Fredric Shernoff - Atlantic Island

The image changed to show Tiberius sitting at a desk that Theo immediately recognized as the one that had belonged to Mayor Lucas. The Supreme Leader looked calm and confident.

“Citizens of Atlantic Island,” Tiberius began in his cold, serious voice, “it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that we are under attack from a small band of traitors on this island. It disturbs me to think that there are a sad few who do not appreciate all that we are doing to make life better for all of us. Please do not fear these criminals. I assure you that the Security Force is taking care of this problem as we speak.

“A moment before I went on the air, I was informed that a group of the traitors had been injured by our Security Force and were attempting to steal supplies from our hospital. I am proud to announce that our forces were waiting for them. While we wished to simply arrest them, they persisted in a senseless attack on our good soliders. The Security Force had no choice but to eliminate all of them.”

Theo heard screams from among the rebel army. His stomach tied in knots. He looked at Kylee who was biting her lip to keep her emotions contained.

“Among those killed were three traitors from the Security Force, including one highly ranked official, Carlos Menendez. It should go without saying that abandoning the Security Force is considered treason and is punishable by death in all circumstances.”

Theo felt nauseous. Kylee was wobbling as she struggled to keep herself together, and he pulled her to him.

“Some of you are no doubt wondering how these criminals were able to make any kind of progress against the limitless power of my Security Force. I wondered the same. I now present to you the answer.”

The cameras panned abruptly around the room. Sitting in a chair, struggling against two masked agents, was Michelle.

More screaming and yelling from the rebels. Theo knew he heard Ryan’s voice in the mix. His heart broke for Ryan who had been on a horrible roller coaster of emotions with Michelle the past few months. He knew his friend felt powerless at the moment, but so did he. They were all powerless right now to do anything but watch.

“This young woman,” Tiberius said off-camera, “had every opportunity afforded to someone in this country. She became close with some of my highest-ranking men and women. She even got to meet with me several times. But for reasons she refuses to disclose, she chose to throw all that away, betray her Supreme Leader and the people of Atlantic Island, to be a double agent working for the traitors.”

There was a sound as Tiberius rose from his chair and made his way back into the frame. Michelle, her mouth covered with a cloth, squirmed and moaned as he drew near.

“There must be no room for treason in this country,” Tiberius said. “I am the Supreme Leader. I am God in this land, and my word is law!” He stepped behind Michelle’s chair. “To the criminals who even now continue their assault on the lives of everyone in Atlantic Island, I send you this message: Give up your pointless efforts. Lay down your weapons. You will serve life sentences in our fine prisons, where you will able to do work for the good of the country, to make amends for what you have done. If you continue this senseless course of action, there will be only one response.” He reached forward so fast the cameras only showed a blur, and snapped Michelle’s neck with both hands. The cameras briefly showed her twitching form and then panned up to Tiberius who looked directly forward.

“Life or death, traitors. The decision is yours.”

The image faded and was replaced once again by the Atlantic Island flag.

Theo looked at Kylee, expecting her to completely fall apart. What he saw disturbed him even more. Her face was expressionless. When she spoke, her voice was flat and serious in its tone. “He dies tonight, Theo. He dies. They all die. I want to burn this place to the ground.”

Theo nodded and turned to the army. He knew their confidence was shattered. “We will not stand here and let it be that our friends died in vain,” he told them. He looked at Kylee again. She stared at him with calm, almost frightening conviction. “Those of you assigned to the garage, head down there now. Bill, Ryan, to me.

His lifelong friends joined him. Ryan was in tears and clinging to Bill for support. “Bill,” Theo said, “is Bertha ready to go?”

Bill’s voice shook with anger. “Ready, willing and able.”

“Good. Then follow me.”

“What are we going to do?” Bill asked.

“We’re going to knock on the front door.”

Before splitting away from the rest of the army, Theo pulled Kylee in front of him. “Ky, babe, are you okay? Can you handle this?”

She nodded, unconvincingly.

“Kylee, these people need to know they can count on their leader. If you need to step aside—”

“I’m fine,” she said.

Joseph walked up to them. “I’m here to help you, Kylee.”

This seemed to grab her attention. “Hi, Joseph, where’s Andrew?”

“He’s with Jamie and Liz. They need comforting, and…well, I’m not as much with the comforting. I want to help you fight, Kylee.”

“Okay,” she said. “Okay. We’ll fight.”

Joseph took her face in both his hands. “I need you to focus. Your army needs you to focus. We will kill the bad guys, yes? Kill them all.”

“Kill them all,” she repeated. “Okay, Joseph.”

Theo was not at all convinced. “You’ll watch out for her?” he asked Joseph. “You won’t let her do anything stupid?”

“I will protect her with my life. Now you go and do what you need to do.”

Theo walked over to Bill and Ryan. Ryan was still clinging to Bill like he might blow away if the wind was to gust. None of this was good. How had their fortunes shifted so suddenly and dramatically?

Theo pointed at several of the rebels. They did not hesitate but walked over to him. “We are going to mount an assault at the front of the building,” he said. “I don’t think they would expect us to be so bold, and I don’t think they would expect us to split into groups so soon after coming back together. Keeping them confused, outsmarting them, this is the way we will win. We’re going to hit them with a big blow right up front, and I need all of you to move right in and start firing. Catch them while they are disoriented…whoever ends up being there. Does that make sense?”

“Theo,” said Wes, “man if you told me to run into the ocean and keep my head underwater for an hour I’d say it made sense cause it came from you. I’m with you.”

“Thank you, Wes.”

He took Ryan by the shoulder. “Ry… I’m so sorry. You can sit this out if you want.”

Ryan shook his head. “No. I’m not sitting anything out. Those bastards are going to pay for what they did.”

Theo stretched his tired muscles. It was time to move. Now, while Tiberius and his men thought that the rebels were demoralized and wouldn’t possibly stage an assault. He took off at a brisk pace toward the front of the Palace, following the ramp where cars had once pulled up for valet service in a very different world. His people trotted behind him, all armed and armored from what they had stripped from the Security Force. Bill carried the massive bazooka. Wes was carrying a small box of grenades Theo had removed from the SUV. Kylee’s group was going to rely on stealth and manpower. Theo’s was going to be the distraction, and that meant explosive destruction.

They stood in front of the massive doors. They could see a contingent of the Security Force in the lobby. It was only a matter of time before they were spotted. Theo ordered them into positions. He raised his gun, as did the others with similar weapons. Wes carefully removed a grenade from his box while Bill knelt with the big rocket launcher.