Resurrection by Michael Clements

Author:Michael Clements [Clements, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

THEIA

Military personnel interacted with Fallon as if she belonged to their ranks. Everyone’s voice was inaudible to Theia, but that didn’t strike her as intentional. The helicopter was loud, but she also thought, Maybe they think I wouldn’t understand what they’re saying. Now twenty minutes into the ride home, she was bored. Riding in an aircraft had already lost its novelty. She could hardly see through the windows, and nobody even attempted to converse with her. The feeling was worse than being a fish out of water. Well, I’m not dying like a fish would be, she thought. She just had strong desire to be important like the rest of them.

One sporadic moment at a time, she was able to catch phrases and sentences that made sense. It sounded as if the Army was talking to Fallon about what parts of Portland they used to control. A lot of past tense talk. We’re losing again? she wondered. But things were getting better….

“Mom, how close are we?”

Mercy answered, “I don’t know. Half way, maybe. We’re going to downtown first, though.”

“Downtown? Why?”

“Sounds like the troops started having some issues again.” Theia looked at Mercy expectedly, hoping to hear more details. Mercy seemed to pick up on her signal. “They executed some war criminals, including Paul Ritter. After that, some people went crazy. A few neighborhoods are up in flames now.”

“We’re burning houses down?” asked Theia, terrified.

“No, of course not us. The people are. Citizens. We need to figure out how to stop it. Looks like the troops need to talk to all the civilian leaders, like Fallon. A couple leaders are refusing to cooperate, though. We might need to force them to cooperate.”

Theia scowled, feeling that would be the wrong course of action. “Wait,” she said. “Force them to cop-erate…co-wopper… Ugh!” She wanted to say the word correctly, like all words she used.

“‘Cooperate,’” Mercy said for her. “I know what you mean.”

“Force them to … do that? Isn’t that wrong? Isn’t that what everybody’s mad about in the first place?”

Mercy shook her head. “Not exactly. Things aren’t that simple. One of reasons for the conflict is that General Alexander isn’t–”

“Ms. Espinoza,” said Fallon. When Mercy looked at her, she was shaking her head.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Mercy. “Sorry, Theia, looks like I can’t talk about this with you.”

“I can help. Why won’t they let me help?”

“Nobody thinks an eleven-year-old can help with much. Now that the troops are seeing you for the first time, though, I’ve been hearing them talk about your father a lot.”

Theia nearly responded, but she started thinking about her father, and swiftly lost the energy to speak. Mercy didn’t notice she suddenly became quiet; she simply went back to waiting patiently for the chopper to land. Theia decided likewise, and it was back to how things were before. This time, however, she paid no attention to the chatter surrounding her.

A buzzer sounded. One of the Army personnel informed everyone that they were nearing downtown. Shortly after, Theia heard something that caught her attention like nothing before it.

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