Sentinel 555: AIR ✔

Augustus 12

Gus knelt and he wasn't the only one. While Gus lowered his cuffed arms, Maddie rested hers on her right knee as a show of respect. Ray, still freshly bandaged, followed suit.

"Idiots. Incompetent morons," a man on the screen bellowed.

Priest stepped in. "With all due respect, sir. We captured him."

"With two arms."

The complaints didn't stop there. Laura got it even worse.

"Give us one good reason your 500 block shouldn't be demoted to the ones."

No one answered. After a short bout of silence, Laura got on one knee as well.

"We humbly apologize for this oversight. We will carry out the proper penance immediately. Whatever retribution we can give, we won't argue it."

"The Outer Limits won't be the only ones going hungry," the man said. "As the 500 block has just forfeited four days' worth of food."

Laura choked back a gasp. "Sir. Without—how—how can we feed the Vagrants?"

"We do not care."

Though Laura opened her mouth to protest further, Priest shook his head. He nodded in agreement with the officials on the screen.

"Consider it done, sir. Now for Augustus." At the silence that followed, Priest told one of his colleagues, "Get the axe."

"Take his head," a woman on the screen instructed.

Priest nodded. "Understood."

"My head? For what? My arm woulda been enough. I was a Volunteer. Don't I have any rights? Gave my entire life to this place and for what? For what? I don't even get tried in my own block. I get hidden here and murdered. And what was my crime? Theft? I stole some food but look at that fat pig on the screen, taking away your hard earned, hard fought food without even a second thought. And it's easy because he doesn't care one lick about you. All you Volunteers in here take heed. I'm one of you. I'm a Volunteer till death and I don't even get a fair trial."

Gus ran out of breath, huffing and wheezing.

The people on the screen were restless and they had a right to be—Priest wouldn't swing the axe.

"I have a cure," Gus said, a tear running down his cheek. "I have a cure for the tumors. That's what I was doing in the Outer Limits, looking for the cure. I have a cure."

Priest looked up at the screen again, awaiting the signal.

The man nodded. Priest swung.

Maddie caught the axe. She wasn't sure where that power and boldness came from, but she interfered.

The betrayal in Priest's eyes faded with a pair of cuffed hands around her neck.

"You caused this," Gus said, bracing his knee against Maddie's back. "Then you can come with me."

Ray snatched the large axe from Priest and charged.

"Hold. Wait. Hold on." Footsteps closed in, and after much fumbling, Andy spilled out onto the floor. "Wait. Wait. Let's hear him out." He looked up at the screen and pleaded. "Sirs, let's hear him out. Augustus Butler's last examination showed numerous tumors. In fact, he was lost in an assignment in the Old City and left for dead because he was estimated to only have days to live. That is why no one searched for him."

Maddie struggled to breathe. She took little comfort in the fact that Priest watched her, terrified and helpless.

"So let me examine him," Andy begged. "If he's got information—a miracle cure, we cannot ignore that."

Ray stepped forward despite the stillness. Gus backed away, threatening to tighten his grip. Ray twirled the axe. "He doesn't need both arms for that examination, though."

She swung.

"No. You idiot." Andy gasped.

Maddie slid from Gus's grip and the man caught the axe on the thick cuffs. The metal held but a bigger problem presented itself.

"Ray," Maddie called out, "he comes from the 800s."

Ray stopped mid-swing, eyeing Gus who took a fighting stance. "Oh damn."

Gus jumped up, catching Ray in the chest. He landed and kicked the axe in its fall.

Priest dodged it by fractions. He was visibly shaken but played it off well as he tried to reason. "You still have the cuffs, comrade. You won't get far."

Chest heaving from the exertion, Gus said, "You want your cure? Any of you? You want it? Or do you want to keep dying for these evil sacks of flesh who think they have a right to reap everything from us. Touch me and you'll never get it."

Andy's shaky voice came with a squeak. "How about we make a deal? Let's all relax. You get to keep your arms, too. Huh? How about it? What is it you need."

"I want food," Gus said. "Food for the Outer Limits. The same amount as each Volunteer gets."

A glance at the screen revealed no protest so Andy raised his hands and nodded. "Okay. We can put that on the list of demands. What else?"

"Air."

The smile that time became wide. Andy felt at ease. "Of course. Everyone wants air. No worries on this front. Those old air filters in the Outer Limits, consider them no more. We've been meaning to upgrade them for ages now. What else?"

"No." Gus demanded, "Air. Fresh air. I want the dome removed."

Silence fell over the room and even Priest blinked at him. "He's crazy," Priest said. "Listen to him. He's crazy. He doesn't have a cure. He's lost his mind. He's crazy."

Gus's once confident expression wavered. "I'm not crazy. And I've got the cure."

Priest regarded him in sympathy. "Too long in the Old City by yourself with no one. That had to be tough." This time when he glanced at the screen again and received a nod, he stepped back and said, "Rifles ready."

"No, no, no. At least let me scan him first," Andy lamented. "Let me scan him first."

Maddie stood, despite the rifles at her back aimed at Gus.

"I'm sorry, Augustus," she said.

"I'm not crazy," Gus whispered. "I'm not crazy." He twisted the cuffs, struggling to get free. "I'm not crazy. You are all the crazy ones. I'm not crazy. And you're dying for nothing."

Gus was in motion, moving so fast that Maddie came to a grim conclusion. "He's still wearing his armor."

One rifle fired, then two. Gus curled into a ball, protecting his head. Black slime shot from his back and encompassed him.

Priest let out a gasp. "That coward."

Andy bounced with each step. "Brilliant, brilliant. He's alive."

Ray shrugged. "It's just the protective casing." She stepped closer and put her gun against the would-be head. "One shot'll do."

"Don't you dare," Andy wailed.

Priest shook his head; he agreed. "Killing a man—a Volunteer when he can't even look at you. I won't do that."

"Pull the trigger," the woman on the screen ordered.

"We can't pull the trigger," Priest said. "He's a Volunteer and he can't see who's killed him. This is not justice." At the silence, he regarded Gus again in sympathy. "Is that what'll become of all of us? Any of us who work for the cause and get ill like this?"

It wasn't Priest's way to challenge authority but in this regard he was serious and well justified.

"The cocoon will break in a day. And then we'll do it properly."