The Sunshine Dame of Doom (8 page)

“
We don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control
…” Clark recited. “This is obviously a symbol against education. I just think they shouldn’t do that...”

“No way!” Lily angrily retorted. “They got nothing against education! This is actually a statement to criticize the educational system in general, which sometimes smashes children instead of supporting them.”

“But they clearly say
we don’t need no education
.”

“And they say even more clearly
we don’t need no thought control
. That’s what the song is all about. You educate children, you inform children, but you don’t brainwash them with
dark sarcasm in the classroom
.”

“Well, actually I can’t argue very much with that. It’s tough enough to be bullied by other kids, left alone by your teachers, who by the way should do something about it.”

“Have you been bullied?”

Clark lowered his eyes. She glanced at him.

“So, have you been bullied?” She insisted.

“Yes!”

“Me too.”

Mate looked at her.

“No way!” He said.

“My father was bullied too. I guess it’s a little price you pay when you respect other’s privacy, but they don’t respect yours. If you are a quiet one, people get curious. If you don’t satisfy their curiosity, they get cruel.”

“There’s also a matter of character involved, don’t you think? Or at least lack of it.”

“I never said otherwise. Rapes happen based on the same principle.”

Clark stared at his shoes again. He raised his head, hesitated a lot, and then his eyes were back on the shoes.

“No, I’ve never been raped.” Lily said, as if reading his dilemma. “I was almost raped once.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but happy to know nothing happened after all.”

Lily smiled “I love the way you don’t know what to say, always knowing what to say.”

“That’s me.” He replied, but frowning.

A silence followed, but a comfortable one, until…

“Hey, look that!” Clark suddenly jumped on his seat, pointing a finger ahead.

“Speaking on bullying…”

Lily turned the wheel harshly and the vehicle veered off abruptly. For a brief moment, two tires abandoned the floor. Like vultures, a pack of walking cadavers were about to devour a poor soul lying on the sand, who also looked like a corpse.

“Stay here.” She spoke.

“But…”

Lily stepped out of the car and finished the beasts. She carried the human being in deplorable state to the truck.

“Are you sure she’s not one of them?” Clark asked. “Just take a look at her.”

“She mumbled some words, or tried too. Besides, for some inexplicable reason, zombies don’t eat each other.

“Can you blame them?”

“Anyway, she’s devastated but not a corpse… yet.”

“What the heck happened to her?”

“This is for a doctor to say. We need to take her to a hospital.”

“So, I guess it’s back to
multiple signs walled city
.”

“We have no choice. In the meantime, we got a new mate in our bunch. Let’s try to get to know her.”

Hector and Vince were thrown on the floor like two sacks of cement. Some people working on stations around turned scared at them, surely disapproving the way those two men had just been treated. They’ve all had similar experiences.

“Back off!” A man in uniform screamed, pointing a semi-automatic machine gun to the general direction of the workers in that sector. “You know the drill, scumbag!”

“I told you we can’t stay here!” Vince cried, still on the floor. “We know nothing of power stations!”

“Your problem, buddy.”

Then, all armed thugs who escorted Hector and Vince left, closing heavy, thick metal doors behind them.

“I’m not your buddy, asshole!” Vince muttered.

Two workers came to help the brothers standing up.

“We also knew nothing of this business when those suckers dumped us here,
mano
.” One of them said. “By the way, my name is Pedro and this is Raul.”

“I’m Hector, this is Vince.” He said breathlessly.

“Welcome aboard.”

Once back on his feet, Hector went straight to the door and tried to force it open.

“Help me here, Vince.”

And his brother joined him in the task.

“Don’t bother mano.” Pedro said. “Believe me, many of us already tried that many times over, even with some heavy tools we have at our disposal. It won’t budge.”

Hector and Vince were indeed sweating a lot. And the doors didn’t move an inch.

“Yes.” Hector panted. “Better rethink our strategy.”

“Perhaps when they come back, we can jump them.” Vince suggested.

“Good man.”

“If they come back, it will be to give you hell.” Raul warned. “And you can’t fight them.”

“Now, if you please follow me, mano, we got two free monitoring stations.” Pedro spoke. “Guess they belong to you now. Don’t worry, we teach you everything you need to know.”

But Vince and Hector did not move.

“Except for one little problem, mano” Hector said. “We’re not going to do a damn thing until somebody tells us what’s going on here!”

“I tell you what’s going on here.” Raul said. “You’ve been selected to the distinguished basement of troublemakers. We keep water and power running for the riches, and in return they pretend we do not exist. And believe me, it’s a blessing.”

“And if you don’t do what you’re told, it’s all our asses in a sling.” Pedro completed with an anguished face.

“Is that so?”

“It is so, yes. You’re not the first one who tries to do something about and got others seriously screwed up.”

Hector took some steps ahead and looked around. He estimated about thirty people working in that sector.

“And how do we survive in here?” He asked.

“They give us food and water, but just enough. We work business hours, then we are allowed to retire to some bunks, but we never leave this place. It’s been a long time since I’ve last seen the sun. I show you where everything is, including our not so hygienic sanitary facilities.”

“Those I could use.” Vince said.

“Oh, but I don’t work for a plate of food, my friend.” Hector retorted dangerously loud. “I work to enrich my soul and make an honest buck. That’s right, if I work, I demand to be paid in money! Mister Lincoln did a great job finishing slavery and I’m not willing to let it go to waste.”

