We're Not Gonna Take It

Chapter XI: Severed

Ben.  It was him.   Standing there, undeniably, was Ben O'Brien himself. 

...

In full riot gear.  Holding a semi-automatic assault rifle.

"Ben!" I knew it was bad to talk to police, but I couldn't help it; I had grieved for Ben, I had cried over this death, I had tried to make pasta but forgot the water and lit it on fire for him, I had written speeches for him, I had made a memorial in the abandoned tank factory for him- I had loved him, and he had died.  Yet there he was.  Alive.

"Ben for the love of Hoekstra how did you survive?!" I resisted the urge to run up and hug him- for all I knew still this was a holographic projection of Ben used by Hoekstra to drive me insane.  I could also be shot multiple times in the chest by the (naturally armed) police in a matter of seconds.

"Liz, I've come back for you," Ben said, looking into my eyes and pulling off his helmet, but somehow, his hair not falling into his eyes.

He had cut it.  He had cut his hair.  After ALL my pestering and offers to burn it, he had finally cut it.  It was better long.

"Ben, what happened to you?" I couldn't help but to ask; I said nothing of my plans or purchasing a gun or even Les's plan of fixing an old decrepit tank to run over the dictator of a totalitarian state with seemingly infinite resources and his disposal, but I had to at least question how Ben managed to escape.  Anything I said could, and would be held against me, so I only said Ben's name.  It would be held against me.

"Oh, Ben!  I love you Ben!  Ben I miss you!" Ben mocked. "You're just like every other girl Elizabeth."  I had no idea what he was talking about.  But before I could inquire further, Ben continued speaking.

"Do you really think you're special?  Do you really think you're the only one to doubt Hoekstra, our great leader, praise be unto him?  You're not.  You're one of many, and one of many who fall into my trap each year."  I was shocked.  I wanted to find the other dissidents, but I had a feeling Hoekstra had killed them.  And brainwashed Ben into giving some sort of movie-villain monologue before I was taken in and tortured. 

"Do you know how easy it is Elizabeth?" Ben continued, using my full name.  He never called me Elizabeth.  "How easy it was to take you and all the other little girls like you down?  Get the attractive men and women out of high school, give us some military training, and have us meet you in the forest, when you're desperate for company and miss your mommy and daddy," Ben sneered.  He knew my parents were dead, I lived with foster parents that weren't documented.  This couldn't be Ben.  "But oh no, this can't be me could it Elizabeth?" Ben continued, sounding more and more villain-esque by the minute.  This couldn't be Ben.  "Oh it's me Elizabeth; I am Ben O'Brien, the real Ben O'Brien.  I, and a team of highly trained military officials, have tricked you into loving me, just like everyone who tried to stage a cute little rebellion before you, and everyone who will try after you.  Hoekstra, praise be unto him, has a program.  Did you really think Hoekstra, praise be unto him, would let a disturbed little girl dismantle everything thing he worked for with what, some pamphlets and a laser pointer?"  I couldn't believe this.  Ben must have been brainwashed- only the most loyal and brainwashed people of this country say the phrase "praise be unto him" after Hoekstra's name, like Hoekstra is some sort of god.

"Oh, but I must be brainwashed right Elizabeth?  Right, little Lizzy?" Ben continued, on queue, almost as if he was reading my thoughts.  "Remember how I knew your parents died when you were nine?  You never told me that.  I knew that from your file, and from your file I also knew about the family you lived with.  We've had them taken in, you will watch them die for your crimes in front of you." 

Ben smiled.  Not his usual dorky Ben smile, but the sadistic smile of a high ranking military official.  Ben was not an ex-military official- he was part of it the whole time.  This was not the Ben I knew, the Ben I loved.  It MUST be a hologram.  Deep down though, I knew it was the real Ben standing in front of me.  Holograms still had a blue tint to them- the Ben standing in front of me had none of that.

"That's right Elizabeth, you never knew me," the stranger called Ben continued, almost as though he was reading my thoughts.  "No, I'm not a hologram, and no, I can't read your mind.  I say what I do because I know what you think.  Each project is the same, but guess what sunshine?  It's me.  You never knew me, and I would NEVER want to know you.  You are not special.  You mean nothing to me."

Ben was not my friend- I wanted him to be, I so desperately wanted him to be, but he was not.  Ben O'Brien was a hoax made up by Hoekstra to trap me.  Ben O'Brien was a distraction.

Knowing I would regret it for the rest of my life, I said goodbye, drew my weapon and opened fire at Ben O'Brien.

Author's Notes: when I first posted this I did so on April fools, but I first wrote a really sappy chapter where Ben ran to Elizabeth and they rode off into the sunset.  Ha.