Rebellion

Cleansed

Cleansed

They had been driving for a day and a half before they ran out of fuel. They were now in Kansas. Or, what used to be Kansas. Dave swallowed and looked around as people walked by them, not recognizing them. After they'd ran out of fuel, they had walked for another two days straight.

"Where do we head now?" Rob asked quietly.

"We'll try to find a safe place to hide for the night, get some rest. We need some rest," Dave said and Rob agreed.

"The Irish don't need rest. They've been chatting it up all day."

Dave smiled slightly at the mention of their newest members. They were actually quite useful and they knew what they were up against. And they were equipped with the screens. The ones that got the live feed from the government and from President Wakefield. Which meant that they'd seen Mike get whipped by Chester and his friend.

​"There's a place," Brad pointed and Dave saw what he meant. It was a broken down house, most likely caught fire and burned down. He nodded and they headed to it. They ducked inside and sat down.

​"Alright guys. At this pace, we could make it to D.C in about a week. We have to come up with a good plan to make sure we can get in, free Mike, and take them down."

​"We'll think on it," Ryan nodded. Dave gave the man a smile before turning to Bono and his group.

​"You were ex-military. Do you know anything about how they might have set up?"

​"Not sure at all. Remember, Mark has created expansions throughout the whole place. I'm pretty sure he'd be keeping any prisoners and any labs underground."

​"Would there be a way in?"

​"Most likely through another government building."

​"Okay," Dave muttered. This was going to be hard to get done. They would have to fight their way through a lot.

​"Guys, public service announcement," Bono called. Everyone surrounded the screen and waited. And there he was. Mark was sitting there with a smile.

​"My good citizens, you have been informed of many rebel uprisings. There is nothing to fear. We are going to have these under control. They are just confused people. They don't understand the benefits of this. Today, we have one of the...previous rebels with us. And I say previous because he is quite a changed man."

​The camera moved over to the right and they all stared at the screen. Mike was sitting there with Chester next to him. The elite was smiling at the camera as if he knew that they were watching. Dave swallowed.

​"Now Mike, you were a rebel once, what changed your mind?"

​"It's not right," Mike said softly. Dave's eyes widened as he stared at Mike. The man was looking directly into the camera. His eyes were dull. They'd done something to him. "The government is doing a fine job of leading and it isn't right to rebel against something that hasn't done a thing wrong."

​"What is he saying?" Brad asked angrily. Dave watched in shock as Chester smiled at Mike and patted his hand.

​"It's alright. They can't hurt you here. Speak your mind."

​"I want all of you who are even thinking of rebellion, to stop. We don't need a war. People will die and there will be innocent blood spilt. It's not necessary."

​Dave breathed out slowly and lowered his head. Something had happened to Mike.

​"It's called Cleaning," Bono said as the screen shut down, "It's a drug that they give to people that basically clean their mind. There is only one thing they remember that ties 'em to this world and it was important to 'em. If that thing can be triggered, say it were a person and the victim of the Cleaning saw that person, their old thoughts and memories would return but they would not replace the new ones. It is almost torture for someone who has gone through the Cleaning to come back."

​"So Mike is still there somewhere?"

​"Yes. But to get to him, ye need the trigger."

​"I have it," Ryan said quietly.

​"What?"

​"His trigger. He gave me a picture of his family before he ran back to that last room. He told me that if something happened to him, I would need to hang it up in that room with the rest of them."

​Dave nodded, "Then we'll need that to get back through to him."

​"How did you know about this stuff?" Joe asked Bono who smiled slightly.

​"It was a thing that they used for soldiers a while ago. If they didn't have any remaining family members and the war was too much, they were allowed to apply for the Cleaning. It was expensive treatment but it worked wonders for those who got it."

​"The weird thing is," Larry spoke up, "Is that it always has some strange effect on the person. Not just the mental thing but an actual physical effect. For example, a person's hair might change color after it happens to 'em."

​"Nothing seemed off with Mike except that his eyes were really dull, almost lifeless."

​"That could be it then."

​They stopped talking after that. The night passed slowly and Dave didn't know what they needed to know next. He knew they had to get to D.C eventually and take Mark down but how? There were plenty of elites and officers that would shoot them on sight. They had no way to get inside. And now Mike was trapped in some world of fake memories, faked present and a faked future. They had to rescue him from this. Ryan believed that the only way would be to get him to see the picture.

​"Can't sleep?"

​Dave turned to see Ryan smiling slightly at him.

​"I don't think I've slept fitfully ever since this started," Dave admitted and Ryan laughed quietly.

​"Yea, I guess I haven't either. You know, Mike, Tak and I all grew up together. We were like inseparable. If you need to take over and you see an opportunity to go, go ahead. We can find him again. Taking over is the number one priority. Mike knew what he was getting into when he started this."

