Desperate Times Three - Revolution (9 page)

“By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make people see even heaven as hell, or an extremely wretched life as paradise.” – Adolph Hitler

One floor above Julie in an identical room, Patty Dahlgren studied her own bleak situation and prayed like she had never prayed before. She had been saved once, but her reprieve seemed all too temporary, and she knew that her only hope was to get out of this terrible place.
That man was going to dissect me alive,
Patty thought, which sent a chill up her spine.
What type of world did we come back to?

She thought of Ken and wondered how he and the others were doing. She was happy that he didn’t have to see her like this. Today had been another good day; she was certain that she had been able to wiggle her toes. Slowly, she was regaining the use of her limbs, and she knew that if they’d just give her some time, she was on the road to recovery. Her mind was clear and sharp, and if she could only speak she would give that doctor a piece of it.

The door to her room suddenly burst open, and she heard hushed voices. Patty’s heart fell as she was certain they were about to take her back to that classroom and carve her up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey.

And suddenly Bill Huggins was staring down into her eyes. “Patty?” he whispered. “Can you hear me?”

Patty blinked her eyes as rapidly as she could and watched Bill’s face light up. He was standing and she wondered how that was possible. He seemed to read her thoughts.

“I got a new leg, Patty,” he gushed. “And it’s bionic. Look! She knows we’re here!” he said, triumphantly. “Don’t you worry about a thing. We’re going to get you out of here.”

One question burned inside her head. Patty summoned up every ounce of strength and willed herself to whisper it out loud. “Ken?” she asked, amazing herself with the accomplishment.

Bill was suddenly pushed out of the way, and an Oriental man was hovering over her. “Dear God,” he whispered. “I am so sorry. Stay calm and save your strength. Sonya, you’ll have to help me lift her onto gurney.”

“I can do it,” said Bill.

“No, I’d rather have Sonya help me.”

“What, you don’t think that I’m stronger than a girl?”

“You have bad back and new leg. I am not going to argue with you, Bill. You gather up your friend’s things and put them into bag. We don’t have much time.”

Patty suddenly found herself staring into the brown eyes of a young woman. She smiled back at her, reassuringly. Patty could see why Bill had stood his ground. She doubted the girl weighed even a hundred pounds, which was about half of her own weight. The young Asian woman quietly leveled out the bed and the next thing Patty knew, the woman had slipped her hands underneath her and quickly slid her onto the waiting gurney.

“I’m stronger than I look,” the girl called Sonya said to Patty.

“So am I,” retorted Bill. “I could’ve done that.”

Patty rolled her eyes.

“Do you have everything? There, on the table. She will need her glasses. Come on, Bill. We have to go,” said the small man in the white lab coat.

“I was getting there. Do you think I’m stupid? Don’t worry about me.”

Patty could see the exasperated look on the girl’s face as she watched Bill, a look she knew all too well. A moment later they were wheeling her out into the brightly lit corridor, and soon they seemed to be flying down the narrow hallway. Patty’s joy at being rescued was tempered only by her fear that they would be caught. One of the wheels on the gurney squealed like it needed grease, and the sound seemed to be amplified by the narrow passageway. They banged through a set of double doors, followed by another. They were suddenly at the back of a white van, and the Oriental man threw open the back doors.

“Where is he?” he asked.

“I thought he was right behind me,” Patty heard the young woman say.

“He drives me crazy. Come on, let’s get her inside. You ready?”

“Hold it right there!” ordered a man’s deep voice from somewhere behind them. “Where the hell do you think you’re going with that patient?”

One look at her new friends was all that Patty needed to know that her escape had been foiled. She groaned and felt hot tears stinging her eyes. Two stern-looking men in black uniforms were suddenly taking the pair by the arms.

“You two are in a lot of trouble,” the voice said. “I’m very disappointed in you, Dr. Chen. You too, Sonya. What the hell were you thinking?”

“How could you have possibly known?” Sonya asked.

