QUAESTIO

Sally & Howard

Sally clamped her hands over her ears as white noise shot through the lounge room. Muttering bitterly to herself she reached for the remote and switched the TV off. That had been the second time the connection had cut out that morning and she was, quite frankly, done with technology. She would have to watch the presidential speech on the evening news recap.

Slowly, Sally pushed herself to her feet. A spot of lunch would certainly keep her occupied until her grandson, Howard, would get home from university.

Her legs were a little stiff after sitting down and she had to awkwardly shuffle into the kitchen next door. I wish I’d grabbed my walking stick from my room. The kitchen had an acrid smell to it that Sally didn’t want to think about, likely caused during the party Howard had held last night. She’d done her best to wash the smell away at breakfast time, but even after she’d wiped the tabletops and mopped the floors the smell prevailed. Sighing she reached into the bread bin, but her hand froze half way in. She’d heard a gunshot, she was sure of it.

Warily she walked over to the window, leaning on the benchtop as she went. But before she reached the window she heard the front door crash open. She flinched at the sound and slapped a hand over her heart as her legs temporarily gave way beneath her. Cursing her frail body Sally grabbed the edge of the benchtop to steady herself and shouted, “Howard, is that you?”

Footsteps in the lounge room were all she received in response. Sally’s heart beat faster and faster as the footsteps came towards the kitchen door. The owner of the footsteps was still hidden behind the wall when Sally tried to call out again.

“Who is it?” her voice broke. Suddenly, a woman in grey and black camouflage stepped into the kitchen. In her arms she held a military standard semi-automatic machine gun. Once she spotted Sally, she pivoted on the balls of her feet and levelled the gun at Sally’s chest.

“Ma’am, please remain calm. I have orders from the Quaestio high command to provide protection in all civilian homes within the general vicinity of the dock. Do you live alone?”

“What?” Sally blinked as she stared down the barrel of the semi-automatic gun.

“Do you live alone?” The woman demanded loudly.

“N, n..no,” Sally stammered. “My grandson lives with me, but he’s not here at the moment.”

At this the woman frowned and flung a glance over her shoulder into the lounge room. Abruptly several gunshots went off, from what sounded like next door. Sally’s eyes widened and the cold hand of dread clutched her gut. The toddler next door let off a piercing, high pitched wail. Another burst of gunfire. Silence.

Sally held her hand over her mouth, tears welling in her pale green eyes. She closed her eyes and let the tears drip down her cheeks. “Why are you here?” Sally asked fiercely, the faces of the young family that lived next door flashing through her mind.

“I’ve told you already.” The woman stated sadly. “But...” she trailed off with a touch of humanity briefly flickering in her eyes.

Sally choked over a rising lump in her throat, confusion treading mud through her mind.

The younger woman watched Sally for a moment and uncertainty flooded her eyes. Several more gunshots echoed through the streets outside. The first shot causing both of them to flinch. Sally looked into the younger woman’s eyes and felt an uneasy feeling squirm in her gut.

“Why are you here?” Sally repeated, the lump in her throat throbbing with each word.

The younger woman momentarily looked away from Sally’s gaze. When she raised her head there were tears in her eyes. “I didn’t have a choice. They shot those of us that refused to take part in the coup.”

Sally gasped. The word coup shot through her mind like a dart, and then Howard soared to the front of her thoughts. Where was he? Was he ok? “My grandson.” Sally whispered.

“What?” the woman asked, nervously looking over her shoulder again. However before Sally could respond the woman’s radio crackled “Control of the docks has not been established, police and presidential guards have put up considerable resistance. Proceed to neutralise all potential civilian threats and regroup at the drop point.”

Suddenly the couple were surrounded by the sounds of screaming and machine gun fire. The young woman hesitantly raised her gun to a firing position. Sally tensed. “Please don’t, I can see you don’t want to do this. Please, please…” Sally trailed off.

Howard

The midday sun seared the back of his neck as Howard crouched behind a thick, flowering bush. Military helicopters circled overhead and soldiers were spilling down the streets and into houses. A short lived wail split the air from a block away. Howard spun around in the direction of the sound, praying silently that it wasn’t anybody that he knew. Several more gunshots echoed down the street.

Howard swallowed to try and wet his dry throat. I have to get to Grandma’s house. Slowly, he raised his head over the bush and saw that there were only two soldiers left on the street. The rest must have moved on, or gone into buildings. The alleyway that led to his Grandma’s house was two houses up on the right. So, he was going to have to run for the alleyway. So he stayed where he was, waiting for a moment to make a break for it… but it never came. One soldier would look away as the other turned towards Howard’s hiding place.

Tears pricked Howard’s eyes as a man, somewhere on the street, started screaming. Howard got on his knees and tried to see what had happened, then one of the soldiers saw him. The soldier shouted to his comrade and pointed in his direction. Run!

His hands began to shake with adrenaline soaked fear as he leapt over the bush and onto the sidewalk. He’d started sprinting towards the alley before the soldiers opened fire. The sound of the guns made Howard’s muscles clench as he ran, and he raised his arms around his head. The white picket fence to Howard’s right exploded into a thousand splinters as the rain of bullets reached them. He closed his eyes as the splinters flew into his face and the bullets zipped all around his body.

As Howard reached the alley he felt like someone kicked him in the side before he ducked around the corner. The bullets stopped once he was out of sight but he could hear the soldiers closing in. Howard lowered his arms from his head and looked down the passage as he ran. What he saw almost bought him to a halt.

A screaming man lay in a puddle of his own blood, a muscular soldier standing over him. The soldier was already raising his gun when Howard came around the corner, possibly alerted by the other soldiers’ gunfire.

Without thinking, Howard kept running towards the soldier and planted an uppercut into the soldier’s chinstrap with all of his momentum. The soldier’s neck snapped backwards and he fell to the ground like a rock. Howard tore the machine gun off of the man’s shoulder and noted, with satisfaction, that the man hadn’t even had time to flick the safety off. Howard glanced once at the, now silent, civilian and sprinted down the alley.

The alley opened up into his Grandma’s street as the soldiers rounded the corner behind him. Howard ran around the corner and out of their line of sight. He silently ran past his neighbour’s home so as not to alert the single soldier patrolling the street. He then leapt the gate into his Grandma’s front garden. He stepped around a rubbish bag that stank of pizza and spilled beer, and through the open door.

The entryway was empty so Howard ran into the lounge room. Suddenly the air exploded with the sounds of machinegun fire and screams. Howard froze in the doorway to the lounge room and shouted, “Grandma! Where are you…” he trailed off as he stepped onto the carpet. Standing to his right, in the doorway to the kitchen, was a woman in grey and black camouflage. A wisp of smoke escaping her machine gun, and there on the floor by the window… was Howard’s Grandmother.