​"I know."

​"It'll probably be easier to rescue him once Mark and the officers are out of the way."

​"Do you think they've influenced others with this Cleaning thing?"

​"It's Wakefield, of course he did."

​"How do we know what their triggers are? How can we save them?"

​"Remember what Bono said? Sometimes it hurts to know the truth. Imagine how they'll feel if they were a truly good person and they get left with these memories of killing? Maybe it's better that way."

​"It's never better that way. They deserve to know what's been done to them. What if they have family that they need to get back to?"

​"Alright, I see your point."

​"You should head back to sleep, we'll need a fresh start in the morning."

​"Yea....about that, I think it's actually my watch. You need to sleep."

​Dave rolled his eyes, "I'm really fine."

​"Well you won't be tomorrow. Go sleep!"

​"Fine."

​"Dave?"

​"Yea?"

​"We're going to do this. We can rescue Mike and save the world at the same time."

​"I hope so," Dave said before finding a place on the floor of the house and laying down. The only problem was that this wasn't a videogame. There wasn't a restart and you couldn't just turn the power off without saving. They had one shot at this and if they couldn't pull through, there was nothing they could do. They wouldn't get a second try.

​The next morning, they were up quickly and getting ready to move out. They still had a bit of a journey ahead of them. He didn't know how long it would take them to get to where they needed to be. As they walked, Bono gave them updates on what was happening.

​"They have Mike on again."

​Those words made everyone freeze and gather around him. It was similar to the one before. Mark definitely knew what he was doing. If he had a rebel confessing and saying that the war was wrong, it might influence anyone who was thinking about it. The thing that they hated was the fact that both the president and his precious elite looked so very content and smug about what they'd done. They watched the broad cast for a few minutes before they started walking again. It was quiet for a lot of the hike. It always affected them to see Mike up there on that screen.
​And that's how it went. They ducked into buildings as trucks of soldiers drove by and when helicopters flew overhead. They spent their nights in burnt down homes while searchlights constantly passed by the windows. And soon enough, they found themselves nowhere near a city. They were out in the open. Dave swallowed as he looked around, the only shelter was a barely visible tree line.

​"We have to get there," Joe said and Dave nodded.

​"I know. We might as well get there and then rest for the night."

​They were halfway across the field when gunfire erupted from around them.

​"Hit the dirt!" Brad yelled from beside him as they dove into the grass. Dave pulled his gun and saw a few of the others doing the same. More gunfire came from around them.

​"Where are they?" he yelled to Brad who looked around carefully.

​"I think they're on either side of us. I didn't see anyone in front of us."

​"Okay," Dave said before he turned to his side and fired a few shots to the right. Brad and Rob followed his lead and he saw the others shooting to the left. There were shouts and Dave heard something clink.

​"Shit! Grenade!" he shouted and everyone scrambled out of the way as the little ball of death exploded where they'd been clumped together. Dave saw the military officers now and he had a better shot. He shot three of them down before they even saw him. They were off and running in an instant.

​"We have to go!" Joe called as they dashed towards the tree line. Bullets flew by them and Dave ducked into the trees. He watched the rest of his men slide in beside him. He saw the soldiers that had been shooting at them disappear. They didn't have orders to follow apparently.

​"Where's Adam?" Larry shouted as they started to get up, "I swear he was right with us when we were running!"

​The two Irish men dashed out of the woods and into the field again yelling for their friend. Dave chased after them and grabbed Larry while both Ryan and Tak had to wrestle Bono back into the trees.

​"What are you crazy yelling like that?" he managed.

​"He's our friend!"

​"And he probably didn't make it!" Dave said, "I'm sorry okay but he probably didn't."

​It was quiet and all of them were hit with the cold hand of reality. People died in this war and they didn't come back. So far they'd only had to deal with a kidnapping. The thought of death had escaped them for a while. That night, they sat quietly around a fire. Bono and Larry had retired early and Dave knew that they were mourning their friend.

​"We can't lose more people," Rob said finally, "We have to be more observant."

​"I know. We got to comfortable. We all did," Dave sighed. It was quiet and then they heard a bing. Bono had left his screen by the fire in case they wanted to use it. They watched as a familiar face appeared on the screen. They glanced at each other and waited for him to talk. That taunting smile appeared and those glowing eyes dug deep into theirs.

​"Public Service Announcement," he grinned, "There's no need to fear the rebels. We've found their position and we'll be taking them out soon. Soon, the public will be safe from these villains."

​Dave glanced up at his friends. They were in a bit of trouble now weren't they?

​"It's such a shame that you didn't come to your senses.....we have such a stable government, you could've been part of it. Just like Mike," Chester continued, "I do wish you'd change your mind. You will be given one chance to surrender. See you soon."