When the Chips Are Down (15 page)

“It’s been a hell of a day, but now thanks to Brooklyn, there is new hope for the resistance,” Lars said turning in his seat to face them.

“What do you mean?”
Min asked. 

“Brooklyn has a
Titanium-Aluminum Triphorate rod in her arm that makes her immune to microchips,” Lars explained. 

“Are you serious?  That’s incredible!”
Min cried.

“We could find a scientist to develop a
Titanium-Aluminum Triphorate implant and the government and ICS would never even know,” Caleb suggested. 

“The problem is that Freeman and doctors know.  I saw her medical chart on their computer.  We should’ve killed them when we had the chance,” Marcus said from the passenger seat. 

“If it’s in her chart, anyone from the government can access it.  Killing them wouldn’t have made a difference.  They know of her advantage, but they don’t know of our plans,” Lars
replied.

“The U.S. has already lost half of its police force.  There may not even be enough people to enforce the microchip bill soon,” Zane said. 

“That’
s true.  The resistance will continue to grow, and if the government is outnumbered, there isn’t much they can do to control us,” Caleb agreed. 

“They won’t go down easy.  These are sick and powerful people we’re dealing with and they’ve already gone to a lot of trouble for the microchip bill,” Trent
remarked.

“Trent’s right.  If we respond by rioting and outwardly protesting, they’ll only try to control us as quickly as possible.  Our actions against them must be done
quietly
and discretely, that way they won’t know what hit them,” Brooklyn said. 

“ICS and the government don’t stand a chance against a combination of brilliant minds like ours,” Caleb declared. 

“I sure hope you’re right
, because this is not even the beginning of the end,” Trent said.

EPILOGUE

“Bring it in, Caleb!  Come on, man, you’re going to lose it,” Zane cried as Caleb fought to reel in the enormous bass on the other end of his fishing rod.  Zane and Caleb sat on a boat with a red haired girl named Julia in the middle of a quiet Vermont lake.  Caleb was trying to impress her, but failing miserably.  Caleb heaved with all of his might and swung the giant bass onto the floor of the boat.

“That’s the biggest bass I’ve ever seen,” Julia exclaimed, wide eyed.  Caleb smiled as he felt like he had finally succeeded.  Lars fished on the shore line and Brooklyn and Trent on the dock.  It had been Zane’s idea to come to Vermont and after much arguing, the group had finally agreed.  Zane insisted that Vermont was a perfect place to lay low because it was so small and secluded. 

No one knew the real reason behind Zane’s desire to live there.  When Ben and Brian were younger Zane spent many nights watching zombie movies with them.  They all agreed one night that if there ever were a zombie apocalypse, they would go to Vermont because there always seemed to be a colony there in every movie.  Even though the microchips did not produce real zombies, Zane believed it would be the clue his brothers needed to find him.

The decision had paid off, for when they arrived in Vermont they found a large community of people without microchips who happily welcomed them.  News traveled fast and Zane, Trent, and Brooklyn had become heroes to many.  They were weary of Lars, Min, and Marcus at first but decided that any friend of Zane’s was a friend of theirs.  The community was filled with people of diverse backgrounds, including a machinist who was busily trying to create a Titanium-Aluminum Triphorate implant based on what Zane, Trent, Caleb, and Brooklyn had told him.

“How have you caught five fish and I’ve only caught two?” Brooklyn complained. 

“I told you to use worms for bait and not grasshoppers,” Trent said. 

“But they’re live bait.  What fish doesn’t want live bait?” Brooklyn insisted. 

“Apparently these fish,” Trent replied.

“Hey Lars, how are you making out?” Trent called. 

“I got ten, brother.  These grasshoppers make good bait,” Lars called back.  Brooklyn sighed in frustration. 

“Don’t worry, babe.  There’s plenty of fish for everyone,” Trent assured, putting an arm around her.  Brooklyn rested her head on his shoulder. 

“How long do you think it’ll be before we have to run again? You know that ICS and the government haven’t forgotten about us.  We won’t be able to hide from them forever,” Brooklyn said after a minute.

“With any luck we’ll have a Titanium-Aluminum Triphorate implant soon.  That will foil their plans,” Trent said. 

“It won’t be very helpful if they decide to shoot us,” Brooklyn replied. 

“None of us will go gently into that good night.  There are a lot of people fighting for the same cause now,” Trent said.

“I got it!” Caleb shouted across the lake, holding a line with the bass on the end of it.  “Well done, brother,” Lars shouted.

Trent smiled.  “He’s really trying to win Julia over isn’t he?” he chuckled. 

“He should get an ‘A’ for effort,” Brooklyn said.  Their peaceful moment was interrupted by Bruce as he came running to the dock, flailing his arms.  Bruce was a very high strung and nervous person.  He and his British accent reminded Brooklyn of C3PO from Star Wars. 

“Brooklyn, Trent, you must come quickly.  It is terrible.  I don’t know how they’ve found us but we must be under siege!” Bruce cried. 

“What are you talking about?” Trent asked rising to his feet.

“There are two men here dressed in black.  They say they’re looking for Zane,” Bruce exclaimed.  Brooklyn reeled in her rod and set it on the dock. 

“Zane, come to shore,” she called.

“This is so frightening and just when we thought it was safe again, here they come and-““Bruce,” Trent interrupted, knowing how he tended to ramble incessantly, “Just take us to them.” 

