Source...
Slumped against the window on the cold concrete floor, minutes passed before Amos grabbed his head and jerked it down into the palm of his hands, rocking back and forth. The room inched closer as his head throbbed. Am I poisoned by the food? The thought sickened him further. But how did the person who threw the rock know?
To die in this manner alone was the furthest plan he had for his future when offered a position at ICO. He suspected his family was the instigator behind the offer since they didn't believe he possessed the initiative to care for himself. Now, his imagined bellyache and erratic thoughts concerning the food were interrupted by a slightly familiar voice.
"Amos," the voice whispered loud enough several times through the window.
He rose and moved closer to the thin curtain. Standing against the edge of the window dressed in dark gray tactical gear, an advanced breathing apparatus, and cap to disguise himself from the security cameras, stood a figure, the shape of which resembled a tall male.
Amos listened quietly while the voice called out again, "It's me, Julius." A moment passed, then he whispered, "Julius Hempfort."
Amos heaved a heavy, relieved breath. He grasped the cold bars and leaned his face against them. Rain beat down against the bars, but through the swirling storm, he knew the person to be true. It was his youngest sister, Annetta's, husband. His brother-in-law. The only person besides Annetta and his friend, Roy Watson, who believed in him and disbelieved the ICO's influence.
"Back away from the window and anchor yourself under the bed," Julius ordered.
Amos didn't understand the plan but rushed toward the far side of the room then inched under the bed and secured his face against the wall, then wrapped his face with the bedsheet, placing the pillow on top.
The next moment, a medium-sized explosion rocked the room. Not powerful enough to cause damage to the entire complex, but sufficient to break through a concrete wall. Rocks and debris tumbled inward and covered the concrete floor.
Amos heard sirens blast throughout the facility as alarms were triggered. Within seconds, he felt the pressure of the frame on his body lift as Julius raised the bed and lifted him up.
They hugged briefly. Immediately, the door to his room swung opened. Julius stared at Amos. "We can't chance going out through the hallway," he whispered, "else risk being detected. Annetta specifically ordered me to retrieve you through the blasted wall."
Suddenly, a flurry of activity crammed into the hallway reacting to the alarms. Julius grabbed Amos by the shoulder, turned toward the window, and quickly led him carefully through the small hole.
Once outside they both ran.
Hugging the back of the buildings and dodging between their alleys, the two managed to escape detection of the security cameras. All the while, rain poured as thunder clapped. Around the next corner at the edge of the alleyway stood a slight figure whose face he knew as the only family member who cared about his well-being. He rushed to Annetta and embraced her.
"No time for a reunion, brother. Roy sent us," Annetta quickly explained, out of breath. "This way," she pointed.*
They managed to maneuver their way through ICO's complex to the edge of the town. Once there, Julius guided them toward a large clump of brush. They instantly pulled away small branches and a cover that hid the vehicle.
The car sped away from the ICO North complex down a rode away from the highway so they could hopefully remain undetected. Once she felt comfortable enough, Annetta turned to Amos. It surprised her when he spoke.
"How did you know I was being held at this facility in the north?"
She began to explain what she and her husband were able to uncover these past few years. "Roy Watson got word to us via code. This past five years, all citizens are being monitored and our conversation recorded. I managed to secure a position at ICO North with my degree as a nurse and with the help of our dear sister, the ICOs 'mouthpiece, and was immediately accepted. They must be compensating her for the positive propaganda she spreads on their behalf."
Amos stared at his little sister. He was under the impression that she looked upon Cunnelda as a mentor. He had no idea she possessed an independent mind with the ability to engage in critical thinking where the ICO was concerned. But then, she had Julius.
Annetta continued with a noticeable sneer on her lip and contempt in her voice.
"That's how I gained the schematics to the complex and with Roy's assistance. As far as we can tell, the ICO isn't an institution created for the "good of the people or to promote their welfare." It's like a machine spewing out a infectious disease. Their cover is humanity's savior". But we have yet to learn of anyone being saved by "the cult", as you labeled it. But you couldn't convince our follower family members who shunned you for not worshiping their society's Wealth Accumulation Value Echelon scheme, referred to as WAVE."
