Chapter Eleven

Jacob, beaten, bloodied and hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, could barely stay conscious. He had been left alone for days without food. His hope for rescue was dwindling by a thread small than the amount of water he was given. What he didn't know was that Henry and his team were on their way to save him at that moment.

Henry had been underground for so long that the sun seemed too bright to him. The saturation of colors were heightened. His mood had definitely picked up since he came above ground. The team moved through the shadows and made it to the entrance of the re-ed center. A soldier picked the lock while everyone else stood guard. Henry drifted behind, distracted by the outside world. But his trance was interrupted by a guard who put a bag over his head.

Jacob was drowsily working in the courtyard. He started humming the national anthem.

"What's that song?" another prisoner asked.

"It's the national anthem of America." Jacob responded.

The prisoner's eyes widened.

"Bu- but that's illegal." he said. "you can't sing that, it's racist!'

"Do you know what that word means?" asked Jacob.

"It's like, when white people are mean to black people." the prisoner replied.

"Am I white?" Jacob inquired.

"Well, no but, you have internalized racism." he accused.

"That's not a thing." Jacob explained. "Racism is when you have a feeling of superiority towards a race of people based on skin color."

"No, that's not what it means!" the prisoner yelled.

"This is going to take some work." Jacob thought.

The bag was taken off Henry's head and he found himself on the capital steps. Standing before him was JN Peloscer.

"Peloscer?" Henry asked. "What am I doing here?!"

"You've caused me a lot of problems." JN replied.

"You're damn right I have!" Henry shouted. "What you've done to America is disgusting. You've turned it into a socialist nightmare."

"I've instilled order." said Peloscer.

"You've instilled fear!" Henry said. "People aren't living, they're existing! There's a big difference! They're so afraid of the virus that they've given up all their freedoms. They're so afraid of what their neighbors think that if there are any free thinkers like me left, they won't speak out about it! America was the last free country on earth and people like you have killed it! Well, I for one won't stand for it anymore."

"Oh yeah, you and what army?" Peloscer asked smugly.

Suddenly there was a sound in the distance. The sound of thousands of people marching, growing louder with every step. But they weren't just marching, they were singing. Singing a song that hadn't been heard in decades.

"Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?" they sung.

Peloscer and Henry looked upon the vast crowd of people. Resistance members and freed prisoners alike made up the crowd. And leading the group was Jacob with a makeshift American flag painted on his chest.

"No, no!" Peloscer shouted.

"Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!" sung the crowd.

"You're all singing a song the symbolizes hate and racism!" screamed Peloscer.

"You still don't get it, do you." Jacob said. "America is not about hate or racism or inequality. America used to be a place where anyone from any country could come to and make a name for themselves. It was a place where any person, regardless of race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, could say what they wanted when they wanted without fear of their lives being ended. It's a land where a simple farmer could become the president."

"Guards! Fire!" Peloscer yelled.

The guards held up their guns at the crowd.

"You can do what she says," Henry said to the guards. "or you can pledge your allegiance to freedom. Wouldn't you rather be free?"

The guards looked at each other for a bit and put down their guns.

The crowd stormed into the capital. A couple resistance members grabbed Peloscer and started to drag her away.

"No! Let me go!" Peloscer pleaded.

Henry looked her dead in the eyes and said:

"I'm sorry, but you've been deemed non-essential."

Peloscer was dragged off kicking and screaming.

"How'd you escape?" Henry asked Jacob.

"I showed the truth about America to the prisoners." Jacob explained. "Soon they decided to help me break out."