Alea Jacta Est: A Novel of the Fall of America (Future History of America Book 1) (41 page)

ERIK TUNED THE little
radio and waited for the static to clear.  He was listening to a shortwave
broadcast, courtesy of the BBC, of the latest meeting of the United Nations. 
The international body was meeting in full assembly to discuss and resolve the
matter of the United States.  Erik shook his head at the marvel of radio, that
he was able to hear a live transmission from The Hague, on the other side of
the world. 

“
My
fellow delegates, I must remind you all that it has merely been a week since
America entered the current troubles
,” said the representative from the
United Kingdom.  The exhaustion in his voice was clear.  He was beginning to
fear his was a lost cause.  He was beginning to fear for the world when the
wounded and cornered America decided to
really
defend herself.

“
And
I
must remind
you,” snipped the French delegate.  “
That America is not a
Balkans, nor is it a Yugoslavia.  America disintegrating is a far bigger threat
to the rest of the world, including our friends from Mexico and Canada
—“

“
Here, here!”
cried the Mexican delegate. Erik could almost see the man’s smile. 

“
We all
appreciate that the threat posed by a United States breaking apart—rogue
military units and commanders, and such, cities in open rebellion
—“

“
But, my
dear friend
,” hissed the Frenchman.  “
You
must see the light of
reason
. 
We, as the representatives of the world, cannot stand by and
take our time discussing and thinking about the situation as it unravels, like
we could over lesser countries like Bosnia or the Congo
,” the French
delegate uttered sarcastically.

Thunderous
applause broke out, only gradually silenced by another delegate trying to
speak.  Eventually Erik heard a gavel smashing in the background over the
sporadic clapping.  When silence reigned, one tired, clear voice rang out over
the thousands of miles: “
I, as the duly appointed representative of Her
Majesty and the people of the United Kingdom, must try one last time to warn
you—do
not
do this.  The American delegate has already left our body. 
America is no longer a member of the United Nations.  You will be facing a
nation besought with its own troubles, cornered and wounded
.” 

Erik had to
turn up the volume almost all the way, the man was speaking so quietly: “
We
learned over two hundred years ago just what type of resolve the American
people have.  I believe there are more than a few nations here
who know
all too well that same lesson.  We will take no part in relearning that lesson
again.  While Great Britain is not pulling out from the United Nations, neither
will we aid you in this disastrous course of action.  You will have to commit
suicide without the help of the people of England.
”

More gavel
pounding and a new voice cut through the mumbling.  Erik assumed this man was
the Secretary General.  “
Assembled delegates of the world, I call this body
to cast a final vote on the matter.  We shall now vote the resources for an
international Peace-keeping force to send to America—-which I remind the
Gentleman from England, the mission itself has already been voted on and
approved by this body.  Now then, do I have a second?
”

Erik
gasped.  He had only tuned in part of the way through the debate on something,
he just didn’t know what.  “My God,” he whispered.

He spent
the rest of the day debating with himself on what to do with the information he
now possessed.  Should he call the Council?  What about telling the gathering
tonight?  What did it mean?  The broadcast had sizzled into static after the
call to vote, so Erik didn’t even know if it had passed.  Deep down, he judged
that the response of the Frenchman’s speech meant that the vote would be
carried.  America, invaded by Peace Keepers.  The thought was so alien, Erik
was stunned into silence for more than an hour.

At sunset,
Erik found himself on the Stage, waiting to call the nightly meeting to order. 
He had found something else to worry about.  The residents of the community
were all gathered, shouting at him and expressing their worries at the same
time.  Ted looked nervous and slightly ashamed. 

“How dare
you!”

“—bringing
in a bunch of dirty bikers!”

“—probably
drug users and sellers…”

“Who knows
if they’ll kill us all—“

“Is this
some kind of dictatorship?”

Erik raised
his hands to try and get some order.  It took a few minutes but finally things
settled down.  He was upset because most of the residents had spent the day
arguing over what to do and why.  Hardly any work got done concerning building
defenses or training guards.  Erik thought about the news he had heard over the
radio that morning. 
If they’re flipping out over Hoss and his boys…they’ll
go absolutely apeshit over the invasion threat.

Erik was
therefore forced to spend the first few minutes of the meeting trying to
explain the circumstances to everyone. 

“The main
problem is that you didn’t talk to us!” someone shouted.  “You just took ‘em in—no
meetings, not even with the Building Reps!”

“If we had
done that, it would have been hours before they could get in out of the rain,”
Erik tried explaining.

“That’s not
the point!”

“That’s
exactly
the point!” Erik roared back.  “They’re my friends, and I wasn’t about to let
them sit out there in the rain, bleeding and wounded like they were.  For
cryin’ out loud they’re not murderers—“

“They’re
bikers
,
what’s the difference?” someone else shouted from the back.  The residents, all
fifty or so, erupted in heated arguments and accusations.  A handful of people
had actually spoken to the bikers and realized they were not the hardened
criminals so often portrayed by the media before the Troubles.  Those people
were few and far between.

As the
minutes ticked by, Erik could look around and see the organization he had tried
to establish start to break apart.  The mob mentality that he had last seen
days ago when he rose to power was coming back.  The fears and nervousness and
selfishness of the people who lived at Colonial Gardens were resurfacing.

The
Building Reps, siding with Erik were coming under verbal attack by their
neighbors for allowing the bikers to enter the apartment complex and take over
a whole building.  It didn’t seem to matter that the building had been
abandoned a week ago.  It didn’t seem to matter that for the most part the
bikers were too tired and wounded to hurt anyone.  All that mattered was  they
had weapons enough to do so.