He sat razor stiff and listened intently. All that, even he hadn't unraveled. But Annetta was always intelligent, he smiled. Now it all made sense why Cunnelda embraced the ICO. Her thirst for wealth blinded her to the ill intentions and deeds of that organization.*
Amos lay his head back as Julius now explained his experiences in the military which had been recently rendered defunct. It was the cool rain's effect that his parents would show themselves during his escape. He jerked his head toward Annetta. "Have you heard from mom and dad?"
Annetta didn't answer. Instead, she stared out the passenger window. The storm had eased. She spotted flames erupting from the farthest city manufacturing plant facing west. The closer they got, the more intense the odor.
Amos took the silence to mean the unthinkable. He'd clung to the slender thread that was the fragment of life hoping he'd live to see his parents again. A strange pain rose in his throat thinking of the "mysterious clinic" as Roy referred to the institution. He turned and stared out the opposite window, not asking nor caring where they were headed.
Part 6:
The farther from the ICO North Complex they traveled, the weaker the storm became as if the atmosphere was punishing ICO for kidnapping and supplanting an society unaware. To Amos' surprise, the oppressive, stifling sensation lifted as he breathed in deeply. He scoured the surrounding countryside. Dappled among the sparse trees and withered landscape were small remnants of the old days. The days before the emergence of the ICO. He bolted upright and remembered. It had been years since I ventured outdoors into the wild. I'd almost forgotten the spirit of freedom that envelopes you among nature.
But that feeling of freedom didn't last.
Now, he watched solemnly with a scowl as high tech fencing with sharp, barbed wiring meant to maim stretched as far as he could see along the highway. Trespassing signs that warned of severe consequences if violated lined the fencing at various junctions. Although he didn't understand the root causes of each message, a hint of a smile became visible as he nodded.
Retaliation in the form of graffiti and vehement protest language was sprawled over each sign.
Annette caught the end of Amos's scowl. She turned to explain. "Vast areas between the ICO Complexes were condemned and forbidden to enter almost immediately. No longer can residents explore and enjoy natural lands."
"And the reasons given to take away the natural environment that wasn't theirs in the first place to claim?" he blurted.
"Advanced technological equipment detected harmful levels of soil and water contamination. No reports were ever issued and available to the residents. ICO Television brings us their news daily."
Amos turned his head and continued to stare out the window, closing his thoughts to the events he surmised would come. Immediately, he remembered the collection of books titled "2084 And Beyond". He'd managed to secure a copy before it was banned and all editions confiscated. Visions of the locked chest in his basement flashed across the passenger window.
Almost a year had passed since he'd seen home. But he didn't dare return. His name would surely be added to the list, as was Roy, Annetta, and Julius. Anyone with sense enough to listen between the newscasters' accounts of how society had improved for the better.
Amos' immediate concern was survival without a steady means of the meager compensation received as a Level 1 Janitor. His pulse beat faster. He couldn't remember which chapter he'd read in the banned book that encouraged financial freedom. The difficult part was believing the warnings that their economy could collapse under the right circumstances. A fascinating read. But after all, it was only fiction. Scenarios no one had ever heard or considered a possibility conjured up in the mind of a leftist dissenter, as the author was portrayed.
So why did I hide the book after it was banned and place my earnings in the bottom of the locked chest in the basement? Amos pondered.
The reason was that evidence slowly unfolded and trickled thoughout his nightly thoughts as he sat in front of his fireplace that raised goosebumps of the possibility the unknown author was on to something. Whether the author had gained inside information on the inner workings of the ICO as an elite member gone rogue or disgruntled, Amos didn't know.
Reflecting on the events these past ten years, the veil had begun to lift. And underneath, sufficient evidence, enough to reveal minor discrepancies between their promised words of an advanced and improved society and subsequent actions, slowly floated to the surface.
The closer Julius came to the intersection connecting the highway, the more pungent the odor from the direction of the factory rose up and spread through the vehicle's air system and slammed them in the face. Their only solution was to roll up the window.
