Borderlines

Chapter Thirty-Six

When Fawn woke up she was alone. She looked around for Travis, but he was nowhere in sight. Climbing out of his bed, Fawn went to the doorway and saw people running through the corridors. Her eyes narrowed and she followed after them noticing the panicked looks on their faces. Halfway down the hall, she found Travis. He was coming toward her.
“Fawn, you need to come see this.” He said urgently and grabbed her hand. Fawn stumbled after him, her ribs were still sore, but the pain was tolerable. They came into a room that everyone was crowded into, monitors were displayed everywhere. Fawn looked at the screen and her stomach immediately twisted. Garth was sitting on the throne, addressing his audience.
“I know this new rebel group believes that they can somehow defeat the Black Ivy, but I assure you they cannot and for their latest attempt they will be punished. The camera panned out and across the room. Willow shrieked and clamped a hand over her mouth. Fawn almost repeated the noise when she saw the faces that appeared on the screen. It was her parents. They were on their knees, guns pressed to the back of their heads. Travis wrapped an arm around her, trying to figure why she had reacted the way she did.
“As I hope any surviving Overseer out hiding can see. These are your parents. No one can hide forever and neither could they.” Fawn looked at her parents through the monitor. Her mom looked scared to death, but her father was quiet, glaring at Garth. Fawn could already see Willow tearing up and much as Claus tried to console her, Fawn could see she was frantic. Fawn didn’t care much for her parents, but she wanted to scream at them. To tell them to run, to do something that could save them.
“This is what rebellion gets.” Garth lifted his hand and Fawn sucked in a gasp as the sound of guns firing came through the television speakers. She squeezed her eyes shut and kept them that way. Travis pulled her into his chest and Fawn could hear Willow crying. Garth continued his angry rant.
“Right this minute, a force of my guards has been sent to all the states, carrying out my orders.” Fawn turned towards the screen, wiping tears out of her eyes. The screen showed military vehicles going across roads and bridges.
“What are my orders?” Garth grinned and it flashed back to the people jumping of the trucks. They opened fire on anyone around them.
“Kill fifty people a day in each state until they surrender. No one will be spared young or old.” Fawn’s hand covered her mouth while she watched the action unfold. The camera’s flashed in different states, showing relentless guards mowing down people. She could hear Travis cursing under his breath. Someone walked over Claus.
“Section 1 and 3 have surrendered as well as 5.” He said quietly, but Fawn still heard it. Claus ground his teeth.
“Enough.” He said and promptly turned the tv off. Fawn could hear Willow sniffing, trying to stop the tears. Fawn was too shocked to cry anymore. Garth was heartless. He wasn’t even sparing children at this point.
“Everyone go back to your rooms. Overseer’s, stay here.” Claus told everyone. The people began shuffling out of the room. Some were crying, others were shocked into silence. When the room cleared Claus bid them to a table. Travis was sticking close to Fawn’s side, Nathan and Leslie were standing together, and Sean was doing his best to comfort Willow. Claus let out a breath.
“I know every one of you is in shock right now, but this confirms that we need to do something and we need to do it now.” He said, looking around the table.
“Right now we outgun the Black Ivy, but we don’t have near the numbers we need to get rid of them. Does anyone have an idea on how can do this because I am out of ideas right now? We need to act soon.” Claus looked around the table once again. Fawn tried to think of something, but they were sorely outnumbered by the Black Ivy and even with the weapons take over they still had a slim chance.
“Arm the people.” Travis said suddenly from beside her. Fawn stared at him as did everyone else. He put his thumb on his chin.
“We open the armoury and anyone who wants to fight is welcome to take up arms with us.” Nathan shook his head.
“That’s way too risky. Who knows what traitors we have around.” Travis looked at Claus.
“I don’t think we have any other option and I for one think that we will have more people for than against us. We need someone to rally them.” Fawn looked across the table.
“Willow should do it.” Willow’s head snapped up and her cheeks were still wet from crying.
“Me?” She managed out. Fawn looked ather friend.
“Willow, you’ve lost the most out of all of us here. You can connect with the people here, they will listen to you.” Willow took a deep breath in and then out.
“I can do it, but you need to be beside me. If everyone sees you on our side, that the Queen is on our side, it will encourage them.” Willow said. Fawn looked at Claus, who shook his head in agreement. Fawn then glanced at Travis, who didn’t seem too keen on the idea.
“She’ll be vulnerable.” Nathan looked at Travis.
“Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way here, Travis.”
“Excuse me?” Travis retorted angrily. Nathan opened his mouth to respond.
“Enough.” Claus said sternly.
“I’ll be fine.” Fawn said, touching his arm lightly. Travis looked at her and she could already see the fearful look in his eyes. He did not want to lose her.
