Renegades of PEACE (Secrets of PEACE Book 2) by T. A. Hernandez

Author:T. A. Hernandez [Hernandez, T. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sanita Street Publishing
Published: 2017-07-26T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

People continued to disappear from the neighborhood in Austin where Tripp and Zira were staying. At first, there were only whispers. Zira caught snatches of secret conversations sometimes when she walked through the building.

“Did you hear about Mark from number twenty-three?”

“No. What happened?”

“Some E-1s hauled him off last night. Claimed he was spreading ‘anti-Project ideology’ in some of his CL messages to his sister.”

“Seriously? Just for that? I knew they could monitor all of our messages, but I didn’t think anyone actually bothered.”

“Apparently they do now. Gotta watch what you’re saying and who you’re saying it to.”

The next day it was the dealer who supplied many of the neighborhood’s residents with their narcotic of choice. “Tasha said they shot him right then and there—didn’t even give him a chance to surrender or plead his case or nothing.”

A few days later, a woman on the next block was dragged screaming out of her apartment on charges of hiding a third child. Unit C swept in to take the baby, and unit E-1 sent the mother to a labor camp on a twenty-year sentence. The two older children, ages five and seven, were left alone for three days before a neighbor found out and took them to a distribution center to get help. The elderly woman who’d gone through the streets spreading that news vanished shortly afterwards.

People stopped whispering after that.

The media continued to spout the same Project propaganda as before, though it seemed especially perverse now that Sonny and others had suffered the consequences of Ryku’s extreme crackdown on crime. Occasionally, the chairman himself was interviewed on various programs. Tripp watched every single one, even though he was always visibly upset by what Ryku was saying. “You know you can just shut it off,” Zira told him as they watched one such interview over supper.

Tripp shook his head and kept his eyes fixed on the computer display. “I want to know what he’s telling people. It’s a good reminder of why I joined the rebellion in the first place.”

Zira shrugged and turned her attention back to the broadcast. The interviewer was prattling on about the Project’s accomplishments while Ryku sat comfortably in a leather armchair that made him seem even more imposing than usual. “We’re starting to see an America that’s safer than it’s been in its entire history,” said the interviewer. “The way you’ve managed to transform this country in just a few short months is truly incredible. It makes me think we should have done this years ago.”

“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Ryku said. “Despite the horrific tragedy we suffered with the deaths of the other chairmen, everyone in the PEACE Project rose to the challenge. I knew we needed to make some changes, and we’re already beginning to see the positive results of that. The people I work with are smart and dedicated. They understand what’s at stake, and I consider myself privileged to have such a great team behind me. I also appreciate the cooperation we’ve received from the public as we’ve incorporated these changes.

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