Fliers fell from Darla’s arms, as she struggled to keep her footing. Jack was close behind, his hands shaking as he gripped tightly against the pistol. Its wooden grip felt strangely warm, resting comfortably in his palm. Even if he couldn’t bring himself to remember how he got there, he would not let anyone hurt Darla or Adam. Looking back, he saw Adam, a rifle in his hand, as he struggled to hold it still. He fired blindly behind him, crying out as he did. War wasn’t right for Adam, he didn’t belong to this world. A remanent of a time long since dead. He couldn’t understand what Jack and Darla did; that there was no saving the world as it was; a swift strike to the temple is all that awaited what remained. Jack hoped that Adam would realize it, and abandon that old world.
“There!” Darla shouted, as she turned rapidly to the left, hiding behind an overturned car. Bullets zipped past, striking Jack in the cheek.
“Give me the rifle.” Jack said.
Adam let his arms go limp, as the rifle fell to the ground. Adam then rushed behind Darla.
Picking up the gun, Jack fired back towards their assailants. One of them fell limp, the others ducked behind some rubble.
“Jesus Christ! What the fuck, god damn it!” Adam swore to himself, as he rocked back and forth, tears rushing out of his face.
Blood poured from Jack’s cheek. He wiped it away with his sleave. The the sweet taste of iron on his lips brought him home.
“I should have figured they’d come after their police report failed; I should have been more prepared, damn it!” Darla said, getting her fliers together. They were covered in ash and blood, but were all the same perfectly readable. The New People’s Manifesto . An interesting title, Jack wished he had taken the time to read it.
“My apartment is gone, fuck my apartment is gone. How am I gonna get to work tomorrow?” Adam asked.
“I’m sorry Adam, but there are more important things to deal with right now. The Syndicalists need a manifesto; otherwise we’re nothing but rioters.”
“We’re getting shot at.” Jack replied.
“Thanks, I couldn’t fucking tell.” Darla replied.
Jack returned fire. Another man fell limp.
“I got one.” Jack said, “I miss when I didn’t care.”
Adam looked up at Jack, fear and pain in his eyes. Jack wished they could go home where it was comfortable. He wished that he could be in the aisles of a supermarket, looking for milk that wasn’t spoiled. He wished he could go back to the way things were. Everything hurt, but everything was the same.
More bullets rang out, as Jack peeked beyond their overturned car. Men were marching forward, American flags wrapped tightly around their arms.
“They’re coming.” Jack said, firing back. Two more fell limp. Two more dropped behind cover. Three remained. Jack couldn’t stop. He couldn’t think about what he was doing. If he did, he couldn’t do it.
“Please, let me go home, let me go home, I just wanna go home!!” Adam cried out.
Hearing Adam’s cries brought Jack’s aspect closer. He fought, but nothing could stop what was coming. The world began to melt, Adam, Darla, the overturned car, the fascists, they all became distant; memories of a dream. The world fell, as Jack felt himself drift. The smell of spoiled milk struck him to the ground. He heard whispers, voices over an intercom; laptops are on sale. A woman and her crying child brush past. The taste of iron on his lips reminded Jack of home. The dentist’s hand gripped his throat, he clenched his teeth as he wept. The anticipation of pain reminded Jack what it was to feel in his anhedonic world. The Aspect pushed those feelings away; kept him safe. At once, Jack was in a vacant sea of black; the waters reflective of an infinite expanse of shaded woods above him, cascading downward, continual simulacrum of the woods until they were reduced to nothing but a green haze. Jack tried to stand, but couldn’t force life into his limp body. In the woods he saw something; the dentist, Jack’s mother, and a man behind them, his head hung low. The dentist was naked, his penis erect, and covered in blood and feces. The man disappeared in the woods. Jack wanted him to come back. The man could keep Jack safe. The dentist smiled, as cuts formed down his body, blood pouring out of him as he burst into flames. Jack’s mother followed the man into the woods. Jack then saw that a little boy and girl were standing behind them all the time. The boy didn’t have a face; the girl looked like Darla. Darla tried to grab the boy’s hand, but the moment their flesh met, the boy’s hand melted away into the ground. A rumble screeched from the woods, as a beast charged through, grabbing the faceless boy, its hands like tendrils wrapping tight around the boy’s throat. The tendrils stabbed through the boy’s heart, as his head fell limp. The girl cried, and fell to the ground, the tendrils stabbing her as well. She reached out to the faceless boy, but she couldn’t escape the tendrils, as more stabbed into her. A thousand tendrils pierced her heart, before she was able to break free. She hugged the faceless boy, tearing him free from the tendrils. In that moment, the boy split; mitosis birthing two new beings, one still faceless, the other bearing the face of The Aspect. The Aspect of the boy scratched and clawed at the girl, pushing her aside, as she grabbed the faceless boy, and ran into the woods. The girl was alone, and cried.
