Love In The Time Of Pandemic

Chapter 7

I gathered my thoughts as we walked back to the fire. I had to tell them something that wouldn't scare them off. But what? How should I say? How can I tell them that we are going into battle and many of us might not survive?

The question of sacrificing a few to save the whole, came up again and again in my debates with my philosophy club in high school. It was one of my favourite subjects, because everyone had something different to say about it. Some people said it was quite natural to sacrifice the weak for the good of the strong, or to sacrifice a few for the good of the many. Others would say something about the wrongness of killing anyone, no matter who they are and how every life was precious. Still others were so apathetic that they actually said they would be willing to be used as the sacrificial lamb themselves.

I had no idea what the true answer was. Surely it had to have a true answer. Or was it like one of those unsolvable Maths algorithms, which remained unsolved for centuries, until one graduate student solved them while eating some Cheetos in the bathtub? That was how I imagined it.

The crowd had started booing the Olsen twins, and I realized I got there just in time. Before they started throwing rotten tomatoes and jackfruit at them. Once I got close enough to them, they noticed the four of us, and their eyes went big.

I was sure they weren't expecting anyone like John and Ether to be joining up with us.

I stood there at the head of the circle, while everyone sat there, uncharacteristically quiet. I cleared my throat, and smiled at everyone.

"I hope you all had a nice time being entertained by the Olsen twins. How about we give them a final applause? They deserve it." Everyone clapped perfunctorily, and after a second or two, the applause died down. My heart was beating so fast. I was so in my head that I didn't even notice Sharon place her hand on my shoulder, trying to give me support. Even though she was extremely bossy when we were on our own, she tried very hard to remain in the background when we were in front of the whole camp. As if she wanted to promote me as the leader as much as she could. Her support usually made me feel invincible, but today it had no oomph. I was still feeling so flat.

"As you can see, we have visitors. They have been sent over to us by... Let me backtrack a bit. I think you all know that we have been preparing for the day when we would have to fight back against the system, and get our homes back. None of us were expecting to be living in camps for such a long time, for some it has been almost two months. But all of you have been extremely patient with the dramatic change in your life. The thing is that if we keep on taking this on as the most casual thing in the world, nothing will change. We have to fight back, and we have to let the system know that it cannot push us around as it wishes. In response to our desire to move faster, and to get going, the rebel leaders have decided to push up the battle to tomorrow." The crowd gasped as if in unison and started murmuring among themselves. Until this point, it had been pin drop silence, but of course that can't last long with this rambunctious crowd. I knew they would have a hundred questions, and I was prepared for the barrage, but they still fired them so rapidly at me that I felt like it was a sort of machine-gun assault.

"Calm down everyone! Calm down. I know you all have a lot of questions and I will answer them in due time. But first let me introduce you to the two soldiers that have come down to help us in our fight. They are, as you can see, quite capable characters, and I am glad to have them on our side. Please say hello to John and Ether."

No one said anything, as John and Ether waved their hands, in a friendly enough manner. They just stared at them as if they were the devil incarnate. I understood how they felt. I didn't imagine that when I called this meeting today that I would be giving them such harsh news. I had wanted to keep it simple. Oh well, that was life.