1: new way to hide a human driver that doesn't register
Speaker 1: on conventional senses. And that way is nanny, Yazi asked.
Speaker 1: Reggie's face reddened. He grunted and swallowed, and then spoke,
Speaker 1: I've got no idea. But I think I know where
Speaker 1: they're putting these new vehicles together. He's Napta's fingers and
Speaker 1: the projected image changed to a map of a city
Speaker 1: called McKinney and the Dallas suburbs. It zoomed into an
Speaker 1: aerial shot of one enormous factory building near the outskirts
Speaker 1: of the city. The Earth BBC pays for access to
Speaker 1: a few independent satellites that overlooked this part of North America.
Speaker 1: We also pay the s DA for limited access to
Speaker 1: some of their drone surveillance footage. From all that, I
Speaker 1: was able to trace out pass for seventy eight of
Speaker 1: the vehicles used in these attacks. Every one of them
Speaker 1: started their journey here. The projection changed again to it
Speaker 1: looked like a stock photograph of the front of a
Speaker 1: large white factory building. The Tesla logo was displayed prominently
Speaker 1: by the front door. It's an old Tesla plant. They
Speaker 1: finished it about a year before the Civil War. It's
Speaker 1: been in and out of operations since then. As best
Speaker 1: as I can tell. The last normal vehicle rolled off
Speaker 1: the line three years ago, before the Heavenly Kingdom started
Speaker 1: cacking things up. McKinney was one of the first parts
Speaker 1: of the old Metroplex to fall, so they've had plenty
Speaker 1: of time to fiddle with shit. Roland ray his arm
Speaker 1: and realized belatedly that the needle was still dangling out
Speaker 1: of it. The old man sighed again, but Rowland bravely
Speaker 1: ignored him. So what does this have to do with
Speaker 1: your captives, he asked. I didn't sign on to help
Speaker 1: you guys spy or blow up a factory. Send this
Speaker 1: data to the SDF for Austin if you think it matters, schoolfucker.
Speaker 1: Mike put a hand forward in a placating gesture. We're
Speaker 1: not asking you to do anything about this, he said,
Speaker 1: but you and Manny will be our only eyes and
Speaker 1: ears inside the Kingdom. If you get a hint of
Speaker 1: how they've accomplished all this, it will be valuable to
Speaker 1: us in the SDF. We'll find a way to make
Speaker 1: it worth your while. I mean, the drinks are free, right,
Speaker 1: Roland asked. I don't know what else you got that
Speaker 1: I might want. Mike smiled and gestured to Roland's backpack
Speaker 1: of narcotics, which sat next to him on the big
Speaker 1: redwood table. By my account, you've gone through about half
Speaker 1: your stash that's coming out here. If you're able to
Speaker 1: get us any worth while info, I'll make sure the
Speaker 1: bags full before you leave. Roland narrowed his eyes. It
Speaker 1: would be a giant pain in the ask to find
Speaker 1: good percoset between here and Cammebltowe. He sighed, alright, fine,
Speaker 1: if we hear something, we'll look into it. But Donald
Speaker 1: your breath. After the meeting, schoolfucker Mike took Rolland down
Speaker 1: to the city's makeshift morgue so he could steal a
Speaker 1: dead man's face. Rolling Fox Militia had found the fresh
Speaker 1: corpse of some guy Roland's rough height and build. He'd
Speaker 1: fled Dallas and made it almost as far as Waco
Speaker 1: before getting hit by a drone attack. The four funk
Speaker 1: had been gutted by shrapnel, but his face was intact
Speaker 1: enough for Roland's chameleon implant. Roland hadn't used the thing
Speaker 1: in so long he worried it might not work. He
Speaker 1: stared down at the man's face and took in his features.
Speaker 1: The fellow was white, but his skin was burnt a
Speaker 1: deep reddish brown. He'd clearly spent a lot of time
Speaker 1: under the Texas sun. He appeared to be in his
Speaker 1: early forties and clearly hadn't taken many juven treatments. His
Speaker 1: hairline was fine, but the man's eyes and the edges
Speaker 1: of his lips were creased with wrinkles. His dead ring
Speaker 1: eyes were blue. There were deep dark bags beneath them.
