Shouting came from the restless streets below that started in the dead of night. Compared to Munich Hill, Bethune was insanely noisy at the oddest hours. Earlier, one neighbor was playing music so loud, Darius swore it sounded like the speaker was right near his head. He found it hard to sleep on the lumpy couch and longed for his own bed. He missed rolling over and smelling Nora’s lavender scented hair and feeling her warm body. And of course, he missed Lily bursting into their bedroom as early as possible on a Sunday morning.
Chanting rose in the united voice of a crowd from the streets, stirring his restless curiosity. He rose and looked out the window behind the kitchen table. Below, he saw a formation of at least 100 people carrying torches and banners he couldn’t read from his viewpoint. He thought to write it off as another Bethune oddity, but he stayed to watch because he had nothing better to do. Without the light of their torches, the growing mob would be in darkness because Bethune’s electric grid went down every evening between 1am and 4am to save electricity. In contrast, Munich Hill saw a grid shut down once a week for an hour. The chanting grew louder as more people joined the group below, and he wondered what was really going on down there.
A bedroom door opened, and Janelle appeared from the hallway, half asleep and hugging herself in her long white robe. “What’s going on?” She wiped her eyes as she whispered.
“I don’t know, but it looks like a late-night protest.” He said, although he couldn’t recall the last time anyone protested for anything. Bethune was full of surprises.
The Faction was quick to disband such gatherings, even if they were peaceful. They fiercely opposed individuality and protests. The goal for the Faction was a collective unity of thinking and living in every way possible, like cattle.
Janelle peered down at the crowd. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t look good.” She walked over to the kitchen to get a drink of water from the pitcher in the fridge. “I really hope they don’t stay there all night. I have to go to work in the morning.”
As she filled a glass of water, Darius watched much of the group move to the empty square. Some lingered away from the group, while others moved closer, blending in with their comrades. The sea of voices fell and rose with chants and then became quiet, as they all seemed to listen to someone. A single voice faintly spoke, but neither Janelle nor Darius could make out what was being said.
“It’s the Uprising.” Janelle finally said, as she stood next to Darius, looking down at the crowd. She appeared so suddenly, like a ghost, it nearly startled him to hear her voice right next to him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I think they are. They were chanting, ‘bring down the Faction’ right before they went silent. I have good hearing.”
He wondered how a protest was going to help the people below. It was a lost cause, but perhaps it was the start of something else, something bigger. Either way, all the noise they were making should stir enough sleepy residents to sound the alarm to the GPU. Bethune didn’t have a police force to rely on, so they relied on the gangs for protection. The irony was that residents couldn’t move out of the Black Society cities, but they could move between them. It left them with little choice but to rely on gang militias and each other for help.
“Would the Demoiselle come out to disband them, or are they sympathetic to the cause?”
“No, they don’t care about things like this. Those bitches just look out for themselves most of the time.” Janelle replied with a scoff as she leaned against the window frame with her left arm and studied the people below, “we’re on our own with this but I think we better keep an eye out, if the GPU shows up, don’t be surprised if they knock on doors.”
“Well, hopefully they wait until after 6am.” He said
“Yeah, let’s hope, otherwise I’d be throwing your ass out on the street. I won’t risk my life for you or the life of my family no matter what Elan says.”
He could see the white of her eyes in her glare.
“I know, you don’t have to keep reminding me.” He said under his breath, keeping his eyes fixed on the crowd.
A cheer rose, followed by hand clapping as people moved around and gather in various groups in which a few broke off and out of sight. A larger group moved to the middle of the street and others fell in behind them, torches lighting their way. Soon, they started walking down the street and chanting again as they moved beyond their line of sight, taking the noise of their procession with them.
“Well then, maybe we can get a little more sleep after all.” Darius said as he shuffled his feet past her, heading down the hall with one hand tracing the wall to help guide him through the dark.
“If you’re going to the bathroom, don’t flush the toilet or use the sink,” Janelle called after him, still looking outside, “they turn the water off too for a few hours in the middle of the night... well, actually you have one flush and that’s it.”
Darius looked perplexed at her silhouette near the window, but since she couldn’t see his expression, he responded with a simple, “Ok.” Indeed Bethune was full of surprises.
So, in the dark, he navigated to the bathroom, closed the door, and took careful aim at the porcelain throne. If he thought the nightly power outage was excessive, the water outage was downright ridiculous. When he finished, he put the toilet seat back down and flushed, remembering that Nora always appreciated a closed lid.
As he reached for the doorknob in the dark, a sudden wave of energy rumbled the very foundation of the floor. The walls shook with trepidation and the mirror rattled while the pipes of the sink moaned on the brink of bursting. Loud crashing, thundering sounds accompanied the assault, and he thought he heard the walls crack.
He lost his balance but found it again as he used the trembling wall for support. The noise was deafening, as if an explosion had gone off in the apartment itself. He hurried out of the bathroom as everything stopped shaking. Sirens rang out from the streets below, and the children and Loren ran out of their rooms in fear, screaming.