Jack felt a wetness on his cheek, a warmth that pushed out the cold around him. He once again felt life return to his limbs, and he wiped his face clean. Looking at his sleave, he saw streaks of blood.
His eyes struggled to adjust to the light, as a pain rang out from his leg. Jack tried to stand, but couldn’t.
“Its okay baby, I’ve got you.” Adam said, as he applied pressure to Jack’s leg.
“Where are we?” Jack asked.
“You don’t—you weren’t you again, huh.” Adam replied, the sorrow in his voice disguising intrigue.
“Darla?”
“I’m here Jack; we’re safe, for now at least. How much do you remember?” Darla Asked. She was covered in ash, but otherwise unharmed.
“The overturned car.” Jack replied.
“Not much then, I see.”
“Did we kill the fascists?”
Adam’s face grew stern, “yes, they’re dead.”
Darla looked at Adam with grief.
“We did what we had to; and it was worth it! We got the fliers out! By now, its probably be read by thousands! The revolution won’t be for nothing, Jack! We did it!” Darla said.
“There aren’t even thousands of us left to read it.” Adam said, “I never wanted this ‘revolution’, I just wanted to go to work, pay my bills, and love Jack. I only ever helped you for Jack’s sake. And now look what you’ve done to us. Blood is on our hands, Darla! You can’t change that; you can’t make that okay!”
“Revolution is painful; change always hurts, but its necessary. If we don’t fight, American Front wins! I shouldn’t have to tell you of all people why that would be the end of us; all of us!”
“We could go to Canada, the People’s Party of Canada hasn’t won in any important elections yet, there’s still a place for people like Jack and I!”
“If you think Canada won’t fall like America, then you’re an idiot. Where we go, they go; if its not safe for gays here, it won’t be safe for gays there soon after.”
“Damn you, Darla, Jack shouldn’t be dragged into this! Just let us go into the Appalachia and disappear. I have enough money saved that we could get what we need to start a homestead; we could be happy.”
“You won’t be safe there. The only way you can be safe with Jack is if our revolution succeeds. We can’t let the feds win, and we can’t let American Front win. The most organized and effective leftist force are the Syndicalists, and they will make a world that accepts us for who we are.”
“I don’t care, Darla! I just want a little plot of land that I can have a life with Jack in. I don’t care about America, or the people, or any of that shit! I just want to be happy.”
“What about what I want?” Jack asked.
Darla and Adam both looked at Jack.
“Babe, you don’t want this, do you?”
“Its not just us. We could live in Appalachia. We could run away. But some people can’t. We shouldn’t leave them to die.” Jack said.
Darla smiled warmly, “I’m glad you see it that way, Jackie; we aren’t alone in this world, and we can’t abandon the people.”
Adam sighed, “I won’t abandon you Jacks. I couldn’t do that to you; I couldn’t do that to myself. I’ll stay with you no matter what. If you’re staying and fighting in this stupid ‘revolution’, then I’m staying too.”
“Good; if you’re here, you may as well help. We have a lot of work to do.”