Speaker 1: Plenty of time to sleep, now, Buddy, Roland thought. He
Speaker 1: closed his eyes, focused on the dead man's face and
Speaker 1: felt his facial bones start to tear themselves apart and
Speaker 1: then reform. He felt the pigments in his skin shift two,
Speaker 1: which was always strange. The sensation of his pigments opening
Speaker 1: up and taking in more light felt a little like
Speaker 1: stripping off a thin layer of clothing. While Roland did this,
Speaker 1: skullfucker Mike ran a scanner over the corpse and located
Speaker 1: the I D card in its right forearm. Mike used
Speaker 1: a tool that looked like a long metal straw to
Speaker 1: suck the I D free and then shoot the tag
Speaker 1: into Roland's own arm. He took a second for Roland's
Speaker 1: body to pull the data. His name was erin Wether's.
Speaker 1: He was single. He worked as a mechanic in Arlington
Speaker 1: for most of his life. He had a clean criminal
Speaker 1: record save for a drunk driving arrest in his early thirties. Roland,
Speaker 1: now Aaron, left the morgue with skullfucker Mike and headed
Speaker 1: for the ride that would take him into the Heavenly Kingdom.
Speaker 1: He used the walk as an opportunity to smoke a
Speaker 1: couple of grams of fine Afghan opium. He was still
Speaker 1: smoking when they reached the battered old pickup truck on
Speaker 1: the outskirts of Rolling Fox campground. The kid Manny was
Speaker 1: in the driver's seat. Hey Manny said, and stared wide
Speaker 1: eyed at him. You look different, he added, with a
Speaker 1: forced smile. Yeah, Roland replied and pulled himself into the
Speaker 1: passenger seat. Mike tapped him on the shoulder, What, Roland asked,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna need your bag, man. He pointed to the
Speaker 1: still smoking opium pipe in Roland's hand, and that the
Speaker 1: Heavenly Kingdoms got a pretty strict policy on intoxicans. You're
Speaker 1: not going to get a backpack full of narcotics through
Speaker 1: their checkpoints. Roland growled at Mike. He couldn't fault the
Speaker 1: other post humans logic, but he'd be damned. He was
Speaker 1: going to spend several days surrounded by a bunch of
Speaker 1: religious nuts and do its sober. Roland locked eyes with skullfucker.
Speaker 1: Mike opened his bag and grabbed a heavy handful of drugs.
Speaker 1: He swallowed them all one by one, pillbottles and baggies,
Speaker 1: vellucinogens and vials of amphetamines. He ordered his gut to
Speaker 1: reduce its acidity so he could store the drugs for
Speaker 1: later regurgitation and can sumption. Then he took one last
Speaker 1: deep hit from his opium pipe and handed it and
Speaker 1: the bag to Mike. Manny popped the car and to drive,
Speaker 1: and they rolled off into the night. They drove in
Speaker 1: silence for a while. Roland's hind brain would have marked
Speaker 1: the time if he hadn't done such a successful job
Speaker 1: of pickling it with opium before they left. The quiet
Speaker 1: got awkward and boring pretty quick though. He considered putting
Speaker 1: on music, but of course his head wear was severed
Speaker 1: from all outside networks. He couldn't connect to the car
Speaker 1: anymore than he could blinks into an email. He decided
Speaker 1: to ask Manny to put something on, guy music, Can
Speaker 1: you music? Roland realized he was slurring and his words
Speaker 1: were not coming out the way he'd intended. The kid
Speaker 1: Manny looked irritated. How fucked up are you right now?
Speaker 1: Roland gave a shrug that meant very You know my
Speaker 1: ass is on the line here too. I'm not made
Speaker 1: of whatever fucked up science you've got in your veins.