Shout and
scream as he might, not even Ted could get through to them.  He could not get
the idea across that the bikers, tough and scary as they may seem to the
residents, had gotten their own asses handed to them by some other group.  The
other
group was the ones they should all fear.  The residents did not agree.  Why
worry about the devil outside when you had a devil inside?

As the sun
sank fully behind the horizon and another muggy early summer night crept on,
Erik realized that these people really didn’t see what he saw.  They had no
clue, or if they did, they were deluding themselves about the future.  Most
were still of the mindset they were before the power went out.  Only a handful,
the enlightened ones, saw the coming Dark Age that Erik saw with every rumor
from the lips of the passerby. 

Every time
a National Guard truck drove past the neighborhood, speakers blaring and
offering shelter at the local school, promising food and water.   Every time a
newscast from England was picked up or a nationally repeated message of hope
from Washington was heard on a radio, the sheeple bleated and smiled, believing
the end to be near and happy.  The darkness was coming.

Over the
din of the near riot going on all over the pool deck below, Erik said to Ted,
“They just don’t get it, do they?  Even after all we’ve done, all we’ve seen
and heard, they don’t
get
it.”

“I don’t
know if they ever will, man.  Hell it’s just been a week and a half.  This time
two weeks back they were eating TV dinners and watching the game on the boob
tube.  You have to have
seen
something like this before; lived it…like
we did over in the Sandbox,” Ted said.  “Or you have to know so much about it…“

“History
repeats itself…I wonder if someone was saying this exact thing a week after
Rome fell…” muttered Erik.

Finally the
crowd got itself calmed down and one person stepped up to the plate.  “This
ain’t no kingdom, is it?”

Erik looked
around at the angry and confused faces.  More than a few had apologetic and
frustrated looks.  His supporters tried and failed to win over the herd
mentality.  “No, of course not—“ he said.

“Then
you’re not the
king
of us are you?”

“How
could
I be, you all
voted
to put me in charge!  I’m here because
you
asked me to be here.”  Erik regretted those words as soon as he said them.

“Then we
can
remove
you too!”  The clamor started instantly.

“—gone too
far by letting those animals in here!”

“What’s
wrong with you?”

“They’ll
kill us—“

A single
gunshot erupted from the stage, effectively silencing everyone and causing many
to drop to the ground.  When the screams subsided and everyone had their
attention focused on Ted, pistol still raised in the air, he spoke.

“Don’t you
people forget for God-damn second that if it hadn’t been for Erik getting us
all to work together, you’d be without food and water right now.  You’d
probably have gone to the ‘safe zone’ and not be living in your own place right
now.  Don’t you forget that for one
second!
” Ted barked angrily.  Not a
single person spoke or stirred.

Erik could
sense the mood of the crowd getting ugly and put a hand on Ted’s shoulder. 
“Thank you Ted, but it’s okay.”  Inwardly he sighed. 
If this is what it
takes, so be it…

“I can see you’re
not happy with my decisions lately as your leader—“

“Damn right
we’re not!” someone shouted.  Erik pondered for a second how funny it was that
people grew bold when hidden in numbers.

“So, I’ll
resign and step down.  Someone else can lead you.”  With that, he simply turned
and stepped down off the stage, Brin following him with a shocked look.  Ted
and the other Reps simply stood with mouths open.  Erik took his place in the
crowd and looked up at the stage while everyone else looked at him.  The crowd
erupted again.

“Now wait a
minute—“

“Fine! 
Let’s put someone new in charge!”

“He can’t
just quit like that, can he?”

“What are
we gonna do
now
?”

“We need
someone who’s used to running an organization, not a damn kid!”

“Hey!  What
about…”

Ted forced
his way through the crowd and found Erik and Brin.  He gripped Erik’s arm and
whispered harshly, “What the
fuck
are you doing?”

“Stepping
down.  Literally!” Erik said, smiling.  The weight of leadership had vanished
from his shoulders the moment his foot left the Stage.  He suddenly realized
how much pressure he had been under, trying to get the complex organized. 
“They obviously didn’t like the way I was running things, so let ‘em find
someone new.  I have no problems with that…Hell, if they screw things up, Brin
and I—and you and Sue and the kids of course—we’ll all just head to Dundee and
set up at my Great-Grandad’s lake.  My family’s got a house out in the boonies,
middle of an orange grove.  Should be pretty much untouched, I would think.” 
Ted stared blankly at Erik’s words.

“Josh
Lentz!” someone shouted, louder than the rest, stopping Ted from arguing
further with Erik. 

In seconds,
Mr. Lentz’s credentials were argued, passed around and ratified by the mob. 
Before too long, a group of people began chanting his name.  In a few minutes,
it was all over.  Josh Lentz, a resident in Alfonse’s building, former
superintendent of a school system in Illinois before retiring to Sarasota, had
been elected leader
pro tem
, just like Erik had been.  He would get a trial
period, and if the people of the complex liked him, he’d be put in charge on a
more permanent basis.  The details were to be worked out later.

Lentz was a
bureaucrat.  He knew how to grease skids and sooth ruffled feathers.  He knew
the way the ‘system’ worked—or had worked, and he had a plan for
institutionalizing Colonial Gardens.  He was a kind but firm man.  Well liked
and now in charge of leading the little community through its darkest hour, all
this he said without really saying anything of worth.  With much clapping and
cheering, he took over the Stage.  The Council, without Ted, remained on the
Stage, unsure of what to do.