The man laughed at that. “You can thank your fat friend. He made a wrong turn and limped right into the security office.”

“Let me go,” demanded Bill from somewhere behind them. “You have no right to hold me!”

“Bring this one back to her room and lock up these three up,” ordered the deep voice. “I’ve got to make some phone calls, and I just know there’s going to be a mountain of paperwork to fill out. Damn it, I’m supposed to be home in an hour.”

“No!” screamed Patty, suddenly finding her voice for the first time in so many months. “I want to go home!”

Patty Dahlgren would never see either of her homes, ever again.

Patty quickly found herself back inside her little room, but they hadn’t bothered putting her back into bed. Time passed slowly as her mind raced in a million different directions. She found that she could open and close her right hand, and she had even been able to raise her right knee for a few seconds. She was making progress; there was no doubting that. She was proud of her accomplishments, small that they were, and she couldn’t wait to show her doctors that they had been wrong in their diagnosis. She was no useless eater.

After what may have been two hours or four, Patty heard hushed voices from outside her door. She strained her ears, but caught only the barest fragments of words. She opened and closed her mouth, stretching her jaw muscles, and prayed that they wouldn’t let her down. There was a quick rap on the steel door, and Dr. Botch walked into her room. He leaned down and looked into her eyes.

“Hello,” whispered Patty.

Dr. Botch blinked hard and stood back. “Hello,” he said. “I had heard that you were speaking. I just wanted to see it for myself. I’d say that it is nothing short of a medical miracle.”

“Good.”

Dr. Botch scratched his head and smiled. “Yes… And no,” he said, sitting down on the edge of Patty’s hospital bed and crossing his arms. “Look, I don’t make up the rules around here. I do what I’ve been hired to do and if the man asks me to jump, I jump. Do you understand that? I have a wife and four growing boys at home. They need me.”

Patty concentrated and was rewarded by a solemn nod of her head. “Yes.”

“I have a big mortgage and two car payments and insurance is killing me. My kids eat five hundred dollars of groceries a week, and gas is still sixty bucks a gallon. Am I getting through to you?”

“Yes,” Patty replied, softly. She wondered why this doctor was giving her his life story.
Was he trying to make a point?
She didn’t know. She certainly hoped that he wasn’t.

Dr. Botch took off his glasses and cleaned them with a tissue from the little box on her nightstand. “Next spring I am taking them all on a European vacation. Do you have any idea how much that costs? I get paid quite well for what I do, and I’m not about to give it up because of some ancient code of ethics. The money I am paid goes directly back into the economy, and everyone benefits from that. Patty, think about this. If we were to save you, what do you bring from your end? What do you have to offer us? That’s right… nothing.”

“That’s not…true.”

“Oh, it is true and somewhere inside of you, you know that. And beyond all of that, we have four patients waiting for you to give them life. You have a healthy body, and they want to thank you for taking such good care of it. There is a young man upstairs waiting to be able to see his wife for the very first time. A mother of three is in need of a liver, and a police officer and a young boy need kidneys. Do I need to go on?”

Patty felt her jaw drop, and she clenched her fist.

“A
doctor
, Patty, a doctor needs a heart, and think of all of the good he can do once he recovers from the transplant. How can you put yourself above that? Don’t you believe in God?”

The last question was like a bomb going off inside Patty’s head. She could feel her pulse quicken until her heart threatened to explode. She thought of what the man was trying to say. Still, she had purpose, and she tried to explain. “Ken?”

“Your husband?” Botch snickered. “He’s too busy giving interviews to be worried about you. He’s become quite the celebrity.”

Patty’s eyes grew large and immediately misted over. Dr. Botch reached into his lab coat and pulled out a syringe. Out of his other pocket he removed a small vial. With a practiced hand he stuck the needle into the vial and drew out a measured dose. Patty said a silent prayer as the tears fell down her cheek and onto the hard surface of the gurney.