Speaker 1: I'd appreciate it if you took this seriously on an
Speaker 1: objective level. The kid's request was fair. This must be
Speaker 1: a big moment for him, going off on a dangerous
Speaker 1: mission to enemy territory, et cetera. But to Roland, this
Speaker 1: was Tuesday or whatever day it actually was. He disabled
Speaker 1: his clock and calendar years ago because funk that noise.
Speaker 1: Funk that noise, he said, without meaning to good God,
Speaker 1: I'm so high? What Manny sounded confused and perturbed. Sorry,
Speaker 1: man Roland rubbed his eyes, a little dazed from the opium.
Speaker 1: I wasn't talking to you. I am the only other
Speaker 1: person in this car, Manny said, yeah, but you know
Speaker 1: I'm highest. Shit. Words come out sometimes they aren't meant
Speaker 1: for anyone, and they just happened. The car slowed, and
Speaker 1: Manny pulled over to the shoulder of the cracked old highway.
Speaker 1: When the car came to a stop, he put his
Speaker 1: head in his hands, and breathed in and then out
Speaker 1: very slowly. It took Roland a moment to realize the
Speaker 1: kid was going through a panic attack. He's never done
Speaker 1: anything like this before. Of course, he's terrified. Roland wondered
Speaker 1: if he should do something to comfort the kid. You know,
Speaker 1: he said, I've killed about twelve thousand armed people. Many
Speaker 1: turned to stare at him. He looked shocked, but Roland
Speaker 1: noted with satisfaction the statement had disrupted his panic. What
Speaker 1: what the I mean, give or take a handful? Roland continued,
Speaker 1: I burnt my brains, killed canner out with crocodile and
Speaker 1: cheap vodka while back. Why would you tell me this?
Speaker 1: Why would you think this would help? Because Rolland said,
Speaker 1: we're about to go into a very dangerous place together.
Speaker 1: You're scared you're gonna die, and I want you to know,
Speaker 1: however many arm nut jobs are in that city, I
Speaker 1: can murder them, all of them. Manny stared at him.
Speaker 1: He still looked terrified and vaguely pissed, but his heart
Speaker 1: rate was steadier, his breathing had slowed. Roland declared his
Speaker 1: gambit a success. Okay, the kid finally said, that's actually comforting.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There was silence for a beat, and then
Speaker 1: Roland spoke again that all sudden, I'd prefer not to
Speaker 1: kill anyone. I'd really prefer that. I was on a
Speaker 1: pretty good no murder streak until a couple of days back.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to stay on the waggins talk well, be
Speaker 1: a good face, man. This will all be easier if
Speaker 1: I don't have to commit murder. Manny looked a bit
Speaker 1: nervous again, but he popped the car into drive and
Speaker 1: rolled back onto the highway. I'll do my best, he said.
Speaker 1: They were an hour outside of Dallas when they hit
Speaker 1: the first checkpoint and the Kingdom's guards ordered them out
Speaker 1: of the truck. Roland stepped out with his hands up.
Speaker 1: Manny had done the same. The guards scanned them, verified
Speaker 1: their status as Republic citizens, and then the questioning started.
Speaker 1: What brings you to the Heavenly Kingdom? Their leader, a
Speaker 1: fat man with the kalashnikov, asked Manny. We heard about
Speaker 1: the amnesty, Manny replied, and we thought it sounded good.
Speaker 1: We we want to live under the rule of God.
Speaker 1: The fat man grunted. So you're both good God fearing men, then, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: Manny nodded, of course, and praise be to God for
Speaker 1: all the victories you've won here. The fat Man sniffed
Speaker 1: at the air and looked over to his partner. I'm
Speaker 1: not wild about another skin here, Hanson. You think we
Speaker 1: need any more Mexicans? Hanson shrugged orders say you the
Speaker 1: faithful are all welcome. Yeah, the fat guy continued, if
Speaker 1: they're faithful. He looked back to Manny, why did it
Speaker 1: take a couple of devout men like yourselves so long
Speaker 1: to make a break for the heavenly Kingdom. We've been
Speaker 1: at this fight for a while, you know, I. I I
Speaker 1: mean we we were scared, and we didn't we weren't
Speaker 1: sure what to believe. What you're supposed to believe is
Speaker 1: the word of God, the man snarled. And that's as
Speaker 1: clear as day to everyone who lives inside the kingdom.