“It’s settled then. Let’s go get camera’s setup. I’ll send an announcement over the television to get people to gather here. In two hours, we go.” Everyone around the table nodded in agreement. They dismissed at their own pleasure. Fawn went to her room to take the time to get dressed and look presentable. She could still look like a commoner, but not like she lived in a hole. Fawn enjoyed the small time she had to herself as she headed down the corridors to find some food. It gave her time to think about everything that had happened, how far everything had come. The king and queen, Trent, Travis’s drugging, Garrett, Willow and Sean’s disappearance, Emma, and now her parents. Maybe she should have listened to them and stayed out of politics. It was too late to change that decision now, much too late. The food was being handed out in what Fawn assumed was the kitchen for the arsenal. She sat by herself and looked around the room. She didn’t recognize most of the people around her, but she did notice a few people she’s seen around the palace, servants and butlers. She dropped her spoon suddenly as a thought struck her. What had happened to her servant Violet?  Fawn hadn’t seen her since the day of she and Garth’s crowning. Her stomach was a little sick at the thought of what Garth might have done to the servants that didn’t get away. She only hoped Violet was hiding out somewhere, safe from his grip. Leslie and Nathan walked by Fawn, sitting down at a table a distance from hers. Nathan said something that made Leslie laugh, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. Fawm smiled at the pair, glad someone was happy during this whole event. Of the sixteen Overseer’s that began this journey only herself, Travis, Nathan, Leslie, Willow, and Sean were left, on the good side that was. Fawn could almost envision Ashton and Lucas helping Garth out with his deranged plans. Fawn went back to eating her food, preparing herself mentally for what would happen next. Travis had expressed how unhappy he was about her being onstage with Willow, she would be helping hand-out weapons too for the initial crowd that would show up. She would have to be relaxed to help them, a tense group of rebels could easily spark problems, and with weapons, it could be deadly. When she had finished eating, Fawn headed outside to where their ‘stage’ was set-up. A small crowd was already gathering with just half an hour left. Willow waved Fawn over to where she was talking to Claus. Claus looked at Fawn.
“I was just explaining to Willow that there will be guards stationed on the rooftops in case anyone tries something. Their bodies will hit the ground before you can even scream.” He said to both of them. Fawn sighed.
“That will be a real show of trust.” She said lowly. Claus raised an eyebrow.
“Would you rather be completely unprotected?” Fawn shook her head.
“No, it’s just not going to look good to the crowd we are trying to convince to join us.” Claus blinked in brief understanding.
“As much as I would love to trust everyone here, I can’t, so we don’t have much of a choice.”  He said. Fawn knew he meant well and took her added protection with understanding. The camera’s were beginning to start up and a few people walked around the stage. Claus had bugged every source he could to make sure that this speech blared on as many tv’s as possible, but it was on a low frequency so that higher class citizens wouldn’t receive the message. It would be too risky for Garth to find out their plans. While Fawn watched the camera crew, Travis made his way over to her. He greeted her with a soft kiss before looking around.
“Be careful, alright?” He said. Fawn fought back a laugh.
“Claus has made sure that Willow and I stay safe.” Fawn could see the doubt flashing in Travis’s eyes, he really didn’t trust anyone.
“Just in case, make sure to keep a sharp eye.” He said to her. Travis was fretting about Fawn’s safety more than she was. She took his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.
“I’ll be be fine.” She said in an exaggerated tone, making sure he was looking at her and not his surroundings.
“Hey!” Fawn glanced at Willow who was waving her onstage. Fawn quickly kissed Travis’s cheek and walked away, feeling his worried gaze follow her. Willow took her place at the podium, Fawn stood to her left. A sizable crowd had gathered and Fawn could see people of all ages looking up toward the stage. Most people looked scared, but a few were angry, she would have to watch them closely. Fawn saw her friend take a deep breath before they were given the cue to go.
“People of the United States,” Willow began, “this is a message from Section 8 to anyone who no longer wants to stand by and watch our world be destroyed.”  Willow’s voice started out low, but with every word she spoke, it grew in volume. It was easy to see that audience was captured by her, almost everyone knew the losses she had suffered at this point.
“How long until the Black Ivy takes one of your own? You heard Garth, fifty a day, from all states. Twenty five hundred people a day. Even if a section surrenders, if the others don’t, the Black Ivy will continue killing people, women, children.” Fawn saw a women draw her daughter close to her body.
“You can bet he will spare no one.” Willow said firmly. Fawn could hear anger bridging in her voice. Fawn watched more people stop and gather around, their eyes open wide and ears straining to listen. In only a short fifteen minutes, Willow was wrapping up her speech.
“Take up arms! Join us! Defend yourselves against the evil that is running rampant in our Capital! If we do not stop the Black Ivy, no one will and they will not stop until there is total anarchy. Do it for yourself, do it for your friends, do it for your family,” Willow’s voice cracked with emotion, “before they are gone forever.” Cheers erupted in the crowd when Willow stepped back. Fawn could see tears glistening in her eyes. They made their way off the stage, towards the awaiting guard who had crates with weapons open. Claus was already handing weapons to people lining up, they were then directed to a group of people who were filling them in on what was going on. Fawn walked over to a crate that Willow was opening. For safe measure, the weapons hadn’t been loaded yet, that wouldn’t happen until further planning was arranged. Fawn handed a weapon to each person that came to the crate, making sure to look each of them in the eye. These were just the people from 8 and anyone who lived within two hours of the arsenal. Some weapons were already being transported to Section 7 where they would be distributed among the people. Fawn noticed that Travis was nearby, making sure that Fawn was always in his sight. He seemed more worried about what the Section 8 people would do then anyone else. A women stepped up to the crate and Fawn handed her a pistol. The women looked at her with widened eyes.
“Did you know any of this was going to happen?” She asked Fawn. She didn’t have a tone of bitterness, more of curiosity.
“No, I didn’t. In fact, no one did. That’s why we need as much help as we can get.” The women smiled.
“You sound more like a warrior than a queen.” Fawn almost laughed.
“Well I don’t look like much of a queen right now, do I?” She asked. The women just smirked and walked away, examining the weapon she had been given. Just behind her was a man. Fawn reached in the crate to bring out a weapon for him.
“That won’t be necessary." The man growled. Fawn straightened to look at him and then gasped, squeezing her eyes shut. The cold barrel of a gun pressed against her forehead.
“You’re right, you don’t look like much of a queen.”