“Goodbye, Patty,” Dr. Botch whispered, jabbing the needle into the fleshy part of her right arm. “Try to remember just how many lives you’ll be saving.”

Patty opened her mouth to speak, but was suddenly overcome by a great wave of blackness.

“I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that.” ~ Walter Cronkite

“Welcome back, America,” Thrill Melbow said to the camera. “In case you’ve been living under a rock or are just tuning in, I’m sitting here with Ken Dahlgren and Jimmy Logan. That’s right, the leader and second in command of the infamous Dahlgren Gang. Let me bring you up to speed here. Ken and Jimmy were just attempting to explain the two hundred bodies the authorities have dug up on their burned-out compound in northern Minnesota. Now, as you know, President Richter has chosen to forgive these two men for their crimes. He wants to put this incident behind us, and I have to say that he’s a much bigger man than I am, figuratively speaking, of course.”

Jimmy watched in amazement as the radio personality continued on with his monologue. He had never shared a room with such a monstrous ego, and despite all of his anger, Jimmy felt somehow drawn to this man because of it. Those conflicting emotions were punching it out inside his mind, and they left Jimmy feeling dazed and confused.

“Back to you, Ken. Let me see if I got this straight. You amassed an army of housewives and homosexuals and ordered them up to your compound. Are you, by chance, a polygamist?”

“A what?” Ken asked, his face registering unadulterated shock. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“That was a simple question,” replied Thrill with a chortle. “Are you a polygamist? Do you know what that means?”

“I know damn well what that means, and no, I am not a polygamist! I am a happily married, Christian man. As far as Jon goes, he was a homosexual, and he was one of the finest men I’ve ever met in my life. Listen up, Thrill. Here’s how it all went down. My wife, Patty, saw that things were getting crazy, and bless her heart, she began to invite her friends up to the lake house to ride out the storm.”

“Patty?” asked Thrill. “And how many kills does she have under her belt?”

Ken nearly lunged out of his chair. “Patty has never hurt anyone in her life! Don’t make this personal, Melbow! I swear to God…”

“Calm down, Ken. Don’t get so defensive. I apologize if that sounded cold. I’m just trying to visualize all of this in my mind. Okay, let’s move on, shall we? You invite some friends up to your lake place and then what? What happened next?”

“There was a resort next door,” Jimmy said, weighing in with his side of the story. “The people over there were living the high life, as if the whole thing would blow over like a bad storm. They partied it up and laughed at us as we put up the wall. Well, eventually they started to run out of things, and they must’ve thought that we looked like easy targets.”

“So, you went after them with your guns blazing away.”

“No,” snorted Ken. “Will you please stop trying to sensationalize everything? Here’s what happened: I got struck by lightning trying to save one of those damn fools from drowning out on the lake. I had to go to Ely to be treated.”

“Treated by the doctor in town, is that correct?”

“We’ll get to Doc in a moment; don’t try to lead me. Yes, I was taken to see Doc Benson. He and I went to school together. Well, while I was away, they had some trouble with the group from the lodge. They were running out of food and so what do they do? They invite people from our group to come over to their side of the fence. I kept our people busy while those people at Sally’s were living the life of Riley. I suppose that appealed to some of our people, and they took their supplies over there, not knowing that was all the other group was really after. They burned through their supplies in no time, and it wasn’t long before they wanted more. That was when they tied one of our men to a post and threatened to burn him alive unless our people gave them some supplies.”

“You have to be kidding me.”

“No, Thrill, I’m not. They would have done it, too. I know that now.”

“My God! What did you do?”

Jimmy watched in astonishment as Thrill Melbow began to slowly change. His tone softened, and be became patient as Ken continued his story.

“They gave them what they wanted to save our friend, Bill. That’s what my people did. They pulled a trailer up to my shed and emptied it of everything we had in there. Then they sent our people back with their tails between their legs.”

“You must’ve been angry. Did you take them back?”