Speaker 1: He looked back at his men and smiled an evil
Speaker 1: wolfie grin Hanson malloy, I think we might need to
Speaker 1: question these two more intensively. Radio command, and that was
Speaker 1: the last thing the fat Man said, probably ever. Roland
Speaker 1: shoved a hand into the martyr's mouth, pulled downwards, and
Speaker 1: shattered his jaw in four places. Then he leapt into
Speaker 1: the others. It went quickly. He gouged eyes, broke jaws,
Speaker 1: severed tongues, and then started in on their limbs. By
Speaker 1: the end of it, all four men were still alive,
Speaker 1: but none of them were in any shape to report
Speaker 1: on what they'd seen. Manny vomited several times. What I
Speaker 1: happened to do? In your best, Manny, Roland asked, more
Speaker 1: irritated than angry. Once he'd finished, the kid recoiled, Roland
Speaker 1: realized Manny had started to shake a little. He also
Speaker 1: realized there was still a part of a man's ear
Speaker 1: in his mouth. Hell, you scared him, Sorry, kid, he said,
Speaker 1: and squatted down next to Manny. Look, the odds were
Speaker 1: always good that this first tryal was going to be
Speaker 1: a scratch. The good news is they've got other checkpoints.
Speaker 1: Will hop on the access road and find the next one.
Speaker 1: It'll be fine. What did you too, Manny started? I
Speaker 1: stopped them from talking, he said, very quickly. No one's dead.
Speaker 1: There'll be uh. He glanced down at the burbling, bleeding
Speaker 1: mess of shattered humans. They'll be I but we need
Speaker 1: to move now before someone else comes along, and I
Speaker 1: gotta break them too. Roland popped open the cab so
Speaker 1: he could change into a clean set of spare clothes.
Speaker 1: He was grateful that skullfucker Mike had packed them bags
Speaker 1: to lend their story extra versimilitude. Manny changed too, and
Speaker 1: once his hands stopped shaking, they rolled off to the
Speaker 1: next check point. Roland tried not to think too much
Speaker 1: about the men he'd just broken. That helped that one
Speaker 1: of them had been an asshole. It helped that none
Speaker 1: of them had died. But still they hit the next
Speaker 1: checkpoint eight minutes later, and things went much better this time.
Speaker 1: For one thing, it was busier. There were already a
Speaker 1: dozen other cars in line when they pulled in. The
Speaker 1: guy who was questioning them was less of an asshole,
Speaker 1: and he seemed to buy Manny's claim. We weren't brave
Speaker 1: enough to make the journey until now, but we prayed
Speaker 1: all night about this. I know it's the right thing
Speaker 1: to do. Roland had to fight to avoid rolling his eyes.
Speaker 1: The line worked, though. The man at the checkpoint waved
Speaker 1: the men and issued them a temporary transit pass. This
Speaker 1: is good for six hours, the checkpoint officer said. That's
Speaker 1: plenty of time to find the immigration center. And poured in.
Speaker 1: If you're caught driving around the Kingdom after that, it
Speaker 1: won't end well for you. They drove on, but it
Speaker 1: was slow going. After the checkpoint, the roads into Dallas
Speaker 1: were choked with ruined vehicles and actual traffic. It looked
Speaker 1: as if hundreds of people had taken a heavenly kingdom
Speaker 1: up on its amnesty offer. Roland couldn't fault them for that.
