2024

Chapter Six

The funeral was packed. Men in uniform carried the American flag in a respectable tradition that hadn't lost its way in the new world. The American national anthem played proudly as 100's came to the funeral. The church was very accommodating to the American war hero, and devoted Christian. His body was unavailable for the service due to the undergoing investigations, but everyone in the church, especially Amanda needed this.

Michael was lucky he got a funeral like this. He almost didn't get one at all. As much as the government kept telling her that it wasn't a terrorist uprising group, there was still fear of what would happen if the story of MAGA came out. Always fear.

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Rahim and Abrahem walked into the funeral like all the others. They sat in the middle of the crowd as if they had nothing to hide. Dressed uncomfortably in baggy, non-conspicuous western clothes, their plan was set. It would be messy. It was an old form of effective death that the soldiers of their past used.

'Sawf Namut qabl' an tafashshil shaqiq' Abrahem whispered to Rahim, careful to not speak the forbidden language too loudly.

Rahim nodded. 'Sawf Namut qabl' an tafashshil shaqiq' he repeated back, but his voice didn't hold the certainty of his friends. We will die before we fail brother.

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Dorotea clutched the balloon begging for a different answer. The balloon was so hot. It scolded her hands but she couldn't let it go. Something bad was about to happen. She wasn't allowed to let bad things happen. She sat on her bed cross legged calmly. How was she going to fix her balloon? Her room was sprawled with horses, toys and books. None of which meant anything to her compared to her balloons. How was she going to fix this one? She needs to fix this one. She closed her eyes and scrunched up her young face out of frustration. She needs to fix the balloon.

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It was Amanda Bright's turn to talk on the behalf of her soul mate. She never had to do public speaking of any kind in her line of work, and if she had turned to acting, it would have been a lot different to making the real her vulnerable in front of real people with her real feelings. She was trained to conceal her grief. She stood up out of her seat and walked to the microphone stern, unrelenting to giving up her feelings even in the safest space for such an event.

She looked out to the sea of faces. Emotion filled her not for the death of her lover, but for all the support for her old boss. People of all ages were there, mostly older people, many she had been introduced to over the years. Some were not so familiar. The younger people in the forties, who he must have met during his days at church which Amanda never found herself part of. The youngest of the guests was a little girl, sitting confused in the back. Poor girl, Amanda thought to herself. How is someone so young, and so innocent meant to comprehend this?

'I look at everyone in this room, and we can all agree that all of us have lost something very important to us. Even for some of us it might be unfathomable.' She paused to take a second to glance back at the girl. And that's when she noticed it. She was clutching a red balloon, which looked identical to the one in her house. A flashback of only days ago and discovering Michael's body, and that balloon. That fucking balloon. Through instinct Amanda started to descend the stairs to the threat. She's is just a little girl, calm down.

'You're conceiving you grief into something you can't possible prove' Rufus's words repeated in her mind.

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The monstrous lady had stopped her speech abruptly as it started. She was walking towards them stern fully; it felt as if she was looking straight at them.

'It must be now brother' Abrahem said quietly. 'It is now or never.'

The both stood up and ripped off the loose hanging jackets to reveal the bombs strapped to their personnel. The monstrous lady froze in her steps when she was only meters away and looked at them with panic. She had seen enough and studied enough in her career to know the next words all too well.

'Allahu akbar' the yelled in union. God is great.

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The lady from her dreams was walking towards her. She knew. But the two men distracted her. Everything slowed down for Dorotea as she had to plan her next attack. Those men were bad, she knew that. But that lady wasn't bad. And not everyone in this room was bad. The man's funeral where she had found herself was especially a bad man. She remembered his face well. But she can't let bad things happen to good people. With a heavy heart, and with the knowledge of the loss she would feel in a moment, she let the balloon go. There was a flash in the room that stopped time permanently for a brief moment, as the universe rewrote itself on what was going to happen next.