“Of course they did. I got back from Ely the following day, and they told me all about it. I’m glad our people came back. They made a mistake, and we forgave them.”

“Don’t forget about Brenda,” Jimmy said, pointing a finger to Ken.

“That’s right,” agreed Ken. “Brenda decided to stay with the other group. She was always a bit on the wild side, and it ended up costing her dearly. I don’t think Brenda thought they would actually kill her.”

“Why would they kill her?” Thrill asked, leaning over the table as if they were telling stories around a campfire. “They had already cleaned you out.”

“They had cleaned out the shed. Brenda must’ve told them what we had stored in the basement. Patty and I had bought tons of canned foods, and most of our other supplies were down there, too. Well, they tried the same trick with Brenda that they tried with Bill. This time we weren’t giving in.”

“I can’t blame you. They must’ve been fools to think you would’ve.”

Ken nodded his head, and Jimmy could see the emotion welling up in his eyes as he relived that terrible night. “It was late, after ten, and they set everything up in the dark to try to take us by surprise. They had Brenda hogtied to that post and turned some headlights on her to make sure we could all see it. We could all see Brenda was scared to death, the poor thing. I suppose none of us thought that they’d actually do it, but they did. That’s when the shooting started, and they stormed the fence. We were outnumbered three, maybe four to one.”

“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for those M-16’s,” said Jimmy. “Legal or not, our superior firepower saved us. We buried a lot of our own people after that fight.”

The door to the conference room suddenly flew open, and Katie Flourish stood in the opening, looking as if someone had just insulted her mother. Thrill sat with his back to the door, but when the room grew silent, the big man looked over his shoulder and studied Katie for a long moment. He promptly returned his attention to the camera. “We’re going to take a quick break. We’ll be right back with more from Ken Dahlgren and Jimmy Logan. We also may have a special guest sitting in, the incomparable Ms. Katie Flourish. You won’t want to miss this.”

The lights dimmed, and Jimmy watched as Katie charged into the room. “What the hell is going on here?” she growled, showing her teeth in a totally different light. “Jimmy, Ken, you both see what he’s doing, don’t you?”

Thrill stood up from his chair and held his hands up in the air. “Katie,” he said. “I want you to know something, and this is coming straight from my heart.”

“Oh, can it, Thrill,” spat Katie. “Everyone knows that you don’t have a heart.”

Thrill stood silently for a moment before he continued. “You’re right, of course. I was summoned to spin their story. I’m not going to deny it. But after meeting these men and hearing their story, I’ve decided that I can’t do what I was hired to do. There’s a lot at stake here, and I think America needs to know the full truth.”

Katie’s face softened, and she crossed her arms at her chest. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Thrill. Go ahead and spit it out. What do you have up your sleeve?”

“I’m going to let these men finish their story and then expose our government for what it really is. I can’t stand by and watch as our country goes to hell in a handbag. I simply refuse to do it. Look at what they’ve done to the Constitution. We’ve got to put the brakes on this thing.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You will do no such thing!” shouted Collins from across the room, who was charging towards Thrill with his briefcase. “We have a contract!”

A burly man in a black sports jacket intercepted Collins five feet away from his target. The man took the attorney by the arm and twisted it behind his back in one slick move. “Hold it right there,” he said.

“Let go of me,” Collins demanded. “You have no right to do this. Think about it, Melbow. You’ll be ruined. Do you hear me? Your life won’t be worth a plug nickel!”

“What do you want me to do with him,” the bodyguard asked.

“Take him out of here, but make sure he doesn’t leave. And don’t let him make any calls. We have one more segment, and I don’t want him to spoil it.”

“You’ll never get away with this!” squealed Collins as he was ushered out the door.

When the door closed, Katie dropped her arms to her side and put her hands on her hips. “You know who that was, don’t you?” she asked, her face registering disbelief.