Speaker 1: The Kingdom seemed to be winning. As they rolled towards Plano,
Speaker 1: they were stopped regularly by patrolling martyrs and asked to
Speaker 1: present their papers, But bit by bit they made their
Speaker 1: way onto and through the packed and crumbling highways of
Speaker 1: Old Dallas. At one point they found themselves installed traffic
Speaker 1: on Highway seventy five, overlooking the cratered ruins of the
Speaker 1: Lakewood Blast. He felt cold October air. He smelled barrel
Speaker 1: fires and heard the sharp crack of rifley. He saw
Speaker 1: flashes of a face it might have been Gem's, and
Speaker 1: he remembered the feeling of a cold metal handle attached
Speaker 1: to something heavy dense. He remembered yelling to a small,
Speaker 1: sweaty hand held tight in his own. He remembered guilt,
Speaker 1: what's up, Manny asked. He looked over at Roland and
Speaker 1: his eyes widened. Dude, you're shaking. Don't tell me you're
Speaker 1: flipping out now. We're way too deep in this thing.
Speaker 1: Roland shook his head. It's it's it's nothing, he said.
Speaker 1: Just a piece of an old memory hit me in
Speaker 1: the face. I think I've was in town when that
Speaker 1: fucker went off. The young man's pupils grew as big
Speaker 1: as saucers virga, he spent. You're fullish shit, Roland shrugged.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe it's just a piece of a memory.
Speaker 1: I might be confusing it with something else. Sure got
Speaker 1: triggered by seeing the blast side, though Manny was not
Speaker 1: satisfied by that answer. I refuse to believe that someone
Speaker 1: could watch an atom bomb evisceraate a city and not
Speaker 1: have a clear memory of it. I had to take
Speaker 1: anti Radtoll's my whole childhood because of that bomb. I
Speaker 1: don't have any clear memories, kid, none from further back
Speaker 1: than about I guess, five or eight years ago. I
Speaker 1: don't have a whole lot of clear memories since then either,
Speaker 1: But that's from the drugs. What the hell happened to you?
Speaker 1: Manny asked, I thought you post humans all had hard
Speaker 1: drives running through your blood. Were you too cheap to
Speaker 1: pay for a photographic memory? Roland scratched his neck. He
Speaker 1: wasn't ditchy, it was a nervous gesture. He was a
Speaker 1: little fascinated at the fact that this line of questioning
Speaker 1: made him feel nervous. He really couldn't remember the last
Speaker 1: time a conversation had made him feel that way. Weird.
Speaker 1: I got hurt, was all he could honestly say. I
Speaker 1: don't remember much of anything from before the revolution. Help,
Speaker 1: I don't really remember the revolution. The line of cars
Speaker 1: started moving again. Many popped the car back into drive,
Speaker 1: and they rolled further into the Heavenly Kingdom. Both men
Speaker 1: were quiet for a minute until Roland spoke again, That's
Speaker 1: why I'm doing this, you know. He wasn't sure why
Speaker 1: he was saying all this, but Roland found he couldn't
Speaker 1: stop himself. Jim, the guy who brought me on, you know,
Speaker 1: some fucking East Coast search and who specializes in post
Speaker 1: human brains. They think they can give me back my memory.
Speaker 1: This rescue mission is That's how I pay for that.
Speaker 1: Are you sure you want those memories? Back. Manny asked,
Speaker 1: what fun do you mean. I don't even know who
Speaker 1: I am or was right now. Wouldn't you want that
Speaker 1: ship back if you lost it? Many glanced over to him,
Speaker 1: they locked eyes. I don't know, the kid said, you
Speaker 1: say you killed at least twelve thousand people. I've been
Speaker 1: working as a fixer for the last two years, and
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of fucked up eyes, dead eyes
Speaker 1: on men who have done too much killing. But none
Speaker 1: of them hold a candle to what's going on there.
Speaker 1: He pointed to Roland's face. I don't know. I got
Speaker 1: a feeling your past as one big fucked up nightmare.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're better off without it. Rowland was quiet for
Speaker 1: a while, and Manny didn't say anything else. They crept
Speaker 1: along and stops and starts, and inched closer to Plano
Speaker 1: as the sun cracked open the horizon. Kid. At a point,
Speaker 1: Roland decided he'd worried about the same thing himself since
Speaker 1: Jim made the offer. Every hour or so, he still
Speaker 1: found himself thinking about the driver of that technical The
Speaker 1: man had reeked of love, and yeah, the guy had
Speaker 1: been fighting to establish a crystal fascist nightmare state. Somehow
Speaker 1: that didn't mitigate his death. In Roland's head, most causes
Speaker 1: were ship. Most men who fought for anything fought for nightmares.