Instantly, Julius pointed in a direction behind the fencing. Sirens in the distance steadily advanced. Annetta and Amos jerked their heads around and spotted the commotion.
Balls of fire spewed from machinery as if clearing an area of landscape. Brightly colored uniforms worn by officers from the Security Holding Unit of ICO North came into view as they sat high in the harvesting equipment.
The next moment, the outline of people running through tall blades of grass speckled across the field materialized. It wasn't the clearing of land. Sparks of flames followed the individuals and came within inches of their backsides as they ran wildly on foot trying desperately to escape the doom closing in.
The signs did warn of severe consequences for trespassers, they silently noticed. Deep sorrow settled in. But nothing could be done to assist those citizens without exposing themselves. They knew full well the consequences of breaking any ICO rules.
Well, the cigarettes under the floorboard didn't count in Amos' mind. They were a survival necessity. Julius interrupted his thoughts.
"It's best we abandon this route and travel the back roads," he stated, his voice crackling. "Don't want to get tangled up in those harrow blades. No winning that battle. Even if we somehow manage to survive the flames, we'll be sentenced back without legal process to ICO's North Security Holding Unit."
Another five miles away from the ICO North Complex, they finally arrived at the destination. By the look of the building and surrounding acreage, the once thriving businesses resembled a startling scene from a bygone era before modernization.
Annetta pointed in the direction away from the building as a tall figure suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. Standing guard was a friendly face they recognized.
Roy moved in closer and beckoned them to continue on an overgrown path littered with trash that led to the back of the warehouse.
"It's good to see you, my friends," Roy announced, smiling. "Didn't know if you'd make it out of that place. Quickly, park in one of the loading docks. I'll secure the door."
Afterward, Roy led Amos, Annetta, and Julius, not fugitives, into the warehouse.
To their surprise, Benetiz strode over to the door and greeted them, his hand extended as if greeting old friends.
Shocked, Amos stepped back. He immediately remembered Benetiz's part in strapping him to the gurney for transport to ICO North. He also remembered the orderly's nonchalant attitude toward his captivity as he obediently followed his superior, Matchov's, orders.
His nose flared. A splash of anger crossed his face when he didn't acknowledge the act of friendship, other than to clench his fist, ready to punch his jailer in the face.
It was Annetta who witnessed Amos' refusal and rushed to explain.
"Amos, this is Benetiz. He's an orderly I've worked with in the hospital system whom I trusted to keep an eye on Matchov and document which ICO Complex citizens were being taken. I was as shocked as Julius when he reported to me that you were being taken to ICO North. He also knows in which complex our and his parents, along with thousands of other elderly citizens, are detained. The mystery we haven't figure out yet is why. Were it not for him and Roy, you wouldn't be standing here now."
Reluctantly, Amos accepted Benetiz's hand. His anger subsided, and he shook it heartily when he realized that Benetiz knew where his parents were hidden.
He glanced over Benetiz' shoulder to the horde of men, women, and children huddled together in the warehouse. What is this place, and why did Julius bring us here? he probed as hundred other questions slithered through his thoughts.
Unable to fully reconcile his current role, Amos did remember the odd look on Benetiz' face and his words:
"No one knows anything really about The Interdisciplinary Consortium Orbit. It's best not to," he replied cautiously to Matchov in a strained voice.
Amos shot a confused glance toward Julius before Benetiz interrupted.
"Come meet others in our small, but growing group whose silver coins were deactivated. I'll explain why. But the gist is that the promised Noedstonian society and that silver coin has undermined, pitted citizens against each other, and truly warped into the survival of the richest."
[to be continued]
18 December 2024, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2590: fragment of life
28 January 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2630: implication
26 January 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2628: kick him harder
29 January 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2631: discuss this more
4 february 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2637: mysterious clinic
5 february 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2638: Did you authorise this?
20 february 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2653: survival of the richest
If you'd like to return to the beginning of my series, here are the previous parts:
SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/
1 What is Stable Diffusion? StarryAI.Com. Online at: https://starryai.com/stable-diffusion
