Warning: Implied suicide
Treason vs Patriotism
"Okay," Oliver said seriously to everyone.
Hundreds of people filled the headquarters building, all waiting to hear what Mayor Queen had to say.
"When the wall goes down tomorrow, things are going to happen fast," he said, addressing the entire room, "Price is most likely not going to be there, but we might be able to overrun the MRA all the same. If we gain control of the zone, we can get the upper hand. We won't be able to get the metahumans out because of the chips, but we'll be able to give them supplies. We'll make sure they're taken care of, and then we'll do whatever we can to prepare for the MRA's retaliation. They'll no doubt try to storm the zone to take back control of the area. We need to be ready for a fight."
"What are we going to do?" one man called out from the crowd, "They're just going to overrun us and take back control."
"We're going to be smart," Oliver said seriously, "We're not going to all rush into the zone at once. Some of us will stay back and wait. When the MRA rushes in, they'll think they have us outnumbered. The Resistance members on the outside will wait until the MRA rushes in, and then we'll flank them from behind. We'll have them surrounded, and we'll take them out."
"We're going to kill them?!" someone shouted in disbelief.
"We'll try to subdue them and take whoever we can hostage," Oliver said, "But yes, there will be casualties. This is more than just a protest. This is a war we're fighting, and there will be deaths once that wall comes down."
"I didn't sign on to kill people," one man shouted angrily, "I say we continue to protest!"
"The MRA is already killing people," Oliver said angrily, "Protesting is getting us nowhere. We need to fight fire with fire now. They've left us no other choice."
"But what if they kill us?" one woman asked fearfully, "So far, all they've been doing is arresting people in the Lucy Resistance. If we start a war, they're going to open fire on us. They'll slaughter us!"
A few other people shouted their agreement. Oliver looked forebodingly at the woman, and she shrank back under his gaze.
"These are our loved ones," he said darkly to everyone, his voice shaking in anger, "Those are our friends and family on the other side of that wall. They need someone to fight for them, and I don't know about you, but I'm willing to fight and die for every sole that's suffering in those slums. Barry Allen may be the face of our resistance, but there are thousands more people suffering on the other side of that wall, in our own backyard. The MRA has taken away their freedom. They've taken our loved ones from us. We're here, gathered today, not as a protest, but as an army, here in defiance of tyranny. Fight and yes, you may die. Don't fight, and sure, you will live. You will go on to live the rest of your lives."
Everyone who was gathered there became silent and listened to Oliver's speech with wide eyes.
"But as you lay dying in your beds, many years from now," Oliver said darkly, "Would you be willing to trade all the days, from this day to that, to come back here? To have just one more chance, one chance, to come back here and save the ones we love?! To tell the MRA that they can't take them from us. That they can't take away the freedom of any American citizen, of any human being. That Central City is ours and ours alone and that no matter what they do, they can't take the city or our loved ones from us!"
A few people in the crowd cheered and shouted their agreement.
"Long live Barry Allen!" Oliver shouted, and the entire space was then filled with noise, everyone cheering and shouting their approval.
Their defiance.
Tomorrow, the wall would be coming down.
Barry felt Elizabeth shiver and press closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her and held her closer. He had already given her his jacket, which she had been too cold to refuse. A shiver ran through his own body as they pressed closer together.
"He should be back soon," he assured her, his teeth chattering, "Hopefully he'll have a box with him."
Today was Adam's turn to go for a food box. He had been gone all morning, and the others were anxiously awaiting his return. Barry always worried whenever Adam left the house. He was just a kid, no older than Wally, and Barry knew how dangerous it was to leave the unit now. He wished he could go with him to the dispersal, like they had before, but with time they realized that by having two people go every day, they were just burning twice the calories.
"Why is the MRA doing this?" Felix asked angrily from where he was huddled with Kathy, "If their goal is simply to kill us, why didn't they just go around and kill everyone from the start then? Why leave us to starve and freeze to death?"
"I don't know," Barry sighed, "None of what they're doing makes sense to me."
"I just want a reason," Elizabeth said bitterly, "I just want to know why. Why do they hate us so much?! I understand being afraid of us and wanting to exterminate us, but why torture us? Why make us suffer in here? For what purpose?!"
"I don't know why we're even still trying," Kathy said hopelessly, "Why bother?"
"Kathy," Barry snapped, "Don't."
He had gotten into countless arguments with the woman about this. He wouldn't let her think that way. He wouldn't let her even consider what she had clearly been considering ever since their food had run out.
"Other people are doing it," she whispered, "Why not us?"
"Because we have people out there who we still need to live for," Barry said angrily, "There are people out there fighting for us."
"Like the Flash?" she snapped.
"Kathy!" Elizabeth yelled, "Don't you dare! Don't you dare even go there! Barry did everything he could!"
"Elizabeth," Barry whispered, "It's fine. Just let it go."
The small room became silent again then. Barry's empty stomach was churning. He knew Kathy didn't mean what she said. She was in a dark place right now. They all were. Kathy had especially let this place get to her. She had grown bitter over time and wasn't very a pleasant presence in the house. It wasn't her fault, though.
They were in hell.
Another shiver ran through Elizabeth, and she pressed closer to Barry, to his warmth. Barry felt a lump form in his throat.
He loved her.
Barry knew now that he loved the woman next to him, but he couldn't do anything to act on that love. Not here. His feelings were always conflicting. He had someone back at home that he still loved and cared about. He still loved Iris. He didn't know how it was possible to love two people so much at the same time. One was from his old life, and one was from his life now. He loved them both, but whether or not he was in love with either of them was something he was still trying to figure out. Romance was really the last thing on Barry's mind right now.