Speaker 1: That guy and all his friends had just been doing
Speaker 1: what felt right based on the ship lives they'd lived.
Speaker 1: The same thing had to be true for most of
Speaker 1: the soldiers and insurgents Rowland had killed. How many civilians
Speaker 1: did you kill, Roland? How many lives did you in
Speaker 1: just to keep the battle drugs flowing? When he thought
Speaker 1: about it that way, he really didn't want his memories back.
Speaker 1: But then, of course there was Topaz. He loved her
Speaker 1: so much, or rather, the pieces of him that remembered
Speaker 1: her loved her so much. Roland knew he wanted those
Speaker 1: memories back. He needed them back. Every time he thought
Speaker 1: about her face, something twisted inside him, as if his
Speaker 1: guts were being tugged in whatever direction he thought she
Speaker 1: might be. It was a weird way to feel about
Speaker 1: a woman he only remembered in fragments. Roland shook his
Speaker 1: head in a nervous attempt to shake the thoughts from
Speaker 1: his mind. Then he stared ahead at the line of cars.
Speaker 1: The immigration center was chaotic, crowded, and heavy with the
Speaker 1: smell of scared humans. It was also a happier place
Speaker 1: than Roland would have expected. Martyrs in fresh, olive drab
Speaker 1: uniforms with bright golden crosses and blasted on the arms
Speaker 1: handed out food, water, and even cups of instant coffee
Speaker 1: to the adults. They posed for pictures with children. The
Speaker 1: whole place almost had the air of a party about it.
Speaker 1: There was someone filming, too. Roland guessed he must be
Speaker 1: a propagandist for the Kingdom, putting together some sort of documentary.
Speaker 1: They stood in line for two full hours before it
Speaker 1: was their turn in front of the intake officer. He
Speaker 1: was an older man with a big, bushy mustache, red jowls,
Speaker 1: and a droopy rooster wattle of a throat. He had
Speaker 1: a whiny voice that baraged them with questions as soon
Speaker 1: as they sat down at his desk. How many apostles
Speaker 1: did Christ have? What was the name of the hill
Speaker 1: where our Lord was crucified? What is the fifth Commandment?
Speaker 1: Manny answered every question while Roland sat there and smiled
Speaker 1: vacantly like an invalid. They decided in the car that
Speaker 1: playing dumb was his best option. He'd probably wind up
Speaker 1: starting a fight if he talked to the man. And besides,
Speaker 1: Boland didn't no shit about the Bible. He didn't even
Speaker 1: have any memory fragments of church services. And why is
Speaker 1: it that you're answering all the questions, young man? The
Speaker 1: officer finally asked about your friend here erin is it? Ah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: Roland replied, I just I don't know. I don't test
Speaker 1: so good. Mom said, I ain't a thinker, but you
Speaker 1: are a Christian. Yes, oh, yes, sir, he nodded enthusiastically.
Speaker 1: I love God. I am all about God. The intake
Speaker 1: officer narrowed his eyes at Roland. Manny flashed him a
Speaker 1: look of fury, and then quickly turned it into a
Speaker 1: smile directed at the officer. He's a he's slow, sir.
Speaker 1: His mama took care of him, but she died in
Speaker 1: a drone strike two months back from the SDF. I'm
Speaker 1: just trying to make sure he's okay. The man grunted,
Speaker 1: and then looked to Roland. I imagine that must make
Speaker 1: you angry, losing your mother. Roland nodded and put on
Speaker 1: his best fasimile of an angry face. They're bad men.
Speaker 1: I want to hurt them back, the intake officer chuckled, Well,
Speaker 1: I've got good news for you. Then. The Heavenly Kingdom
Speaker 1: needs soldiers. I'm sending you both to a training platoon.
