Sentinel 555: AIR ✔

Cocoon 14

Priest braced himself against the table, taking in deep breaths. "Rather than go in there to shoot everyone as per 554's enthuse...." He scanned the room and said, "Shut the secondary generators off. All of them. Shut 'em off before they break any more. They don't have any explosives and nobody should even have enough strength to do much."

Laura hesitated. "They'll freeze."

"Good. Then it'll remind them why that dome is there. What we should worry more about is that it won't rain." Priest pushed off the table and said, "And I'll contact the 800 block again and have them talk to Gus. He's the one who has to confess to these people what he did. He's the one who has to convince them to stop."

A 600 Volunteer made his way out, following instructions. In his absence, Laura contacted the higher-ups, requesting approval for leaving the Outer Limits without power.

"They'll do it," Ray scoffed. "Any chance to hurt others, they'll jump at that."

Maddie wasn't quite as sure but ten minutes later Laura returned with the news.

"LOLA'll shut the generators off on our word. But I hope it won't come to that."

Bracing himself against the table again, Priest hung his head. "This is like a nightmare. We go in to stop unrest. We go in to keep the peace. We don't go in to attack disillusioned people struggling for a dream."

"Unmask Augustus," Maddie said. "Kill that dream."

Their glares met and Priest nodded. "We'll turn off the heat. Just for an hour. And then I'll go alone."

Chatter filled the room and Laura raised her hand. "We appreciate the 600 block coming and helping for this long. But this is the 500's area. It should be one of ours."

"This is no longer exclusive to the 500s. Many of us still have family inside there." He shook his head. "Take this courtesy, Volunteers, because I won't offer it again."

Laura went with him.

Tonight when Maddie took purchase on the wall, the city looked dead. Nothing flickered in the distance. She shivered but that was expected. Their outpost was designed to ensure few abuses so there was no heat.

Volunteers with rifles stood at the ready, but Ray sat against the wall, looking through a few sweet air packets. Tonight her radio was off for a change.

"Sit the hell down, Mad. It's too cold to get worked up." When she found the one she wanted, she inserted it into the mask of her helmet and dragged it on.

Ray wasn't taking aim for fun tonight at least; she got that resistance she wanted.

"They have a lotta guts. I'll give them that. Ain't got a mijin of a chance, but at least they have guts."

A spotlight followed Laura and Priest's vehicle. It took nearly forty-five minutes before it reached far enough in. Maddie could only make out the light, so she sat and held up a data tablet to watch the broadcast.

Laura spoke first, telling of Gus's illness, and the severity. Not many people came out to watch, but the announcement reached everyone.

"Now how can the man who said he was cured, be dying from the tumors?" Priest asked.

"Lies. You poisoned him," someone shouted.

"Murderers."

A chorus of protests broke out.

And then Priest did something both stupid and unexpected—he exited the vehicle...without a helmet. He held a black cube to his mouth.

"We Volunteers are from you. We don't want to cause you harm or strife. We didn't volunteer ourselves, our families did and by the time we understood what that meant, we didn't complain. Because how could we? How could we say no to our families? How could we say no?"

The crowd quieted but Maddie hoped Laura stayed armed. Desperate people did desperate things.

"Now the heat is off. One generator's damaged and you all seem bent on getting to the others. But look," Priest said, "nobody went after the generators for the main air filters first. Damaging those would give the biggest bang; breaking those would have the outside air pouring in and we can't stop it. So I ask you...why didn't you?"

More doors opened; more people gathered.

Priest's breath showed in the air when he said, "Because you don't know. I don't think all of you support this. You want those filters off? Let's turn 'em off. And who's gonna take in that first breath? Who's gonna have their children take in that first breath? Who wants to be the experiment? Who?"

There was a collective effort for no one to make eye contact.

One woman knelt, head hung like any criminal submitting for surrender. Another followed. The men were slower to give in but did so in time.

Priest brought the box to his lips and said, "We'll do a feeding right now, before dawn."

After he got into the vehicle again, one orb sprung out, and another. The orbs grew eight legs and scurried throughout the streets.

Ray scoffed, "Baggers. Only work for dead or unconscious bodies, my backside. That's how I made it back. Tagged one of mine and instructed it to return to base."

Maddie sympathized. "That was rough. But I appreciate the rescue. And if we didn't...if you didn't, who knows the damage Gus could have done."

"It has to get worse before it gets better, Maddie." Ray dragged herself up to stand. "Change comes with bloodshed."

"But to what end?" Maddie waited for an answer.

"I don't know. I guess we keep going until the Inner City no longer has need for us and we all lose our air. But I don't see that coming."

Ray looked like her old self as she organized her small crew for the feeding. Many Volunteers asked to give more, as there was extra from the days without any.

No, was the answer from above.

In this regard, Ray was right. The cruelty came much faster than kindness.