Monica ran into her mother’s arms while Jacob frantically searched for Janelle, who had taken cover under the dining table. Darius gathered with the family by the window as they peered outside at the building across the street that was now barren of life. His heart raced as he saw the smoke and fire rise around the building across from them and people rushing out of it below.
Another explosion went off, people screamed, and the fire raged on through the windows of the 2-story building. Janelle looked at her watch and said calmly, “well it’s 4am so the electricity should be back on. I’m going to make some coffee. If I have to run for my life later, I want to be wide awake.”
“Mom, what’s going on?” Jacob asked with a child’s concern. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know honey,” Janelle said, “but let's just be ready for anything, ok?” He nodded as she placed a hand on his cheek. “Why don’t you go get dressed just in case. We don’t know if that fire is going to stay there or when someone will show up to put it out. Let’s be ready to go if we need to.”
It surprised Darius how she stayed placid and how it helped to keep the children calm despite the calamity. Jacob went into the room and dressed in a warm pullover sweater and jeans, his long wool socks, and tennis shoes. Loren instructed her children to do the same. With the children occupied, she took the time to get information from Janelle and Darius. Janelle busied herself making coffee and breakfast like it was just another day while Darius told Loren everything he saw happen below. Loren looked extremely worried, her eyes darting as she bit her bottom lip.
She sighed, “I knew they were planning attacks on different points of interest, but I didn’t think they’d pick a place right across the street from us.”
“What is that place?” Asked Darius.
“It’s a manufacturing storehouse for uniforms and other supplies, mostly for the GPU.” Loren replied, “but it may also house weapons. I don’t know for sure.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So the big Uprising plan was to bomb clothing facilities?”
Loren shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I really don’t know what places were on their list. This could have been just some place to target to make some noise. I’m going to go get dressed.” She walked down the hall to her bedroom when another explosion went off in the distance. This time it was far enough that it didn’t shake the high-rise they were in. Darius rushed to the window to see if he could see anything, but the explosion must have gone off somewhere else, out of view.
“Maybe we should just get out of here. Something tells me shits about to go down.” Janelle said as she scrambled eggs in a bowl with a fork.
“And go where?” Darius asked. He knew where he planned to go, but what about them? Did Janelle have an escape plan in case she ever needed to flee Bethune? She poured the eggs into the hot pan and the melted butter sizzled as the eggs formed into a fluffy mass.
“I don’t know, maybe my parent’s place.” She answered as she turned the sausage around in another pan. “Do you want toast?”
She didn’t actually wait for him to answer as she placed two slices into the toaster. She moved without a care in the world, yet he knew she was thinking of what to do next. Even if they went to her parents’ house, they wouldn’t be able to stay in their one-bedroom place for long. It was also a two-hour ride by train, and who knew if the train was even running.
Another explosion went off, this time sounding a little further than the other two, and Darius wondered how much more of the city was going to be destroyed. Loren emerged from the bedroom fully dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt and jeans and relieved Janelle of her cooking duties so she could dress.
Darius did the same and excused himself to the bathroom again to swap out his t-shirt and shorts for black jeans and a blue long-sleeved button up. He ran his fingers through the short strands of his hair and splashed water on his stubbled face. He gave into the idea of growing a beard, but he hardly recognized himself in the mirror as he ran his fingers through his closely cropped hair. When he emerged from the bathroom, the kids sat at the table eating breakfast. Loren was filling their plates with eggs, sausage, and toast and being a better hostess than Janelle was, she had already served his plate as well.
Within minutes of them sitting down to eat, there was a knock at the door. Everyone stopped and looked at each other with fear, worry, concern. Loren rose and put a hand up for everyone to stay seated. “I’ll get this.” She said as she put her napkin down and went to answer the door. Everyone seemed to hold their breath and then let out a sigh of relief to see Elan had arrived and it wasn’t the GPU coming to make arrests.
“I’m glad you’re all awake.” Elan said as he came in.
“Dad.” Jacob rose from his chair.
Elan hugged him quickly and then said, “we need to move fast because there’s a lot going on out there. Janelle, I think you better come with Darius and I. Drop us off at my job and then take my car and come back for everyone. I think you should probably go to your parent’s house for now. Bethune isn’t safe, and the GPU is going to crack down.”
Janelle nodded. “Alright, let’s go then. I’m ready.” She said as she created a half sandwich with the rest of her eggs.
“One more thing.” He handed the uniform to Darius. “Put that on. It’s your new gear for the road.”
“I’ll get some clothes packed for us.” Loren said as Darius looked over the uniform quickly and then went to the bathroom to change again, “and be careful. We’ll be waiting for you in the lobby when you get back. I’ll call Tash too, so she knows where we’re going.”
“Yes, no school.” Chanted the kids.
The sisters hugged, and Janelle hoped it wouldn’t be the last time.