Bruce led Trent, Brooklyn, and Lars to the two young, muscular, raven haired men dressed in black.  Their features and haircuts were identical.  The only thing that seemed to differentiate them was that one was taller than the other.  By then they were surrounded by a group of people, including Min and Marcus.  To no surprise, they had their guns drawn on them.  “Who are you?  Who sent you here?” Min demanded.

“
We told you we’re here to see Zane Marsh,” the young men said with their hands in the air. Zane could not believe his eyes as he came running towards the crowd with Caleb and Julia.  His stomach dropped as his mouth formed their names.  “Ben!  Brian!” he shouted.

“These are your brothers?” Marcus asked, shocked.

“Yes, now put your damn guns down!” Zane yelled.  Min and Marcus lowered their weapons as Zane ran to his brothers, wrapping his arms around both of them.  “I can’t believe you’
re here,” he exclaimed.

“I can’t believe you finally cut your hair.  When we saw your video on the news, you looked like a
Neanderthal,” Brian, the taller one, said.

“How did you manage to come here without them following you?” Zane wanted to know.

“The military and police force have all but fallen.  A lot has happened that you guys probably don’t know about,” Ben replied.

“Well, we’ve got a huge
bass to grill thanks to me.  We can discuss it over dinner,” Caleb said.

As the group sat around the camp fire feasting on Caleb’s bass, Zane enthusiastically told Ben and Brian his tales of being arrested by the police, rescuing Trent and Brooklyn from ICS, and the amazing Titanium-Aluminum Triphorate implant in Brooklyn’s arm.  Trent and Caleb could see a light in Zane’s eyes they hadn’t seen since the death of his parents.  “You’ve changed the world, big brother.  We underestimated you all these years,” Brian said.

“That video you made started a huge mov
ement.  Former scientists from Prune Island starting coming forward with information they had about the government’s plans to use microchips for world domination and biological warfare.  Many of them had solid evidence like you and when they were never heard from again, it didn’t leave much doubt they had been telling the truth,” Ben said.

“Have the military and police force really disbanded?” Brooklyn asked.

“Not entirely but they’re not as strong as they used to be. 
Their loyalty to the government is gone.  Everyone feels betrayed.  Who can blame them?  They’ve been lied to and controlled all of this time,” Ben replied.

“Is that how you managed to escape and c
ome here without being followed”? Lars said, shoveling the rest of the food on his plate into his mouth.

Brian nodded.  “After Zane’s video went mainstream, we were interrogated and beaten by so many government and military personnel, I lost track of who they all were.  They refused to believe we didn’t know where Zane was.  They even injected us with some junk they called ‘truth serum.’  All it does is make you hallucinate.  Anyway, after they finally decided we didn’t know anything, they put us in a prison.  Zane had gained an enormous amount of followers by then, including police officers and security guards, so we were set free,” he said.

“That’s incredible, but can’t the government track you since you still have the chips in your arms?” Caleb wanted to know.

“What??!! You mean the government knows where we are now because of them?!  They’re going to send people here to wipe us all out!” Bruce cried rising to his feet.

“Bruce, will you calm down!  My brothers wouldn’t endanger us,” Zane retorted.

“The microchips haven’t been used since you disabled them.  They’ve gone back to the old cash system for now,” Ben said taking a sip from his plastic cup.

“I wonder how long that will last,” Min mused.

“If they turn those chips back on, they’ll find you pretty quickly,” Marcus said throwing his paper plate and plastic cup into the trash.

“They’re right!  What will we do if they turn the chips back on?” Bruce shrieked.

“Bruce, what did we tell you about getting worked up so easily?” Trent said.  Bruce hung his head like a child being scolded
and sat back down.

“I don’t
think they’ll reactivate the microchips anytime soon.  The government is weak right now and people are angry.  I think people would go to extremes to have the microchips removed if they thought for a second that the government was going to turn them back on,” Ben replied.

“We should go visit your machinist friend tonight and see how he’s coming along with those implants,” Brian suggested.

“He’s in his tent sick where he’s been all week.  I wouldn’t go near him right now,” Brooklyn said.

“Does this mean it’ll all be over soon?” Julia said enthusiastically.

“
Don’t count on it,” Zane said wiping his hands on a handkerchief.

“
Why? If the government and ICS don’t have anyone to enforce their rules, how can their reign of terror continue?” Julia demanded.

“They’re not going
to wave a white flag, sister.  They’re plotting something right now as we speak.  I guarantee it.  President Burke and his minions are evil, but they’re far from stupid,” Lars said.

Julia sighed as her shoulders slumped in disappointment.  “Just because the government is making plans doesn’t mean they’re going to
succeed,” Caleb assured, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“He’s right. Hundreds of thousands of brave men and women will
fight along with us for the freedom we are entitled to,” Marcus agreed.

“It’s getting
late and my brothers are probably tired.  We’ll talk more about the government and Titanium-Aluminum Triphorate implants in the morning,” Zane said rising to his feet.  He walked toward their cottage with his brothers following him.  Everyone else began to clean up and make their way to their dwellings.

Trent paused and turned to face Brooklyn.  “I’m sorry,” he said.

“What are you sorry for?” Brooklyn wanted to know.

“I know you just want this to be over.  I wish we could live here forever in peace,” Trent said. 

“
With all that’s happened, there’s no telling what the future holds.  All I know is that we’ll finish this the way we started it—together,” Brooklyn said.