Mainak Dhar - Alice in Deadland

The Queen was now right behind Dewan.

'I find it very convenient that the net outcome of The Rising was that the US and other powers were largely scattered and destroyed and China emerged as the centre of the new human civilization. I used to think that the US decision to hit China was madness on our part. Now, I'm not so sure. Perhaps it was true that the elites in the West who wanted a New World Order joined up with the Chinese to engineer this.'

Dewan sat in silence, considering it in his mind.

'Look, Dr. Protima, I was in the old Indian Army and we hardly saw China as a friend, but I'm not sure they would have done this. Why destroy the whole world and rule over the ashes?'

Alice's mother spoke up.

'Colonel, I worked in a bank in my old life, and we all remember the way the world was. Markets were melting down and the US on the verge of defaulting on it's debt. There were protests throughout the world against the elite who had brought the world to such a state. China's economy was booming but it was also the largest holder of US debt-if the US had collapsed and defaulted, China would have been ruined. Add to that growing demands for democracy in China, and the second Tinanmen Square massacre of 2012, and I don't find it hard to believe they could have engineered this. From what I see here-they seem to be fine, maybe because they prepared for it. They still have big cities, and are using slave labor from the Deadland to harvest their crops and feed their people. And every surviving human is so terrified that they are willing to live with any level of dictatorship if it means some level of safety.'

Alice's mind was reeling. Why would anyone destroy so much, and kill so many countless numbers of people to hold on to power? She began to understand why her father had hated men who craved power and had tried so hard to keep their settlement out of the clutches of Zeus and it's masters. Now, as she looked at Dewan, she began to see the first cracks appear as he perhaps for the first time began to understand the role he had unwittingly played in the whole conspiracy.

Alice sat down next to him. 'Amit, what can we do to fight this army of theirs? Could you help train some of us or maybe help us get better weapons?'

Dewan shook his head.

'No, Alice. You cannot win this war through weapons alone. What you've seen is nothing compared to the firepower they have. The Zeus troopers only have personal weapons and some air support, but the Central Committee has missiles and heavy bombers. They would flatten us without us even getting a chance to take a shot at them.'

'So what do we do?'

Dewan was up and he began pacing the room.

'Exactly as I said before, we need to get the rank and file of the Zeus troops to know the truth. Once they know what they are doing and who they are really serving, we'll get more allies in the battle.'

Alice's mother was now holding the tablet and she looked at Dewan, an idea forming in her mind.

'We are totally cut from the information networks Zeus and the Central Committee uses, but you are plugged into it. If you leave this tablet here, we could post messages that all Zeus troopers would be able to see.'

Dewan clearly didn't think that was a good idea as shook his head vigorously.

'They would track the tablet down in a few minutes and how could…'

As he was saying something, he suddenly stopped, as if a new idea had struck him.

'What if I lost my backpack in a firefight and someone took my kit including my tablet?'

The Queen saw where Dewan was going and chipped in.

'Could any of us use this device? We haven't been near computers for years and this is more advanced than anything we used in our time.'

A man stepped forward.

'Hey, I was really into tech and was a blogger before The Rising. I'm sure I could learn if the Colonel here showed me the basics.'

'Then we have a plan.'

Alice looked at Dewan.

'Plan? We keep the tablet here, and figure out some way of getting messages to the Zeus troopers, but what about you?'

Dewan looked at her.

'I go back to my base, pretending to have survived a ferocious firefight and then continue being a loyal soldier to the Central Committee.'

Several people began to speak up at the same time, and the Queen had to raise her voice to hush them.

'Quiet everyone. Let him finish.'

'But how can we be sure he won't lead them here?'

Dewan turned to face the speaker, an elderly woman who shrank back under his gaze.

'Look, you just have to trust me. I took enough of a risk wandering out alone to look for Alice. If I just wanted to follow orders, I would have arrested or killed her when I had her alone in the forest.'

Alice heard a few more people grumble so she stood in front of Dewan and addressed the crowd.

'Everyone, on this you need to trust me. The Colonel didn't have to come down here with me; he didn't need to save me from his men in the forest and he certainly didn't need to put himself at so much risk by trusting me. I trust him, and ask you to go along with his plan if you trust me.'

Her words carried the day, and as Alice watched everyone back down, and many of the gathered people averted their gazes when she looked at them, she was once more surprised at what she had become. She had never wanted to be a leader of any sort, and certainly would not have asked for the responsibility and burden that came with it, but now whether she liked it or not, she realized that everyone was looking to her. She just hoped that she did not mess things up too much. Dewan touched her gently on the shoulder.

'Thanks, Alice. You'll all be better off having someone on the inside helping you.'

After brief goodbyes, Dewan gathered his weapon but left the rest of his kit behind and slipped out into the forest. He turned once to wave at her and then Alice saw him disappear behind the trees. Her heart was pounding as she wondered if she had done the right thing by letting him go or had doomed all of them.

***

Dewan was sitting at his desk, typing his After Action Report for the third time. He had sent in his first draft, which had been sent back by Appleseed with more than a dozen questions. He had tried to address all of them systematically, but knew that no matter what he wrote down in a formal memo, he could not address the underlying skepticism of how an elite officer like him was caught in close combat with terrorists and managed to escape without his kit. His second draft had gone through to the Central Committee in Shanghai and had come back with more notations and questions. Dewan had half-hoped that he would not attract too much scrutiny but with the high level of anxiety, even paranoia that Appleseed had about Alice and the escaped humans, he was not going to let Dewan off the hook so easily. Dewan noticed that Appleseed said nothing about the attack on the settlement and made no mention of the Queen. If Dewan had any doubts about what he had heard from Alice and the others, Appleseed's behavior nailed it for him.

The Messenger window on his screen beeped and he saw that he was being called for a debriefing to Appleseed's office. When he reached there a few minutes later, he was surprised to see Appleseed sitting with a Chinese General whom he had never met before. The slight man was wearing his cap even indoors, and as he stood, Dewan saw the red star emblazoned on his it. Dewan saluted and the man returned his salute.

'At ease, Colonel. I am General Chen from the Central Committee. I flew down from Shanghai last night to meet you for myself.'

Dewan was instantly on guard.

'Sir, I would have been available anytime for a call. I'm sorry you had to travel so far on my account.'

Chen smiled, his thin lips pursed back, and Dewan realized that he was looking at a man who could be very dangerous.