“I know damn well who that was,” replied Thrill. “And he’s probably right. My life won’t be worth a plug nickel after we finish here. I’m willing to take that risk. Katie, we have fifteen minutes to tell America the truth and blow the lid off of this thing. I’d be honored to have you join me.”

Jimmy watched as Katie scratched her head, and the trademark smile returned to her face. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Thrill. Okay, let’s get this done. Somebody find me a chair and get me a microphone. Oh, my producer is going to kill me.”

“I don’t think your producer is the one you have to worry about,” replied Thrill, ominously. He turned to his technicians. “Let’s go people! We need a microphone and a chair, now!”

“What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?” Ken asked, turning to face Jimmy as the room became a whirlwind of activity.

“I’m not sure,” replied Jimmy. “But whatever it is, we’re stuck right in the middle of it.”

A moment later, Jimmy watched as this unlikeliest of pairings saddled up next to each other at the table. The room had grown utterly silent, and there was an air of gravity that hadn’t been there earlier. Everyone knew that the next fifteen minutes would be the most important of their lifetime.

“Five seconds,” called the producer.

A moment later, Thrill began to speak. “Welcome back, America. As promised, I have been joined by the lovely and extremely talented Ms. Katie Flourish. We don’t have a lot of time here, so I want to get straight to business. First, I have a confession to make. I was hired to discredit the two men sitting before me, and I can’t find it in my heart to do so. Instead, I want to use our remaining time to inform all of you about what is
really
happening in our beloved country. We’re being sold down the road by people who don’t give a damn about anything but their precious bottom line. They’ve worked for years to assemble a government they could trust to ensure their success.”

“That’s right, Thrill,” Katie said solemnly. “A plan is in place to create a new world order, ruled by a fascist government in order to serve the needs and purposes of the elite. Their greatest fear is men like Ken Dahlgren and Jimmy Logan—men willing to stand up for their beliefs and convictions, unafraid of the consequences. If we have any chance to save ourselves, it will be because we chose to follow their lead. The time has arrived to stand up and be counted.”

There was a pause, and Jimmy could feel the hair on the back of his neck prickle. He and Ken exchanged a look of shock as Thrill began to speak.

“You all know me and what I stand for. I want you to know that my beliefs in the conservative way of life have not changed a single iota. I still deplore liberalism and giving to those unwilling to fend for themselves, but the time has come for all Americans to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight those who would steal their country out from underneath them.”

Katie nodded her head. “We need to stop the senseless bickering about who is left and who is right. We’ve been divided for a reason, America. We’ve been divided in order to be conquered. I want you all to think about that, long and hard.”

“I’ve been saying that for years!” exploded Ken, slamming his fist on the table. “We need a revolution, people. A peaceful revolution that we fight legally, at the polls! Vote out the incumbents. We need to get back to the basics of the American way of life. We need fresh minds in our government—men and women willing to cross the aisle in order to serve the people who elected them into their positions. We need term limits in order to ensure that fresh ideas are brought to the table. America is our country. We can’t allow it to be taken from us!”

Katie and Thrill exchanged a perplexed look and Katie turned to face Ken. “You sound like a candidate, Mr. Dahlgren. Would you be willing to back up those words with a presidential campaign?”

Ken sat back in his chair and his face turned pale. Jimmy stared at him in shock.

Thrill stared at Katie for a moment and began to laugh. “Katie, you can’t be serious. President? President of what?”

“You said it yourself, Thrill,” Katie shot back. “The protesters are marching in circles because they haven’t found someone to lead them. Why couldn’t Ken be that person? My God, somebody has to step up to the plate. Have you been listening to him?”

“But he has no experience, no credentials. He has no support system. He hasn’t got a chance in hell of winning the election.”

“What experience did George Washington have? And as far as credentials go, do we really want another career politician as our president? What we need is someone to define the middle for the rest of the country and speak for them. This guy does that. Look, we could build a support system from both sides of the aisle. Come on, Thrill. What have we got to lose?”