Elizabeth had been very understanding about his reluctance. Their situation didn't allow room for that kind of thing—for love—and Barry had put a wall up, surrounding his heart, after Lucy's death. He couldn't afford to care about another person that much again.
And Elizabeth understood that.
"That was a great speech," Henry told him when Oliver stepped down from the podium.
Oliver smiled at him as they moved to go back to their own private room, away from the crowd.
"I can't believe we're bombing the wall tomorrow," Iris said quietly once they were alone and had closed the door behind them, "We're really going to see Barry tomorrow."
"When the wall goes down," Joe said seriously, "And the MRA is taken care of, we'll go straight to Barry and make sure he's okay. We'll bring him some supplies."
"At least we know where to go," Cisco said, "515 Roosevelt Street. We should be able to get to him quickly."
"Hopefully," Oliver said, "It's going to be pandemonium tomorrow. With fighting the MRA and everyone else trying to get to their loved ones, it might not be that easy to get to Barry. We just have to hope he has the sense to stay in his unit until we come for him. With all the fighting that's going to happen, there's a good chance Barry will leave his house to join in the fight."
"He's too weak for that right now," Caitlin said seriously, "He can't fight in the condition he's in."
"But he'll still try," Oliver said surely, "As soon as he figures out what's going on, Barry will try to help."
"We can track him," Felicity assured them, "We'll use the metatracker app to find his location. That is, if the system doesn't overload. With that many metahumans in one place, the signal might get scrambled. We just have to hope that it doesn't."
Oliver sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"Tomorrow's going to be a mess," he said, "Everything's going to happen fast, and if we don't have a plan for the aftermath of overthrowing the MRA, it's going to be chaos. We'll have to instruct everyone in the Resistance to have their loved ones go back to their units once the fight's over. We need to keep order."
"The metahumans are still going to be stuck there," Wally said, "They're going to have to continue living there until we can find a way to disable the chips."
"We'll have to turn the power back on," Felicity said seriously, "That needs to be a priority. Getting them food, power, and running water."
"What then?" Cisco asked nervously, "The MRA is part of the government, and Price somehow has the support of practically the entire senate! That won't simply be the end of it. What we're doing is technically treason."
"No, it's patriotism," Joe said firmly, "The difference between treason and patriotism is only a matter of dates. Our founding fathers were technically terrorists when they revolted against England, but our history remembers them as patriots and heroes. How we're remembered depends solely on whether we win or not."
"So we just have to make sure we win," Iris said surely, "We have most of the country on our side. The government doesn't stand a chance against us when the majority of its own citizens support us."
"People shouldn't fear their government," Oliver said, nodding, "A government should fear its people."
"The country is split on the issue, though," Wally said, "This could lead to a civil war."
Oliver took a deep breath and looked seriously at all of them, his expression dark.
"So be it."
Barry almost felt like he was flying. His feet barely touched the ground as he raced through the city. The wind whipped past his face as lightning coursed through his veins. Air couldn't get out of his way fast enough, and the world blurred around him, disappearing from view until it was just him. Him and the ground beneath his feet.
Nothing could touch him.
Barry startled awake to the sound of gunshots.
He bolted upright from where he had been laying next to Elizabeth. She sat up, too, as well as everyone else in their unit. There was some sort of commotion going on outside. People were shouting and gunshots were going off every few seconds.
"What's happening?" Kathy asked fearfully.
"I don't know," Barry said seriously, looking at Oliver's watch.
It was two in the morning. Before any of them could even move, there was a loud pounding on their door.
"MRA!" a man's voice shouted, "You have five seconds to open this door!"
His heart racing, Barry scrambled over to the window to peak out through the crack in the boards. It was an officer.
Barry rushed to the door and unlocked it, knowing he didn't have any other choice. The door slammed open with a loud bang, and then the man was suddenly grabbing Barry by the collar of his shirt.
"Get out of the house!" he ordered them, throwing Barry through the doorway, "All of you!"
Barry hit the snow-covered ground with a thud. He was quick to get back on his feet again as the others in his unit were reluctantly exiting the house. They moved to stand by him, as the officer turned back to shout into the house.
"If anyone else is still in here, come out now!" he boomed, "Anyone caught trying to hide will be found and shot!"
Looking around the street, Barry saw that they weren't the only ones being pulled out of their unit in the middle of the night. The street was filled with people, all being pulled from their homes. Officers were pointing their guns at them as they led them to waiting trucks, shooting anyone who tried to run.
"Come on!" the MRA officer shouted at them then, pointing his gun at them, "Start moving!"
Barry and his unit all reluctantly started to walk, moving at a fast pace as the officer urged them to go faster. Barry looked down at the snow as he walked, looking at the flecks of crimson mixed in with the white.
When they reached the closest truck, they were roughly grabbed by officers and loaded into the back of it. It was very much like the night they had first been taken. They had all been in the same truck that night, and they were in the same one together now.
Like that first night, it all happened very quickly. One minute they were safe in their home, and the next they were suddenly crammed in a dark, small space, packed in like sardines until there was room for no more bodies.
Once the truck was full, the door was closed and the floor beneath them lurched as they started to move.
Disclaimer: Oliver's speech was partially inspired by Braveheart.
Disclaimer: "The difference between treason and patriotism is only a matter of dates." –Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