Speaker 1: In a few days, you'll be martyrs and you'll have
Speaker 1: a chance to get your revenge. Wait, Mann, he asked,
Speaker 1: were we're being drafted? The officer narrowed his piggy eyes.
Speaker 1: The Heavenly Kingdom is fighting for its life. Boys. Every
Speaker 1: person we let in has a job. There are no
Speaker 1: shirkers here, no layabouts. If you aren't willing to help
Speaker 1: build the Kingdom of God on earth, we have no
Speaker 1: use for you. And I've decided you boys will best
Speaker 1: serve God in our infantry. And just like that, Roland
Speaker 1: found himself inducted into a military for what was at
Speaker 1: least the second time in his life. The intake officer
Speaker 1: gave them more papers, signed a mustering order, and sent
Speaker 1: them off with directions to find the barracks that was
Speaker 1: apparently their new home. Manny handled the rest of the
Speaker 1: interaction well. He even managed to act enthusiastic after his
Speaker 1: first startled outburst, But once they were out of ear
Speaker 1: shot back in the truck, he started to hyperventilate again.
Speaker 1: It looked like another panic attack ERDA. He cursed. This
Speaker 1: was such a fucking bad idea. Hey, Roland patted the
Speaker 1: kid on the shoulder. It's gonna be all right, buddy.
Speaker 1: Some aspect of his comforting tactic must have gone wrong,
Speaker 1: because the kid just looked pissed. You not realize how
Speaker 1: fun this is, Manny shoved rolling back. We're supposed to
Speaker 1: be affecting a rescue here, he yelled. They're going to
Speaker 1: have us drilling and training day and night, will be
Speaker 1: surrounded by soldiers. I thought we'd just be squatting in
Speaker 1: an apartment saying some peace be with you is when
Speaker 1: we went outside, I thought we were going to track
Speaker 1: down those hostages and like a day, Now, what the
Speaker 1: funk are we supposed to do? Roland thought about that
Speaker 1: for a moment. You thought about the martyrs he'd faced
Speaker 1: on the battlefield three days ago in their motley armor
Speaker 1: and battered, rusted weaponry. Look, he said, this for a
Speaker 1: real army, we'd be fucked. But you've seen how these
Speaker 1: guys fight. They had numbers and some professionals, but the
Speaker 1: bulk of their forces are just poor dumb fox with
Speaker 1: a week's worth of training and whatever gun was lying around.
Speaker 1: We're not going to be drilling from dawn till dusk,
Speaker 1: he gestured at the truck's dashboard. They're letting us drive
Speaker 1: our own fucking truck up there. This ain't gonna be
Speaker 1: like a real army. I guarantee you we'll have time
Speaker 1: to do our ship. Stay calm, stick close to me,
Speaker 1: do what I do. I'm real fucking good at soldiering.
Speaker 1: If you follow my lead, they love us, and our
Speaker 1: job will be that much easier. And what if something
Speaker 1: goes wrong? Man, he asked, what if they catch us?
Speaker 1: Roland shrugged. If they catch us, then will already be
Speaker 1: in the middle of their army. That will save me
Speaker 1: so much time. Hey, I'm Robert Evans. I hope you
Speaker 1: enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the chapters to come.
Speaker 1: You can find the free e pub of every chapter
Speaker 1: and eventually the whole book at a t r book
Speaker 1: dot com, complete with illustrations. If you want to support
Speaker 1: me in writing the sequel, you can crowdfund me at
Speaker 1: After the Revolution the Sequel at go fund Me. Just
Speaker 1: type and go fund me after the Revolution the Sequel. Um.
Speaker 1: I'd like my books to always be free, so I'm
Speaker 1: just going to try to crowdfund the next one and
Speaker 1: see how that works. So After the Revolution the sequel
Speaker 1: on go fund Me. You can also find the community
Speaker 1: of fans of this book online at our slash after
Speaker 1: the Revolution on Reddit. So after the Revolution the sequel
Speaker 1: on go fund me and are slash after the Revolution
Speaker 1: on Reddit. A t r book dot com for the
Speaker 1: whole book. Thanks