“Look, we are not lambs in here, mister!” Raul angrily spoke. “We know everything about civil rights! And we tried to make them count. But you got to listen to me! You still don’t know what they are capable of. Consequences can be really disastrous.”

“And who are they?” Hector queried.

“Powers that be, our bosses…”

“What happened if we refuse to work?” Vince asked.

“Then you die, or worse.”

Hector and Vince turned around to find the owner of that new, deep voice. They found an old black man, with white hair surrounding a protruding bald head, also with a thick white beard. He spun on his chair to face the newcomers.

“This is Marcellus Malthus, our senior technician.” Raul introduced the man.

“He’s been here since forever, even when the world was not so crappy.” Pedro complemented the information.

“And I saw my share of things.” Marcellus said with a deep, low voice.

He lowered his thick white eyebrows, reached into his shirt pocket and took a picture. He handed it to the brothers and Hector was the one to take it.

“Wow, she’s pretty!” Vince said, gazing at the gorgeous, elegant black lady in the photo.

“Indeed.” Hector agreed.

They gave back the picture.

“Thanks.” Marcellus spoke. “It’s my daughter Michelle. She was just like you, brave and determined, the pride of every father. And I was proud of her.”

He took a deep breath and continued.

“She also couldn’t take the injustices of this cruel new world and she gathered around other folks who shared her views. They believed they could make the difference and we all believed them. And they did a good rebellion job, even managed to escape this place. But they came back.”

“Dead?” Hector risked the question.

“Changed” Marcellus shook his head.

“I beg your pardon?”

“That girl who came back looked exactly like my daughter, only it was no longer her. She was too soft, adapted, accommodated, nothing like her.”

“Are you saying they sent back somebody else pretending to be your daughter?” Vince asked.

“I’m telling you they sent my daughter back but she wasn’t herself. I know my Michelle and that wasn’t my baby. They did something to her, something to her mind. And the other rebels who helped her came back the same way.”

“You’re talking like they were brainwashed or something.” Vincent spoke.

“I’m not saying anything. All I know is whatever voodoo they did to her was very powerful. After that, some men in suits came here, pointing guns to keep us quiet. They took everybody in this sector to the big courtyard outside, something they never did. We knew they were up to no good.”

He lowered his eyebrows again and choked.

“They made us stood in formation.” Marcellus proceeded. “And they made the rebels stood in formation right in front of us, including my daughter, facing us. Then they all pointed loaded guns right to their own heads… their faces sweet like cotton…” His hands started to shake and tears welled up in his eyes. “They pulled the trigger!” Marcellus burst into tears. “My baby, my Michelle… blew her head off! That wasn’t her, she would never… God, my Michelle! They wanted us to see! They wanted me to see it! Please, God, let me die!”

Pedro and Raul ran to comfort the old man, placing sympathetic hands on his shoulder.

“It’s hopeless, can’t you see?” Marcellus continued to cry. “We can’t beat them! They own us!”

Hector and Vince looked shocked at the devastated old man.

“Damn, Hec! How come people just shoot their own heads like that?”

“They have powers.” A short, skinny woman spun her chair from her station to face the brothers. She surely didn’t belong in there as well.

“Powers?” Hector frowned.

“I heard stories.” The woman continued. “Somehow, they enter your mind and control your will. They force you to do whatever they want.”

“And you are…” Vince came to her rather anxious all of a sudden.

“My name is Maria and I used to run a hair parlor.”

“And you will again.” Hector assured her.

She smiled, but melancholically.

“Somehow, I still can’t accept this whole deal.” Hector whispered to his brother.

“I’d be surprised if you could, bro. But we’d better be extra careful in this one. It seems there’s some dark magic going on.”

The person working in the station beside Maria caught Vincent’s eyes.

“Hey, I remember you…” He said.

But the man did not take his eyes off the monitors. Vince came closer.

“You look different, but… Oh yeah, it’s you! Yo Hec, get a load of this! This guy… Aaron, it’s it? He’s our bunk mate in the truck! Man, I’m glad to see you! You survived, man!”

But Aaron was still not responsive. He looked distant, as if living another life.

“I mean…” Vince continued, a little more cautious. “I almost didn’t recognize you without the…”

“Don’t look at me, alright?” Aaron finally reacted. “I’m a monster! Look what they did to me!”

“You’re shaved, that’s all.”

“They stole everything that was most precious to me!” He replied, nearly weeping.

Hector strode to him furiously and grabbed his arms, forcing the man to face him, lifting him from the chair.

“Hey!” Aaron tried to complain. “I have to pay attention to those monitors!”

“You pay attention to me now!” Hector retorted. “They may shave your head and even your face, but they cannot shave your spirit! That’s what matters! Don’t give the suckers the satisfaction to see you down!”

Aaron didn’t answer and his eyes were on the floor.

“Look at me when I talk to you!” Hector ordered “Eyes, man, eyes!”

Very slowly, Aaron surrendered to the pressure and raised his eyes to meet Hector’s.

“What do you do?” Hector asked.

“I’m in charge of sector C. If some alarm appears…”

“No, not what they want you to be! I’m asking what you really are!”

Aaron hesitated, but realized the big man standing before him would not let him be unless he answered his questions.

“I’m a doctor” He finally responded “a surgeon actually.”

“This is great!” Hector said satisfied and let go of his arms. “And you’ll be practicing medicine again in no time!”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, my friend.”